How to Describe People – Engaging ESL Lesson Plan with free printable PDF worksheet
How to Describe People
How to Describe People
Looking for a fun and interactive ESL lesson to help students learn how to describe people? This lesson plan covers adjectives, facial features, clothing, and verb structures, making it perfect for English learners of all levels. Plus, we’ve included a free printable PDF worksheet to help reinforce the lesson!
Why Teach Describing People in ESL?
✅ Enhances vocabulary for talking about appearance, clothing, and features
✅ Improves sentence structure using verbs to be, have/has, and wear/wore
✅ Encourages communication through speaking, writing, and drawing activities
✅ Engages students with fun exercises and real-world applications
Full ESL Lesson Plan: Describing People
1️⃣ WARM-UP ACTIVITY: Identifying Descriptive Words
📌 Step 1: Learn Common Descriptive Words
Introduce students to the basic adjectives and verbs used to describe people:
🧑 Height & Body Build (Verb: To Be)
- Tall, short, slim, chubby, muscular, thin, fat, strong
👀 Facial Features (Verb: Have/Has)
- Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, round face, long face, big eyes, small nose
👗 Clothing (Verb: Wear/Wore)
- T-shirt, dress, sweater, jeans, suit, trainers, jacket
✅ Practice: Show pictures of famous people and have students identify adjectives to describe them.
📌 Step 2: Complete the Sentences
Have students fill in the blanks using the correct form of to be and have/has:
- I ______ short.
- Kate _____ a small girl.
- Tom _____ very fat.
- Why _____ you so thin?
- They _____ both tall.
2️⃣ MAIN LESSON: Describing People Using Correct Sentence Structure
📌 Step 1: Learn the Verb Patterns
- To describe height & body build → Use “to be” (He is tall.)
- To describe facial features → Use “have/has” (She has blue eyes.)
- To describe clothing → Use “wear/wore” (I am wearing a red dress.)
✅ Practice: Give students scrambled words and have them form correct sentences.
📌 Step 2: Pair Activity – Describe a Classmate
- Students secretly write a description of a classmate using adjectives.
- They read their descriptions aloud, and the class guesses who it is!
3️⃣ INTERACTIVE CLASS ACTIVITIES
🎲 Activity 1: Describe & Draw Game
- One student describes a mystery person.
- The other students draw the description.
- Compare drawings to see who got the closest match!
👕 Activity 2: What Are You Wearing?
- Each student describes what they’re wearing in the present or past tense.
- Example: “Today, I am wearing a blue T-shirt and black jeans.”
🕵️ Activity 3: Thieves in the Classroom
- Read descriptions of three imaginary thieves who stole items from the classroom.
- Students draw pictures based on the descriptions.
- Compare drawings to see whose matches best!
Example Descriptions:
- The first thief is tall and thin. He has a long face.
- The second thief is short and fat. He has a round face and a big nose.
- The third thief is short and thin. He has an oval face and big eyes.
4️⃣ WRAP-UP & HOMEWORK
📌 Wrap-up Discussion:
- Ask: Why is it important to describe people accurately?
- Have students share one new word they learned today.
📌 Homework:
- Write a paragraph describing yourself or a friend using at least 5 adjectives.
🎁 Free Printable PDF: Describing People Worksheet
Make learning easier with this free downloadable worksheet to reinforce describing people!
Why ESL Teachers Love This Lesson Plan
✔️ Engaging & interactive for all learning styles
✔️ Practical vocabulary & sentence structure practice
✔️ Includes speaking, writing, and listening exercises
✔️ Fun games and group activitiese learning fun
✔️ Supports multiple learning stylesice
🔹 Classroom icebreakers and warm-ups
Try this Describing People ESL lesson in your classroom and watch your students’ confidence grow! 🎉✨
📩 Want more free ESL grammar lesson? Share this post with other teachers and let us know how it worked in your classroom!
💬 What other grammar topics would you like? Drop your ideas in the comments!
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More ESL Classroom Games & Activities
Looking for more fun grammar activities for your English class? Check out these ideas:
✅ ESL Speaking Games to improve fluency
✅ Grammar Board Games for practicing sentence structures
✅ Interactive Writing Activities for ESL learners
