A quiet farm. A dead man. Two women see what the men cannot see.
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First, let's learn eight words. Read each word and its sentence, guess the meaning, then click Reveal to check. Say each word out loud.
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
It was a cold morning in March, 1917. Mrs Hale travelled with the sheriff, the sheriff's wife Mrs Peters, a lawyer, and her own husband to the Wright farm. The farm stood alone in a cold, empty place. It always looked lonely.
Yesterday, Mr Hale visited the farm. He found Mrs Wright — Minnie — sitting in her chair, very quiet and strange. "Where is your husband?" he asked. "He is dead," she said. Mr Hale found John Wright dead in his bed, with a rope around his neck. Minnie said: "I was asleep. I didn't wake up."
Now Minnie was in prison. The men wanted to find the reason for the murder. They looked around the kitchen. "There is nothing here — only kitchen things," the lawyer said, and laughed. Then the men went upstairs to look for evidence. The two women had to wait in the kitchen.
1. How did John Wright die?
2. Where do the men look, and where do the women wait?
1. Someone killed him in his bed, with a rope around his neck. His wife Minnie says she was asleep.
2. The men go upstairs to look for evidence. The women have to wait in the kitchen.
The women looked around the kitchen. They saw work that stopped in the middle: sugar half in a bag, a table half clean. Why did Minnie stop her work so suddenly?
Mrs Hale remembered young Minnie, twenty years ago. "She sang in the church choir. She wore pretty clothes. She was happy." But John Wright was a cold, hard man. He didn't talk. He didn't give her money for nice things. The farm was quiet and lonely, and Minnie had no children and no friends near.
Then they found Minnie's sewing — small pieces for a blanket. The sewing was beautiful. But one piece was wrong: the lines went everywhere, wild and crazy. The women looked at each other. Something bad happened when Minnie sewed that piece. The men came down and laughed at the women: "They are worried about her sewing!"
1. What was Minnie like twenty years ago? And what was her husband like?
2. What is strange about the sewing?
1. Minnie was happy — she sang in the choir and wore pretty clothes. John Wright was cold and hard: no talking, no money for nice things, a lonely life.
2. One piece is very different: the lines go everywhere, wild and crazy. Something bad happened at that moment.
Then Mrs Peters found a bird cage. The little door was broken — someone pulled it open, hard. But where was the bird?
They looked for Minnie's sewing things and found a pretty red box. Inside the box, in a piece of silk, was a small dead canary. Its neck was broken. Someone killed the little bird.
Now the women understood everything. The canary sang — it was the only beautiful sound in that cold, quiet house. John Wright killed the bird. And that night, John Wright died. The women didn't say the words. They only looked at each other.
The men came back. They found no evidence. "Nothing important here," they said. Quietly, Mrs Hale took the box with the dead bird and hid it in her coat pocket. The men never saw it. The two women said nothing — then, or ever.
1. What do the women find in the red box?
2. What does Mrs Hale do with the box at the end?
1. A small dead canary in a piece of silk. Its neck is broken — John Wright killed it.
2. She hides it in her coat pocket. The men never see it, and the women never speak about it.
Minnie's life was full of things that were necessary. In English, we talk about necessary things in the past with had to and didn't have to.
1. Minnie do all the farm work alone.
2. The men stay in the kitchen — they could look everywhere.
3. Mrs Peters take some clothes to Minnie in prison.
4. Mrs Hale fix the crazy sewing, but she did it.
1. had to (it was necessary — there was no help)
2. didn't have to (not necessary — they were free)
3. had to (it was her job that day)
4. didn't have to (not necessary — it was her choice)
Finish the second sentence so it means the same as the first.
1. It was necessary for Minnie to ask her husband for money. → Minnie
2. It was not necessary for the men to listen to the women. → The men
3. Was it necessary for Mr Hale to tell his story to the lawyer? → ?
1. Minnie had to ask her husband for money.
2. The men didn't have to listen to the women.
3. Did Mr Hale have to tell his story to the lawyer?
Write had to or didn't have to. Then read the little story out loud.
Minnie's life was hard. She work alone all day in a quiet house. She ask her husband for every dollar, and he always said no. The canary was her friend — when it sang, she feel so lonely. After the murder, the women wait in the kitchen. The men laughed at them, but the women ask the men for help — they found the truth alone.
had to · had to · didn't have to · had to · didn't have to
had to = it was necessary; didn't have to = it was not necessary. Minnie's life was full of "had to".
Now take the story's ideas into the real world. Talk about each one out loud. There are no right answers — say what you think, and say why.
The men look for big evidence and find nothing. The women see small things — sugar, sewing, a cage — and find everything. Who notices small things well: police officers? doctors? teachers? parents? Why?
In 1917, only men could sit on a jury in court. So Minnie's jury: twelve men. Is that fair? Who can really understand her life? What is a fair jury for you?
The women hide the evidence because they understand Minnie's hard life. One friend says: "That was wrong — the law is the law." Another friend says: "That was right — it was the only fair thing." Who do you agree with? Give two reasons.
The farm was too quiet and too lonely for Minnie. Is life in the countryside better or worse than life in a big city? Think about: friends, work, quiet, nature, help when you need it.
This is the most important part of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and try to speak for the whole time.
Tell the whole story in your own words: the cold farm → the dead man → Minnie in prison → the men look upstairs → the women see the kitchen → the crazy sewing → the broken cage → the dead canary → the secret.
Use had to at least two times and didn't have to at least one time.
You are a radio news reporter in 1917. First, tell the news about the Wright farm — but you only know what the men know. Then tell the news again — now you know what the women know. How different are your two reports?
Choose a room: a kitchen, a classroom, or an office. You are a detective. Name five small things you look at in that room. What can each small thing tell you about the person who uses the room?