ESL Lesson Plan: Concerts & Events

OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES

This past simple ESL lesson plan on concerts & events offers engaging activities, PDF worksheets, and digital materials designed for beginner A1 students. In this lesson, students will:

• Discuss concerts and different types of events they like to attend.
• Expand their vocabulary related to concerts and events.
• Watch a video about memorable first concert experiences.
• Practice using the past simple tense to describe past events.
• Share and compare their own past event experiences using past simple verbs.

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

To start this past simple ESL lesson on concerts and events, students first match different events to images in the preview activity. These events include a concert, a picnic, a football match, and more. This activity helps activate their prior knowledge of events and introduces them to the vocabulary they'll use later. Next, students describe the events using adjectives such as "awesome," "boring," "fun," and "crowded." They’ll discuss the types of events they like to attend, like concerts, and answer questions about their concert experiences. Students then learn and study new vocabulary like "pumped" and "racy," which will help them better understand the video in the next section.

VIEWING ACTIVITY

In the viewing activity, students watch a video where four people share their unforgettable first concert experiences. Each speaker recounts their feelings and the events they attended: Lanie saw Britney Spears, Matthew went to a Tom Petty concert, Donna danced to Whitney Houston, and Garret remembers Radiohead. Before watching, students match each speaker to the artist or band they saw, reinforcing listening comprehension. After watching, students answer questions to check their understanding of the video, including multiple-choice questions about specific details like the age of the speakers and who they attended the concerts with. They then complete a fill-in-the-blank activity to describe the concerts using adjectives like "pumped" and "awesome."

DISCUSSION & GRAMMAR

Following the video, students engage in a discussion where they share their own experiences with music and concerts. They answer questions like which artists they know from the video and whether they listen to similar music. They also reflect on the type of concert they'd like to attend in the future. Students then read the concert descriptions in the past simple and practice identifying past simple forms of verbs, including negative forms and affirmative sentences. A series of exercises helps them practice their grammar skills further by asking them to complete missing parts of a concert description using past simple verbs.

PAST MEMORIES: TALK ABOUT PAST EVENTS

For the activation phase, students engage in a personal storytelling activity. They either choose an event they attended or think of a different past experience, such as a concert, party, or sports match, and write a description using the past simple tense. They answer a series of questions about the event, including when and where it took place, who they went with, and how they felt. After writing their descriptions, students work with a classmate or teacher to share their stories, ask questions, and discuss their past experiences in a conversational setting. There is a second option as well for students to select a type of other experience, such as an outdoor trip or a relaxing weekend at home, and discuss a series of questions about it using the past simple.

BENEFITS OF USING THIS PAST SIMPLE ESL LESSON PLAN

This past simple ESL lesson plan on concerts and events provides A1 students with engaging activities that help them improve both their listening and speaking skills. Students will practice using the past simple tense in a real-life context, allowing them to talk about personal experiences. The activities in this lesson help reinforce new vocabulary related to events, while the video provides a fun and memorable way to engage students. The lesson also encourages conversation and helps build confidence in using English in informal settings. Finally, it offers students the opportunity to reflect on their own past events, improving both language fluency and social interaction skills.