Easter reading

Submitted by TE Editor on 15 April, 2008 - 07:53

This is a simple reading task on the theme of Easter in the UK. It helps students learn
about how this time is celebrated in the UK and reflect on special occasions in their own
culture.
Easter: Reading task
Ask the students to read the text and match the paragraph headings.
Answers:
A - Modern Easter in the UK
B - What it means
C - Chocolate eggs
D - A matter of taste?
Task 4 Easter: Reading task
Read the text and put the paragraph titles in the correct place.
1 - What it means
2 - A matter of taste?
3 - Modern Easter in the UK
4 - Chocolate eggs
CHOCOLATE, EGGS, EASTER AND...MORE CHOCOLATE: EASTER IN THE UK
For a lot of people in the UK the Christian festival of Easter means the opportunity to eat
chocolate eggs.
A) As soon as 2 January arrives, shops remove the Christmas product lines from their
shelves and the Christmas decorations from their windows. What fills the empty spaces?
Chocolate Easter eggs, Easter bunnies and Easter chicks, despite the fact that Easter itself
doesn't come along until a few months later. This year Easter Day is on Sunday 16 April.
Easter also means we have public holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday, it's the
longest public holiday after Christmas and people sometimes take the opportunity to take
a short break away from work by extending their leave. Cheryl from Liverpool said, ‘I
use the Easter break to visit relatives and socialise with friends, the chocolate giving and
receiving is a good bonus!'
B) Easter is a spring festival. In the Christian festival, it celebrates the resurrection of
Christ. In the European pre-Christian tradition, it celebrates the return of nature and
greenery after the cold, snowy winter. Both the Christian and pagan versions of Easter
celebrate life and rebirth. The Easter chick symbolises new life, the rabbit represents
fertility and the egg symbolises both. That is why painted eggs or chocolate eggs are
given as gifts at Easter.
C) Chocolate Easter eggs are sold in larger numbers every year in the UK. Confectionery
companies make chocolate eggs for every type of chocolate bar available throughout the
rest of the year. The British people consume more confectionery than any other country
in the world! That's not even per head; that's per country! Of course, it depends on the
amount of givers, but the average child in the UK receives 6 - 10 large chocolate eggs
and that's not including the small ones.
D) Not only are the British eating more and more chocolate, but they are also demanding
chocolate of better quality. European Union law means that British chocolate-making
companies have to put more cocoa solids in their 'chocolate' than they used to. British
companies that fail to do so are not allowed to say they make 'real' chocolate! New
chocolate has come onto the market that is slowly educating the British palate and
changing consumer patterns.
What did you find out about Easter in the UK? Would you like to spend
Easter in the UK? Why/ why not? Are there any special times of year in your
country when you eat special sweets or chocolate?
AMERICAN ENGLISH
It was getting near lunchtime and I needed some (1) ___________, so I left the (2)
___________ and drove towards the nearest town. There was a (3) ___________
station just outside the town and I decided to stop and have a look round. I put the car in
a (4) ___________ ___________ and took a (5) ___________ to the centre.
It was midday and very hot, so I stopped at a little (6) ___________ with tables on the
(7) ___________. I started talking to a (8) ___________ driver, who gave me a history of
the town, and afterwards he took me on a guided tour. It made a nice break.

Clues
1) The fuel you put in a car to make it go.
2) A main road.
3) The fuel you put in a car to make it go.
4) A place to leave a car.
5) A car you can travel in if you pay the driver.
6) A place to buy and eat food. (Not a restaurant)
7) The place for walking by the side of the road.
8) A big vehicle used for transporting things.

BRITISH ENGLISH
It was getting near lunchtime and I needed some (1) ___________, so I left the (2)
___________ and drove towards the nearest town. There was a (3) ___________
station just outside the town and I decided to stop and have a look round. I put the car in
a (4) ___________ ___________ and took a (5) ___________ to the centre.
It was midday and very hot, so I stopped at a little (6) ___________ with tables on the
(7) ___________. I started talking to a (8) ___________ driver, who gave me a history of
the town, and afterwards he took me on a guided tour. It made a nice break.

Clues
1) The fuel you put in a car to make it go.
2) A main road.
3) The fuel you put in a car to make it go.
4) A place to leave a car.
5) A car you can travel in if you pay the driver.
6) A place to buy and eat food. (Not a restaurant)
7) The place for walking by the side of the road.
8) A big vehicle used for transporting things.

Answers (British English first)

It was getting near lunchtime and I needed some (1) petrol/gas, so I left the (2)
motorway/freeway, highway and drove towards the nearest town. There was a (3)
petrol/gas station just outside the town and I decided to stop and have a look round. I
put the car in a (4) car park/parking lot and took a (5) taxi/cab to the centre.
It was midday and very hot, so I stopped at a little (6) café/diner with tables on the
(7) pavement/sidewalk. I started talking to a (8) lorry/truck driver, who gave me a history of
the town, and afterwards he took me on a guided tour. It made a nice break.
CLIL PSHE: Healthy eating
This activity aims to develop primary pupils’ understanding of healthy, balanced eating
and provides practice of basic food vocabulary and the present simple tense. It also has
cross-curricular links to PE.
Aims Content
 Balanced eating
Language
 Lexis – food
 Grammar – present simple (and possibly quantifiers)
 Skills – speaking and writing
Preparation
Prepare the worksheet for each pupil. Alternatively, to save paper, draw/project one large
copy on the board and tell students to copy it.
Procedure
 With pupils in groups, give them one minute to think of as many types of food as
they can. The group with the most is the winner.
 Tell groups to read out their lists and add any that they hadn’t thought of to their
lists.
 Tell pupils to put their foods into two lists – healthy food and unhealthy food. At
this stage, don’t tell them if they are right or wrong.
 Give out the worksheet to pupils and tell them to match the labels to the correct
part of the pyramid, working individually.
 Check as a whole class and explain the concept of the pyramid – food at the
bottom is the most important and we food at the top the least important/healthy.
 Tell pupils to think of more food which fits into each group on the pyramid and
write it on, using their list of food from stage 3 to help.
 Tell pupils to think about their eating habits and write what they usually eat in a
day (using the present simple and possibly quantifiers), e.g. “I eat lots of rice,
some vegetables like carrots and cabbage…” You may need to give an example
first.
 Pupils compare their eating habits and see who the healthiest eater in their
group/class is.
Extension
Pupils can write out a good daily diet based on the food pyramid, either in class or for
homework. They could even keep track of what they eat over one week to see how
healthily they really eat.
It’s 12.00 O’clock! A speaking lesson with no materials.
Submitted by Katherine Bilsb... on 16 November, 2010 - 12:04
Activity: It’s 12 o’clock.
Activity type: Speaking activity.
Level: Elementary and above.
Age: Primary (can also be used with older students)
Introduction
This is a drawing and speaking activity that is fun to use with primary classes to revise
the present continuous form. It is easy to set up and requires no preparation or materials,
except a board and a board pen. Students will need a piece of paper and a pencil. This
version practises the present continuous form but other versions can practise other tenses.
Children like it because it allows them to practise grammar in a safe environment. By
repeating the same question and answer a number of times students become more
confident and make fewer and fewer errors. They also like it because the drawing adds an
element of fun to the activity and allows students who might be good at drawing but less
good at English, to excel.
Preparation
On the board, draw a simple background scene such as a park with some gardens, a river
and a few trees. As you build up the picture, elicit the vocabulary from the students by
asking a few simple questions.
What’s this place? What am I drawing now?
Add a simple stick drawing (of yourself) in the scene. You should be “doing” something
(e.g. sitting by the river eating a banana). Label the picture of yourself with your name.
Point to it and say “This is me. It’s 12 o’clock and I am sitting by the river, eating a
banana.”
Procedure
 Give each student a piece of paper and a pencil and tell them to copy the picture
on the board. Give them a limited time of about 4 minutes. They should include
the stick drawing of the teacher.
 Tell the students to add a drawing of themselves and label it. They should be in a
specific place and doing something. Explain that if necessary they can add other
elements to the picture. Explain that students shouldn’t show their picture to
anybody.
 Write these two questions and answers on the board. If possible elicit the answers.
It’s 12 o’clock in the park. Where are you? And what are you doing?|
I’m sitting by the river. I’m eating a banana.
  Explain that students should walk around the classroom speaking to their
classmates. They should ask and answer the question on the board. Each time a
student answers, they should draw that student in the picture, doing the action.
Then they should label the student.
 The activity finishes when each student has drawn and labeled all of their
classmates in their picture; all doing different things in different parts of the
picture.
Extension
Students can do a follow u writing activity. They should start with the following:
It’s 12 o’clock on Saturday and everybody is in the park. Everybody is doing something.
The teacher is sitting by the river eating a banana.
I am ….
… is ….
Display pictures and texts around the classroom.
Other versions
Change It’s 12 o’clock in the park for Last Saturday at 12 o’clock … and change the
tense to the past continuous.
Change It’s 12 o’clock in the park for Next Saturday … and change the tense to the future
continuous.
For older students, make the activity a “scene of the crime” activity, with each student
being a potential witness to a crime that has occurred in the park. You will need to
change the question to Where were you and what were you doing when (somebody stole
the bike)?
Life on other planets
Submitted by Sally Trowbridge on 20 October, 2010 - 10:59
This lesson looks at recent developments in the search for habitable planets and opens up
the topic of the possibility of life on other planets.
Topic: Space exploration to find habitable planets
Age: Teenage/adult
Level: A2/B1
Timing: 60-90 mins
Aims:
 To help students understand a text about space exploration
 To develop students' vocabulary on the topic of astronomy and space exploration
 To develop students' communication and discussion skills
 
Plan components
Lesson plan: guide for teacher on procedure.
Download lesson plan
Worksheets: can be printed out for use in class.
 worksheet - seven tasks
Download worksheet

By Sally Trowbridge
The plans and worksheets are downloadable and in MS Word format - right click on the
attachment below and save it on your computer.

Copyright - please read

All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational
use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site
without written permission from the BBC and British Council. If you have any questions
about the use of these materials please email us at: teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org
Life on other planets (LESSON PLAN)

Topic: Space exploration to find habitable planets

Aims:
 To help students understand a text about space exploration
 To develop students’ vocabulary on the topic of astronomy and space
exploration
 To develop students’ communication and discussion skills

Level: low to mid Intermediate

Introduction
This lesson looks at recent developments in the search for habitable planets and
opens up the topic of the possibility of life on other planets.

Procedure

 Ask students if they know the names of the planets in our solar system.
They could shout them out or discuss the names in pairs.
 Hand out the worksheet and have students put the planets on order in
Worksheet Task 1 in pairs. Point out that the clue is a mnemonic. The
first letter of each word represents a planet - in the correct order. You
could quickly drill the planet names now. Ask students what they know
about Pluto (it’s been reclassified as a dwarf planet or ‘plutoid’).

Answers: The eight planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury,

Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Another large body is Pluto, now

classified as a dwarf planet or plutoid.

Worksheet Task 1
These are the planets that orbit the sun:

Earth Jupiter Mars Mercury Neptune (Pluto) Saturn Uranus Venus

Can you put the planets in order? Here’s a clue: My Very Excellent Mother Just
Sent Us Nine Pizzas
  Have students look at the word cloud in Worksheet Task 2 and underline
the planets (there are 3 – Earth, Neptune and Mars).
 Tell the students that all these words are from a text that they are going to
read later. Ask students to circle the largest words (these are the ones that
occur most frequently in the text). If they ask about the meaning of ‘Kepler’
here you could ask them to guess what it is (it’s the name of a telescope
and space mission as well as a person).
 In pairs students complete the sentence ‘I think the text is about…’ with
their ideas. Write up the different ideas/predictions on the board to refer to
later.
 If you have Internet connection and a projector you can display the word
cloud on the screen: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1893302/Untitled

Worksheet Task 2
Look at the word cloud. The words are from a text. Circle the biggest words then
complete this sentence:

I think the text is about ………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………
The word cloud was created here: http://www.wordle.net/

 Give students a time limit of 2 minutes to read the text in Worksheet Task
3 (they’ll read it again in more depth later) and check whether any of the
predictions on the board were correct.
Worksheet Task 3
Now read the text. Was your prediction in Task 2 correct?

How many planets are there in our galaxy? That’s a tricky question to answer.
Are there other planets that support life? That’s exactly what the Kepler mission
hopes to discover.

NASA launched the Kepler space telescope, designed to find habitable planets,
in 2009. So far it has discovered five new Earth-sized planets beyond our solar
system. These planets are hotter than the Earth – much too hot for life as we
know it. The Kepler team predict that they will need at least three years (and
possibly longer) to find an Earth-like planet.

The simplest requirement for a planet to have life (carbon-based life like on
Earth) is for there to be liquid water (not frozen or gas) so the distance from the
planet’s sun and therefore temperature are important. There also needs to be
the correct amount of air. If a planet is as small as Mars (half the size of Earth)
its weak gravity means that it can’t hold on to air molecules. If a planet is
Neptune sized (four times bigger than Earth) it has very strong gravity and too
much air. So size matters too.

The cost of the mission is approximately six hundred million dollars. It is

scheduled to observe until 2013 but this could be extended. Will we be sad if we
discover we are alone in our galaxy or happy if we find that we share it with
other life forms?

Glossary
tricky – difficult
at least three - three or more
weak – the opposite of strong
size – dimension, if a thing is big or small
alone – with no other people
  Ask students to do the matching activity in Worksheet Task 4 and then
compare answers with a partner.

Answers: 1d, 2a, 3f, 4b, 5b, 6e

Worksheet Task 4
Read and match 1-6 with a-e to make sentences about the text.

1 The Kepler space telescope a) are not in our solar system.

2 Kepler has found five planets that
3 A planet can support life if it
4 A very small planet
5 An extremely big planet
6 The Kepler mission will cost
b) will not have enough air.
c) will have too much air.
d) is looking for life on other planets.
e) about $600 million.
f) has water and air.

 Ask students to find and underline the numbers in the text in Worksheet
Task 5. Have students cover the text and then try to remember what the
numbers refer to. They could do this in pairs or you could do it as a class
activity with the numbers written on the board. Allow the students to have
a sneaky look at the text if necessary. Students check their answers by
looking back at the text.

Answers:
2009 - This is the year that NASA launched the Kepler space telescope
5 – The Kepler telescope has discovered five new Earth-sized planets beyond
our solar system
3 – the number of years that the Kepler team predict that they need to find an
Earth-like planet
½ - Mars is half the size of Earth
4 - Neptune is four times bigger than Earth
600 000000 – The cost of the mission in dollars
2013 –The mission is scheduled to observe until 2013
Worksheet Task 5
A) Underline these numbers in the text:

2009 - This is the year that………………………………………………………….

5 - …………………………………………………………………………………….
3 - …………………………………………………………………………………….
½ - ……………………………………………………………………………………
4 - ……………………………………………………………………………………
600 000000 - ……………………………………………………………………….
2013 - ……………………………………………………………………………….

B) Cover the text. Work with a partner and try to remember what the numbers
refer to. Make notes then look at the text to check.

 Ask students the question in the last paragraph of the text ‘Will we be sad
if we discover we are alone in our galaxy or happy if we find that we share
it with other life forms?’ as a lead in to the discussion in Worksheet Task
6. Students can then discuss the question in pairs or small groups. You
could give them a few minutes to make notes of what they want to say
before they speak. Circulate around the room and make notes of any
common errors and pronunciation problems for class correction later. Also
note any particularly good use of language you hear, put this on the board
at the end of the activity and draw students’ attention to it. Ask a few
students to report their discussions back to the class.

Worksheet Task 6
Discuss these questions with a partner:

Do you think the Kepler mission will find life on other planets?
What other things do you know about space exploration?
Is it a good idea to spend $600 million on space exploration?
Why do you think NASA wants to find habitable planets?

 Ask students why they think that NASA (an imaginary NASA!) has chosen
the items in Worksheet Task 7 to represent Earth for the new planet. In
pairs have students add more items to the list. Put pairs in groups of 4 and
ask them to justify their choices. Monitor and note common errors and
‘good ‘ language for feedback to the class as above.
Worksheet Task 7
Imagine that the Kepler mission finds life on a distant planet. NASA wants to
send some objects representing Earth to the new planet. Add more items to
NASA’s list of objects:

an encyclopaedia
a computer
photographs of world leaders
a bottle of sea water
…………………………………….
……………………………………..
…………………………………….
……………………………………..

 If you want to draw students’ attention to language in the text (for example before
a grammar focus exercise) you could have them underline examples of:
Comparisons - hotter than, as small as, bigger than

Enough, too much - not have enough air, too much air.

Conditionals - Will we be sad if we discover….

Find out more about Kepler here. http://kepler.nasa.gov/

Life on other planets

Worksheet Task 1
These are the planets that orbit the sun:

Earth Jupiter Mars Mercury Neptune (Pluto) Saturn Uranus Venus

Can you put the planets in order? Here’s a clue: My Very Excellent Mother Just
Sent Us Nine Pizzas.

Worksheet Task 2
Look at the word cloud. The words are from a text. Circle the biggest words then
complete this sentence:

I think the text is about ………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

Worksheet Task 3
Now read the text. Was your prediction in Task 2 correct?
How many planets are there in our galaxy? That’s a tricky question to answer.
Are there other planets that support life? That’s exactly what the Kepler mission
hopes to discover.

NASA launched the Kepler space telescope, designed to find habitable planets,
in 2009. So far it has discovered five new Earth-sized planets beyond our solar
system. These planets are hotter than the Earth’s sun – much too hot for life as
we know it. The Kepler team predict that they will need at least three years (and
possibly longer) to find an Earth-like planet.

The simplest requirement for a planet to have life (carbon-based life like on
Earth) is for there to be liquid water (not frozen or gas) so the distance from the
planet’s sun and therefore temperature are important. There also needs to be the
correct amount of air. If a planet is as small as Mars (half the size of Earth) its
weak gravity means that it can’t hold on to air molecules. If a planet is Neptune
sized (four times bigger than Earth) it has very strong gravity and too much air.
So size matters too.

The cost of the mission is approximately six hundred million dollars. It is

scheduled to observe until 2013 but this could be extended. Will we be sad if we
discover we are alone in our galaxy or happy if we find that we share it with other
life forms?

Glossary
tricky – difficult
at least three - three or more
weak – the opposite of strong
size – dimension, if a thing is big or small
alone – with no other people

Worksheet Task 4
Read and match 1-6 with a-e to make sentences about the text.

1 The Kepler space telescope a) are not in our solar system.

2 Kepler has found five planets that
3 A planet can support life if it
4 A very small planet
5 An extremely big planet
6 NASA willl spend
b) will not have enough air.
c) will have too much air.
d) is looking for life on other planets.
e) about $600 million on the mission. .
f) has water and air.
Worksheet Task 5
A) Underline these numbers in the text:

2009 - This is the year that………………………………………………………….

5 - …………………………………………………………………………………….
3 - …………………………………………………………………………………….
½ - ……………………………………………………………………………………
4 - ……………………………………………………………………………………
600 000000 - ……………………………………………………………………….
2013 - ……………………………………………………………………………….

B) Cover the text. Work with a partner and try to remember what the numbers
refer to. Make notes then look at the text to check.

Worksheet Task 6
Discuss these questions with a partner:

Do you think the Kepler mission will find life on other planets?
What other things do you know about space exploration?
Is it a good idea to spend $600 million on space exploration?
Why does NASA want to find habitable planets?

Worksheet Task 7
Imagine that the Kepler mission finds life on a distant planet. NASA wants to
send some objects representing Earth to the new planet. Add more items to
NASA’s list of objects:

an encyclopaedia
a computer
photographs of world leaders
a bottle of sea water
…………………………………….
……………………………………..
…………………………………….
……………………………………..