Lesson Topics: event betting, speculation, investing
Skill Focus: Speaking, Vocabulary, Listening, Writing
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: polymarket-betting-upper-intermediate-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.
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) 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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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. Claude was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension questions:
1) Subjective, but should include: Polymarket is a website where users can bet on real-world events using yes/no shares. The price of a share shows how likely an event is to happen. The platform runs on a public blockchain and charges few fees. Some people see it as a useful forecasting tool; others think it is harmful to society.
2) The share price is decided by the people buying and selling in the market. When more people think something will happen, the price goes up.
3) All trades and accounts are public, so the market is open and transparent. Anyone can see what other users are betting on and how much they have won or lost.
4) Some events are clear and easy to decide, like who won the Oscars. Others are more difficult — for example, it may not be clear whether a country has truly "invaded" another country or not.
5) Polymarket is peer-to-peer, so the odds are often better than traditional gambling sites. It also does not charge fees on most bets.
6) Subjective/discussion.
Vocabulary answer key: a) portion b) transforms c) shares d) invaded e) controversy f) prediction g) redistributes h) resolved i) transactions j) platform k) profit l) odds
Collocations: 1-c, 2-f, 3-a, 4-e, 5-d, 6-g, 7-b