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Truth

CEFR: A2, B1 11 slides 45 min Whole class

In the slide deck

A comparison

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Truth — Preview: the first 3 slides, as your students see them on the board.

Preview: the first 3 slides, as your students see them on the board.

Objective & content

Should you always tell the truth? This 45-minute discussion lesson follows one path: the pupils first, then two stories about a secret, then what the class thinks. The first story is Tiago, 14, who keeps a secret to protect someone he loves while a rumour runs round his new school in California (Golden Bay). The second is Sam, 13, who says nothing when his best friend takes the blame for a broken window: a short story written for this lesson. By the end, pupils can talk about secrets, rumours and honesty, compare two stories, defend an opinion and act out a choice between being honest and being kind.

Documents to download (2)

Pupil sheet In your teacher account
Colour version In your teacher account

Pedagogical guide

Every slide asks the class to do something: choose two picture cards, read four characters' words and say who they agree with, pick three feeling words, compare Sam and Tiago in three boxes, choose three things to do about a rumour, stand on a line from 1 to 5, act out a card in pairs. The words come before the talking, and each question has an A2 version for everyone and a B1 one for stronger pupils. The pupil sheet follows the slides, so every pupil leaves with something written. The subject needs care: the questions are always about Tiago, Sam or an imagined pupil, never about a real secret or a real classmate. Sam's story ends open, so pupils decide what he should do. Some secrets are too big to keep: if someone is hurt or in danger, you tell a trusted adult, even after a promise.

Suggested procedure45 min

2 min
Show the cover and read the big question: "Should you always tell the truth?" No answers yet.
7 min
A good friend ...: pairs choose two cards each and say why. Then read the eight words and their examples together.
10 min
Tiago's fire story and the four voices: read the three lines and the quote, then the bubbles aloud; pairs choose the voice they agree with most. Do not say who Tiago is protecting.
13 min
Sam's secret: read the story and check the four facts, choose three feeling words, then compare Sam and Tiago in the three boxes on the pupil sheet.
8 min
Stop the rumour, then "Where do you stand?": pupils choose alone, explain to a partner, then stand on the line from 1 to 5. Come back to the big question.
5 min
Tell or not?: pairs act out one card, then write what they decided on the pupil sheet.

Adaptations

SupportKeep the word slide on screen during the voices and the rumour slide, and accept one-sentence answers built on the useful language. Pupils can draw or number their three choices instead of writing them.
ExtensionAsk stronger pairs the B1 question on the voices slide ("Should Tiago tell the truth? Who to?"), and have them argue for a place on the line from 1 to 5 that is not their own.

Materials & prerequisitesA projector or screen for the slides (one PDF page per slide, turned with the arrow keys) and one pupil sheet (two A4 pages) per pupil. The last slide is the teacher's notes, with the timed plan and a note of care, to read before the lesson rather than project. Nothing to install. It goes further after the Golden Bay episodes Have You Heard?, Just Between Us and The One Who Believes Me.

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