One of the primary purposes of education is to prepare learners for their future life. However, it is challenging for K-12 teachers to keep pace with the lightning speed of technology and society development in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution because school textbooks are often written long before they are officially used for academic purposes. How ELT educators create opportunities for students to practise real English and improve their essential skills is still a big concern. Many educational studies have proved the potential and benefits of using authentic materials in ELT classrooms. This presentation introduces the project of exploiting real-life teaching materials conducted by three English teachers and over 250 students from Smiley’s English Center, Ngo Gia Tu High School, and Buon Ma Thuot High School in Daklak. With 33 fundamental lessons implemented throughout the project, students were empowered to utilize real-world contexts to improve their active learning, research, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. The research findings are based on the data collected from regular formative assessments and standardized test results of participating students in the academic year 2021-2022. Besides significant progress in English competence, most participants showed impressive engagement, cultural appreciation, and life skills improvement. This presentation will share the authors’ recommendations and experiences in selecting and utilizing authentic materials in K-12 classrooms.