Australia

Objective & content

This sheet on Australia starts from a schools podcast: Isabel, the host, talks to Harry, a teenager from Cairns, near the Great Barrier Reef. Harry talks about snorkelling on the reef, the dangerous animals, how to stay safe at the beach and in the sun, a trip to Uluru in the outback, and Sydney, which is not the capital. Pupils answer eight multiple-choice questions, name six Australian animals from a box of eight words, match ten words such as the outback, sunscreen and sacred with their meanings, complete nine sentences and make six adjectives with -ful (care, careful). The last and hardest task is a tourist leaflet, "Staying safe in Australia", with a choice of three words in each bracket.

Pedagogical guide

The podcast carries the words of the topic, so pupils meet each one before working on it. It also models the present perfect for experience (Have you ever been to the outback?, I've been to Sydney twice), which pupils can reuse to talk about their own trips; no task tests it. The tasks go from recognising words to using them: pictures, meanings, new sentences, then word forms. The -ful task asks for one change only, with a worked example; point out the spelling (beauty, beautiful). In the leaflet, each choice is settled by the words around it, so pupils should read the whole sentence before they circle. Every task tests words, never grammar.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Show Australia on a map and find Cairns, Uluru, Sydney and Canberra.
2. (10 min) Two pupils read the podcast aloud; the class answers the eight questions.
3. (8 min) Pupils name the animals, then match the words with their meanings.
4. (8 min) Pupils complete the sentences; remind them that two words are extra.
5. (7 min) Do the -ful example together, then pupils make the other adjectives.
6. (10 min) Pupils read the leaflet and circle the words; check with the answer key on page 4.

Adaptations

[S] Show a photo of the reef and of the outback before reading. Read the podcast aloud in two voices before pupils work alone.

[A] Pupils interview a partner with "Have you ever...?" questions about travel and nature. To take it further, pupils record a two-minute podcast about their own region.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of the three pupil pages per pupil, in colour or in black and white. Page 4 is the answer key: keep it. Pupils should know the past simple of common verbs and have met Have you ever...?.