Subscribe
← Lesson map
Bright Lives English · Teacher sheet

Louis Armstrong: A Poor New Orleans Boy… Then His Trumpet Made the World Smile

Level A2 (Elementary) · Video 3:38 · 45-minute lesson

brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/louis-armstrong-trumpet-smile/

45-minute lesson plan

TimeStageWhat to do
0–3′Warm-upAsk the class: “What kind of music do you like? Do you play an instrument? Who is your favourite singer?” Let a few students answer.
3–13′WordsPre-teach the 5 words with the flashcards: song, band, trumpet, jazz, smile. Say each word, show the meaning, and ask for a quick example.
13–20′VideoPlay the video (3:38). 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′Grammaradjective + -ly = adverb of manner: to say how someone does something. Show “He played loudly and smiled happily.”, 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: “Louis Armstrong was very poor, but people remember his big smile and his joy. Can music make people happy when life is hard? Which song makes you happy?”

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

Words and grammar

  • song (noun): music with words that you sing. “As a boy, he sang songs on the street.”
  • band (noun): a group of people who play music together. “He became the leader of the band.”
  • trumpet (noun): a metal instrument you blow into to make music. “He played the trumpet all over the world.”
  • jazz (noun): a kind of music that started in New Orleans; people often dance to it. “Louis Armstrong changed jazz.”
  • smile (noun / verb): the happy look on your face when your mouth goes up. “People loved his big smile.”

Grammar: adjective + -ly = adverb of manner — to say how someone does something. “He played loudly and smiled happily.”

Discussion questions

  1. Louis Armstrong was very poor, but people remember his big smile and his joy. Can music make people happy when life is hard? Which song makes you happy?
  2. What was the hardest moment in Louis Armstrong's story? What did Louis Armstrong do?
  3. Make two sentences about your own life with “adjective + -ly = adverb of manner”. (From the story: “He played loudly and smiled happily.”)

Student worksheet

Name: Date:

A Match the words to their meanings

  1. song (noun)
  2. band (noun)
  3. trumpet (noun)
  4. jazz (noun)
  5. smile (noun / verb)
  6. cornet (noun)
  7. coal (noun)
  8. joy (noun)
  1. a group of people who play music together
  2. the happy look on your face when your mouth goes up
  3. a kind of music that started in New Orleans; people often dance to it
  4. a small brass instrument, like a short trumpet
  5. music with words that you sing
  6. a hard black stone that people burn to make heat
  7. a metal instrument you blow into to make music
  8. great happiness

B Complete the sentences from the story

smile · songs · coal · joy · cornet · trumpet · jazz · band

  1. As a boy, he sang on the street.
  2. A teacher gave him a .
  3. His songs still bring around the world.
  4. He became the leader of the .
  5. Louis Armstrong changed .
  6. As a boy, he sold from a cart.
  7. People loved his big .
  8. He played the all over the world.

C Did you understand?

  1. Louis Armstrong's family was rich.True / False
  2. What did he blow on the Karnofskys' cart?
    1. A trumpet
    2. A whistle
    3. A little tin horn
    4. A drum
  3. Where did a teacher give him a cornet?
    1. In Chicago
    2. In a home for boys
    3. At school
    4. In Ghana
  4. In the parade, the neighbours were angry.True / False
  5. What did he do when (he said) he dropped the paper with the words?
    1. He stopped singing
    2. He played the piano
    3. He went home
    4. He sang sounds instead

D Put the words in order

  1. smiled / He / happily / played / loudly / and

E Grammar: adjective + -ly = adverb of manner

We use it for to say how someone does something. happy → happily · loud → loudly · careful → carefully · beautiful → beautifully

Example from the story: He played loudly and smiled happily.

  1. Louis practised every day. (carefully / careful / care)
  2. Soon he played . (beautifully / beautiful / beauty)
  3. Louis played at the front of the band. (loudly / loud / louder)

F Your turn

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

Answer key

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

B. 1 songs · 2 cornet · 3 joy · 4 band · 5 jazz · 6 coal · 7 smile · 8 trumpet

C. 1 False · 2 c · 3 b · 4 False · 5 d

D. 1 He played loudly and smiled happily.

E. 1 carefully · 2 beautifully · 3 loudly

Transcript

A poor boy sang on the street for a few coins.

Then, in a home for boys, a teacher gave him a horn.

What would he do with it?

This is the story of Louis Armstrong.

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

Song. A song is music with words.

You sing a song.

As a boy, he sang songs on the street.

Band. A band is a group of people who play music together.

He became the leader of the band.

Trumpet. A trumpet is a metal instrument.

You blow into it to make music.

He played the trumpet all over the world.

Jazz. Jazz is a kind of music.

It started in New Orleans, in America.

Louis Armstrong changed jazz.

Smile. A smile is the happy look on your face when your mouth goes up.

People loved his big smile.

Now, one pattern: adverbs.

They tell us how we do something.

Happy becomes happily.

Loud becomes loudly.

He played loudly and smiled happily.

Ready? Let's begin.

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901.

His family was very poor.

As a boy, he sold coal from a cart.

He sang songs on the street with his friends.

A kind Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave him work.

He blew a little tin horn to call people.

He wore a Star of David all his life to remember them.

On New Year's Eve, when he was eleven, he got into trouble.

He was sent to a home for boys.

There, a teacher gave him a cornet, a small trumpet.

Louis practised carefully.

Soon he played beautifully.

He became the leader of the band.

One day in 1913, the boys' band marched through his old street.

Louis was at the front.

He played loudly and proudly.

His neighbours ran out of their houses.

They cheered. They gave money to the band.

Later, he played in a famous jazz band in Chicago.

He sang too.

Once, he said, he dropped the paper with the words.

So he happily sang sounds instead.

People loved it!

Louis Armstrong changed jazz.

He played the trumpet all over the world.

In 1956, in Ghana, more than 100,000 people came to hear him.

He played loudly and smiled happily.

In 1964, at 62, his song "Hello, Dolly!" took the top place from the Beatles!

He died in 1971, but his songs still bring joy around the world.

Let's review. As a boy, he sang songs on the street.

He became the leader of the band.

He played the trumpet all over the world.

Louis Armstrong changed jazz.

People loved his big smile.

And remember: he played loudly and smiled happily.

Louis Armstrong's story teaches us: share your joy, and the whole world will smile with you.

Want more interesting lessons?

Go to brightlivesenglish.com.

Please subscribe and learn with us.