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 Crocodiles escape in Vietnam 14 November 2007

2 BBC Learning English CONTENTS 1. Level, topic, language, aims, materials 2. Lesson stages 3. Student worksheets 1, 2, 3 4. Answers Level: Topic: Language: Intermediate and above Crocodiles from a farm in Vietnam have escaped after their cages were destroyed in bad weather. Local officials and villagers have tried to find them, but hundreds are still missing. Vocabulary of a news report Aims: Reading skills Understanding a short news report Language skills Present perfect tense review Speaking skills Group story writing Materials: Worksheet 1 Comprehension questions Worksheet 2 Vocabulary matching task Worksheet 3 Grammar/language focus present perfect 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 10

3 BBC Learning English LESSON STAGES A Stimulate student interest in text Tell students to draw three large circles on a piece of paper. Ask students to think about an experiences they have had with animals (pets, animals they have seen in the wild, exotic animals, animals they are scared of etc). Then ask them to write the name of an animal in each space (a total of three animals). Then students should walk around the room, asking each other questions about why they have chosen to write down these particular animals. After 10 minutes, feedback on any names of animals students don't know. Invite students to comment on any unusual tales they have heard, especially any involving big or powerful animals. If you wish to extend the activity, you could ask students to discuss where all these animals are found in the wild, and if any are in danger of extinction. 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. flash floods sudden heavy rain and rising water escaped got away, fled on the loose free forest rangers people who look after parks and natural areas Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 3 of 10

4 BBC Learning English to track them down to find them recaptured put back into cages taken up residence started living farmed bred, raised (here) leather dried animal skin widespread damage great destruction 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: flash floods escaped on the loose forest rangers to track them down recaptured taken up residence farmed leather widespread damage Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 4 of 10

5 BBC Learning English D Set global questions. Tell the students they are going to read a text about crocodiles in Vietnam. Put these questions on the board: 1. What happened on the farm in central Vietnam? 2. Why do you think people are looking for the animals? 3. What do you think people in the area are worried about? 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 3 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. The answers are: 1 Flash floods destroyed the cages in a crocodile farm, causing many crocodiles to escape (paragraph 1). 2 'They believe several hundred are on the loose' (paragraph 1), they are very heavy one animal needed 8 people to take it away (paragraph 2). 3 Suitable answers include: some animals are thought to be in a lake which could be dangerous for swimmers (paragraph 2), the farm manager thinks local people will try to catch the animals to sell their skins (paragraph 3). 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, 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. J Grammar focus: present perfect The present perfect tense is formed as follows: Subject + present form of 'have' (+not ) + past participle e.g. Floods have (not) caused widespread damage in Vietnam (paragraph 3). Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 5 of 10

6 BBC Learning English The passive form of the present perfect is: Subject + present form of 'have' (+ not) + been + past participle e.g. Only eight crocodiles have (not) been recaptured so far. The present perfect is used 1) for unspecified time period before now e.g. There have been many floods in Vietnam. 2) to indicate change over time e.g. The crocodiles have become better at hiding from villagers. 3) for an uncompleted action e.g. Only eight crocodiles have been recaptured so far (paragraph 2). 4) for multiple actions at different times e.g. We have had ten thunderstorms. Hand out Worksheet 3 which reviews the present perfect tense. 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: Group writing Split students into groups of three. Tell students that they are going to do a piece of group writing based on the article. Students may choose to write a story from the point of view of the farmer, the rangers, the soldiers, villagers or even the crocodile, or they may choose to write a play with the different characters. Give students about 5 minutes to discuss their ideas and plan out the story. Let them spend a further minutes writing the story. You may set a limit of 4 paragraphs. After this, encourage open sharing of stories and plays; students may read out or perform their work in their groups. Encourage students to practise the present perfect and re-use the vocabulary from the text. 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 heard/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 6 of 10

7 BBC Learning English STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS Are the following sentences true or false? 1. The government owned the crocodile farm. T/F 2. Five thousand crocodiles have escaped. T/F 3. Three crocodiles have been killed. T/F 4. The escaped crocodiles live in a school swimming pool. T/F 5. These crocodiles are used for both meat and handbags. T/F 6. The bad weather in Vietnam has killed 2,000 people since October. T/F Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 7 of 10

8 BBC Learning English STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 VOCABULARY Match these words and phrases to their definitions. 1. flash floods A. dried animal skin 2. escaped B. sudden heavy rain and rising water 3. on the loose C. great destruction 4. forest rangers D. bred, raised (here) 5. to track them down E. got away, fled 6. recaptured F. people who look after parks and natural areas 7. taken up residence G. put back into cages 8. farmed H. to find them 9. leather I. free 10. widespread damage J. started living Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 8 of 10

9 BBC Learning English STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 GRAMMAR FOCUS Present Perfect Exercise 1: Using the prompt, make the sentence correct using the present perfect. Remember to think about whether to use the active or the passive. 1. Vietnam suffer a lot of bad weather so far this year. 2. The crocodiles escape from a farm in central Vietnam. 3. Most of the reptiles not capture by the soldiers, forest rangers and villagers. 4. The farmer suspects that some of the crocodiles sell by the villagers. 5. Since the flood, the children in the village not want to swim in the lake. Exercise 2: Make your own sentences using the present perfect and the following verbs from today's text. Use at least one passive and one negative example. 1. (escape) 2. (track down) 3. (warn) 4. (cause) Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 9 of 10

10 BBC Learning English ANSWER KEY STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 1. True. Paragraph 1 of the written text says, 'the state-owned Yang Bay farm ' 2. False. Paragraph 1 says, '...the authorities don't know exactly how many escaped, but they believe several hundred are on the loose'. 3. True. Paragraph 2 says, ' three more shot dead'. 4. False. Paragraph 2 says, ' Many of the escaped crocodiles are thought to have taken up residence in a nearby lake'. 5. True. Paragraph 3 says, 'Crocodiles are farmed in Vietnam for meat and their skin which is still used to make handbags'. 6. False. Paragraph 3 says, 'the floods have caused damage, killing around two-hundred people'. STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 1. B 2. E 3. I 4. F 5. H 6. G 7. J 8. D 9. A 10. C STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 Exercise 1 1. Vietnam has suffered a lot of bad weather so far this year. 2. The crocodiles have escaped from a farm in central Vietnam. 3. Most of the reptiles have not been captured by the soldiers, forest rangers and villagers. 4. The farmer suspects that some of the crocodiles have been sold by the villagers. 5. Since the flood, the children in the village have not wanted to swim in the lake. Exercise 3: Accept any answers which are accurate and appropriate and demonstrate correct use of the present perfect in both active and passive voices. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 10 of 10