Job Routine ESL Lesson Plan

OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES

This ESL lesson plan on job routines offers engaging activities, PDF worksheets, and digital materials designed for beginner A1-A2 students. In this lesson, students will:

• Discuss the job of a medical assistant by looking at pictures.
• Match job-related nouns to corresponding images, reinforcing vocabulary.
• Watch a video showing a medical assistant's daily routine and answer comprehension questions.
• Review a medical assistant's daily routine and learn how to describe their own work routines.
• Practice using phrases of frequency and sequence in conversations about job routines.

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

In this opening activity for thie ESL lesson plan on job routines, students look at a series of images showing tasks typically done by a medical assistant (MA) at work. They are instructed to guess the woman's job. The images include actions like wearing scrubs, taking patients' vitals, and giving injections. Afterward, students match these images with nouns such as "pressure," "injection," and "temperature." This helps reinforce vocabulary related to a medical assistant’s routine. Then, students complete a short exercise where they use verbs like "chat," "clock," "take," and "eat" to describe daily tasks. Finally, students discuss what they think medical assistants enjoy about their job.

VIEWING ACTIVITY

The video introduces a medical assistant working at Legacy Health, showing her daily routine, including tasks like taking vital signs, preparing patients for doctors, and providing injections. Students watch the video and complete a series of activities. They first choose true or false statements based on the video’s content and correct any false statements. Then, they put the activities of the MA in order, from clocking in to going home. This is a sequencing activity about the woman's job routine. The final task asks students to choose the correct options about her daily routine, including lunch breaks and the types of tasks she does. 

DISCUSSION & GRAMMAR

After watching the video, students discuss questions related to the MA’s job and their own work experiences. They explore whether they think being a medical assistant is easy or hard and who they work with in their own jobs. Students also reflect on whether they find their own work rewarding. Next, students read a detailed description of the MA's work routine and match phrases to their functions, such as expressing frequency or sequence. These include phrases like "often, sometimes, usually" as well as "first, then, next, after that, finally". This encourages students to identify and understand how different phrases are used in everyday language to describe work activities. Finally, students complete an activity where they describe a school teacher's routine, practicing the use of sequence and frequency phrases like "first," "then," and "usually."

INSIDE THE JOB: STORIES FROM YOUR FIRST WEEK

For the activation stage, students choose one of several job options or write about their own job. They first describe their work routine using phrases of frequency and sequence, such as "I always" and "First, I…" After writing their own descriptions, they pair up with a classmate or the teacher to share their job titles and discuss their routines. In this conversation, students practice asking and answering questions about their routines. This helps reinforce the use of frequency and sequence expressions. Option B offers students the chance to choose or imagine a different job and discuss questions about the routine. In the questions and answsers, they use target language structures.

BENEFITS OF USING THIS JOB ROUTINE ESL LESSON

This job routine ESL lesson plan provides numerous benefits for teachers and students. It helps students expand their vocabulary related to job tasks, particularly in the healthcare field, and introduces useful phrases of frequency and sequence. The lesson also encourages students to practice real-life conversations about their own routines, improving both their speaking and listening skills. Additionally, students engage with an authentic video, which boosts comprehension and retention of the material. Lastly, the activities are highly interactive, promoting peer interaction and collaboration, which fosters a more engaging and dynamic classroom environment.