British banknotes: Jane Austen

Objective & content

This Look Closer episode (the mini-series British banknotes, one note per episode) is a short documentary about the Bank of England ten-pound note and the writer on its back, Jane Austen. A single narrator says when she was born and how many novels she wrote, and why her name was not on her books while she was alive. The narrator then looks closely at the line from Pride and Prejudice printed on the note, and at who says it in the novel: Miss Bingley, a woman who does not like reading and only picks up a book because Mr Darcy is reading. It is a comprehension episode: the narration uses the present simple and the past simple (with was), there is and there are, can and the imperative look, and no grammar point is taught. Learners listen, then answer the 10 questions in the app: 7 on facts and 3 on vocabulary (yawn, raised, line).

Materials & prerequisites

The folder holds the audio, the slideshow and the script. Each pack is a one-page PDF with the text, three pictures, the key words and the 10 questions: a pupil pack, and a teacher pack with the answers highlighted. It also has a pupil sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key. It has no lesson plan. Play the episode twice, hand out the pupil pack, then use the closing question (Do you think this line is a good choice for the note?) for a short class discussion. Learners should know the words book, reading, name and money, and be able to read years such as 1775. The pack's key words explain the new words (note, novel, line, yawn, throw away, raised dots).

Curriculum alignment

Tagged portrait-self-portrait (5e, "Portrait, autoportrait", Cycle 4). The episode targets CEFR level A2-.