The Reading / Listening - South Asia Floods - Level 6

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that an estimated 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-saving support" following the torrential monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Up to a third of Bangladesh is currently under water. A total of 45 million people have been badly affected in the rains, which started several weeks ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives swept away by these devastating floods. Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and loved ones." It added: "There is a danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and flood waters move south."

UNICEF said it is putting all its efforts into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the ground working in close coordination with respective governments and humanitarian partners in the South Asian countries to scale up [our] responses and respond to the immediate needs of affected children and their families." It added: "Massive damage to school infrastructure and supplies means hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school. Getting children back into school is absolutely critical in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a sense of normality when everything else is being turned upside down."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    South Asia Floods - Level 4  or  South Asia Floods - Level 5

Sources
  • http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57455#.Wau7DIWi4qY
  • https://www.voanews.com/a/unicef-south-asia-floods-children/4012512.html
  • http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/flooding-south-asia-killed-1400-communities-brace/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. FLOODS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about floods. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

       estimated / urgent / monsoon / catastrophic / affected / UNICEF / floods / danger /
       efforts / coordination / humanitarian / infrastructure / critical / crisis / normality

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

3. DEFENCES: Students A strongly believe the world should provide South Asian countries with flood defences; Students B strongly believe South Asian countries should provide their own flood defences.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

4. NATURAL DISASTERS: How can countries better prepare for natural disasters? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Defences

Effectiveness

Floods

 

 

Hurricanes

 

 

Fires

 

 

Earthquakes

 

 

Heat waves

 

 

Heavy snow

 

 

MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. RAIN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "rain". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. INFRASTRUCTURE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important areas of infrastructure to get in place after a disaster at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • houses
  • food delivery
  • clean water
  • hospitals
  • roads
  • schools
  • Internet
  • railways

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. UNICEF is the name of a United Nations organization.     T / F
  2. The article described torrential flooding and catastrophic monsoon.     T / F
  3. The article said 45 million people have been badly affected.     T / F
  4. The article said the worst of the rains and floods are over.     T / F
  5. UNICEF is working separately to humanitarian groups.     T / F
  6. UNICEF said it would do more to help affected children.     T / F
  7. Getting children back to school was not a top priority.     T / F
  8. The article said children's worlds have been turned upside down.     T / F

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

  1. warned
  2. estimated
  3. catastrophic
  4. currently
  5. danger
  6. efforts
  7. responses
  8. massive
  9. critical
  10. sense
  1. presently
  2. disastrous
  3. vital
  4. risk
  5. reactions
  6. cautioned
  7. huge
  8. feeling
  9. approximated
  10. energy

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. in urgent need
  2. torrential
  3. Up to a
  4. A total of 45 million people have
  5. There is a danger the worst could
  6. helping those who
  7. scale
  8. Massive damage to school
  9. absolutely
  10. everything else is being turned
  1. up our responses
  2. third of Bangladesh
  3. infrastructure
  4. need it most
  5. upside down
  6. of life-saving support
  7. critical
  8. been badly affected
  9. monsoon rains
  10. still be to come

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
badly
torrential
worst
currently
loved
estimated
third
swept

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that an (1) ____________ 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-saving support" following the (2) ____________ monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Up to a (3) ____________ of Bangladesh is (4) ____________ under water. A total of 45 million people have been (5) ____________ affected in the rains, which started several weeks ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives (6) ____________ away by these devastating floods. Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and (7) ____________ ones." It added: "There is a danger the (8) ____________ could still be to come as rains continue and flood waters move south."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
scale
critical
respective
upside
needs
sense
efforts
supplies

UNICEF said it is putting all its (9) ____________ into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the ground working in close coordination with (10) ____________ governments and humanitarian partners in the South Asian countries to (11) ____________ up [our] responses and respond to the immediate (12) ____________ of affected children and their families." It added: "Massive damage to school infrastructure and (13) ____________ means hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school. Getting children back into school is absolutely (14) ____________ in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a (15) ____________ of normality when everything else is being turned (16) ____________ down."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  an estimated 16 million children are in urgent need of ______
     a.  life-save in support
     b.  live-saver support
     c.  life-saving support
     d.  live-saving support

2)  Up to a third of Bangladesh is ______ water
     a.  currency under
     b.  currant tree under
     c.  currant lea under
     d.  currently under

3)  Millions of children have seen their lives swept away by these ______
     a.  diva station floods
     b.  devastating floods
     c.  devastated floods
     d.  diva stating floods

4)  Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends ______
     a.  and beloved ones
     b.  end loved ones
     c.  end beloved ones
     d.  and loved ones

5) a danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and ______ south
     a.  floods waters move
     b.  flooded waters move
     c.  flooding waters move
     d.  flood waters move

6)  We are on the ground working in close coordination ______ governments
     a.  with respectively
     b.  with respect it
     c.  with respect with
     d.  with respective

7)  scale up  our responses and respond to the immediate needs of ______
     a.  affected children
     b.  affect it children
     c.  afflicted children
     d.  affects children

8)  hundreds of thousands of children may ______
     a.  missed weeks
     b.  mist weeks
     c.  miss weeks
     d.  myths weeks

9)  absolutely critical in establishing a sense of stability for children during ______
     a.  times off crisis
     b.  timeless of crisis
     c.  times of cry sis
     d.  times of crisis

10)  provides a sense of normality when everything else is being ______ down
     a.  turned upside
     b.  turned onside
     c.  turned inside
     d.  turned downside

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned                          (1) ___________________ 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-saving support" following the (2) ___________________ rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit Bangladesh, India and Nepal.                 (3) ___________________ Bangladesh is currently under water. A total of 45 million people have been badly affected in the rains,                           (4) ___________________ weeks ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives swept away by these (5) ___________________. Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and loved ones." It added: "There is a danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and (6) ___________________ south."

UNICEF said it is putting (7) ___________________ into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the ground working in close coordination with respective governments and (8) ___________________ in the South Asian countries to scale up [our] responses and respond to the immediate (9) ___________________ children and their families." It added: "(10) ___________________ to school infrastructure and supplies means hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school. Getting children back into school is (11) ___________________ in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a sense of normality when everything else is being (12) ___________________."

Comprehension questions

  1. What did the article say the children were in urgent need of?
  2. What adjective did the article use to describe the monsoon rains?
  3. How many people have been badly affected in South Asia?
  4. When did the rains start?
  5. Where will the floods move?
  6. What partners is UNICEF working closely with?
  7. What is UNICEF doing to its responses?
  8. What did the article say was massively damaged?
  9. What might children miss for weeks or months?
  10. What did the article say was turned upside down in children's lives?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What did the article say the children were in urgent need of?
a) food
b) love
c) life-saving support
d) clean water

2) What adjective did the article use to describe the monsoon rains?
a) torrential
b) heavy
c) intermittent
d) sporadic

3) How many people have been badly affected in South Asia?
a) 47 million
b) 45 million
c) 48 million
d) 43 million

4) When did the rains start?
a) a few days ago
b) many moons ago
c) a month ago
d) several weeks ago

5) Where will the floods move?
a) east
b) north
c) south
d) west

6) What partners is UNICEF working closely with?
a) new partners
b) humanitarian partners
c) UN partners
d) old partners

7) What is UNICEF doing to its responses?
a) decreasing them
b) addressing them
c) detailing them
d) scaling them up

8) What did the article say was massively damaged?
a) hospitals
b) school infrastructure
c) community centres
d) railways

9) What might children miss for weeks or months?
a) families
b) school
c) deadlines
d) normal life

10) What did the article say was turned upside down in children's lives?
a) everything else
b) toys
c) books
d) their beds

Role play

Role  A – Roads

You think roads are the most important things to repair after a natural disaster. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): the Internet, schools or hospitals.

Role  B – The Internet

You think the Internet is the most important thing to repair after a natural disaster. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): roads, schools or hospitals.

Role  C – Schools

You think schools are the most important things to repair after a natural disaster. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): the Internet, roads or hospitals.

Role  D – Hospitals

You think hospitals are the most important things to repair after a natural disaster. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why):  the Internet, schools or roads.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'Asia'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • and 'flood'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • • 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:

    • efforts
    • close
    • needs
    • miss
    • absolutely
    • down
    • warned
    • third
    • 45
    • swept
    • lost
    • worst

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - 16 million children in need in South Asia floods

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'Asia'?
    3. What do you know about the floods in South Asia?
    4. Are the South Asian floods in the news more than the Houston floods?
    5. How can we help those affected by the floods?
    6. How bad can flooding get in your country?
    7. What are the dangers of flooding?
    8. Why isn't the world doing more to help?
    9. How can we stop natural disasters happening?
    10. What could you do to help those affected by the floods?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'floods'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you know about UNICEF?
    5. What do charities do to help people affected by the floods?
    6. What are the immediate needs of the children?
    7. How can the world help with the education of the children?
    8. How serious is global warming?
    9. What would it be like for your world to be turned upside down?
    10. What questions would you like to ask UNICEF?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has (1) ____ that an estimated 16 million children are "in (2) ____ need of life-saving support" (3) ____ the torrential monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Up to a third of Bangladesh is (4) ____ under water. A total of 45 million people have been badly affected in the rains, which started several weeks ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives swept away (5) ____ these devastating floods. Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and loved ones." It added: "There is a danger the worst could still (6) ____ to come as rains continue and flood waters move south."

    UNICEF said it is putting all its (7) ____ into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the ground working (8) ____ close coordination with respective governments and humanitarian partners in the South Asian countries to scale (9) ____ [our] responses and respond to the immediate needs of affected children and their families." It added: "Massive damage to school infrastructure and supplies (10) ____ hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school. Getting children back into school is absolutely (11) ____ in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a (12) ____ of normality when everything else is being turned upside down."

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     warns     (b)     warn     (c)     warning     (d)     warned    
    2. (a)     urgencies     (b)     urgently     (c)     urgency     (d)     urgent    
    3. (a)     follow     (b)     following     (c)     followed     (d)     follows    
    4. (a)     currency     (b)     current     (c)     currently     (d)     currents    
    5. (a)     of     (b)     at     (c)     by     (d)     on    
    6. (a)     at     (b)     be     (c)     as     (d)     way    
    7. (a)     effects     (b)     efforts     (c)     effortless     (d)     affects    
    8. (a)     in     (b)     on     (c)     at     (d)     by    
    9. (a)     of     (b)     up     (c)     down     (d)     at    
    10. (a)     meanings     (b)     meanies     (c)     means     (d)     meanness    
    11. (a)     critically     (b)     critic     (c)     critical     (d)     critics    
    12. (a)     sensitive     (b)     sensory     (c)     nonsense     (d)     sense

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. an dettaiesm 16 million children
    2. in eurgnt need of life-saving support
    3. noratrteli monsoon rains
    4. Bangladesh is lycrruten under water
    5. badly dcffeaet in the rains
    6. swept away by these itandtsgeav floods

    Paragraph 2

    1. in close coordination with iercestpve governments
    2. scale up our osessrnpe
    3. saesvim damage
    4. school uiacrtnsutfrre
    5. establishing a sense of tyiaibtls for children
    6. being turned dsipeu down

    Put the text back together

    (    )     supplies means hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school. Getting children

    (    )     saving support" following the torrential monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit

    (    )     Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Up to a third of Bangladesh is currently under water. A total

    (    )     needs of affected children and their families." It added: "Massive damage to school infrastructure and

    (    )     ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives swept away by these devastating

    (    )     ground working in close coordination with respective governments and humanitarian

    (    )     danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and flood waters move south."

    (    )     partners in the South Asian countries to scale up [our] responses and respond to the immediate

    (    )     floods. Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and loved ones." It added: "There is a

    (    )     of 45 million people have been badly affected in the rains, which started several weeks

    (    )     back into school is absolutely critical in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of

    1  )     The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that an estimated 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-

    (    )     UNICEF said it is putting all its efforts into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the

    (    )     crisis and provides a sense of normality when everything else is being turned upside down."

    Put the words in the right order

    1. need   -   Children   urgent   life   support   in   of   saving   are   .
    2. and   Rains   flooding   Bangladesh   that   catastrophic   hit   have   .
    3. of   currently   Up   third   is   water   a   Bangladesh   under   to   .
    4. lives   children   swept   have   away   seen   Millions   their   of   .
    5. continue   could   to   rains   worst   be   as   The   still   come   .
    6. all   into   it   helping  most   those   its   who   efforts   need   Putting  .
    7. affected   of   needs   immediate   the   to   Respond   children   .
    8. of   months   or   weeks   miss   may   Children   school   .
    9. a   establishing   in   critical   Absolutely   stability   of   sense   .
    10. else   being   upside   Everything   is   turned   down   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that an estimate / estimated 16 million children are "in urgent / urgency need of life-saving support" following / followed the torrential monsoon rains and catastrophe / catastrophic flooding that have hit Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Up to a third / thirdly of Bangladesh is currently under water. A total of 45 million people have been badly affected in / on the rains, which started severe / several weeks ago. UNICEF said: "Millions of children have seen their lives wept / swept away by these devastating floods. Children have lost their homes, schools and even / eventual friends and loved ones." It added: "There is a danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and flood waters move southern / south."

    UNICEF said it is putting all its efforts / effects into helping those who need it most. It said: "[We are] on the ground working in closet / close coordination with respective / respectively governments and humanitarian partners in the South Asian countries to scale down / up [our] responses and respond to the immediate needs at / of affected children and their families." It added: "Massive damage to school infrastructure and supply / supplies means hundreds of thousands of children may miss / missing weeks or months of school. Getting children back into / onto school is absolutely critical in establishing a sensible / sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a sense of normality when everything else is been / being turned upside down."

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    Th_ _n_t_d N_t__ns Ch_ldr_n's F_nd (_N_C_F) h_s w_rn_d th_t _n _st_m_t_d 16 m_ll__n ch_ldr_n _r_ "_n _rg_nt n__d _f l_f_-s_v_ng s_pp_rt" f_ll_w_ng th_ t_rr_nt__l m_ns__n r__ns _nd c_t_str_ph_c fl__d_ng th_t h_v_ h_t B_ngl_d_sh, _nd__ _nd N_p_l. _p t_ _ th_rd _f B_ngl_d_sh _s c_rr_ntly _nd_r w_t_r. _ t_t_l _f 45 m_ll__n p__pl_ h_v_ b__n b_dly _ff_ct_d _n th_ r__ns, wh_ch st_rt_d s_v_r_l w__ks _g_. _N_C_F s__d: "M_ll__ns _f ch_ldr_n h_v_ s__n th__r l_v_s sw_pt _w_y by th_s_ d_v_st_t_ng fl__ds. Ch_ldr_n h_v_ l_st th__r h_m_s, sch__ls _nd _v_n fr__nds _nd l_v_d _n_s." _t _dd_d: "Th_r_ _s _ d_ng_r th_ w_rst c__ld st_ll b_ t_ c_m_ _s r__ns c_nt_n__ _nd fl__d w_t_rs m_v_ s__th."

    _N_C_F s__d _t _s p_tt_ng _ll _ts _ff_rts _nt_ h_lp_ng th_s_ wh_ n__d _t m_st. _t s__d: "[W_ _r_] _n th_ gr__nd w_rk_ng _n cl_s_ c__rd_n_t__n w_th r_sp_ct_v_ g_v_rnm_nts _nd h_m_n_t_r__n p_rtn_rs _n th_ S__th _s__n c__ntr__s t_ sc_l_ _p [__r] r_sp_ns_s _nd r_sp_nd t_ th_ _mm_d__t_ n__ds _f _ff_ct_d ch_ldr_n _nd th__r f_m_l__s." _t _dd_d: "M_ss_v_ d_m_g_ t_ sch__l _nfr_str_ct_r_ _nd s_ppl__s m__ns h_ndr_ds _f th__s_nds _f ch_ldr_n m_y m_ss w__ks _r m_nths _f sch__l. G_tt_ng ch_ldr_n b_ck _nt_ sch__l _s _bs_l_t_ly cr_t_c_l _n _st_bl_sh_ng _ s_ns_ _f st_b_l_ty f_r ch_ldr_n d_r_ng t_m_s _f cr_s_s _nd pr_v_d_s _ s_ns_ _f n_rm_l_ty wh_n _v_ryth_ng _ls_ _s b__ng t_rn_d _ps_d_ d_wn."

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    the united nations children's fund (unicef) has warned that an estimated 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-saving support" following the torrential monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding that have hit bangladesh india and nepal up to a third of bangladesh is currently under water a total of 45 million people have been badly affected in the rains which started several weeks ago unicef said "millions of children have seen their lives swept away by these devastating floods children have lost their homes schools and even friends and loved ones" it added "there is a danger the worst could still be to come as rains continue and flood waters move south"

    unicef said it is putting all its efforts into helping those who need it most it said "[we are] on the ground working in close coordination with respective governments and humanitarian partners in the south asian countries to scale up [our] responses and respond to the immediate needs of affected children and their families" it added "massive damage to school infrastructure and supplies means hundreds of thousands of children may miss weeks or months of school getting children back into school is absolutely critical in establishing a sense of stability for children during times of crisis and provides a sense of normality when everything else is being turned upside down"

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    TheUnitedNationsChildren'sFund(UNICEF)haswarnedthatanestima
    ted16millionchildrenare"inurgentneedoflife-savingsupport"followi
    ngthetorrentialmonsoonrainsandcatastrophicfloodingthathavehitB
    angladesh,IndiaandNepal.UptoathirdofBangladeshiscurrentlyunder
    water.Atotalof45millionpeoplehavebeenbadlyaffectedintherains,wh
    ichstartedseveralweeksago.UNICEFsaid:"Millionsofchildrenhavesee
    ntheirlivessweptawaybythesedevastatingfloods.Childrenhavelostth
    eirhomes,schoolsandevenfriendsandlovedones."Itadded:"Thereisa
    dangertheworstcouldstillbetocomeasrainscontinueandfloodwaters
    movesouth."UNICEFsaiditisputtingallitseffortsintohelpingthosewho
    needitmost.Itsaid:"[Weare]onthegroundworkinginclosecoordinatio
    nwithrespectivegovernmentsandhumanitarianpartnersintheSouthA
    siancountriestoscaleup[our]responsesandrespondtotheimmediate
    needsofaffectedchildrenandtheirfamilies."Itadded:"Massivedamag
    etoschoolinfrastructureandsuppliesmeanshundredsofthousandsofc
    hildrenmaymissweeksormonthsofschool.Gettingchildrenbackintosc
    hoolisabsolutelycriticalinestablishingasenseofstabilityforchildrendu
    ringtimesofcrisisandprovidesasenseofnormalitywheneverythingels
    eisbeingturnedupsidedown."

    Free writing

    Write about the South Asia floods for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    Academic writing

    What can the world do to better help flood victims?

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

     

    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 this news. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

    3. FLOODS: Make a poster about floods around the world. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

    4. NATURAL DISASTERS: Write a magazine article about governments spending more money on helping people in natural disasters than they do on weapons. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

    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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on floods. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to better help flood victims. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Help Support This Web Site

    • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

    Sean Banville's Book

    Thank You