S2E19 - The Mirror

Objective & content

In "The Mirror", Harper takes Tiago aside at a house party and tells him the truth about his new popularity, then Tiago ends the night alone on a curb outside a closed cafe. The grammar focus is reported speech (direct and indirect speech), with the contrast between past and present reports: "They said you were the bravest boy in town." The vocabulary covers reputation, honesty and social media. Learners practise listening for detail, then use the in-app quiz to check what they understood.

Pedagogical guide

The episode is a B1- dialogue for a 3eme class. The teaching idea is the contrast, not the rule: the past report holds the boy Tiago was, the present report holds the boy he is. The topic is sensitive (popularity, being laughed at), so keep the discussion about the characters and not about students in the class.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Activate prior knowledge: write three sentences on the board (everybody likes you, everybody knows you, somebody really sees you) and ask pairs which matters most.
2. (5 min) Preview seven words: audience, trade, blame, protect, truth, fake, research.
3. (5 min) First listen, without interruption, for global comprehension.
4. (10 min) Second listen with three pauses, to elicit what people said a year ago, what Tiago traded, and what he decides at the end.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check with the five in-app quiz questions.
6. (4 min) Vocabulary practice: match words to definitions, then use one in a sentence.
7. (5 min) Grammar focus: show the backshift on the board, then pairs report present-tense sentences in a card game.
8. (4 min) Speaking extension: is a crowd better than two real friends? Pairs give one reason, then report their partner's opinion.
9. (2 min, optional) Write two sentences in reported speech about a person they admire.

Materials & prerequisites

• The episode audio or the Academy app, and a board or projector.
• `student-sheet.pdf` and `teacher-sheet.pdf` (in `printables/`), and the lesson plan.
• Small paper slips for the grammar card game, made by the teacher.
• Prerequisites: the past simple and the present simple.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4 (3eme), axis "school and society" (`c4-school-and-society`), with the CEFR half-level B1-.