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Unit 7, Our Planet, is a rich, engaging ESL speaking unit that introduces students to Earth, landforms, weather, seasons, and environmental care. Designed for multilingual learners ages 6–18, this unit blends environmental science with real speaking practice to build confident oral communication skills.
Teachers searching for:
ESL speaking lessons about nature
Weather speaking activities
Landforms conversation worksheets
ESL environmental speaking lessons
Beginner speaking curriculum
…will find this unit an invaluable addition to their K–12 ESL program.
Students learn to talk about Earth’s beauty, weather changes, landforms, and ways to protect the planet—making this unit both highly educational and deeply conversational.
This unit helps students speak confidently about:
What makes Earth special
Land, water, air, and climate
Weather and the seasons
Global differences (equator vs. poles)
Landforms like cliffs, canyons, plains, glaciers, volcanoes
Caring for Earth, recycling, saving resources, protecting nature
Each lesson is built as a speaking-first experience:
✔ Chat-a-Bit speaking warm-up
✔ Short readings introducing academic vocabulary in simple, oral-friendly language
✔ WH speaking questions to spark conversation
✔ Four guided dialogues per lesson for fluency
✔ “Would you rather…?” discussion tasks
✔ End-of-lesson reflection questions
✔ Oral vocabulary practice
This structure allows students to learn science content while practicing everyday conversational English.
Students learn to:
Describe natural features
Talk about weather & seasons
Share opinions about nature
Compare different places and climates
Explain personal preferences
Answer open-ended questions
Speak in longer, meaningful sentences
Students practice:
Listening for detail in partner dialogues
Responding naturally
Participating in group discussion
Asking follow-up questions
Students use words like:
rise, sink, appear, frozen, decide, wonder (weather)
soil, carve, edge, famous, simple, destroy (landforms)
pollute, waste, choice, energy, habit, damage (environment)
Vocabulary is introduced through speaking, not memorization.
Describing: “It looks…,” “It feels…,” “It is…”
Opinion language: “I think…,” “I would rather…”
Explanations: “because…”
Comparisons: “hotter,” “colder,” “bigger,” “safer”
Conversation is at the center of every activity.
Students complete speaking tasks such as:
Talking about weather they have experienced
Describing a landform
Choosing a season or climate
Giving environmental advice
Younger learners use sentence frames
Teens expand with reasons & examples
Newcomers practice basic structures with visuals
Students compare weather, land, and environmental habits between their home country and where they live now.
Unit 7 builds on earlier speaking units:
Unit 1: Daily Life
Unit 2: Neighborhood
Unit 3: Animals
Unit 4: Food
Unit 5: Hobbies
Unit 6: Travel
Now students move into science-connected speaking, preparing them for advanced topics like:
Weather & climate
Geography & ecosystems
Environmental science
Global citizenship
It also strengthens academic vocabulary needed across subjects.
Speaking Objective: Students describe Earth’s features, including land, water, landscapes, and climate zones.
Speaking Vocabulary: impossible, crops, depend, survival, stretch, ability
Speaking Activities:
Warm-up questions about the sky & weather
Short readings about Earth, landscapes, water, air, poles
Oral comprehension questions
4 partner dialogues: Earth from space, land adventures, water fun, hot vs. cold
Vocabulary in speaking context
“Would you rather…?” Earth-based choices
Speaking Benefit: Builds academic conversation skills using simple, accessible language.
Speaking Objective: Students talk about weather changes, seasons, global climate, and extreme conditions.
Speaking Vocabulary: rise, sink, appear, wonder, frozen, decide
Speaking Activities:
Warm-up about favorite weather
Readings on weather changes, seasons, global climates, seasonal life, extreme weather
WH speaking questions
4 dialogues about clouds, seasons, world climates, and wild weather
Seasonal “Would you rather…?” prompts
Speaking Benefit: Helps students describe real-life weather experiences and express preferences confidently.
Speaking Objective: Students describe cliffs, canyons, glaciers, plains, volcanoes, and compare natural environments.
Speaking Vocabulary: soil, carve, edge, simple, destroy, famous
Speaking Activities:
Warm-up about caves, heights, nature videos
Conversations after each reading (cliffs, canyons, glaciers, plains, volcanoes)
4 landform-centered dialogues
Creative speaking tasks about nature exploration
“Would you rather…?” geography choices
Speaking Benefit: Builds descriptive and comparative speaking with strong academic vocabulary.
Speaking Objective: Students discuss pollution, recycling, saving energy, protecting nature, and Earth’s future.
Speaking Vocabulary: waste, pollute, damage, choice, energy, habit
Speaking Activities:
Warm-up about being “in charge of Earth”
Readings on protecting Earth, reducing/reusing/recycling, saving resources, helping animals, future Earth
WH speaking questions
4 dialogues focused on environmental actions
“Would you rather…?” Earth-friendly decisions
Reflection discussions about the future
Speaking Benefit: Encourages students to express ideas, solutions, and hopes for the planet.
Use Earth images, landform pictures, or weather videos as conversation starters.
Encourage students to compare climate and nature from their home country.
Invite students to tell personal stories about storms, trips, or outdoor adventures.
Use sentence frames for ELL newcomers:
“My favorite season is…”
“I think this landform is…”
“I would like to…”
Use small groups to increase speaking time.
Oral explanation: Describe a landform or weather pattern
Speaking interview about favorite seasons
Pair dialogue performance
Short speaking presentation: “My favorite natural place”
Group discussion: “How should we protect Earth?”