Words In The News Teacher s pack Lesson plan and student worksheets with answers Campaign for more women MPs in Turkey 28 March 2007
CONTENTS 1. Level, topic, language, aims, materials 2. Lesson stages 3. Student worksheets 1, 2, 3 4. Answers Level: Topic: Language: Intermediate and above A campaign to increase the number of women MPs in Turkey Vocabulary of a news report Aims: Reading skills Understanding a short news report Language skills Practise using just Writing skills A campaign poster Materials: Worksheet 1 Comprehension questions Worksheet 2 Vocabulary matching task Worksheet 3 Grammar just News story Available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2007/03/070328_turkey_women.shtml 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. For the writing task, you may want to bring in some sheets of blank paper and colouring pens as the students make a poster. Also, it would be a good idea to bring in a few examples of campaign posters perhaps from organisations like Greenpeace or wildlife protection groups to encourage the students during the writing stage. These posters are available on the Internet if you do an image search. Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 2 of 11
LESSON STAGES A Stimulate student interest in text Generate interest about today s topic by discussing the role of women in public and professional life. Use these questions as prompts: In politics, are there more men or women involved? Why? In business, are there more men or women in the top jobs? Why? What problems do women face in these areas? Are there any campaigns to increase the number of women involved in politics and /or business? 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. 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. vast posters very large pictures that are used to advertise something facial hair hair which grows on the face, e.g. a beard or moustache a very patriarchal society a society which is dominated by men and male thinking funds money which is often needed to support a plan or project a legal quota a specific size of a group which is agreed by law Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 3 of 11
party lists lists of candidates that represent a political party for election a token handful here, a small number of people who are chosen in order to pretend that a problem is being dealt with top slots the first, and most important, places on a list boost their share of the vote increase the number of people who vote for a political party took the plunge took the risk, dared to do something 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 board work into their notebooks. Boardwork: vast posters facial hair a very patriarchal society funds a legal quota party lists a token handful top slots boost their share of the vote took the plunge Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 4 of 11
D Set global questions Tell the students they are going to read a text which is about politics in Turkey. Put these questions on the board: 1. What general problem do women face in politics in Turkey? 2. What are they doing to publicise this problem? 3. Do you think the general public agree with the aims of the campaign? Students read text the first time. Give them a time limit (1-2 minutes) to read the text quickly to find answers to the 3 questions. They do not need to understand the details of each topic. E Check answers Elicit students' answers to questions 1-3. The answers are: 1 It is very difficult for a woman to become a member of parliament and there are very few women MPs. 2 They are running a poster campaign which suggests that Turkey is still a very patriarchal society when it comes to politics. 3 - The general public think that having more women is parliament is a good idea F Set comprehension 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 each 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: just Write these sentences on the board: Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 5 of 11
A Bob has just emailed the documents B There are just three people in the audience C I got an MP3 player for my birthday, it s just what I wanted D She s just gone to lunch. She ll be back in an hour E I found just what I was looking for: a lovely dress F I ve just got 2 dollars left. I ll have to walk home. Ask the students which word is in all the sentences JUST. Ask the students to put the sentences in pairs according to the meaning of just The answers are: A + D B + F C + E Ask the students to match these examples of just to the meanings below. 1 Just means now or very near now (A + D) 2 Just means only, nothing more than (B + F) 3 Just means exactly (C + E) Refer the students to paragraph one of the text to find the example of just. Which meaning does it have? It means only. Ask the students to find the other word which is used in this way in paragraph one. The other word is the adjective mere Students now do the exercise on Student worksheet 3. 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 a campaign leaflet/poster Tell students they are going to write about something that should be changed in their country or the world. It could be an unfair situation or a situation that needs to be improved. Try to elicit some ideas for things that need to be changed, and put students in pairs to come up with more ideas. If there are few ideas, here are some suggestions: Women s rights and work/politics Care for the elderly Safety on the streets Teenager s rights / family rules Public transport Alchohol/drugs/smoking The environment and pollution Use of cars and planes Treatment of animals Lesson Plan: Teacher's notes Page 6 of 11
Tell each pair of students to choose one of the ideas. They have to produce a campaign poster or leaflet that publicises the problem and suggests changes that need to be made in order to improve the situation. If you have some examples of campaign posters, now is a good time to show them to the students. Put these guidelines on the board. Agree on the issue What are the main points/details of this problem situation? How could things be improved? What needs to be done? How can you catch people s attention? What picture(s) could you use? Think of a few short sentences which capture the main ideas. Design your poster or leaflet. After twenty minutes, display the posters on the walls of the classroom. Students walk around the class and, in pairs, they choose their favourite poster. They can t choose their own. M Feedback Give praise for content and show your interest in the different views expressed and styles used. Give praise for correct language, and give feedback on incorrect language. 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
Women MPs in Turkey 28 March 2007 STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS Are the following sentences true or false? 1. In the past, there used to be many more women MPs. T/F 2. Many women do not have the necessary money to try to enter parliament. T/F 3. At the moment, political parties put many women on their election lists giving them a high priority. T/F 4. By changing the way the lists work, the percentage of women in parliament could be more than doubled. T/F 5. In the past, political parties thought women were not suitable for politics. T/F 6. A few more people would vote for a party that had more female candidates for parliament. T/F Page 8 of 11
Women MPs in Turkey 28 March 2007 STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 VOCABULARY Match these words and phrases to their definitions. 1. vast posters A. a society which is dominated by men and male thinking 2. facial hair B. lists of candidates that represent a political party for election 3. a very patriarchal society C. increase the number of people who vote for a political party 4. funds D. took the risk, dared to do something 5. a legal quota E. the first, and most important, places on a list 6. party lists F. money which is often needed to support a plan or project 7. a token handful G. hair which grows on the face, e.g. a beard or moustache 8. top slots H. very large pictures that are used to advertise something 9. boost their share of the vote I. a specific size of a group which is agreed by law 10. took the plunge J. here, a small number of people who are chosen in order to pretend that a problem is being dealt with Page 9 of 11
Women MPs in Turkey 28 March 2007 STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 GRAMMAR FOCUS just Just has got several meanings and uses. Match the meanings (A-C) with the example sentences below. A B C Just means now or very near now Just means exactly Just means only, nothing more than 1. Tom just phoned. Can you call him back? 2. Thank you for a lovely dinner that dessert was just perfect. 3 I can t do it now, I m just going to an important meeting. 4 There s just three minutes till the train leaves. Hurry up! 5 A good cup of tea is just what I need. Thank you. 6 Did you just hear that? No, what did he say? 7 Just three of the students got all the correct answers. 8 Three of the students just handed in their work, I don t know when the others will. 9 The increase in taxes is just what this country doesn t need. 10 I m sorry, you ve just missed him. He ll be back tomorrow 11 This is just the paint I need it s the perfect colour for the kitchen. 12 There s just an apple in the fridge. We d better go shopping! 13 Just Michelle replied to my invitation. No-one else bothered to. 14 That s just the answer to my problem. Good idea! Page 10 of 11
Women MPs in Turkey 28 March 2007 Answers STUDENT WORKSHEET 1 1. False Paragraph 1 of the written text says, 'The figure has never been much higher.' 2. True Paragraph 1 says, 'women are far less likely to have the funds needed to run for election.' 3. False Paragraph 2 says, 'Instead of putting a token handful of female candidates at the very bottom, campaigners want women in the top slots.' 4. True Paragraph 2 says 'They're hopeful that would ensure at least ten percent of MPs in the next parliament are women.' The current figure is 4.4%. 5. True Paragraph 3 says, 'Parties traditionally see women candidates as a risk.' 6. False Paragraph 3 says, 'it shows political parties could boost their share of the vote considerably.' STUDENT WORKSHEET 2 1. H 2. G 3. A 4. F 5. I 6. B 7. J 8. E 9. C 10. D STUDENT WORKSHEET 3 1. A 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. B 6. A 7. C 8. A 9. B 10. A 11. B 12. C 13. C 14. B Page 11 of 11