Here you can find a range of short activities to use in your secondary classroom with students at pre-intermediate level. All of our activities are designed around themes engaging and relevant to secondary learners and can be used to complement your school curriculum, giving students an opportunity to develop their English language and skills in motivating and enjoyable ways. Written by young learner experts from around the world, our activities are easy to use and aim to give your students the skills and confidence they need to enjoy learning English.

One word story

This is a simple activity where each student adds a word to create a group story. 

Dating game

This is a great activity for getting students talking. I have used it successfully with many different levels and age groups and have found that it is very effective at motivating teenagers to talk.

Summer destinations

These are activities that encourage students to talk about their plans for the summer.

Running dictation

This is a lively activity that practises speaking, listening, writing, walking and remembering!

Why bother?

This is a speaking exercise to practise clauses and infinitives of purpose.

Revising texts

This is a time-effective and motivating activity for revising texts.

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight