Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Stolen Heritage

Museum directors and culture ministers from 16 countries are meeting in Cairo this week to try and get back ancient treasures. They will discuss strategies to recover important parts of their heritage that are kept in museums in other countries. Officials include representatives from India, Greece, Italy, Nigeria and China. Most of their antiquities were taken centuries ago by invading armies and colonizers. Those attending the two-day conference will draw up a list of items they want returned. Egypt wants the return of thousands of ancient Egyptian artefacts currently being kept in Western museums. The event has been organised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is calling for "the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Many world famous and iconic items of human history will be discussed. Egypt will call for the return from Britain of the 2,000-year-old Rosetta Stone. Egypt's archaeology representative Dr. Zahi Hawass also has a 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti high on his list. Hawass has had a lot of success in recovering antiquities. In the past decade, he has successfully got back over 30,000 items from overseas. Greece is fighting another high-profile antiquity battle. It wants the return of the Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, which the British removed from Athens at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The conference will also ask UNESCO to change international laws that allow stolen antiquities to be sold and exported.

WARM-UPS

1. HERITAGE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about heritage. 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.

museums / strategies / heritage / antiquities / colonizers / invading armies / events / icons / human history / archaeology / the past decade / high profile / antiquities

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

3. TREASURES: What are they? Complete this table. Talk with your partner(s) about what you wrote. Change partners and share what you heard.

	Biggest treasure	Why
Mine
My family’s
My town’s
My country’s
The world’s
Earth’s

4. RETURN: Students A strongly believe all cultural artefacts should be returned to their original country; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. ANTIQUITIES: What are the most important icons in your culture? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important at the top. Change partners and share your ratings again.

Things that are 10,000 years old
skeletons
jewellery
paintings

buildings
weapons
coins
written things

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Sixteen countries are meeting to return cultural treasure to Egypt.	T / F
b.	Greek representatives decided not to attend the meeting in Cairo.	T / F
c.	The artefacts countries want returned were taken this century.	T / F
d.	The meeting is organized by an Egyptian antique organization.	T / F
e.	The Rosetta Stone is currently in British hands.	T / F
f.	A man called Dr. Hawass has recovered more than 30,000 artefacts.	T / F
g.	There is a dispute between Greece and Britain over marble artefacts.	T / F
h.	All international law bans the exporting of cultural artefacts.	T / F

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

1.	get back	a.	taken
2	strategies	b.	tactics
3.	invading	c.	symbolic
4.	colonizers	d.	return
5.	restitution	e.	amend
6.	iconic	f.	abroad
7.	bust	g.	invaders
8.	overseas	h.	recover
9.	removed	i.	conquering
10.	change	j.	statue

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	Museum directors and culture	a.	centuries ago
2	They will discuss	b.	decade
3.	antiquities were taken	c.	of cultural heritage
4.	draw up a	d.	the nineteenth century
5.	the protection and restitution	e.	of Queen Nefertiti
6.	world famous and	f.	strategies
7.	a 3,400-year-old bust	g.	to be sold
8.	In the past	h.	ministers
9.	at the beginning of	i.	list
10.	laws that allow stolen antiquities	j.	iconic items

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Museum ____________ and culture ministers from 16 countries are meeting in Cairo this week to try and get back ancient treasures. They will discuss strategies to ____________ important parts of their heritage that are ____________ in museums in other countries. Officials include representatives from India, Greece, Italy, Nigeria and China. Most of their antiquities were taken ____________ ago by invading armies and colonizers. Those attending the two-day conference will ____________ up a list of items they want returned. Egypt wants the return of ____________ of ancient Egyptian artefacts ____________ being kept in Western museums. The event has been organised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is calling for "the protection and restitution of cultural ____________”.

currently
centuries
recover
heritage
draw
directors
thousands
kept

Many world famous and iconic ____________ of human history will be discussed. Egypt will ____________ for the return from Britain of the 2,000-year-old Rosetta Stone. Egypt's archaeology representative Dr. Zahi Hawass also has a 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti ____________ on his list. Hawass has had a lot of ____________ in recovering antiquities. In the ____________ decade, he has successfully got back over 30,000 items from overseas. Greece is fighting another high-profile antiquity ____________. It wants the return of the Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, which the British removed from Athens at the ____________ of the nineteenth century. The conference will also ask UNESCO to change international laws that allow stolen antiquities to be sold and ____________.

battle
success
call
beginning
past
items
exported
high

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Museum directors and culture ministers ______________________ meeting in Cairo this week ______________________ ancient treasures. They will discuss strategies to recover important parts of their heritage ______________________ museums in other countries. Officials include representatives from India, Greece, Italy, Nigeria and China. Most of their antiquities were taken centuries ago by invading ______________________. Those attending the two-day conference will draw up a list of items they want returned. Egypt ______________________ thousands of ancient Egyptian artefacts currently being kept in Western museums. The event has been organised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, ______________________ "the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Many world ______________________ of human history will be discussed. Egypt will call for the return from Britain of the 2,000-year-old Rosetta Stone. Egypt's ______________________ Dr. Zahi Hawass also has a 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti high on his list. Hawass has had a lot ______________________ antiquities. In the past decade, he has successfully got back over 30,000 items from overseas. Greece is fighting ______________________ antiquity battle. It wants the return of the Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, which the British removed from Athens ______________________ the nineteenth century. The conference will also ask UNESCO to change international laws that allow stolen antiquities to ______________________.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

ancient

treasure

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:

16
parts
include
draw
Western
calling

iconic
2,000
3,400
30,000
nineteenth
laws

STUDENT HERITAGE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about heritage 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.

HERITAGE 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 ‘heritage’?
c)	Are you proud of your country’s heritage?
d)	Do you think it’s important to maintain a country’s heritage?
e)	Do you think all cultural artefacts belong to their original countries?
f)	Do you like looking at the cultural artefacts of other countries?
g)	What should people teach children about heritage?
h)	What are the most important aspects of your country’s heritage and why?
i)	Which country has the world’s most important heritage?
j)	Do you think the world’s most important things should be put in a world museum?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What are the most iconic items of world heritage?
c)	What are your favourite world heritage sites?
d)	Are you interested in archaeology?
e)	What’s more important to you, heritage or technology?
f)	Should Britain empty out the British Museum and return everything?
g)	Why do you think countries hang on to artefacts from other countries?
h)	What’s your greatest treasure?
i)	What things created today will be part of your country’s heritage 2,000 years from now?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Dr. Zahi Hawass?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Museum directors and culture ministers from 16 countries are meeting in Cairo this week to try and get back ancient treasures. They will discuss strategies to (1) ____ important parts of their heritage that are kept in museums in other countries. Officials (2) ____ representatives from India, Greece, Italy, Nigeria and China. Most of their antiquities were taken centuries ago by (3) ____ armies and colonizers. Those attending the two-day conference will draw (4) ____ a list of items they want returned. Egypt wants the return of thousands of ancient Egyptian artefacts (5) ____ being kept in Western museums. The event has been organised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is (6) ____ for "the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Many world famous and (7) ____ items of human history will be discussed. Egypt will call for the return from Britain of the 2,000-year-old Rosetta Stone. Egypt's archaeology representative Dr. Zahi Hawass also has a 3,400-year-old (8) ____ of Queen Nefertiti (9) ____ on his list. Hawass has had a lot of success in recovering antiquities. In the past decade, he has successfully got back over 30,000 items from overseas. Greece is fighting another (10) ____ -profile antiquity battle. It wants the return of the Elgin Marbles, also (11) ____ as the Parthenon Marbles, which the British removed from Athens at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The conference will also ask UNESCO to change international laws that allow (12) ____ antiquities to be sold and exported.

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

1.	(a)	recover	(b)	discover	(c)	cover	(d)	covet
2.	(a)	inclusive	(b)	include	(c)	includes	(d)	inclusion
3.	(a)	invasive	(b)	invasion	(c)	invading	(d)	invade
4.	(a)	down	(b)	in	(c)	of	(d)	up
5.	(a)	currency	(b)	currants	(c)	current	(d)	currently
6.	(a)	calls	(b)	call	(c)	calling	(d)	called
7.	(a)	iconic	(b)	icon	(c)	icons	(d)	ironic
8.	(a)	burst	(b)	bust	(c)	broken	(d)	boom
9.	(a)	tall	(b)	above	(c)	high	(d)	over
10.	(a)	high	(b)	tall	(c)	big	(d)	up
11.	(a)	knew	(b)	knowing	(c)	knows	(d)	known
12.	(a)	steals	(b)	stolen	(c)	stealing	(d)	steal

WRITING

Write about heritage 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 meeting in Cairo. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. HERITAGE: Make a poster about heritage. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. CULTURAL HERITAGE: Write a magazine article about cultural heritage. Include imaginary interviews with people who think it is and isn’t important.

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 culture secretary of your country. Ask him/her three questions about heritage. Give him/her three ideas on how to promote your country’s heritage. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	get back	a.	recover
2	strategies	b.	tactics
3.	invading	c.	conquering
4.	colonizers	d.	invaders
5.	restitution	e.	return
6.	iconic	f.	symbolic
7.	bust	g.	statue
8.	overseas	h.	abroad
9.	removed	i.	taken
10.	change	j.	amend

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	Museum directors and culture	a.	ministers
2	They will discuss	b.	strategies
3.	antiquities were taken	c.	centuries ago
4.	draw up a	d.	list
5.	the protection and restitution	e.	of cultural heritage
6.	world famous and	f.	iconic items
7.	a 3,400-year-old bust	g.	of Queen Nefertiti
8.	In the past	h.	decade
9.	at the beginning of	i.	the nineteenth century
10.	laws that allow stolen antiquities	j.	to be sold

GAP FILL:

Egypt calls for return of ancient treasures

Museum directors and culture ministers from 16 countries are meeting in Cairo this week to try and get back ancient treasures. They will discuss strategies to recover important parts of their heritage that are kept in museums in other countries. Officials include representatives from India, Greece, Italy, Nigeria and China. Most of their antiquities were taken centuries ago by invading armies and colonizers. Those attending the two-day conference will draw up a list of items they want returned. Egypt wants the return of thousands of ancient Egyptian artefacts currently being kept in Western museums. The event has been organised by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is calling for "the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Many world famous and iconic items of human history will be discussed. Egypt will call for the return from Britain of the 2,000-year-old Rosetta Stone. Egypt's archaeology representative Dr. Zahi Hawass also has a 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti high on his list. Hawass has had a lot of success in recovering antiquities. In the past decade, he has successfully got back over 30,000 items from overseas. Greece is fighting another high-profile antiquity battle. It wants the return of the Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, which the British removed from Athens at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The conference will also ask UNESCO to change international laws that allow stolen antiquities to be sold and exported.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - c

7 - a

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - d

12 - b

Breaking News English

PRINT

13-Page Class Handout
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LISTEN

MP3 (2:08 - 1,021KB)

Egypt Calls for Return of Ancient Treasures (8th April, 2010)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT HERITAGE SURVEY

HERITAGE DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Egypt calls for return of ancient treasures

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Sean Banville's Book

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My 1,000 Ideas e-Book	Breaking News English HOME \| HELP MY SITE \| 000s MORE FREE LESSONS	My 1,000 Ideas e-Book

Breaking News English

PRINT

13-Page Class Handout with all-skills activities

LISTEN

MP3 (2:08 - 1,021KB)

Egypt Calls for Return of Ancient Treasures (8th April, 2010)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT HERITAGE SURVEY

HERITAGE DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Egypt calls for return of ancient treasures

Help Support This Web Site

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You

13-Page Class Handout
with all-skills activities