brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/ernest-shackleton-every-man-home/
45-minute lesson plan
| Time | Stage | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3′ | Warm-up | Ask the class: “Imagine you are trapped in a cold place with your friends and no phone. What three things would you need most?” Let a few students answer. |
| 3–11′ | Words | Pre-teach the 5 words with the flashcards: crew, trapped, crush, lifeboat, storm. Say each word, show the meaning, and ask for a quick example. |
| 11–18′ | Video | Play the video (4:43). Students follow the transcript. Play it a second time if needed. |
| 18–26′ | Comprehension | Worksheet C (or the online Story Challenge): check answers together. Ask “How do you know?” |
| 26–34′ | Grammar | past perfect: had + past participle: to show which of two past actions happened first, the earlier one. Show “By the time help came, they had waited for months.”, then do worksheet E together. |
| 34–42′ | Worksheet | Students do worksheet A, B and D alone or in pairs. Check with the answer key. |
| 42–45′ | Speaking | In pairs: “In 1909, Shackleton turned back before the South Pole to save his men. In 1916, he risked his own life to save them. What makes a good leader?” |
Homework: students finish the lesson online (flashcards + Story Challenge). With your class link, you see who finished.
Words and grammar
- crew (noun): all the people who work together on a ship. “He sailed south with a crew of twenty-seven men.”
- trapped (adjective): in a place you cannot get out of. “The ship was trapped in the ice.”
- crush (verb (past: crushed)): to press something so hard that it breaks. “Slowly, the ice crushed the ship.”
- lifeboat (noun): a small boat people use when their ship is in danger. “Six men sailed one small lifeboat across the ocean.”
- storm (noun): very bad weather with strong winds and high waves. “Day after day, the storm threw huge waves at the boat.”
Grammar: past perfect: had + past participle — to show which of two past actions happened first, the earlier one. “By the time help came, they had waited for months.”
Discussion questions
- In 1909, Shackleton turned back before the South Pole to save his men. In 1916, he risked his own life to save them. What makes a good leader?
- What was the hardest moment in Ernest Shackleton's story? What did Ernest Shackleton do?
- Make two sentences about your own life with “past perfect: had + past participle”. (From the story: “By the time help came, they had waited for months.”)
Student worksheet
A Match the words to their meanings
- crew (noun)
- trapped (adjective)
- crush (verb (past: crushed))
- lifeboat (noun)
- storm (noun)
- captain (noun)
- penguin (noun)
- whaling station (noun)
- very bad weather with strong winds and high waves
- to press something so hard that it breaks
- in a place you cannot get out of
- a black and white sea bird that cannot fly but swims very well
- a place by the sea where people worked on whales that ships had caught
- all the people who work together on a ship
- a small boat people use when their ship is in danger
- the person who is in charge of a ship
B Complete the sentences from the story
crew · whaling station · trapped · captain · storm · lifeboat · Penguins · crushed
- Frank Worsley was the of the Endurance.
- Six men sailed one small across the ocean.
- Slowly, the ice the ship.
- The was behind high, icy mountains.
- He sailed south with a of twenty-seven men.
- The ship was in the ice.
- Day after day, the threw huge waves at the boat.
- walked past the trapped ship.
C Did you understand?
- Shackleton reached the South Pole in 1909.True / False
- What happened to the ship in January 1915?
- It sank in a storm
- The sea froze around it
- It reached Antarctica
- It went back to England
- How long had they been without land when they reached Elephant Island?
- Two weeks
- Ten years
- 497 days
- 36 hours
- All the men sailed together to South Georgia.True / False
- What did the three men hear after walking for 36 hours?
- A ship's bell
- Penguins singing
- A radio
- A whistle from the whaling station
- Every man of the Endurance crew came home.True / False
D Put the words in order
- had / crossed / Nobody / mountains / ever / those
E Grammar: past perfect: had + past participle
We use it for to show which of two past actions happened first, the earlier one. had + past participle: they had waited, nobody had crossed · negative: had not (hadn't) + past participle: They had not stood on land for 497 days. · with by the time: By the time help came, they had waited for months. · before / already: The ship had been their home for more than a year before the ice crushed it.
Example from the story: By the time help came, they had waited for months.
- By the time help came, they for months. (had waited / have waited / waits)
- Nobody had ever those mountains before. (crossed / cross / crossing)
- They stood on land for 497 days. (had not / did not / have not)
F Your turn
Retell Ernest Shackleton's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.
Answer key
A. 1f 2c 3b 4g 5a 6h 7d 8e
B. 1 captain · 2 lifeboat · 3 crushed · 4 whaling station · 5 crew · 6 trapped · 7 storm · 8 Penguins
C. 1 False · 2 b · 3 c · 4 False · 5 d · 6 True
D. 1 Nobody had ever crossed those mountains.
E. 1 had waited · 2 crossed · 3 had not
Transcript
In 1915, the Antarctic ice crushed his ship.
Twenty-eight men were trapped at the end of the world.
Could he bring every man home?
This is the story of Ernest Shackleton.
Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.
Crew. A crew is all the people who work together on a ship.
He sailed south with a crew of twenty-seven men.
Trapped. If you are trapped, you are in a place and you cannot get out.
The ship was trapped in the ice.
Crush. To crush something means to press it so hard that it breaks.
The past is crushed.
Slowly, the ice crushed the ship.
Lifeboat. A lifeboat is a small boat that people use when their ship is in danger.
Six men sailed one small lifeboat across the ocean.
Storm. A storm is very bad weather with strong winds and high waves.
Day after day, the storm threw huge waves at the boat.
Now, one pattern: had and a past participle.
We use it for the earlier of two past actions.
They waited for months.
Then help came.
By the time help came, they had waited for months.
Ready? Let's begin.
Ernest Shackleton was born in Ireland in 1874.
At sixteen, he left school and went to sea on a big sailing ship.
He dreamed of adventure.
He became a polar explorer.
In 1909, he came closer to the South Pole than anyone before him.
But food was running out, so he turned back to save his men.
In 1914, he sailed south with a crew of twenty-seven men, to walk across Antarctica.
But in January 1915, the sea froze around their ship, Endurance.
The ship was trapped in the ice.
For ten months, the ice carried the ship slowly across the sea.
It had been their home for more than a year.
Then the ice began to push, and the wood cracked.
Slowly, the ice crushed the ship.
In November 1915, she sank.
For five months, the men lived on the ice in thin tents.
They ate seals and penguins.
When the ice broke up, they sailed three small lifeboats to Elephant Island.
They had not stood on land for 497 days!
But nobody ever came to that island.
So Shackleton made a plan.
Six men sailed one small lifeboat across the ocean, about 1,300 kilometres.
Day after day, the storm threw huge waves at the boat.
Would they make it?
After two weeks, they reached South Georgia.
But the whaling station was behind high, icy mountains.
Nobody had ever crossed them.
Shackleton and two men walked for thirty-six hours.
Then they heard a whistle from the station.
They had made it!
Twenty-two men were still waiting on Elephant Island.
In August 1916, after three failed tries, his ship reached them.
Are you all well? he shouted.
All safe, all well!
By the time help came, they had waited for more than four months.
Every man came home.
Shackleton died in 1922, on another trip south.
And in 2022, scientists found his ship, three kilometres under the sea.
It had stayed there for more than one hundred years.
Let's review. He sailed south with a crew of twenty-seven men.
The ship was trapped in the ice.
Slowly, the ice crushed the ship.
Six men sailed one small lifeboat across the ocean.
Day after day, the storm threw huge waves at the boat.
And remember: by the time help came, they had waited for months.
Ernest Shackleton's story teaches us: a true leader never leaves anyone behind.
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