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.

Fortune teller

This lesson, suitable for pre-intermediate students, follows on from presentation and controlled practice of the future 'will'.

Desert island

This is a speaking activity based on the theme of being stranded on a desert island. It is suitable for pre-intermediate students upwards.

Choosing a school

This activity can supplement a unit in a coursebook which has a focus on school.

Creative group writing

This activity really makes writing in class fun. It's good practice for writing creative stories using narrative tenses.

Revision chocolate bars

This revision game is a version of the popular game Battleships. In this version, instead of blowing up battleships, teams have to find hidden 'chocolate bars'. 

Design a mobile phone

This activity can be used for all levels and could be extended to a mini-project for younger students.

Good manners

This activity is all about manners and etiquette, which can be an interesting topic to discuss with your students.

The press conference

This is a longer activity that needs some preparation. It's great for practising question forms in a fun way and gives structured speaking practice to lower levels.

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