Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Blood Donors

Australians give blood for bushfire victims

Record numbers of Australians are rolling up their sleeves to give blood. Tens of thousands want to help those affected by the killer bushfires. Blood centres are reporting a huge increase in blood donations. Nicky Hansen of the Mackay Blood Service said donating blood would greatly help the injured: "One thing that you can do besides giving money is become a blood donor, because the products that we are able to make from your blood are going to help these people over the coming months," she said. Centres have had to turn people away and ask them to make an appointment. Donor Mercia Needham said she felt she had to give blood after watching the tragic scenes on television.

The bushfires have claimed the lives of almost 200 people. There are fears the final death toll could reach 300 hundred. Dozens of people are missing and Victoria’s leader John Brumby warned: "There are still many deceased people in their homes." Large parts of the affected areas are now crime scenes. The police believe that arsonists started many of the fires. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called those responsible for starting the fires “mass murderers”. Mr Rudd promised he would rebuild the towns wiped out in the fires. He said: "Brick by brick, school by school, community hall by community hall, these towns will be rebuilt so that these communities can live again."

WARM-UPS

1. FIRE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about fire. 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.

record numbers / giving blood / bushfires / blood donors / blood products / tragic / death toll / crime scenes / arsonists / mass murderers / bricks / communities

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DISASTER: With your partner(s) discuss what you would do to survive these disasters. Complete the table below. Change partners and share what you wrote.

Disaster	What you would do before	What you would do during
Bushfire
Earthquake
Tsunami
Hurricane
Volcano

4. MOVE: Students A strongly believe people who live in areas hit by bushfires should move forever; Students B strongly believe people who live near areas hit by bushfires should get government help. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. RESCUE: In pairs / groups, rank the following in order of which you would save first if you had to evacuate your house because of a fire.

____ passport / documents

____ money

____ pet

____ computer

____ music collection

____ photo albums

____ clothes

____ car

6. BLOOD: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘blood’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The number of Australians donating blood is the highest ever.	T / F
b.	A blood centre worker has told people to give lots of money and blood.	T / F
c.	Blood centres have been able to accept every donor.	T / F
d.	A donor decided to give blood after she saw sad scenes on television.	T / F
e.	The final death toll of the bushfires is 300.	T / F
f.	The police think that people started many of the fires on purpose.	T / F
g.	Australia’s prime minister said arsonists were murderers.	T / F
h.	The article says the prime minister asked people to donate bricks.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	give	a.	enormous
2	killer	b.	firebugs
3.	huge	c.	number
4.	besides	d.	believed
5.	felt	e.	donate
6.	claimed	f.	dead
7.	toll	g.	apart from
8.	deceased	h.	lethal
9.	arsonists	i.	destroyed
10.	wiped out	j.	took

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):

1.	Australians are rolling	a.	giving money
2	help those affected	b.	out in the fires
3.	One thing that you can do besides	c.	by the killer bushfires
4.	help these people over the	d.	started many of the fires
5.	turn people	e.	could reach 300
6.	the final death toll	f.	coming months
7.	affected areas are now crime	g.	be rebuilt
8.	arsonists	h.	up their sleeves
9.	towns wiped	i.	away
10.	these towns will	j.	scenes

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Record numbers of Australians are __________ up their sleeves to give blood. Tens of thousands want to help those __________ by the killer bushfires. Blood centres are reporting a huge increase in blood __________. Nicky Hansen of the Mackay Blood Service said donating blood would greatly help the injured: "One thing that you can do __________ giving money is become a blood donor, because the __________ that we are able to make from your blood are going to help these people over the __________ months," she said. Centres have had to turn people __________ and ask them to make an appointment. Donor Mercia Needham said she felt she had to give blood after watching the __________ scenes on television.

besides
coming
donations
rolling
products
tragic
away
affected

The bushfires have __________ the lives of almost 200 people. There are fears the final death toll could __________ 300 hundred. Dozens of people are missing and Victoria’s leader John Brumby warned: "There are still many __________ people in their homes." Large parts of the affected areas are now crime __________. The police believe that __________ started many of the fires. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called those responsible for starting the fires “__________ murderers”. Mr Rudd promised he would rebuild the towns __________ out in the fires. He said: “Brick by brick, school by school, community hall by community hall, these towns will be __________ so that these communities can live again.”

wiped
scenes
reach
claimed
mass
rebuilt
deceased
arsonists

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.

Record numbers of Australians ___________________ sleeves to give blood. Tens of thousands want to help those affected by the killer bushfires. Blood centres are reporting ___________________ blood donations. Nicky Hansen of the Mackay Blood Service said donating blood would greatly help the injured: "One thing that you ___________________ giving money is become a blood donor, because the products that we are able to make from your blood are going to help these people over ___________________," she said. Centres have had to turn people away and ask them to make an appointment. Donor Mercia Needham said ___________________ give blood after watching the tragic scenes on television.

The bushfires have claimed the lives of almost 200 people. There are fears the ___________________ reach 300 hundred. Dozens of people are missing and Victoria’s leader John Brumby warned: "___________________ deceased people in their homes." Large parts of the affected areas are now crime scenes. The police believe that arsonists ___________________ the fires. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called those responsible for starting the fires “mass murderers”. Mr Rudd promised he ___________________ towns wiped out in the fires. He said: “Brick by brick, school by school, community hall by community hall, these towns will ___________________ these communities can live again.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘bush’ and ‘fire’.

bush

fire

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

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:

sleeves
tens
huge
besides
coming
scenes

200
300
scenes
mass
wiped
brick

STUDENT DONATING BLOOD SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about donating blood 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

BLOOD DONATION DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘blood’?
c)	What experiences do you have with blood?
d)	Do you think everyone should be paid for giving blood?
e)	When was the last time you rolled up your sleeves to help people?
f)	Do you think everyone should have to give blood once a year?
g)	Have you been following the news of the bushfires?
h)	What natural disasters has your country had recently?
i)	Have you ever donated blood, money or clothes, etc after seeing tragic scenes on television?
j)	Don’t you think governments should provide all the necessary help without ordinary people donating?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What would you do if you lived in the area where the fires are burning?
c)	Have you ever been in or near a natural disaster?
d)	What should Australia’s government do to reduce the risk of deaths in future bushfires?
e)	What punishment should arsonists receive for starting the bushfires?
f)	Do you think the arsonists should be tried as mass murderers?
g)	Do you think the communities can ever return to normal?
h)	What would you like to do tomorrow to help those affected by the fires?
i)	What three adjectives would you use to describe the situation?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Kevin Rudd?

LANGUAGE

Record numbers of Australians are rolling up their (1) ____ to give blood. Tens of thousands want to help those affected by the killer bushfires. Blood centres are reporting a huge (2) ____ in blood donations. Nicky Hansen of the Mackay Blood Service said donating blood would greatly help the (3) ____: "One thing that you can do (4) ____ giving money is become a blood donor, because the products that we are able to make from your blood are going to help these people (5) ____ the coming months," she said. Centres have had to turn people away and ask them to make an appointment. Donor Mercia Needham said she felt she had to give blood (6) ____ watching the tragic scenes on television.

The bushfires have claimed the lives of almost 200 people. There are (7) ____ the final death toll could reach 300 hundred. Dozens (8) ____ people are missing and Victoria’s leader John Brumby warned: "There are still many deceased people in their homes." Large parts of the affected areas are now (9) ____ scenes. The police believe that arsonists started many of the fires. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called those responsible (10) ____ starting the fires “mass murderers”. Mr Rudd promised he would rebuild the towns (11) ____ out in the fires. He said: “Brick by brick, school by school, community hall by community hall, these towns will be (12) ____ so that these communities can live again.”

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	limbs	(b)	sleeveless	(c)	arms	(d)	sleeves
2.	(a)	increases	(b)	increase	(c)	increasing	(d)	increased
3.	(a)	injured	(b)	injure	(c)	injury	(d)	injures
4.	(a)	beside	(b)	next	(c)	besides	(d)	next to
5.	(a)	up	(b)	under	(c)	over	(d)	on
6.	(a)	for	(b)	after	(c)	by	(d)	with
7.	(a)	fears	(b)	afraid	(c)	fearless	(d)	frightened
8.	(a)	by	(b)	to	(c)	at	(d)	of
9.	(a)	crimes	(b)	crime	(c)	crime’s	(d)	criminals
10.	(a)	to	(b)	in	(c)	at	(d)	for
11.	(a)	wiper	(b)	wiping	(c)	wiped	(d)	wipes
12.	(a)	rebuilt	(b)	rebuild	(c)	rebuilding	(d)	rebuilds

WRITING:

Write about blood for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. 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 bushfires. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BLOOD: Make a poster about the different uses of blood after people make donations. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SUVIVAL: Write a magazine article about the bushfires. Include imaginary interviews with two survivors.

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 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Ask him three questions about the bushfires. Give him three suggestions on what he should do to prevent people dying in future bushfires. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	give	a.	donate
2	killer	b.	lethal
3.	huge	c.	enormous
4.	besides	d.	apart from
5.	felt	e.	believed
6.	claimed	f.	took
7.	toll	g.	number
8.	deceased	h.	dead
9.	arsonists	i.	firebugs
10.	wiped out	j.	destroyed

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	Australians are rolling	a.	up their sleeves
2	help those affected	b.	by the killer bushfires
3.	One thing that you can do besides	c.	giving money
4.	help these people over the	d.	coming months
5.	turn people	e.	away
6.	the final death toll	f.	could reach 300
7.	affected areas are now crime	g.	scenes
8.	arsonists	h.	started many of the fires
9.	towns wiped	i.	out in the fires
10.	these towns will	j.	be rebuilt

GAP FILL:

Australians give blood for bushfire

Record numbers of Australians are rolling up their sleeves to give blood. Tens of thousands want to help those affected by the killer bushfires. Blood centres are reporting a huge increase in blood donations. Nicky Hansen of the Mackay Blood Service said donating blood would greatly help the injured: "One thing that you can do besides giving money is become a blood donor, because the products that we are able to make from your blood are going to help these people over the coming months," she said. Centres have had to turn people away and ask them to make an appointment. Donor Mercia Needham said she felt she had to give blood after watching the tragic scenes on television.

The bushfires have claimed the lives of almost 200 people. There are fears the final death toll could reach 300 hundred. Dozens of people are missing and Victoria’s leader John Brumby warned: "There are still many deceased people in their homes." Large parts of the affected areas are now crime scenes. The police believe that arsonists started many of the fires. Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called those responsible for starting the fires “mass murderers”. Mr Rudd promised he would rebuild the towns wiped out in the fires. He said: “Brick by brick, school by school, community hall by community hall, these towns will be rebuilt so that these communities can live again.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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