🎧 Episode Academy subscribers

The Flag and National Symbols

Episode of the series Awesome Stuff

CEFR: A1

In this episode

Illustrated slideshow (22 images)
Glossary (8 words)
Comprehension quiz (13 questions)
6 cultural notes

Unlock the resourceIncluded in the subscription

The episode

Why does the American flag have fifty stars? Two friends find out about the bald eagle, the national anthem, and a French surprise inside the Statue of Liberty.

Episode worksheets (2)

Student sheet In your teacher account
Teacher sheet In your teacher account

Teaching guide

Objective & content

Jessa, the guide, and the learner, who jokes along, start from a guessing game about the first American thing you picture. They then take four national symbols in turn: the flag with its fifty stars and thirteen stripes, the bald eagle, the Star-Spangled Banner and the Statue of Liberty. The language focus is present simple and short comparatives (wider than a dinner table, taller than a building), with a few passive phrases such as "chosen for the national seal" and numbers, dates and measurements. The vocabulary covers government, historical dates and famous people. Learners practise listening for facts; the flag gets its own joke: "So it's basically a scoreboard."

Materials & prerequisites

Student sheet and teacher sheet (PDF and HTML versions, in `printables/`).
Prerequisites: present simple, basic numbers, and the idea of a comparative.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged to the cycle 3 axis "the child and the wider environment" (6e). The episode targets CEFR level A1+.

Possible adaptations

Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.

🔒 Restricted content

This resource requires a subscription to be viewed.