| Student's
Book 5: A and B
Units
1 - 3 | Units 4 - 6 | Units 7 - 9
| Units 10 - 12
Unit
1 – The twentieth century
www.filmunlimited.co.uk
Produced by the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper, this website is
packed with entertaining and well-presented information about movies
past and present. It includes features, latest movie reviews, interviews
and quizzes as well as a section on the history of movie making. Lead
a discussion with your students on their favorite all-time movie/actor/writer,
etc. before using this site to find out more. It links in nicely with
the theme of Lesson 1 in this unit. Also try the links page, http://film.guardian.co.uk/Features/links,
for all the up-to-date hip sites including one that features the worst
movie ever made.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/index.html
Time.com brings us a site with its 100 most famous people from the
twentieth century. Ask your students to list the 3 most important people
of the twentieth century and then ask them to compare and discuss them.
Then, when they first enter this site they will be presented with a
list. Is their person on the list? If not, who do they think is the
most important person on the list and why? As a follow-up get them to
read the articles, try out the quizzes and discover more than they could
ever find in the average coursebook.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/
Find out all you want to know about the history that shaped our
world on this BBC educational website. Unit 1 takes a close look at
the twentieth century, here all the facts are at your fingertips. Extensive
articles as well as quizzes and a time line help you find your way through
the last 100 years.
Unit
2 – People & technology
http://www.greatachievements.org/
How many of the 20th century's greatest engineering achievements
will you use today? A car? Computer? Telephone? Ask your students to
choose the 3 most important and say why, have a brief class discussion
and then take a look at the website that lists the top 20 achievements,
and tries to explain how engineering shaped a century and changed the
world.
http://www.startribune.com/digage/forcast.htm
http://www.startribune.com/digage/drkside.htm
What does the future hold with regard to technology? How good are
people at predicting the future?
Split your class
into two groups and ask each group to read one of the sites above. They
can make notes under headings such as: topic, key point, most interesting
point, etc. Then pair up the students so that each pairing has one person
who reads one article and one who reads the other and ask them to tell
each other about what they read using their notes to help. Finally,
hold a class debate on technology using the ideas in the sites as a
starting point.
http://www.inventorsmuseum.com
This U.S.-based website is great both as an educational resource and
as a reference guide for general interest. Apart from the normal run-of-the-mill
details of inventions and inventors this site also contains a really
interesting section with contemporary newspaper reports giving people’s
responses to each new innovation. Link this in with the topic of the
unit by choosing a number of inventions and asking your students to
imagine that they were living at the time of the invention – what
would their reaction be? Then look at the articles and compare. You
could then take some of the themes used in the unit and do a similar
activity – possibly looking back 50 years from now and imagining
what might have happened.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/
Plenty of material here that links in nicely with the lessons in this
unit. Pick one topic and ask your students to find out as much as they
can. You could also try some of the interactive resources.
Unit
3 – Global vs. Local
What is
the strangest thing your students have ever eaten? Is there anything
they would never eat? Take a look at http://www.andreas.com/food.html.
One activity you could do using this site is to choose a number of foods
from different countries and ask your students to guess where they are
from. Then get them to predict what they are/contain before revealing
the answers.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/News/Magazine/Vocab/studyskills.htm
Scroll down the page to find a worksheet on Food. This
ready-made worksheet fits in nicely with the material in Lesson 2 –
on page 27 the focus is on food & festivals. Once you have completed
the activities in the Student’s Book why not try out this worksheet
- print it out and use it in class.
http://adbusters.org/
One topic not touched upon under the heading "global vs. local"
is that of multinationals. Ask your students to name 5 multinationals
that operate in their country and then draw the logos of each. Then,
ask them how many of these they think are American. Finally, take a
look at the corporate U.S. flag and see how many of the logos, depicted
on this flag, your students can identify.
news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/static/find_out/specials/newsround_extra/bollywood/html/default.stm
Although this site is aimed at kids, it contains so much information
that it makes an excellent source. Ask your students to spend 20 minutes
trying to find out as much as they can about Bollywood before taking
the online Quiz. Later, you could ask the students to design a similar
quiz for other groups.
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Unit
4 – Family, friends and colleagues
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/
http://www.stvalentines.net/
"All you need is love" is the heading for Lesson 2. Well,
where does Valentine’s Day come from? And how do people celebrate
it? See how much your students know before taking a look at one of these
two sites.
http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htm
Lesson 3 looks at "working relations" and communication.
One factor of communication is "body language." This site
is a comprehensive online dictionary containing pictures and descriptions
of lots of body postures and gestures. Why not pick out 10 and ask your
students to say what they think each one means, then take a look at
the site and see what the experts say.
http://www.edupass.com/culture/gestures.phtml
Another interesting site that looks at gestures. This one is designed
for students who want to, or are, studying in the U.S. Ask your students
to read the page and then design their own for people visiting their
country.
Unit
5 – The best of the past
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/fifties.htm
In Lesson 1 of this unit the focus is on the ‘revolutionary’ changes
that took place in the 1950s. What do your students know about this
era? Start by brainstorming all that your students know about this decade
– it may well be worth getting each group to make a spider-web which
they can add to later. Then take a look at this fascinating site which
contains information, as well as pictures and photographs, detailing
50s style, fashion, music, TV and more. Finally, lead a discussion comparing
the lifestyle of someone young in the 50s with your students’ own lifestyles.
http://kids.infoplease.lycos.com/ipka/A0885982.html
Alternatively take a longer look at the history of music. For many youngsters
music starts around 40 years ago, but in fact music is as old as history.
This site takes a brief look with a musical timeline which focuses on
the U.S. Get your students to trace the true history of pop music.
http://www.bolivarmo.com/history.htm
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/dadd/453/
Lesson 2 takes a brief look at the American Revolution and focuses
on Paul Revere – artist, silversmith and revolutionary. One name which
is mentioned in the article on page 44 is that of Simon Bolivar.
Write up some comprehension questions for the students to answer in
groups.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/
If you would like to choose a different historical topic then try
looking under the portal given above. There are hundreds of sites to
choose from with a wealth of information.
Unit
6 – Our century
http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/columnists/toffler/toff05.htm
What else does Alvin Toffler predict for the 21st century?
If your students enjoyed listening to the interview on page 50, here
is their opportunity to look at more predictions. Choose one of the
headings listed below and get your students to predict what Toffler
might say before reading the relevant text.
What moral standards
will we have in the 21st century?
Can nations survive in the 21st century?
How will future wars be fought?
Can we end world poverty?
Alternatively get
your students to take a look at the predictions and ideas of the famous
sci-fi writer, Arthur C. Clarke at:
http://www.geocities.com/jcsherwood/ACClinks2.htm
http://www.how-to-keep-your-new-years-resolution.com/
Why do we make resolutions? What are some of the most common resolutions?
And, how do you keep your New Year’s resolution? These are three
questions that are answered on this site. Begin by putting your students
into pairs and get them to tell their partner 2 resolutions they would
make, e.g. "I’m going to quit smoking." Get their partner
to give some advice on how they should try and stick to the resolution.
Then ask them to check out the site - how common was their resolution?
Was the advice the same as that given on the site?
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Unit
7 – The world of sports
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nba/salaries00.htm
In Lesson 2 the focus is on the "cost" and money involved
in sports and includes an article about the NBA. This site lists the
actual amounts being paid to players in the NBA. Why not see if your
students can predict the highest paid players or costliest teams?
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/
The Olympic story is a very interesting one. On the board write
up "The Olympics" and brainstorm what your students know about
them. Ask them to list the differences they think there are between
the ancient & modern Olympics and then get them to check out this
fascinating site that compares ancient and modern Olympic sports, tours
Olympia as it looks today, and gives information about the Olympic athletes
who were famous in ancient times.
http://www.journale.com/kodak/olympics/olympichistory/index_body1.shtml
Alternatively, take an animated journey along a time line of the
modern games with images and factual detail, from 1896 to the present.
Unit
8 – The image industry
http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsfall99/ProposalArticles/IsthereadifferenceSociety.html
What do we mean by "beauty" and "who measures it?"
These are two questions that are dealt with on this website. The site
starts off with an observation about beauty products and how they are
promoted. Why not begin your class by showing your students a few advertisements
for beauty products from a magazine and seeing what they notice. Get
them to tell you what makes somebody beautiful in their opinion before
reading the articles posted on this site. You could round everything
off with a class discussion and then post key comments to the authors
of this provocative site.
http://adbusters.org/spoofads/
Lesson 4 takes a closer look at advertising. Most of the time Internet
sites that deal with advertisements are commercial sites trying to sell
you something. Well, here’s one that isn’t! This site is dedicated
to spoof, or joke, advertisements. Ask your students to talk about an
advertisement they’ve seen recently, or a product they know well.
Then ask them to think about how they would make a joke advertisement.
Finally, check out this site and compare ideas.
Alternatively you
can ask the students to discuss what "point" the spoof advertisements
are trying to make.
Unit
9 – A question of luck
http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/superstitions.htm
A site that takes a brief look at superstitions – this will extend the
theme of ‘luck’ which runs throughout unit 9. Put up the word “Superstitions”
on the board and get the students to brainstorm all the ones they know.
Ask them if they believe in them and if they can think of a rational
explanation for them. Then, ask them to try the gap fill activity on
the site. You can then use this as the basis for a discussion. Finally,
use this site http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html
to find new ones and also explanations. You could also use this for
material to create a matching activity or for a more in-depth discussion.
http://www.jokes.123india.com/men_and_women/9610589122614.html
Why not take a lighthearted view of the topic in Lesson 2? Get your
students to read the joke but make sure the last line is covered. Then
ask them to predict the final line before allowing them to scroll down
and take a look.
http://www.queendom.com/tests/personality/optimism_pessimism.html
Why not find out if you are an optimist or a pessimist by taking
this online test? Ask your students to tell you whether they think they
are very optimistic or pessimistic before getting them to take the online
test. Afterward, you can discuss the questions, their answers and the
results.
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Unit
10 – Time Out
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/home.htm#bullfight
Here is a brief article on bullfighting that is part of a series
of interesting articles focusing on the major fiestas that take place
each year in Andalucia, Spain. Use the articles to create a jigsaw reading
or a reading race (1. make a list of questions, 2. divide the class
into groups and make sure each group has access to the site on a computer,
3. each group send a member to get a question, they then try and find
the answer, 4. after telling you the correct answer they get the next
question, 5. repeat until one group has answered all the questions and
won).
Or, go to http://www.cyberspain.com/life/sanfer.htm
and have a look at the information about the San Fermin festival in
Pamplona, another very famous festival. You could try out a similar
activity to the one indicated above or alternatively your students could
write some questions of their own and design a quiz for the other students.
http://www.starbreezes.com/11/bullfighting.html
A site devoted to ending bullfighting. Use the information from here,
as well as from the two sites given earlier in this unit, to inform
your students of the issues involved in the debate for and against bullfighting.
Once your students have collected information you could stage a full
scale debate – what do your students think? You might want to take a
look at the next site before holding the debate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/europewide_debate/301953.stm
“Is there beauty in bullfighting?” is the question asked here. Read
the opinions of lots of different people – does it change your mind?
What do you think? Write your own opinion and create a ‘For & Against’
board.
http://www.queendom.com/tests/personality/extroversion_introversion.html
Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Why not get your students
to try out the online test?
Unit
11 – Furry friends
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/cw/1/ck-animalsimile.html
Here is an online crossword containing animal similes – use
this as a warm-up or review activity. It can be very interesting to
compare the English similes with the ones your students have in their
own language(s).
http://www.learning-english.com/learnonline/quizzes/similies.htm
http://www.ospringe.org/pupils/literacy/similes1.htm
Two quick multiple choice quizzes with between 10 and 12 common similes
in each, some of them connected to animals.
http://www.endangeredspecie.com/
"Preservation or extinction?" is the title of Lesson 1
in this unit. Here is a site that brings you lots of useful articles,
photo galleries and links. How many of the endangered animals can your
students name? The site includes a range of activities designed for
all ages, why not try them out? Another site that might interest your
students is http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/green/clubhousetext.htm
which includes quizzes and activities designed to make people think
about the world they live in. The site is well designed and also contains
some fantastic pictures that can be used to stimulate discussions.
Unit
12 – Using language skills
www.worldwidewords.org
Unit 12 takes a look at the 4 skills of reading, writing, speaking
and listening. Although this site does not directly tackle these areas
it is nonetheless an extremely useful resource for both teachers and
students. The site gives a worldwide perspective and includes features
such as articles investigating the international use of English from
a British viewpoint, the differences between British and American English,
how the English language spread around the world and a glossary of weird
words. You can either give your students some comprehension questions
or ask them to complete a project.
http://www.path2english.com/Tips.htm
http://www.englishtips.com/
http://www.loquitur.co.uk/tips.html
Here are 3 sites that look at the best ways to learn English. By
now your students have a lot of experience of learning, what do they
think?
The first not only
includes a number of steps but also clearly focuses on all 4 skills
mentioned in this unit. There is also an opportunity to contact the
webmaster and send in ideas of your own!
The second is a
free online magazine. Your students will need to subscribe online and
therefore this site is probably only useful if you have quite a bit
of time to devote to this issue. Again, it could be nice to get your
students to send in contributions.
The third site gives
10 points. Ask your students to write out their 10 points and then compare
them with the ones on this webpage – do they agree?
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