Queen Elizabeth II

Lesson plan overview

This FREE ESL lesson is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II. Students will learn useful vocabulary and discuss her life, her recent passing and different questions about monarchies. You can combine it with the lesson “2022’s most important events”.

First, students discuss what they know about the Queen and the other members of the Royal Family. After that they complete a short quiz about Queen Elizabeth’s life.

Reading and vocabulary: students read a short text and then match a few words to their definitions (e.g. heir, royal, inherit, abdicate, mourn, pay tribute). Will this task you also pre-teach the vocabulary students will hear when they watch the video.

Video: Students watch a short news video “London Bridge is down: Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96” and complete 2 tasks: the first one is a gap-fill exercise and the second one is a note-taking exercise. Students are then given 8 questions to discuss and engage in free conversation.

Functional language: Students learn different phrases that are commonly said when someone has died (e.g. “I am deeply sorry for your loss”, “My sincere condolences”)

There is a set of printable conversation cards for additional speaking practice and vocabulary revision.

I hope you find this lesson useful!

Teacher’s lesson plan

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Student’s worksheet

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Student’s interactive PDF

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Conversation cards PDF

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Pre-class activities

To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.

https://theenglishflows.com/lesson-plans/queen-elizabeth-ii/pre-class-activities/

Vocabulary matching

Pronunciation

The first time you watch the video, pay special attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words:

Presiding over 7 decades, her reign has witnessed many significant moments.
Communist leader Mao Zedong launched the so-called cultural revolution.
By a slight majority, Britain votes to leave the European Union.
Since 1952, the Queen pledged her service to Great Britain and the Commonwealth until her death on Thursday.