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

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1 Words In The News Teacher s pack Lesson plan and student worksheets with answers Britain information blunder 21 November 2007

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 In Britain, benefit claimants are warned to check their bank accounts, after personal details of 25 million people are lost Vocabulary of a news report Aims: Reading skills Understanding a short news report Language skills Vocabulary politics and policing Writing skills Designing an anti-identity theft poster Materials: Worksheet 1 Comprehension questions Worksheet 2 Vocabulary matching task Worksheet 3 Grammar/language focus vocabulary News story Available online at: newsenglish/witn/2007/11/071121_britain_blunder.shtml Preparation: Before the lesson, make enough copies of worksheets 2 and 3 so that there is 1 worksheet for every 4 5 students. Cut up the vocabulary and explanations to make a matching exercise. Students also need one copy each of worksheet 1. If possible, bring some posters from magazines or the internet of campaigns that try to help prevent people becoming victims of identify theft. If you have internet access, you could show them this British site: Or download the poster of leaflet from here: Page 2 of 11

3 *The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites LESSON STAGES A Stimulate student interest in text Pre-teach identify thief (someone who illegally uses another person's identity. This is usually because the thief wants to steal money belonging to that person) Ask them to call out what kinds of things are often stolen by thieves who want to steal people's identity. Example answers credit cards utility (electricity, phone, gas) bills passports national insurance numbers Ask students if they have ever been the victim of identity theft or if they know anyone who has. How did it make them feel to have their identity stolen? What steps have they taken since then to protect their identity? (You can use the answers to this final question in the follow up activity) 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 Words in the News (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. savaged in the British press attacked or criticised very strongly by the newspapers in Britain Despite reassurances Although words of comfort were given to try to make people feel less worried Page 3 of 11

4 personal details information that's usually private, for example, where and when you were born, your address etc. fraudsters people who get money by lying to or deceiving people his resignation him to leave his job (here, because Darling has made a mistake and should take the blame for it by leaving his job) competence ability to do the job kept afloat given enough money to continue as a business fate what happens to someone or something, especially finally or in a negative way data information identity cards official documents with your name, date of birth, photograph or other information on them which proves who people are 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: savaged in the British press Despite reassurances personal details fraudsters his resignation competence Page 4 of 11

5 kept afloat fate data identity cards D Set a skimming question Tell the students they are going to read a text about politics in Britain. Put this question on the board: People in Britain will not have to carry identity cards because of this crisis. True or false? 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 question. They do not need to understand the details of the text to answer it. E Check answers False only one minister said (in paragraph 3), that 'it would be almost impossible for the (identity card) scheme to survive' so it's not 100% that the scheme won't go ahead. 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. Page 5 of 11

6 J Vocabulary focus: Vocabulary politics and policing Hand out worksheet 3 which focuses on politics and policing vocabulary. Ask students to complete the table by putting the words into the correct column and then to fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary item. 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: Writing Remind students of the list they created at the beginning of the lesson about what things thieves target when they want to steal someone's identity: Example answers credit cards utility (electricity, phone, gas) bills passports national insurance numbers Then elicit some ways in which we can help ourselves to protect our identity: Example answers shred your credit cards and utility bills keep your passport in a safe place examine your bank statements carefully Show students some examples of posters or campaigns from the internet, newspapers, magazines, government sources, etc. on how people should protect themselves from identity theft. Elicit what information is common to all these posters (ways to protect your identity, what you should do if your identity is stolen etc.). Tell students they are going to create their own ID protection poster (with words and pictures). When they have finished, they will have a vote on the best poster. Put students into small groups to create their posters. Encourage them to think about their audience. Who is this poster for? Bank customers, householders, tourists, teenagers? Give them 5 minutes to brainstorm ideas and 5-10 minutes to write and draw their posters. Circulate, while they are working, giving help with grammar and spelling, if necessary and unobtrusively making notes of any errors you hear. Page 6 of 11

7 M Feedback Collect the students' work. If possible, stick it up where everyone can see it. Ask students to look at each poster. Have a class vote to decide on the best one. Give praise for content ( e.g. which one had the best art work? Which one gave the best advice?). Give praise for correct English you read. Give feedback on incorrect language you heard. 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. Page 7 of 11

8 STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS Are the following sentences true or false? 1. British newspapers, TV and radio say Alistair Darling is doing a good job just now. 2. Alistair Darling says that at the moment thieves do not have the information with people's personal details on it. 3. Politicians from other parties want him to stop being Chancellor of the Exchequer. 4. Many people think this government isn't good at dealing with the economy. 5. The Bank of England has given a huge amount of financial help to Northern Rock. 6. How the government deals with this situation will have a big impact on their plan to make people carry an official document to prove who they are. Page 8 of 11

9 STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 VOCABULARY Match these words and phrases to their definitions. 1. savaged in the British press A. although words of comfort were given to try to make people feel less worried 2. despite reassurances B information 3. personal details C. ability to do the job 4. fraudsters D. 5. his resignation E. official documents with your name, date of birth, photograph or other information on them which proves who people are information that's usually private, for example, where and when you were born, your address etc. 6. competence F. given enough money to continue as a business 7. kept afloat G. 8. fate H. 9. data I. 10. identity cards J. attacked or criticised very strongly by the newspapers in Britain people who get money by lying to or deceiving people him to leave his job (here, because Darling has made a mistake and should take the blame for it by leaving his job) what happens to someone or something, especially finally or in a negative way Page 9 of 11

10 STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 LANGUAGE FOCUS Politics and policing vocabulary The words below (from today's text) are associated with politics or policing. Put the words into the correct category, and add three more words of your own. The first one has been done for you: Chancellor of the Exchequer security breach fraudsters investigation opposition parties resignation illegal purposes government debate identity cards minister Politics Policing 1. Chancellor of the Exchequer Now, use the vocabulary to fill in the blanks below: 1. My has a photo, my address and date of birth. 2. The thieves used the stolen passports for. 3. The detectives are involved in an to try to solve the murders. 4. The had to offer her because of the scandal. 5. The voted against in the about human rights. Page 10 of 11

11 ANSWER KEY STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 1. False Paragraph 1 says, 'Alistair Darling, has been savaged in the British press'. 2. True Paragraph 1 says, ' reassurances from Mr Darling that people's personal details are not in the hands of fraudsters'. 3. False Paragraph 2 says, 'the opposition parties have not called directly for his resignation'. 4. True Paragraph 2 says, 'More worrying perhaps is the wider issue of the economic competence of the government'. 5. True Paragraph 2 says, 'Northern Rock, which has been kept afloat only with huge emergency loans from the Bank of England'. 6. True Paragraph 3 says, 'The fate of the missing data could also influence the debate over the introduction of Identity Cards in Britain'. STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 1. G 2. A 3.E 4. H 5. I 6. C 7. F 8. J 9. B 10. D STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 Politics Policing 1. Chancellor of the Exchequer 1. security breach 2. opposition parties 2. fraudsters 3. resignation 3. investigation 4. government 4. illegal purposes 5. debate 5. identity cards 6. minister 1. identity card 2. illegal purposes 3. investigation 4. Chancellor of the Exchequer / minister resignation 5. opposition parties government debate Page 11 of 11