S1E28 - The Whole Truth

Objective & content

At the town Gala, Brody tries to expose Tiago's past, Mason walks him off the stage, and Tiago asks for the microphone to tell the story himself. He explains that his grandfather started the fire by accident, that he took the blame to protect him, and that he can speak now because his grandfather is moving into a home. The focus is the irregular past simple for telling events (came, said, told, got) and one second conditional ("if I told the real truth", followed by what would happen to his grandfather), with vocabulary of truth and feelings (truth, honest, brave, protect, dangerous, frightened). Learners practise listening for who did what and why, then answer the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

The lesson lasts 45 minutes and moves from a warm-up on rumour and truth, through two listenings with pauses, to grammar and speaking. Tiago's speech is a real story told in the past simple, so it is a natural model for irregular verbs. Keep the discussion on the character: the episode mentions a grandfather whose memory is going, and some students may recognise it at home.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Write "Is it always right to tell the truth?" on the board. Students talk in pairs, then you teach rumour and truth and give the context in three sentences.
2. (5 min) Preview six words: truth, honest, brave, protect, dangerous, frightened.
3. (5 min) First listen, without stopping. Ask: who tells a secret, and who is it about?
4. (10 min) Second listen, pausing four times (about 0:50, 1:32, 2:00 and 2:27) to ask who did what, and why Tiago said it was him.
5. (5 min) Comprehension check: five questions on the events of the speech.
6. (4 min) Vocabulary matching in pairs, then one true sentence per student.
7. (6 min) Grammar: underline irregular past verbs from the script, then model if + past simple, would + verb.
8. (5 min) Speaking in pairs: "Would you do the same? Why, or why not?" An optional written task can be set as homework.

Materials & prerequisites

• The episode audio or the Academy app (about 3 minutes of listening).
• `student-sheet` for each student and `teacher-sheet` for you (pdf and html), from the episode's printables.
• The lesson plan for this episode.
• Board or projector, and sticky notes for the speaking task.
• Students should know the regular past simple and some common irregular verbs.

Curriculum alignment

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