B2 – Types of Crimes

Description

A B2-level ESL lesson on types of crimes, ideal for learners interested in current events and real-world issues.

Students build vocabulary through matching activities and explore crime-related topics via a gripping listening task based on an authentic story in this B2 crime vocabulary lesson. Includes fluency-focused speaking questions, group discussions, and vocabulary practice to encourage critical thinking and debate. Perfect for engaging learners in meaningful conversation.

Warmer: Talk about safety

Start by having everyone share how safe they think their country or city is (why not both?). Once everyone’s had a chance to answer, compare ideas – this should be especially fun in an international classroom! Then, talk about the kinds of crimes that are common in your countries. No need to worry about the fancy terms just yet – just let everyone describe the crimes in their own words for now.

Listening: What crime is it?

I put together this class around an awesome audio I found on the English Listening Lesson Library Online, which is a super handy site with totally free audio clips! Check out the recording where Gareth shares a scary story with his friend Rebecca about an encounter with some criminal behaviour. Play it and pause at 2:17 to give everyone a moment to think about what kind of crime he’s talking about.

Audio

Keep playing the recording until the end and then check the answers. The crime talked about in the recording is… mugging. I bet a lot of B2-level students will be surprised and kind of curious about this word since they probably have a different way of describing this act.

Check out the entire recording this time without pausing. Focus on the details Gareth talks about. Think about the location where everything went down, the encounter with the stranger, and what ended up preventing the crime from taking place.

Wrap up this part of the class by chatting about Gareth’s behaviour and how he could’ve handled things differently to maybe steer clear of this awkward situation. This could definitely lead to some fun stories from students who’ve experienced something like this before.

Vocabulary: Types of Crimes

This B2 crime vocabulary lesson is based on a vocabulary list that gave me the idea for this class. Have a look at the list of crimes and let students check it out on their own. Since the listening part was about mugging, I thought it’d be a good idea to start by matching mugging to its description (A man grabbed a woman’s handbag on the street and ran away). Some crimes included in this task are stalking, hacking, hijacking, and blackmail. Students can read through the other crime examples and then compare their answers with a partner. There’s a good chance some of them might know even trickier words from reading or catching news on the internet or TV.

Speaking: Describe the crime

Since the last task was all about criminal behaviour, I thought it would be fun for students to come up with their own examples and play a game. They can describe different crimes while the rest of the group tries to guess what crime it is. It’s a fun way to practice speaking and remember the new vocabulary they’ve learned.

Finish the class by chatting about which crimes from today’s B2 crime vocabulary lesson students consider the worst. Think about what type of punishment might fit different criminal activities. This could lead to a really interesting discussion about how serious certain crimes are and what kind of punishment makes sense for them.