A video-based lesson based on an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio, in which the learners practice their speaking, grammar for story-telling and listening decoding (focusing on target grammar). Grammar: Present Perfect, Past Simple/Continuous, features of spoken grammar (Present tenses used to achieve dramatic effect; 'he goes' to report what someone said).
On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
Worksheet (listening am e leo's bad luck)
1. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 1 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Before you listen
Task 1. You’re going to watch an extract from an interview with
Leonardo DiCaprio in which he talks about a scary thing that happened
to him.
Look at the following word cloud created out of the interview transcript.
(1) What topic is he going to talk about?
(2) How many words connected with this topic can you find? Circle
them.
Listening
Link: https://youtu.be/fNJI2A0v8yI?t=3m3s
Task 2. Watch the extract once. What happened to Leonardo DiCaprio? Take notes and then share what you
caught with your partner.
Notes:
Task 3. Listen to this extract again. Your teacher is going to play each line several times. Fill the gap, then
listen again and cross out the sounds that are missing.
Ellen: So what's the (1) scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Leo: (2) ___________ on a plane to Russia, (3) ___________ the engine exploded. (4) ___________ the
window (5) ___________ entire engine (6) _____________________ a fireball.
(7) ___________ right after Sully had that incident happen to him where the geese flew into both engines.
Ellen: Right. And he landed on the river.
Leo: Yeah. (8) ______________ one of the engines, (9) ______________ the only person there that (10)
__________ this, but it was a flaming fireball, and it was all Russian passengers.
2. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 2 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Task 4. Sort the phrases from the gaps in Task 3 into the diagram:
Task 5. Sit back, close your eyes and listen to this part of the interview again.
Grammar
Task 6. Look at the transcript in the box. Find:
(1) an example of Present Perfect: ____________________________
(2) all examples of Past Simple: _____________________________________
(3) an example of Past Continuous: ____________________________
Ellen: So what's the scariest thing you've ever done?
Leo: I was on a plane to Russia, and the engine exploded. I was looking out the window and the entire
engine just turned into a fireball. This happened in one of the engines, and I was the only person there
that seemed to see this, but it was a flaming fireball, and it was all Russian passengers. And I kinda felt
like I'd already died and gone to heaven 'cause no one said anything.
Task 7. Which tense(s) is used
Example from the text Tense
(1) at the beginning of the dialogue, to ask about
general life experience?
(2) throughout the story, to talk about events that
happened one after another (in sequence)?
(3) to give background information
-t/-d missing
(1) the scariest…
Vowel missing
(2) I was (‘uwz’)
3. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 3 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Task 8. Fill the gaps. Then listen and check.
Link: https://youtu.be/fNJI2A0v8yI?t=3m36s
And I (1) ______________ (scream) at the top of my lungs saying, "What the hell is going on here?" And the
people just kinda (2) ______________ (look back) at me and the stewardess (3) ______________ (come out)
and (4) ______________ (say), "We seem to have a slight problem here."
And the Russian guy finally said, "What is the problem?" And he said, "Well, we – we lost one of our engines."
And he sa – he goes, "How many engines did we have?" He goes, "Well, we had two. Now we have
one." And... he proceeded to say, "That is not – that is not good. That is not good."
And we basically (5) ______________ (dump) fuel for 45 minutes, and (6) ______________ (do) an
emergency landing, and all our tires (7) ______________ (explode) and there was a hundred different
ambulances there, and it was on CNN. That was another bummer.
Task 9. Think about a scary thing that you’ve done and prepare to talk about it.
Make sure you use:
Past Simple to talk about things that happened one after another
Past Continuous to describe what was happening in the background
Spoken grammar: ‘And he/she goes ‘…’’ to report what someone said
Task 9b. In pairs tell each other your story. Help your partner by asking follow-up questions!
4. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 4 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Task 10. [Optional / homework]
Fill the gaps in another story that happened to Leonardo DiCaprio (use Present Perfect, Past Simple or Past
Continuous). Then listen and check.
Link: https://youtu.be/fNJI2A0v8yI?t=1m41s (up to 3 min: 1 sec)
Ellen: So you (1) ______________ (always/be) like a daredevil, but you (2)
______________ (do)… – I think I (3)______________ (talk) to you about – you
swim with sharks, or you have…
Leo: Yeah.
Ellen: And you (4) ______________ (jump out) of an airplane.
Leo: Yeah.
Ellen: On a regular basis, or…?
Leo: I only did that once.
Ellen: Once. Will you do it again?
Leo: When you're.. When both parachutes don't open, you tend to not go repeat something like that, yeah.
Ellen: What are you talking about? Well then, how'd you get down?
Leo: I (5)______________ (jump) out of the airplane, and then my first chute (6) ______________ (not open).
It’s tandem, so somebody's on your back. They (7) ______________ (cut) that line. We've started freefalling
towards Earth, and that's when you get the, you know, 8x10 glossies of your whole life flashing before your
eyes. And then, the second one was tangled as well, and I (8) ______________ (see) my friends sort of
popping off with their, you know, their parachutes, and I'm still plummeting towards planet Earth. And – and
then that was tangled for about a good, I don't know, 20, 30
seconds, and then he (9) ______________ (untangle) it, and
then he (10) ______________ (tell) me, "Oh, you're probably
gonna break your legs now because this – we're going too
fast." So it was one of the worst experiences of my life, and I'll
never do it again.
Ellen: And (11) ______________ (you/break) your legs?
Leo: I (12) ______________ (not break) my legs.
Ellen: Wow. So he's whispering in your ear – or yelling in your..
Leo: No, he (13) ______________ (scream).
Ellen: Screaming in your.. [whispering] "Break your leg."
Leo: "You're gonna break your legs."
Ellen: "What? I can't hear you." Wow, that's just horrible.
Task 10b. Spoken grammar [Optional, for a stronger group]
Notice that at some points Leo starts using Present tenses instead of Past tenses to
create dramatic effect, e.g.
[Story 1] And he goes: ‘How many engines did we have’?
[Story 2] …and I’m still plummeting towards planet Earth.
How many examples of this use of present tenses can you find in the story in Task 10?
Glossary
parachute / chute (see the picture):a
large piece of material usedto drop
slowlyandsafelyfromaplane tothe
ground
tangled:the stringsof the parachute are
ina messsoit can’t open
to untangle:to tidyup the stringsof the
parachute so that itopens
plummeting: going very fast
5. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 5 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Task 11. Brainstorm adjectives that could replace the word ‘scariest’ in Ellen’s question:
So what's the scariest thing you've ever done?
Task 12. In pairs ask each other the question What’s the _______ thing you’ve ever done? and tell each
other stories.
6. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 6 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Teacher’s notes and key
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva
https://eltgeek.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/leos-bad-luck-a-lesson-plan
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI
Story 1 (tasks 1- 8) starts at 3 min 3 seconds till the end;
Story 2 (task 10) starts at 1:41 (up to 3 min 1 second)
Lead-in
Task 1
Tell the group they’re going to watch a fragment of an interview. Project the word
cloud (or refer to the cloud in the worksheet) and invite the s/s to brainstorm possible
topics. Board the topics. Ask the s/s to find words related to the topics (in pairs).
Key
Topics: airplanes, accidents
Related words (airplanes): engines, stewardess, passengers, landed, fuel
Related words (accidents): exploded, fireball, died
Possible warmer: the s/s chat in pairs/groups if they’re scared of flying
Task 2 https://youtu.be/fNJI2A0v8yI?t=3m3s
The s/s watch once and share in pairs what they caught. Group FB (it’s OK if they
don’t get something right at this point – T shouldn’t correct or replay.
Task 3 Aim: Draw the s/s’ attention to the way Past Simple/Continuous verbs and linkers
associated with narrative structures (and) are pronounced in fast speech.
Features:
/d/, /t/ sounds at the end get dropped or are barely audible, especially when
the word is followed by a t/d/th sound (e.g. and the, seemed to)
The vowel in ‘was’ is barely audible (e.g. I was /wz/)
[Option 1] To play individual line, use the interactive transcript on youtube (Click
‘more’>>’Transcript’) under the video). Switch the projector off, click on the lines in
the transcipt to replay them.
[Option 2] Download the Power point presentation from
https://eltgeek.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/leos-bad-luck-a-lesson-plan
Unpack the presentation and the folder Leo/Audio files to the same folder it and
use it to play individual lines and isolated words.
Key
Missing sounds
1 The scariest thing you’ve ever done scariest
2 I was /aɪ_wɒz/
3 and the and the
4 I was looking out I was /aɪ_wɒz/ looking out
5 and the and the
6 just turned into just turned into
7 It was It was
8 And this happened in And this happened in
9 and I was and I was
10 seemed to seemed to
7. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 7 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Task 4 -t/-d missing:
(1), (3), (5), (8), (10)
Vowel missing:
(2)
Consonant and vowel missing:
(4), (6), (7), (9)
Task 5 Do not skip this task.
Aim: To support the s/s psychologically by giving them the experience of fully understanding
an authentic passage and thus giving them the feeling that they’ve achieved progress in their
listening skills.
Tasks 6
and 7
Key:
Present Perfect: you’ve ever done – general life experience
Past simple: the engine exploded, the engine turned into, this happened, that seemed to
see, it was, I felt like, nobody said – events in sequence
Past continuous: I was looking out – background information
Task 8 Link: https://youtu.be/fNJI2A0v8yI?t=3m36s
Key:
(1) was screaming
(2) looked back
(3) came out
(4) said
(5) dumped
(6) did
(7) exploded
Task 9 Before the s/s do the task, point out the examples with ‘He goes’ in Task 8 and invite them to
give a synonym (‘He says’).
Task 10 Key:
(1) ‘ve always been
(2) ’ve done
(3) ‘ve talked
(4) ‘ve jumped out
(5) jumped
(6) didn’t open
(7) cut
(8) saw
(9) untangled
(10) told
(11) did you break
(12) did not
(13) was screaming
Task
10b
There are three (possibly, four) examples of present simple used to talk about past event to
create a dramatic effect.
After gap (7):
We’ve started freefalling towards Earth;
8. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 8 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
[?] And that’s when you get the 8x10 glossies of your whole life flashing before your
eyes
After (8):
and I’m still plummeting towards planet Earth
After (12):
So he’s whispering in your ear – or yelling in you…
Task 11 Get the s/s to brainstorm in pairs; board their suggestions.
Possible adjectives:
The saddest / funniest / most challenging / weirdest / most dangerous /…
9. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 9 | 10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Transcript
Story 1 (tasks 1 – 8)
3:03
So what's the scariest thing you've ever done?
3:05
- I was on a plane to Russia, and the engine exploded. I was looking out the window and the entire engine just
turned into a fireball. It was right after Sully had that incident happen to him where the geese flew into both
engines.
3:18
- Right. And he landed on the river.
3:19
- Yeah. This happened in one of the engines, and I was the only person there that seemed to see this, but it
was a flaming fireball, and it was all Russian passengers. And I kinda felt like I'd already died and gone to
heaven 'cause no one said anything. And I was screaming at the top of my lungs saying, "What the hell is
going on here?" And the people just kinda looked back at me and the stewardess came out and said, "We
seem to have a slight problem here."
3:48
And the Russian guy finally said, "What is the problem?" And he said, "Well, we – we lost one of our engines."
And he sa – he goes, "How many engines did we have?" He goes, "Well, we had two. Now we have one."
And... he proceeded to say, "That is not – that is not good. That is not good."
4:16
And we basically dumped fuel for 45 minutes, and did an emergency landing, and all our tires exploded and
there was a hundred different ambulances there, and it was on CNN. That was another bummer.
4:27
- Wow. Oh, my God. That's incredible.
4:32
- I feel like I should write a book now.
4:33
- Yeah, well no, I'm gonna write it.
10. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNJI2A0v8yI Youtube channel:TheEllenShow P a g e 10 |
10
Worksheet by Olya Sergeeva. Find more listeninglessonsat eltgeek.wordpress.com
Story 2 (Tasks 10 and 10b)
1:41
So you've always been like a daredevil, but you've done – I think I've talked to you about you swim with sharks,
or you have.
1:49
- Yeah. - And you've jumped out of an airplane. - Yeah.
1:52
- On a regular basis, or – - I only did that once.
1:55
- Once. Will you do it again? - When you're –
1:56
When both parachutes don't open, you tend to not go repeat something like that, yeah.
2:01
- What are you talking about? Well then, how'd you get down?
2:03
- I had – I jumped out of the airplane, and then my first chute didn't open.
2:09
They cut – it's tandem, so somebody's on your back. They cut that line.
2:13
We've started freefalling towards Earth, and that's when you get the, you know, 8x10 glossies of your whole life
flashing before your eyes.
2:20
And then, the second one was tangled as well, and I saw my friends sort of popping off with their, you know,
their parachutes, and I'm still plummeting towards planet Earth.
2:30
And – and then that was tangled for about a good, I don't know, 20, 30 seconds, and then he untangled it, and
then he told me, "Oh, you're probably gonna break your legs now because this – we're going too fast."
2:42
So it was one of the worst experiences of my life, and I'll never do it again. - And did you break your legs?
2:46
- I did not break my legs. - Wow.
2:47
So he's whispering in your ear – or yelling in your –
2:49
- He was screaming. - Screaming in your –
2:52
[whispering] "Break your leg."
2:53
- [whispering] "You're gonna break your legs."
2:55
- [screaming] "What? I can't hear you."
Wow, that's just horrible.