PREVIEW ACTIVITY 1 Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.

How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

Work with a partner, group, or your teacher. Do the activities below together.

PART 1 Discuss the questions below about Black Friday.

1 What is Black Friday? What do you think people hate about it?
2 Do you know why it’s called “Black” Friday? If not, try to guess.
3 What do you think it means if a business or company goes from red numbers
to black numbers?

PART 2 What kind of differences come to mind between big-box stores (big, corporate stores)
and small retail shops? What are the pros / cons of shopping at each type of store?

BIG-BOX STORES SMALL RETAIL SHOPS

PART 3 Match each noun below to its correct definition on the right.

1 collapse a. lack of organization or order

2 bargain b. breakdown or destruction
3 chaos c. starting point or origins
4 congestion d. blocked or crowded area
5 roots e. discount or deal

PART 4 Write a synoynm for the vocabulary words as used in the each sentence below.

1 When there is an accident on the highway, traffic can get really clogged.

clogged means...

2 Many people do holiday shopping online in order to avoid the hordes of

shoppers in malls and on city streets.

hordes mean...
HOW DID BLACK FRIDAY START? Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.
How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

PREVIEW DISCUSSION: Read the discussion topic

below and discuss it with your partner or teacher.

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Do you ever

take advantage of Black Friday sales?

VIEWING ACTIVITY

PART 1 Write short answers below according to the information from the video.

0:02 1 What did Black Friday originally refer to in 1869?

0:10 2 A century later, what did Philadelphia police use the term “Black Friday” to describe?

0:26 3 What happened to retailers’ profits on Black Friday?

0:36 4 What is Black Friday all about today?

PART 2 Choose true or false according to the information in the video.

0:01 1 TRUE FALSE The narrator says that “Black Friday” sounds scary.

0:22 2 TRUE FALSE Retailers originally loved the term “Black Friday”.

0:30 3 TRUE FALSE Big-box stores had a large influence on the growth of Black
Friday.
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 1 Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.
How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

PART 1 Choose the correct nouns that fit the text below. One isn’t used!

roots congestion collapse bargains hordes

1 “Black Friday” originally referred to the of the US gold

market in 1869.

2 Philadelphia police used the term “Black Friday” to describe the chaos and
on the streets from the traffic and of
shoppers heading to the stores.

3 Today, retailers use Black Friday to refer to their .

PART 2 In the video, the reporter talks about how the name ‘Black Friday’ evolved. She says...

“
Retailers hated the term, and then tried to reinvent it. It was the
day their profits went from red to black.”

What does the verb reinvent mean in the context of the sentence above?

a. reduce the negative impacts of

b. become a member of
c. create a new meaning of

PART 3 In the video, the reporter talks about the growth of Black Friday. She says...

“
‘Black Friday’ really started catching on in the 80s and 90s, pushed
by the growth of big-box stores.”

What does the phrasal verb catch on mean in the context of the sentence above?

a. start to become more and more luxurious

b. start to become trendy or popular
c. start to become comical or entertaining
 POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 2
Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.
How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

PART 1 Study the usage and examples of non-defining relative clauses in the passive voice.

In the video, the reporter talks about the growth of Black Friday. She says...

“ ‘Black Friday’ really started catching on in the 80s and 90s, pushed
by the growth of big-box stores.”

We use non-defining relative clauses to give extra information about someone or something.
Without them, the sentence still makes sense. When used in the passive voice, the clause starts
with the past participle + “by” + the subject of the active voice. See the examples below:

ACTIVE VOICE Black Friday really started catching on in the 80s and 90s. The growth of big-
box stores pushed this.

PASSIVE VOICE ‘Black Friday’ really started catching on in the 80s and 90s, pushed by the
growth of big-box stores.

Combine the two sentences below into one sentence with two clauses. Make the
PART 2
second clause a non-defining clause in the passive voice.

EX. There was a lot of chaos and congestion in Philadelphia during the holiday shopping
season. Police referred to it as ‘Black Friday’.

There was a lot of chaos and congestion in Philadelphia during the holiday
shopping season, referred to by police as ‘Black Friday’.

1 There was a global surge in e-commerce in 2020. The pandemic caused this.

2 Thanksgiving is a day when Americans have a big feast with turkey. 88% of all Americans
eat turkey on this day.

3 My mom wants a specific type of purse as a Christmas gift. Only one boutique in our town
sells this purse.
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY 3 Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.
How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

SPEAKING TASK:

Your teacher will choose a few of the speaking topics below to discuss. Discuss the topics
with your teacher or partner. In your discussion, explain your ideas in detail.

1 What kind of impact do you think Black Friday has on the

environment?

2 Many people dislike buying from or prefer not to buy from

big corporations or big-box stores. Why do you think this
is the case?

3 In many years, Black Friday has been a dangerous day,

sometimes even with deaths recorded on this day. Why
do you think this is?

BONUS TASK:

Below is the script from the video you watched about Black Friday. However, the script
below has one mistake in each sentence. Specify the incorrect information and write
corrections for each. The first mistake has been corrected already as an example.

‘Black Friday’ sounds kind of safe, and it was. Black Friday first referred to the rise of the
US gold market in 1869. A century later, the Philadelphia mayor used ‘Black Friday’ to
describe chaos and congestion. Downtown streets were clogged with hordes of shoppers
headed to the small retail shops. Retailers loved the term, but then tried to reinvent it. It
was the day their profits went from black to red, so they said. Black Friday really started
catching on in the 80s and 90s, pushed by the fall of big-box stores.

EXAMPLE:
SENTENCE 1: safe CORRECTION: scary

SENTENCE 2: CORRECTION:
SENTENCE 3: CORRECTION:
SENTENCE 4: CORRECTION:
SENTENCE 5: CORRECTION:
SENTENCE 6: CORRECTION:
QUIZ & REVIEW ACTIVITY Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2021. For use only with license.
How Did Black Friday Start? (B1 - B2)

Work with a partner. Complete the quiz and review activities below.

PART 1 Questions. Discuss the answers to the questions / topics below.

1. What did Black Friday originally refer to?

2. What did Philadelphia police use the term ‘Black Friday’ to describe?
3. What did retailers think about the term ‘Black Friday’?
4. What is Black Friday all about today?

PART 2 Vocabulary: Explain and/or write what each word or term means below.

1. chaos

2. clogged

PART 3 Vocabulary: Write the correct word used in each sentence below.

1 Philadelphia police used the term “Black Friday” to describe the chaos and
on the streets from the traffic and of
shoppers heading to the stores.

2 Retailers hated the term ‘Black Friday’, but then tried to it.
It was the day their profits went from red to black.

Grammar: Explain the usage of non-defining relative clauses in the passive voice.
PART 4
Then transform the two sentences in each set below into one sentence using a non-
defining relative clause in the passive voice.

Black Friday really started catching on in the 80s and 90s. The growth of big-box
stores pushed this.

There was a lot of chaos and congestion in Philadelphia during the holiday shopping
season. Police referred to it as ‘Black Friday’.