Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Twitter

Hollywood actress Demi Moore has used Twitter to stop a woman committing suicide. The suicidal woman, known only by her Twitter username “Sandieguy”, sent Demi Moore a tweet. Her Twitter message outlined how she intended to take her own life. She wrote: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't waste time. Goodbye. Gonna kill myself now.” Moore saw the message on her Twitter page and immediately posted the reply: “I hope you are joking”. Some of the 370,000 subscribers to Moore’s page also sprung into action. They looked at Sandieguy’s profile to find her location. They alerted police in San Jose, California, who found her and took her to get medical help.

San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas told America’s ABC news network how Twitter helped in saving the woman’s life. He said he could see many uses for Twitter in helping the police in the future. He told ABC: "This Twitter concept is so new. This is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very real crime. [Twitter] could be yet another tool to find out what's going on out there." Demi Moore was very thankful her social networking site helped save a life. She posted a message to say thank you, which read: “Thanks everyone for reaching out to the San Jose PD…I am inspired by the enormous response of humanity…Through the collective efforts here, action was taken to provide help.”

WARM-UPS

1. MESSAGES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about messages. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

actresses / committing suicide / usernames / wasting time / subscribers / profile / police / saving lives / crime-fighting tools / being thankful / collective effort / help

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. WEBSITES: Can you live without websites? Complete the table. Talk about what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you found out.

Website	Usefulness to me	How they improve my social life
Google
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
iTunes
English site

4. PROFILES: Students A strongly believe all Internet users should belong to a social-networking site (Facebook, Twitter…); Students B strongly believe social-networking sites are very dangerous. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. THANKFUL: Who are you most thankful to? Rate these people from 10 (I’m super-thankful) to 1 (no need to thank them). Share your ratings with your partner(s).

_____ My English teacher

_____ Bill Gates (Microsoft founder)

_____ My mother / father

_____ My favourite sports star

_____ My neighbour

_____ The local supermarket cashier

_____ My country’s leader

_____ Barack Obama

6. USERNAME: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘username’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A Hollywood actress saved someone’s life using the website Twitter.	T / F
b.	A Twitter message is known as a twit.	T / F
c.	The woman who planned to commit suicide used her real name online.	T / F
d.	Over a quarter of a million people subscribe to Demi Moore’s site	T / F
e.	A policeman told the BBC about how Twitter saved someone’s life	T / F
f.	The policeman said Twitter could be a useful crime-fighting tool.	T / F
g.	Demi Moore mailed people a letter of thanks in a real envelope.	T / F
h.	Moore said she was inspired by how everyone worked together to help.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	stop	a.	happening
2	intended	b.	straightaway
3.	sprung	c.	energized
4.	immediately	d.	planned
5.	alerted	e.	related
6.	told	f.	shared
7.	uses	g.	prevent
8.	going on	h.	applications
9.	inspired	i.	leapt
10.	collective	j.	warned

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):

1.	stop a woman committing	a.	her own life
2	known only by her Twitter username	b.	to the San Jose PD
3.	how she intended to take	c.	action
4.	I hope you are	d.	woman’s life
5.	sprung into	e.	“Sandieguy”
6.	Twitter helped in saving the	f.	to provide help
7.	He said he could see many	g.	suicide
8.	another tool to find out what's	h.	uses for Twitter
9.	Thanks everyone for reaching out	i.	joking
10.	action was taken	j.	going on out there

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Hollywood actress Demi Moore has used Twitter to stop a woman committing __________. The suicidal woman, known only by her Twitter __________ “Sandieguy”, sent Demi Moore a tweet. Her Twitter message outlined how she intended to __________ her own life. She wrote: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the __________ arm so it doesn't waste time. Goodbye. Gonna kill myself now.” Moore saw the message on her Twitter page and immediately __________ the reply: “I hope you are joking”. Some of the 370,000 subscribers to Moore’s page also sprung into __________. They looked at Sandieguy’s __________ to find her location. They __________ police in San Jose, California, who found her and took her to get medical help.

action
take
suicide
posted
alerted
username
whole
profile

San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas told America’s ABC news __________ how Twitter helped in saving the woman’s life. He said he could see many __________ for Twitter in helping the police in the future. He told ABC: "This Twitter __________ is so new. This is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very real __________. [Twitter] could be yet another __________ to find out what's going on out there." Demi Moore was very thankful her social networking site helped __________ a life. She posted a message to say thank you, which __________: “Thanks everyone for reaching out to the San Jose PD…I am inspired by the enormous response of humanity…Through the collective __________ here, action was taken to provide help.”

concept
save
network
efforts
crime
uses
read
tool

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.

Hollywood actress Demi Moore has used Twitter ________________ committing suicide. The suicidal woman, ________________ Twitter username “Sandieguy”, sent Demi Moore a tweet. Her Twitter message outlined how she intended to ________________. She wrote: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it ________________. Goodbye. Gonna kill myself now.” Moore saw the message on her Twitter page and immediately ________________: “I hope you are joking”. Some of the 370,000 subscribers to Moore’s page also ________________. They looked at Sandieguy’s profile to find her location. They alerted police in San Jose, California, who found her and took her to get medical help.

San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas told America’s ABC news network how Twitter ________________ the woman’s life. He said he __________________ for Twitter in helping the police in the future. He told ABC: "This Twitter concept is so new. This is the first time it's __________________ have been a very real crime. [Twitter] __________________ tool to find out what's going on out there." Demi Moore was very thankful her social networking site helped save a life. She posted a message to say thank you, which read: “Thanks everyone ________________ the San Jose PD…I am inspired by the enormous response of humanity…Through the ___________________, action was taken to provide help.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘save’ and ‘life’.

save

life

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

stop
known
take
waste
reply
medical

information
uses
concept
tool
reaching
efforts

STUDENT WEBSITE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about websites in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WEBSITES DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘website’?
c)	What’s your favourite website?
d)	What do you think of sites like Facebook and Twitter?
e)	Do you think social networking sites are dangerous?
f)	Do you think social networking sites should search for terms like “suicide”?
g)	Are you surprised an actor as famous as Demi Moore replied to the tweet?
h)	What do you know about Twitter, twittering and tweets?
i)	When was the last time you sprang into action?
j)	Do you know any more stories of websites helping to save lives?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What website do you recommend for learning English?
c)	What uses can you think of for Twitter to help us?
d)	Would you use Twitter or another site to report on people behaving strangely around you?
e)	When was the last time you felt very thankful?
f)	When was the last time a story inspired you?
g)	What kind of website would you like to make?
h)	What do you think life would be like without the Internet?
i)	How do you decide on a username when you join a website?
j)	What questions would you ask Demi Moore?

LANGUAGE

Hollywood actress Demi Moore has used Twitter to stop a woman committing (1) ____. The suicidal woman, known only by her Twitter username “Sandieguy”, sent Demi Moore a tweet. Her Twitter message (2) ____ how she intended to take her own (3) ____. She wrote: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't (4) ____ time. Goodbye. Gonna kill myself now.” Moore saw the message on her Twitter page and immediately posted the reply: “I hope you are joking”. Some of the 370,000 subscribers to Moore’s page also sprung (5) ____ action. They looked at Sandieguy’s profile to find her location. They alerted police in San Jose, California, who found her and took her to get (6) ____ help.

San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas told America’s ABC news network how Twitter helped (7) ____ saving the woman’s life. He said he could (8) ____ many uses for Twitter in helping the police in the future. He told ABC: "This Twitter concept is so new. This is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very (9) ____ crime. [Twitter] could be yet another tool to find out what's going (10) ____ out there." Demi Moore was very thankful her social networking site helped save a life. She posted a message to say thank you, which read: “Thanks everyone for reaching (11) ____ to the San Jose PD…I am inspired by the enormous response of (12) ____ …Through the collective efforts here, action was taken to provide help.”

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	suicide	(b)	suicides	(c)	suicidal	(d)	suicide pact
2.	(a)	outlining	(b)	outlines	(c)	outlined	(d)	outline
3.	(a)	living	(b)	live	(c)	alive	(d)	life
4.	(a)	wastes	(b)	waste	(c)	wasted	(d)	waster
5.	(a)	unto	(b)	onto	(c)	up to	(d)	into
6.	(a)	medicine	(b)	medics	(c)	medical	(d)	medic
7.	(a)	on	(b)	in	(c)	an	(d)	at
8.	(a)	see	(b)	look	(c)	stare	(d)	watch
9.	(a)	real	(b)	really	(c)	realize	(d)	reality
10.	(a)	out	(b)	in	(c)	on	(d)	off
11.	(a)	with	(b)	in	(c)	at	(d)	out
12.	(a)	human	(b)	humanity	(c)	humane	(d)	humanize

WRITING:

Write about websites for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY 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 out more about the social networking / mini-blogging site Twitter. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MY SITES: Make a poster about your three favourite sites. What’s so good about them? Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. PROFILE: Write a magazine article about the personal information people put in their profiles on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Include imaginary interviews with a policeman who thinks people must write true information, and with someone who thinks it’s OK to put false information.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the owner of the Twitter website. Ask her/him three questions about her/his site. Give her/him three ideas on what she/he could do to help the site be more useful. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	stop	a.	prevent
2	intended	b.	planned
3.	sprung	c.	leapt
4.	immediately	d.	straightaway
5.	alerted	e.	warned
6.	told	f.	related
7.	uses	g.	applications
8.	going on	h.	happening
9.	inspired	i.	energized
10.	collective	j.	shared

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	stop a woman committing	a.	suicide
2	known only by her Twitter username	b.	“Sandieguy”
3.	how she intended to take	c.	her own life
4.	I hope you are	d.	joking
5.	sprung into	e.	action
6.	Twitter helped in saving the	f.	woman’s life
7.	He said he could see many	g.	uses for Twitter
8.	another tool to find out what's	h.	going on out there
9.	Thanks everyone for reaching out	i.	to the San Jose PD
10.	action was taken	j.	to provide help

GAP FILL:

Twitter helps stop California suicide

Hollywood actress Demi Moore has used Twitter to stop a woman committing suicide. The suicidal woman, known only by her Twitter username “Sandieguy”, sent Demi Moore a tweet. Her Twitter message outlined how she intended to take her own life. She wrote: "Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn't waste time. Goodbye. Gonna kill myself now.” Moore saw the message on her Twitter page and immediately posted the reply: “I hope you are joking”. Some of the 370,000 subscribers to Moore’s page also sprung into action. They looked at Sandieguy’s profile to find her location. They alerted police in San Jose, California, who found her and took her to get medical help.

San Jose Police Department Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas told America’s ABC news network how Twitter helped in saving the woman’s life. He said he could see many uses for Twitter in helping the police in the future. He told ABC: "This Twitter concept is so new. This is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very real crime. [Twitter] could be yet another tool to find out what's going on out there." Demi Moore was very thankful her social networking site helped save a life. She posted a message to say thank you, which read: “Thanks everyone for reaching out to the San Jose PD…I am inspired by the enormous response of humanity…Through the collective efforts here, action was taken to provide help.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - d

4 - b

5 - d

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 -a

10 - c

11 - d

12 - b

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Breaking News English

April 4, 2009

Twitter Helps Stop California Suicide