Poems are a wonderful way of developing the students’ general skills as well as improving their pronunciations, stress and intonation.

They are particularly welcome at the end of the week, on Friday, towards the end of the morning, or perhaps the afternoon.

If students are in intensive academic writing programmes poems are probably not going to be appropriate but for most other programmes they can provide excellent practice, lead to a significant amount of discussion, and really improve the students’ speaking skills.

There are a lot of possible activities with a poem. Here are a few suggestions.

1. The title of this poem by Wendy Cope is “After the Lunch” and that could be the starting point for the lesson. What could the poem be about? In fact, it’s not a very good guide to the content but at least it would get them thinking.
2. The poem mentions Waterloo Bridge. Ask them if the know where it is. What was it named after? When was it built? (opened 1945)
3. Give them the poem with the last word of lines 2 and 4 deleted. Ask them to read it through and try to replace the missing words. Tell them that lines 1 and 2 rhyme and also 3 and 4.
4. Get feedback from the students on the missing words. Discuss which ideas are best.
5. Give the students the poem. Let them read it through silently.
   
   On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
   The weather conditions brought tears to my eyes.
   I wipe them away with a black woolly glove,
   And try not to notice I’ve fallen in love.On Waterloo Bridge I’m trying to think:
   This is nothing. You’re high on the charm and the drink.
   But the juke-box inside me is playing a song
   That says something different. And when was it wrong?On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair
   I’m tempted to skip. You’re a fool. I don’t care.
   The head does its best but the heart is the boss –
   I admit it before I am halfway across.
6. Compare their version with the final version.
7. Ask them to tell you what they think the poem is about. Discuss the theme.
8. Check the words that rhyme.
9. Check any unknown vocabulary; these might include: wiped, woolly, high, charm, juke-box, skip, boss.
10. Ask the class to describe what is happening in the first verse. Discuss suggestions.
11. Repeat for verses 2 and 3.
12. Discuss the real meaning in verse one. Was it the weather conditions or was it something else?
13. Elicit the meaning of high on the charm and the drink.
14. What juke-box? What is the juke-box saying?
15. Why would she want to skip? Who is a fool? Why?
16. Elicit the meaning of the head does its best but the heart is the boss.
17. Focus on the tenses within the poem and elicit reasons why they think the writer switches tense? Why does the writer switch from past to present in the first verse? Why the Present Continuous in verse 2?
18. Ask individual students to read verses. Help them as necessary with the rhythm, the stress and intonation.
19. Ask the students to write out a fourth verse (this could be done for homework).
20. Listen to them reading their verses. Discuss the different styles and content.

This is one of Frost’s most beautiful and evocative poems and it invariably is enjoyed by students from all over the world. This poem would be suitable for upper-intermediate students and above.

Suggested steps:

1. It’s invariably a good idea to start with the title. This gets the students thinking about the content. Write it on the board. Ask them to guess what the poem might be about. If many of them are already familiar with it, you could then move on to ask them to tell the class whether they like it or not. Don’t go into too much detail at this point.
2. Ask the students about important decisions that we all have to take in our lives. What examples of major decisions can they think of? List them on the board.
3. Ask the students whether they have ever had to think deeply about what was the best thing to do? If so, why? If not, why not? Have decisions always come easily to them. Is it easier to make important decisions when we are old or young?
4. Read the first verse to them. Hand it out and let individual students read it aloud.
5. Ask them to tell you/guess the meaning of diverged and undergrowth.
6. Ask them to tell you which of the words in the poem rhyme. In most verses, the final words of lines 1, 3 and 4 rhyme, while the final words of lines 2 and 5 also rhyme.
7. Give them verse two with the final words of lines 3, 4 and 5 removed. Let them try to guess what the words might be.
8. Read them the whole verse. Ask individuals to read it aloud.
9. Establish the meaning of any difficult words/expressions: just as fair / the better claim / wanted wear / the passing there.
10. Give them the third verse with the final words of lines 3, 4 and 5 removed. Can they guess which words were taken out?
11. Read the verse. Ask individual students to read it aloud. Ask them to explain the meaning of no step had trodden black and way leads on to way.
12. Read the fourth verse. Ask individual students to read it aloud.
13. Ask individual students to read aloud a verse each.
14. Go through each line, line by line, asking the students to explain the meaning in their own words.
15. Ask the class about the meaning of the poem. Encourage discussion.
16. Look at each verse in turn and ask individual students to summarise the meaning. Differences in interpretations will appear here so this is a good time for discussion and exchanges of views.
17. Ask them if they see any contradictions in the poem. If so, encourage them to talk about them.
18. Explore the contradiction in verse 2 where he says wanted wear (which either means that the path literally wanted wear because it had not been used so often or more simply that this path had not been used so often) and had really worn them about the same which means that they had had about the same amount of wear by walkers.
19. Explore the contradiction in I kept the other for another day while I doubted whether I should ever come back. He decides that he will walk the other path on another day although really knows that this might be impossible because one thing leads to another and it is not always possible to go back.
20. Ask the class why he sighs? Remind them that he is looking forward into the future so he only guessing that he will sigh. What could the sigh be about? Does he expect to take the wrong path on occasions? Does he expect to experience problems and regrets? Since everyone has regrets of some sort in their lives, this is very likely to be the explanation even if someone has a happy life overall.
21. Ask them about the final two lines. Again, since he is looking forward many years, he can only guess that his decisions made all the difference. Is the poet encouraging people to follow their own path, the less travelled path? Is he saying that there will always be regrets whichever path is taken?
22. Do the students like the poem? Why?
23. Ask individual students to read verses of the poem again.
24. Ask the students to write about an important decision in their lives. What decision did they take? Why? Do they feel it was the right decision? Do they have regrets? Why?

‘The Road Not Taken’ – a poem by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow road,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I –
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Summer with Monika by Roger McGough

Poems are a wonderful way of developing the students’ skills in pronunciation, stress and intonation.

They are particularly welcome at the end of the week when something completely different might be considered.

This poem is best used with adults rather than young people. It always raises a smile and encourages a lot of discussion.

There are a lot of possible activities that can be done with a poem. Here are a few suggestions.

1. This poem is called ‘Summer with Monika’ and the teacher could ask the students to suggest what they think the poem is about.
2. Ask them whether they drink milk or eat cereal. In many countries people do not eat cereal and regard it as a very strange food. Discuss its pros and cons.
3. How do people in different countries obtain their milk? What about in the UK?
4. Ask them which lines rhyme. If necessary, tell them that lines 1 and 2 rhyme, then 3 and 4 and so on to the end of the first verse.
5. Give them verse one with the final words of each line deleted.
6. Give them a word that rhymes with each pair in verse one e.g. ball for 1 and 2, head for 3 and 4, red for 5 and 6, peas for 7 and 8, fleas for 9 and 10.
7. Ask them to suggest suitable words for the end of verse one.
8. Go through their suggestions. Compare contrast and discuss.
9. Give them the whole poem. Tell them to read it silently.
10. What is the poem about?
11. Why are there constant references to bottles of milk?
12. What is meant by the reference to cheese?
13. Why different thicknesses? Why different shades of white?
14. Elicit suggestions from the students to make sure the vocabulary is understood: neighbour, a-turning, persistent, utter, passion, queuing
15. What does this mean? … persistent carol singers without a note to utter…
16. What does this mean? … silent carol singers a-turning into butter…
17. Ask individual students to read the poem aloud. Help them with the pronunciation and intonation.
18. Do the students like the poem? Why? Why not?

Summer with Monika by Roger McGough

ten milk bottles standing in the hall
ten milk bottles up against the wall
next door neighbour thinks we’re dead
hasn’t heard a sound, he said
doesn’t know we’ve been in bed
the ten whole days since we were wed
no-one knows and no-one sees
we lovers doing as we please
but people stop and point at these
ten milk bottles a-turning into cheese

ten milk bottles standing day and night
ten different thicknesses and
different shades of white
persistent carol singers without a note to utter
silent carol singers a-turning into butter

now she’s run out of passion
and there’s not much left in me
so maybe we’ll get up and make a cup of tea
and then people can stop wondering
what they’re waiting for
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door.

Teacher’s Notes on ‘The Shipping News’

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the article ‘The Shipping News’..

Activity 1

Before reading the article, the topic of shipping containers needs to be introduced to the students. You can stimulate discussion by orally asking questions like those below:

• When we are thinking of transportation, what exactly is a container?
• What exactly is a container ship?
• Do you know when containers were introduced?
• What methods were used before containers were introduced?
• What are the advantages of a container?
• How have the changed the way that goods are handled?
• What are some of the disadvantages of containerised freight?

Activity 2

Ask students to scan the text and find the significance of these figures and names.

• Napoli
• 200 tonnes
• 95%
• Malcolm McLean
• Marc Levinson
• 16 days
• 22 days
• David Crinnion
• 5% of 9 million
• between 2,000 and 10,000
• Curtis Ebbesmeyer
• 75%

Activity 3

This activity asks the students to read the text silently, focusing on the following keywords:

beached — disgorged — seethed — awe-inspiring — gantry cranes

eliminated — decimated — imbalance — exacerbating — desolate

Activity 4

This activity involves completion of sentences using the above words:

1. The doctor found that there was an imbalance in his diet and he was consuming far too much salt and sugar.
2. The area south of the port was made up of mud and reeds and was quite desolate except for the cry of birds.
3. The American soldiers went in to many Iraqi homes looking for militants but it was clear to impartial observers that their actions were only exacerbating the situation in the city.
4. The whale had beached itself near to the island and the lifeboat crews and coastal authorities did everything they could to get it back in the water.
5. There were 1,000 soldiers in the unit at the start of the campaign but their numbers were decimated by enemy fire and, at the end, only 10% were left uninjured.
6. The trains were full of football fans and when they arrived in Newcastle they disgorged a huge and overexcited crowd on to the streets of the city.
7. The city seethed with a mass of busy consumers urgently seeking to complete their final Christmas purchases.
8. The view across the city was awe-inspiring because of the number of dramatic new high-rise buildings that had transformed the centre.
9. The huge gantry cranes moved like giants across the crowded port collecting and delivering the many containers.
10. He battled hard through the third round of the competition but was finally eliminatedin the following round.

Activity 5

Questions on the text

What did some people do after containers were washed off the ship?

In what ways have port towns/cities changed over the last few decades?

What is the strangest thing about modern ports of today?

What were three reasons why McLean thought that containers would be an improvement?

What were three disadvantages of containerisation from the point of view of the port employees?

Why are containers a potential danger for some countries?

Why are they sometimes a danger to other ships?

How can plastic bags be dangerous?

Activity 6

Activity 6.1 asks students to find as many words as they can that modify a head noun in the passage. Suitable examples include:

• Bullet-grey sky
• largest container port
• maximum
• environmental
• strict
• waiting
• seamless
• cruise
• shipping
• strict
• precise
• busiest
• idle
• awe-inspiring
• China-bound

Activity 6.2 asks students to study two sentences. Both of them contain the relative pronoun ‘which’. Why does one have commas but not the other one?

• The giant gantry cranes, which sweep the containers on or off the waiting ships with grace, are mesmerising to watch, except that there is almost nobody there to watch.
• The few drivers and crane operators present are following the instructions of a computer which has calculated the precise order in which the containers should be moved and stacked for maximum efficiency.

The difference here is between defining and non-defining clauses.

In the first sentence the non-defining clause “which sweep the containers on or off the waiting ships with grace” is merely additional information and could be omitted without changing the basic meaning of the original sentence.

(See Grammar section for more work on these clauses.)

Activity 6.3 asks students to explain the following saying:

• …the devil makes work for idle hands …

In other words, people will do stupid, crazy or bad things if they have too much time to spare.

Activity 7

Students are asked to find two examples of metaphor in the passage. You may need to give clues or extra help depending on the level of the students,

• piloting – originally used to mean the guidance of a ship in and out of a port (the ship travels the world but the pilot is always local to the specific port and specializes in this difficult task; also used with regard to fly and aircraft. Metaphorically, to pilot something means to guide it (e.g. the new law was piloted through the legislature or to introduce something on a small, limited scale so that lessons can be learnt from any early mistakes.
• seamless – a seam is literally a place where two pieces of cloth or other material are stitched together. Metaphorically, seamless is used to mean smoothly, without a gap or other difficulty at the point of change over.

They are also asked for metaphorical references related to weather, seasons, etc

Here are some examples although there are many more.

• Thunder: He was in a thunderous mood when he came in.
• Dawn: This is the dawn of a new world.
• Chilly: The atmosphere was chilly and I didn’t feel welcome.
• Hail: The army unit ran into a hail of bullets.
• Cold: My proposal was given a cold reception.
• Cloud: His death left a cloud over the event.
• Thaw: Relations between the two families began to thaw.
• Fog: His memory was foggy and he remembered little about the day.
• Darken: The threat of a new strike darkened the horizon.
• Twilight: Mrs Thatcher has become a shadow of her former self in the twilight of her life.
• Blizzard: The government embarked on a blizzard of activity following their election.
• Autumn: In the autumn of their lives, they lived happily on the farm.
• Whirlwind: They had a whirlwind romance and married a month after they met.

Teachers’ Notes on the smartphone article

The Smartphone article and the learners’ questions are in the Student Centre.

Lesson outline:

Level: Intermediate/upper-intermediate. Ideally, the teacher will record this passage before the lesson.

Activity 1 (pre-reading)

• How did people communicate with each other at a distance a hundred years ago? What about fifty years ago? How about when you were born?
• How did people communicate at a distance ten years ago? What about today?
• What do you think about the way communication systems have changed?

Activity 2 (pre-reading)

These words can be grouped in any way as long as the student(s) can explain why they have been grouped in that way. Here one possible way:

• broadband, Internet
• smartphone, iPhone, android, mobile, computer
• Facebook, Twitter
• Apple, Blackberry, Google
• email, text, fax

Activity 3

What’s the difference between the way people use email and the way people use Twitter?

Both are ways of sending messages quickly but Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters. Email is a more general service with no restriction in length and no social network element.

Emails are sent to specific addresses whereas when you “tweet”, your message can read by anyone who is “following” you.

Activity 4

How many of you have an iPhone or a Blackberry? How do they compare?

Activity 5

Give the students the heading and ask them to predict what the passage is about: ‘Facebook and Twitter fuel iPhone and BlackBerry addiction, says Ofcom’

Activity 6

What is the base word for the word ‘addiction’? What other related words do you know?

addict – addicts – addicted – addiction – addictions – addictive

What are we often talking about when we use the word addiction?

‘Addiction’ is often used to refer to compulsive behaviour such as drug addiction, tobacco addiction and alcohol addiction.

Activity 7

Are you addicted to your device? How much do you use it? What do you do in a train or bus, or when waiting for someone?

Activity 8

Listen to the recording for the first time. What is the key (main) message?

The key message is that in today’s world the majority of young people and about a third of adults appear to be addicted to their phone, which is, in many cases, a smartphone of some sort.

Activity 9

Listen to the passage for the second time. Questions to follow:

• Which phones are the most popular? Smartphones
• Which group is most addicted? Teenagers
• Which social network is most popular? Facebook
• Why are some mobile operators under pressure? Increased pressure for data transfer as a result of people using their smartphones to download videos & music tracks and to send emails while on the move.
• What percentage of people have access to fibre-optic broadband in the UK? About 57% of the UK population could connect to fibre-optic broadband if they paid for it but most have chosen not to.

Activity 10

Listen again for these expressions; what do they mean in this context?

• on the go = on the move, wirelessly
• outstripped = moved way ahead of; jumped a long way above; gone a long way beyond
• new generation of = completely new model; more advanced model using new technology
• reliant on (new technology) = dependent on the new technology; the new technology is very important in their lives
• an essential tool = a very, very important way of doing something
• huge boost (in smartphone sales) = a big increase; a rapid rise
• adopted (it) = started to use it
• fibre-optic (cable) = a cable made of glass instead of copper (and able to carry data extremely quickly)

Activity 11

Read paras 1 – 4. If you lost your phone (whether ordinary phone or smartphone) how would you feel? How would it change your life?

Activity 12

Complete this paragraph using the words provided. Where students use other words (i.e. words not in the original text) this should be accepted as long as the meaning remains the same. For example, a student may opt for the word tremendous or dramatic instead of huge. Choices can be discussed by the class.

Research indicates that Facebook is the most popular social network website for mobile users. While may people, particularly teenagers are able to multitask, they spend far more time on Facebook than browsing or on other websites. There has been a huge increase in the sale of smartphones over the last few years. This increase has dramatically increased demand for data which has put some operators under strain. In addition to being a country full of mobile addicts, people in Britain watch a lot of television. Some of this is via fibre-optic broadband which is far more efficient than copper cabling. A staggering 129bn texts were sent in 2009 by people in Britain and that was an increase of a quarter over the year before. People today are very reliant on the Internet and their phones, and many will agree that they are addicted.

Activity 13

Write 250 words about your own use of phones and how it compares with your parents’ use.

The teacher may need to amend or diversify this activity to be more relevant to the students’ life experiences.

Teachers’ Notes

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the article entitled ‘One third of homes dependent on benefits’.

Pre-reading activities

Activity 1 and 2 include questions that will help to provide background and context necessary for the detailed understanding of the article.

1. The expression welfare support means payments and other benefits that government and non-governmental charitable organizations provide for disadvantaged people. These might inlude: money given to unemployed people, subsidized housing, emergency food parcels, free health care and medical treatment.
2. The benefits available in any particular country will vary enormously and students need help to relate the arrangements in their home country with the situation described in the article.
3. Although most countries will have some formal or informal system of welfare support, the question of ‘Who should receive welfare support?’ provides a useful opportunity for more advance students to express opinions.
4. Depending on the social context in the host country, students may find out about meaning and origin various terms used in the article such as ‘right-wing’ and ‘left-wing’ in politics?
5. Activity 2 involves scanning the text and finding significance of various figures and names used in the article such as:
   7 million; Civitas; 61%; 9%; Department for Work and Pensions; Gordon Brown; David Cameron; David Green; 1970s and 1980s; 2 million more; hundreds of thousands; Reform; Frank Field.
   Teachers will need to use their judgement about the depth or detail that is appropriate for any given student or class of students. For example, it may be appropriate to know that ‘Gordon Brown’:
   • is a person;
   • is a man;
   • is/was a British government minister responsible for finance;
   • is/was the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British government from 1997-2007;
   • became British Prime Minister in 2007 (after the article was written).

Activity 3

In Activity 4, students are asked to read the text silently, noting the use of certain key words:

gulf — scathing — stark — reliant — drastic — handouts — regime

perception — unsustainable — confronted — caricatured — legitimate

Activity 4

In Activity 4,students are asked to complete selected sentences using words chosen from a list. Correct answers are given below

• The man claimed that he was the legitimate heir to the throne and he demanded an investigation.
• The priest went from street to street giving handouts to the people who were sleeping rough but he was criticised for this by the police.
• The regime at the prison was very strict and he had no choice but to follow it.
• There was an enormous gulf between him and his children and however hard he tried he was unable to cross it.
• The cartoons in the television programme caricatured him in a cruel way, but he was pleased because it would have been worse to have been ignored.
• The human rights body, Liberty , issued a scathing attack on the police for the way in which they handled the case.
• His counselor said that it was important that he confronted his fears if he wished to overcome them.
• There was a stark contrast between his views and those of his brother.
• The way in which we are using fossil fuels is unsustainable and we must switch to renewable sources of power.
• He was very dependent on his bicycle and went almost no-where outside his house without it.
• The perception of many people is that the government misled people over reasons for the invasion Iraq .
• His debts were getting too great so he took drastic steps and cut up his credit cards and sold his car.

Activity 5

In Activity 5, students are asked to decide, based on the passage, if selected statements are true or false, or is there inadequate evidence either way? Students should be encouraged to support their views with evidence from the text rather than simply choosing True or False.

1. Most single-parent families are now dependent on government welfare payments. Inadequate evidence; we are told only that most single-parent families with two children are dependent on welfare.
2. The Civitas report suggests that the government policies encourage people not to work. True
3. The Conservatives are unwilling to challenge Brown’s policies because they don’t want their policies to resemble American policies too closely. Untrue; they don’t want to be portrayed as uncaring.
4. The Thatcher government was the initial cause of the rising rates of welfare payments. True
5. The report suggests that providing additional funds will not in itself improve health and education in the UK . True
6. Mr. Green did not want a reduced role for government in health and education because this would be seen as selfish and uncaring. Untrue; he did want to reduce the role of government.
7. Reform believes that providing welfare payments makes people lazy. True
8. It is probable that Frank Field would not agree with Civitas or Reform but he does want the welfare system to be reformed. True. He would probably not agree with them altogether as he is a Labour MP.

Activity 6

In Activity 6, students are asked various questions about the use of language in the passage.

Quoted / Cited

What is the difference between quoted in (Para. 2) and cited in … (Para 3)

When you quote you use the actual words of the original writer and you show this clearly by placing the text within quotation marks or perhaps in italics. You also include a clear reference to the author and the original article or book (family name + date + page reference).

When you cite something you merely need to place a reference in your paragraph; you need not include a quotation.

Replacements for ‘said’ and ‘wrote’

There are many ways in which we can refer to something said or reported instead of using verbs like said and wrote. You can ask students to suggest alternative words used in the report.

• Para 1 – indicate / reveal
• Para 3 – prepared
• Para 4 – suggests
• Para 5 – according to
• Para 6 – makes the point
• Para 7 – went on / urged
• Para 8 – defended
• Para 9 – warned
• Para 10 – has also called for / accused

Emotive words

Are there any emotive words used in the article? By whom?

The word handouts is an emotive word because it suggests people getting money for nothing rather than be supported with good reason by the state. This expression was used by Civitas. This is a right-wing think-tank.

Set phrases or expressions

Explain the meaning of the expression below. Do you have similar sayings in your first language?

…tested to destruction …

It means in this context that something has been tried and tried until it fails to work. For example, a piece of concrete from a building site is taken to a laboratory and put under great pressure until it crumbeles in order to estimate its strength.

Metaphor

There are at least nine examples of metaphor in the passage.

• (a huge) gulf (para 1)
• (financially) crippled (para 2)
• paint (a stark picture) (para 3)
• dependency culture has grown (over the last few decades) (para 3)
• (Gordon Brown) has been (repeatedly) attacked (para 3)
• soaring (unemployment) (para 5)
• strike a chord with (para 9)
• “… a floor on which people built and not a ceiling which made it impossible for them to pass through” (para 10)
• to bolster (para 10)

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the worksheet entitled ’Thomas Edison’ in the Student Centre.

TOPIC: Thomas Edison

Date:

Class / Level: Intermediate

Students: Adults / young adults

Time:

Length of lesson: 40 minutes

Number of students: 12

Topic: Thomas Edison

Lesson aims:

1. To provide listening practice.
2. To provide reading practice; specifically, ordering sentences correctly both logically and grammatically.

New language:

• genius;
• patents;
• inquisitive;
• freelance;
• supervisor.

Assumptions:

(In relation to the class being taught.)

Stages:

Step 1. Write the name Thomas Edison on the board. Ask the students if they have ever heard of him. Brainstorm what they know. Add notes to the board.

Step 2. Play the taped passage on Edison. General listening.

Step 3. Replay the tape; ask the students to note down any dates that they hear.

Step 4. Ask the students to tell you what dates they heard. List them on the board. Ask them to tell you what is significant about those dates.

Step 5. Hand out the jumbled sentences. Ask the students to work in pairs and try to re-order them correctly.

Step 6. Tell the pairs to compare their version with a neighbouring pair. If different try to agree on the correct version, or at least one that is logical and grammatically appropriate. Two different versions could both be acceptable perhaps.

Step 7. Go through the text deciding on an appropriate order with the class. Ensure that the linking terms and expressions are clearly pointed out.

Step 8. Take away the jumbled sentences. Hand out the passage with blanks. Ask the students to work independently and complete the passage.

Step 9. Tell the to compare their version with their neighbour’s.

Step 10. Go through the text with the class filling in the blanks.

Step 11. Ask the students to make up 5 questions about Edison.

Step 12. Tell them to put away their passages. They ask each other questions about Edison’s life.

Re-arranging sentence into logical order

Here are the separate sentences from the text. They can be used in two different ways.

• print and then cut up; the students place them in order;
• alternatively, use the jumbled version below; print out the pages; the students number the sentences in order.

Thomas Edison 1847-1931

• Thomas Edison was born on 11 February 1847. He was one of the outstanding geniuses of technology and he obtained patents for more than one thousand inventions including the electric light bulb, the record player and an early type of film projector.
• He also created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.
• He was born in Milan, Ohio and he was always an inquisitive boy.
• By the time he was 10 he had set up a small chemical laboratory in his house after his mother had shown him a science book.
• He soon became fascinated with electrical currents and it remained the main interest of his life.
• In 1869, he borrowed a small amount of money and became a freelance inventor.
• In the same summer, there was a crisis in Wall Street when the new telegraphic gold-price indicator broke down.
• Edison was called in to repair it and he did it so well that he was given a job as supervisor with the Western Union Telegraph Company.
• They later commissioned him to improve the Wall Street stock ticker that was just coming into use. He did so and produced the Edison Universal Stock Printer, which immediately brought him a fortune of $40,000.
• With this money, he set up as a manufacturer in order to produce electrical machines.
• In 1876 he built a new laboratory so that he could spend all his time inventing.
• He planned to turn out minor inventions every ten days and a ’big trick’ every six months.
• Before long he had 40 different inventions going at the same time and was applying for as many as 400 patents a year.
• The following year, Edison moved to New Jersey in order to build the Edison Laboratory (now a national monument) which was 10 times bigger than his first laboratory.
• In time it was surrounded by factories employing 5,000 people and producing many new products.
• Edison died on 18 October, 1931 having had a remarkably productive life.

Below are the sentences from the text in jumbled order.

Thomas Edison 1847-1931

• He planned to turn out minor inventions every ten days and a ’big trick’ every six months.
• In 1869, he borrowed a small amount of money and became a freelance inventor.
• In 1876 he built a new laboratory so that he could spend all his time inventing.
• He was born in Milan, Ohio and he was always an inquisitive boy.
• They later commissioned him to improve the Wall Street stock ticker that was just coming into use. He did so and produced the Edison Universal Stock Printer, which immediately brought him a fortune of $40,000.
• By the time he was 10 he had set up a small chemical laboratory in his house after his mother had shown him a science book.
• The following year, Edison moved to New Jersey in order to build the Edison Laboratory (now a national monument) which was 10 times bigger than his first laboratory.
• Thomas Edison was born on 11 February 1847. He was one of the outstanding geniuses of technology and he obtained patents for more than one thousand inventions including the electric light bulb, the record player and an early type of film projector.
• In the same summer, there was a crisis in Wall Street when the new telegraphic gold-price indicator broke down.
• Edison died on 18 October 1931 having had a remarkably productive life.
• Before long he had 40 different inventions going at the same time and was applying for as many as 400 patents a year.
• In time it was surrounded by factories employing 5,000 people and producing many new products.
• With this money, he set up as a manufacturer in order to produce electrical machines.
• He also created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.
• He soon became fascinated with electrical currents and it remained the main interest of his life.
• Edison was called in to repair it and he did it so well that he was given a job as supervisor with the Western Union Telegraph Company.

Gap-filling exercise on ’Thomas Edison’

Students can be asked to complete the passage by filling in the blanks with one or more appropriate words, not necessarily identical to the words used in the original passage.

Where a student chooses an unexpected word, this can be used as an opportunity to discuss the appropriateness in terms of grammar, meaning or common usage and collocation.

Some typical appropriate and inappropriate responses are given below in [square brackets].

Thomas Edison [was born] on 11 February 1847. He was one of the outstanding geniuses of technology and he obtained [patents/ protection/ copyright] for more than one thousand [inventions/ ideas/ techniques/ methods/ inovations] including the electric light bulb, the record player and an early type of film projector. He also created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.

He was born in Milan, Ohio and he was always an inquisitive boy. By the time he was 10 he had set up a small chemical [laboratory/ lab] in his house after his mother had shown him a science book. He soon became fascinated with [electric/ electrical/ electromagnetic] currents and it remained the main interest of his life.

In 1869, he borrowed a small amount of [money/ finance/ capital/ investment] and became a freelance [inventor/ engineer]. In the summer of 1869, there was a [crisis/ disaster/ emergency] in Wall Street when the new telegraphic gold-price indicator broke down. Edison was called in to repair it and he did it so well that he was given a job as [supervisor/ engineer/ maintenance man/ caretaker] with the Western Union Telegraph Company. They later commissioned him to improve the Wall Street stock ticker that was just coming into use. He did so and produced the Edison Universal Stock Printer, which immediately brought him a fortune of $40,000. With this money, he set up as a manufacturer ……… electrical machines.

In 1876 he built a new laboratory ……… he could spend all his time inventing. He planned to turn out minor ……… every ten days and a ’big trick’ every six months. Before long he had 40 different inventions going at the same time and was applying for as many as 400 ……… a year.

In 1887 Edison moved to New Jersey ……… build the Edison Laboratory (now a national monument) which was 10 times bigger than his first laboratory. In time it was surrounded by ……… employing 5,000 people and producing many new products.

Edison died on 18 October 1931 having had a remarkably ……… life.

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the article in the Student Centre ‘A river ran through it’ Part 1. (See also Part 2.)

Activity 2 – Listening

1. Tell the class that you are going to play a short passage on climate change. Play a recording of the first 5 paragraphs. General listening first.

2. Ask them to listen a second time and to note down answers to these questions with a word or phrase:

• Which river is being described? (River Murray)
• Where is it? (Australia)
• What is happening to it? (It is drying up.)
• Do the farmers agree that climate change is happening? (No.)
• What other country is being affected by these problems in Australia? (The UK.)
• Who is Professor Tim Flannery? (He is an Australian environmental scientist and an international leader on climate change.)
• What are drinking in swimming pools? (distressed koalas)

4. Play the tape again and ask them to listen for a word or words that mean the same as:

• dying – choking to death
• doubtful / unwilling to believe – sceptical
• rubbish / nonsense – hogwash
• fearfully – nervously
• bringer of bad news – harbinger
• labelled – dubbed
• a very small flow of water – trickle
• an area where water is stored – reservoir

5. Ask them questions. Replay the tape (or parts of it) as necessary.

• What has happened to the Murray River? (It is drying up because of drought.)
• What are two immediate results of the drought? (water rationing / suicides)
• What important question is being asked? (Is this a localised problem or the first sign of world-wide water problems.)
• What are scientists worried about? (Problems like the ones in Australia happening in other areas of the world.)
• What does Tim Flannery believe is going to happen in the future? (He believes that there will be similar problems over water all over the world.)
• What is every city facing in Australia? (water shortages)
• What’s happened to Old Adaminaby? (It has reappeared after being abandoned and then flooded by the water of a reservoir years ago. The reservoir is now drying up.)

6. Hand out the tape script for the first 5 paragraphs. Tell the students to read it silently to themselves.

• What dramatic (journalistic?) language is used by the writer in Para 1? (legendary river / thundered through / choking to death / worst drought in a thousand years (how does the writer know?) / Earth is running out of water.)
• How would you describe Australian farmers in your own words? (conservative / sceptical / resilient )
• What does the farmers are on the frontline mean? (They are the people most exposed to difficulties and dangers caused by the drought.)
• Where can we find climate canaries? What does this expression mean? (In this passage they are described as living in Kenya. A hundred years ago canaries were taken down into mines to check on the quality of the air. If the air became unhealthy the canaries became unwell or died and so that would be the time for the men to get out. Today, some groups in Kenya, and the farmers in Australia too perhaps, are like the canaries as people are watching to see what happens to them.)

Scanning activities

Scan the text and find the significance of these figures and expressions:

• £4.5bn – The amount allocated by the PM of Australia, John Howard, in an attempt to revive the Murray-Darling basin.
• 41% – The percentage of Australia’s food produced in this region.
• £9bn – The value in terms of exports produced in this area.
• 3 million people – The number of people living in this area.
• March, 2006 – Professor Flannery’s The Weather Makers was published in the UK.
• 1% – Computer models relating to climate suggest that every degree Celsius of warming leads to a 1% increase in rainfall globally.
• drop by 40% by 2070 – The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has forecast that on the east coast, rainfall could drop by 40% by 2070,10-25% by 2050 – the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated that ‘the annual flow in the Murray-Darling basin is likely to fall by 10-25% by 2050’, resulting in a decline in production from agriculture and forestry.

D Key words

• legendary
• devastated
• resilience
• sceptical
• unprecedented
• verge
• overhaul
• havoc
• freak
• fragile
• cyclical
• unequivocal
• prolonged

Use the words above to complete these sentences.

• The ancient vase was very fragile and we were afraid that it would break.
• The small town was devastated by the violent storm and took years to recover.
• The floods caused havoc in the region and thousands of houses were destroyed.
• The cyclical nature of the weather meant that the heavy rain fell every second year.
• Despite all the problems the family faced they were able to overcome them because of their resilience.
• He was unequivocal in his view of what was best for the country and he asserted his views strongly at every meeting.
• When he saw the legendary folksinger in his town, he could hardly believe his eyes.
• I was very sceptical about what he said and didn’t altogether believe him.
• The long and painful operation prolonged his life, but not for many months.
• We had never seen anything like it; his actions were unprecedented.
• They had to overhaul the machinery completely before the start of the new year to make sure that it worked properly.
• The team was on the verge of making many new discoveries when their funding was cut and they were forced to stop.
• The weather was unlike anything we had seen before and the freak storms that came that year destroyed many trees in our orchard.

E Read the text. Answer these questions

• Why is the Murray-Darling basin so important? (food production / exports / water for towns and cities / population)
• What the two main effects of climate change in Australia? (freak flooding and drought)
• What was the major difference the writer found between 2002 and 2007 on visits to Australia? (The belief by most people in 2007 that climate change was the root cause of the problem.)
• How is this crisis affecting politics? (The environment has become and central issue in politics.)
• What immediate steps has the government taken to alleviate the problems? (Building desalination plants / stopping the use of light bulbs that consume more power)
• Do you think that Flannery is angry? What evidence is there? In Para. 12 it says that he believes that Australia has great potential for solar power and other forms of environmentally friendly renewable power, but that these resources are not being fully exploited.

F Discussion questions

• What do you know about El Nino (El Niño)?
• What do you know about the Stern Report?

F Exploration of language 1

There are a number of examples of metaphor in the text; for example, the lifeblood of Australia’s farming country. How many others can you find?

Examples of metaphor include:

• choking to death
• warning bells are ringing
• sparking water rationing
• Murray-Darling basin
• hogwash
• frontline
• fragile … landscape
• loud wake-up call
• squeeze every drop

F Exploration of language 2

Explain the meaning of the following:

• Para. 2: … pride themselves on their resilience. They are proud of their ability to overcome adversity.
• Para. 7: … like an aluminium dinghy. The boat was tossed around by the sea as if it was something small and lightweight.
• Para. 7: We are learning about this 1% effect as we go. We are learning by experience.
• Para. 12: While everyone is on rations … While everyone has their current water supply rationed to protect the available resources, people need to be protecting the water resources and planning for the future.

A Pre-listening/reading activities

Assuming that global warming is happening, how do you believe it could affect you in the next 20 years? Work in pairs and then report on what you have discussed.

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the newspaper article in the Student Centre ‘A river ran through it’ Part 2. (See also Part 1.

B Listening activities

1. Tell the class that you are going to continue the passage on climate change.

2. Play a recording of the first 5 paragraphs. Ask them to listen out for this information.

• What used to be seen on the Murray River? (paddle wheels boats)
• What’s a gigalitre? (One gigalitre is 1,000,000,000 litres)
• What do Louise and Andrew Burge not believe? (That climate change is the cause of the drought.)
• What two groups are in conflict? (environmentalists and farmers)
• What has happened to farmer debt? (it has doubled)

3. Play the tape again and ask the students to listen out for words that mean the same as:

• changed completely – transformed
• fell very dramatically – plummeted
• reject – refute
• uncontrolled – rampant
• very serious – acute
• strangely and worryingly – eerily

4. What evidence has the Burge family got against climate change? (Photos from the past)

5. Why is Wayne Cockayne unhappy? (His town is dying. Young people are no longer going in to farming.)

Reading activities

1. Give out the text. Tell the students to scan the text to find references to the following:

• 300 gigalitres – The amount of water coming into the Murray-Darling catchment areas in June 2007.
• UN report – According to a UN report, per capita, Australia’s emissions of greenhouse gases are among the highest in the world.
• rampant land-clearers / passionate conservationists – The farmers are sometimes seen a the people clearing and therefore destroying the land while in fact they are often strong conservationists looking after the land.
• depression – Something experienced by many farmers recently.
• 120 farmers – The number being looked after carefully (actively) by the doctor.
• every four days – One farmer commits suicide every four days.
• 1870 – The time when Neil Eagles family started farming in that area.
• 400 years old – The age of some of the river red gum trees in Kingston-on-Murray, an area once described as a ‘garden of Eden’.
• Banrock Station – An area famous for wine production and one also trying to protect the environment.
• 48 countries – The World Bank estimates that by 2025, about 48 countries will experience water shortages, affecting more than 1.4bn people, the majority in under-developed regions.
• a billion litres – Lost production in milk in 2006.

2. Tell the students to read the text. What examples of metaphor can the students find in those paragraphs? If they do not spot them all, point them out and discuss the meaning.

They include:

• outskirts
• a herd mentality
• As the drought bites
• This town’s gone backward
• high-profile landowners
• back-to-back appointments
• a handful of appointments
• the last straw
• hangs in the balance
• blistering summer

3. Does Dr Von Rensburg have enough support? No. He could use a permanent psychologist working with him all the time.

4. What does Neil Eagle mean when he says ‘It’s become nearly a religion, this idea of global warming’ (para. 9). People have started to believe in this idea without questioning it, just like many people do with religion.

5. When it comes to sorting out climate problems over water, what advantage does Australia have over some other areas of the world? It is one country with one language and there are no international issues to face. When a river flows through many countries, the issues are far more complex and difficult to resolve.

D Exploration of language 1

Look at this sentence from the text: A national mental health report stated that one farmer commits suicide in Australia every four days.

Notice the use of both the Past Simple and the Simple Present in this sentence.

Here is another example: The government stated that a man dies of lung cancer every 30 minutes.Now make up sentences of your own using this combination of sentences.

E Exploration of language 1

What is meant by a wry smile (para. 9)? In what other ways can you describe a smile? Divide them into two groups: honest smiles and others.

A wry smile is one with a mixture of amusement and irony involving, for example, both good and bad news. For example, where the farmer works hard to build an excellent reservoir and then no rain falls. He might give a wry smile. It is ironic that he has worked so hard on the reservoir but then there is nothing to fill it.

Examples of different smiles could include:

Honest

• open smile
• friendly smile
• pleasant smile
• cheerful smile
• happy smile
• sunny smile
• cheery smile
• delighted smile
• enchanting smile

Others

• wry smile
• ironic smile
• twisted smile
• smug smile
• sarcastic smile / laugh
• evil smile
• bitter smile
• sulky smile
• cynical smile

These lesson planning notes for teachers are for use with the text of the article ‘Gun law in Texas’.

Activity 1

Before reading the article itself, it is good to have some introductory verbal discussion with the students to introduce the topic and to encourage them to relate the topic to their own countries or other familiar contexts.

Activity 2

Students are asked to scan the text and find the significance of various words and figures.

• Castle doctrine – This is the name given to the proposed new gun law in Texas.
• 30-years plus – Professor Jerry Dowling of Houston State University has lived in Texas this long.
• 911 – This is the emergency number in the US.
• 27 of 31This is the number of state senators supporting the bill.
• NRA – This is the National Rifle Association. They are always pushing against any laws on gun control.
• Texas liberals – They are small in number, but noisy.
• Zach Ragbourn – He is the chairperson of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Activity 3

Students may need help with the use, meaning and pronunciation of certain words as used in the passage.

Activity 4

Students are asked to complete the sentences using words from a list:

1. A civil suit is a non-criminal charge brought by one person against another.
2. In terms of law, an action is legitimate if the person taking that action is doing so within the law and in good faith, believing that (s)he is doing the right thing.
3. A person who is an aficionado is someone who is very knowledgeable about a particular subject, a sport, a specific musical interest, food, drink and so on. They may not be professionally trained in this area but they will be well informed.
4. Advocates are people who push hard for a particular course of action or law in life, politics, religion, law and so on.
5. If you are astounded about something, you are very, very surprised.
6. You will often find that writers find their inspiration from their own lives and from the lives of people around them.
7. If we say that something is theoretically possible, we mean that it can happen but it may never have been seen to happen. It may be possible for all the snow at both poles to melt but it has never yet happened.
8. If someone has immunity it means that they cannot be punished or that they are protected in some way or other by the law. Someone could also have immunity from an illness or disease.
9. If a group seeks to make their beliefs the foundation of a law or of several laws, then we saw that they want to enshrine their beliefs in law.
10. A lobby is a group who seek to influence government policy. Some of them spend many millions of dollars every year trying to influence government policy. As some of them are businesses, many people believe this is wrong.

Activity 5 – Students read the passage silently.

Activity 6 – Students answer the questions

1. Who wants to change the gun laws in Texas?
   Republican legislators want to change the law.
2. What is meant by the Castle Doctrine?
   This is the right to shoot people who come in to your house to steal things or to hurt you.
3. Have you heard of the Alamo? What do you know about it?
   In 1836, there was a battle at the Alamo between forces seeking to keep Texas part of Mexico and forces wishing Mexico to be independent. The large Mexican army was successful in the battle. However, the small army of defeated soldiers (who were all killed) gained a reputation for courage.
4. What does Texas law currently require people to do when someone breaks into their house?
   They should retreat.
5. Have people in Texas been punished for shooting people who intrude into their houses?
   No.
6. What warning signs do some people put up outside houses/businesses?
   People have signs saying We don’t call 911 with a rifle underneath. This means that the owners will shoot.
7. What organisation has been pushing for changes in the gun laws?
   NRA
8. Who are having second thoughts and why?
   Florida is having second thoughts after the death of an innocent girl.
9. What do liberals in Texas feel about this law?
   They are against it.
10. Give two reasons why some people are against this change to the law?
    Advocates of gun-control are worried the new law will do nothing to protect genuine victims of crime. It could lead to gun fights and the death of innocent people.

Activity 7

Students are asked to explain the meaning of certain words and expressions. This can be done orally or in writing, and individually, in small groups or as a whole-class activity.

• spiritual home – The place where these views first developed.
• frontier spirit – This is said to be the spirit of people in the early days of opening up America. There were few laws and people looked after themselves.
• co-sponsors – The two people or organisations sponsoring a law or some other change.
• merciless fun – This means using humour without mercy to attack this new law. Since the capitol would also be covered by this new law, they said that lobbyists might get shot when they tried to get in.
• overwhelming support – The great majority of Texas legislators support this proposed new law.
• an innocent bystander – Someone who is innocent but who accidentally gets involved in shooting or other violence and is hurt or killed.
• alternative publication – A publication which is not amongst the widely-read papers or magazines in an area. Such a publication is often critical of the local or central government.

Activity 8

Similarly, these longer sentences or expressions can be focused on to make sure students understand and can use them correctly.

• Anyone invading your home or threatening your safety deserves everything they have coming to them – This would be said by a supporter of the new law and means that if a burglar is shot he deserved it.
• You’ve got to assume a criminal’s not there to buy girl-scout cookies. This would also be said by a supporter of the law. He is being sarcastic and saying that a burglar would not be coming into your house to do something nice.
• Monkeying with the law – Messing around with the law; changing it without thought and care.

Activity 9

The students are asked to match up some sentence stems and endings that were used in this passage:

Link items in the boxes appropriately.

You’ve got to assume that people are honest on the whole.

You’ve got to assume that the world is not going to end tomorrow.

You should be able to reach the coast before dark.

You should be able to pass the Advanced Level exam before next year.

I’d be astounded to hear of a company like Microsoft collapsing.

I’d be astounded to hear of someone swimming 100m in less than 9 seconds.

Activity 10

Students make up sentences that correctly use the expressions given. They should be encouraged to construct sentences in a variety of contexts, not related to the article itself.

Activity 11 – Role-play

You could put the students into groups of four. Each student is given a role-play card. Tell the students to study the cards carefully and then argue your case for or against changing the gun laws in America as a whole.

Your profile:conservativeyou have a shopa gun ownera Bush supportera supporter of the new law	Your profile:a Quakeragainst violenceagainst gunsagainst the new law
Your profile:a Texan liberalagainst the new lawbut believe people should be able to own gunswant more gun control	Your profile:a British teacher working locallyyou are against gunsyou are for gun controlyour husband/wife was shot and injured in a shooting at your home last year