S2E24 - Bigger, Better, Best

Objective & content

George and Rosie walk Buster in a Bristol park. George says it is the best park, the tallest tree and the biggest duck, and Rosie answers each claim with a fact, until George trips over Buster and lands in a puddle. The episode teaches comparatives with -er than and superlatives with the -est for short adjectives (It's quieter than school. and the muddiest boy in Bristol), including the -y spelling change and better and best. The vocabulary field is the park and its animals (tree, goose, duck, pond, bench, mud). Learners listen, then check their understanding with the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

George's boasting and Rosie's corrections give a natural reason to compare two things and then name the top of a group. Building a tall, taller, tallest table on the board helps learners see the endings. Note the change in muddy, which becomes the muddiest, and the irregular better and best.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Warm-up: hold up two objects and compare them aloud, then add a third and move to the biggest.
2. (7 min) First listen, books closed: is George right about anything?
3. (10 min) Second listen with the comprehension questions; pause after the duck and goose line, the first correction pupils enjoy.
4. (10 min) Grammar: build a three-column table (tall, taller, tallest) from the script and add every adjective they hear.
5. (8 min) Vocabulary, then the boasting game: a superlative claim about their town, challenged by a partner with a fact.
6. (5 min) Wrap-up: pupils write one superlative sentence about themselves, true or funny.

Materials & prerequisites

The episode in the PLAY app (audio, slideshow, text and quiz), a student sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key. Learners need the present simple, to be, and common adjectives such as big, tall and fast.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4 (5e), programme axis "Daily life: places, rhythms, seasons": a park and a school day in Bristol.