S2E30 - The Zip Wire

Objective & content

On the last morning of school camp the coach is late, so the instructors open the zip wire for one last go. George goes first and gets stuck, Rosie tries to go quietly, and Priya asks Mr Brown whether he has ever been on one. The episode teaches the present perfect with ever and never for experience (Have you ever been on a zip wire, George?). The vocabulary field is an outdoor activity (zip wire, harness, platform, coach, stuck, scared). Learners listen, then check their understanding with the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

The episode opens and closes on the same question and the answer changes once the teacher has done it, so learners see what experience up to now means. What happens on the wire is told in the past simple (He didn't stop.), which lets pupils separate a moment in the past from their life up to now. Keep the tally and the survey simple: a few questions, short answers.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Warm-up: hands up for Have you ever been on a zip wire? On a boat? In a tent?; keep a tally and model Yes, I have and No, never.
2. (7 min) First listen, books closed: who goes on the zip wire last?
3. (10 min) Second listen with the comprehension questions; pause after Mr Brown asks for a harness and let pupils predict what happens.
4. (10 min) Grammar: two columns, your life up to now (Have you ever been...?) and one moment in the past (He stopped in the middle.).
5. (8 min) Vocabulary, then a Find someone who... survey with Have you ever...?
6. (5 min) Wrap-up: why is the last answer not Never any more? Pupils write one thing they have never done, starting I've never...

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 past simple and past participles of common verbs such as be and do.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 4 (5e), programme axis "Daily life: places, rhythms, seasons": the last day at school camp.