Jobs
This jobs ESL lesson teaches profession vocabulary and language for explaining what people do. Students mime occupations, match jobs to duties and ask questions such as 'What does a nurse do?' They roleplay a job interview and create a dream-job drawing supported by three explanatory sentences.
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Lesson format
2 × 45 minutes
Level
Pre-Intermediate
Age group
Ages 10–13
Main focus
Speaking first
What students will learn
Lesson flow
Students mime professions for classmates to guess, learn job vocabulary matching words to icons, and drill 'What does a nurse do? A nurse helps people' with flashcards. The second lesson mimes jobs in a relay, watches a Guess the Job video pausing on 'What is her job?', performs a job-interview roleplay ('I want to be a pilot!'), and draws their dream job with three explanatory sentences.
Target language
- • 'What does a ___ do?'
- • 'Do you want to be a ___?'
- • Job-related verbs (help, build, fix, teach)
- • Job and workplace vocabulary
Key vocabulary
- nurse
- engineer
- journalist
- accountant
- programmer
- lawyer
- architect
- chef
- waiter
- mechanic
Speaking questions students answer
- • What does a nurse do?
- • Do you want to be a doctor?
- • What does a vet do?
- • What job does he want?
- • Where does a chef work?
Recommended teaching contexts
Why this lesson works
The lesson follows a clear progression: Mime and guess professions in a Who Am I? warm-up, ask 'What does a ___ do?' with flashcards, draw a dream job and roleplay a job interview. Teachers can open the materials and start immediately, while students move from supported vocabulary practice to purposeful spoken English.