1
Disabled Access Friendly Campaign
Think about us!
Level
B1-C1
1)
Age
Teenagers,
adults
A story of rock solid friendship
by Scott-Monkhouse, Anila Ruth
Topic
Grammar
Vocabulary
Friendship Narrative
General
and
tenses
support
Functions
Asking for &
providing
information
Skills
Reading,
writing,
listening,
speaking
Work in pairs. Can you define a friend? And what is friendship? What does it involve?
Friend: someone you know well, you like and have a good relationship with
Friendship is a strong form of interpersonal bond, a relationship of mutual affection
between two or more people that actually boosts both physical and mental health. There
are many forms of friendship, but certain characteristics are present in many types of
friendship. Such characteristics include affection, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism,
mutual understanding and compassion, sharing, enjoyment of each other's company, loyalty
and commitment, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings, and make
mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend.
2)
You are going to read a story about friendship, music and disability. Can you think of words
related to these topics?
MUSIC
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
FRIENDSHIP
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
DISABILITY
[email protected]
2
WORKSHEET 1A
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Story of Solid Rock Friendship
Rick Allen
Background information
Full birth name
(1)...............................
Nickname
The Thunder God
Rick Allen is famous for overcoming the
complete amputation of his left arm and
continuing to play with the band, which
subsequently went on to its greatest popular
success worldwide.
When Allen was 14, his mother (5)
____________________________________
Genre
Hard rock
placed by a band called Def Leppard, who were
Occupation
drummer
looking for a drummer, and on 1 November
1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the
Band
Def Leppard
band. In 1979, he dropped out of school (other
band members quit their jobs around the same time) to (7) __________________________________ . In
November of that year, they played shows as a support act for AC/DC. On December 31, 1984 Allen (21
years old) was driving his car to (9) ________________________ __________ and was involved in an
accident while racing another car. He misjudged an approaching turn, lost control of his car, and drove
through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times and he was ejected from the driver’s seat,
with his left arm severed because the seat belt was not properly fastened. Doctors initially (11)
__________________________________ but, because of infection, it had to be amputated.
Born on / in
(3)..............................
In hospital Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very depressed
as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates decided
(13) __________________________________and play with them again. Neither Allen nor his bandmates
gave up, and with his mates’ full support, Allen met with some engineers to design a customized drum set
to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum rhythms by (15)
__________________________________ . Just 20 months later, Allen made his triumphant post-accident
debut on 16 August 1986 at the "Monsters of Rock" festival at Castle Donington. The comeback was a huge
success and the Hysteria album released a year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy: it sold (17)
__________________________________ worldwide! Rick Allen thought up the title of the album, referring
to his 1984 auto accident and the ensuing worldwide media coverage surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Centre in 2006, Allen has dedicated himself to (19)
__________________________________ who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result
of injuries similar to his own. He is trying to teach others how to overcome the obstacles along their path to
recovery and has started the Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works closely with
wounded military members to inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The
foundation offers (21) __________________________________ .
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a (23) __________________________________ .
1) What ___________________________________________________________________ ?
2) Where and when _______________________________________________________________ ?
5) What did Allen’s mother ________________________________________________________ ?
7) Why __________________________________________________________________________ ?
9) Where ________________________________________________________________________ ?
11) What _________________________________________________________________________ ?
13) What _________________________________________________________________________ ?
15) How __________________________________________________________________________ ?
17) How many copies _______________________________________________________________ ?
19) What _________________________________________________________________________ ?
21) What _________________________________________________________________________ ?
23) What _________________________________________________________________________ ?
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3
WORKSHEET 1B
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Story of Solid Rock Friendship
Rick Allen
Background information
Full birth name
Richard John Cyril Allen
Nickname
(2).....................................................
Rick
Allen
is
famous
for
(6)
__________________________________ and
continuing to play with the band, which
subsequently went on to its greatest popular
success worldwide.
When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his
behalf to an advert placed by a band called Def
Genre
Hard rock
Leppard, who were looking for (8)
Occupation
(4).....................................................
__________________________________ , and
on
1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday,
Band
Def Leppard
Allen joined the band. In 1979, he dropped out
of school (other band members quit their jobs around the same time) to concentrate on a career in music.
In November of that year, they played shows as a support act for (10)
__________________________________ . On December 31, 1984 Allen (21 years old) was driving his car
to a party at his family's home and was involved in an accident while racing another car. He misjudged an
approaching turn, lost control of his car, and drove through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several
times and he was ejected from the driver’s seat, with his left arm severed because (12)
_____________________ _____________ . Doctors initially reattached Allen's arm but, because of
infection, it had to be amputated.
Born on / in
(1963-11-01) 1 November 1963 England
In hospital Allen thought that he could not (14) __________________________________ and became very
depressed as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates
decided they would wait for their drummer to recover and play with them again. Neither Allen nor his
bandmates gave up, and with his mates’ full support, Allen met with some engineers to (16)
__________________________________ to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum
rhythms by using one hand and his left foot. Just 20 months later, Allen made his triumphant post-accident
debut on 16 August 1986 at (18) _________________________ ______ at Castle Donington. The comeback
was a huge success and the Hysteria album released a year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy:
it sold over 20 million copies worldwide! (20) ________________________________ thought up the title of
the album, referring to his 1984 auto accident and the ensuing worldwide media coverage surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Center in 2006, Allen has dedicated himself to helping war
veterans who suffer from (22) __________________________________ as a result of injuries similar to his
own. He is trying to teach others how to overcome the obstacles along their path to recovery and has
started (24) __________________________________ , a nonprofit organisation that works closely with
wounded military members to inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The
foundation offers free tickets to every Def Leppard show.
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a 2001 TV movie about the band.
2)
3)
6)
8)
10)
12)
14)
16)
18)
20)
22)
24)
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
Why _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
Who _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
Why ______________________________________________________________________________ ?
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
Why ______________________________________________________________________________ ?
Where ____________________________________________________________________________ ?
Who ______________________________________________________________________________ ?
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
What _____________________________________________________________________________ ?
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4
WORKSHEET 2A
Work in pairs and complete the missing words without looking at the original text.
Rick Allen is famous for overcoming the complete (1) am_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of his left arm and continuing to
play with the band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success (2) wo_ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an advert placed by a band called Def Leppard, who
were looking for a (3) dr _ _ _ _ _ , and on 1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the band.
In 1979, he dropped out of school (other band members quit their jobs around the same time) to
concentrate on a career in music. In November of that year, they played shows as a support act for AC/DC.
On December 31, 1984 Allen (21 years old) was driving his car to a party at his family's home and was (4)
in_ _ _ _ _ _ in an accident while racing another car. He misjudged an approaching turn, lost control of his
car, and drove through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times and he was (5) ej_ _ _ _ _
from the driver’s seat, with his left arm severed because the seat belt was not properly (6) fa_ _ _ _ _ _ .
Doctors initially reattached Allen's arm but, because of (7) in_ _ _ _ _ _ _ , it had to be amputated.
In hospital Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very (8) de_ _
_ _ _ _ _ as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates
decided they would wait for their drummer to (9) re_ _ _ _ _ and play with them again. Neither Allen nor
his bandmates gave up, and with his mates’ full (10) su_ _ _ _ _, Allen met with some engineers to design a
(11) cu_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ drum set to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum rhythms by
using one hand and his left foot. Just 20 months later, Allen made his triumphant post-accident debut on 16
August 1986 at the "Monsters of Rock" festival at Castle Donington. The comeback was a huge success and
the (12) Hy_ _ _ _ _ _ album released a year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy: it sold over 20
million copies worldwide! Rick Allen thought up the title of the album, referring to his 1984 auto accident
and the ensuing worldwide media (13) co_ _ _ _ _ _ surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Centre in 2006, Allen has dedicated himself to helping war
veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of (14) in_ _ _ _ _ _ similar to his
own. He is trying to teach others how to (15) ov_ _ _ _ _ _ the obstacles along their path to recovery and
has started the Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works closely with (16) w_ _ _ _ ed
military members to inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The foundation offers
free tickets to every Def Leppard show.
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a 2001 TV movie about the band.
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
[email protected]
5
WORKSHEET 2B
Work in pairs. Find and correct 16 mistakes in the following text without looking at the original.
The mistakes can be wrong spelling, missing word, wrong word form, wrong verb tense, wrong
pronoun, wrong preposition, etc.
Rick Allen is famous for overcome the complete amputation of his left arm and continuing to play with the
band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success worldwide.
When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an advert placed from a band called Def Leppard,
who were looking for a drummer and on 1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the band. In
1979, he dropped out of school (other band members quit the jobs around the same time) to concentrate
on a career in music. In November of that year, they played shows as a support act for AC/DC. On
December 31, 1984 Allen (21 years old) was drove his car to a party at his family's home and was involved
in an accident while racing another car. He misjudged an approaching turn, lost control of his car, and drove
through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times and he was ejected from the driver seat, with
his left arm severed because the seat belt was not properly fastened. Doctors initially reattached Allen's
arm but, because infection, it must be amputated.
In hospital Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very depressed
as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates decided
they would wait for their drummer to recover and play with their again. Neither Allen nor his bandmates
gave up, and with his mates’ full support, Allen meet with some engineers to design a customized drum set
to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum rhythms by using one hand and the left foot.
Just 20 months later, Allen made his triumfant post-accident debut on 16 August 1986 at the "Monsters of
Rock" festival at Castle Donington. The comeback was a huge success and the ‘Hysteria’ album released a
year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy: it sold over 20 million copies worldwide! Rick Allen
thought up the title of the album, referring to his 1984 auto accident and the ensuing worldwide media
coverage surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Centre in 2006, Allen has dedication himself to helping war
veterans which suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of injuries similar to his own.
He is trying to teach others how to overcome the obstacles along their path to recovery and has started the
Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that work closely with wounded military members to
inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The foundation offers free tickets to every
Def Leppard show.
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a 2001 TV movie of the band.
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
[email protected]
6
Do you agree with this quotation?
“Part of the problem with the word 'disabilities' is that it immediately suggests an inability to see
or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who can't
feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people
who aren't able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfilment in
their lives, or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life
no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.”
[Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember]
What do you think of the following quotation?
“Take this obstacle and make it the reason to have a big life. It takes having obstacles to learn and
grow and be better.”
[Orlando Bloom]
Orlando Bloom is the famous English actor who played the parts of the elf-prince Legolas in The
Lord of the Rings and the blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
Bloom suffers from dyslexia.
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7
A story of solid rock friendship, by Scott-Monkhouse, Anila Ruth
Teacher’s Notes & Key
Types of activity:
Jigsaw reading, involving: preparing questions to complete gaps, asking each other questions, answering,
listening, filling in gaps. Revision of vocabulary. Correcting mistakes. All activities are semi-controlled.
Tasks:
To practise all 4 skills, i.e. read a text containing gaps, exchange information to fill in text, listen to
answers and write them in the gaps.
Objective:
To read about the willingness to overcome disadvantages, the power of friendship and the importance
of having objectives.
Preparation:
Make one copy per student of the definition of friendship.(Page 1)
Make copies of worksheet 1A (Page 2)for half the class, and of worksheet 1B (Page 3) for the other
half.
Make one copy per student of Worksheet 2Aand/or 2B (page 4 and/or 5)
Make one copy per student of the quotations by Fred Rogers and by Orlando Bloom (page 6).
Timing:
60-90 minutes
PROCEDURE:
1. Ask students to define “friendship” (i.e. what does ‘being a friend’ mean? What qualities are
essential in true friendship? etc.) in pairs; discuss as a class, then hand out the definition and
ask if it corresponds to theirs. Point out the fact that psychologists stress the importance of
friendship in physical and mental health.
2. Tell students they are going to read a story about friendship, music and disability. Ask them to
think of words related to these topics and write them on the board.
3. Divide the class into two groups, A and B. Give one copy of worksheet A to each student in
group A, and one copy of worksheet B to each student in group B. Explain that they have the
same sheet but with different gaps, and that the gaps are numbered (odd numbers for Student
A, even numbers for Student B). Ask them to work in pairs within their group to complete the
questions at the bottom of their handout. The teacher monitors and checks that the questions
are correct.
4. Reorganise students into new pairs each made up of one A student and one B student. The
students now take turns at asking and answering questions to complete their text. At the end
they compare their completed texts.
5. Ask students what they think of the story. Class discussion/feedback.
Ask students what factors they believe are important in the story. The answers should lead to
Allen’s willpower and determination to overcome the consequences of his disability, the value of
his friends’ support, the existence of an objective to reach.
6. (Optional) Watch an interview with Rick Allen about his recovery after losing his arm. This was
a half hour programme called Fighting Back shown on BBC1 on the 19 August 1992 in the UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE_XdRXQPFQ
This video clip is also available on Disabled Access Friendly’s site, where it is given in two
different formats. Copy/paste this link into your browser.
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
[email protected]
8
http://www.disabledaccessfriendly.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=318:b1-c1-scottmonkhouse-anila-ruth-a-story-of-rock-solid-friendship&catid=67:video-clips-forlessons&Itemid=256
1. You will find it embedded as a YouTube video clip. You will need an internet connection in your
classroom to play it.
2. You will find it as an mp4 file. You can save this version to your own computer, which means
you don’t need an internet connection in your classroom to play it. Just right click on “Download
video in mp4 format” and select “Save link as” to save it to your computer.
(Optional) Discuss the following words spoken by Rick Allen:
“Before my accident I was a little too selfish and self-absorbed and for me, to now be at the
place where I can kind of give back and inspire people, I'm blessed. I'm really blessed.”
7. Give each student a copy of Worksheet 2A and get them to complete the 16 missing words in
pairs without looking at the original, and trying to work them out by referring to the context.
Otherwise (or afterwards) give each student a copy of Worksheet 2B and in pairs get them to
find and correct 16 mistakes without looking at the original. Explain that mistakes can be in
word form, spelling, verb tense, preposition, missing word, etc.
8. Finally, ask students to discuss the quotation by Fred Rogers in pairs and then discuss together
as a class. Use the quotation by Orlando Bloom as a way to round off the lesson.
9. Homework: the students write a summary of the story using key words (e.g. the 16 words they
completed in worksheet 2A).
Follow up:
Project work:
a) Students carry out research on other famous disabled people or fictional characters (e.g.
Disney’s Nemo and his “withered” fin, Perry Mason, the Marvel hero Devil, etc.);
b) Students carry out research on organisations and/or groups which provide help to disabled
people and their families, and perhaps develop a fund raising project to help support them.
Writing: Students write a letter/email to Rick Allen
Alternatives:
The texts can be simplified depending on the level of the students.
The teacher can provide a glossary, with either a simple definition in English, or a translation in the
students’ L1 (with a monolingual class). Otherwise, the teacher can pre-teach difficult/unknown lexis
which might interfere with carrying out the activity.
Motivation:
Reading about a young disabled person who had to deal with a traumatic event and found support in
music and his friends can be particularly motivating and inspiring especially to teenage students.
Approach:
Task Based Learning.
It is a holistic activity, all skills are practised and it is non-threatening even for shy students.
Sources:
Mainly websites from Wikipedia and YouTube.
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9
WORKSHEET 1A: KEY
1)
What is Rick Allen’s full birth name?
3)
Where and when was he born?
5)
What did Allen’s mother do when he was 14?
7)
Why did he drop out of school?
9)
Where was Allen driving to on 31 December 1984?
11) What did doctors initially do?
13) What did Allen’s bandmates decide?
15) How could Allen still play some drum rhythms?
17) How many copies did Hysteria sell?
19) What has Allen dedicated himself to since his visit to the Army Medical Centre?
21) What does the Foundation offer?
23) What is Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story?
WORKSHEET 1B:
KEY
2)
What is Rick Allen’s nickname?
4)
What is his occupation?
6)
Why is Allen famous?
8)
What were the band Def Leppard looking for?
10) Who did the band play as a support act for?
12) Why was Allen’s left arm severed?
14) What did Allen think he could not do?
16) Why did Allen meet with some engineers?
18) Where did Allen make his post-accident debut?
20) Who thought up the title of the album?
22) What do the war veterans in the Centre suffer from?
24) What has Allen started since the visit?
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10
WORKSHEET 2A: KEY
Rick Allen is famous for overcoming the complete (1) amputation of his left arm and continuing to play
with the band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success (2) worldwide.
When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an advert placed by a band called Def Leppard, who
were looking for a (3) drummer, and on 1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the band. In
1979, he dropped out of school (other band members quit their jobs around the same time) to concentrate
on a career in music. In November of that year, they played shows as a support act for AC/DC. On
December 31, 1984 Allen (21 years old) was driving his car to a party at his family's home and was (4)
involved in an accident while racing another car. He misjudged an approaching turn, lost control of his car,
and drove through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times and he was (5) ejected from the
driver’s seat, with his left arm severed because the seat belt was not properly (6) fastened. Doctors
initially reattached Allen's arm but, because of (7) infection, it had to be amputated.
In hospital Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very (8)
depressed as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates
decided they would wait for their drummer to (9) recover and play with them again. Neither Allen nor his
bandmates gave up, and with his mates’ full (10) support, Allen met with some engineers to design a (11)
customized drum set to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum rhythms by using one
hand and his left foot. Just 20 months later, Allen made his triumphant post-accident debut on 16 August
1986 at the "Monsters of Rock" festival at Castle Donington. The comeback was a huge success and the
(12) Hysteria album released a year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy: it sold over 20 million
copies worldwide! Rick Allen thought up the title of the album, referring to his 1984 auto accident and the
ensuing worldwide media (13) coverage surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Centre in 2006, Allen has dedicated himself to helping war
veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of (14) injuries similar to his
own. He is trying to teach others how to (15) overcome the obstacles along their path to recovery and has
started the Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works closely with (16) wounded
military members to inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The foundation offers
free tickets to every Def Leppard show.
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a 2001 TV movie about the band.
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
[email protected]
11
WORKSHEET 2B: KEY
Rick Allen is famous for (1) overcoming the complete amputation of his left arm and continuing to play
with the band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success worldwide.
When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an advert placed (2) by a band called Def Leppard,
who were looking for a drummer, and on 1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the band. In
1979, he dropped out of school (other band members quit (3) their jobs around the same time) to
concentrate on a career in music. In November of that year, they played shows as a support act for AC/DC.
On December 31, 1984 Allen (21 years old) (4) was driving his car to a party at his family's home and was
involved in an accident while racing another car. He misjudged an approaching turn, lost control of his car,
and drove through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times and he was ejected from the (5)
driver’s seat, with his left arm severed because the seat belt was not properly fastened. Doctors initially
reattached Allen's arm but, because (6) of infection, it (7) had to be amputated.
In hospital Allen thought that he could not continue drumming for Def Leppard and became very depressed
as a consequence of what he defined “the darkest time” of his life. However, Allen’s bandmates decided
they would wait for their drummer to recover and play with (8) them again. Neither Allen nor his
bandmates gave up, and with his mates’ full support, Allen (9) met with some engineers to design a
customized drum set to assist his drumming so that he could still play some drum rhythms by using one
hand and (10) his left foot. Just 20 months later, Allen made his (11) triumphant post-accident debut on
16 August 1986 at the "Monsters of Rock" festival at Castle Donington. The comeback was a huge success
and the Hysteria album released a year later solidified their place in the rock hierarchy: it sold over 20 (12)
million copies worldwide! Rick Allen thought up the title of the album, referring to his 1984 auto accident
and the ensuing worldwide media coverage surrounding it.
Since an inspiring visit to an Army Medical Centre in 2006, Allen has (13) dedicated himself to helping war
veterans (14) who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of injuries similar to his
own. He is trying to teach others how to overcome the obstacles along their path to recovery and has
started the Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that (15) works closely with wounded
military members to inspire them through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The foundation offers
free tickets to every Def Leppard show.
Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story is a 2001 TV movie (16) about the band.
www.disabled-accessfriendly.com
Facebook: Disabled Access Friendly
[email protected]