Welcome to your Teachers’ Newsletter for December

Your top 3 newsletter activities from 2025 🎉

Firstly, a big thank you for everything you do to support your learners. We hope the tips, resources and activities we’ve shared have helped inspire your teaching. Let’s look back at some of your favourite content from the year:

1. Speaking guides for teachers

With practical tips and real examples, the guides help you assess and develop learners’ speaking skills in preparation for their Speaking test. Simply click on ‘Teacher essentials’ to access the right level for your students.

3. Free photocopiable exam practice tasks Looking for extra exam task practice for your students? Download the free Exam Booster photocopiable exam resources for:

• A2 Key/A2 Key for Schools
• B1 Preliminary/B1 Preliminary for Schools
• B2 First/B2 First for Schools
• C1 Advanced

Phrasal verbs with ‘Look’

10 Christmas movies to learn English

Watching classics like Home Alone, Love Actually and The Polar Express helps students improve listening, vocabulary and cultural understanding while enjoying the holiday magic.

They also provide examples of natural expressions that learners can use in everyday English.

Read the blog article for the full list!

Living in a city: Free 1–2-hour lesson plan

Word of the Year 2025: free classroom ideas pack

The 2025 Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year is 🥁 – parasocial.  This word describes the one-sided connections people form with celebrities, fictional characters or even AI.

Use our classroom ideas pack to explore how this word can spark vocabulary, reading, writing and discussion activities in your English lessons. For example, why not try setting a writing task where students write a short fan message to a celebrity, character or AI?

Our next webinars 🗓️

The value of digital assessment for young learners

How can we make assessment a source of motivation for young learners, rather than just a checkpoint?

Register for this session and discover practical resources and classroom activities using digital assessment tools that inspire learners’ curiosity, build confidence and celebrate their achievements.

Tuesday 13 January, 11:00 (CET)

Thursday 15 January, 17:00 (CET)

Teaching speaking skills to primary learners

Register for this session to learn practical strategies for creating an engaging classroom environment and build your confidence to teach and assess speaking effectively.

Join us as we explore techniques for encouraging interaction through simple, structured activities, scaffolding language with prompts and visuals, and balancing fluency with accuracy.

Tuesday 27 January, 11:00 (CET) 

Thursday 29 January, 17:00 (CET)

Thanks again for all your hard work this year. Look out for even more tips, activities and resources coming soon in 2026!

Best wishes

The Cambridge team – English