S1E20 - Question Time

Objective & content

In the English classroom, Ms Foster asks pupils to interview a partner. Rosie questions Priya about her favourite subject, where she sits at lunch, when she does her homework, why she likes the school, who her favourite teacher is and how many books she reads. Priya whispers her answer about Ms Foster, who hears it anyway. The episode teaches the question words who, what, where, when, why, how (Where do you sit at lunch?). The vocabulary is school life: subject, homework, evening, favourite, teacher, book, month. Learners listen for what they learn about Priya, then check their understanding with the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

Rosie asks all six question words in a row, so pupils can match each word to what it asks for (a person, a thing, a place, a time, a reason, a way). The words are easy; the auxiliary is not. German and Italian pupils may say Where sit you? because their languages have no do, and French pupils drop do for est-ce que. Watch subject, which here means a school subject.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Warm-up: put the six question words on the board, ask six questions about yourself and let pupils spot the word; label what each asks for.
2. (7 min) Teach the ten words; explain subject (a school subject) and stress interview and partner.
3. (7 min) First listen: find three things about Priya.
4. (10 min) Second listen: match each of Rosie's questions to a question word, then ask why Priya whispers.
5. (8 min) Grammar focus: elicit do in four gapped questions, then compare with Who is ...?, which has no do.
6. (8 min) Pupils interview a partner with the six questions, then change partners and ask again.

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 be and the present simple with you.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 3 (6e), axis "The child and their close environment": asking simple questions about school life.