Who dunnit h45

Who dunnit h45

Who dunnit

Introduction

The subject of this lesson is 'Thrillers'.

  • Form groups of three or four pupils.

Discuss the following questions in your group:

  • Do you read thrillers?
  • Do you like watching crime shows on TV?  
  • Do you enjoy a good “Whodunnit”?
  • Do you prefer films or TV series?
  • Do you know if there are any genres that are actually good for your brain for you to watch?
  • Which and why do you think they might be good for your brain?

This lesson contains 5 steps and an evaluation. Work them through step by step.

Step Activity  

 

Introduction

Find out what you already know.

Step 1

Words

Translate and classify genres as mystery. Think of examples.

Step 2

Reading

Read text about TV dramas good for your brains.
Complete sentences. Write summary.

Step 3

Grammar

About modals, theory and exercise (rewrite sentences).

Step 4

Song

Listen to the song and answer the questions.

Step 5

Task

Read tips, complete table with your ideas to write short blurb.

 

Evaluation

Reflecting on what you have learned.

 

Difficult words? Search these on Cambridge Dictionaries

 

Step 1 - Words

Words
At first an exercise with different genres of crime shows on TV.
Choose the correct translation.

Can you think of an example for each of the genres?

Genre Example
Comedy  
Detective  
Fantasy  
Historical fiction  
Horror  
Legal/medical thriller  
Police  
Romantic  
Western  

Step 2 - Reading

Reading
The text is entitled: Why watching TV drama is good for your brains.
The author’s main point is: Using your brain while you watch TV is a good thing.

Read the whole text.

Why watching TV drama is good for your brains​
On a cold January night, the prospect of ditching your resolution to get fit - or read the complete works of Tolstoy - and putting your feet up in front of a good TV crime drama can prove irresistible. But if you feel guilty about lounging on the sofa, don’t. Because watching a powerful mystery is actually good for you. That’s neuroscientific fact. Whether it’s a gritty Nordic noir box set, the latest series of Broadchurch or the small screen thriller Fortitude that starts on Thursday, telly of this kind provides an excellent workout for your brain. I’m a neuroscientist at Durham University, and the research in my field affirms this. The best TV crime dramas build suspense over a number of episodes. They challenge viewers to pay attention to complicated stories, including red herrings, and to remember them from episode to episode.

In other words, they provide great stimulation for the brain, which in turn helps keep it healthy, as the human brain needs to be kept active. In fact, when you deprive it of stimulation it reacts very badly.

Research shows that when people are put in an artificial situation with no sensory stimulation, their brains take only 30 hours to become so distressed they start stimulating themselves by hallucinating. When people come out of those isolation experiments and are asked to undertake reasoning and memory tests, they perform worse than previously. The more you tax your brain, the sharper it becomes. And when you watch complex TV drama, you really tax it. Almost all the visual regions in the brain are activated, starting with the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe, where the images are first analysed.

The inferior temporal lobe kicks in to recognise objects, and the parietal lobe takes care of spatial attention – that is, separating out the important parts of the image from the background. There’s also a particular part of the brain, the fusiform face area, which recognises the characters’ faces - crucial for dramas that introduce a sometimes bewildering number of suspects. The Wernicke’s area of the left brain is deployed to understand the show’s script, while the same area in the right-hand side of the brain analyses the tone of voice and its musicality to decode the emotion conveyed. Indeed, where crime dramas score extra brain exercise points over other television genres is in their complexity and high levels of emotion. Understanding Beth Latimer’s grief in Broadchurch, or Sarah Lund’s isolation in The Killing, involves a complicated interplay of brain regions working together (loosely called the limbic system).

The memory area of the hippocampus, meanwhile, helps us recall what happened to the characters
in the previous episode. When the limbic system is stimulated in the right way, it can also trigger the release of brain chemicals such as serotonin (which helps us feel happy) and dopamine (which helps us feel rewarded). Serotonin and dopamine are crucial to a healthy brain: it is these chemicals that are often depleted in those suffering from depression.

So if you figure out who the murderer is, you won’t just feel smug - your brain chemistry might also improve. To reach this point, you will have had to remember who’s who, how they relate to each other and what has happened already, all of which requires the working memory and higher reasoning centres of the frontal cortex. Then there’s the background music. Chris Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch, has said many of his plot cues are signalled to the audience through the music.

In many other series too (as well as films), the score helps build the suspense, which is surely the key ingredient of all successful crime dramas - and one to which the human brain responds strongly. A recent academic paper described an experiment in which participants were shown scenes from an old TV show directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Those they rated “highly suspenseful” generated greater activity in the
frontal cortex and parietal cortex of their brains. These coordinated areas of the brain are responsible for higher executive function – planning and organising, as well as managing our time and attention. Which is just as well, because attention is essential if the rich flow of information is to stimulate our cognitive awareness. But we have a limited capacity to pay attention, and brain blinks, such as breaking off to check text messages or social media, divert valuable mental resources. So for the best brain workout during your favourite crime show, give it your full attention - and save tweeting about it for later.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk by Dr. Amanda Ellison

 

Do the exercise.

Summary

You have read the text several times now. Summarise this text in 50 words.

 

Answer

Step 3 - Grammar

Grammar
Let's look at... modals.
Examples of modal verbs are:

  • should have
  • might have
  • must have
  • could have

Study the Grammar Desk.

Modal verbs

 

Do the exercises.

Step 4 - Song

Song: Cardigan Weather
Listen to the song.

Do the exercises.

 

Step 5 - Task

Task
You are a screenwriter and you have been invited to write the short blurb for your new murder mystery TV series. Work with a partner.

Read about some tips for blurb writing here blurb.com.

Write down your ideas for the mystery. Complete the table.
You don’t have to write the whole mystery, but it’s a good idea to have lots of details.
Then you can choose the most important ones to write your blurb.

When does it happen (now / 1900s etc.)

 
Main characters 1.
2.
3.
Minor characters 1.
2.
3.
Where does the mystery take place  
Who is murdered  
How (weapon)  
Investigating detective  
Suspects
Names Possible motives
1.  
2.  


With your partner, decide which information you will include.

  • Write your blurb in between 200–250 words.

Evaluation

Fill in this schedule and answer the questions below.
(Copy to Word or write down in your notebook)

Activity

 

Needs
Improvement

Satisfactory,
good

Excellent

 

Step 1 -Words

I can give the right translation of the words

 

 

 

Step 2 - Reading

I understand the reading about TV crime drama.

 

 

 

Step 3 - Grammar

I understand the grammar.

 

 

 

 

I can use the grammar.

 

 

 

Step 4 - Song

I can understand the song
and fill in the gaps in the song text.

 

 

 

Step 5 - Task

I can do the writing task.

      

 

What have you learnt in this period?
Answer the following questions:

  • What was the easiest part of this lesson?
  • What was the most difficult part?
  • What did you already know?
  • What was new to you in this lesson?
  • What do you have to ask your teacher?

  • Het arrangement Who dunnit h45 is gemaakt met Wikiwijs van Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt, maakt en deelt.

    Auteur
    VO-content
    Laatst gewijzigd
    2025-07-20 21:24:34
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    Aanvullende informatie over dit lesmateriaal

    Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:

    Toelichting
    Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor havo, leerjaar 4 en 5. Dit is thema 'Crime'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Who dunnit. In deze les gaat het over detective series of 'crime drama's'. Daarbij worden ook 'murder mysteries' genoemd. In de grammaticaopdracht wordt 'modal verbs' behandeld.
    Leerniveau
    HAVO 4; HAVO 5;
    Leerinhoud en doelen
    Engels;
    Eindgebruiker
    leerling/student
    Moeilijkheidsgraad
    gemiddeld
    Studiebelasting
    3 uur 0 minuten
    Trefwoorden
    arrangeerbaar, crime drama's, detective series, engels, h45, modal verbs, murder mysteries, stercollectie, who dunnit

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    Arrangement

    Oefeningen en toetsen

    Genres of crime shows

    Sentences of 'Why watching...'

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