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The Overseas Highway to Key West

Episode of the series Man-made Wonders of America

CEFR: A2, B1

In this episode

Illustrated slideshow (50 images)
Glossary (15 words)
Comprehension quiz (18 questions)
Cultural notes

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Extract: the first 30 seconds of the episode. The full episode lasts 3 min 20 s.

Level

The episode

A road across the sea. South of Miami, a road of long bridges hops from island to island for about 180 kilometres to Key West, on the line of a railway that once went to sea.

Episode worksheets (2)

Student sheet In your teacher account
Teacher sheet In your teacher account

Teaching guide

Objective & content

The documentary presents the Overseas Highway, the road that crosses the Florida Keys from island to island to Key West, about 180 kilometres from the mainland. It tells the story in three parts: Henry Flagler's railway, finished in 1912, the hurricane of September 1935, which broke it, and the road that workers made from the old bridges in 1938. The storm is handled in a sober, factual way. The grammar focus is present simple for the place today and past simple for dated history; the vocabulary covers transport, weather and natural disasters. Learners work on listening comprehension, then answer the in-app quiz.

Materials & prerequisites

Student sheet and teacher sheet (PDF and HTML versions, in the printables folder).
Prerequisites: present simple, regular and irregular past simple (came, built, took), and basic dates.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged for cycle 3 (6e): the child and passing time, and the child and the wider environment. The episode targets CEFR level A2+.

Possible adaptations

Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.

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