At the library

Objective & content

This is a short everyday conversation, just under one minute and a half long, to listen to and then answer: Oscar, 12, needs a book for a school project and talks to a librarian (a woman) at the desk, with a small problem, a day, his surname spelled out and the library rules to catch. The script is not shown in the app: pupils only listen, and a picture of empty library shelves and a reading table shows during the opening sound, then fades under the word "Listen". The language is the language of a library: the past simple for what happened (saw, took, paid, left), must for rules and things that are necessary, can for requests and offers, how many, and spelling a name, with the words title, website, check, take out, project, keep, late, pence and desk. In the app, pupils answer 18 questions: listening (gist, then detail), words and useful phrases. The script is for the teacher, as a transcript for an optional follow-up in class.

Pedagogical guide

The episode is made for pupils to do on their own: in class on a tablet or in the computer room, or at home. Each pupil listens with headphones, as many times as they need, and answers the 18 questions in order. The listening questions come first, gist then detail, so the first listen is for the general idea (who is there, what Oscar is looking for and what the problem is) and the next ones are for the details (a day, a spelled surname and the library rules). Oscar spells his surname letter by letter: pupils trust the letters they hear, not the sound of the name. Pupils pause and replay the audio themselves; the picture fades so they listen instead of looking. There is no script and no translation on screen: a pupil who doesn't know a word looks it up in a dictionary. The teacher's part is short: set the task, look at the results, and, if there is time, run the short follow-up in class below. The lesson plan gives a whole-class version (40 minutes) for a teacher who prefers to play the episode to the class.

Suggested procedure

For the pupil (about 15 minutes):

1. Listen once, without stopping, for the general idea: who is there, what Oscar is looking for and what the problem is.
2. Answer the first listening questions.
3. Listen again, and pause when you need to. On a piece of paper, write down the days, the letters of the surname, the numbers and the prices.
4. Answer the detail questions, then the words and the useful phrases.
5. For each wrong answer, listen to that part again and find what you missed.

Back in class (optional, about 10 minutes):

1. Look at the questions most pupils got wrong, and play those lines again together.
2. Hand out the script as a transcript: pupils find the line for each answer and the library rules with must.
3. Role-play: in pairs, ask for a new book at the library and spell your own surname.

Materials & prerequisites

• The episode in the app (the audio, the scene picture and the 18 questions), on one device per pupil, with headphones.
• A piece of paper for notes.
• For the follow-up in class only: the script, printed as a transcript, one copy per pair.
• Prerequisites: the alphabet, days of the week, numbers and prices in English, and the past simple of common verbs.