3) Discuss How many friends do you need?
Justin Bieber said this week that he only has four friends. "I only have like four people that I keep in contact with... I don't need a bunch of friends to make me happy," he said.
Social media like Facebook allows us to have hundreds if not thousands. What is the best number of friends to have?
4) Listen
Nikki Moore, founder of the online technology site girlgeekchic.com, and Sarfraz Manzoor, writer and broadcaster, discuss how many friends is good for you.
How many friends do they think is the right number
More Classroom ice breaking activity - Speed dating
Best done at the start of a course. Students have to find the person in the class they have the most in common with.
Organize students in a circle.
Students have two minutes to interview each other on habits, likes, dislikes etc.
After 2 minutes students change places to talk to someone new. Continue until everyone has finished
Each student reports to class who they have the most in common with.
watch a short debate about capital punishment from the BBC's Question Time programme
practise vocabulary connected with crime
look at some expressions connected with debating and stating opinions
debate a topical question
write an argument essay
1) Discuss
Capital punishment
What is it?
Is it fair?
Is it necessary?
Is it wrong?
is it revenge?
Do two wrongs make a right?
What is your opinion?
2) Before you watch Vocabulary check
The words on the right are used in the clip you are going to watch. Do you understand them all? Match them with the definitions in the drop-down menu to check you know them.
3) Watch
Question Time is BBC TV debate show where a panel of guests discuss issues of the day. This program is from 22/11/2011
The participants in this clip are; Priti Patel - Conservative MP http://www.priti4witham.com/ Ian Hislop - Editor of Private Eye (a British satirical and current affairs magazine) Justine Roberts - co-founder of Mumsnet. Watch the clip
What opinions about Capital punishment are stated by the participants in the debate?
4) Practise Look at this summarized transcript of the debate.
Fill in the gaps with a word from the list.
5) Write Choose 1 of the questions and write an answer. Look at the website below if you need some more ideas or views on capital punishment.
In many countries where capital punishment has been abolished there has been a corresponding rise in violent crime rates. For this reason, many governments are considering its re-introduction as a form of deterrent. Should capital punishment be re-introduced? (IELTS)
"Without capital punishment our lives are less secure and crimes or violence increase". To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? (IELTS)
"By punishing murderers with the death penalty, society is also guilty of committing murder. Therefore, life in prison is a better punishment for murderers." (IELTS)
6) Debate Debating Language 1) Look at the text again
What language do the debaters use to state their opinions?
2) Look at the phrases below. Fill in the gaps
3) Debate for IELTS
Many IELTS students have problems thinking of ideas to put in their essays. Why not make your own version of Question Time? Choose some IELTS questions / topics and debate them in class.
Make a note of the points people make and include them in the essays which you can write after you've finished debating them. Look at the questions for debate below. Choose one.
A) In pairs or groups one person / group thinks of ideas to support an idea. The other person / group thinks of ideas to oppose it.
B) Debate the topic. Try and convince your "opponent" that you are right and give examples which support your points.
C) Have a "chairman" who can moderate the debate and make sure everyone gets an equal turn.
D) Let others in the class decide who has argued their ideas the best and "won" the debate.
E) Don't forget to use some of the debating language.
F) Use reason and logic. Don't get too emotional!
Some ideas for debating;
Downloading free films and music from the internet is stealing. Do you agree or disagree?
"Free Speech does not only cover saying what your opinion is without reprisals; it also gives you the right to be as foul, unpleasant and vile as you feel the need to be". What do you think?
Should rich countries forgive all debts for poor countries?
Should money be spent on space exploration?
Is animal testing necessary?
Will the Internet bring people of the world closer together?
Should retirement be compulsory at 65 years of age?
Education is not a luxury, but a basic human right and as such should be free for everyone irrespective of personal wealth. Do you agree or disagree?
Children should never be educated at home by their parents. Do you agree or disagree?
Many people believe that women make better parents than men and that this is why they have the greater role in raising children in most societies. Others claim that men are just as good as women at parenting. What do you think?
Most high level jobs are done by men. Should the government encourage a certain percentage of these jobs to be reserved for women?
Should criminals be punished with lengthy jail terms or re-educated and rehabilitated using community service programs for instance, before being reintroduced to society?
All blood sports should be banned. Do you agree or disagree?
Should governments ever intervene in the rights of the individual?
Global warming is the most serious issue that the world is facing today. Do you agree or disagree?
listen to people comparing university education with work experience
do 2 listening comprehension exercises
discuss and write about education
1) Discuss
What is the value of a university education?
Is it a means to an economic goal, a route to a better job?
Is it an end in itself, learning for the sake of learning?
Does having a lot of qualifications mean you will be good at your job?
Is it better to leave school and learn the skills needed for work a while working?
Does / should a university education prepare you for life?
Is going to university the best option for you? Why?
2) Listen - Why some18-year-olds are shunning university.
On this clip from Radio 4 Quentin Letts talks to A-level students about where they see their futures and if they see university as the best option.
What advantages do they give for going straight into work?
What advantages do they give for going to university?
Listen and find out.
Vocabulary
A-levels = A-level exam courses are studied over a two-year period and are recognised as the standard for assessing the suitability of applicants for academic courses in English, Welsh, and Northern Irish universities.
Is it possible to succeed in life with going to university or having academic qualifications?
Do you know anyone who has done so?
4) Listen - Jon Snow: There is life after A-levels
Jon Snow
You are going to listen to Jon Snow (born 28 September 1947). Jon is a British journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News in the UK. He was not a very succesful student at school but says "there is life after "A" levels".
Listen and find out.
What does he think you have to do to be successful in life?
Discuss the points you will make, you introduction and your conclusion.
Make a plan of the points you want to make and write your answer.
1) Some people believe that studying at university or college is the best route to a successful career, while others believe that it is better to get a job straight after school.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2) Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer.
What, in your opinion, should be the function of a university?
1) Discuss flying and air safety procedures 2) Watch a flight safety video and do some comprehension activities 3) Look at and practise the following grammar points; a) the zero conditional with an imperative b) "should" and "were to" in conditionals to express improbability eg "If something should / were to happen..." c) language for advice, instructions and obligation 4) Write an instruction / advice leaflet 5) Adapt your leaflet into a powerpoint presentation or film
Teacher's notes;
1. Answers are in the powerpoint presentation at the bottom of the post
2. The All Blacks are the New Zealand rugby team.
1) Discuss
How often do you fly?
Do you pay attention to the flight safety demonstrations?
Do you know what to do in an emergency?
Make a note of any vocabulary you need to explain what to do. For example; take off, land, exit, signs, seats, fasten, seat-belt, life-jacket, oxygen mask, overhead compartments, evacuate
2) Video a) Do you know..?
You are going to watch a flight safety video. How many of these questions do you know the answers to?
Where should you store your baggage?
What should you do if the seat-belt sign is switched on?
If an oxygen mask should drop down in front of you, what would you do?
What should you make sure of before you help anyone?
If an emergency were to happen during take-off or landing, what should you do?
Use the information from the video to write a flight safety advice leaflet. or
Write a leaflet advising people what to do in an emergency
For example - A fire
Does your school or college have fire drills?
Do you know what to do and where to go if there was a fire?
Use some of the language from the video
If the alarm were to ring...
If the alarm should ring...
Should the alarm ring...
Make sure you...
All students must...
We recommend (that) you + verb
5) Speaking
Turn your leaflet from part 4 into a presentation or film.
Make a powerpoint presentation
or
direct and act in an instructional film telling people what to do in an emergency
do some comprehension activities based on the video which introduce and practise the 3rd conditional
look at and practise the 3rd conditional using photos from a presentation
reflect on the past and say what you would have done differently using the 3rd conditional
1) Discuss
Who invented television?
Who invented the internet?
What famous inventors do you know?
What did they invent?
What modern activities did they make possible?
What do you think have been the most important inventions in history?
2) Video clip - "10 inventors who were killed by their own inventions"
Before you watch, look at the list of inventors and inventions below.
The names are in the correct order but the inventions are not. As you watch, match the name with the correct invention.
Can you guess any before you watch?
The inventors were killed by their own inventions. How do you think they died?
The numbers are in reverse order as the video is a top 10 countdown. One is done for you.
You can drag and drop the inventions.
Watch the video and check.
3) Discuss
All of the inventors were killed by their own inventions.
If they had known...
What would the inventors have changed?
What would they have done differently?
4) Match the beginnings and ends of these sentences
How much can you remember?
The beginnings and ends of the sentences below have been mixed up.
Match the beginnings of the sentences in the left hand column with the ends in the right hand column.
The first is done for you.
You can drag and drop the ends of the sentences.
Watch the video again if you need to check.
Note for 3 and 4 - been strangled and been convicted are passives.
Printable version here
5) Presentation on the 3rd conditional
If the inventors had been more careful, they would have lived.
If we are imagining changes in the past what language do we use?
Look at all the sentences in ex 4. How do we make the 3rd conditional?
Look at the presentation to check.
Reflect on the past. Think. Imagine. In the last 12 months...
What would you have done if you'd had more time?
Would you have studied more English?
Would you have looked for a new job?
What would you have done differently if you'd had other choices?
Do you have any regrets in life?
What would you have changed if you'd had the chance? If I'd had the chance I would have...
If you had known a year ago what you know now, what would or wouldn't you have done differently in the last 12 months? If I'd known 12 months ago that ..., I would have...
What would you have changed in your childhood or when you were at school / college / university ? If I had studied music, I would have learnt to sing
What things wouldn't you have done? If I had known .., I wouldn't have...
Here's a list of inventors and their inventions. Find 5 which you think are the most useful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors
Can you make some sentences in the 3rd conditional?.
Imagine...
If Tim Berners Lee hadn't invented the world wide web, they wouldn't have sold so many computers
If John Logie Baird hadn't invented TV, we wouldn't have been able to watch so many TV programmes
http://www.youtube.com/alltime10s Many thanks to All Time 10s who provided the video in this post with incredible speed when I asked about the idea on their facebook page. If they hadn't provided the video, this post would not have been possible!
3) Discuss / Write
Look at the picture. What dangers can you see?
How many sentences can you make using the 1st conditional?
eg If someone opens the door, the woman will fall off the chair.
Find / take some photos of your class / college / home and make sentences about any dangers you see.
Make a health and safety leaflet. Remember to use some 1st Conditionals If you..., you will...
Some suggested answers for the picture - highlight below
If someone opens the door, the woman will fall off the chair
If she falls, she will hurt herself
If the kettle falls off the cupboard, boiling water will burn someone.
If the woman at the desk touches the electic fire, she will burn her feet
If the electric fire gets too hot, it will burn the desk or start a fire
There are boxes and a cup on the floor. If the man trips on them, he will drop the box
The man is smoking. If the cigarette ash falls in the box, it will start a fire
There are too many plugs in the socket. If they get too hot, they will start a fire
If someone opens the door, he will trip on the wires
There are too many books and files on the high shelf. If it breaks, they will fall and break the computer or hurt someone.
What would happen if you were locked in an airtight room? How long would you survive?
What would happen if a large meteorite hit the Earth?
3) Reading / Webquest
Read the questions for each text and then find the answers
1) What would happen if you stopped sleeping?
Look at these questions
What happens if you don't get enough sleep?
What are the 3 theories of why we sleep?
What do you think happens after three days of no sleep
What would happen if you were forced to stay awake?
Now read here to find the answers
To answer this, we need to look at some basics about sleep. The amount you need depends on your age. A newborn baby might sleep 20 hours a day while a 4-year old might need only 12 hours. The average for 10-year-olds is 10 hours a day and most adults seem to need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. And the average senior citizen can often get by with just six or seven hours a day. Whatever amount you need, you know you feel great after a good night of sleep. But, why is that? Does anything important happen during sleep? Yes, scientists have found that two key things happen during sleep: growth hormone in children is secreted and chemicals important to the immune system are secreted. If you don't get enough sleep, you're more prone to disease, and a child's growth can be stunted by sleep deprivation.
Beyond the immune system and growth hormone factors, no one really knows why it is that we sleep, but there are all kinds of theories, including the following. For one, sleep gives the body a chance to repair muscles and other tissues, replace aging or dead cells. Also, sleep gives the brain a chance to organize and archive memories (dreaming is probably a part of that process). Furthermore, sleep may be a way of recharging the brain. And finally, in very early times, sleep made sense in that people couldn't really do anything in the dark anyway, so they might as well "turn off" and save the energy.
A good way to understand why you sleep is to look at what happens when we don't get enough. If you've ever pulled an all-nighter, you know that missing one night of sleep isn't fatal. A person will generally be irritable during the next day and will become tired easily or will be totally wired because of adrenalin. If a person misses two nights of sleep, it gets worse. Concentration is difficult and attention span falls by the wayside. Mistakes increase. After three days, a person will start to hallucinate and clear thinking is impossible. With continued wakefulness, a person can lose grasp on reality. A person who gets just a few hours of sleep per night can experience many of the same problems over time.
It only takes three days of sleep deprivation to cause a person to hallucinate. Obviously, if you were to go for a longer period of time, the symptoms would worsen and in time, would most likely prove fatal. Rats forced to stay awake continuously will eventually die, proving that sleep is definitely essential. So, unless you were being forced to stay awake, you'd probably fall asleep before something as drastic as death could happen.
It's interesting to know that some people can function on very little sleep if necessary. A portion of a Navy SEAL's rigorous training program is a good example of this phenomenon. During a particularly rigorous week of training, the trainees must engage in highly physical activities for about six days - all of their hard work is accomplished on about four hours of sleep for the entire week!
Read the text below. Fill in the gaps with these sentences endings;
a) sea levels would not be affected.
b) it wouldn't flood all the Earth.
c) it would add another 20 feet to the oceans.
d) all of these cities would be under water.
e) sea levels around the world would rise about 200 feet.
3) What would happen if you were locked in an airtight room? How long would you survive?
Read the text to find the answer
In order to answer this question, we need to figure out how much oxygen you actually use in a normal day. First, let's assume that you're sitting in a chair, just hanging out. Maybe you're watching TV. You are not panicking, and you are not exercising. You might take 10 to 12 breaths per minute. That means that you will inhale and exhale seven to eight liters of air (about one-fourth of a cubic foot) every minute.
You could actually measure this yourself by holding a garbage bag in your hand and exhaling each breath into it. A typical white garbage bag that you find in the kitchen holds 50 liters or so. It would take you five to ten minutes to fill it full of air, depending on how big you are, and what you are doing. If you do the math, you can see that in a day you breathe something like 11,000 liters of air. That's roughly 200 garbage bags full of air, or 388 cubic feet of air.
Now, what if someone were to completely seal your bedroom with plastic and lock you inside. How long would you last? A typical bedroom is roughly 12 feet by 12 feet by 8 feet. That is 1,152 cubic feet or 32,621 liters. It would take you three days to inhale and exhale 1,152 cubic feet of air. However, that does not mean that you would actually be able to live in your sealed room for three days.
If you could somehow use your room as a giant "air tank" -- so you only breathed the air in it once -- that would be one thing. This is what people do when they go scuba diving. They breathe air out of their tank and then exhale it into the water. But you're not just breathing in - you're breathing out into the room, too.
Since you are sitting inside a sealed room, you have two problems. The first problem comes because you are breathing out carbon dioxide with every breath. You are "polluting" the room with carbon dioxide. The other problem is that, with each breath, you are consuming oxygen. So the amount of carbon dioxide in the room is rising with every breath, and the amount of oxygen is falling.
When the person first locks you in the room, about 21% of the air in your room is oxygen. The rest is nitrogen. There is hardly any carbon dioxide at all in the room (0.05% or less). Now you take a breath. What goes in is 21% oxygen and 0% carbon dioxide. What comes out is 16% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide. Once you get to the point where the room's total oxygen falls to 19% and the carbon dioxide level reaches 2%, you're in trouble. Not only are you getting less oxygen, but you're now also taking in carbon dioxide, which is actually a poison.
Therefore, in reality, you will only last a day and a half or so. Then your body will begin having problems. So, you had better start working on finding a way out of that room!
You're more prone to disease, and a child's growth can be stunted by sleep deprivation.
A) Sleep gives the body a chance to repair muscles and other tissues and replace aging or dead cells. B) Sleep gives the brain a chance to organize and archive memories (dreaming is probably a part of that process). C) Sleep may be a way of recharging the brain.
A person will start to hallucinate and clear thinking is impossible. With continued wakefulness, a person can lose grasp on reality.
You'd probably fall asleep before something as drastic as death could happen.
Ex 4
Life would not survive and the oceans would be vaporized
watch a clip about what a man learnt from a plane crash
read a text and do a vocabulary matching exercise
discuss what you would do in an imaginary situation using the 2nd conditional
write about what we learn from difficulty
Ric Elias was a survivor of Flight 1549 which crash-landed soon after takeoff from New York in 2009. In this short clip he tells us the three things he learned about himself from the accident and how everything in his life changed from that moment on.
1) Introduction
Watch this clip about Flight 1549
What caused the accident?
Where did the aircraft land?
Highlight here for answers = 1) Birds 2) In the Hudson River
2) Discuss
Have you ever flown in an aeroplane?
Do you like flying?
Have you ever had any problems while flying?
What do you think about when you fly?
How would you feel if something like Flight 1549 happened to you?
Do you think we can learn anything when bad things happen to us?
What do you think are the most important things in life?
3) Read the following text
Ric Elias descibes what happened when the plane stated to fall.
Find the answers to these questions while reading
Where was he sitting?
Who did he talk to?
What three things did the pilot do?
Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D. I was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants. So I looked at them right away, and they said, "No problem. We probably hit some birds." The pilot had already turned the plane around, and we weren't that far. You could see Manhattan. Two minutes later, three things happened at the same time. The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River. That's usually not the route. He turns off the engines. Now imagine being in a plane with no sound. And then he says three words -- the most unemotional three words I've ever heard. He says, "Brace for impact." I didn't have to talk to the flight attendant anymore. I could see in her eyes, it was terror. Life was over.
Answers - Highlight here = 1) Seat 1D 2) Flight attendants 3) The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River. He turns off the engines. He says, "Brace for impact."
4) Watch the video
The title of this video is "3 things I learned while my plane crashed"
Before you watch - what 3 things about life do you think Ric learned?
Watch the video to find out if you are right.
Read the text to check your answers
Now I want to share with you three things I learned about myself that day. I learned that it all changes in an instant. We have this bucket list, we have these things we want to do in life, and I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to that I didn't, all the fences I wanted to mend, all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did. As I thought about that later on, I came up with a saying, which is, "I collect bad wines." Because if the wine is ready and the person is there, I'm opening it. I no longer want to postpone anything in life. And that urgency, that purpose, has really changed my life.
The second thing I learned that day -- and this is as we clear the George Washington Bridge, which was by not a lot -- I thought about, wow, I really feel one real regret. I've lived a good life. In my own humanity and mistakes, I've tried to get better at everything I tried. But in my humanity, I also allow my ego to get in. And I regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter with people that matter. And I thought about my relationship with my wife, with my friends, with people. And after, as I reflected on that, I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better. I've not had a fight with my wife in two years. It feels great. I no longer try to be right; I choose to be happy.
The third thing I learned -- and this is as your mental clock starts going, "15, 14, 13." You can see the water coming. I'm saying, "Please blow up." I don't want this thing to break in 20 pieces like you've seen in those documentaries. And as we're coming down, I had a sense of, wow, dying is not scary. It's almost like we've been preparing for it our whole lives. But it was very sad. I didn't want to go; I love my life. And that sadness really framed in one thought, which is, I only wish for one thing. I only wish I could see my kids grow up. About a month later, I was at a performance by my daughter -- first-grader, not much artistic talent ... ... yet. And I'm balling, I'm crying, like a little kid. And it made all the sense in the world to me. I realized at that point, by connecting those two dots, that the only thing that matters in my life is being a great dad. Above all, above all, the only goal I have in life is to be a good dad.
I was given the gift of a miracle, of not dying that day. I was given another gift, which was to be able to see into the future and come back and live differently. I challenge you guys that are flying today, imagine the same thing happens on your plane -- and please don't -- but imagine, and how would you change? What would you get done that you're waiting to get done because you think you'll be here forever? How would you change your relationships and the negative energy in them? And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can?
Thank you.
Answers - Highlight below
He no longer wants to postpone anything in life
He decided to eliminate negative energy from his life
The only goal he has in life is to be a good dad
5) Read the text again
Some words in the text have been highlighted in bold.
Can you match the words on the left with the definitions on the right?
The first has been done for you. You can drag and drop the words using your mouse.
Watch the clip on TED with an interactive transcript
At the end Ric says "I challenge you guys that are flying today, imagine the same thing happens on your plane... how would you change? What would you get done that you're waiting to get done because you think you'll be here forever? How would you change your relationships and the negative energy in them?"
Ric asks us to imagine this situation happening to us (although we hope it never does!)
If we are talking about imaginary situations in the present or future what tense do we use?
Answer = Highlight here 2nd Conditional = What would you do if it happened?
Would + verb + If +Past
or
If + Past + Would + verb. See presentation below
7) Now discuss these questions
Imagine you are Ric in the plane. If something like this happened to you...
What would you change about yourself?
Would you do anything different in your life?
What would you remember?
What would you be thankful for?
What would you regret?
What would you change in your relationships with your friends and family?
What decisions would you make for the future?
If you are not sure or can't remember how to use conditional 2 look here
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Most experiences in our lives that seemed difficult at the time become valuable lessons for the future. Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. (250 words - IELTS)
Writing tips and ideas - Don't forget to plan!
Look carefully at the question
Think about what you have learned in life (eg learning to drive, learning English, relationships...).
Do you agree with the statement? Why? Why not?
How much have you learned from doing things that seemed difficult at first?
Can you think of any examples? Say what was difficult about them and what you learned.
Contrast the idea; think of some easy things you have learned. Do you think they are as important? Do they give as much satisfaction?
What do we learn about ourselves from learning difficult things?
Don't forget to sum up your ideas in your conclusion.
How many friends do you need? 
How many friends do you need? 
