Kenya: The Great Migration

Objective & content

This Look Closer episode (Kenya mini-series, episode 3) is a "POV" story: the narrator speaks to "you", a wildebeest calf five minutes old. The calf walks with its mum in a herd of more than a million wildebeest, with zebras and gazelles, north from Tanzania to Kenya to find green grass. In July the herd reaches the Mara River, where there are crocodiles, and the calf must decide whether to jump. The language is present simple, imperatives, can and question words (How big? Why?), with vocabulary for movement, directions and large numbers, plus the closing Would you jump...? Learners listen, then answer the 10 questions in the app. The closing question is "Would you jump into the river?"

Materials & prerequisites

The folder holds the audio, the slideshow, the script, a pupil sheet with the 10 questions (7 on facts, 3 on vocabulary) and a teacher sheet with the answer key (PDF); it has no lesson plan. A short episode works well as a lesson opener: play it twice, hand out the pupil sheet, then use the closing question for class discussion. Learners should know basic verbs of movement and the numbers above 1,000.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged countries-and-landscapes (6e, "Pays et paysages", Cycle 3; study topic: Kenya's national parks). The episode targets CEFR level A1+.