Erin Brockovich Lesson Plan – Part One

The definition given for ‘It’s a pro bono case’ is The lawyers aren’t paid for the case. You may wish to discuss this further with your class, to let them know that while the clients of a pro bono case do not pay their lawyers, the lawyers are entitled to take a percentage of the clients’ settlement.

V i e w i n g A c t i v i t i e s

Workshee t s – Par t One

Scenes: ‘Meeting Erin’ to ‘The House’ DVD: 00:00:00–00:25:29 (Chapters 1-7) Materials: Worksheets – Part One, pages 18-21 Answers: Worksheets – Part One, pages 28-31 Preparation: Make one double-sided copy of pages 18-21 for each student.

Time: 1 hour Watch the scenes and complete the activities, review scenes and check answers as you go.

In Meeting Erin (00:00:45) on page 18, Erin mentions that her son got chickenpox. You may wish to discuss the meaning of this word with your class – ‘a disease that gives you red, itchy spots and a high temperature’.

! In Meeting Erin (00:00:45) on page 18, The Court (00:05:22) on page 18, The New Neighbour (00:16:18) on page 20 and The House (00:21:29) on page 21, there is some strong coarse language. It is not found in the activities on these pages.

In The Steakhouse (00:09:47) on page 20, the waitress who takes the order is the ‘real’ Erin Brockovich, and the man sitting at a table in the background is the ‘real’ Ed Masry.

If this is the first time you have used a movie in class as a learning tool, you may wish

to discuss the benefits of doing so with your class. Elicit ideas from your students as to the potential rewards – such as listening practice with ‘real’ conversations, learning new vocabulary in context, learning idioms, listening to grammar in context, listening to native-speaker pronunciation.

The shaded speech bubbles in the Worksheets signify a discussion point. This

discussion may be done in pairs, small groups or as a class. Example:

Where is Erin? What is the result?

© Eleanor Kettle 2006 Page 9 e s l m o v i e s . c o m

E r i n B r o c k o v i c h

W o r k s h e e t s – P a r t O n e

M e e t i n g E r i n 0 0 : 0 0 : 4 5 C h a p t e r 1

1. Watch the scene again and circle the correct answers below.

Er in Brockovich S k i l l s :

Great with: policies / people / procedures

Extremely fast: learner / turner / server

W o r k E x p e r i e n c e – F l e u e r E n g i n e e r s a n d C o n s t r u c t o r s , I r v i n e

After: junior high school / high school / college

Fell madly in love with: geography / histology / geology

Learned how to read: taps / maps / naps

R e a s o n l e f t :

My boy got: smallpox / cowpox / chickenpox

T h e C o u r t 0 0 : 0 5 : 2 2 C h a p t e r 2

When Erin is in her car, what happens at the intersection? Whose fault is it?

Where is Erin? What is the result?

How does Erin respond to her lawyer? How does she respond to the other lawyer?

Page 18 Photocopiable for classroom use only © Eleanor Kettle 2006 e s l m o v i e s . c o m

Erin Brockovich Viewing Activities – Part One

2. Watch the scene again and fill in the table below with information that Erin gives in

court. You may need more than one word.

Descr ip t ion She was real slow and out of nowhere his Jaguar

comes racing around the corner like a .

Resu l t They took some from her and put it

in her .

Prob lems

She doesn’t have , so she’s about

in debt. She couldn’t take because they made her

too to take care of her kids.

Ch i l d ren Matthew is , Katie is almost and Beth is months.

Hopes She wants to be a , a ,

a and take good care of her .

3. How many ex-husbands does Erin have?

4. What job does the other driver have?

5. How does Erin respond when Ed apologises?

“Do they lawyers to ?

Because you at it.”

T h e N e i g h b o u r 0 0 : 0 7 : 4 8 C h a p t e r 3

What does the neighbour tell Erin?

© Eleanor Kettle 2006 Photocopiable for classroom use only Page 19 e s l m o v i e s . c o m

E r i n B r o c k o v i c h

Answers W o r k s h e e t s – P a r t O n e

M e e t i n g E r i n 0 0 : 0 0 : 4 5 C h a p t e r 1

1. Watch the scene again and circle the correct answers below.

Er in Brockovich S k i l l s :

Great with: policies / people / procedures

Extremely fast: learner / turner / server

W o r k E x p e r i e n c e – F l e u e r E n g i n e e r s a n d C o n s t r u c t o r s , I r v i n e

After: junior high school / high school / college

Fell madly in love with: geography / histology / geology

Learned how to read: taps / maps / naps

R e a s o n l e f t :

My boy got: smallpox / cowpox / chickenpox

T h e C o u r t 0 0 : 0 5 : 2 2 C h a p t e r 2

When Erin is in her car, what happens at the intersection? Whose fault is it?

Where is Erin? What is the result?

How does Erin respond to her lawyer? How does she respond to the other lawyer?

Page 28 © Eleanor Kettle 2006 e s l m o v i e s . c o m

Erin Brockovich Viewing Activities – Part One

Answers

2. Watch the scene again and fill in the table below with information that Erin gives in

court. You may need more than one word.

Descr ip t ion She was pulling out real slow and out of nowhere his Jaguar

comes racing around the corner like a bat out of hell .

Resu l t They took some bone from her hip and put it

in her neck .

Prob lems

She doesn’t have insurance , so she’s about $17,000

in debt. She couldn’t take painkillers because they made her

too groggy to take care of her kids.

Ch i l d ren Matthew is 8 , Katie is almost 6 and Beth is 9 months.

Hopes She wants to be a good mom , a nice person ,

a decent citizen and take good care of her kids .

3. How many ex-husbands does Erin have? Two

4. What job does the other driver have? ER doctor

5. How does Erin respond when Ed apologises?

“Do they teach lawyers to apologise ?

Because you suck at it.”

T h e N e i g h b o u r 0 0 : 0 7 : 4 8 C h a p t e r 3

What does the neighbour tell Erin?

© Eleanor Kettle 2006 Page 29 e s l m o v i e s . c o m