Pocahontas British English Teacher

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GENERAL ENGLISH · HISTORICAL FIGURES · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
POCAHONTAS
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1 Warm up
Look at these pictures, which show how two groups of people lived in 17th century Virginia, USA.
Then answer the questions.
A B
C D
1. Who were these two groups?

2. What were they doing in Virginia?
3. Which group do you think had the most comfortable life?
4. A woman called Pocahontas lived with both of these groups during her life. What do you know
about her?
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PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
POCAHONTAS
2 Vocabulary
Complete these exercises.
Group 1
Complete these sentences with the words from the box. Explain the meaning of the words in bold.
customers hair holiday hurt money police
1. The soldiers are going to attack the city and we think many people will be .
2. I work in the communications department of my company, answering phone calls and e-mails
from .
3. The are going to free the prisoner later today.
4. Don’t worry - I promise to look after your dog while you are on .
5. His nickname is Red, because of his , but his real name is Robert.
6. You saved me a lot of by warning me about that dangerous website.
Group 2
Read the sentences and match the words in bold with their meanings.
1. The soldiers captured twenty men and took them away to their city.
2. I really enjoy visiting old Christian churches and looking at the art inside.
3. If people set up a colony on Mars, they may never be able to return to Earth.
4. Picasso painted a famous portrait of his wife.
5. You can only be a member of the royal family through birth or marriage.
6. In one old story, a clever fox tricked the other animals into giving him their food.
a. an area that is controlled by a far-away government or company

b. a work of art that shows a person
c. caught people using force and made them prisoners
d. got something by saying things that aren’t true
e. related to kings and queens and their families
f. related to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ
How do you think these words will be used in the story of Pocahontas’ life?
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POCAHONTAS
3 Listening 1
You are going to listen to information about Pocahontas (1596-1617). Before you listen, read these
sentences and decide if they are true or false. Listen and check your ideas.
Pocahontas’ father Powhatan was the leader of several groups in Virginia.
1.
Pocahontas is a nickname that described her personality.
2.
When the English arrived in Virginia, Powhatan gave them food and land.
3.
Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life twice.
4.
Pocahontas married John Smith.
5.
Pocahontas died from an illness in Virginia.
6.
4 Listening 2
Read the questions. Can you remember the answers? Listen again to check.
1. What happened when Powhatan’s men captured John Smith?

2. How did Pocahontas help the English?
3. Why did Pocahontas go to live with the English?
4. What surprising thing happened to Pocahontas in England?
5. What four ways have people used Pocahontas’ story?

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POCAHONTAS
5 Language point
Read the sentences and choose the best option to complete the sentences.
1) During the next few years, Pocahontas would bring the English food and she often
helped with communications between the groups.
2) The next year, Pocahontas and her family travelled to England.
Choose the right option:
1. Both sentences refer to actions in the present / the past / an unreal past.
2. In sentence 1, we understand that Pocahontas brought food and helped with communications
once / many times.
3. In sentence 2, we understand that Pocahontas and her family travelled to England once / many
times.
4. A habit is an action that people do many times. When we talk about past habits, we can use would
+ verb / past simple / both.
5. When we talk about one action in the past, we use would + verb / past simple / both.
Note: State verbs describe a permanent quality or fact, feelings and opinions. We can’t use
would + verb to talk about past states, only past actions. We use past simple to talk about
past states.
Now, read the information about life in Virginia in the 17th century and complete the sentences with
the best form of the verb in brackets. Use would wherever you can.
1
During her life, Pocahontas (live) in two very different worlds. Among Powhatan’s
2 3
people, young children (go) naked in the summer and they (wear)
4
animal skins in the winter. As they got older, young girls (learn) about women’s
5 6
work. This (be) very important - women (build) houses and they
7 8 9
(grow) food on farms. After girls (be) around 13, they
10
(start) to wear dresses. English women’s lives (seem) very strange to Pocahontas.
11 12
English women (work) only indoors or in the garden. Their clothes
13
(feel) heavy and uncomfortable. And they (eat) only at certain times of the day. In
14
Pocahontas’ home village, people could eat any time they . (want)
Glossary
*naked: without clothes

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POCAHONTAS
6 Talking point
Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.
1. Would you have preferred to live with Powhatan’s people or with the English in 17th century
Virginia? Why?
2. What would you ask Pocahontas if you could meet her?
3. What do people learn from Pocahontas’ story about love? History? Religion? Politics?
4. Why do you think Pocahontas was so famous when she visited London?
5. Some people say that the story of how Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life isn’t true. Here are
some other possible explanations - which do you think is correct?
• John Smith invented the story to put in his books because it was exciting.
• John Smith borrowed the story from a popular song.
• Powhatan put John Smith’s head on a stone, but John Smith didn’t understand what was
happening and Powhatan didn’t really want to kill him.
• Your own idea.

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POCAHONTAS
7 Optional extension
We use would+ verb to talk about repeated actions in the past. Talk about these topics in pairs or
small groups using would + verb. Ask questions to find out more information.
Example:
A: When I was a child, my friends and I would play on our bikes all day during the summer
holidays.
B: Would you go far?
A: No, we wouldn’t. We would just go to the park.
Something you would do in the summer holidays when you were a child
An activity you would do at primary school that you enjoyed or didn’t enjoy
Things that you would or wouldn’t eat when you were younger
A sport or game you would often play with friends
Something that your parents or grandparents would do when they were growing up

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TEACHER MATERIALS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
POCAHONTAS
Transcripts
3. Listening 1
Historian: Pocahontas was born around 1596. Her father Powhatan was the leader of around
thirty groups who lived on the coast of Virginia. Pocahontas was a nickname meaning
âĂĲplayful oneâĂİ - her real name was Amonute. In 1607, some English people arrived
in Virginia to start a colony.
Historian: They were not well prepared for life in Virginia, and they argued with Powhatan’s people
about land and food. Powhatan’s men captured the Englishman John Smith and took him
to their capital. They placed his head on a stone, and it looked like they were going to kill
him.
Historian: The story goes that Pocahontas saved his life, and Smith went free. During the
next few years, Pocahontas would bring the English food, and she often helped with
communications between the groups. She saved Smith’s life again in 1609 by warning
him of a plan to attack him.
Historian: After this, Smith returned to England. In 1613, the English tricked Pocahontas onto one
of their ships. They promised to free her when her father returned English prisoners and
guns. Powhatan did not do this, so the English took Pocahontas to live with them. She
learned about how the English lived and became Christian, taking the name of Rebecca.
Historian: She married a man called John Rolfe, and they had a son in 1615. The next year, they all
travelled to England. Pocahontas was famous in London, and she met the royal family.
Her portrait was painted, and she also saw John Smith again - she was surprised because
she thought he was dead.
Historian: As she was preparing to return to Virginia, Pocahontas became ill and died in 1617. She
was only 21. Pocahontas was both brave and intelligent, living between two worlds.
People have told her story to talk about love, history, politics and religion.
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POCAHONTAS
Key
1. Warm up
5 mins.
The purpose of this stage is to introduce the topic and arouse curiosity. Give students a minute to look at the
pictures and then elicit/explain answers to the questions - sample answers are provided. Students will probably
be familiar with Pocahontas from the Disney movie and they may explain the story from that source - don’t confirm
or deny their ideas. It’s fine if the class have limited knowledge – they will discover more during the lesson.
1. One was a group of Native Americans, or Indians, and the other were Europeans/Westerners (English).
2. The Native Americans (photos A and C) had always lived there and they farmed and hunted. The Europeans
(photos B and D) had come to explore, live and try to make money.
3. Students’ own answers.
4. Students’ own answers.
2. Vocabulary
10 mins.
Explain that students will need to know some vocabulary to understand the listening. In the first exercise, students
complete a gap-fill. These items are B1 level and students should be able to explain the meaning of the words in
bold from the context of the sentence. If your class is mono-lingual, translation may be the fastest way to check
understanding, but sample definitions in English are also provided. In the second exercise, students complete a
matching exercise to define some higher-level vocabulary. Check answers with the class including pronunciation
– stressed syllables are underlined.
Group 1 definitions: attack means to use violence to hurt something or someone - this may be related to war or to
a crime; communications are acts of speaking, listening and understanding between people; a prisoner is someone
who has lost their freedom - this may be related to war or to a crime; promise means to say you will definitely
do something in the future; a nickname is an informal name used by people’s friends and family; warning is telling
someone about something dangerous.
Pose the follow-up question for students to discuss in pairs for a couple of minutes. This will help to prepare them
for the listening. You could elicit some brief responses around the class to conclude this stage.
Group 1
1. hurt 2. customers 3. police 4. holiday 5. hair 6. money
Group 2
1. c 2. f 3. a 4. b 5. e 6. d
3. Listening 1
10 mins.
First, go over the sentences and ask students to work in pairs to predict the answers before they listen – this stage
will probably be very brief. Then students can listen to the recording and check their ideas. If they need a second
listening, that’s fine. Before you check answers with the whole class, students can check answers in pairs.
1. F - more than several, thirty groups. 2. T - it means "playful."
3. F - they argued about food and land. 4. T - in 1607 and 1609.
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POCAHONTAS
5. F - she married John Rolfe. 6. F - she died in England as she was preparing to return
to Virginia.
4. Listening 2
10 mins.
Go over the questions with the whole class. Students should work in pairs before listening to recall/predict the
answers and then listen again to confirm/find the answers. They can check answers again in pairs before you go
over the answers with the whole class.
If any students need extra support for this exercise, you could make the transcript available to them while they
listen or after they listen. Students often enjoy listening and reading anyway – if you haven’t repeated the listening
more than twice so far, they may want to do this now.
1. They took him back to their capital and placed his head on a stone, perhaps to kill him. Pocahontas saved him.
2. She brought them food and helped them to communicate with her people. She also warned John Smith about
an attack.
3. She was tricked and captured, and her father would not return English prisoners and guns to free her.
4. She saw John Smith again - she thought he was dead.
5. To talk about love, history, politics and religion.
5. Language point
10 mins.
In this stage, students explore sentences from the listening which contrast single and repeated actions in the past.
They need to understand the concept of state and action verbs for this activity. Go over the short presentation
activity with the whole class.
Explain the reading/gap-fill task and give students a few minutes to complete the exercise - note that they need
to use would wherever possible. Call attention to the glossary. Students could check answers in pairs before you
check with the class. If they need extra support, tell them that 8 verbs in the exercise use would. Ask them to
justify their choices based on the context - the verbs that do not use would are state verbs.
Note: the optional extension stage at the end of the lesson provides an opportunity for students to practise this
language point through speaking.
1. the past
2. many times
3. once
4. both - if we use past simple we may include adverbs like often
5. past simple - we may include a time reference like the next year
Virginia text:
1. lived 2. would go 3. would wear
4. would learn 5. was 6. would build
7. would grow 8. were 9. would start
10. seemed 11. would work 12. felt
13. would eat 14. wanted
6. Talking point
15 mins.
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POCAHONTAS
Students can work in pairs or small groups to discuss these questions. If your classroom set-up allows, students
could move round the room, forming small groups to discuss one question at a time, changing groups for each new
question. Conduct a quick round-up of answers either after each question or at the end, encouraging students to
give reasons and examples for their answers.
7. Optional extension
10+ minutes.
Go over the instructions and example and set students up to talk about some or all of the topics in the box. Monitor
and support as necessary. Round off the stage with some error correction, including pronunciation, and/or by
sharing some good examples that you heard. This activity supports students who are preparing for Cambridge or
IELTS exams.
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GENERAL ENGLISH · HISTORICAL FIGURES · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

QrrkoD Scan to review worksheet

1. Who were these two groups?

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/6

Complete these exercises.

customers hair holiday hurt money police

a. an area that is controlled by a far-away government or company

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/6

Pocahontas’ father Powhatan was the leader of several groups in Virginia.

Pocahontas is a nickname that described her personality.

Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life twice.

Pocahontas married John Smith.

Pocahontas died from an illness in Virginia.

1. What happened when Powhatan’s men captured John Smith?

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2) The next year, Pocahontas and her family travelled to England.

Choose the right option:

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Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

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B: Would you go far?

A: No, we wouldn’t. We would just go to the park.

A sport or game you would often play with friends

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