Resource Guides: ELL Guide: The ELL Zone: Figure It Out

Figure It Out (Episode 1, Season 1)

Watch The ELL Zone's very first episode: Figure it Out

Interact with the Episode

In order to better use The ELL Zone to help improve your English, it is a good idea to engage with the episodes.

Here are some activities to help you interact with the episode "Figure it Out."

Questions:

1) How many times is some form of the phrasal verb “Figure Out” said in the videos? To be clear, that could be just the words “figure out” itself or it could be the phrasal verb split with a pronoun like “it” for “figure it out.”

2) How many times does the Prof say "figure out"?

3) How many times does “the voice from above in the technology classroom” say some version of “figure out”.

4) How many times does the animated host say "figure out"?

5) At what point in the episode did you "figure out" why the projector wasn't working?

6) Why wasn't the projector working?

Summarize the plot of this episode:

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Write your own sentences

Write a sentence using "figure out":

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Write a sentence using "figure it out":

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Write a sentence using "figure out" and an interrogative pronoun (who, whom, what, which, whose).

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Answer Key -- Figure it Out

This is an answer key where you can check your responses from above:

Questions:

1) How many times is some form of the phrasal verb “Figure Out” said in the videos?

2) How many times does the Prof say "figure out"?

3) How many times does “the voice from above in the technology classroom” say some version of “figure out”.

4) How many times does the animated host say "figure out"?

5) At what point in the episode did you "figure out" why the projector wasn't working?

The answer will vary depending on the viewer, but it appears the Prof “figures it out” two minutes and 41 seconds into the episode when he says, “Got it!.”

6) Why wasn't the projector working?

The animated host needed to charge his cellphone and so he unplugged the projector and plugged in his cellphone instead.

Summarize the plot of this episode:

Summaries will vary as well. But essentially the Prof is trying to get the classroom projector working before class starts. He cannot "figure out" why it is not working. He has some conversations with a voice in the sky, which do not prove fruitful. Finally, the Prof appears to "give up" and puts his head down on the desk when he notices something strange upon the project cord out of the corner of his eye: it is not plugged in! Instead, a strange phone is plugged into the outlet. The Prof does not know whose phone it is. Evidently, the phone belongs to the animated Host.

Write your own sentences

Answers will vary

Real-World Application

Try using some form of the phrasal verb "figure out" at least once per day.

Also observe and note the various ways you hear others use this phrasal verb.

Academic Application

Try incorporating "figure out" into your classwork, when appropriate.

It is possible you are having difficulty "figuring out" a homework problem. Maybe you are having trouble "figuring out" what a writer is trying to articulate. Or you might not be able to "figure out" how to register for a class or complete a financial aid form. Try incorporating it into your college life as appropriate.

When you complete a problem or a task, you can literally say to yourself, "I figured it out!"