Friday November 5, 2004
Pre-Intermediate +

WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk about stereos / records / CDs & MDs / Walkmans / MP3 players.

2. HERE’S MINE:  Have students show each other their music players and explain its history, use, personal anecdotes. Could have a walkaround show and tell.

3. MUSIC HISTORY:  Studnts tell each other their music-buying (downloading!?) histories, from the first single/album they got, changes in taste, and current listening.

4. 1-MINUTE DEBATES:  Students face each other in rows. Assign rows A and B different standpoints to argue for and against. Change partners and arguments every one or two minutes (when noise dies down): (i) Radio is better than purchased music,  (ii) Albums are better than CDs,  (iii) Downloading music without paying is OK, (iv) My country’s pop music is better than American pop music, (iv) Rap isn’t real music, (v) Boy (and Girl) bands are terrible.

5. MY MUSIC HEAVEN:  In pairs students tell each other about their ideal music set up in their room / house.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. DEFINITIONS:  In pairs students match the vocabulary from the text to the definitions.

2. ABBREVIATIONS:  Have a quick quiz of technological abbreviations:

	GB	gigabyte
	MB	megabyte
	Kbps	Kilobytes per second
	CD	Compact disc
	MD	Mini-disc
	DVD	Digital video disc
	MP3	Media player 3
	Mbps	Megabytes per second
	Ghz	gigahertz

3. MUSICAL HABITS:  Students ask / tell each other about their music-listening habits. On board write prompts to encourage more interaction: Time of day / Where / What / Device / Who with / other …

4. APPLE:  If students are technology-savvy, brainstorm words they associate with Apple (design, style, products etc). Teacher may learn here!

5. MATCHING: Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right, then check your answers in the reading.

	wowed	small, useful machine
	cool	was introduced
	came along	very trendy and stylish
	device	made everyone very surprised

Three years ago the Apple computer company wowed the world with its first digital music player, the iPod. This amazingly cool and beautiful little white machine could store up to 5,000 songs on its 20GB hard drive. Little has changed – the shape and colour is the same, and it is still the world’s best-selling MP3 player. A 40GB version was introduced, which could hold 10,000 songs and was still smaller than a cassette tape. Recently the 4GB 1000-song iPod Mini came along – a thinner, more colourful, cheaper and cuter device.

	delivers	many many many
	brand new	starts selling
	closet-full	very latest
	price tag	a label which says how much something costs

Apple will now wow music and photo lovers when it delivers its brand new 60GB iPod Photo. Just two millimeters thicker than the 40GB model, this newest iPod can hold 15,000 songs and/or 25,000 colour photos. This is a real challenge for anyone with 1,500 CDs and a closet-full of photo albums – carry all of your music and pictures in your top pocket. It is set for release next month (production hasn’t finished yet) with a $499-price tag.

	identical	extra
	further	favourite
	snaps	the same
	fave	photographs

The 2-inch color screen is identical in size to other iPods, but will be more advanced for better quality photo viewing. A further selling point for this device is a video-out port, which allows users to plug it into any television and show their friends their holiday snaps on the big screen, of course with music specially selected from the iPod. Again, Apple has produced a product its rivals can only dream about. What to expect next? How about an iPod movie player – carry your fave 100 movies in your pocket and watch them on the train..

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. DEFINITIONS:  Check to see if the words matched in the matching exercise makes sense.

2. NUMBERS:  Students have to find what the following numbers refer to:

40     1,000     two     499     2     100     25,000
Introduce the language “X is the number/size/price/capacity of …”

3. COOL / NOT SO COOL:  As you read circle anything you think is cool, and underline anything you think is not so cool.

4. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

5. QUESTIONS:  Make notes for questions (opinions or factual) you want to ask the class about the information in the article.

6. I WANT:  As students read, they circle anything that makes them want to buy an iPod.

POST READING IDEAS

1. NUMBERS:  Students write down any numbers they can think of regarding their music systems. Exchange that information with their partner / group members.

2. COOL / NOT SO COOL:  Pairs of students talk about the things they found to be cool or otherwise, and why (not).

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, cover the vocabulary students circled above.

4. QUESTIONS: Students ask the class the questions they made about the information in the article.

5. WHATEVER NEXT?: In pairs/groups students discuss what devices we’ll be using to listen to music in the future. Change partners and share ideas. Have a class vote on the best / most probable idea.

6. THIS IS NEXT: Introduce the following ‘latest products’ on the board. Students rank which is the most useful.
A watch that can store 10,000 songs and has a built-in headphone
A watch that can play movies on its digital screen.

Glasses that can take a photograph of whatever your eyes can see.

Glasses that have a built-in videophone capability – you can talk to and hear anyone you call.

A wireless device that allows you to download any song from the internet from anywhere in the world.
A device that recognizes your voice and you tell it which song to play.

A device that read your emotions and automatically plays the perfect song to suit your mood.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. WEB LINK: To see the full range of iPod products, visit http://www.apple.com/itunes/

3. ADVERT: Create an advertisment for any musical (or other) product you own.

4. DESIGNER: Design the music player of the future and explain all of its features.

FULL TEXT

iPod Photo

Three years ago the Apple computer company wowed the world with its first digital music player, the iPod. This amazingly cool and beautiful little white machine could store up to 5,000 songs on its 20GB hard drive. Little has changed – the shape and colour is the same, and it is still the world’s best-selling MP3 player. A 40GB version was introduced, which could hold 10,000 songs and was still smaller than a cassette tape. Recently the 4GB 1000-song iPod Mini came along – a thinner, more colourful, cheaper and cuter device.
Apple will now wow music and photo lovers when it delivers its brand new 60GB iPod Photo. Just two millimeters thicker than the 40GB model, this newest iPod can hold 15,000 songs and/or 25,000 colour photos. This is a real challenge for anyone with 1,500 CDs and a closet-full of photo albums – carry all of your music and pictures in your top pocket. It is set for release next month (production hasn’t finished yet) with a $499-price tag.
The 2-inch color screen is identical in size to other iPods, but will be more advanced for better quality photo viewing. A further selling point for this device is a video-out port, which allows users to plug it into any television and show their friends their holiday snaps on the big screen, of course with music specially selected from the iPod. Again, Apple has produced a product its rivals can only dream about. What to expect next? How about an iPod movie player – carry your fave 100 movies in your pocket and watch them on the train.