Monday November 1, 2004
Intermediate +

WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. GAP FILL: Individual or pairwork? Set a time limit of five minutes to read and fill in the gaps. Compare answers in pairs after. Teacher to monitor and help / receive questions after exercise.

2. WHERE’S OSAMA? In pairs / groups, speculate where Osama Bin Laden is, and how he has so far evaded capture. Change partners/groups regularly to exchange views and/or cast doubts.

3. GOOD FOR WHO? In pairs write down 3-5 reasons why the tape is good for Bush’s or Kerry’s campign. Change partners / groups and sound out your opinions with new partners. Brief (?) post-exercise feedback to report to class conclusions.

4. VOCAB INTRO: Pre-teach two / three lexical items (on the run, set the cat amongst the pigeons and public enemy number one). Have mini-discussions about these items in relation to Bin Laden and the Presidential race (introduce the term ‘Presidential race’ or ‘the race for the White House’).

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. WHY?:  As you read write down 3 or 4 ‘Why?’ questions that you would like answered.

2. ELECTION EFFECT: Make notes on the effect the message will have on tomorrow’s election.

3. COLLOCATION: Students circle any words they do not understand. Make another circle around a possible word partner either to the left or right of the unknown word.

4. BUSH or KERRY?: Make notes on who the message will benefit most and why.

5. GAP FILL:

Bin Laden’s Election Message?

Video message
Osama has contacted the world by video for his first ________ in two years – just 4 days before the American presidential election. What kind of message he wants to send the candidates or the world is ________. Perhaps to remind George W. Bush that he is still alive and well despite being on the run for 3 years – he looked very healthy and __________ on the tape. More ________ perhaps, is that America’s work is not finished and he is still a potent threat to world security. It is a difficult message from which to draw ________.		confident ominously conclusions unclear address
Election impact
Coming so soon before the election, Bin Laden’s message has really set the ________ amongst the pigeons. It has potential political benefit for both George Bush and John Kerry. It could ________ support for the Republicans, who will ________ it as definite proof that the ‘War on Terror’ is far from over. This may sway undecided voters who may want Bush to continue his tough ________ on protecting America’s security. Conversely, the Democrat campaign could use the tape to show how Bush has so far failed in catching their public enemy number one, and that it is time for new ________.		bolster leadership cat stance cite

POST READING IDEAS

1. WHY? Put students in pairs / groups and have them ask the questions they wrote down in #1 above. Student asking the question must offer feedback on the replies he/she receives.

2. DISCUSSION: Group / Class discussion on the impact of the message on tomorrow’s election (from #2 above).

3. COLLOCATION WORK: Pair / group / classwork on the vocabulary/collocation activity from above.

4. BUSH vs. KERRY: Put students in either Bush or Kerry role. They argue their case why they are best at capturing Bin Laden or winning the War on Terror. (Put Bush-students together and Kerry-students together beforehand to brainstorm ideas before arguing). Post argument – plenary account of what was said, and opinions on tomorrow’s election.

5. HOTTER WARMERS: Extend any of the above warm-ups into more comprehensive fluency activities.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose 5 of the words from the right column of the gap-fill exercise. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on George W. Bush. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Osama bin Laden. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

4. LETTER TO GEORGE W. Write a letter to George W. Bush telling him how you feel about the War on Terror.

ANSWER

Video message

BNE: Osama has contacted the world by video for his first address in two years – just 4 days before the American presidential election. What kind of message he wants to send the candidates or the world is unclear. Perhaps to remind George W. Bush that he is still alive and well despite being on the run for 3 years – he looked very healthy and confident on the tape. More ominous perhaps, is that America’s work is not finished and he is still a potent threat to world security. It is a difficult message from which to draw conclusions.

Election impact

Coming so soon before the election, Bin Laden’s message has really set the cat amongst the pigeons. It has potential political benefit for both George Bush and John Kerry.It could bolster support for the Republicans, who will cite it as definite proof that the ‘War on Terror’ is far from over. This may sway undecided voters who may want Bush to continue his tough stance on protecting America’s security. Conversely, the Democrat campaign could use the tape to show how Bush has so far failed in catching their public enemy number one, and that it is time for new leadership.