Lesson Topics: event betting, speculation, investing
Skill Focus: Speaking, Vocabulary, Listening, Writing
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: polymarket-event-betting-advanced-032026.docx
Lesson Overview:
- Note: This lesson should work well with students interested in investing and finance.
- Students first warm up with questions about betting and gambling.
- This lesson's input is a 2:53-minute video about Polymarket, an event betting platform. The video explains how the market functions and some of its controversies.
- The video is followed by comprehension questions.
- Next, students review phrases from the video and match key vocabulary to definitions. Once complete, students use some of the new vocabulary to complete discussion questions.
- The debate prompt in this lesson is set up as a roleplay between the upset mother of a young adult who lost a significant sum on Polymarket and Polymarket's CEO.
- Next, students imagine they have $10,000 to wager on several potential future events. As they place their bets, they must justify their choices.
- After three famous quotations, students then review vocabulary and the lesson's collocations.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Predictive Markets
Warm-up Questions
- Have you ever made a bet with someone? What was it on?
- Is gambling a problem in your country? What kind of gambling is most common?
- Have you ever heard of event betting websites like Polymarket and Kashi? If so, what do you know about them?
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Comprehension questions:
1) Subjective, but should include: Polymarket is a prediction market where users bet on real-world events using yes/no shares priced between $0 and $1. Share prices reflect the probability of an event occurring. The platform runs on a public blockchain, charges few fees, and is funded by venture capital. Controversies include ambiguous bet resolutions and concerns about the gamblification of society.
2) The share price is determined by participants trading in the market. As more people buy or sell, the price moves accordingly, reflecting the collective view of how likely an event is to occur.
3) Benefit: all transactions are public and transparent, meaning the market is open and accountable. Disadvantage: privacy is compromised — anyone can see a user's trades, winnings, and losses, which could be embarrassing, politically sensitive, or potentially incriminating.
4) For clear-cut events this is straightforward, but for ambiguous events — such as whether the US invaded Venezuela — it is harder to determine a definitive result, which can lead to controversial or disputed outcomes.
5) Polymarket's peer-to-peer system means odds are often better than traditional gambling sites. It also charges no fees on most markets, and where it does, a portion is redistributed to users who set limit orders.
6) Subjective/discussion.
Vocabulary answer key: a-liquidity, b-flocking to, c-speculative, d-wagers, e-resolved, f-venture capital, g-ambiguous, h-gauge, i-executed, j-transactions, k-odds, l-controversy
Collocations: 1-c, 2-f, 3-a, 4-e, 5-d, 6-g, 7-b