Mount Rushmore

Objective & content

This A2+ documentary presents Mount Rushmore and the four presidents carved into it: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. The narrator explains why the sculptor Gutzon Borglum carved them, how about 400 workers did it between 1927 and 1941, and why the Black Hills, called the Six Grandfathers by the Lakota, are holy to the Lakota people. The text states the 1868 treaty, the taking of the land and the Lakota refusal of money, and it mentions the Crazy Horse Memorial nearby, calmly and without taking sides. Language focus is present simple to describe the place and past simple for dated history, with ordinal listing (first, next, then, last). The main skill is listening comprehension, followed by the in-app quiz.

Materials & prerequisites

The episode comes with a student sheet and a teacher sheet (PDF and HTML). Learners should already know present simple, there is / there are and basic past simple forms (was, were, started, took). The topic touches on a treaty and lost land, so a short introduction to the Lakota may help.

Curriculum alignment

Tagged for cycle 3 (6e): "L'enfant et le temps qui passe" and "L'enfant et son environnement élargi". The episode targets CEFR A2+.