A selection of English ESL tell a story printables

2nd set of questions - in case you have a large group and want to avoid boredom. In this role play we’re gonna pretend to go to a Green Card Interview. We’ll need three characters: A wife, a husband and an immigrations officer. Great for practising asking and answering past simple and continuous questions.



If you've seen the movie Green Card with Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell, you know that immigrants sometimes marry US citizens to get a green card to be able to stay and work in the States, and they have to pass an interview where they prove their marriage is real. 



Pair up students (husband-wife) and have them meet an immigrations officer separately. Before the interview they have 10 minutes to prepare their story together. They'll be asked 10 questions. In the interview both students have to tell the exact same story, because if the officer finds 3 differences in their stories, the wife will be deported back to her native country.

Green Card Role Play (2nd Set of Questions)

This a fun way to do a reading and debate. If you can get a white fluffy cat for them to stroke while being the villains, even better! Tell the students they are all members of an evil but secret organisation that runs all the big industries of the world called SECTUM. The main source of income for this organisation is petroleum but it controls the majority of all the world´s energy production and services. Cut out the students´ personality cards below and tell them to read them to themselves and then assume the character of the personality they have been given. Hand out the story about fuel from air and get them to read it in a group (doing the vocabulary exercise first). Then tell them that they are going to have a meeting to talk about what to do about this threat to their businesses. They must discuss what to do according to their characters´ personality traits.

Conspiracy Theory Role-Play

3rd set of questions - in case you have a large group and want to avoid boredom. In this role play we’re gonna pretend to go to a Green Card Interview. We’ll need three characters: A wife, a husband and an immigrations officer. Great for practising asking and answering past simple and continuous questions.



If you've seen the movie Green Card with Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell, you know that immigrants sometimes marry US citizens to get a green card to be able to stay and work in the States, and they have to pass an interview where they prove their marriage is real. 



Pair up students (husband-wife) and have them meet an immigrations officer separately. Before the interview they have 10 minutes to prepare their story together. They'll be asked 10 questions. In the interview both students have to tell the exact same story, because if the officer finds 3 differences in their stories, the wife will be deported back to her native country.

Green Card Role Play (3rd Set of Questions)

Reading activities based on the the short story by Edgard Alan Poe.There are questions to answer and an activity to compare similarities and differences between this story and others from the same author (suggested Tha Black Cat). Then students can write a comparative essay. It is a reading comprehension worksheet. No solutions because some of the activities are opened.

The Tell Tale Heart by 

A gap fill in legend of Saint Valentine and Valentine's quiz. There are also some pictures to tell the story. Answer key included.

St. Valentine's story and Valentine's quiz

This listening activity is good for students from level A2+ and up. It uses song by the Police "Roxanne" to practice modal verbs and to learn some additional vocabulary. It is recommended for adult learners since song itself tells the story of a girl who works on the street - such a content may be found inappropriate for younger audience (below 18 years old).

Roxanne by the Police

Activity 1:
1. Teacher tells students about structure/grammar: relative clauses.

2. Teacher describes the usage of relatives clauses: who, that, which. 

3. Teacher writes 4 sentences on the board as follow as:

- The boy who won the race is my brother. 

- A band is a group that plays popular music. 

- Mick Jagger is a musician who plays with the Rolling Stones. 

- The Rolling Stones is a band that began in 1962. 

4. Teacher describes “who is relative pronoun that is part of relative clause - who won the race”. 

5. Volunteers underline relative pronoun in 3 sentences on the board. 

6. Teacher describes “who and that for people, that and which for things and animals” as follow as:

- The girl lives next door. She’s friendly. The girl who/that lives next door is friendly. 

- The dog bit me. It is dangerous. The dog that bit me is dangerous. 

7. Students do exercise in task 1. 2 about relative clauses. 8. Volunteers read the answer about relative clauses. 



Activity 2:



1. Teacher tells students about this topic: student is able to respond to questions with short answers forming questions to elicit information. 

2. Student will be talk presentation about facebook and anyone’s information who became rich at a young age. 

3. Students do task 1. 2 and teacher read direction and gives student listen. 

4. Students look at facebook picture and tell the advantage of facebook. 

5. Teacher reads 2 questions as follow as :

I. Do you use facebook? 

II. What information about yourself do you include? 

6. Students work in group (4-5 people per a group) and talk presentation about their facebook. 

7. Students work in group (4-5 people per a group) and read the questions “do you know anyone who became rich at a young age? ” and search the answer. 

8. Volunteers stand in front of the class room and talk presentation about anyone who became rich at a young age. 

9. Teacher evaluates the ability of english speaking of students in each group about talking presentation about facebook and anyone’s information who became rich at a young age by using the English speaking criteria.


Lesson 2 stories and events

This is an introspective worksheet that provides a positive focus on reminiscing.  This ensures that the precious moments from every day life are retained and acknowledged.

We all have stories to tell

A boy tells his story throughout this popular summer song. He uses the past simple, so this song is useful to revise this tense in class. 

Song: Summer cat, by Billie the Vision and the Dancers

This worksheet, designed for CEFR Level A2 (Cambridge Movers), introduces students to the inspiring story of Eric Moussambani, also known as "Eric the Eel." The text tells how Eric, from Equatorial Guinea, competed in the Sydney Olympics 100-meter freestyle despite having only a few months of swimming experience and limited training facilities. The story highlights themes of determination and the Olympic spirit, making it both educational and motivational.

The comprehension questions test students' understanding and encourage critical thinking, while discussion topics prompt meaningful conversations about perseverance and success. Additionally, a creative activity allows students to draw and describe a scene from Eric's Olympic experience, enhancing both creativity and language skills. This worksheet is perfect for teachers who want to inspire their students with a real-life story of perseverance while improving their reading and comprehension abilities.

The Olympian Who Didn't Know How to Swim

Spring worksheets.



First worksheet: Older pupils, un-jumble words.

Second worksheet: Younger learners, match pictures to words and then get them to match up picture to a number. Good listening activity. I usually tell a story and have them match up to the numbers after matching the pictures and words e.g. "There are 5 Easter eggs in the basket. I love Easter eggs. Do you?"

Spring worksheets (differentiated)

Here is a reading activity telling about the origins of Hallowe\'en and also how people celebratet it nowadays, with questions and activities on the second page.

Let\'s celebrate Halloween : 2 page reading

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

307 Tell a story English ESL worksheets pdf & doc