A selection of English ESL indigenous printables

Students will read short biographies of 4 famous indigenous Australians and complete various exercises to demonstrate their understanding of the main events in these people's lives and numerical data.

Famous Indigenous Australians

Listening comprehension on the environment

The impact of climate change on Indigenous populations

How they care for the environment and how global warming has changed their lives

Indigenous climate action

This worksheet focuses on Tecumseh, a notable Indigenous leader, and uses irregular verbs in the past tense. Students read the passage, circle the correct verb forms, and answer comprehension questions. This activity is designed for young EFL learners, around 12 years old, at the A2 level. The translation section provides additional practice with key vocabulary, enhancing both language skills and cultural understanding.

Tecumseh - A Great Indigenous Leader

This worksheet is designed for YLE (Movers–Flyers) level students and combines reading comprehension with a fun, culturally respectful personality-style quiz based on Indigenous traditions. The quiz, written in simplified English, helps students discover their "animal helper" by answering 10 questions and learning about symbols found in many Native American and First Nations stories. The worksheet also includes three short readings (around 150–170 words each) about powwows, totem poles, and traditional canoes — each followed by three comprehension questions. The content introduces young learners to key elements of Indigenous life in an age-appropriate, engaging way. After completing the quiz, students are invited to reflect on and choose their personal animal helper from a short list. This is followed by a creative writing or drawing task. The activity promotes vocabulary development, cultural awareness, and personal connection — all while supporting core reading skills. Ideal for individual work, pair sharing, or as part of a themed cultural lesson.

Animal Helpers and Indigenous Traditions

There are always two sides to every story. It's the same about Thanksgiving. My worksheet about the Thanksgiving Day not only covers both the celebrations and origins of this event, but also gives honour to Native Americans who were impacted by colonialism. 

Thanksgiving Day & Indigenous Peoples (Printable + Answer Key)

This worksheet is designed to teach students about Dr. Cindy Blackstock, a notable Indigenous Canadian advocate for children's rights. The reading passage highlights her background, significant actions, and ongoing efforts for equality. The comprehension questions and translation activities aim to enhance understanding and language skills. This activity is suitable for students at the A2-B1 CEFR levels, providing both cultural context and language practice.

Dr. Cindy Blackstock - Indigenous Leader and Advocate

This resource includes a simplified Coast Salish-style story called The Mouse and the Bear, written for A2-level EFL learners around age 10. The story is easy to follow and includes clear moral themes like cleverness and respect. It comes with true/false questions, multiple choice tasks, and simple follow-up questions to support reading comprehension and speaking. A traditional-style bear and mouse illustration is included to help bring the story to life.

The Mouse and the Bear- An Indigenous story

this is a reading comprehension worksheet, the text is an interesting article that shows the struggles of young native Canadians, i added some activities including direct questions and reflective ones that encourage thinking and reasoning, a true/false task and the last activity is to write a presentation about the topic which can be done as a speaking task or a written one.



this worksheet is best used after tackling the topic with the students. 

I Admit It: I Hold Racist Views About Native People In Canada

October - Easy beginner Reading with T/F questions. Present tense  and past tense. Vocabulary, Seasons,  months,  before/after,  weather, colors, Holidays,  Columbus Day,  Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Halloween,

October - Easy beginner Reading with T/F questions. Present tense

Think Tales: The Rainbow Serpent is a worksheet that can be used to help students to examine and study a famous Australian indigenous story "The Rainbow Serpent" . This material was designed by Sirhajwan Idek and it is also available in ESL Printables

Think Tales: The Rainbow Serpent

 This engaging worksheet explores the story of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. It includes reading comprehension questions, vocabulary exercises, and a detailed grammar section focusing on the second conditional. The worksheet is designed for teens, with beautiful, hyper-realistic images of the Code Talkers to enhance the learning experience. Perfect for teaching both history and language skills, it emphasizes the importance of communication and teamwork.

The Windtalkers (second conditional)

This engaging worksheet is designed to help students explore how language, particularly adjectives, shapes our perception of the world around us. Through a variety of activities, students will categorize adjectives, apply them in context, and understand their impact on description and meaning. The lesson begins with a warm-up activity where students select adjectives to describe objects such as a bridge, mountain, tree, and river, sparking discussions on how different languages and cultures might influence these choices.

 
The worksheet includes vocabulary matching, true or false questions, multiple choice, and comprehension exercises to reinforce understanding. A detailed grammar focus on adjective order and usage is provided, covering common pitfalls and native speaker nuances. Students will practice constructing sentences using correct adjective order and then apply their knowledge in a creative storytelling task.

 
To support vocabulary retention, a QR code is included, directing students to an interactive practice session. This comprehensive worksheet not only develops language skills but also encourages students to think critically about how words influence their view of the world, making it an ideal resource for any language classroom.

How Language Shapes How We See the World and Nature (adjective order and adjective as nouns)

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

15 Indigenous English ESL worksheets pdf & doc