Bonfire Night

Objective & content

This A1+ documentary, "Bonfire Night", is a dialogue between two friends who go out on the fifth of November, from the bonfire with its guy on top to the last firework, and hear the short story behind the night: a plan in 1605 to blow up Parliament and the king. The main language points are the present simple, there is and instructions with the imperative ("Arm out. Far from your face."). The skill is listening: learners put the night in order, then take the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

The sparkler moment gives three short safety instructions in a row. Bonfire, fireworks, guy, sparkler, toffee apple and jacket potato are above the level in the dictionary but name the subject, and the episode shows or explains each one; teach them for recognition. The 1605 story stops at "guards found him" and the bonfires for the safe king, and the guy is a figure of old clothes and straw, not a person.

Suggested procedure

1. Pre-listening (8 min): ask when there are fireworks in the learners' town, then preview eight words with pictures.
2. First listen (4 min): the whole audio (about 3 minutes 30 seconds): what day is it, and where do the friends go?
3. Second listen (9 min): pause at 1:07, 1:44, 2:04 and 2:31 and put six night cards in order, from the show in the park to the fireworks.
4. Comprehension check (5 min): the six Facts questions of the episode quiz.
5. Vocabulary practice (3 min): name the picture, or questions 7 to 12 of the student sheet.
6. Grammar focus (5 min): the sparkler instructions, then there is.
7. Speaking extension (4 min): in pairs, one learner shows a visitor the park and gives the sparkler rules.
8. Optional writing (2 min): three sentences about a festival night in the learners' town.

Adaptations

Support: give the six night cards as a word bank, keep the pictures on the board during both listens, and ask questions 1 to 3 as multiple choice. Stretch: no pictures in the second listen, and one sentence from the episode for each card.

Materials & prerequisites

• Student sheet and teacher sheet (HTML and PDF versions of each), from the episode's printables.
• The episode audio (about 3 minutes 30 seconds) in the app or as a file.
• Six night cards for the board; pictures from the episode slideshow (optional).

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 3 (6e): the child and the wider environment and the child and passing time, with the 6e axis "Le quotidien". No unit of the three 6e textbooks covers Bonfire Night; the Halloween pages are the nearest. CEFR target: A1+.