Words In The News. Teacher s pack Lesson plan and student worksheets with answers

Transcription

1 Words In The News Teacher s pack Lesson plan and student worksheets with answers Tom Cruise wedding 8 November 2006

2 CONTENTS 1. Level, topic, language, aims, materials 2. Lesson stages 3. Student worksheets 1, 2, 3 4. Answers Level: Topic: Language: Intermediate and above Tom Cruise is due to marry his girlfriend Katie Holmes. Vocabulary of news report Aims: Reading skills Understanding a short news report Language skills Present perfect passive Speaking skills Roleplay Materials: Worksheet 1 Comprehension questions Worksheet 2 Vocabulary matching task Worksheet 3 Language focus: Present perfect passive News story Available online at: Preparation: Before the lesson, make enough copies of worksheet 2 so that there is one worksheet for every 4 5 students. Cut up the vocabulary and explanations, to make a matching exercise. Students also need one copy each of worksheets 1 and 3. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 2 of 11

3 LESSON STAGES A Stimulate student interest in text Generate interest about today s topic by getting students to tell their partner about the last wedding they went to. Pair students with people from different cultures if possible. You can write the following discussion prompts on the board: Who When Where Ceremony Clothes Food & drink Gifts Guests B Pre-teach essential vocabulary Elicit/present key vocabulary that students need either to understand the key points in the text or to understand and/or answer any questions that you'll set them later in the lesson. The vocabulary is from (so you can elicit the vocabulary by using the explanations provided online or below). You could either pre-teach the vocabulary at this stage of the lesson or you could use the vocabulary building activity from further down in this lesson plan. Have students working together in small groups and ask them to try to match the vocabulary with the definitions. Encourage them to work with the other groups to pool their knowledge. When they have done as much as they can, if they have dictionaries, ask them to look up the words to check their answers and to find out the definitions of any words they are not sure of. If they don't have dictionaries, check their answers and give them help with any words they aren't sure of. Whichever method you use to elicit/present the vocabulary, you should then model it (say it clearly, highlighting the word stress) and get them to repeat the words after you. dubbed called instead of the real name speculation making guesses, thinking or talking about something without having necessary facts the media hunt journalists' attempts to find out information about people or events Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 3 of 11

4 venue location, place where an organised event happens span last for (referring to time) a warm up party an occasion when people meet together to enjoy themselves in preparation for the main event ritual a ceremony or customary acts which are always performed in the same way conducted by organised and led by outfits sets of matching clothes limousines big expensive comfortable cars often used to take people to special events C Written record of vocabulary Write the words on the board, eliciting spelling as you write. Elicit and show the word stress of each item and word class, if appropriate. Give students some time to copy the boardwork into their notebooks. Boardwork: dubbed speculation the media hunt venue span a warm up party ritual conducted by Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 4 of 11

5 outfits limousines D Set first reading questions. Tell the students they are going to read a text which is about a forthcoming wedding. Put these questions on the board: 1. Who is getting married? 2. What preparations are being made? 3 Do you think it will be a good wedding? Students read text the first time. Give them a time limit (1-2 minutes) to read the text quickly to find the answer to the first 2 questions. They do not need to understand the details for each topic. E Check answers Elicit students' answers and tick the correct answers on the board. Invite comments in response to the third question. The answers are: 1 Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. 2 Accept answers to do with location, conducting the ceremony, designing the dress, accommodating the guests, towels and transport. 3 Invite students to give and justify their opinions. F Set specific information questions Hand out Worksheet 1 or use the online quiz. Students complete the worksheet to help them understand the text in more detail. Give them a time limit (5-6 minutes) to read the text a second time in more detail and to answer the questions. G Check answers Elicit True or False answers. Direct attention to a particular paragraph if an answer is wrong to try to elicit the correct answer (see worksheet 1 and answer key). H Vocabulary consolidation/building Students do the vocabulary matching exercise (worksheet 2 that you cut up before the lesson): in small groups they match the correct word with the right definition. I Check answers Elicit answers. If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try to elicit the correct answer. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 5 of 11

6 J Grammar focus: present perfect passive Show students the first example of present perfect passive in the article. Paragraph 1: It has already been dubbed the wedding of the year Analyse it as follows: 1. Elicit or show the students an active version of this sentence: Newspapers have dubbed it the wedding of the year 2. Ask them why the passive voice has been used rather than the active. (It is used because we do not know, or everybody knows, or we are not interested in who does an action, or because the object of the action is more important than the agent). Discuss which of these reasons applies to this example (in this case, one or more of the following reasons could be argued: everybody knows, or we are not interested in who does an action, or because the object of the action is more important than the agent). 3. Ask them what tense the sentence is (present perfect passive). Ask them why present perfect is used (to talk about a past action that has a result in the present; to tell recent news; to talk about an event or period of time which started in the past and which continues up to the present). Discuss which of these reasons applies to this example (in this article, all the uses of present perfect passive refer to unfinished events, for example, limousines have been ordered but not used yet. In addition, it can be strongly argued that all the events are 'news'). 4. Check the form of the present perfect passive: has/have + been + past participle Ask students to find 3 further examples of present perfect passive in the text. Put students in small pairs or groups to analyse the sentences according to points 1-4 above. The 3 further examples are all found in paragraph 3: 'The arrangements for the ceremony and the design of Katie Holmes' gown have been given to Giorgio Armani' 'Even the towels in the bathroom have been carefully selected' '100 black limousines have been ordered' Hand out Worksheet 3 which focuses on present perfect passive. Tell students to complete the sentences with a verb from the box, using either the present perfect active or passive. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 6 of 11

7 K Check answers If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try to elicit the correct answer (see worksheet 3 and answer key). L Follow-up activity: Roleplay Tell your students that you heard/read in the news this morning that Tom and Katie have finally decided to break their silence and give an interview to the media about their forthcoming wedding. Ask the students what kind of questions the reporters will ask them, and what Tom and Katie are likely to want to talk about. When several ideas have been generated, put the students into groups of 2 or 3 to roleplay an interview (with Tom and a reporter, or Katie and a reporter, or Tom and Katie together with a reporter). Depending on time and the ability/needs/interests of your students, you could have them write a script of the interview and act it out for the class, or they could prepare questions but have 'Tom' or 'Katie' answer spontaneously, or they could do the whole roleplay from notes or whiteboard prompts. M Feedback Give praise for content and show your interest in the different views expressed. Give praise for correct language. Give feedback on incorrect language you saw. You could write some example phrases or sentences on the board and elicit from students which ones are correct and which ones are wrong and why. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 7 of 11

8 STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS Are the following sentences true or false? Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have announced that they will get married in Italy. The media believe that Tom and Katie will get married in a villa near Rome. 3. Tom and Katie's wedding will consist of more than one ceremony. 4. Tom Cruise helped to start the church of Scientology Each guest will be given a towel with his or her own initials on it. Some famous actors and actresses are expected to come to the wedding.

9 STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 VOCABULARY Match these words and phrases to their definitions. 1. dubbed A. a ceremony or customary acts which are always performed in the same way 2. speculation B. last for (referring to time) 3. the media hunt C. called instead of the real name 4. venue D. organised and led by 5. span E. location, place where an organised event happens 6. a warm up party F. big expensive comfortable cars often used to take people to special events 7. ritual G. sets of matching clothes 8. conducted by H. journalists' attempts to find out information about people or events 9. outfits I. an occasion when people meet together to enjoy themselves in preparation for the main event 10. limousines J. making guesses, thinking or talking about something without having necessary facts

10 STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 GRAMMAR FOCUS Present perfect passive and active Use the verbs in the box to complete these sentences about wedding preparations. Use the present perfect tense: either passive or active. hire pay deliver buy give put send accept 1. The cake already to the venue. 2. The flowers in water. 3. The bride's mother a new dress. 4. The groom's brothers a band to play at the wedding. 5. Over 300 invitations to the guests. 6. Almost 250 guests already their invitations. 7. The bride's parents for the venue. 8. The bride and groom a new house as a wedding present.

11 ANSWER KEY STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 1. False Paragraph 1 of the written text says, 'Tom Cruise and fiancee Katie Holmes are confirming nothing.' 2. True Paragraph 1 says, 'the media hunt for the secret venue appears to have settled on an old Roman villa on Lake Bracciano close to Rome.' 3. True Paragraph 2 says, 'The Catholic wedding will follow the next day with a final ritual on the 18th conducted by Scientology' 4. False Paragraph 2 says, ' Scientology - the church founded by science fiction writer Ron Hubbard, of which Tom Cruise is a member.' 5. False Paragraph 3 says, 'Even the towels in the bedrooms will carry the couple's initials.' 6. True Paragraph 3 says, 'Of course the guest list will include some of the biggest names in Hollywood.' STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 1. C 2. J 3. H 4. E 5. B 6. I 7. A 8. D 9. G 10. F STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 1. The cake has already been delivered to the venue. 2. The flowers have been put in water. 3. The bride's mother has bought a new dress. 4. The groom's brothers have hired a band to play at the wedding. 5. Over 300 invitations have been sent to the guests. 6. Almost 250 guests have already accepted their invitations. 7. The bride's parents have paid for the venue. 8. The bride and groom have been given a new house as a wedding present.