- Levels: B1B2C1C2
- Lesson Types: Lesson Plans
- Recommended for: Download and Go
- Themes:
At a Glance
Preparation
Exercise Summary
🕑 45-60 minutes
🎚 B1, B2, C1
🎯 vocabulary, understanding common word elements
🕑 0-5 minutes
– Print one worksheet for each student.
– Print the Teacher’s Insights or keep them at hand as they contain helpful notes for the exercises.
Introduction: Speaking intro
Vocabulary Focus: Learn six new words and identify their similarities
Vocabulary Extension: Guess more words in the same category from their definitions
Speaking: Questions with gaps to use new vocabulary in conversation
There’s value in teaching a bit of etymology. Ever noticed a connection between words that start with ‘wr’? You (and your students) might be surprised to find they all have a connection with twisting! Today’s ESL lesson plan focuses on this phonaestheme and vocabulary relating to twisting, turning, and distorting.
Detailed Description
The lesson starts with an engaging introduction where students examine the relationship between six different images related to words beginning with ‘wr’. This visual warm-up activity sparks students’ interest in the topic.
In the Vocabulary Focus activity, students read a paragraph explaining the origins of the word root ‘wer-‘ and how it relates to modern English words that begin with ‘wr’. The paragraph highlights several ‘wr’ words with their meanings and contextual usage. Students then answer questions to ensure they understand the content.
The Vocabulary Extension activity challenges students to guess additional ‘wr’ words based on their definitions. This activity helps students expand their vocabulary and learn new expressions related to twisting and turning.
During the Speaking activity, students fill in the gaps with the appropriate ‘wr’ words, followed by answering questions using the words in context. This activity allows students to practice using the ‘wr’ words in conversation and strengthens their understanding of the vocabulary.
*This is a good class for mixed-level groups as lower levels are able to learn new vocabulary and higher levels are unlikely to know the relationship between ‘wr’ and twisting and also learn new vocabulary.
Free ESL and EFL teaching resources for 2026: printable worksheets and screen-share lessons for online and in-person classes. Updated August 2026.