Date: February 22, 2005
Level: Pre-Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Did you know that you can tell where someone is from just from their smile? A researcher in America believes he can. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at the University of California, carried out an extensive study into the 43 facial muscles that are used when making a smile. One of his conclusions was that the smile of British people is more sincere and genuine than the smiles of Americans. Mr. Keltner was spot on in identifying a British or American smile when asked to identify which side of the Atlantic someone was from, just by looking at a photograph. He identified the correct nationality nine times out of ten. A genuine British smile means pulling the lips backwards and upwards to reveal the bottom teeth. The cheeks are raised and the crow’s feet wrinkles to the side of the eyes show. Keltner said Prince Charles has the most typical warm British smile. The average American smile is less expressive because the eye muscles are not part of the smile. He likened it to a Botox injection, which leaves the upper half of the face motionless. He also said smiling means you have a more successful life.

WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about smiling / Smiley / “say cheese” / nationality smiles / my smile / fake smile / Prince Charles / …

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. SMILE BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘smile’. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. SMILE FOR SUCCESS: In pairs / groups, write down 5 ideas why smiling might lead to a better, more successful life. Talk about these. Change partners several times, sharing your information. Return to your original partner and choose your favorite five ideas from those you heard.

4. OPINIONS: In pairs / groups, discuss the following opinions:

1. People who smile more are richer.
2. People who smile more weigh more.
3. British smiles are friendlier than American smiles.
4. We should smile to everyone we pass in the street or sit opposite on the train.
5. Children should learn the health benefits of smiling at school.
6. Some nationalities smile more than others.
7. Men smile more than women.
8. Everyone looks beautiful when they smile.
9. Smiling in the first two seconds at a job interview increases your chances of getting the job by 80%.
10. Smiling gives us wrinkles. Not smiling means we stay younger looking.
11. It’s impossible to spend one day without smiling.
12. Thai people are the word’s biggest and most beautiful smilers.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘smile’ and ‘please’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Students look at the headline and predict whether they believe the following statements about the article are true or false:

1. You can tell which country someone is from just from their smile.  T / F
2. We use 16 different facial muscles when we smile.  T / F
3. British people have more genuine smiles than American people.  T / F
4. A researcher had a 100% success rate in identifying a smile as British or American.  T / F
5. A genuine British smile means pulling the lips backwards and upwards to reveal the bottom teeth.  T / F
6. Prince Charles has the most typical warm British smile. T / F
7. Americans don’t use their eye muscles when they smile.  T / F
8. Smiling doesn’t mean you will have a more successful life.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Students match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	tell	wide
(b)	smile	characteristic
(c)	carried out	show
(d)	extensive	correct
(e)	conclusions	understand
(f)	sincere	findings
(g)	spot on	alive
(h)	reveal	grin
(i)	typical	honest
(j)	expressive	undertook

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	you can	conclusions
(b)	carried out an extensive	expressive
(c)	facial	feet
(d)	one of his	of ten
(e)	sincere and	study
(f)	spot	tell
(g)	nine times out	genuine
(h)	crow’s	half of the face motionless
(i)	The average American smile is less	on
(j)	leaves the upper	muscles

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Where’s that smile from?

Did you know that you can __________ where someone is from just from their smile? A researcher in America __________ he can. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at the University of California, carried out an __________ study into the 43 facial muscles that are used when making a smile. One of his conclusions was that the smile of British people is more sincere and __________ than the smiles of Americans. Mr. Keltner was spot on in identifying a British or American smile when asked to __________ which side of the Atlantic someone was from, just by looking at a photograph. He identified the correct nationality nine times out of ten. A genuine British smile means __________ the lips backwards and upwards to reveal the bottom teeth. The cheeks are raised and the crow’s feet wrinkles to the side of the eyes show. Keltner said Prince Charles has the most typical warm British smile. The average American smile is __________ expressive because the eye muscles are not part of the smile. He likened it to a Botox injection, which leaves the upper half of the face __________. He also said smiling means you have a more successful life.

genuine believes motionless pulling extensive less identify tell

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS:  Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY:  Students c ircle any words they do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘SMILE’/ ‘PLEASE’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:  Students ask each other the following questions:

1. Do you like smiling?
2. What percentage of your day do you smile?
3. How many different smiles do you have?
4. Do you have different smiles for different people?
5. Do you ever fake a smile?
6. Is smiling good for your heart?
7. Would you try to smile less if it meant you looked younger later in life?
8. Do you worry about your crow’s feet?
9. What do you think of Prince Charles’ smile?
10. What do you think of my smile?
11. Do you think that British people have friendlier smiles than Americans?
12. Do you ever use / draw the smiley character?
13. Who has the best smile of anyone you know?
14. Do you always smile in photographs?
15. Can you spend a whole day without smiling?
16. What kind of things make you smile to yourself?
17. Teacher / Student additional questions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on smiling and health. Share your opinions with your class next lesson.

3. SMILE PLEASE: Create a poster entitled ‘Smile Please’ about why we should smile at everyone we see every day.

4. SMILEY DAY: Choose one day in the near future. Make a plan to write down every time you catch yourself smiling. Make a note of the reason and the situation in which you smiled. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. You can tell which country someone is from just from their smile.  T
2. We use 16 different facial muscles when we smile.  F
3. British people have more genuine smiles than American people.  T
4. A researcher had a 100% success rate in identifying a smile as British or American.  F
5. A genuine British smile means pulling the lips backwards and upwards to reveal the bottom teeth.  T
6. Prince Charles has the most typical warm British smile. T
7. Americans don’t use their eye muscles when they smile.  T
8. Smiling doesn’t mean you will have a more successful life.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	tell	understand
(b)	smile	grin
(c)	carried out	undertook
(d)	extensive	wide
(e)	conclusions	findings
(f)	sincere	honest
(g)	spot on	correct
(h)	reveal	show
(i)	typical	characteristic
(j)	expressive	alive

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	you can	tell
(b)	carried out an extensive	study
(c)	facial	muscles
(d)	one of his	conclusions
(e)	sincere and	genuine
(f)	spot	on
(g)	nine times out	of ten
(h)	crow’s	feet
(i)	The average American smile is less	expressive
(j)	leaves the upper	half of the face motionless

GAP FILL:

Where’s that smile from?

Did you know that you can tell where someone is from just from their smile? A researcher in America believes he can. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at the University of California, carried out an extensive study into the 43 facial muscles that are used when making a smile. One of his conclusions was that the smile of British people is more sincere and genuine than the smiles of Americans. Mr. Keltner was spot on in identifying a British or American smile when asked to identify which side of the Atlantic someone was from, just by looking at a photograph. He identified the correct nationality nine times out of ten. A genuine British smile means pulling the lips backwards and upwards to reveal the bottom teeth. The cheeks are raised and the crow’s feet wrinkles to the side of the eyes show. Keltner said Prince Charles has the most typical warm British smile. The average American smile is less expressive because the eye muscles are not part of the smile. He likened it to a Botox injection, which leaves the upper half of the face motionless. He also said smiling means you have a more successful life.