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Related materials from ESL Discussions.com on Georgia and Russia. THE ARTICLEGeorgia calls for ceasefire in South OssetiaGeorgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has called for a ceasefire in the conflict with Russia. The two nations started hostilities over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into South Ossetia on Friday to protect Russian citizens living there. Georgia responded by sending troops and fighter planes to the area. The fighting left over 1,500 dead on both sides. Mr. Saakashvili also proposed that Russian and Georgian troops step back from the region to allow breathing space and avoid a full-blown war. He said Georgian soldiers would withdraw from South Ossetia’s capital Tshkinvali and would stop shelling Russian forces. Media reports are that Russia is already in control of Tshkinvali.
The wider world is worried the conflict might erupt into a dangerous war between the two sides. Georgia is a staunch ally of America and wants to join NATO, something Russia does not want to happen. Many analysts in the West say that Russia may be planning to march to Georgia’s capital Tblisi and overthrow Saakashvili. The Kremlin views Georgia’s leader as a puppet of the West. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt its attacks and withdraw from Georgian territory. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he sent his troops into South Ossetia on a peacekeeping mission and wants a ceasefire. Heated arguments took place at the UN Security Council on Friday night as members tried to avoid war.
WARM-UPS1. WAR: Walk around the class and talk to other students about war. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. HOSTILITIES: Why do countries go to war? Look at the possible reasons below. Write your solutions to how to stop countries fighting because of these. Change partners and share your ideas. Can you think of any real-life examples?
4. QUICK DEBATE: Students A strongly believe there will be a long war between Georgia and Russia; Students B strongly believe everything will be back to normal very soon. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations. 5. CONFLICT: Discuss with your partner(s) the best way to resolve these conflicts.
6. NATO: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with NATO. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has ______________ ceasefire in the conflict with Russia. ______________ started hostilities over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia sent hundreds of tanks ______________ South Ossetia on Friday to protect Russian citizens living there. Georgia responded by sending troops and fighter planes ______________. The fighting left over 1,500 dead on both sides. Mr. Saakashvili also proposed that Russian and Georgian troops ______________ the region to allow breathing ______________ a full-blown war. He said Georgian soldiers __________________ South Ossetia’s capital Tshkinvali and would stop shelling Russian forces. Media reports are that Russia is already ______________ Tshkinvali. The wider world is worried ______________ might erupt into a dangerous war between the two sides. Georgia is ______________ of America and wants to join NATO, something Russia does not want to happen. Many analysts in the West say that Russia may be planning ______________ Georgia’s capital Tblisi and overthrow Saakashvili. The Kremlin views Georgia’s leader ________________ the West. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia ______________ attacks and withdraw from Georgian territory. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ______________ troops into South Ossetia on a peacekeeping mission and wants a ceasefire. Heated arguments ______________ the UN Security Council on Friday night as members tried ______________. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘cease’ and ‘fire’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…? 4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings. 5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:
STUDENT WAR SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about war in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
WAR DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGEGeorgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili (1) ____ called for a ceasefire in the conflict with Russia. The two (2) ____ started hostilities over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into South Ossetia on Friday (3) ____ protect Russian citizens living there. Georgia responded by sending troops and fighter planes to the area. The fighting left over 1,500 (4) ____ on both sides. Mr. Saakashvili also proposed that Russian and Georgian troops step (5) ____ from the region to allow breathing space and avoid a full-blown war. He said Georgian soldiers would (6) ____ from South Ossetia’s capital Tshkinvali and would stop shelling Russian forces. Media reports are that Russia is already in control of Tshkinvali. The (7) ____ world is worried the conflict might erupt into a dangerous war between the two sides. Georgia is a staunch (8) ____ of America and wants to join NATO, something Russia does not want to happen. Many (9) ____ in the West say that Russia may be planning to march to Georgia’s capital Tblisi and (10) ____ Saakashvili. The Kremlin views Georgia’s leader as a puppet of the West. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt its attacks and withdraw from Georgian territory. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he sent his troops into South Ossetia (11) ____ a peacekeeping mission and wants a ceasefire. Heated arguments took place at the UN Security Council on Friday night (12) ____ members tried to avoid war. Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
WRITING:Write about war for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word. 2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. BREAKAWAY: Make a poster about the different states that were once part of the former Soviet Union. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. SOUTH OSSETIAN: Write a magazine article about the future of South Ossetia. Include imaginary interviews with a Georgian and a Russian leader. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s). 5. LETTER: Write a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Ask him three questions about his country’s military involvement in South Ossetia. Make three suggestions on what he should do to secure peace. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. 6. DIARY / JOURNAL: You are a South Ossetian. Write your thoughts on your daily life. Include your opinions on the Russian and Georgian troops fighting on your land. Read your entry to your classmates in the next lesson. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Georgia calls for ceasefire in South OssetiaGeorgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has called for a ceasefire in the conflict with Russia. The two nations started hostilities over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into South Ossetia on Friday to protect Russian citizens living there. Georgia responded by sending troops and fighter planes to the area. The fighting left over 1,500 dead on both sides. Mr. Saakashvili also proposed that Russian and Georgian troops step back from the region to allow breathing space and avoid a full-blown war. He said Georgian soldiers would withdraw from South Ossetia’s capital Tshkinvali and would stop shelling Russian forces. Media reports are that Russia is already in control of Tshkinvali. The wider world is worried the conflict might erupt into a dangerous war between the two sides. Georgia is a staunch ally of America and wants to join NATO, something Russia does not want to happen. Many analysts in the West say that Russia may be planning to march to Georgia’s capital Tblisi and overthrow Saakashvili. The Kremlin views Georgia’s leader as a puppet of the West. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt its attacks and withdraw from Georgian territory. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he sent his troops into South Ossetia on a peacekeeping mission and wants a ceasefire. Heated arguments took place at the UN Security Council on Friday night as members tried to avoid war. LANGUAGE WORK
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