What should you do in a lightning storm?

You are going to 

• listen to a short radio interview about lightning
• look at vocabulary connected with storms, thunder and lightning and extreme weather
• do a comprehension exercise

1) Discuss

Public domain

• What kinds of extreme weather do you have in your country?
• What are the most dangerous kinds of weather?
• What is lightning?
• Are you afraid of it?
• Have you ever been struck by lightning?
• Do you know anyone who has been struck by lightning?
• What should you do in a lightning storm?
• Should you swim in the sea?
• Are you safe in a car?
• What are "wellies" and is it OK to wear them in a thunderstorm?
• What happens when lightning strikes a plane?
• Can lightning strike twice in the same place?
• What's a myth? Can you think of any examples?

Suggested examples of extreme / dangerous weather (students may have more).
Highlight below
tornado  hurricane  blizzard  thunderstorm  flood  hurricane  drought  lightning  ice  fog  heatwave  gales / high winds monsoon






2) Listen
Listen to lightning engineer Rhys Phillips on BBC Radio 4's PM program talking about lightning. 
How many of the questions above do you hear the answers to?

listen to ‘Thunderbolts of lightning, very very frightening’ on Audioboo

Listen again.
A) Do the vocabulary match and listen again.
Then do the comprehension exercise below.

B) Now fill in the gaps in the summary.

Download exercises here




3) Discuss

• What other dangerous kinds of weather are there? Think of some examples. 
• What should you do to avoid being hurt?

4) Write
Turn the information about lightning into an advice leaflet.
or
Make an advice or information leaflet about weather in your country.





5) Check Vocabulary
Can you explain the meaning of these words?

More
Weather forecast Elementary, Intermediate, Listening, Upper Intermediate, Weather 

The Truth About British Rain - The Great British W...Advanced, Describing a cycle, IELTS, Life in the UK, Listening, Upper Intermediate, Weather, Writing

Suggestions and Advice (Why don't you...? / Have you tried?) Advice, Intermediate, Modal Verbs, Suggestions

Giving Advice - should / ought to / had better / must / have to / can't. Advice, Intermediate, Modal Verbs, Pre-Intermediate 




More on lightning

What is lightning? https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-%E2%80%93-electricity-lightning-workshop-what-lightning

Lightning protection of aircraft https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-%E2%80%93-electricity-lightning-workshop-aircraft-design

Making a news report https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/science-schools-electricity-lightning-workshop-making-a-news-report

Giving Advice - should / ought to / had better / must / have to / can't

You are going to

• practise the language of advice, obligation and prohibition
• watch a news clip about online safety and do a comprehension quiz

1) Discuss
A) What language do we use to give advice?
Think of examples...






B) Do you know how to give advice using these words? 

2) Speak
Look at the pictures in the presentation below.
The language is in order of strength - 5. Have to / Can't is the strongest / most urgent.
Make sentences using should / ought to / had better / must / have to / can't

Advice - should / ought to / had better / must / have to / can't from David Mainwood

3) Practise
Fill in the gaps with the correct word from the list.
Ex 1

Fill in the gaps with the correct word from the list.
Ex 2

Printable versions here

Ex 3 - Have To
Now try this Have To word order exercise here






4) Discuss
Online Safety
What online safety advice can you think of for people who use the internet?
Try and use should(n't) / ought(n't) to / had better (not) / must(n't) / have to / can't






5) Watch
Watch a news clip about online safety from CBS News (there is a short advertisement before the news item starts).

• What online activities do they mention? 
• Do they give any advice?

Look at the exercise below and answer the questions.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tips-for-safer-browsing-on-safer-internet-day/

Now do the comprehension exercise.

Printable worksheet here





6) Write
In groups prepare, discuss and take notes to write an advice leaflet or an online guide / webpage giving advice to people called "How to be safe online"






More
Suggestions and Advice (Why don't you...? / Have you tried?) Advice, Intermediate, Modal Verbs, Suggestions

Exposed (CEOP Video - Staying Safe Online) Discussion Activities, Elementary, Exposed - Staying Safe Online, Intermediate, Listening, Present Simple, Writing. Technology

60 Seconds - Things That Happen On The Internet Every 60 Seconds - Things That Happen On The Internet Every Sixty Seconds, Intermediate, Numbers, Technology,  Passive, Upper Intermediate

What happened to D.B. Cooper?

You are going to

• watch a short film about a famous criminal and do some listening comprehension exercises
• practise some crime vocabulary
• practise modal verbs for past deduction (may / might/ could / can't / must have + participle)
• write a report / a biography

1) Intro - Crime vocabulary

How many different kinds of criminals are there?
Match some criminals with the definitions in the exercise below.

2) Discuss

• What famous criminals or crimes have you heard of?
• How many criminals get away with their crimes?
• Do you know of any criminals who have become "heroes"?

3) Video - Before you watch
Have you ever heard of DB Cooper?
He was a criminal who committed a famous crime and got away with it.
Look at the film poster below carefully

• What crime do you think he could he have committed?
• How coud he have got away?

Read the gap-fill exercise below quickly and find out if your guesses were right (don't worry about the gaps yet)

• What was DB Cooper's crime?
• How much money did he get away with? 
• How did he get away? 

4) Video - Watch the first 2 minutes and pause
Watch the first 2 minutes of the film (0:00 - 01:53)
After you have watched fill in the gaps in the exercise above. 

5) Video - Watch the rest of the film

(01:53 - End)
Why has DB Cooper become a hero to so many people?



6) After you watch
How much did you understand?
Do the quiz below.

7) Deductions

What do you think happened to DB Cooper?
Detectives make deductions to help solve crimes.
What language do we use to make deductions?
See the presentation below. Then make sentences about what you think happened to DB Cooper.

Present and Past Modals of Deduction with Sherlock Holmes from David Mainwood

Can you make sentences / deductions about what happened to DB Cooper?

• What happened after he parachuted from the plane?
• Is he alive?
• Where is he?
• What's he doing now?
• What happened to the money?

Use May / Might / Could / Must / Can't + Be (+ing) to make sentences / deductions about the present
Use May / Might / Could / Must / Can't (have + Past Participle) to make sentences / deductions about the past

Further infomation

• In the autumn of 1978 a placard containing instructions for lowering the aft stairs of a 727, later verified to be from the hijacked airliner, was found by a deer hunter about 13 miles east of Castle Rock, Washington.
• In February 1980 an eight-year-old boy named Brian Ingram, vacationing with his family on the Columbia River, uncovered three packets of the ransom cash, significantly disintegrated but still bundled in rubber bands. FBI technicians confirmed that the money was  part of the ransom, two packets of 100 bills each and a third packet of 90, all arranged in the same order as when given to Cooper.
• To date, none of the approximately 9,700 remaining bills has turned up anywhere in the world. Their serial numbers remain available online for public search.
• In 1981 a human skull was unearthed along the same riverbank during excavations in search of additional evidence. Forensic pathologists eventually decided that it belonged to a woman, possibly of Native American ancestry. 
• In 1988 a portion of a parachute was raised from the bottom of the Columbia River, but FBI experts determined that it could not have been Cooper's.In 2008, children found another parachute near Amboy, Washington, which proved to be of World War II-era military origin.

8) Write

A) Write a report about the DB Cooper case (100 words)
You are a detective. Write a report about the case.

• Give a summary of the main points of the case
• Give your opinion of what might have happened to DB Cooper. Give reasons. Use your powers of deduction!

B) Write an article about a famous criminal in your country.

• Introduce the criminal - what crime did they commit? When? Where? How?
• Give some biography information about the criminal - Where were they born? What kind of family did they come from? What kind of area did they come from?
• Describe the crime they committed
• Say why the crime became famous
• Disuss the motives. Why did they commit the crime? (Can you use any past modals of deduction here?)
• Conclusion - What happened to the criminal? Where is he or she now? Were they caught by the police? Was the sentence they received fair?

9) More

Read about DB Cooper
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070038/DB-Cooper-case-solved-FBI-tells-niece-skyjacking-suspect-matching-fingerprint.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper


Listen again to the poem from the clip (03:40 - 04:28)
Do the gap fill

Printable versions here

Modals for Obligation and Prohibition

You are going to practise modal verbs



Speak
Look at the presentation and make some sentences using modal verbs Must / Mustn't / Have to / Don't have to

Modals for obligation and prohibition from David Mainwood

Write
Make some rules and regulations for your class. Don't forget to use Modals for Obligation and Prohibition

More Practice 

MUST OR MUSTN´T, by jecika


Have to/ Had to, by Ayfer Yıldız


Modals, by Ingrid Heinisser


have to, by Elisabeth Weixlbaumer

The Terminal

Teacher's Note - Post updated 15/1/12 due to disappearing youtube clips.
The video comprehension is quite a long activity (20 minutes) and was designed to be used in a language lab / computer room while watching the DVD (worksheet below).  However Ex1 and Ex2 A-C can be done with the 2 youtube clips embedded here.

You are going to

1. Discuss airports and flying
2. Watch the beginning of the film "The Terminal" and do some comprehension activities.
3. Do some online research on the man on whom the story of the film is based
4. Do a pair-work speaking, listening, reading and writing activity from the TeachingEnglish website
5. Write an IELTS task 2 question on refugees

The Terminal is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot return to his native country, the fictitious Krakozhia, due to a revolution. The film is partially inspired by the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminal

DVD on Amazon

1) You are going to watch part of a film about a man who lived in an airport.

 Before you watch. Discuss.

• Do you like flying?
• What things do you have to take if you fly to another country?
• Do you like airports?
• What must you do in an airport?
• What mustn't you do?
• Have you ever spent a long time delayed in an airport?
• Would you like to live in an airport?
• Where would you eat / sleep/ wash?

2) Watch the trailer. 

What do you find out about the main character?

Highlight below for answers 

• His name is Viktor Navorski
• He's just arrived in New York
• There was a military coup in his country (Krakozhia) while he was flying
• He must live in the airport terminal
• He will find a job
• He will make new friends, play matchmaker ( = someone who tries to arrange relationships or marriages between people), help a stranger and discover America

3) Watch the beginning of the film and do the 3 activities below

Watch the clip

A) Order the sentences.
You can drag and drop the sentences to the right number.

B - Answer. Highlight to see the answers.      

1. What is Mr. Navorski doing in the United States?  Visiting
2. Does he know anyone in New York?  No
3. What does the guard take from Mr. Navorski?  Ticket and passport

C - Fill in the spaces with a suitable verb.     

Clips for Ex D and E not currently available on youtube.
D – The guard explains the rules. 
Put these modal verbs of permission, prohibition and obligation into the spaces. 

can, can, need, must, allowed, can’t, may

1. Mr. Navorski is allowed to enter the International Transit Lounge.
2. He may use food vouchers in the Food Court.
3. He has a minute prepaid calling card. He can call home.
4. He has pager in case they need to contact him
5. He must keep it with him at all times.
6. He can’t go out of the  International Transit Lounge
7. There's only one thing he can do… Shop.

E - Put these sentences into the correct order (finishes 08:10 clip 2).
The first and last have been done for you.

1. He tries to make a phone call
2. He pulls the plugs on the lights and music
3. He tries to sleep
4. He sees the news= 1
5. He breaks the girl's bag
6. He shouts "Don't shoot!" = 9
7. He loses his meal vouchers
8. He makes an appointment with the cleaner for Tuesday
9. He makes the chairs into a bed

All answers are in black and can be highlighted

Highlight the letters below to see the answers to ex E.

 

a	2
b	8
c	6
d	1
e	3
f	9
g	4
h	5
i	7

 

 

 

3) Reading and research

The film was partly based on the life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri . Go online, do a search for him and answer these questions.

• What similarities and differences are there between Mehran and Viktor? 
• Write some sentences. Use some language for comparing ( = both, also, as well...) and contrasting (= but, however, on the other hand, although...) 

eg Both Viktor and Mehran lived in a terminal.
     Viktor is from Krakozhia however Mehran is from...

• How long did Mehran live in the terminal?
• Where is he now?
• Why do you think the film changes some details?  

4) Activities

From TeachingEnglish - An Interview with Sir Peter. A pair-work speaking, listening, reading and writing exercise for students who are at a good intermediate level or above. Time: at least an hour.   
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/interview-sir-peter

5) Discussion / Writing

• Would you like to live or work in another country?
• Why do many people emigrate (go to live and work in other countries)?
• What problems do you think people have when they emigrate?
• Why do people become refugees?
• What problems do refugees have?
• What can countries and governments do to solve these problems? 

Writing Topic

One of the major problems facing the world today is the growing number of refugees. The developed nations in the world should tackle this problem by taking in more refugees. To what extent do you agree with this opinion? (IELTS Task 2 Academic)

Video worksheet

The Terminal for EFL

View more documents from David Mainwood

Suggestions and Advice (Why don't you...? / Have you tried...? / You should...)

You are going to practise the language for giving advice and making suggestions

• Have you tried asking for help?  
• Why don't you see if you can lend a hand?  
• You should have a look at these problems and give some advice and suggestions.

Speak
Look at the presentation and follow the instructions

Language for Advice and Suggestions - why don't you.../ have you tried.../ you should... from David Mainwood


 

Modals of Deduction - Past and Present

You are going to
practise modal verbs of deduction

You may have liked the previous exercise on modals. You could even have learned something from it. So here's another. Sherlock Holmes was famous for his deductions and must have been the greatest fictional detective of his day. He certainly solved a lot of cases so he can't have been bad at it. Let's see if he's any good at explaining how to make present and past deductions...

Speak
Look at the presentation below and make sentences to practise modal verbs of deduction

Present and Past Modals of Deduction with Sherlock Holmes from David Mainwood

More

What happened to DB Cooper? http://efllecturer.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/what-happened-to-db-cooper.html


More online practice

Modals for deduction, by slay3r


Modal verbs Deduction and probability, by ptrces


http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/naturalenglish/int/a_grammar/unit11/neint_grammar11_exp/

Modal Verbs for Possibility and Certainty

"Try this. You might like it. It could be good. You may learn something. That can't be bad, can it? It must be worth having a go..."

Watch the presentation and make sentences with may, might, could, must, can't be for possibility and certainty

Modals of possibility and certainty

View more presentations from David Mainwood

More online practice  Modal verbs Deduction and probability, by ptrces




.