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9 best sites for ESL teachers

Here for your child to play now? Arcade · Library

The answer in one minute

  1. British Council TeachingEnglish · Free · Ages Teachers: The British Council's free site of lesson plans, activities, articles, webinars and online courses for English teachers, with hundreds of…
  2. TESOL International Association · Free blog; paid membership · Ages Teachers: The professional association for English language teaching, founded in 1966, runs conventions, courses and standards, and keeps a free…
  3. Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day · Free · Ages Teachers: A former teacher of English language learners keeps curated lists of resources for ELL and ESL classes, alongside his general teaching…
  4. ELT Planning · Free · Ages Teachers: A teacher of English as an additional language in international schools writes detailed activity procedures, syllabus samples and…
  5. iSLCollective · Free; paid plan · Ages Teachers: A very large library of ESL worksheets, slides, quizzes and video lessons uploaded by teachers since 2009, searchable by topic, grammar…

Teaching English to young or new learners takes a lot of materials: picture cards, simple readers, games and ideas for a class that shares no language. These sites cover that work worldwide, from the British Council's free lesson plans to teacher-uploaded worksheet libraries and long-running teacher blogs. Quality varies on the user-uploaded sites, so preview before you print. Most are free to read; a few sell memberships or courses.

We read each site's home page, About page and recent posts in November 2026 and picked a free page to start with, preferring ones for young or beginner learners. Checked 2026-11-06. Nobody paid to be here and nothing is an affiliate link.

All 9 picks side by side

  1. 1British Council TeachingEnglishFreeAges Teachers
  2. 2TESOL International AssociationFree blogAges Teachers
  3. 3Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the DayFreeAges Teachers
  4. 4ELT PlanningFreeAges Teachers
  5. 5iSLCollectiveFreeAges Teachers
  6. 6BusyTeacherFreeAges Teachers
  7. 7Sandy MillinFreeAges Teachers
  8. 8EFL MagazineFreeAges Teachers
  9. 9Dave's ESL CafeFreeAges Teachers

  1. British Council TeachingEnglish

    British Council · Free · Ages Teachers

    The British Council's free site of lesson plans, activities, articles, webinars and online courses for English teachers, with hundreds of full lesson plans for primary, secondary and adult classes, sorted by CEFR level.

    Best for: free, ready-to-teach primary lesson plans
    Start here: My ideal teacher (primary lesson plan, ages 9-12, A2)

    Watch for: Comments and courses need a free login.

  2. TESOL International Association

    TESOL International Association · Free blog; paid membership · Ages Teachers

    The professional association for English language teaching, founded in 1966, runs conventions, courses and standards, and keeps a free blog of classroom activities with a primary and elementary section.

    Best for: free classroom activity posts from working teachers
    Start here: Make Reading Fun: 3 Activities for the Primary ELT Classroom

    Watch for: Courses, conventions and membership are paid.

  3. Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day

    Larry Ferlazzo · Free · Ages Teachers

    A former teacher of English language learners keeps curated lists of resources for ELL and ESL classes, alongside his general teaching posts. His best-of lists collect years of picks on one topic.

    Best for: curated lists of ELL resources on one topic
    Start here: Websites of the Year

    Watch for: Many lists date back years; check that links still work.

  4. ELT Planning

    Pete, an EAL teacher · Free · Ages Teachers

    A teacher of English as an additional language in international schools writes detailed activity procedures, syllabus samples and reflections, with older posts from years of TEFL teaching.

    Best for: EAL teachers in international schools
    Start here: Information gap activity: Endangered animals

    Watch for: Recent posts are aimed at upper primary and secondary.

  5. iSLCollective

    Teacher-run collaborative project · Free; paid plan · Ages Teachers

    A very large library of ESL worksheets, slides, quizzes and video lessons uploaded by teachers since 2009, searchable by topic, grammar point and level.

    Best for: a quick printable worksheet on a topic, such as A1 vocabulary
    Start here: English ESL worksheets

    Watch for: User-uploaded, so quality varies; some downloads need an account.

  6. BusyTeacher

    BusyTeacher.org · Free · Ages Teachers

    A free library of printable ESL worksheets, lesson plans and teaching articles since 2007, with a beginner filter and no registration needed.

    Best for: free printable worksheets and articles on teaching absolute beginners
    Start here: From ESL Zero to Hero: How to Teach Absolute Beginners

    Watch for: Few new posts in recent years; sells e-book bundles.

  7. Sandy Millin

    Sandy Millin · Free · Ages Teachers

    A teacher trainer's long-running blog on teacher development, DELTA training and conference reports, with guest posts. It is for teachers who want to grow their practice more than for ready materials.

    Best for: teacher development reading
    Start here: Building a Children's Dictionary That Reflects the Real World (guest post)

    Watch for: Promotes her paid DELTA courses; marked affiliate links.

  8. EFL Magazine

    EFL Magazine · Free · Ages Teachers

    An online magazine for English teachers with articles, news, events and a podcast. Much of it is about teaching abroad, especially in Japan, and TEFL careers, with some activity lists.

    Best for: teachers thinking about teaching abroad
    Start here: Warm Up Activities for English Class

    Watch for: Carries ads and TEFL course promotions; many posts are undated.

  9. Dave's ESL Cafe

    Dave Sperling · Free · Ages Teachers

    One of the oldest ESL sites, now centered on job boards and teacher forums, with older grammar, idiom and quiz pages for students.

    Best for: finding ESL and EFL teaching jobs and forums

    Watch for: Sells banner ads and sponsored links.

Questions parents ask

Where can I find free ESL lesson plans for young learners?
British Council TeachingEnglish has hundreds of free primary lesson plans sorted by level, with slides and worksheets. TESOL's blog has free activity posts for primary classes, and BusyTeacher and iSLCollective have printable worksheets.
What is the difference between ESL, EFL and EAL?
ESL is English as a second language, usually taught where English is spoken. EFL is English as a foreign language, taught where it is not. EAL, English as an additional language, is the term many UK and international schools use for pupils learning English alongside their other subjects.

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