Ate and left no crumbs (Gen Z slang)

Olia | May 03, 2026Apr 29, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on Gen Z slang are to:

• talk about slang from various perspectives;
• practise contemporary slang and useful phrases for discussing it;
• watch and analyse a video of an Australian senator using slang to engage youth.

In this lesson, students analyse a meme, talk about slang and discuss their social functions, perceptions and life cycle. Students explore phrases for discussing slang (e.g. convey nuance, cross the line, sound out of touch), work with Gen Z slang expressions (e.g. aura, low-key, ate and left no crumbs) and share their opinions and experiences. They create their own meme caption, watch a video of an Australian senator using slang and debate cross-generational communication. Students also draft promotional messages using slang to target Gen Z.

WARM-UP AND USEFUL VOCABULARY

This ESL lesson on Gen Z slang starts with a warm-up. Students look at a meme on slang overload and say what the joke is about. After that, they discuss questions about navigating and understanding modern slang. Moving on, students examine statements and match phrases for discussing slang (e.g. come off as, fit in, feel forced) with their definitions. Afterwards, they review the opinions from the previous task and choose four that they find the most interesting. Students say to what extent they agree or disagree with them, considering different types of slang, both in English and in their first language. Following that, they examine different topics (e.g. public speaking, social media trends, job interviews) and create a sentence for each, using the phrases from the previous exercise.

GEN Z SLANG AND VIDEO

In this part of this ESL lesson on Gen Z slang, students analyse Gen Z slang expressions in statements (e.g. he doesn’t talk much, but his ideas are low-key brilliant) and guess what they mean. After that, they look at the meme from the beginning of the lesson again. Students create their own caption using the slang from the previous task (e.g. touch grass, normie, goated). Next, they watch a video of an Australian senator using slang in a speech. Students answer questions about her purpose and main message. Afterwards, they watch the video again and write down the slang expressions that the senator uses. Following that, students discuss strategies for cross-generational communication and influence. Finally, they imagine they want to attract more Gen Z participants to a project (e.g. career workshop, fitness challenge, book club) and create a short message promoting it, naturally using some slang. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This ESL lesson on Gen Z slang also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students use the target phrases from the lesson to complete words in a dialogue. They then say how they would handle the situation in the dialogue. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

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