S1E21 - Nine Words

Objective & content

Stella wants to invite Theo to the Gala but loses her words every time she sees him. Elena tells her to ask in nine words, Neil offers a plan, and Mika predicts Stella will hide, so the invitation goes wrong at the cannery wall. Theo is kind about it, and Stella and Elena finally talk about the rift and make peace. The grammar focus is advice and obligation: should, have to, don't have to and must. Vocabulary comes from teen life, feelings, relationships and politeness. Learners practise listening for who advises whom, then use the modals to give advice themselves.

Pedagogical guide

The episode is a comedy, so let students enjoy the jokes before you work on grammar. The emotional moment is the last scene, the apology, so leave a few seconds of silence after the last pause. Learners often say "must to" or "should to": write the correct forms on the board, since should and must are followed directly by the verb. Stress the difference between don't have to (not necessary) and mustn't (forbidden), which French speakers often mix up.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Pre-listening: pairs say what they do when they are nervous about inviting someone, then give advice with "You should...".
2. (5 min) Vocabulary preview: rehearse, spontaneous, crush, optional, apology, appreciate.
3. (5 min) First listen, no interruption: learners say what the episode is mainly about.
4. (10 min) Second listen with pauses at 0:48, 1:33, 2:08 and 3:36: what Stella has to do, Elena's advice, what goes wrong, how the friends feel at the end.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check: five questions, oral or written.
6. (5 min) Vocabulary practice: match the six words, then write one sentence with two of them.
7. (8 min) Grammar focus: three lines from the script, then build the rule for should, have to and don't have to, and add must and mustn't.
8. (7 min) Speaking: in pairs, a nervous friend gets three pieces of advice with should and one thing they don't have to do.

Materials & prerequisites

• The in-app episode or its audio (about four minutes)
• `printables/student-sheet.pdf` (students) and `printables/teacher-sheet.pdf` (teacher)
• The lesson plan for this episode (`teachers-resources/lesson-plan.md`)
• Small slips of paper (optional, for the speaking activity)
• Assumed grammar: the present simple and the base form of the verb

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4, class 4eme: the axis "encountering others" (`c4-encountering-others`).