A selection of English ESL crime printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

This worksheet contains an article based on a true story followed by a set of comprehension questions, two vocabulary exercises, a roleplay task and some questions for class discussion.

Crime and Punishment - The Death Penalty

This is a set of two separate worksheets (not to be used in the same lesson), whose aim is to practice vocabulary related to the justice system and the trial process. There is a crossword puzzle in the first worksheet. The second contains a matching exercise and a cloze exercise. Printer friendly version and answer key included.

Crime and Punishment - The Justice System

Crime taboo - words like "thief", "burglary" etc.

Also, some words from Upstream Intermediate Unit 6



How to play this game:

You need to explain the word in capital letters without using the words under it. Your team needs to guess what is written on the card.

Crime taboo Upstream PreIntermediate Unit 6

The article came from BreakingNewsEnglish, but it has been heavily edited to suit my students. 


I give the article for homework. The next class we do For/Against as a warmer. Then we do the gap fill, vocabulary, and questions. 


Afterwards students work with partners or in groups to complete the various activities. 


The group activity at the end is better for smaller classes. If your class is larger then you might want to check out my murder mystery document. 


This lesson is designed for a 2 hour class. 

Conversation lesson on crime and punishment

WAR CRIME. HISTORY AND THE PRESENT.THE NOTION OF A WAR CRIME. WAR CRIMES AND CRIMINALS. THE WAR LAWS. THE VIOLATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAWS AND HUMAN RIGHTS. RUSSIAN WAR IN UKRAINE.

WAR CRIME. HISTORY AND THE PRESENT.

Teacher's Guide: Radim Kraviec Reading ActivityDescription:
This worksheet is a reading activity designed for pre-intermediate to intermediate English learners (CEFR levels A2-B1), suitable for teenage students. It features a detailed biography of Radim Kraviec, a notorious Czech crime boss, highlighting his rise in criminal activities, his notoriety in the 1990s, and his eventual capture and conviction.Content:Reading Passage (Approx. 400 words): Covers Kraviec's life, including his early involvement in petty crimes, expansion into organized crime, his peak in the 1990s, and his ultimate downfall and arrest.Comprehension Questions (12 in total): Designed to test understanding and encourage critical thinking about criminal activities and law enforcement.Objectives:Improve reading comprehension.Expand vocabulary related to crime, law, and justice.Foster discussions on the impact of organized crime and the role of law enforcement.Usage:Pre-reading Activity: Discuss organized crime and its impact on society, focusing on the Czech Republic.Reading Activity: Students read the passage either individually or in groups.Post-reading Activity: Answer the comprehension questions and discuss the broader implications of Kraviec's actions and their impact on society.Translation Exercise: Use the provided translation activity to reinforce vocabulary learning for Czech students.Estimated Time:Pre-reading discussion: 10 minutesReading passage: 15-20 minutesComprehension questions and discussion: 20-30 minutesTranslation exercise: 10-15 minutesThis structured activity helps students practice English reading skills while learning about a significant figure in Czech organized crime history.

Radim Kraviec: The Czech Crime Boss

Accompanies Ned Kelly powerpoint. Students should follow along as you read through the presentation. Questions focus on  vocabulary related to crimes and the law. 

Ned Kelly worksheet for crime vocabulary

Put prepositions. Topic is Crime and Punishment.

This worksheet studies the vocabulary pertaining to crime in general. Your students will have to identify 16 words related to crime by their phonetic transcriptions, then they will have to match the words to their definitions.The answers are given on the second page.

Vocabulary of Crime: An introduction to Whodunnits

Phrasal verbs: business and money + crime and punishment, B2, FCE, exercise + key, 38 sentences 

Phrasal verbs: business and money + crime and punishment   


Investigate a crime that has been committed. Interrogate 3 suspects (characters' cards) and review evidence (included and to be uncovered progressively). 
I initially found a solve the crime document on islcollective and it inspired me to build a much larger game. / NB > Charlie SMITH to be changed for Charlie FIT + in the notes I wrote HER instead of HIM (cover for him)

Crime Role Play - House Robbery - Multi-Page Information Material

Quiz Worksheet related to the 1st episode of the series American Crime Story "the people vs OJ Simpson".

10 questions with multiple choice answers to do after watching the episode.

303 Crime English ESL worksheets pdf & doc