Lesson resources
ESL discussion topics47
See all 47 →Topics your students already talk about, turned into a ready lesson with a handout, a word bank and teacher notes.
- Middle school
Library Books: Should Kids Be Allowed to Choose Any Book?
A ready-to-run middle school discussion lesson asking whether students should pick any library book they want or stick to a teacher's reading list, with balanced arguments on both sides.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Should Schools Let Students Choose Their Own Class Seats?
A seating chart can help you focus, or it can split you up from your best friend right when you need them. Here's a ready-to-run debate for your class on fixed seats versus free choice.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Sunday Night Scaries: Is Homework Over the Weekend Fair?
A ready-to-run middle school discussion lesson on weekend homework, Sunday study sessions, and family free-time rules, with pro and con arguments students can actually use in English.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Class Pet Care Rota: Who Should Feed the Fish on Weekends?
A ready-to-run discussion lesson for middle school classes: students debate whether a rotating schedule of classmates should feed the class fish on weekends, or whether one person should own the job all year.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Weekend Chores at Home: Should Kids Get Paid for Helping Out?
A ready-to-run B1 discussion lesson on whether chores deserve an allowance. Students weigh paid versus unpaid housework, learn key vocabulary, and argue both sides using sentence frames built for high schoolers.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Weekend Gaming Time: Should Kids Play Games on School Nights?
A ready-to-run elementary discussion lesson on gaming on school nights, weighing the friendship side against homework and sleep, with a word bank and sentence frames built for A1 to A2 speakers.
Student sheet + teacher notes
Classroom games27
See all 27 →No-prep games that work in a Korean hagwon classroom, for 8 to 15 students and one whiteboard.
- Middle school
Word Ladder Wipe
Word Ladder Wipe is a no-prep whiteboard game where each new word must start with the last letter of the word before it, and any word that breaks the chain gets erased.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Quick Ladder Spell-Off
Quick Ladder Spell-Off is a whiteboard race where two teams climb a word ladder, spelling one word correctly before they can move up to the next rung.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Doodle Dash: the whiteboard drawing race where kids guess a word from a single mini-sketch
Doodle Dash turns a blank whiteboard into a scoreboard. One player draws a vocabulary word one stroke at a time, teams race to shout the answer first, and fewer strokes always means more points.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Split the Room turns any whiteboard into a debate stage
Split the Room is a no-prep whiteboard game where students pick a side, defend it in one sentence, and earn points for using "because." It runs with eight to fifteen students and needs nothing but a board and a marker.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Freeze Tag Flashcards: the whiteboard game where students stop mid-word when the teacher shouts "freeze"
Freeze Tag Flashcards stops elementary students from blurting out guesses by making them freeze mid-word on your signal, forcing slower, more careful retrieval of words they already know.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Hangman Ladder: the whiteboard spelling game that climbs from letters to whole words
Hangman Ladder swaps the gallows for a ladder: every correct letter adds a rung, every wrong guess passes the turn. No printing, no props, just a whiteboard and a class that wants to climb first.
Student sheet + teacher notes
Grammar for Korean speakers25
See all 25 →The mistakes Korean students actually make (articles, tense, countability) and drills that fix them.
- Elementary
'Many homeworks' and other fake plurals Korean students make
Korean students add -s to words like homework, furniture, and advice because Korean plural marking is optional and English countability rules don't exist in their first language. Here's the fix, with drills.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
"Are you have a pen?" and why Korean students stack "do" and "have": verb-do confusion in questions
Korean has no separate question word like "do", so students often add an auxiliary to every verb, even ones that already act like one. Here is why, and drills that fix it step by step.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Why Korean speakers say "I am agree" and "discuss about it": verbs that don't take a preposition
Korean students add "am" to agree and "about" to discuss because Korean sentences build those ideas with a particle before the verb. English puts the meaning inside the verb itself, so the extra word has to go.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
I am boring: the -ed/-ing adjective mix-up Korean students make
Korean students often say "I am boring" when they mean "I am bored." The mix-up comes straight from how Korean describes feelings, and once you show students the rule, it clicks fast.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
'I have dog': fixing the missing article in Korean English
Korean has no word for "a" or "the," so students build English sentences without them. This piece explains why in plain terms and gives drills that move from one word to full sentences.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Indirect questions trip up Korean speakers: fixing 'what is this'
Korean questions don't reorder words, so students bolt the English question pattern onto embedded clauses as one memorized block, producing "I don't know what is this" instead of "I don't know what this is."
Student sheet + teacher notes