10 ChatGPT Time-Saving Prompts for ESL Lesson Planning

Hello fellow teachers! If you’re like me, always looking for ways to streamline lesson planning and make the classes even more engaging, this post may interest you. ChatGPT was launched on November 30th, 2022, and since then, we have heard a lot about its potential to help in an infinite number of tasks, including creating codes that can generate new Artificial Intelligence tools like itself. A bit scary, isn’t it?

However, it can also act as a great lesson planning partner. As an EFL independent teacher, I don’t have a pedagogical team to support me and share ideas during my planning time. Although I am part of a wonderful network of independent teachers (love you!), we don’t gather to plan our lessons. So, I found that ChatGPT could be a great partner for these moments.

I would love to have lesson planning brainstorming sessions with my network as they completely understand the nitty-gritty of our practices. Conversely, ChatGPT needs to be fed with very specific and detailed prompts in order to deliver the answers I need.

So, to have ChatGPT as a “lesson planning buddy,” I had to craft some precise prompts to allow it to suggest, brainstorm, create lists, streamline instructions, etc. In this post, I will share 10 of these prompts and the context in which I use them.

1. Brainstorming Engaging Conversation Starters:

I use these conversation starters at the beginning of my lessons to get students talking and engaged. For instance, you could open a lesson on daily routines by having students discuss their morning rituals or share interesting cultural differences in daily habits.
– Prompt: “Generate interesting conversation starters for an EFL class focusing on [insert topic] suitable for [insert level/age] students.”

2. Creating Writing Prompts:

Writing prompts are perfect for stimulating creativity and reinforcing language skills. Integrate them into your lessons as writing exercises or homework assignments. For example, use prompts to encourage the use of specific grammar structures or vocabulary related to the lesson theme.
– Prompt: “Craft creative writing prompts to help EFL students at [insert level/age] practice [insert topic].”

3. Generating Vocabulary Lists:

Provide students with specialized vocabulary lists tailored to the lesson’s topic. These lists can be used for pre-teaching vocabulary or as a reference during activities. A technology vocabulary list, for example, can be used in a lesson about modern advancements studying future structures.
– Prompt: “Compile a list of vocabulary related to [insert topic] for an EFL class at [insert level/age]. Include short, precise definitions for each word.”

4. Designing Role-Playing Scenarios:

Role-playing scenarios are excellent for putting language into context. Use them during the controlled practice stage to reinforce specific language points. For a travel-themed lesson, for example, students could act out dialogues related to booking a hotel or asking for directions.
– Prompt: “Develop [insert a number] role-playing scenarios about [insert topic] for an EFL lesson at [insert level/age].”

5. Constructing Grammar Explanation Scripts:

Use these scripts during the language presentation stage of a lesson to provide clear and concise explanations of grammar concepts.
– Prompt: “Write a concise script explaining [insert topic] suitable for an EFL class at [insert level/age]. Include three example sentences.”

6. Building Vocabulary Games:

Games are a fantastic way to make learning enjoyable. Use vocabulary games during the practice stage to reinforce new words or as a lead-in activity.
– Prompt: “Devise a vocabulary game suitable for an ESL class at [insert level/age], to be delivered to a group of [insert number] students in a [virtual/face-to-face] scenario focusing on [insert topic].”

7. Creating Interactive Quizzes:

Use quizzes as a formative assessment tool during the practice stage. They help reinforce learning and identify areas that may need further review.
– Prompt: “Design a quiz to test understanding of [insert topic] for an EFL class at [insert level/age].”

8. Generating Idiomatic Expressions List:

Idiomatic expressions jazz up language use. Choose a topic and use ChatGPT to come up with a list of related idiomatic expressions.
– Prompt: “Compile a list of idiomatic expressions related to [insert topic] for an EFL class at [insert level/age]. Provide definitions and example sentences.”

9. Generating Critical Thinking Questions:

Critical thinking questions are perfect for stimulating deeper discussions. Thought-provoking questions encourage students to analyze and express complex ideas, using the language in a natural and meaningful context.
– Prompt: “Craft thought-provoking questions to stimulate critical thinking about [insert topic] for EFL students at [insert level/age].”

10. Creating Tailored Homework Assignments:

Homework assignments provide opportunities for independent practice and they can range from basic to more complex tasks, allowing each student to engage at their own pace and language level.
– Prompt: “Generate [grammar/vocabulary/reading/listening] homework assignments for an EFL class for [insert level/age] on the topic of [insert topic].”

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to design prompts for listening activities yet. Better put, ChatGPT wasn’t able to offer reliable answers to any of the listening prompts I have created. It seems to have limitations in terms of sound interpretation, as it is based on writing. If you happen to have created a good prompt for listening tasks, please let me know.

Needless to say, you must thoroughly check all these materials, not only for imprecise information but also for biased ones.

So, these are some ways I came up with using ChatGPT to assist me during my lesson planning. I really hope it can be useful to you. Feel free to adapt and improve them to suit your needs.

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