Lesson plan · English · Polish Saturday school
King Matt the First — a lesson on power handed to a child
One 45-minute lesson built around chapter one of Janusz Korczak's novel (1922): listen to the free English sample, read the scene, learn ten words, and talk about what it means to rule — and who gets a say. Written for English lessons with non-native speakers and for Polish Saturday schools abroad. All materials are free and work on a whiteboard without login.
Aims
What pupils take away
Pupils pick out specific facts and feelings from a 3-minute native-speed narration, supported by the text on screen.
Pupils meet, use and record ten words from chapter one — court and power vocabulary they will hear again throughout the book.
Pupils describe Maciuś and the ministers using evidence from the text: He is … because he …
Pupils connect Korczak with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and name three rights that apply to them.
In a Polish Saturday school: pupils see that the same characters and scenes exist in Polish on the Polish book page — a bridge to the original.
Pupils learn the narrator is a labelled AI voice and can say whether that changes how they listen — a first step in critical listening.
Materials
What to prepare (all free)
- Free audio sample (3 min) — the ▶ button at the top of this page and on the book page. English narration; the little king keeps his Polish name Maciuś (say MAH-choosh).
- Chapter one (text) — the full opening scene to read aloud: book page, section "Chapter one".
- Character gallery — 12 portraits with short descriptions (Maciuś, Felek, the old doctor, the Prime Minister, the Minister of War, Irenka, the tutor, the foreign king, Klu-Klu, Bum-Drum, the sad king, the Lady in White): #characters. Put it on the whiteboard.
- Three chapter-one scenes — "The council chamber", "Door-handles too high", "Father's bed" — illustrations on the same page.
- Janusz Korczak timeline (1878–1942 → UN Convention 1989): author page. Three minutes of context.
- Polish Saturday school: the same book page in Polish — Król Maciuś Pierwszy — for the bilingual step.
- Worksheet — below on this page; print one per pupil or per pair (Ctrl+P / ⌘P, see "Print version" at the bottom).
- Whiteboard or projector with a browser and speakers. No accounts, no installation.
Vocabulary
Ten words from chapter one
Pre-teach before listening (5 words) and let pupils "catch" the other 5 in the audio. Polish equivalents are given for Saturday-school teachers.
| Word | Meaning (simple) | In the text | PL |
|---|---|---|---|
| minister | a person who helps run a country | "The ministers locked the door…" | minister |
| throne | the king's special chair; also: being king | "his oldest son ascends the throne" | tron |
| ambassador | a person who speaks for another country | "In walked a foreign ambassador" | ambasador |
| demand | to say strongly that something must happen | "I demand that Maciuś the First become king" | żądać |
| refuse | to say no | "if you refuse, there will be war" | odmówić |
| shrug | to lift your shoulders to show you don't care | "The Prime Minister shrugged his shoulders" | wzruszyć ramionami |
| barefoot | without shoes or socks | "barefoot on the cold floor" | boso |
| door-handle | the part you hold to open a door | "the door-handles were so high" | klamka |
| whisper | to speak very quietly | "looked at his little son, and whispered" | szeptać |
| reign | the time when a king or queen rules | "So began the reign of Maciuś the First" | panowanie |
Procedure
45 minutes step by step
- Warm-up · 5 min
Ask: "Imagine you are the boss of this school from tomorrow. What is your first decision?" Take 3–4 answers, write key words on the board. One sentence about the author: a doctor who ran an orphanage where children had their own parliament, and who wrote a book about a boy who became a real king. Pre-teach: minister, throne, ambassador, demand, refuse.
- Listening · 8 min
Play ▶ the sample (3 min). Task before listening: "How old is Maciuś? Who wants him to be king — and who doesn't? What does he think at the end?" Play once without text, once with the text on screen. Pairs compare answers, then check together. Catch the other five words: shrug, barefoot, door-handle, whisper, reign.
- Reading and language · 12 min
Read the scene aloud with roles: narrator, Minister of Justice, Minister of War, ambassador, Prime Minister, the King, Maciuś. Stop after the council scene: "Who decides here? Who will live with the decision?" Stop at the door-handles: "How does Maciuś feel behind the door? Which words tell you?" Pupils do worksheet tasks 1–3.
- Discussion: children's rights · 15 min
Three short rounds. (a) Power — who has power in the palace and who only has the title? (b) Responsibility — can a nine-year-old be responsible for a country? Should adults decide for him? (c) Rights — what do the adults refuse Maciuś in chapter one (information, a voice, respect)? Show the Korczak timeline: his ideas became the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Elicit three rights pupils have. Sentence frames on the board: I think … because … / In my opinion, Maciuś should …
- Wrap-up · 5 min
One-sentence round: "If I were Maciuś, I would …". Write the two best sentences on the board. Set homework. Saturday school: show the same scene on the Polish page and ask pupils to find two of the ten words in Polish.
Discussion
Questions to talk about (choose 4–6)
- The ministers lock the door so that no one disturbs them. Who are they really locking out?
- The Minister of War says: "Who will be afraid of such a king?" Does a king have to be scary? What is a leader for?
- The Prime Minister writes "Very well, let there be war" and asks for wine. What does this tell you about how seriously he takes his job?
- The door-handles are too high for a nine-year-old. What else in the adult world is "too high" for children — literally and not literally?
- Why does Korczak show us the king barefoot in a corridor, not on a throne?
- "I'll pay them back for it, when I am king." Is this revenge, or a promise of justice? What is the difference?
- Who is on Maciuś's side in chapter one? How do you know?
- Korczak wrote: "There are no children — there are people." What would change if adults really believed that?
- The UN Convention says children have the right to express their views and to receive information. Which of these rights do the ministers break in chapter one?
- (Saturday school) The English audiobook keeps the Polish name Maciuś. Would you translate it to "Matt"? Why or why not?
Worksheet
Five tasks for the lesson
King Matt the First — chapter one (Janusz Korczak)
- Listen and tick. True or false? (a) Maciuś is ten years old. (b) The Minister of War thinks Maciuś will be a strong king. (c) The ambassador says there will be war if Maciuś does not become king. (d) Maciuś stands barefoot in the corridor. (e) The King says he does not want to die.
- Who says it? Match: Minister of Justice · Minister of War · foreign ambassador · Prime Minister · the King
(a) "Very well, let there be war." (b) "Maciuś cannot even write yet." (c) "I don't want to leave you all alone in the world." (d) "By law, his oldest son ascends the throne." (e) "I come in the name of my king." - Vocabulary. Complete with: throne · demand · shrug · whisper · reign
(a) The old king could only ______ a few words. (b) After his death, his son took the ______. (c) The ambassador came to ______ that Maciuś be king. (d) The Prime Minister gave a ______ as if he did not care. (e) So began the ______ of Maciuś the First. - Describe Maciuś in three sentences. Use: He is … because he …
- Three rights. Write three rights every child should have. Put a star next to the one the ministers do not give Maciuś in chapter one.
Teacher's key: 1 — F (nine), F, T, T, T. 2 — a Prime Minister, b Minister of War, c the King, d Minister of Justice, e ambassador. 3 — whisper, throne, demand, shrug, reign. 4–5 — open; look for evidence from the text.
Homework
Choose one of three
- A letter to the ministers. Write 6–8 sentences as Maciuś: what you expect from your ministers, and what you promise in return. Use at least four words from the list.
- Your first law. Propose one law you would make as a child king. Say who it helps, who might be angry, and what it costs. 5–6 sentences.
- Chapter two. Listen to or read chapter two (in the app) and prepare one question for the class that you cannot answer yourself.
- Saturday school option: find the same scene on the Polish book page and write down the Polish words for five of the ten vocabulary items.
Extension
Children's rights: from Korczak to the UN
Korczak did not only write a novel about a child king. In his Warsaw orphanage (1912–1942) the children had their own parliament, a peer court and a newspaper. When the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the draft came from Poland and the spirit of the document was Korczak's.
- 1878Born in Warsaw as Henryk Goldszmit.
- 1912Opens the Orphans' Home with Stefania Wilczyńska — with a children's parliament and a peer court.
- 1922King Matt the First. A year later — King Matt on the Desert Island.
- 1929The Child's Right to Respect.
- 1942Deported with the children of the Orphans' Home from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka.
- 1989The UN adopts the Convention on the Rights of the Child — on Poland's initiative, in Korczak's spirit.
Activity: four groups, each gets one right from the child-friendly version of the Convention (to express your views, to information, to protection from harm, to education). Each group finds a moment in chapter one where Maciuś is denied that right and shows it as a freeze-frame; the class guesses the right. Full biography and timeline: Janusz Korczak.
Practical questions
What level of English does this need?
The sample is native-speed but the sentences are short and the text is on screen. It works from about two to three years of English (CEFR A2–B1). For weaker groups, play the sample twice and pre-teach all ten words; for stronger groups, skip the second listening and add discussion time.
Is this for Polish Saturday schools too?
Yes. The English audio and text carry the story; the Polish book page carries the original. Pupils who speak English better than Polish meet the same characters in both languages — the bilingual steps are marked in the plan.
Can I print and copy the worksheet?
Yes, for classroom use — no restrictions. Print this page (Ctrl+P / ⌘P): navigation and buttons disappear, the worksheet starts on a new A4 page. The teacher's key is under the worksheet — cut it off or leave it out of the pupils' copies.
Do I need an account or the app?
No. The sample, the chapter-one text, the character gallery and the timeline work in a browser without login. An account and the app are needed only to listen to the whole book.
Start with a sample on the whiteboard
Three minutes of King Matt — free, no login. The rest of the materials are on the book page.