Wombat

Objective & content

This documentary episode presents the wombat, a marsupial related to the koala. The narrator describes its strong body and short legs, the underground houses it digs, its habit of sleeping about sixteen hours a day, and the names of the mother (a jill) and the baby (a joey). It also covers the box-shaped droppings wombats leave as a message, the giant wombats of the past, and what to do if you see a baby wombat near a road. The language focus is the present simple for facts, can for ability and adjectives of size and colour, with vocabulary on wild animals and body parts. Learners work on listening comprehension.

Pedagogical guide

The 25-minute lesson plan starts from a picture of the wombat and the question "Is it big or small? Where does it live?". Learners preview six words (pouch, joey, safe, square, rock, marsupial), listen twice (once for the main idea, once with two pauses for questions), then check comprehension, practise is + adjective and can for ability, and speak in pairs. Support and stretch paths are given for each activity, and an optional writing task has learners make two sentences for a class poster.

Suggested procedure

1. Pre-listening, activate knowledge (3 min): show a picture of a wombat and ask where it lives.
2. Pre-listening, vocabulary preview (2 min): present pouch, joey, safe, square, rock and marsupial.
3. First listen (3 min): play the whole episode and ask whether the wombat is fast or slow.
4. Second listen (5 min): pause at 2:41 (its speed) and 3:50 (the square poo) to ask questions.
5. Comprehension check (3 min): five oral or written questions from the student sheet.
6. Vocabulary practice (3 min): match the six preview words to their definitions.
7. Grammar focus (3 min): complete sentences with is + adjective and can + verb.
8. Speaking extension (3 min): pairs give three facts about an animal for a partner to guess.
9. Optional writing: two sentences about the wombat for a class poster, one fact and one opinion.

Materials & prerequisites

The episode folder holds a student sheet and a teacher sheet (PDF and HTML) and the printable text in markdown. Learners should already know be and have in the affirmative, numbers and measurements, and basic colour adjectives.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged c3-child-and-living-world (cycle 3, 6e): the child and the living world. The episode targets CEFR level A1-.