Dear teachers,
It is no secret that personalization plays a role in the success of your lessons. Personalization can help you stand out among the rest of the teachers and get a client for years to come, as well as make the teaching process more interesting for you, reducing the robotic feeling of simply "explaining Present Perfect over and over again". When you personalize, the student becomes your younger friend with diverse interests, allowing you to apply all the boring grammar structures to a relevant context.
While the advantages of personalization are clear, achieving such results may not be so easy. Surely, we will not leave you one-on-one with this imposing enigma😉
Wrap up with a cup of warm tea, as we explain to you how to personalize lessons for different age groups for better results⬇️
🐥Preschool (4-6)
Preschool is arguably one of the most challenging age groups for personalization. It is not always easy to communicate with them, especially if you do not share the L1. Therefore, as a general tip, try to rely more on the use of props and TPR.
1. Use the Child’s Interests to Introduce Vocabulary
Ask parents about the child’s favorite toys, pets, foods, or games. Introduce new words using their personal items: e.g., “bear” if they love teddy bears, “car” if they love toy cars.
Props connected to the child’s life make words meaningful and memorable from the start. We encourage you to print out lots of pictures to use as props. If you do not happen to have anything relevant at hand, you can try to use online props.
2. Incorporate the Child’s Daily Routine
Base activities on the child’s real-life routines: breakfast, dressing, and washing hands. For example, “Put on shoes” can be modeled with the child’s own shoes. Also, try to draw a parallel between real-life objects and the words you are teaching. For example, "Blue🟦" (show a blue prop), "name, show me blue👉🏻🟦" asking to show the blue objects surrounding them, like a pen, a notebook, etc.
This creates relevance and helps the child immediately connect English words to actions and objects they know.
3. Let the Child Make Choices
Offer simple choices that tie into the lesson: “Red ball or blue ball?” “Puppet or car?”
This personalizes the lesson, gives the child a sense of control, and naturally introduces vocabulary.
4. Integrate Their Stories or Experiences
Even at zero English, you can act out their experiences: “I am eating a banana” → show a banana, act out eating, invite them to repeat gestures or words.
Stories tied to the child’s life make language meaningful and memorable.
5. Adapt Songs, Games, and TPR to the Child’s Preferences
Use songs or actions they enjoy🤗. For instance, if they like dancing, make a “jump, clap, spin” game with personalized props or favorite characters.
Linking language to personal interests increases engagement and retention.
🌆Primary (7-9)
This age group can be differentiated. Some kids have quite a level, while others are just beginning their language journey, so your personalization strategy will depend on their abilities.
1. Personalized Activities
When teaching lexis, you often encounter a couple of pictures that display different words. Try to ask the student which one they like more. For example, when there is a monkey and a dog on the screen, ask the student, "Do you like monkeys or dogs?"🤔🤔 hmm..?
Encourage them to answer in English and model full sentences: “I like dogs. The dog is blue."
2. Virtual Show and Tell
Ask the child to share something from home via webcam: a toy, drawing, or pet.
Use it to practice language: “This is my teddy. It is brown. I love it.”
If sharing is difficult, they can describe something from memory, and you display an image matching it.
3. Digital Drawing in Class
Let the child draw on the platform (e.g., paint tool, whiteboard) or annotate images.
Label items together in English: “This is a car. The car is red.”
This allows ownership of content without needing physical materials.
4. Personalized Feedback Visually
Use stars, stickers, or checkmarks on the platform tied to their correct answers or participation.
Highlight the words or phrases they successfully used during the lesson to reinforce ownership and motivation.
5. Digital Role-Play
Create simple role-play scenarios using images or icons: “Order food at the cafe,” “Say hello to your friend.”
Guide them to form short sentences, combining their own choices with modeled language.
👩🏻🦰Preteens(10-13)
Kids at this age more often than not do not like being treated like kids, calling for a more young adult approach when it comes to personalization. The objective here is to get them to open up and lower their guard.
1. Link Language to Real-Life Interests and Hobbies
Ask about hobbies, favorite sports, YouTube channels, books, or music. Use these as contexts for vocabulary, reading, or speaking activities.
Example: If a student likes football, ask: “Who is your favorite player?” or “Describe a match you watched.” Use images, short videos, or digital slides related to their interests. Do not be afraid to develop the conversation by asking more questions.
2. Encourage Opinion and Choice
Pre-teens can handle expressing preferences: “Do you prefer pizza or pasta?” “Which game do you like better?”
Model full sentences and encourage them to explain: “I like pizza because it is tasty.” This builds speaking confidence and meaningful use of English.
3. Integrate Personal Experiences Into Lessons
Ask about school, weekend activities, or friends: “What did you do yesterday?” or “Describe your favorite day.”
Use images and timelines to help them organize their answers visually while practicing full sentences.
4. Role-Play Realistic Scenarios
Engage them in practical situations.
Use platform tools (images, slides, chat box) to create the scenario. Pre-teens can produce short dialogues or email-style sentences.
5. Encourage Storytelling With Their Experiences
Pre-teens can sequence events: “First I woke up, then I played football, then I ate lunch.”
Use timelines, numbered images, or slide sequences to help them narrate, adding new vocabulary
6. Incorporate Media They Like
Short video clips, images from popular media, or songs they enjoy can be used as prompts for discussion or writing.
Ask questions about the content: “What happens first?” “What is your opinion about the character?” This keeps lessons relevant and age-appropriate.
7. Track Their Interests and Vocabulary Progress
Keep a digital note of topics, words, or sentence structures that resonate with the student.
Reuse these in future lessons to make the content feel familiar, relevant, and personalized.
Here is a video showing how you can apply the aforementioned advice to
real-life lessons.
Special thanks to our teachers, Javier and Teodora☺️
We are hopeful this article was useful to you and inspired you to personalize your lessons even more in the future.
If you want to keep the advice from this article handy, here is a printable sheet for you to download and print out.
Yours truly,
All Right Team💜