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Bright Lives English · Teacher sheet

Frida Kahlo: She Painted Herself

Level A2 (Elementary) · Video 3:48 · 45-minute lesson

brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/frida-kahlo-painted-herself/

45-minute lesson plan

TimeStageWhat to do
0–3′Warm-upAsk the class: “Look in a mirror for ten seconds. What do you see? Say three things in English.” Let a few students answer.
3–13′WordsPre-teach the 5 words with the flashcards: accident, hurt, mirror, painting, colourful. Say each word, show the meaning, and ask for a quick example.
13–20′VideoPlay the video (3:48). Students follow the transcript. Play it a second time if needed.
20–28′ComprehensionWorksheet C (or the online Story Challenge): check answers together. Ask “How do you know?”
28–35′Grammarwas / were + -ing … when + past simple: a short action that happens in the middle of a longer one. Show “She was riding a bus when the accident happened.”, then do worksheet E together.
35–43′WorksheetStudents do worksheet A, B and D alone or in pairs. Check with the answer key.
43–45′SpeakingIn pairs: “Frida made beautiful things in hard times. What do you do when you have a difficult day?”

Homework: students finish the lesson online (flashcards + Story Challenge). With your class link, you see who finished.

Words and grammar

  • accident (noun): something bad that happens suddenly, that nobody wants. “A bus accident changed her life.”
  • hurt (verb): to give someone pain (past: hurt). “The accident hurt her back.”
  • mirror (noun): a piece of glass you look in to see yourself. “Her mother put a mirror above her bed.”
  • painting (noun): a picture that someone makes with paint. “Her paintings show her own face.”
  • colourful (adjective): with many bright colours, like red, yellow and green. “She wore long, colourful dresses.”

Grammar: was / were + -ing … when + past simple — a short action that happens in the middle of a longer one. “She was riding a bus when the accident happened.”

Discussion questions

  1. Frida made beautiful things in hard times. What do you do when you have a difficult day?
  2. What was the hardest moment in Frida Kahlo's story? What did Frida Kahlo do?
  3. Make two sentences about your own life with “was / were + -ing … when + past simple”. (From the story: “She was riding a bus when the accident happened.”)

Student worksheet

Name: Date:

A Match the words to their meanings

  1. accident (noun)
  2. hurt (verb)
  3. mirror (noun)
  4. painting (noun)
  5. colourful (adjective)
  6. self-portrait (noun)
  7. flower (noun)
  8. pain (noun)
  1. something bad that happens suddenly, that nobody wants
  2. the coloured part of a plant
  3. with many bright colours, like red, yellow and green
  4. the feeling you have when part of your body hurts
  5. a picture that someone makes with paint
  6. a piece of glass you look in to see yourself
  7. to give someone pain (past: hurt)
  8. a painting or picture that an artist makes of themselves

B Complete the sentences from the story

paintings · pain · flowers · hurt · mirror · colourful · accident

  1. The accident her back.
  2. Frida wore colourful dresses and in her hair.
  3. When something hurts you, it gives you .
  4. Her mother put a above her bed.
  5. She wore long, dresses.
  6. A bus changed her life.
  7. Her show her own face.

C Did you understand?

  1. How old was Frida when the accident happened?
    1. Eight
    2. Fifteen
    3. Eighteen
    4. Thirty-five
  2. At her school in Mexico City, most of the students were girls.True / False
  3. What did Frida want to be?
    1. A painter
    2. A doctor
    3. A teacher
    4. A bus driver
  4. What did her mother put above her bed?
    1. A picture
    2. A big mirror
    3. A lamp
    4. A flower
  5. After about three months, Frida walked again.True / False
  6. How did Frida arrive at her 1953 art show?
    1. On a bus
    2. In an ambulance
    3. On foot
    4. She didn't go

D Put the words in order

  1. was / a / riding / happened / when / the / bus / She / accident

E Grammar: was / were + -ing … when + past simple

We use it for a short action that happens in the middle of a longer one. was / were + verb-ing = the longer action · when + past simple = the short action

Example from the story: She was riding a bus when the accident happened.

  1. She a bus home when a tram hit it. (was riding / rode / rides)
  2. She was lying in bed when her mother an idea. (had / was having / has)
  3. The guests when an ambulance arrived. (were waiting / waited / wait)

F Your turn

Retell Frida Kahlo's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.

Answer key

A. 1a 2g 3f 4e 5c 6h 7b 8d

B. 1 hurt · 2 flowers · 3 pain · 4 mirror · 5 colourful · 6 accident · 7 paintings

C. 1 c · 2 False · 3 b · 4 b · 5 True · 6 b

D. 1 She was riding a bus when the accident happened.

E. 1 was riding · 2 had · 3 were waiting

Transcript

At eighteen, an accident kept her in bed for months.

Years later, she came to her own art show in her bed!

This is the story of Frida Kahlo.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Accident. An accident is something bad that happens suddenly.

Nobody wants it.

A bus accident changed her life.

Hurt. When something hurts you, it gives you pain.

The past is hurt, too.

The accident hurt her back.

Mirror. You look in a mirror to see yourself.

Her mother put a mirror above her bed.

Painting. A painting is a picture that someone makes with paint.

Her paintings show her own face.

Colourful. Something colourful has many bright colours, like red, yellow and green.

She wore long, colourful dresses.

Now, one pattern: was doing something, when something happened.

A short action happens in the middle of a longer one.

She was riding a bus.

The accident happened.

She was riding a bus when the accident happened.

Ready? Let's begin.

Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico in 1907.

At fifteen, she went to a top school in Mexico City.

There were two thousand students, and only thirty-five were girls.

She wanted to be a doctor.

One day in 1925, she was riding a bus home when a tram hit it.

It was a terrible accident.

Frida was badly hurt.

Would she ever walk again?

For months, she had to lie in bed.

She was lying in bed when her mother had an idea.

She put a big mirror above the bed.

Her father let her use his paints.

In the mirror, Frida saw her own face, and she painted it.

And after about three months, she walked again!

Her back hurt all her life, but she kept painting.

She married Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican painter.

Frida wore colourful dresses and flowers in her hair.

In 1953, Mexico City had a big show of her paintings.

But Frida was very ill.

Her doctors told her to stay in bed.

The guests were waiting when an ambulance arrived.

Frida was inside!

Men carried her to her own bed, in the middle of the show.

Today, her paintings are worth millions.

In 2025, one sold for more than fifty million dollars!

Let's review. A bus accident changed her life.

The accident hurt her back.

Her mother put a mirror above her bed.

Her paintings show her own face.

She wore long, colourful dresses.

And remember: she was riding a bus when the accident happened.

Frida's story teaches us: even in hard times, you can make something beautiful.

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