Choc Horror ESL Lesson

About This Choc Horror ESL Lesson

Chocolate is an everyday pleasure, but rising cocoa prices are putting its affordability under pressure. This advanced C1–C2 ESL lesson explores why chocolate bars are shrinking or becoming more expensive, and how those changes connect to the lives of cocoa farmers.

Students examine how vulnerable cocoa trees are to drought, heavy rain and disease, why many growers struggle to make ends meet, and why higher prices in shops do not necessarily translate into better farm incomes. They consider resilient crops, fairer pay and cocoa-free alternatives.

Students then take charge of a chocolate brand, weigh five competing business decisions, and defend their choices against a cocoa farmer at a press conference. Advanced expressions, discussion questions and an evidence-based writing task ask who should pay the real cost of the products we enjoy.

What's Included in Choc Horror?

• Magazine-style C1–C2 ESL student worksheet
• Advanced reading and matching audio about cocoa farming, rising chocolate prices, climate change and fair pay
• Five expressions: at the mercy of, the lion’s share, make ends meet, pass the cost on to and a far cry from
• Five true-or-false questions testing what the article states or implies
• Five discussion questions about chocolate prices, shrinking products, farmer incomes and cocoa alternatives
• You Run the Chocolate Brand: make five business decisions about pricing, farmers’ pay, recipes, forests and cocoa-free products, then defend the trade-offs
• Language in Context: complete five sentences using the advanced expressions
• Speaking challenge: defend a chocolate brand’s decisions at a press conference while a cocoa farmer challenges them
• 200–250 word opinion-writing task about who should pay the real cost of everyday products, addressing the strongest opposing view
• Teacher guide, complete answer key and model writing
• Ready-to-use classroom presentation