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The Midwest

Episode of the series Awesome Stuff

CEFR: A1

In this episode

Illustrated slideshow (19 images)
Glossary (16 words)
Comprehension quiz (13 questions)
8 cultural notes

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The episode

Is the Midwest in the middle or in the west? Two friends find out about fields of corn, Tornado Alley, the Great Lakes, and the pies at the state fair.

Episode worksheets (2)

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

Teaching guide

Objective & content

Jeff guides listeners through the Midwest, twelve states in the middle of the map, and the episode pays off the pie promise from episode 3. They look at about 70 million people, the farms that grow more than 90% of America's corn, Tornado Alley with its basements and sirens, the Great Lakes, Chicago and the summer state fairs. Learners practise the present simple, quantities and percentages (more than 90%, a fifth of) and comparison with more than (more tornadoes than anywhere else), with vocabulary of farming, storms and food. The main skill is listening; one line to notice is "This region is not being humble."

Materials & prerequisites

Student sheet and teacher sheet, each as a PDF and an HTML file (in the episode's printables).
Learners should have heard episodes 1 and 3 (the regions, the pie joke), and know the present simple and numbers over a hundred.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged c3-child-and-wider-environment (cycle 3, 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.

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