In November 2026, Collins Dictionary chose “mogging” as its Word of the Year and Dictionary.com chose “maxxing”. Both are slang words that young people use online. Students learn what the new words mean, read a short text and talk about food, looks, habits and new words. This A2 version uses short, simple sentences and present simple.
Level: A2 · Time: 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.
Lesson Activities
- Warmer: What Is This? – students guess the picture as the squares are revealed. (Answer: a dictionary.) Then ask: what is a “word of the year”?
- Vocabulary Match – 10 words from the reading, matched with simple definitions. Do this before reading.
- Reading: Words of the Year 2026 – a gap-fill text with a word bank and slow audio. Students put 10 new words into the text.
- Sort: What Is Each Word About? – students sort 12 new words into four topics: food, hair and home; people and looks; technology and games; work, money and cars. Do this after reading.
- Discussion Cards – 10 easy questions, from personal to opinion.
- Ranking: Which Words Will Last? – students rank 9 new words by how likely people are to still use them in 2030, and defend their choices.
Teacher Tips
- For a shorter lesson (45 minutes), use the warmer, the vocabulary match, the reading and the discussion cards.
- Language focus: comparatives (wider, heavier, shorter than, longer than, better than). Ask students to find five comparatives in the reading and make their own sentences.
- Follow-up: students choose one word for their year and write three sentences about it.
Want a harder version? Try the B2 lesson.