Student Guide

SeriCity.com lessons are designed to be used online.

If you would like to be able to print lesson material, please contact us to discuss our enterprise options.

Rick and Morty
Season 1, Episode 11
"Ricksy Business"

Rick and Morty (S1, E11) Plot Summary

Beth and Jerry leave on a trip to experience a romantic getaway called the "Titanic 2", a recreation of the Titanic movie experience. Jerry is very excited to recreate moments from the movie, while Beth is not a person who is interested in the movie,[...]

Getting Started

2 ~ 4 minutes

Welcome your students to the lesson and ask them what they thought of today's episode.

  1. What did you think of this episode of Rick and Morty?
  2. Can you give Rick and Morty season 1, ep. 11 a star-rating between 1 and 5 stars?
  3. What factors did you consider when giving your rating?
  4. Are there any particular scenes, characters, or details you're looking forward to discussing?

Sections

Warm-Up

5 ~ 20 minutes

Warm up by asking your students to consider some open-ended general questions:

Q 1
Were your caregivers (parents, grandparents, etc) equally strict, or was one person more permissive?
Q 2
Can you remember the first party you went to? What were parties like when you were young?
Q 3
Did you ever break something or mess up your home? Were your family members upset?
Q 4
Have you seen the film "Titanic", or at least heard of it? What were your impressions of it?
Q 5
Do you have a catch-phrase or a word/phrase you say often? Do you know anybody who has a distinctive catch-phrase?

Key Expressions

Approx 25 ~ 50 minutes

Review these 25 key expressions from the transcript:

How to use this section

Level 1:For each expression, review the meaning and example with your student, then ask your student to listen/repeat the example sentence after you.

Level 2:You can ask your student to create their own example sentences, using the same expression.

Image Prompt

5 minutes

Tell your students that you will show them an image and ask them a question. They will have a limited amount of time to respond.

Countdown
Where are Beth and Jerry going? What do they warn Rick about?

Check Understanding

15 ~ 25 minutes

Let's make sure your students watched the episode and understood what was going on.

How to use this section

As the teacher, you can press the "SEE ANSWER" button to check our suggested answers. Students do not see this button.

  1. Where are Beth and Jerry going for a get-away? Are they excited?
  2. Why isn't Summer worried about disobeying Beth and having a party?
  3. What makes Morty relax and start to enjoy the party? What strange effect does he experience in this moment?
  4. Who is Abrodolph Lincoler? What did he do?
  5. What causes the house to disappear and re-appear in a strange different dimension?
  6. What are Kalaxian crystals? What did Morty think they were? Why did Rick tell Morty to go find them?
  7. What does Rick's catch-phrase, "Wabalabadubdub", actually mean?

Discussion

35 ~ 60 minutes

Lead students in an open-ended discussion of the scenes, themes, plot and characters in the episode

Q 1
Were you surprised to see one of the leaders of the Citadel of Ricks in the background at the party? Why do you think he was invited?
Q 2
Have you ever invited somebody to a party, even though you don't get along? Why would somebody do that?
Q 3
Would you be interested in going on a movie-themed adventure to act out different scenes yourself? Would you go on the Titanic cruise? Is there a different movie you'd like to act out?
Q 4
After the house is transported to another dimension, Morty freaks out but Rick is completely relaxed. Can you remember a time when you were "cool under pressure"? What about a time when you "freaked out"?
Q 5
Do you think Summer is a bad person for caring about what popular teens think of her, or is she a typical teenager? Did you have popular teens in your school? Were you one of them? Did you care what they thought of you?
Q 6
Bird Person explains that Rick is in great pain. Morty doesn't believe him. Is it true that Rick is in great pain and trying to numb himself? What could be the cause?
Q 7
If you had a device that could stop time, how would you use it?
Q 8
At the end of this episode, Rick says "Roll Credits, that's the end of Season 1!". That means he is "breaking the fourth wall". How do you feel when characters do this?

Shadowing Practice

5 ~ 10 minutes

Shadowing is a repetition technique for more natural pronunciation.

How to use this section

Ask your students to memorize this passage from the transcript and repeat it back to you, being careful to match the pronunciation, inflection, and emotion they heard in the show.

This can be assigned as homework or practiced together during class time.

Start playback at time: 13:10

Where there are yellow-highlighted gaps in the passage, press on the gap to see the correct text.
1
Abradolph Lincoler: It's weird, 'cause I definitely think that all men are created equal. But, at the same time --
2
Morty: Okay! Um, the crystals should be really close.
3
Nancy: There they are!
4
Abradolph Lincoler: Wait. Something's not right.
5
Abradolph Lincoler: Get the crystals! I'll handle the beast! Prepare to be emancipated from your own inferior genes!
6
Nancy: Summer's gonna like me again.
7
Morty: Lincoler, come on! Let's get out of here!
8
Abradolph Lincoler: Mein journey is over, Morty. I have something important to tell you.

Role Play

10 ~ 20 minutes

Students take the roles of characters and act out the scenes by creating their own version of events

Option
1
One student is Morty and the other student is Jessica. They are in the garage and Morty is trying to impress Jessica by telling her about the adventures he and his grandpa have been on. Jessica doesn't really believe what she is hearing, but she is also a polite person, so she asks questions.
Option
2
One student is Jerry and the other is Lucy, who is dressed like "Rose" from Titanic. Lucy is holding Jerry at gunpoint and forcing him to act out Titanic scenes with her. Jerry is trying to convince her to let him go.

Grammar Tense Practice

10 ~ 20 minutes

Decide on a tense and ask your student to click on it. They will have to fill in the plot summary in the tense of your choice.

1
Beth and Jerry left on a trip to experience a romantic getaway called the "Titanic 2", a recreation of the Titanic movie experience....
following that...
_____________
after that...
_____________
2
Meanwhile, the party at the Smith house began....
after that...
_____________
following that...
_____________
3
Jerry and Lucy continued to enjoy themselves on the ship, but the planned sinking of the ship went wrong...
following that...
_____________
next...
_____________
4
Jessica was upset and ran outside, and Morty joined her to console her....
next...
_____________
and then...
_____________
5
Rick calmed him down and told him to collect some Kalaxian Crystals....
and then...
_____________
following that...
_____________
6
She pulled out a gun....
following that...
_____________
and then...
_____________
7
Rick's eyes turned blue, as he got high....
and then...
_____________
following that...
_____________
8
Beth arrived just in time....
following that...
_____________
and then...
_____________
9
Birdperson then taught Morty another saying that means "Whatever lets you sleep at night."...
and then...
_____________
following that...
_____________
10
Rick used a device that completely freezes time....
following that...
_____________
and then...
_____________

Articles (a/an/the) Practice

5 ~ 30 minutes

Ask your student to click on any incorrect articles, or to click in the space before a word that needs an article.

Some articles may be correct already, but clicking on them will show an alternate option.

Beth
and
Jerry
leave
on
an
trip
to
experience
an
romantic
getaway
called
the
"Titanic
2",
an
recreation
of
a
Titanic
movie
experience.
Jerry
is
very
excited
to
recreate
moments
from
the
movie,
while
Beth
is
not
a
person
who
is
interested
in
a
movie,
so
she
is
hesitant
and
overall
uninterested.
Restart articles practice?
You have found 0 out of 8 issues

Guessing Game

5 ~ 10 minutes

Ask your student to type letters and try to guess the expression

Some expresssions might have punctuation, like question marks (?), exclamation marks (!), hyphens (-), or single quotation marks (').

“To get a new, better, stable position in a challenge.”
????
????
???????
Guess 15 more letters

Hundreds of hours of TV Show lesson content made by certified native teachers

Want more Rick and Morty lesson material?

We've prepared hours of Rick and Morty episodes, as well as other shows, like: Avatar, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Ratched, The Good Place, and more!

Check out more shows
Netflix Lesson Plans for English Teachers
Save hours of prep time with hundreds of hours of ready-made TV Show lesson content
All materials made by professional native English instructors
Summer Sale! Subscribe for unlimited access for $19 $5/month

For each TV Show, you get a couple of lesson plansabsolutely free!