WORDS
IN THE
NEWS
Teacher’s pack
Words in the News
Japan textbook back in spotlight
- 13 July 2005
(story link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/07/050713_japan.shtml)
Teacher’s pack table of contents
Lesson Plan: Core Materials....................................................... 3
Lesson Plan: Supplementary Materials .................................. 9
Worksheet A: Specific information Questions ...............11
Worksheet B: Vocabulary Building. ......................................12
Worksheet C: Word stress .....................................................14
Answer Key.......................................................................................15
2
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight– Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Warm-up/
stimulate
students'
interest in
text
p
R
E
5
R
E
A
D
I
N
G
T
E
X
T
Pre-teach
essential
vocab
Teacher
Boardwork
Generate interest about today’s topic by asking students to see
how much they know about Asian geography. Tell them to put
the correct cities the correct rows. Notes that some of the cities
on the board won't be used.
Divide the class into 2 or 3 groups. One person from each
group comes to the board and completes one line. If they get
all that country's information correct, they get one point. The
winning team is the one with the most points.
For example:
Answers:
Country
Japan
China
South Korea
North Korea
The Philippines
Capital city
Tokyo
Beijing
Seoul
Pyongyang
Manila
largest city
Tokyo
Shanghai
Seoul
Pyongyang
Manila
Country
Capital
city
largest
city
China
Japan
North Korea
South Korea
The
Philippines
Manila
Shanghai
Pyongyang
Beijing
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Yokohama
Seoul
Elicit/present key vocabulary that students need either to
understand the key points of the text or to understand and/or
answer any questions that you'll set them later in the lesson.
The vocabulary is from Words in the News (so you can elicit the
vocabulary by using the explanations provided).
Further examples are also provided for some of the vocabulary,
which you might find useful.
Or you could use the vocabulary building activity from further
3
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Teacher
Boardwork
down this lesson plan at this stage instead. Have students
working in small groups together and ask them to try to match
the vocabulary with the definitions. Encourage them to work
with the other groups to pool their knowledge. When they have
done as much as they can, if they have dictionaries, ask them
to look up the words to check their answers and to find out the
definitions of any words they were not sure of. If not, check
their answers and give them help with any words they aren't
sure of.
Whichever method you use to elicit/present the vocabulary,
you should then model (say it clearly, highlighting the word
stress) and get them to repeat the words after you.
an edition
a version
a handful of
a few
a passing mention of something
a very brief reference to something; giving it very little
importance
an atrocity
a cruel or violent act
4
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Teacher
Boardwork
to sexually enslave someone
to force someone to have sex against his/her will, usually over
a period of time (in this case during the second world war)
a diplomatic protest
a complaint from one country’s leaders about how another
country behaves
a scholar
a person who studies a subject in great detail
masochistic
a person who enjoys his/her own suffering or who is overly selfcritical
on the margins of
in a very small part of
public school system
schools run by the government
controversial
something which causes a lot of disagreement
5
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Written record
Teacher
Boardwork
Write the words on the board, eliciting spelling as you write.
Elicit and show the word stress of each item and word class, if
necessary.
Give students some time to copy your boardwork into their
notebooks.
an edition (n)
a handful of
to make just a passing mention
of
an atrocity (n)
to sexually enslave someone
5
a diplomatic protest
a scholar (n)
masochistic (adj)
on the margins of
a public school system
controversial (adj)
6
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Teacher
Boardwork
Tell the students they are going to read a text about a new
history book that is going to
Set skimming
question
5
7
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Core materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Check
answers
P
O
S
T
R
E
A
D
I
N
G
Total
Time
Approx
1
Building
vocabulary
5
Check
answers
2
Teacher
Boardwork
Elicit answers True or False. Direct attention to a particular
paragraph if an answer is wrong, to try to elicit correct answer.
(see worksheet A and answer key
Before the lesson, make enough copies of worksheet B so that
there is 1 worksheet for every 4 – 5 students. Cut up the
vocabulary and explanations.
In class, tell students to match the correct word with the right
definition.
Elicit answers. If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try
to elicit correct answer. (see worksheet B and answer key)
45
8
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Supplementary materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Pronunciation:
word stress
Check
answers
Follow-up
activity
writing
Approx
time in
mins
5 - 10
3
15
Teacher
Boardwork
Use worksheet C to focus on verb patterns. Tell students to
complete the table with the correct prepositions..
If an answer is wrong, ask other students to try to elicit correct
answer (see worksheet C and answer key).
Discuss with students why the new history book is so
controversial (i.e. some people say that history is being rewritten).
Tell them they are going to re-write a part of their personal,
school, work or country's history and other students have to try
to guess which parts of it are false.
Students work by themselves and write one or two paragraphs
(80 - 100 words) about their subject, including three pieces of
false information. Then in small groups, each person looks at
the work the others have produced and tries to identify the lies.
Give them 2 or 3 minutes to think about their topic, about 8 10 minutes to write their piece and about 5 minutes to look at
other students' work and guess the false parts.
While they are speaking, move around the room listening to
them unobtrusively. Make a note of any errors you read.
9
Words in the News – Japan textbook back in spotlight – Intermediate Reading Skills
Supplementary materials Lesson Plan
Activity
Approx
time in
mins
Feedback
5 - 10
Total
Time
Approx
Teacher
Boardwork
Give praise for content (for example, who wrote a convincing
article)
Find out who was the best liar in the class and who was the
best 'detective'.
Give praise for correct examples you read.
Give feedback on incorrect examples you read.
Elicit corrections.
Examples:
I was born into a very wealthy
family P
The government was honest and
trust worth. O
35
10
Words in the News – Worksheet A
Japan textbook back in spotlight – 13 July 2005
Are the following questions true of false? Read the text again and circle the correct
answer:
1.
A lot of schools have been using the new history book since 2001.
T/F
2.
People who disagree with the book say that it only talks briefly about
how violent the Japanese army was.
T/F
3.
Chinese and South Korean Government officials congratulated the
Japanese government when it allowed the new book to be used in
April.
T/F
4.
The authors of the book say Japan usually enjoys concentrating on its
violent history in teaching about the past.
T/F
5.
Almost all schools in Japan used the first edition of the new history
book.
T/F
6.
Soon more than 500 communities will decide if they are going to teach
from the contentious book or not.
T/F
This quiz is available online. Go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/07/050713_japan.shtml
At the bottom of the page (Words in the News), follow the link Do a comprehension test
about this story
11
Words in the News – Worksheet B - Vocabulary
Japan textbook back in spotlight – 13 July 2005
Cut up the following vocabulary items. Ask students to match them correctly with the
definitions.
1.
an edition
2.
a handful of
3.
to make just a passing mention of
4.
an atrocity
5.
to sexually enslave someone
6.
a diplomatic protest
7.
a scholar
8.
masochistic
9.
on the margins of
10.
a public school system
11.
controversial
12
Words in the News – Worksheet B - Definitions
Japan textbook back in spotlight – 13 July 2005
Cut up the following definitions. Ask students to match them correctly with the
vocabulary items.
a.
a few
b.
something which causes a lot of disagreement
c.
to force someone to have sex against his/her will, usually over a period of
time (in this case during the second world war)
d.
in a very small part of
e.
a version
f.
a person who studies a subject in great detail
g.
a very brief reference to something; giving it very little importance
h.
schools run by the government
i.
a person who enjoys his/her own suffering or who is overly self-critical
j.
a complaint from one country’s leaders about how another country behaves
k
a cruel or violent act
13
Words in the News – Worksheet C
Japan textbook back in spotlight – 13 July 2005
Verb patterns
The verbs in the table are taken from today's text. They can all be followed by a
preposition (for, by, to or of) and a phrase such as something or someone. Complete the
table with the correct preposition. The first one has been done for you:
for
by
to
of
verb
preposition
phrase
1.
criticised
by
someone
2.
criticised
doing something
3.
used
something
4.
used
someone
5.
used
do something
6.
used
doing something
7.
followed
someone
8.
followed
something
9.
responded
doing something
10.
responded
someone
11.
responded
something
12.
approved
something
13.
approved
someone
14.
approved
someone
14
Words in the News
Japan textbook back in spotlight– 6 June 2005
Answers
Worksheet A
1. False – Paragraph 1 says 'This text book is a new edition of a work that been used for
the last four years in a handful of schools'.
2. True – Paragraph 1 says 'It's been criticised for making just a passing mention of
atrocities by Japanese troops in Asia'.
3. False – Paragraph 2 says 'When the government approved it in April, there were
diplomatic protests by China and South Korea.'
4. True – Paragraph 3 says 'The scholars who wrote the book say Japan is too masochistic
in its teaching of history.'
5. False – Paragraph 3 says 'The earlier edition of their work was only used on the margins
of the school system.'
6. True – Paragraph 4 says 'Almost six hundred other communities across Japan will decide
whether to use the controversial text over the next few weeks.'
Worksheet B
1. e
2. a
3. g
4. k
5. c
6. j
7. f
8. i
9. d
10. h
11. b
Worksheet C
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
verb
criticised
criticised
used
used
used
used
followed
followed
responded
responded
responded
approved
approved
approved
preposition
by
for
for
by
to
to
by
by
by
to
to
of
of
by
phrase
someone
doing something
something
someone
do something
doing something
someone
something
doing something
someone
something
something
something
someone
15