S1E21 - A Walk Around Bristol

Objective & content

Amber, George's cousin from London, visits Bristol for the first time. Uncle Paul and George walk her along the harbourside past the River Avon, the boats and the SS Great Britain, then to the park and the market stalls. The episode teaches there is and there are for places in a town (There are lots of boats.), with the question Is there a park near here?. The vocabulary is town places: river, harbour, boat, ship, museum, park, shop, market, stall. Learners listen for what the town has, then check their understanding with the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

Hearing There are lots of boats and then Yes, there is (one park) makes the singular and plural contrast audible within one scene. French il y a and German es gibt do not change for plural, so those pupils under-use there are and say there is lots of boats. Italian c'è and ci sono split exactly like English, which Italian pupils can use.

Suggested procedure

1. (3 min) Warm-up: ask what pupils can see in their town and list six to eight places on the board.
2. (5 min) Meet Amber and preview the key words (river, harbour, ship, museum, stall).
3. (4 min) First listen: who is showing Amber round, and which places do they talk about?
4. (8 min) Second listen with pauses: one boat or many, so there is or there are? Why there is for the park?
5. (7 min) Grammar focus: build There is / There are / Is there ...? with the board list.
6. (6 min) Pupils describe their own town in three or four sentences, using there is and there are at least once each.

Materials & prerequisites

The episode in the PLAY app (audio, slideshow, text and quiz), a student sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key. Learners need the verb be and the words a and lots of.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 3 (6e), axis "The child and their close environment": describing your town.