S2E06 - Everything I Built

Objective & content

In this dialogue (three scenes, no narrator), Diane tells Stella why she does not trust Cole. Later, Neil presents a career plan to Stella while Mika calls from Paris, and Cole meets Harper at the farmers' market and hears about the mystery artist. The grammar focus is the past perfect (had + past participle) for the earlier event, contrasted with the past simple, for example "He'd left a note and a pile of debt." Vocabulary comes from family, money and fame. Learners practise listening, then the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

Diane's story is built as a chain of backstory: each earlier event uses the past perfect, each later one the past simple. Learners say which thing happened first, using a timeline with two arrows. Stress the participle in he'd LEFT and I'd BUILT, and remind students that 'd can also mean would. The backstory is painful for the characters: keep the discussion on the language and the characters, and use films or series as a comparison instead of students' own families.

Suggested procedure

1. (4 min) Activate prior knowledge: a family secret in a film or a series.
2. (6 min) Vocabulary preview: charming, borrow, debt, silence, strategy, compliment.
3. (5 min) First listen for global comprehension: who talks in each of the three scenes.
4. (10 min) Second listen with four pauses and discussion: what Cole had done, what Diane found, what Mika thinks, how Harper feels.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check with five questions, following the in-app quiz.
6. (5 min) Vocabulary practice: matching game or the student sheet.
7. (7 min) Grammar focus: three lines from the script, then gap sentences in pairs.
8. (5 min) Speaking extension: Stella explains to a friend what she has just learned.
9. (3 min, optional) Writing extension: four sentences about a day when something had already happened.

Materials & prerequisites

• Episode audio or the Academy app, and the in-app quiz.
• `printables/student-sheet.pdf` and `printables/teacher-sheet.pdf`.
• The lesson plan (50 minutes, with support and stretch paths).
• Prerequisites: past simple, including irregular verbs.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4, class 3eme. Axis: encountering others (`c4-encountering-others`). CEFR half-level: B1-.