OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES

This birthday ESL lesson plan offers engaging activities, PDF worksheets, and digital materials designed for intermediate B1 students. In this lesson, students will:

• Discuss how they feel about birthdays and share personal traditions and experiences.
• Learn and practice vocabulary related to celebration, reflection, and personal milestones.
• Watch a short, thoughtful video about how birthdays change over time and become more meaningful.
• Study and use key verbs like forget, remember, stop, try, and regret with gerunds and infinitives.
• Reflect on personal experiences and accomplishments through interactive pair work and discussions.

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

In the first section of this birthday ESL lesson plan, students begin by looking at an image of Brianna celebrating her birthday and are prompted to describe what they see. They then move into a series of discussion questions that explore how birthdays are celebrated, how their significance can change over time, and whether birthdays are good times for reflection. Students also examine a thought bubble showing Brianna’s accomplishments over the past year, which introduces the idea of using birthdays to look back and reflect. In the final discussion task, students talk about their own memorable birthdays or imagine what might make a birthday memorable. 

VIEWING ACTIVITY

Students watch a short and heartfelt video that offers a more reflective take on birthdays. The video follows Brandon, who speaks about how birthdays used to be fun and simple, but over time became less special—until he decides to make his 24th birthday more meaningful. He reflects on his past accomplishments and encourages viewers to do the same. After viewing, students answer short questions to check comprehension, such as how Brandon defines birthdays, how his celebrations changed, and what he wants viewers to think about. In the next task, they complete five sentences using missing nouns related to Brandon’s achievements from the video. 

DISCUSSION & GRAMMAR (VERB PATTERNS)

In this viewing follow-up section of the birthday ESL lesson plan, students first share their opinions about Brandon’s reflections and discuss whether they find his list of accomplishments meaningful. Then, they read three short personal reflections written by fictional characters, each containing key verbs like forget, remember, stop, try, and regret. Students identify whether these verbs are followed by gerunds or infinitives and explore how the meanings change. In the final task, they practice choosing the correct form of the verbs in a set of sentences. These exercises give students hands-on practice with common but tricky verb patterns in meaningful and emotionally engaging contexts.

REFLECTING ON SPECIAL MEMORIES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In the final section, students choose between three engaging reflective tasks. In Option A, they choose a memorable event (like a birthday, graduation, or trip), reflect on it, and then share their story with a partner. In Option B, students reflect on their personal accomplishments over the past year and share them with others. In Option C, they respond to thought-provoking discussion questions about trying new things, regret, stopping old habits, and special birthdays. 

BENEFITS OF USING THIS BIRTHDAY ESL LESSON PLAN

This birthday ESL lesson plan helps students reflect on their lives while building speaking confidence in a supportive, personal context. It gives learners a chance to develop vocabulary around reflection, celebration, and personal milestones. It also provides meaningful grammar practice through real-life contexts instead of disconnected drills. Students get to analyze a relatable video that resonates with all ages, making grammar and vocabulary more memorable. Teachers receive a ready-to-go package that includes discussion-based, video-based, and grammar-focused tasks, along with optional activation tasks that are both meaningful and flexible.