Introducing American Football - A Lesson Plan for Second Language Pedagogy

Sep 28, 2026

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Lesson plan for introducing American football to first-year Integrated English ESL students in a rural Seventh-day Adventist boarding school context. The unit prepares learners to participate in a Super Bowl party by teaching essential vocabulary, reading and listening comprehension tasks, and partner question work. The 60-minute lesson uses an NFL fans video clip, teacher-guided vocabulary pre-teaching, a gap-fill listening sheet, and evaluation forms, followed by students acting out key terms and asking/answering questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Teaching Context

Introduction to American Football Lesson Plan

Lesson Overview

Time and Assumptions

Materials Needed

Student Learning Outcomes

Hook/Warm-up

Main Activities

Introducing American Football: A Lesson Plan for Second Language Pedagogy, TESL 545 Michelle Candy Department of Global Studies, Sociology, and TESOL Azusa Pacific University Teaching Context I teach in a small, rural, Seventh-day Adventist boarding school in Oregon. Our student body consists mostly of Seventh-day Adventist students from the Pacific Northwest. Somewhat less than onefifth of our student body (approximately 15 students) is made up of international exchange students. The majority of these students come from Mexico, with a couple from other Latin American countries (Argentina, El Salvador, Chile) . The rest come from Asia; most are from mainland China, with a couple from Korea. The daily language class I teach (45 minutes daily) is called “Integrated English,” which this year is made up exclusively of the first-year students. Currently there are eight students, in the following categories: two Chinese, one Korean, one Argentinean, and four Mexican students. There are four female and four male students, ranging in grade level from one freshman to three “super seniors” who have finished high school in Mexico but have come to the US to study English. The English level of the class ranges roughly from low beginner to mid-intermediate. The students do not all speak the same language, though the majority speak Spanish as their first language. In addition to Integrated English, students are placed in more or less regular daily class schedules. Because the students carry full or nearly-full loads, they do not expect to have a great deal of homework from their language class. I try to focus on pronunciation and listening issues and specific writing problems that will probably not be addressed in their regular English classes. Although after one year of teaching at this school I still remain uncertain exactly what the administration expects me to accomplish in this class, my personal goal is to not only improve some of their English skills, but also provide them with a safe environment to relax, vent, and make mistakes. An integral part of the class also involves dealing with cultural issues. Our student body is pretty open and accepting of the international students, but there are still events and situations that baffle them. This lesson is the introductory lesson of a short (perhaps week-long) unit to introduce the students to American football. Our school has a Super Bowl party, and, while they don’t care too much about the game during the season, the international students would like to be able to attend the party with their classmates and understand at least some of the basics. After this lesson, I’ll be teaching them some very basic terminology and then trying out a football simulation specifically designed to teach ESL students how an NFL game works. (It can be found at: [http://esltech.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/football/](http://esltech.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/football/) ) Our school is equipped with networked computer labs in every building, including each dormitory, each with a printer. There are four networked computers with a printer in my classroom. Additionally, there are a VCR/DVD player and “sound system” and a document camera. There is also an overhead projector and screen. Using the Internet in the classroom is a hit or miss proposition, as thereis never any guarantee of how well it will work, given our extremely rural location. The classroom is approximately 20X30 feet. The room has 26 desks. I also have two 6-foot tables set together in the back of the room, with padded folding chairs surrounding them. This is where I teach my language and ELL religion classes. Introduction to American Football Lesson Plan Time: One 60-minute lesson Assumption: The students have the English ability to read and understand the worksheets. Students will be aware of the upcoming Super Bowl party at the school. Students have experience working with a partner in writing, asking, and answering questi

FAQs

What is the lesson’s primary goal for students?

Students learn introductory American football concepts through video-based input and targeted vocabulary, enabling them to understand basics and participate in related school events like the Super Bowl party.

Which materials are used in the lesson?

The lesson uses an NFL football fans video clip (Appendix A), a teacher vocabulary pre-teach form (Appendix B), student worksheets for reading and discussion (Appendices C and D), a listening gap-fill sheet (Appendix E), vocabulary review games (Appendix F), and evaluation forms (Appendices G and H).

How does the 60-minute class flow from warm-up to practice?

It begins with an 8-minute warm-up where the teacher shows the video and asks students individualized questions, then moves to 42 minutes of main activities including vocabulary pre-teaching, reading, gap-fill listening, partner question writing, and student acting out vocabulary.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by 404brain