Easter Reading Comprehension for ESL Adults: 4 Free Texts, A2 to B2
March 21, 2026
Table of Contents
- How to run an Easter reading lesson with adults
- 4 Easter reading texts for ESL adults
- After the text: from reading to talking
- Mistakes your students will make
- Easter lessons for every level
Easter is a good week for reading in an adult English class. Students already know the topic, so they can spend their energy on the English, and every country does Easter a little differently. In 2027, Easter Sunday is on March 28, and Orthodox Easter, which many of your Ukrainian students celebrate, is on May 2.
The hard part is finding texts. Most Easter reading worksheets are written for children: bunnies, baskets and five-word sentences. Here are four original Easter texts for adults, from A2 to B2, with tasks students can do alone and an answer key, all in one free PDF.
The texts at a glance
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| Free · printable PDFEaster Reading Comprehension PackThe four texts below, numbered like this post. Each text has a reading page and a page of tasks, and every answer is on the last page, so students can work in class, online or alone at home.4 texts10 pagesA2 to B2Answer keyA4 and LetterDownload the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
How to run an Easter reading lesson with adults
- Start with one question, not a vocabulary list. Each text opens with a Before you read question about the student's own Easter. Two minutes of talk is enough to wake up the topic.
- Pre-teach only what blocks the text. Texts 2 and 4 have a short Words to know box at the bottom. Leave the other new words for the tasks, where students work them out from context.
- Read twice, for two reasons. Give a time limit for the first read and ask only for the main idea. Then students read again with the tasks in front of them.
- Let them check their own work. All the answers are on page 10. Students compare with a partner first, then check, and you spend your time on the questions they still disagree about.
- Online or as homework. Share the reading page on screen, or send both pages of one text as homework. Every task works for one student alone.
- Mixed levels. Give text 1 or 2 to the lower group and text 3 or 4 to the stronger one. All four are about Easter dates, food and holidays, so the whole class can talk about them together afterwards.
4 Easter reading texts for ESL adults
The texts get longer and harder as you go: 169 words at A2, 381 at B2. They are about dates, food and work, not belief, so they suit students who celebrate Easter and students who don't.
1of 4A225 minEmailFree printable · pages 2-3 Two Easters in one year Olena is Ukrainian and lives in Valencia. She writes to a friend about her two Easters: March 28 with her Spanish colleagues, and May 2 with her family, who bake paska and take a basket of food to church. She can't fly home, so the family will have a video call. The tasks
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Where text 1 leads Olena's family takes a basket of food to church. What's In Your Easter Basket? starts there: A1-A2 students compare baskets from Ukraine, the UK and the USA. Easter Vocabulary for Beginners turns 12 Easter words into matching, sorting and two short dialogues. |
2of 4A2-B130 minShort historyFree printable · pages 4-5 The first chocolate egg From colored eggs after Lent to the first hollow chocolate egg, made by Fry's of Bristol in 1873, then Cadbury's two years later. The text ends today, with shoppers who complain that Easter eggs arrive right after Christmas. The tasks
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From eggs to Easter baking Easter Cake moves from history to a real recipe: A2-B1 students read and follow the recipe for a British Simnel cake, with imperatives and quantities. Easter Food Vocabulary is a worksheet with 12 food words, two dialogues and a hot cross bun recipe. |
3of 4B135 minWork emailFree printable · pages 6-7 Who gets Easter Monday off? Hannah from the People Team writes to an international company before Easter 2027. Six offices, six sets of days off: London closes for four days, Edinburgh opens on Monday, Berlin's Good Friday is a "quiet day", Madrid has Holy Thursday off, São Paulo works on Monday and Chicago is open as usual. The tasks
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More Easter differences Hannah's email shows how different Easter can be from one office to the next. Easter Shock goes further, with a B1-B2 blog post that compares Easter in the UK and Norway. The Easter Traditions Worksheet sorts 12 religious and secular Easter words. |
4of 4B240 minExplainerFree printable · pages 8-9 Why Easter never sits still Why does Easter move every year? The text explains the rule (the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21), why Orthodox Easter usually comes later, and why a British law from 1928 that would have fixed the date has never been used. The tasks
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Next steps for B1 to C1 Weird and Wonderful Easter Traditions is a B1-B2 reading lesson about unusual Easter customs around the world, with words like Lent, quirky and secular. Easter Vlog moves to listening at B2-C1: students watch Easter vlogs and practice as if and as though. |
After the text: from reading to talking
- Text 1 ends with Olena's question, How do you celebrate Easter? Use it to open the discussion. For more questions by level, see our Easter discussion questions for adult learners.
- After text 3, ask students which days are holidays where they work, and whether their company follows them. It is real information they will want to share.
- After text 4, run a quick vote: fixed date or moving date? Students give one reason each, using the text.
- Need a game to finish the lesson? Our Easter ESL activities for adults have a crossword, an egg hunt and an office mystery, and the last-minute Easter activities need no preparation at all.
Mistakes your students will make
Teacher's reference Slips to listen for when students talk about the texts
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Easter lessons for every level
| Level | Lesson | What students do |
| A1-A2 | What's In Your Easter Basket? | Compare Easter baskets from Ukraine, the UK and the USA |
| A1-A2 | Easter Vocabulary for Beginners | Worksheet: 12 Easter words, matching, sorting and two dialogues |
| A2-B1 | Easter Cake | Read and follow a recipe for British Simnel cake |
| A2-B1 | Easter Food Vocabulary | Worksheet: 12 food words, two dialogues and a recipe |
| B1-B2 | Easter Shock | Read a blog post that compares Easter in the UK and Norway |
| B1-B2 | Weird and Wonderful Easter Traditions | Read about unusual Easter customs around the world |
| B1-B2 | Easter Traditions Worksheet | Worksheet: sort 12 religious and secular Easter words |
| B1-B2 | Easter Idioms | Learn egg and Easter idioms |
| B2-C1 | Easter Vlog | Watch Easter vlogs and practice as if and as though |
