Session 1: Day one: the outbreak
Objectives
- Discover the scenario and its vocabulary
- Make deductions with must, might, can't
- Give a short emergency announcement
To understand an emergency, guess what is happening and give instructions, we need the outbreak words (outbreak, infected, curfew, shelter, supplies, rumour), imperatives for instructions and modals of deduction (it must be serious, it can't be a joke).
Warm-up
The teacher reads a fictional radio alert: 'Stay indoors. Do not open your door.' Students list five questions they would ask.
Documents
First hour checklist
| Action | Why | Priority (1 to 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Fill bottles with water | the network might stop | |
| Lock doors and windows | the infected must not enter | |
| Charge phones and a radio | to receive news | |
| Contact family | to agree on a meeting point |
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| outbreak | the sudden start of a disease |
| infected | carrying the disease |
| bite | an attack with the teeth |
| shelter | a safe place to stay |
| supplies | food, water, medicine |
| horde | a huge moving crowd |
| curfew | a time when you must stay inside |
| rumour | unchecked information |
Grammar lesson: modals of deduction: must, might, can't
For the teacher: how to run it (8 to 10 minutes)
- Read the radio alert in a calm voice. Ask: is it real? is it a joke? Collect answers on the board.
- Draw the certainty line: can't be (no), might be (maybe), must be (yes). Students copy.
- Show that deduction needs a reason: “It must be serious because the army is on the roads.”
- Quick check, then exercises, then the activities and the emergency announcement.
Rule
To guess from clues, use a modal + base verb. must: I am almost sure it is true. might / may / could: it is possible. can't: I am almost sure it is impossible. Always add the clue.
Form
- modal + base verb: The radio might stop.
- modal + be + adjective / noun: It must be serious.
- past: modal + have + past participle: They must have closed the roads.
- the opposite of must is can't, not mustn't
Use
- To react to the broadcast and the clues.
- In the role play, the presenter guesses what the caller sees.
- Never say must without a reason: because, since, so.
Examples from the lesson
- The shops must be empty.
- The radio might stop.
- It can't be a joke: the army is on the roads.
- The phone network is slow; it might stop soon.
Common mistakes
- Not
It must to be serious., but It must be serious. - Not
It mustn't be a joke., but It can't be a joke. - Not
It might is a film., but It might be a film. - Not
They must closed the roads., but They must have closed the roads.
Quick check (2 minutes, hands up or mini whiteboards)Must, might or can't?
- Everyone is talking about it: it ______ be serious.
- The network is slow: it ______ stop.
- The whole country is affected: it ______ be a film.
- My neighbour has a car: he ______ have left.
Show the answers
1. must. 2. might. 3. can't. 4. might (or must, with a stronger clue).
Exercises
EntryRecognition. Say how sure the speaker is: yes (Y), maybe (M), no (N).
- It must be an outbreak.
- The bridge might be closed.
- It can't be a drill: the soldiers look scared.
- The radio could stop tonight.
- The shops must have run out of water.
- It can't have started here.
Show the answers
1. Y. 2. M. 3. N. 4. M. 5. Y. 6. N.
CoreTransformation. Rewrite with must, might or can't.
- I'm sure the roads are blocked.
- Perhaps the school is a shelter.
- I'm sure it isn't a joke.
- It's possible the army will help us.
- I'm sure they heard the alert.
- I'm sure the infection didn't start in our street.
- Maybe the curfew is earlier tomorrow.
Show the answers
1. The roads must be blocked. 2. The school might be a shelter. 3. It can't be a joke. 4. The army might help us. 5. They must have heard the alert. 6. The infection can't have started in our street. 7. The curfew might be earlier tomorrow.
StretchProduction. Look out of the window of a classroom in the story. Write five deductions with a clue each.
Show the answers
For example: There are no cars, so the roads must be closed. The lights are off; the power might be down. A helicopter is flying low: it must be the army. Nobody is running, so the horde can't be near. The shop door is open; someone might have taken supplies.
Going further (for students heading to language studies)Advanced. Use deduction in the passive and in questions. Rewrite.
- Someone must have warned the army. (passive)
- Is it possible that the virus came from the lab? (Could ...?)
- I'm sure nobody has seen the patient zero. (can't)
Show the answers
1. The army must have been warned. 2. Could the virus have come from the lab? 3. Nobody can have seen patient zero. Passive deduction is common in news reports; could + have + participle asks a cautious question about the past.
Words in action
EntryMatch: outbreak, curfew, shelter, supplies, rumour.
- a safe place to stay
- food, water, medicine
- the sudden start of a disease
- unchecked information
- a time when you must stay inside
Show the answers
1. shelter. 2. supplies. 3. outbreak. 4. rumour. 5. curfew.
CoreBuild the word family: infect, infection, infected; spread; survive.
Show the answers
infect (verb), infection (noun), infected (adjective or noun: the infected); spread (verb and noun); survive, survival, survivor.
StretchWrite three instructions for your town with words from the box.
Show the answers
For example: Stay inside after the curfew. Collect water and supplies. Do not believe rumours: listen to this frequency.
Activities
- Read the broadcast and underline the instructions (imperatives).
- Rank the checklist and justify your top priority.
- Deduction: the shops must be empty. The radio might stop. It can't be a joke: the army is on the roads.
- Oral: in pairs, record a 30 second emergency announcement for your town.
More activities
- Complete with must, might or can't: The army is everywhere, so it ______ be serious.
- The phone network is slow; it ______ stop soon.
- It ______ be a film: the whole country is affected.
- Find two imperatives in the broadcast.
- Give the meaning of 'curfew'.
Corrigé of the exercises
- must
- might
- can't
- Stay inside, collect (also: wait)
- A time when you must stay inside
Sentence starters
- First of all, we must...
- It might be...
- It can't be... because...
- The most important thing is...
Role play
Student A is a radio presenter, Student B calls the radio from a blocked road. Ask and answer questions.
Figures of speech in the documents
Broadcast: “The infected become violent after a bite.” Vocabulary: “horde: a huge moving crowd”
The radio never says “zombies”: it says the infected, a medical word that is softer and avoids panic. That is a euphemism. A horde was first a wandering army or tribe: calling a crowd of infected a horde is a metaphor that makes it sound like an invasion.
EntryWhich word does the radio use instead of “zombies”?
Show the answers
the infected.
CoreWhy does an official message choose a euphemism?
Show the answers
To stay calm and precise, and to avoid panic: a medical word sounds controlled.
StretchRewrite one sentence of the broadcast as a panicked rumour, without euphemism. Then explain the difference.
Show the answers
For example: Zombies are everywhere, they eat people, run! The rumour is emotional and vague; the broadcast is calm and gives instructions.
Gap-fill worksheet
- There is an ______ in the region.
- The ______ become violent.
- The disease spreads with a ______.
- We need a safe ______.
- Collect water and ______.
- A ______ of infected is coming.
- The ______ starts at 6 pm.
- Do not believe every ______.
Answer key
- outbreak
- infected
- bite
- shelter
- supplies
- horde
- curfew
- rumour
Expression task
In pairs, record a thirty-second emergency announcement for your town.
EntryThree imperatives and one sentence with must.
CoreThirty seconds: the situation, three instructions, two deductions.
StretchUse a euphemism, a might and a can't, and end with a calm sentence.
Tools to use:
- outbreak, curfew, shelter, supplies
- imperatives: stay, lock, collect
- must, might, can't
Show a model answer
This is an emergency message for the town of Saint-Martin. An unknown infection is spreading in the region. Stay inside and lock your doors. Collect water and supplies. The roads must be closed, so do not drive. The phone network might stop tonight: keep your radio on. It can't be a rumour: the authorities have confirmed it. Stay calm; we will give new instructions at 8 pm.
Assessment grid
| Criteria | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario understanding | Rarely | Sometimes | Mostly | Always and precisely |
| Modals | Many errors | Some errors | Mostly correct | Correct and varied |
| Justification | No reason | One reason | Two reasons | Developed and nuanced |
Terminale LV1 · C1/C2 extension track
For strong or anglophone students. Outbreak stories are much older than zombies: literature has imagined the collapse of order for centuries.
Extended extract
Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, 1722 (public domain)
Critical analysis
- How does Defoe show that fear spreads faster than disease?
- What is the effect of the first person narrator?
- Find modern echoes of this panic in outbreak fiction.
Nuanced vocabulary
| Word or phrase | Meaning and use |
|---|---|
| contagion | the spread of disease, or of an emotion |
| apprehension | anxious fear that something bad will happen |
| to quarantine | to isolate to prevent spread |
| arguably | to present a view as defensible but open to debate |
| to hinge on | to depend entirely on |
Argued writing (C1: 300 words · C2: 400 words)
Debate
Homework
Write your first hour diary entry (100 words, three modals).