This unit from SuperEnglishESL.com introduces ESL students to the world of dangerous jobs, covering professions that require bravery, skill, and safety awareness. Students will learn about high-risk careers, workplace hazards, and the grammar structures needed to discuss jobs and working conditions. Through interactive discussions, role-plays, vocabulary-building exercises, and engaging reading activities, students will expand their language skills while learning real-world applications.
Perfect for 1:1 online lessons, group classes, or classroom instruction, this unit includes downloadable worksheets, structured lessons, and interactive activities that help students improve reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, sentence structure, and speaking confidence.
Students explore the risks of being a commercial fisherman, particularly crab fishing in Alaska, where harsh weather and dangerous waters make it one of the most hazardous professions.
✔️ Warm-up: Quick-thinking vocabulary guessing game
✔️ Reading & Discussion: Life as a commercial fisherman—working conditions, safety risks, and high salaries
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: commercial, salary, hypothermia, fatality
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Using “of” to describe relationships (e.g., the captain of the ship)
✔️ Pronunciation: Silent “G” words (gnaw, gnome, gnostic)
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a conversation between a captain and a fisherman
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Understanding extreme working conditions and discussing job risks
Students learn about the perils of coal mining, including cave-ins, poor ventilation, and exposure to toxic gases. They will discuss mining accidents and safety measures.
✔️ Warm-up: “Which one is different?” critical thinking exercise
✔️ Reading & Discussion: The dangers of coal mining and historical mining disasters
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: trade, cave-in, ventilation, flammable
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Quantifiers + “of” (e.g., most of the players, some of the apples)
✔️ Pronunciation: Silent “G” words (sign, campaign, resign)
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a dialogue about a trapped miner rescue
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Talking about work safety and historical workplace disasters
Students examine the job of a logger, a profession with high fatality rates due to falling trees, chainsaw accidents, and isolation in remote forests.
✔️ Warm-up: “Would you rather?” debate on extreme activities
✔️ Reading & Discussion: The daily risks of logging and why it remains one of the deadliest jobs
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: construction, chainsaw, isolated, hazard
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Adjective + “of” (e.g., afraid of heights, proud of my work)
✔️ Pronunciation: Silent “W” words (wrench, wreck, whole)
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a conversation about becoming a logger
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Discussing dangerous work environments and safety precautions
Students explore the challenges of working at great heights and the dangers of falling, electrical hazards, and weather-related risks in roofing.
✔️ Warm-up: Word association game—name a noun, verb, and adjective for a given letter
✔️ Reading & Discussion: Why roofing is one of the most dangerous jobs
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: repair, career, heights, fatigue
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Using “in case of” for warnings and emergencies (e.g., Call the police in case of danger)
✔️ Pronunciation: Silent “B” words (climb, dumb, thumb)
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a conversation about safety in roofing jobs
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Talking about workplace safety regulations and job-related fears
This final lesson serves as a review and assessment of the unit, covering all previously learned vocabulary, grammar, and real-life job scenarios. Students also discuss the ethical concerns of child labor and how dangerous working conditions affect young workers.
✔️ Warm-up: “Guess the word” based on clues
✔️ Assessment Tasks:
✅ ESL learners at A2+ – B1 levels (pre-intermediate to intermediate)
✅ Students in online 1:1 lessons, group classes, or traditional classrooms
✅ Teachers looking for structured, engaging, and interactive lessons on jobs and workplace safety
📄 Lesson previews & worksheets
🎲 Games & vocabulary activities
📚 Reading passages & discussion questions
🔊 Pronunciation & sentence-building exercises
📌 Encourage students to share their thoughts on dangerous jobs they know of.
📌 Use real-world news articles about mining, logging, or extreme professions for discussion.
📌 Have students role-play job interviews for high-risk careers.