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B2 English: ESL lesson plans for upper intermediate adults

Level B2, upper intermediate 2 courses, 64 lessons One-to-one or groups

B2 English on edio.ai is two courses of ready-made B2 ESL lesson plans for adults, in American English. English B2.1 follows the team of a small online magazine as they explain how things work, from AI and medicine to wildlife, pop culture, money and language, with narrative tenses, the future perfect, the third conditional, wishes and past modals. English B2.2 moves on to mixed conditionals, participle and relative clauses, the impersonal passive and linkers, through stories of learning, work, the news, sport and old buildings. Every lesson is interactive, and its practice exercises check themselves.

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English B2.1 · How the World Works

8 units, 32 lessons

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.

Grammar
Narrative tenses, the future perfect and future continuous, the third conditional and wishes, the passive in more tenses and have something done, reporting verbs, past modals of deduction and regret, and word formation.
Topics
True American stories of how things work: AI, medicine, transport, wildlife comebacks, pop culture, money, language and life in extreme places, in eight units of four lessons.
Every lesson
Word cards, a magazine-style explainer, two listenings, grammar practice with a scheme, a chat and a speaking game, then nine or ten homework exercises that check themselves.
Teach this course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

English B2.2 · Culture and Society

8 units, 32 lessons

32 more lessons for adults at B2 in American English, with the same Why Desk team in Pittsburgh. Each lesson answers one question about how Americans learn, work, travel and remember, from the law behind the 40-hour week to the oral histories of StoryCorps. Learners link ideas in formal writing, report what is said and believed, and pack more into a sentence with participle and relative clauses. The practice exercises check themselves.

Grammar
Mixed conditionals and conditional linkers, participle clauses, advanced relative clauses, the impersonal and personal passive, linkers of contrast, purpose and reason, collocations, phrasal verbs and word formation.
Topics
True American stories of culture and society: learning, work and rest, turning points, news and truth, travel that gives back, sport, buildings and heritage, and generations, in eight units of four lessons.
Every lesson
Word cards, a magazine-style explainer, two listenings, grammar practice with a scheme, a chat and a speaking game, then nine or ten homework exercises that check themselves.
Teach this course

  1. Unit 1 Learning reimagined

    adjective suffixes and negative prefixes, mixed conditionals, provided that and on condition that

    1. Lesson 1College for farmers' kids?Adjective suffixes and negative prefixes
    2. Lesson 2One cousin, one video, millions of learnersMixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now
    3. Lesson 3A college that says yesConditional linkers: provided that, on condition that, assuming, otherwise
    4. Lesson 4School in the woodsMixed conditionals: a present state, a past result

  2. Unit 2 Work-life balance

    be required to and be entitled to, present and perfect participle clauses, participle clauses after conjunctions

    1. Lesson 5Who decided a week is 40 hours?Formal rules: be required to, be entitled to, be exempt from
    2. Lesson 6A paid year off: rest or research?Present participle clauses for time and reason
    3. Lesson 7Was the coffee break born in Wisconsin?Perfect participle clauses: having done and having been done
    4. Lesson 8Why is the first Monday of September a day off?Participle phrases after conjunctions

  3. Unit 3 Turning points

    reduced relative clauses, preposition + which and whom, which for a whole clause, noun + preposition

    1. Lesson 9The keyboard that opened the officeReduced relative clauses: -ing and the past participle
    2. Lesson 10Earthrise: the photo that changed how we see EarthPreposition + which and whom
    3. Lesson 11A city of white palaces for six monthsSentence relative clauses: which for a whole clause
    4. Lesson 12The count that took eight years?Noun + preposition: a need for, a solution to, access to

  4. Unit 4 News and truth

    although, whereas and while, the impersonal passive, despite and however, is said to have

    1. Lesson 13A newspaper of their ownLinkers of contrast: although, even though, whereas and while
    2. Lesson 14Bat-people on the Moon?The impersonal passive: It is said that…
    3. Lesson 15Read like a fact-checkerLinkers of contrast: despite, in spite of, however and even so
    4. Lesson 16Did George Washington really chop down a cherry tree?Passive reporting verbs: is said to have done

  5. Unit 5 Travel that gives back

    so as to, in order to and so that, modifying comparatives, linkers of reason and result, verb + object + preposition + -ing

    1. Lesson 17Seven rules for the wild?Linkers of purpose: to, in order to, so as to, so that
    2. Lesson 18A lottery to see firefliesModifying comparatives and superlatives
    3. Lesson 19Sunrise with the turtlesLinkers of reason and result
    4. Lesson 20Volunteer on vacation?Verb + object + preposition + -ing

  6. Unit 6 Sport and society

    verb + noun collocations, what phrasal verb particles mean, a for-and-against essay, nouns from phrasal verbs

    1. Lesson 21The college team that changed disability sportVerb + noun collocations
    2. Lesson 22When women played pro baseballPhrasal verbs: what the particles mean
    3. Lesson 23Who needs a referee?The for and against essay: plan and linkers
    4. Lesson 24The comeback of Jim ThorpeNouns from phrasal verbs

  7. Unit 7 Buildings and heritage

    past participle clauses, quantifier + of which and of whom, report language, turn out and prove

    1. Lesson 25Homes built into the cliffsPast participle clauses with a passive meaning
    2. Lesson 26A house over a waterfallQuantifier + of which and of whom
    3. Lesson 27From factory to art museumReport language: headings, impersonal style, recommendations
    4. Lesson 28The towers the city tried to pull downTurn out and prove + to-infinitive or that clause

  8. Unit 8 Generations

    adverb + adjective collocations, three-part phrasal verbs, negative and echo questions, prepositional phrases

    1. Lesson 29Who decides where a generation ends?Adverb + adjective collocations
    2. Lesson 30Music students living in a retirement home?Three-part phrasal verbs
    3. Lesson 31Conversations kept for historyNegative questions and echo questions
    4. Lesson 32A day for grandparentsFixed prepositional phrases

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Ready-made interactive lessons for every level, from beginner to advanced.

Questions about B2 English

What is B2 level English?
The upper intermediate level of the CEFR, the fourth of its six levels. A B2 learner follows the main ideas of complex texts on concrete and abstract subjects, including discussions in their own field, takes part in conversation with enough fluency that neither side has to strain, and writes clear, detailed texts that argue a point of view. On edio.ai, English B2.1 and B2.2 teach the level in 64 lessons.
What grammar is taught at B2 level?
Narrative tenses, perfect futures, all the conditionals and past modals. B2 learners combine the past simple, past continuous and past perfect in a story, use the future perfect and future continuous, the third and mixed conditionals, wish and if only, the passive in every tense with have something done, reporting verbs, must have and should have, participle clauses and formal linkers. English B2.1 and B2.2 teach them over 16 units.
What can you do in English at B2 level?
Argue a point, weigh evidence and tell a story in detail. At B2, learners explain the advantages and disadvantages of an option, report what others claim and how sure they are, speculate about what must have happened, and organize their ideas in an essay or a report. By the end of English B2.2, students plan a for-and-against essay, use the language of a formal report and ask the questions of an oral-history interview.
What's the difference between B2 and C1?
B2 handles complex topics; C1 handles them with ease and nuance. A B2 learner understands the main ideas of demanding texts and argues clearly with some effort. A C1 learner follows long texts with meaning between the lines, speaks fluently without searching for words and uses English flexibly at work and in study. C1 grammar adds inversion, cleft sentences and more formal passives to what B2 teaches.
Which B2 course should I teach first?
English B2.1 first, then B2.2. English B2.1 follows on from English B1.2 and covers narrative tenses, the future perfect and continuous, the third conditional, wishes, the passive, reporting verbs and past modals in 32 lessons. English B2.2 adds mixed conditionals, participle and relative clauses, the impersonal passive, linkers and collocations in 32 more: 64 lessons in all.
What's in a B2 ESL lesson plan?
A warm-up, new words, an explainer, two listenings, grammar and speaking. In English B2.1 and B2.2, every lesson opens with a speaking game and twelve word cards with pictures and audio, then has a magazine-style article that answers one question, two listenings, a grammar chapter with a scheme and drills, a chat and a second speaking game, and nine or ten homework exercises that check themselves.
What reading and listening practice is there at B2?
A 400–500-word article and two listenings in every lesson. Each English B2.1 and B2.2 lesson has an explainer of four to five hundred words with true-or-false and multiple-choice questions, then two AI-voiced listenings with notes and questions, often a conversation with someone at the place in the story. The homework adds a short text in a real genre, such as a newsletter or a reader's comment.
What speaking topics do the B2 lessons cover?
AI, medicine, money, the news, work, travel and generations. Each lesson has two speaking games, spin the wheel and open the box, with prompts about its story and the students' own lives: whether a machine can be creative, what makes a news story believable, a habit worth changing, a place worth protecting or what each generation gets wrong about the next.
How do you teach English to B2 learners?
Give them questions worth arguing about, with evidence. B2 learners already have the main tenses, so each lesson brings one new form inside a true story, shows it in an article and a listening, drills it, then asks students to use it to explain, compare or disagree. English B2.1 and B2.2 work this way, and later lessons set new forms against old ones, such as the past perfect continuous against the past perfect.
Are there interactive ESL lessons for B2?
Yes. edio.ai has 64 interactive B2 lessons in two General English courses, and Business English B2 and English for IT B2 have courses of their own for work. Students work in their own accounts, and the practice exercises check every answer. Each lesson page has exercises from the lesson you can try without an account, and a free 7-day trial opens every course.
Can you teach a B2 course one-to-one or online?
Yes, in a live lesson or as homework. Live, each student follows the lesson in their own account while the teacher leads it, and the speaking games work for a pair as well as a group. The homework checks itself, so a one-to-one student can do it between lessons and the teacher sees the results.

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