Séquence
1
Public cible
4e
/
Écouter : A2, B1 ; Parler, Écrire : A2
RAVENS AT THE TOWER OF LONDON
La légende veut que si les corbeaux quittent la tour de Londres, la monarchie s’effondre. Mais grâce à Ray Stones, le royaume peut dormir en paix. Le « maître des corbeaux » est entièrement dévoué à sa tâche, il leur parle, les nourrit, et s’occupe d’eux
sept jours sur sept. Il nous apprend que les corbeaux sont des oiseaux sensibles et
intelligents. Mais attention, il vaut mieux ne pas les approcher de trop près !
Transcript
CNN presenter: Meanwhile, we are bringing you a special festive look at the world at work, following the
themes of the traditional song: “The 12 Days of Christmas”. Day 1: in a partridge tree, in a pear tree, rather,
led us to Mike Johnson who makes traditional pear cider, known as Perry. Dove breeder, Cathy Anderson
shared her world at work with us on day two with “Two Turtle Doves”. On day three we found some French
hens cooking in the kitchen of top chef Hélène Darroze. Now we need four calling birds. In the song’s
original form they are four colly birds which is another name for blackbirds. Now we couldn’t find blackbirds
as such or at least not commercially anyway, luckily there are plenty of blackbirds around, I am happy to
say. However we did find some ravens, which of course are black, at the Tower of London. Richard Quest
paid a visit to Ray Stones the Raven Master. Here is his world at work.
Ray Stones: Good morning, Hello! Harry, good morning Marley! Hello Gwyllum! All right Lizzy? Morning
Noogin! Come on then! There you go.
Richard Quest: Why do you say “good morning” to them?
Ray Stones: I always say “good morning” like any human, or any... They have brains, they have feelings,
they can also hear my voice, they know it’s me. They know it’s Dad. OK, Merlin, you have a nice day. Go
on then! I’ve been working as a Raven Assistant to the retired Raven Master for about seven years. Officially
the Raven Master position I took up in July of this year 2009.
Richard Quest: Tell me about this legend.
Ray Stones: Ah, the old legend! It goes back many centuries. The legend is that if the ravens ever leave
the Tower of London, the White Tower in the centre there will crumble to dust, the monarchy will lose their
crown and a great disaster will fall on England. So we keep a minimum of six here, but, like any good football
team, we have a couple of substitutes as well.
Richard Quest: You actually sort of load the dice in your favour a little bit, don’t you?
Ray Stones: We don’t like to tempt the old legend so the idea is to slightly trim one flight wing. We take just
a little area off one wing so they can’t fly away, they can’t get the lift too high, it keeps them here. My job is
a bit safer then.
Richard Quest: Do you like the ravens?
Ray Stones: I like the ravens very much so because they are very inquisitive, very intelligent. Of course we
keep them mostly 98% wild, because that’s their natural habitat so they tolerate me, they trained me more
than the other way round. Come on then, Merlin! There you go, Merlin! Come on! There you go! Come on!
Nice heart today. The idea is: is always to keep them away from your face. In the olden days they loved eyes
and lips and things, the heads that were on spikes. I like my eyes so I tend to keep them at arm’s distance
all the time.
Richard Quest: So, there’s absolutely no way, I should be offering him my finger.
Ray Stones: I wouldn’t offer your finger for obvious reasons, it’s nice and juicy, they love meat and he’ll
love it very much so I wouldn’t stick your finger any where near him.
Richard Quest: So, let’s leave him.
Ray Stones: Come on then! Come on then! Have your breakfast! Good lad!
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010
3
Richard Quest: Looking after ravens, do you have to have a passion for it, do you think?
Ray Stones: Definitely, early starts sometimes half past four in the morning till late nights, half past nine at night,
when they’re going to bed. There you go, Erin. There you go, Baldrick. And it’s twenty-four seven, you can’t have
a day off. So you have to look after them all the time. Sometimes I am tired but to go over there and see them
and see them play, is a great honour.
Richard Quest: There’s no danger of the ravens leaving, the kingdom crumbling, the legend coming true. Not as
long as Ray is here in his world at work.
Richard Quest, CNN
Objectifs et démarche pédagogique
Civilisation
¾ Les monuments de Londres, la tour de Londres et la légende des corbeaux de la tour
Lexique
¾ Les oiseaux : a raven, a black bird, a calling bird, a partridge, a turtle dove, a hen, bite, trim the wing, fly away.
¾ The Tower of London: The Raven Master, the kingdom, the crown, a wing, crumble.
Structures grammaticales
¾ Le présent simple pour exprimer les habitudes quotidiennes du maître des corbeaux
CECRL : Je peux comprendre les points principaux de la vie quotidienne de quelqu’un.
Écouter, A2-B1
CECRL : Je peux poser des questions à quelqu’un sur son travail. – Parler en interaction, A2
CECRL : Je peux rédiger un paragraphe pour présenter un métier. – Écrire, A2
Démarche possible
A. Donner le vocabulaire nécessaire pour la description de l’image figée.
B. Visionner la totalité du reportage.
C.1a) Les noms des oiseaux apparaissent à l’écran. On peut, selon le niveau de la classe, choisir de faire un
arrêt sur image pour chaque jour, ou bien de faire retrouver les noms après avoir visionné la présentation
du journaliste.
b) Les élèves pourront repérer le nom de l’oiseau du reportage parmi les mots du lexique donné.
c) Faire écouter la fin de la présentation par le journaliste.
C.2. Faire un arrêt sur chaque image.
C.3a) Faire écouter et visionner jusqu’à July of this year 2009.
Après avoir fait décrire l’uniforme porté par Ray Stones, on peut aller sur le site internet de la tour de Londres
donné ci-dessous et consulter la rubrique Yeoman Warders, appelés aussi Beefeaters en raison de la ration
de viande de bœuf qui leur était accordée tous les jours. Une autre étymologie provient de l’ancien français
« buffetier ».
b) Reprendre le reportage et arrêter sur chaque phrase correspondant au renseignement demandé. Faire
justifier chaque renseignement.
4. Écouter Ray Stones parler de la légende et faire compléter les phrases.
D. Prononciation de la voyelle < i >.
E. Préparer les questions possibles à poser au « maître des corbeaux ». Réviser le présent simple pour parler
de ce qu’il fait habituellement dans son travail. Évaluer l’activité d’interaction orale. On pourra, dans un deuxième
temps, évaluer l’expression écrite en faisant retrouver le dialogue.
4
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010
Compléments
¾ Manuel New Wings de 5e : Spread your wings part 4: A visit to the Tower of London.
¾ www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon, le site de la tour de Londres. On pourra demander aux élèves de se reporter
aux rubriques suivantes : The White Tower, the Ravens, the Yeoman Warders appelés aussi Beefeaters.
Consulter également : The Ravens leaflet, Raven watch.
¾ www.carols.org.uk/ the twelve days of Christmas: cette période s’étend du 25 décembre, jour de Noël, au 5
janvier, veille de l’Épiphanie. Cette séquence peut se faire avant Noël.
Corrigé des activités
A. Watch the frozen picture and answer.
ƒ Who? We can see a man with a bird.
ƒ What’s he wearing? He is wearing a black uniform with a red crown.
ƒ What’s he holding? He is holding a black bird, a raven.
ƒ Can you imagine what his job is? He probably looks after the bird.
B. General comprehension – Watch the report and listen: what is it about?
The report is about the Raven Master at the Tower of London. We learn about his job, his routine.
C. Detailed comprehension
1a) Listen to the presenter and match the name of the bird with the correct day.
Title of the song: The twelve days of Christmas.
Day
Day
Day
Day
1
2
3
4
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
a
a
a
a
hen
calling bird
turtle dove
partridge
b) Find the bird chosen for the report: tick the correct name.
† calling birds
; ravens
† blackbirds
† hens
c) Ray Stones.
His job: Raven Master
Place of work: The Tower of London
Town: London
2. Look and name what you can see.
The monument: Tower Bridge
The flag: The Union Jack
The sign – What must visitors do? Why?
They must be careful because ravens may/can bite.
3. Ray Stones:
a) listen to him and answer.
What does he do in the morning? He says good morning to the ravens.
When did he start working with the ravens?
He started working as raven assistant seven years ago.
So, he has been working with the ravens at the Tower for seven years.
Can you describe his uniform? He is wearing a black uniform and a black hat. On the front of his
uniform, there is a red crown. There are two initials, E.R, they stand for Elizabeth Regina, the Queen.
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010
5
b) Are the following sentences right or wrong? Justify.
Ray is fond of his ravens.
He likes them very much.
; Right
† Wrong
The ravens are not dangerous.
They may bite. You must keep them away from your face.
† Right
; Wrong
The ravens don’t eat meat.
They love meat.
† Right
; Wrong
Ray starts early in the morning.
He starts at half past four in the morning.
; Right
† Wrong
He finishes his work early.
He finishes at half past nine at night.
† Right
; Wrong
He doesn’t work on Sundays.
Twenty-four seven: no day off.
† Right
; Wrong
4. Listen to Ray speaking about the legend. Complete the sentences.
If the ravens ever leave the Tower, the White Tower will crumble to dust, the monarchy will lose their
crown, a great disaster will fall on England.
Can the ravens leave the Tower? Why not? They trim one flight wing, so they can’t fly away.
D. Phonetics – For each word, find the correct pronunciation of the vowel <i> and tick the correct box.
[q]
partridge
[aq]
[E:]
3
3
3
find
meanwhile
3
bird
Christmas
3
3
cider
kitchen
3
E. You are visiting the Tower of London. You want to write about an unusual job for the school magazine. Ask Ray
Stones questions. (daily routine, history of the Tower...)
“Hello, I want to write an article about your job; it’s for my school magazine. Can I ask you a few
questions?
– Sure, what do you want to know?
– What time do you start in the morning?
– I start at half past four.
– How often do you feed the ravens?”...
6
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010
1
Ravens at the Tower of London
Nom :
Classe :
Fiche d’activités
Séquence
Date :
A. Watch the frozen picture and answer.
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Who? .........................................................................................................................................................
What’s he wearing? ...................................................................................................................................
What’s he holding? ....................................................................................................................................
Can you imagine what his job is? .............................................................................................................
B. General comprehension – Watch the report and listen: what is it about?
......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................
C. Detailed comprehension
1a) Listen to the presenter and match the name of the bird with the correct day.
Title of the song: .................................................................................................................................
Day
Day
Day
Day
1
2
3
4
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
a
a
a
a
hen
calling bird
turtle dove
partridge
b) Find the bird chosen for the report: tick the correct name.
† calling birds
† ravens
† blackbirds
† hens
c) Ray Stones.
His job
Place of work
Town
: .......................................................
: .......................................................
: .......................................................
2. Look and name what you can see.
The monument
: .......................................................
The flag
: .......................................................
The sign: what must visitors do? Why?
....................................................................................................................................................................
3. Ray Stones.
a) Listen to him and answer.
ƒ What does he do in the morning?
...............................................................................................................................................................
ƒ When did he start working with the ravens?
He ................................................................................................................................................ ago.
So, he ............................................................................................... for ............................................
ƒ Can you describe his uniform? ...........................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010
7
Fiche d’activités
Séquence
Ravens at the Tower of London
1
Nom :
Classe :
Date :
b) Are the following sentences right or wrong? Justify.
Ray is fond of his ravens.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
The ravens are not dangerous.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
The ravens don’t eat meat.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
Ray starts early in the morning.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
He finishes his work early.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
He doesn’t work on Sundays.
† Right
† Wrong
...................................................................................................................................................................
4. Listen to Ray speaking about the legend. Complete the sentences.
If the ravens ....................................................................., the White Tower ............................................,
the monarchy ..............................................................., a great disaster ..................................................
Can the ravens leave the Tower? Why not? ..............................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
D. Phonetics – For each word, find the correct pronunciation of the vowel <i> and tick the correct
box.
[q]
[aq]
[E:]
partridge
find
meanwhile
bird
Christmas
cider
kitchen
E. You are visiting the Tower of London. You want to write about an unusual job for the school
magazine. Ask Ray Stones questions. (daily routine, history of the Tower...)
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
8
Anglais / Collège / no 17 / janvier-mars 2010