Transcript
News quiz 2013
Ideas on how to use the quiz
Team quiz Divide students into groups of 3-4 and give each group cut-up strips with the questions (without numbers). Ss first answer the questions in groups. You can then ask for feedback and award a point for each correct answer. Later give out the answer sheet and ask Ss to match the questions with the answers. A stapler might be handy too to staple the cut-up question strips to the answer sheet. Ss find the answers to the questions they didn't know or weren’t sure about. Classroom management tip: This activity works better with similar-ability students grouped together. Ask early finishers to underline / highlight useful lexical chunks in the news quiz (see Language Focus below). OR give weaker groups fewer questions.
Table quiz The same activity can be done with the teacher as a quizmaster. Supply each group with a numbered sheet for writing the answers on (not provided here). The questions can be divided into the following categories: SCIENCE & GLOBAL ISSUES - Questions 1, 3, 5, 11, 14 SPORTS, CELEBS & ENTERTAINMENT – Questions 2, 4, 7, 8, 13, 16 POLITICS & ECONOMICS - Questions 6, 9, 10, 12, 15 Classroom management tip: This activity would work better with students divided into mixed-ability / heterogeneous groups.
Webquest If you have access to the Internet in your classroom, instead of giving Ss the answers, ask them to find information on the Internet in groups/pairs. Each pair / group then shares with the class what they have found. This can also be assigned as out-of-class work. Suggested websites for lower level students / young learners: CBBC (Children's BBC) News Round: www.bbc.co.uk/newsround Our Little Earth: www.ourlittleearth.com Simple English Wikipedia: http://simple.wikipedia.org
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
Mini-presentations Ask each student individually to choose one news story they are familiar with and share with the rest of the class (or in their groups) what they know about it. Give them about three minutes each. Ask Ss to find out more about the topics they didn't know about and make another mini-presentation for the next lesson. Top 20 Get Ss to add 4 more questions to the quiz and then ask other teams. Ranking Ask Ss to rank the stories in order of importance to make a Top 10 Hottest News of the year list. To turn it into a writing activity, you can use Tricider with students writing arguments in support of a particular news item. See this video tutorial: www.teachertrainingvideos.com/tricider Make your own Ask Ss in groups to design similar quizzes based on the local news stories of 2013 using lexical chunks (see below) from the original quiz. NB. Make sure the news stories from your country have not been included in the original quiz.
Language focus: grammar
The Passive Ask Ss to highlight the examples of the Passive constructions in the quiz. Which of them can be changed into the active voice? For example, new words are coined is used rather than the active voice people coin new words because it is clear from the context who coins them, i.e. the agent (people) is obvious Examples from the upper level version: was hit the hardest new words are coined was laid to rest meat products were withdrawn being granted asylum Examples from the lower level version: was hit the hardest was laid to rest after being elected in… /was elected as the new head were removed from the shelves
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
Language focus: lexis
The quiz contains a lot of collocations and other lexical chunks which are worth pointing out. They can be written on the board or highlighted if you are using a projector (and MS Word) or IWB. I've highlighted some below using the following colours: Collocations with Verbs Adjective + Noun/Noun + noun collocations Other chunks Alternatively, if your students have all the questions in front of them, you can "dictate" the chunks you want them to underline. For example, 1) Underline a combination of a verb, adjective and noun which means "do a lot of damage" = caused massive destruction 2) Underline a chunk which means "awaited with great interest and excitement" = eagerly anticipated etc. See my article Revisiting Texts on the TeachingEnglish website to get a better idea how I do it: http://tinyurl.com/revtexts Note that a lot of Verb + Noun collocations version may consist of seemingly easy combinations of already known words (e.g. take + office, make + headlines, met + his death etc.) Go home and look up (additional vocabulary) Give your Ss a list of vocabulary items for self-study – some of these may be half-known, others new. Tell them to study them at home using an online dictionary (http://dictionary.cambridge.org or www.macmillandictionary.com) and relate them to the news stories. In other words, they learn new vocab out of context (even though online dictionaries provide pretty good contextualised examples) and then ”insert” them into the context. List of items for the upper level version devastation coverage on the brink of suffer a stroke step down antics remote contamination Typhoon Haiyan (Question 1) as in “media coverage” – e.g. Royal Baby (Q 2) bankruptcy - Cyprus (Q 12) M. Thatcher (Q 9) Pope’s resignation (Q 11) or M. Thatcher (Q 9) as in on-stage (and off-stage) antics - Miley Cyrus (Q 16) Qunu village / Mandela (Q 6) the horsemeat scandal (Q 15)
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
News quiz 2013 (Upper)
1. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms in recorded history, caused massive destruction and claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people. What country was hit the hardest? Of all newly born babies in 2013, George Alexander Louis was probably the most eagerly anticipated. Why did he receive a lot of media attention?
2.
3.
Thousands of new English words are coined every year. The prestigious Oxford Dictionary picked “selfie” as the word of the year 2013. What does it mean?
4.
What British football club and its fans bid farewell to Sir Alex Ferguson who retired as its manager after 26 years?
5.
Like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, the skies over Chelyabinsk in Central Russia were set ablaze by a massive explosion on a chilly February morning. What was it?
6.
Thousands of people gathered in the small village of Qunu in December 2013 to pay their last respects to a famous politician and civil rights fighter who was laid to rest there. What’s his name? Andy Murray won the men’s final at Wimbledon becoming the first British tennis player to win the trophy in 77 years. Who did he play against in the final?
7.
8.
After five successful seasons, a ground-breaking TV drama about a terminally ill school teacher who turns to manufacturing drugs to provide a nest egg for his family drew to a close in September 2013. What is it called? Former British PM Margaret Thatcher passed away in April 2013 after a long struggle with poor health. How many terms did she serve as Prime Minister after taking office in 1979?
9.
10.
Who are the Tsarnaev brothers and why did they make headlines in 2013?
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
11.
Pope Benedict XVI became the first Pope in almost 600 years to resign of his own will. What country does his successor Pope Francis come from?
12.
In order to save the country from economic collapse, the government of Cyprus came up with a controversial plan which caused a backlash among the local population and numerous expats living on the island. What was the plan?
13.
Film star Paul Walker met his death in a tragic car crash in November 2013. What’s the name of the film series in which he played an undercover cop turned street racer?
14.
Why were thousands of meat products withdrawn from sale across Europe in January 2013?
15.
How long did the American computer specialist and whistleblower Edward Snowden spend in a Moscow airport before being granted asylum in Russia?
16.
Former child star Myley Cyrus caused controversy with her outrageous performance at the MTV Video Music Awards 2013. What’s the name of the character she played in a children’s TV series in her more innocent years?
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
News quiz 2013
1. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in history, caused severe destruction and killed more than 5,000 people in November 2013. What country was hit the hardest?
2.
Of all newly born babies in 2013, George Alexander Louis was probably the most long-awaited. Why did he receive a lot of media attention?
3.
Thousands of new words make their way into the English language every year. The Oxford Dictionary chose “selfie” as the word of the year 2013. What does it mean?
4.
What British football club said goodbye to Sir Alex Ferguson who retired as its manager after 26 years?
5.
There was a loud bang and a huge explosion as a strange object fell to Earth on a cold February morning in Chelyabinsk in Central Russia. What was it?
6.
Thousands of people gathered in the remote village of Qunu in December 2013 to pay their last respects to a famous human rights fighter who was laid to rest there. What’s his name?
7.
Andy Murray won the men’s final at Wimbledon becoming the first British tennis player to win the title in 77 years. Who did he play against in the final?
8.
After five seasons, a successful TV series about a school teacher who starts a drug business in order to support his family came to an end in September 2013. What was it called?
9.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died in April 2013 after suffering from poor health in recent years. How many terms did she serve as Prime Minister after being elected in 1979? Who are the Tsarnaev brothers and why did they make headlines in 2013?
10.
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
11.
After Pope Benedict XVI decided to step down as the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was elected as the new head. What country does he come from?
12.
In order to save the country from a financial crisis, the government of Cyprus came up with a controversial plan in March 2013. What was it?
13.
Film star Paul Walker met his tragic death in a car crash in November 2013. What’s the name of the film series in which he played a cop turned car racer?
14.
Why were thousands of meat products removed from the shelves across Europe in January 2013?
15.
How long did the former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who revealed US government secrets, spend in a Moscow airport before he was allowed to stay in Russia?
16.
Former child star Miley Cyrus caused a lot of controversy in 2013. What’s the name of the girl she used to play in a children’s TV series before she decided to reinvent herself?
Developed by Leo Selivan http://leoxicon.blogspot.com
