EDMONTON Weekly Newscasts Lesson Plan February 29, 2016

Transcription

1 EDMONTON Weekly Newscasts Lesson Plan February 29, 2016 Newscasts are current news stories read at a slower pace than you might hear on the radio. These are prepared by CBC news editor Don Bell. Objectives: To develop listening skills To increase vocabulary To increase awareness of grammatical structures and functional language To increase knowledge of current events To provide a user- friendly, self- study tool for learners, as well as an ESL classroom resource for instructors Contents: Three news stories are featured in each weekly lesson plan. Each lesson contains vocabulary and listening comprehension activities. At the end of each lesson, you will find a complete transcript and an answer key. This lesson plan is aimed towards learners at an intermediate language level (i.e. Canadian Language Benchmarks 4-5 or equivalent). Learning English with CBC is a joint project with CBC Calgary, CBC Edmonton, and the Government of Alberta. This Lesson Plan was prepared by Kathleen Hall via Communication4Integration Inc. CBC 2015 Permission is granted to reproduce these pages for educational purposes only. For more information on copyright, please click:

2 NEWSCAST 1: ROLL UP THE RIM TO WIN: LESSON LEARNED Source: labrador/win- roll- up- the- rim- facebook- stolen WARM UP: Look at the picture. What is it? Are you familiar with Tim Hortons? Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee and donut franchise named after a hockey player. The coffee has a distinct flavour, which keeps customers coming back. Tim Hortons is also known for their timbits which are cheap bite sized donuts. Tim Hortons is popularly known as Timmy s or Tim s or even Timmies. It is a prominent feature of Canadian life. Canadians eat more donuts per capita than any other nation. Canada has been referred to as TimbitNation. The rim of this cup has been rolled up to show that the prize is a $100 TIM CARD. Are you are familiar with the roll up the rim to win contest? Each February, Tim Hortons holds a marketing campaign called Roll Up the Rim to Win. Over 31 million prizes are distributed each year, including vehicles, televisions, and store products. Customers determine if they have won prizes by unrolling the rim on their paper cups when they have finished their drink, revealing the result underneath. LISTENING ACTIVITY 1 (Audio Clip: 0:13) Now that you are familiar with Tim Hortons and the Roll Up the Rim to Win contest, listen to the first newscast for overall comprehension. 1

3 LANGAUGE FOCUS Look at the groups of words below. Words that are commonly found together are called "lexical chunks." Lexical chunks include noun phrases, collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs, and idioms. Review the lexical chunks from the newscast below. Lexical Chunk nothing can be done post (something) on Facebook social media go online learn a hard lesson Meaning There is no solution or action to be taken put a message or picture on the common social media site known as Facebook websites or applications where people can share photos, videos, and ideas connecting your computer to the Internet. realize something, gain knowledge, or learn a lesson through a difficult experience VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 1 Now try to fill in the blanks with the following lexical chunks without listening to the newscast again. used the code claim the gift card post on Facebook nothing could be done learned a hard lesson social media took advantage of went online A Newfoundland woman in when she shared her Roll Up the Rim win at a Tim Hortons with her Facebook friends. Margaret Butler Coward says she won a $100 dollar gift card and was excited so she shared the news with friends on her Facebook page with a picture of the cup. However, the picture showed a code used to redeem prizes. When she to redeem her prize, it was no longer available. She realized someone quickly to online. A Tim Hortons representative said they were sympathetic, but said that 2

4 Margaret says she was a little bit upset with herself but also upset that someone her. "I just want to make people aware: don't your winning cup. Don't post anything on Facebook until you have your prize - lesson learned." LISTENING ACTIVITY 2 (Audio Clip: 0:13) Listen to the first newscast again to verify if the lexical chunks you inserted in the blanks above are correct. 3

5 NEWSCAST 2: DEBT LATE IN LIFE A GROWING ISSUE AND BEST AVOIDED Source: retirement WARM UP: Look at the picture above. How would you describe the couple in the picture? How do you think they are feeling? LANGAUGE FOCUS Review the lexical chunks from Newscast 2 in the table below and their meanings. over the age of amount of debt faster pace population at large not counting what's going on a number of problems the biggest being over estimating how much as they age spend too much eat out end up with late in life older than total money owed more quickly general population; population of the whole country Excluding; not including; apart from what is happening or how something is happening many difficulties the largest thing just mentioned thinking something will be more the amount of when people get older waste money; spend money that you don t really have eat a restaurant Result; outcome near the end of one s life; after living a long time 4

6 LISTENING ACTIVITY 1 (Audio File: 1:36) Listen to the second newscast. Pay careful attention to the lexical chunks listed above. LISTENING ACTIVITY 2 (Audio File: 1:36) Listen for the following numbers in Newscast 2, and put them in the correct category in the table below: An example is done for you ,000 Age Money Year Percentage 1990 (See answer key) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Discuss the following question with a friend, colleague, or family member. 1. What steps can you take to make sure that you are not in debt after you retire? 2. Do you think most Canadians have enough savings to retire? 3. Do you think money management should be taught in school to children? Why or why not? REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS Consider the following questions: How old are you? At what age are you planning to retire? How many years of retirement are you saving for? How much income will you need? Do you have RRSP Accounts? Do you have other retirement savings? How much can you save each month? When can you start to save for your retirement? 5

7 NEWSCAST 3: SAUDI OIL MINISTER SAYS TO HIGH- COST CRUDE PRODUCERS: GET OUT OF MARKET Source: oil- minister- in- houston LANGUAGE LEVEL: CLB 5 WARM UP: Have you been following the news about the oil prices? Why or why not? How do you think a speech made by a Saudi Arabian minister might affect life in Canada? VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 1 You are going to hear a Newscast about the oil and gas market. Here are some terms that will make understanding the story easier. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has 13 member countries: Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Venezuela, Indonesia, Kuwait, Ecuador, Libiya, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, and The United Arab Emirates High- cost producers are those that find oil in places where it is very expensive to access it and prepare it to be sold. Examples of high- cost producers are the US Shale Industry and the Canadian Oilsands, which need oil prices above $90 a barrel to cover all its costs. 6

8 VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 2 Instructions: Look at the following words that you will hear in Newscast 3. Circle the words that you understand. Crowd minister executives exactly Crude the market theme a future Inefficient uneconomic specifically unleashed Investments previously VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 3 Now look at the same words in the box below, and their definitions or synonyms. Words Meanings crowd gathering; group minister a politician who holds an important office in a government executives managers; directors exactly accurately, correctly, just that one crude oil in a natural or raw state; not yet processed or refined. the market business or trade in a product theme subject; topic a future potential; opportunity; hope inefficient useless; lacking ability; not working well uneconomic unprofitable; something that doesn t make money specifically exactly; precisely unleashed allowed; encouraged; boosted investments funds; financing previously before; earlier; formerly LISTENING ACTIVITY 1 (Audio File: 3:22) Listen to the newscast for overall comprehension. Use the space below to make notes if you wish to do so. 7

9 LISTENING ACTIVITY 2 (Audio File: 3:22) Now, listen to Newscast 3 again. Put a checkmark ( ) next to what was said about each of the groups mentioned in the story. An example is done for you. Afraid to hear the news Ride out cheap crude prices Pushed out of the market Don t have a future Canada (oilfields) OPEC Texas Oil Executives High- Cost Producers Unleashed investments (See answer key) LISTENING ACTIVITY 3 Listen to Newscast 3 again. Take notes so that you can summarize the newscast. SPEAKING ACTIVITY 1 Summarize what you ve heard. If you are in a class, work with a partner. Take turns to summarize the newscast. If you are doing this lesson independently, record yourself summarizing the story and play it back. 8

10 LANGUAGE FOCUS FOR NEWSCAST 3 LEXICAL CHUNKS In newscasts one and two, we explored Lexical Chunks. We learned that native English- speakers usually communicate using phrases with words that are very commonly found together. These groups of words are called "lexical chunks". Lexical Chunks include noun phrases, collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs, and idioms. Let s consider the difference in understanding the word crowd: Definition noun: 1. a large number of people gathered together, typically in a disorganized or unruly way verb. 1. fill (a space) almost completely, leaving little or no room for movement 2. move too close to (someone). However, when we see the lexical chunk a crowd of, we know that the noun is being used, and that we will be informed about who was in the group or at the gathering. ACTIVITY 1 Now that you have listened to Newscast 3 and read the transcript try to understand the meanings of the lexical chunks underlined below. Saudi Arabia's oil minister told a crowd of U.S. oil executives in Texas on Tuesday exactly what they were afraid of hearing: that OPEC is more than happy to ride out cheap crude prices until higher- cost producers are pushed out of the market. Ali Al- Naimi made the comments in a hotly anticipated speech at an energy conference in Houston. If there was a theme to the speech, it was that high- cost producers don't have much of a future. He said 'inefficient, uneconomic producers will have to get out...that is a fact.' Al- Naimi wasn't specifically speaking of Canada with that comment, but said earlier in the speech that $100 dollar a barrel oil had unleashed investments in what were previously uneconomic oil fields such as the Alberta oilsands. 9

11 ACTIVITY 2 Write the letter of the lexical chunk next to its definition on the right. An example is done for you: Lexical Chunk Meaning A a crowd of those in the group or at the gathering B afraid of hearing for example/instance C more than happy to referring to D ride out having potential, opportunity or hope E pushed out of it is true; it is not an opinion but based on evidence F hotly anticipated forced to leave G get out B news you do not want H that is a fact strongly; excitedly expected I speaking of leave or give up J such as to succeed in surviving something dangerous or harmful K a future to not mind (See answer key) ACTIVITY 3 Complete the following sentence with lexical chunks from the table above. Do not use any phrase more than once. 1. I am help you move. 2. Albertans will have to this economic recession. 3. I m what oil prices have dropped to this week. 4. shoppers waited in line for the new cell phone. 5. Because of the sales of apple phones, many think that Blackberry does not have, and that Blackberry should the cell phone market, and go into another business software development before they are the business completely. 6. food; I am hungry. (See answer key) 10

12 TRANSCRIPTS OF WEEKLY NEWSCASTS WEEKLY NEWS STORIES Introduction Hi. This is Don Bell. You re listening to Learning English with CBC for the week of February 29th. Newscast 1 A Newfoundland woman learned a hard lesson in social media when she shared her Roll Up the Rim win at a Tim Hortons with her Facebook friends. ROLL UP THE RIM TO WIN: LESSON LEARNED /news/canada/ne wfoundland- labrador/win- roll- up- the- rim- facebook- stolen Newscast 2 DEBT LATE IN LIFE A GROWING ISSUE AND BEST AVOIDED /news/business/rr sp/debt- retirement Margaret Butler Coward says she won a $100 dollar gift card and was excited, so she shared the news with friends on her Facebook page with a picture of the cup. However, the picture showed a code used to redeem prizes. When she went online to redeem her prize, it was no longer available. She realized someone quickly used the code to claim the gift card online. A Tim Hortons representative said they were sympathetic, but said that nothing could be done. Margaret says she was a little bit upset with herself but also upset that someone took advantage of her. "I just want to make people aware: don't post your winning cup on Facebook. Don't post anything on Facebook until you have your prize - lesson learned." It appears the finances of seniors in Canada are getting worse. People over the age of 65 are taking on more debt at a faster pace than the population at large. The average Canadian senior owes about $15,000, not counting mortgages. In the late 1990s, only about a quarter of people over 65 had any debt. During the last Statistics Canada report in 2012, the number had risen to over 40 per cent. So what's going on? Financial adviser, Jean Freed, points at a number of problems, one of the biggest being that people are overestimating how much they'll be able to earn as they age. Freed says people also spend too much on housing, buy expensive cars, and eat out too often. If you do end up in retirement with a large amount of debt, none of the solutions are good. TIME 0:00 0:13 1:36 Credit Canada Debt Solutions CEO Laurie Campbell says selling the house might be required for example. Campbell also says while debt late in life is best avoided, it's important for people in debt late in life to know that there is support available. 11

13 Newscast 3 SAUDI OIL MINISTER SAYS TO HIGH- COST CRUDE PRODUCERS: GET OUT OF MARKET /news/business/sa udi- oil- minister- in- houston Saudi Arabia's oil minister told a crowd of U.S. oil executives in Texas on Tuesday exactly what they were afraid of hearing: that OPEC is more than happy to ride out cheap crude prices until higher- cost producers are pushed out of the market. Ali Al- Naimi made the comments in a hotly anticipated speech at an energy conference in Houston. If there was a theme to the speech, it was that high- cost producers don't have much of a future. He said 'inefficient, uneconomic producers will have to get out...that is a fact.' Al- Naimi wasn't specifically speaking of Canada with that comment, but said earlier in the speech that $100 dollar a barrel oil had unleashed investments in what were previously uneconomic oil fields such as the Alberta oilsands. 3:22 12

14 ANSWER KEY FOR NEWSCAST 1: ROLL UP THE RIM TO WIN: LESSON LEARNED VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 2 A Newfoundland woman learned a hard lesson in social media when she shared her Roll Up the Rim win at a Tim Hortons with her Facebook friends. Margaret Butler Coward says she won a $100 dollar gift card and was excited, so she shared the news with friends on her Facebook page with a picture of the cup. However, the picture showed a code used to redeem prizes. When she went online to redeem her prize, it was no longer available. She realized someone quickly used the code to claim the gift card online. A Tim Hortons representative said they were sympathetic, but said that nothing could be done. Margaret says she was a little bit upset with herself but also upset that someone took advantage of her. "I just want to make people aware: don't post your winning cup on Facebook. Don't post anything on Facebook until you have your prize - lesson learned." ANSWER KEY FOR NEWSCAST 2: DEBT LATE IN LIFE A GROWING ISSUE AND BEST AVOIDED LISTENING ACTIVITY 3 Age Money Year Percentage 65 15, ANSWER KEY FOR NEWSCAST 3: SAUDI OIL MINISTER SAYS TO HIGH- COST CRUDE PRODUCERS: GET OUT OF MARKET LISTENING ACTIVITY 2 Canada (oilfields) Afraid to hear the news Ride out cheap crude prices Pushed out of the market Don t have a future Unleashed investments OPEC Texas Oil Executives High- Cost Producers 13

15 ANSWER KEY FOR LANGUAGE FOCUS ACTIVITY 2 Write the letter of the lexical chunk next to its definition on the right. An example is done for you: Lexical Chunk Meaning A a crowd of A who was in the group or at the gathering B afraid of hearing J for example/instance C more than happy to I referring to D ride out K having potential, opportunity or hope E pushed out of H it is true; it is not an opinion F hotly anticipated E forced to leave G get out B news you do not want H that is a fact F strongly/ excitedly expected I speaking of G leave or give up J such as D to succeed in surviving something dangerous or harmful K a future C doesn t mind ACTIVITY 3 Complete the following sentence with lexical chunks from the table above. Do not use any phrase more than once. 1. I am more than happy to help you move. 2. Albertans will have to ride out this economic recession. 3. I m afraid of hearing what oil prices have dropped to this week. 4. A crowd of shoppers waited in line for the hotly anticipated new cell phone. 5. Because of the sales of apple phones, many think that Blackberry does not have a future, and that Blackberry should get out of the cell phone market, and go into another business such as software development before they are pushed out of the business completely. 6. Speaking of food; I am hungry. Thank you for using Learning English with CBC. If you have any questions or comments, please info@communication4integration.ca 14