ESL for the slopes: Vocaublary and planning for winter sports

This ESL lesson plan is designed to equip learners with the practical language skills needed to discuss and plan winter sports activities in English. Targeted at beginner to intermediate learners, the lesson focuses on essential equipment, common winter sports, and realistic conversational practice related to organizing a day on the slopes or the ice.

By engaging with visual aids, role-plays, and interactive activities, students will build confidence in suggesting winter activities, discussing gear, and checking weather conditions. The lesson plan, “Snow much fun: planning a winter sports outing ESL lesson plan“, emphasizes safety and fun, allowing learners to adapt the content to their local climate or dream travel destinations.

Bonus video

Watch this video to help reinforce language learning.

Basic vocabulary

Introduce essential words related to winter sports. These should be simple, commonly used, and relevant to the context of cold-weather activities.

Vocabulary list

• Skiing: Moving over snow on skis (e.g., I love downhill skiing).
• Snowboarding: Sliding down snow on a single large board (e.g., Snowboarding is hard to learn).
• Ice skating: Gliding on ice using skates (e.g., Let’s go to the ice rink).
• Sledding: Sliding down a hill on a sled or toboggan (e.g., The kids are sledding).
• Slope/hill: The inclined surface for skiing or sledding (e.g., This hill is very steep).
• Rink: An enclosed area of ice for skating or hockey (e.g., Meet me at the rink).
• Snow: Frozen water vapor that falls in white flakes (e.g., There is fresh snow today).
• Ice: Frozen water (e.g., The ice is very smooth).
• Lift: A machine that carries people up a mountain (e.g., Take the chairlift to the top).
• Helmet: Head protection (e.g., Always wear a helmet).
• Goggles: Protection for your eyes from snow and wind (e.g., I can’t see without my goggles).

Vocabulary for extension

• Instructor: A person who teaches you how to do a sport (e.g., I need a ski instructor).
• Rent: To pay to use equipment for a short time (e.g., I need to rent skates).
• Trail: A marked path on the mountain (e.g., Stay on the green trail).
• Beginner/Advanced: Levels of skill (e.g., I am a beginner at snowboarding).
• Layers: Multiple pieces of clothing worn together (e.g., Wear layers to stay warm).
• Waterproof: Material that does not let water in (e.g., These pants are waterproof).
• Thermos: A container to keep drinks hot (e.g., Bring a thermos of cocoa).
• Lift pass: A ticket that allows you to use the mountain lifts (e.g., How much is a lift pass?).
• Freezing: Very cold temperature (e.g., It is freezing outside today).
• Cozy: Feeling warm and comfortable (e.g., Let’s get cozy by the fire).

Teaching tips

• Use visuals like photos of different winter sports to help students distinguish between “skiing” and “snowboarding.”
• Practice pronunciation of words like “skiing” (SKEE-ing) or “goggles” (GOG-ulz).
• Create flashcards with the equipment on one side and the name of the sport on the other.

Useful phrases

Teach simple sentence structures for planning a winter sports outing. These phrases should be versatile and easy to adapt.

Key phrases

• Suggesting an outing:
  • “Would you like to go [skiing/skating] this weekend?”
  • “How about we go sledding on Saturday?”
  • “I want to try snowboarding for the first time.”
• Asking for opinions:
  • “Do you prefer skiing or snowboarding?”
  • “Is the local ice rink okay with you?”
  • “Should we hire an instructor?”
• Making plans:
  • “We can meet at the [lift/rink] at 10 a.m.”
  • “I need to rent [skis/boots/a helmet].”
  • “A lift pass costs [money].”
  • “We’ll go by [car/bus].”
• Checking details:
  • “What’s the weather like on the mountain?”
  • “Is there enough snow?”
  • “Do we need to reserve equipment?”

Teaching tips

• Write phrases on a board and model their use (e.g., “How about we go ice skating on Sunday?”).
• Have learners practice by substituting their own preferred winter sport.
• Emphasize polite forms like “Would you like to…?” for a more natural conversational flow.

Example conversations

Provide short, realistic dialogues to model how to plan a winter outing.

Conversation 1: Basic planning Alex: Hey Sarah, let’s go ice skating this weekend! Sarah: Great idea! Which rink should we go to? Alex: How about the one downtown? Sarah: Sounds good! What time? Alex: Let’s meet at 4 p.m. We can rent skates there. Sarah: Okay, I’ll bring warm socks!

Conversation 2: Adding details Maya: Hi Tom, do you want to go snowboarding on Saturday? Tom: Sure! Is there enough snow on the mountain? Maya: Yeah, the weather report says there is fresh snow. Tom: Nice! Should I bring anything special? Maya: Bring your goggles and wear waterproof pants. Tom: Perfect. How do we get there? Maya: We can take the mountain shuttle bus.

Teaching strategy

Here’s a 45-minute lesson plan to teach this topic effectively.

Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)

• Ask: “Do you like the snow? What is your favorite winter activity?” Write answers on the board.
• Show a picture of a ski resort and describe it (e.g., “People are skiing down the slope. It is a sunny but cold day!”).

Step 2: Vocabulary introduction (10 minutes)

• Present the vocabulary list using visuals.
• Practice pronunciation, especially for “mountain” and “equipment.”
• Play a quick game: Describe an item (e.g., “You wear these on your eyes to see in the snow”) and have students shout the word (“Goggles!”).

Step 3: Phrase practice (10 minutes)

• Display key phrases and model them.
• Have learners fill in the blanks with their own ideas (e.g., “I need to rent ____.”).
• Correct grammar gently, focusing on the difference between “go skiing” and “play hockey.”

Step 4: Conversation practice (15 minutes)

• Read the example conversations aloud with a student.
• Pair learners to practice the dialogues, encouraging them to change the sport or the meeting time.
• Encourage follow-up questions (e.g., “Is it your first time skiing?”).

Step 5: Wrap-up and personalization (5 minutes)

• Ask each learner to share one plan: “This winter, I want to go ____ with ____.”
• Assign homework: Research a local winter spot and write three sentences about what you can do there.

Common mistakes to address

• Grammar: Learners may say “I want to snowboarding.” Remind them to use “I want to go snowboarding” or “I want to snowboard.”
• Word choice: Clarify the difference between “ice” (the surface) and “snow” (the powder).
• Prepositions: We meet at the rink, but we are on the mountain.

Winter sports vocabulary and planning quiz

Part 1: Vocabulary matching

Match the word on the left with the correct definition or description on the right.

Part 2: Fill in the blanks

Complete the sentences using the words from the box below.

Slopes — Waterproof — Instructor — Layers — Freezing

1. It is ______________ outside today! Wear a heavy coat.
2. If it is your first time skiing, you should hire an ______________.
3. I always wear ______________ pants so I don’t get wet in the snow.
4. We are going to the ______________ to ski all afternoon.
5. You should wear many ______________ of clothes to stay warm.

Part 3: Social planning (Multiple choice)

Choose the most natural and polite response for each situation.

1. You want to suggest an activity for Saturday. What do you say?

• a) Go skiing now.
• b) How about we go skiing on Saturday?
• c) Give me your skis on Saturday.

2. Your friend asks, “Do you have ice skates?” You don’t have any. What do you say?

• a) No, I need to rent some at the rink.
• b) No, I am a beginner.
• c) Yes, I don’t have skates.

3. You are checking the time to meet. What do you say?

• a) Where is the snow?
• b) What time should we meet at the lift?
• c) The lift pass is expensive.

Answer key for teachers

• Part 1: 1-C, 2-D, 3-E, 4-A, 5-B
• Part 2: 1. Freezing, 2. Instructor, 3. Waterproof, 4. Slopes, 5. Layers
• Part 3: 1-b, 2-a, 3-b