It’s probably fair to say that the London Underground stands alone when it comes to metro systems. A feat of Victorian engineering and the first of its kind, there is a unique appeal to it and enough scope to sustain interest.

This is a lesson I created approximately 10 years ago. It’s a grammar (passive voice), reading and speaking lesson which I aimed at advanced learners of English, However, the reading and comprehension questions are accessible to learners who are intermediate and above.

You can download the material here:

• Text: The London Underground. Text
• Wordsearch: The London Underground. Wordsearch
• Grammar: The London Underground. Grammar. Passives
• Quiz: The London Underground. Quiz

This was my first attempt at a guided discovery and marked a turning point in my own learning. I had become increasingly aware that learning is more meaningful and memorable if you are guided to work something out for yourself. In this lesson, I wanted my students to see examples of the passive and explore meaning in that particular context.

The material revolves around a text, divided up into paragraphs giving historical information, describing notable events, as well as more modern day facts and figures about the London Underground.

There are a number of ways to exploit the materials. Here are a few ideas:

• The text and the wordsearch.
• The text, wordsearch and speaking activity.
• The text and quiz questions.
• The text, wordsearch, grammar and speaking activity.

I have found the text is central to all activities. I have always printed it, cut it up into paragraphs and stuck the pieces to the walls to form a wall crawl style activity.

I hope you and your learners have fun!

Featured Image: By Dream out loud – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2827480