These 10 pop songs are all appropriate for any TEFL classroom. There’s a free PDF worksheet for each song.

The worksheets by themselves will only take about 10-15 minutes to complete, but if you want to stretch one of these pop songs into a longer lesson, then start by doing the worksheet, listen to the song more than once to check the students’ answers, watch the music video and discuss what the students see, and finally try a whole class sing-along.

1. Golden by Huntrix

This song from the hugely popular K-Pop Demon Hunters is a kid-friendly bop about being true to yourself. With a good message and classroom-appropriate lyrics, you can feel good about your ESL students listening to this song in class. The music video is also appropriate for all ages.

The worksheet for this song is a mixed verb tense worksheet. Students try to complete the worksheet, filling in the blanks with the words in parentheses using the correct tense, and then they listen to the song to check their answers. Try a whole class sing-along after!

2. Flowers by Miley Cyrus

This song was playing in Top 50 lists all over the world for months and it’s kid-friendly too! The song explores themes of independence.

Even though the song is appropriate for any class, the music video is not with Miley Cyrus working out in a bikini, so it’s probably best to stick to lyrics-only videos if you’re showing a video in class.

The ESL worksheet for this video has students making predictions about the lyrics before they listen to the song to check if their predictions were correct. Let students state some of their predictions out loud before listening to the answers.

3. Stargazing by Miles Smith

Another classroom-appropriate pop song with catchy repetitive lyrics which are easy to sing along to. It’s a new song from 2024, so your students might be familiar with it, making it that much more engaging for the classroom.

For this worksheet the teacher should print the second page of the worksheet and cut it up before class. This is the song’s chorus. During class students can listen to the song and try to put the lines of the chorus in order. When they’re sure they have the correct order, they can stick the lines onto their worksheet with tape or glue.

4. Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is a hit with all ages and this song and music video has no swearing or overly adult subject matter. (Although the song is about a romance gone bad, so please watch the video before showing it to your class to be sure it’s not too mature for your students.)

This worksheet has students watching the music video and circling what they see. When they’ve finished, they can check out the lyrics on the back and maybe even sing along.

5. Stressed Out by twenty one pilots

This song is appropriate for all ages, but is especially relatable for preteens and teens who might be feeling the pressures of growing up.

The worksheet is a simple fill-in-the-blank activity. The song is quite fast-paced so the worksheet is great listening exercise.

6. Dynamite by BTS

Chances are that you have a few BTS fans in your classroom and this popular song is kid-friendly and catchy. The music video is great too.

The worksheet is all about rhyming words. Based on the words they see in the lyrics, students try to guess the next word in the song. After they’ve guessed all the words, they can listen to the song to check their answers.

7. Counting Stars by One Republic

This song is a great one for students to try to sing in class. The lyrics are relatively simple and the pop beat is easy to follow.

The worksheet for Counting Stars has mixed up lines. Students have to write the lines in the correct order as they are listening to the song. They can listen more than once to check their answers.

8. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

Students enjoy this song and all the references to superheroes. It’s also repetitive, catchy, and easy to learn.

This ESL worksheet requires students to listen to the song and put the lyrics in the correct order. The teacher must remember to cut up the lyrics before class. Don’t show the music video until after completing the worksheet because it is a lyrics video and would give the answers away.

9. Wake Me Up by Avici

This is another classroom appropriate pop song that is good for getting a class awake and excited. It’s easy to sing and good for helping a sleepy class get more involved.

The worksheet is great preposition practice, allowing students to guess which prepositions go where in the lyrics before listening to the song and checking their answers. If your students are higher level, then you can discuss afterwards why each prepositions goes where it’s been put.

10. Love Yourself by Justin Bieber

This is another song that’s perfect for the ESL classroom. The music video is also fun to show because students tend to enjoy the dramatic dancing. It’s another song that your students will likely be familiar with.

The worksheet for this song is all about the past tense, making it a great review activity. Students have to use the verbs in the box, put them into the lyrics of the song, and change them to the past tense. Then they can listen to the song to check their answers.

Let us know in the comments if these 10 pop songs were useful in your ESL/EFL class. If you want more fun activities to do with your younger students, try these 10 Drama Games for EFL Classes.