Thursday January 27, 2005
Intermediate +

THE ARTICLE

VOA: At least 36 U.S. troops died in Iraq Wednesday, making it the deadliest day since the invasion nearly two years ago.  Of the 36, 31 of the dead are U.S. Marines, who died in a helicopter crash in western Iraq. The Marine Corps says the transport helicopter was involved in what it calls "security and stabilization operations" about 150 kilometers from the Jordanian border.  The Marines will not comment on the possible cause of the crash, but there was reported to be bad weather in the area, and there are no indications that anyone fired on the helicopter. An investigation is in progress.

At a news conference at the White House, President Bush commented on Wednesday's deaths.
President Bush
"The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people.  I understand that.  We value life.  And we weep and mourn when soldiers lose their life," said Mr. Bush. But the president said the United States will continue with its mission to establish security and democracy in Iraq. "That mission is to enable Iraq to defend herself from terrorists, home grown or terrorists that come in from outside of the country," he added. The president said enough U.S. troops will remain in Iraq long enough to do the job, and at the same time training will increase for Iraq's new security forces.

Lesson & plan in Word.doc     Example Class Handout in .pdf

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about Iraq / being a soldier / fighting for your country / President George W. Bush / security and democracy in Iraq / Iraq's new security forces / …
To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. US MARINES BRAINSTORM: Ask students to tell you any words they associate with the US Marines. Put these words on the board and leave as a springboard for student conversation / chat.

3. MY COUNTRY: Talk about the armed forces and the special forces in your country with your partner / group. Have you or any of your family members served in the military? Is there compulsory military service in the your country?

4. OPINIONS: Discuss the following opinions with your partner / group. Find out which are the most commonly held opinions:
(a)  American soldiers are putting their lives on the line for their beliefs in freedom. Too many people around the world unfairly criticize the soldiers.
(b)  George W. Bush has shown honor in keeping his promise to the Iraqi people of bringing security and democracy to them.
(c)  There will never be security in Iraq as long as coalition forces are on the ground.
(d)  The US military should provide information more quickly in tragic events such as this.
(e)  Iraqi prosperity and liberty will encourage change in other regimes around the world.
(f)  The War on Terror cannot be won Mr. Bush’s way.
(g)  The democratic Iraqi elections on Sunday (Jan 30^th) will be prove the operation in Iraq was worthwhile.
(h)  The USA should never have become militarily involved in Iraq.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘deadly’, and ‘day’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Students look at the headline and predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:
(a)  The invasion of Iraq was nearly three years ago.  T / F
(b)  36 U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash.  T / F
(c)  The Marines will not comment on the possible cause of the crash.  T / F
(d)  There was reported to be bad weather in the area.  T / F
(e)  An investigation will not be held into the cause of the tragedy.  T / F
(f)  The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people.  T / F
(g)  Mr. Bush said the United States may now end its mission to establish security and democracy in Iraq. T / F
(h)  Mr. Bush has doubled the number of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Students match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	at least	signs
(b)	troops	upsetting
(c)	invasion	lament
(d)	border	soldiers
(e)	indications	domestic
(f)	in progress	a bare minimum of
(g)	discouraging	under way
(h)	weep	grieve
(i)	mourn	attack
(j)	home grown	frontier

 

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	making it	defend herself
(b)	helicopter	the deadliest day
(c)	about 150 kilometers from the Jordanian	is in progress
(d)	possible cause	to do the job
(e)	An investigation	lose their life
(f)	news	the same time
(g)	we mourn when soldiers	border
(h)	enable Iraq to	conference
(i)	long enough	crash
(j)	and at	of the crash

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Deadliest Day for US Troops in Iraq

VOA: At __________ 36 U.S. troops died in Iraq Wednesday, making it the deadliest day __________ the invasion nearly two years ago.  Of the 36, 31 of the __________ are U.S. Marines, who died in a helicopter crash in western Iraq. The Marine Corps says the transport helicopter was involved in what it __________ "security and stabilization operations" about 150 kilometers from the Jordanian border.  The Marines will not comment on the possible __________ of the crash, but there was reported to be bad weather in the area, and there are no indications thatanyone fired on the helicopter. An investigation is in __________.		dead cause least progress calls since
At a news conference at the White House, President Bush commented on Wednesday's deaths. President Bush "The __________ today is going to be very discouraging to the American people.  I understand that.  We value life.  And we weep and mourn when soldiers __________ their life," said Mr. Bush. But the president said the United States will continue with its mission to __________ security and democracy in Iraq. "That mission is to enable Iraq to defend herself from terrorists, __________ grown or terrorists that come in from outside of the country," he added. The president said enough U.S. troops will __________ in Iraq long enough to do the job, and at the same time training will __________ for Iraq's new security forces.		home lose increase establish remain story

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS:  Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

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

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

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

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘DEADLY’/ ‘DAY’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:  Students ask each other the following questions:
(a)  What is your reaction to this tragedy?
(b)  Do you think you have become desensitized to hearing of large numbers of people dying?
(c)  Would you let you son or daughter fight in a war in a far away country?
(d)  What is your image of the US Marines?
(e)  What do you think everyday life is like for a soldier in Iraq?
(f)  Have you ever been in or considered joining the army?
(g)  What would the world be like without armies?
(h)  Is George W,. Bush doing a good job in Iraq?
(i)  When do you think US forces will leave Iraq forever?
(j)  When do you think the war on terror will end?
(k)  Do you think America is planning to invade Iran?
(l)  Teacher / Student additional questions

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. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the US Marines. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. IRAQ WAR POSTER: Create a poster with a timeline about the war in Iraq.

4. LETTER TO MARINE: Write a letter to a US Marine telling him about your thoughts on his job, mission and future.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

(a)  The invasion of Iraq was nearly three years ago.  F
(b)  36 U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash.  T
(c)  The Marines will not comment on the possible cause of the crash.  F
(d)  There was reported to be bad weather in the area.  T
(e)  An investigation will not be held into the cause of the tragedy.  F
(f)  The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people.  T
(g)  Mr. Bush said the United States may now end its mission to establish security and democracy in Iraq. F
(h)  Mr. Bush has doubled the number of U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. F

DEFINITIONS:

(a) troops (n)
(ii) a group of soldiers

(b) invasion (n)
(ii) the act of entering another country with an armed force to conquer or take it over

(c) involved (adj)
(ii) to be or play an active part in some event, action, committee etc

(d) stabilization (n)
(i) to make calm and peaceful

(e) border (n)
(ii) the line or area separating geographic regions such as cities, states or countries

(f) indications (n)
(i) signs that something has happened or will happen

(g) fired (v)
(i) the launch of a bullet, missile, rocket etc

(h) weep (v)
(i) to express grief or anguish for

(i) mourn (v)
(ii) to feel or express grief or sorrow

(j) forces (n)
(ii) A unit of a nation's military, especially one sent to fight, or in combat

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	at least	a bare minimum of
(b)	troops	soldiers
(c)	invasion	attack
(d)	border	frontier
(e)	indications	signs
(f)	in progress	under way
(g)	discouraging	upsetting
(h)	weep	lament
(i)	mourn	grieve
(j)	home grown	domestic

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	making it	the deadliest day
(b)	helicopter	crash
(c)	about 150 kilometers from the Jordanian	border
(d)	possible cause	of the crash
(e)	An investigation	is in progress
(f)	news	conference
(g)	we mourn when soldiers	lose their life
(h)	enable Iraq to	defend herself
(i)	long enough	to do the job
(j)	and at	the same time

 

GAP FILL:

Deadliest Day for US Troops in Iraq