I created this for a literature class on the Boy in the striped pyjamas. There are vocabulary exercises to pre-teach difficult vocabulary from the book and questions to check understanding. For a few parts I’ve included a text with some historical context. If your students are native speakers I guess you could just delete the vocabulary parts. Mine are French.

This short story is available for free on The New Yorker’s website, but I have edited it slightly. Plus, I have created vocabulary exercises, preteaching vocabulary that appears in the text along with comprehension questions to check understanding of the text. I have also written my own biography of Haruki Murakami adding some information about “magic realism” given that this short story employs some magical realism techniques. There is also a short article on the difference between jealousy and envy (if you read the story you will understand why). This is a high level B2 or low C1 level on the CEFR scale. I found it great for students studying FCE or CAE level given that it has lots of advanced adjectives and great phrasal verbs needed at these 2 levels.

Adidas vs Puma This is a lesson on the feud between the founders of Adidas and Puma - two brothers. I find that teenagers find this topic interesting as most kids nowadays wear Adidas, Puma and Nike. Firstly, if time there is a dictogloss. On the first page of the dictogloss is a picture of the brothers to show the students and a map with Herzogenaurach. During the dictogloss I get students to just write HZ as it’s much quicker! Then is the text on the brothers’ feud and story, accompanied by comprehension questions. This has taken several hours to create,merging, editing and rewriting material from multiple sources.

I got the idea for this when I found some excerpts of the diary online which looked to be scanned from a class book, but I didn’t like the questions so I made my own. I have started with a very simple background on what Yugoslavia was with questions, then excerpts from the book along with comprehension questions every so often to check understanding of the text and then a conclusion on her life with comprehension questions. There are also some vocabulary activities to pre-teach difficult words, so if your students are native English speakers I guess you could simply edit and delete these sections.

Here are comprehension texts on Charlotte Brown - a blind pole vaulter (there are two comprehension texts - one is a bit easier) A basic guide to Braille Biography of Laura Bridgman Biography of Helen Keller Each exercise has some questions. This can be used for native English speakers but has been primarily designed for English learners with a low B1 level in mind. The texts have been taken from different websites, combined, merged, edited and rewritten in different parts.

Here is the life of Helen Keller. There are exercises and some texts on Laura Bridgman, Louis Braille and Charlotte Brown.

Hi This is an excellent and dark short story by Jonathan Crag: “Call me Nick” from 1968 and featured on Hitchcock presents. Content Call me Nick - I have edited this short story to remove some really difficult words and use some slightly easier synonyms The Devil - an article on the Devil slightly adapted from a site online with images added showing the cloven hooves, trident and horns. Workbook - difficult vocab is defined (e.g. gasp, chuckle, stare, sin etc) and there are comprehension exercises along with a few idioms with the word devil. This has been used for a literature class with B2/B2+ students. I have divided the short story into two parts and between these parts students have an article about the Devil to read. This breaks it up nicely. This could also easily be used in a literature class for native speakers. I think my students enjoyed it! It took two whole classes to read and finish the questions (55 minute classes in my school, so if your classes are shorter you might need 3 lessons).

Here is a resource on the (supposed) alien abduction of Travis Walton in 1975. I created this document as the chapter in the student book is narrative tenses and descriptive verbs. I got inspiration from a resource I saw on the British Council that dealt with an imaginary alien abduction to introduce narrative tenses. But I felt this way was better as it’s a real event (well, real in the sense that Travis is a real person, whether you believe he was kidnapped by aliens or not!) Students read the newspaper story to get a general idea of the story, then the class is divided into two: newspaper reporters and Travis. The newspaper reporters need to create questions based on my points, then the group with Travis needs to give information about the abduction based on my points. Then we read the story and answer the questions, then there is a buzzfeed video you can show them (about 7 minutes in length). TES don’t allow external links so if you want to show the video it is called “Three Bizarre Cases Of Alien Abductions.”