Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Royal Wedding

Buckingham Palace has sent out invitations for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not disclosed who is invited but journalists who follow the royal family say half of the guests are family and friends. The rest will be leading British politicians, VIPs from all over the world, and a scattering of stars and celebrities. Of those invited to the ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, a third will go on to attend a celebration reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth, and then half of those will go on to a dinner party hosted by Prince Charles, William’s father. This select group will be family and close friends of the happy couple. It is expected they will go on honeymoon the following day.

Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. They began dating in 2003 and shared an apartment together. Their relationship became the subject of considerable media speculation from the very beginning. This intensified after Ms Middleton attended a special parade when William graduated from the Sandhurst military academy. The attention from the press became so intense that William had to ask the paparazzi to keep their distance and respect Ms Middleton’s privacy. William has painful memories of how the media hounded his mother, Princess Diana. In 2007, there were reports that the couple had split up, even though they were regularly seen together at various high-profile events and holidays. Prince William proposed to Kate on 19 October 2010 on a trip to Kenya.

WARM-UPS

1. WEDDINGS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about weddings. 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.

Buckingham Palace / weddings / guests / celebrities / dinner party / honeymoon / university / dating / relationships / media / graduated / painful memories / proposing

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

3. PLANS: Plan a royal wedding? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	Plan	Why?
Guests
Food
Venue
Music
Flowers
Honeymoon

4. MARRIAGE: Students A strongly believe there’s no real need for marriage today; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. ROYAL LIFE: Good or bad? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

being a royal
palaces
the press
attending public events

lack of privacy
bodyguards
meeting other world royals
jewellery

6. ROYAL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘royal’. 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.	10 Downing Street has sent invitations for Prince William’s wedding.	T / F
b.	Most of the guests are family and friends of the bride and groom.	T / F
c.	Around a sixth of those at the wedding ceremony are invited to dinner.	T / F
d.	Prince Charles is hosting the dinner.	T / F
e.	The couple met while they were students and lived together.	T / F
f.	Prince William had to ask the media to back off from Ms Middleton.	T / F
g.	The couple split up for a year in 2007.	T / F
h.	Prince William asked Kate to marry him while on holiday in Scotland.	T / F

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

1.	sent out	a.	remainder
2	disclosed	b.	finished
3.	rest	c.	held
4.	scattering	d.	flat
5.	hosted	e.	severe
6.	apartment	f.	made it known
7.	speculation	g.	posted
8.	intense	h.	holiday
9.	split up	i.	sprinkling
10.	trip	j.	gossip

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

1.	sent out invitations	a.	British politicians
2	Officials have not disclosed	b.	on 19 October 2010
3.	The rest will be leading	c.	couple
4.	go on to attend a	d.	media speculation
5.	close friends of the happy	e.	their distance
6.	They began	f.	for the wedding
7.	the subject of considerable	g.	hounded his mother
8.	ask the paparazzi to keep	h.	who is invited
9.	painful memories of how the media	i.	dating in 2003
10.	William proposed to Kate	j.	celebration reception

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Buckingham Palace has sent out (1) ____________ for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not disclosed who is (2) ____________ but journalists who follow the royal family say half of the guests are family and friends. The (3) ____________ will be leading British politicians, VIPs from all over the world, and a scattering of stars and (4) ____________. Of those invited to the (5) ____________ at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, a third will go on to attend a celebration reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth, and then half of (6) ____________ will go on to a dinner party hosted by Prince Charles, William’s father. This select (7) ____________ will be family and close friends of the happy (8) ____________. It is expected they will go on honeymoon the following day.

group
rest
ceremony
couple
invitations
those
invited
celebrities

Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. They began (9) ____________ in 2003 and shared an apartment together. Their relationship became the subject of considerable (10) ____________ speculation from the very beginning. This intensified after Ms Middleton attended a special parade when William graduated from the Sandhurst military (11) ____________. The attention from the press became so intense that William had to ask the paparazzi to (12) ____________ their distance and respect Ms Middleton’s privacy. William has (13) ____________ memories of how the media hounded his mother, Princess Diana. In 2007, there were reports that the couple had (14) ____________ up, even though they were regularly seen together at various high-profile (15) ____________ and holidays. Prince William (16) ____________ to Kate on 19 October 2010 on a trip to Kenya.

keep
proposed
academy
split
dating
events
painful
media

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Buckingham Palace ______________________ for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not disclosed who is invited but journalists who follow the royal family ______________________ are family and friends. The rest will be leading British politicians, VIPs from all over the world, and a scattering of stars and celebrities. ______________________ the ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, a third will ______________________ celebration reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth, and then half of those will go on to a dinner party hosted by Prince Charles, William’s father. ______________________ be family and close friends of the happy couple. ______________________ will go on honeymoon the following day.

Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. ______________________ 2003 and shared an apartment together. Their relationship became the subject of considerable media speculation from the very beginning. ______________________ Ms Middleton attended a special parade when William graduated from the Sandhurst military academy. The ______________________ press became so intense that William had to ask the paparazzi to keep their distance and respect Ms Middleton’s privacy. William ______________________ of how the media hounded his mother, Princess Diana. In 2007, there were reports that the ______________________, even though they were ______________________ at various high-profile events and holidays. Prince William proposed to Kate on 19 October 2010 on a trip to Kenya.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

royal

wedding

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:

sent
follow
stars
third
half
happy

met
shared
attention
respect
split
Kenya

STUDENT WEDDINGS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about weddings 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.

WEDDINGS 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 ‘wedding’?
c)	Do you like weddings?
d)	What do you think of royal weddings?
e)	Who should pay for royal weddings – the bride and groom or the government?
f)	Would you like to go to Prince William’s wedding?
g)	What’s a fairytale wedding? Describe one.
h)	Do you think Prince William and Kate might prefer a smaller, more private wedding?
i)	What do you think the dinner celebration will be like?
j)	What wedding present would you buy William and Kate?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think royals should only marry other royals and not commoners?
c)	Why is the media so interested in William and Kate?
d)	Should there be laws to stop the paparazzi taking photos of royalty?
e)	What do you think of the idea of royal families?
f)	What do you know about William’s mother, Princess Diana?
g)	What advice would you give to Kate about joining a royal family?
h)	What pressures are there on a royal marriage that might not be there for commoners’ marriages?
i)	Where is the best place / country to get married?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Prince William?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Buckingham Palace has sent out invitations for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not (1) ____ who is invited but journalists who follow the royal family say half of the guests are family and friends. The (2) ____ will be leading British politicians, VIPs from all over the world, and a (3) ____ of stars and celebrities. Of those invited to the ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, a third will go (4) ____ to attend a celebration reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth, and then half of those will go on to a dinner party hosted by Prince Charles, William’s father. This (5) ____ group will be family and close friends of the (6) ____ couple. It is expected they will go on honeymoon the following day.

Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. They began (7) ____ in 2003 and shared an apartment together. Their relationship became the subject of (8) ____ media speculation from the very beginning. This intensified after Ms Middleton attended a special parade when William graduated from the Sandhurst military academy. The attention from the press became so (9) ____ that William had to ask the paparazzi to keep their distance and respect Ms Middleton’s privacy. William has painful (10) ____ of how the media hounded his mother, Princess Diana. In 2007, there were reports that the couple had split (11 ____, even though they were regularly seen together at various high-profile events and holidays. Prince William (12) ____ to Kate on 19 October 2010 on a trip to Kenya.

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

1.	(a)	enclosed	(b)	closed	(c)	reclosed	(d)	disclosed
2.	(a)	rest	(b)	fest	(c)	lest	(d)	pest
3.	(a)	scatter	(b)	scattered	(c)	scattering	(d)	scatters
4.	(a)	in	(b)	on	(c)	an	(d)	into
5.	(a)	selection	(b)	select	(c)	selects	(d)	selecting
6.	(a)	fine	(b)	smiley	(c)	happy	(d)	joy
7.	(a)	dating	(b)	dated	(c)	dates	(d)	date
8.	(a)	considering	(b)	considerate	(c)	considerably	(d)	considerable
9.	(a)	pretense	(b)	tenses	(c)	presence	(d)	intense
10.	(a)	memorial	(b)	memories	(c)	memory	(d)	remember
11.	(a)	up	(b)	in	(c)	down	(d)	over
12.	(a)	proposal	(b)	proposing	(c)	proposed	(d)	proposition

WRITING

Write about weddings 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 royal wedding. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. ROYALTY: Write a magazine article about being a royal. Include imaginary interviews with princes and princesses.

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 Prince William. Ask him three questions about his wedding. Give him three pieces of advice for his married future. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	sent out	a.	posted
2	disclosed	b.	made it known
3.	rest	c.	remainder
4.	scattering	d.	sprinkling
5.	hosted	e.	held
6.	apartment	f.	flat
7.	speculation	g.	gossip
8.	intense	h.	severe
9.	split up	i.	finished
10.	trip	j.	holiday

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	sent out invitations	a.	for the wedding
2	Officials have not disclosed	b.	who is invited
3.	The rest will be leading	c.	British politicians
4.	go on to attend a	d.	celebration reception
5.	close friends of the happy	e.	couple
6.	They began	f.	dating in 2003
7.	the subject of considerable	g.	media speculation
8.	ask the paparazzi to keep	h.	their distance
9.	painful memories of how the media	i.	hounded his mother
10.	William proposed to Kate	j.	on 19 October 2010

GAP FILL:

1,900 royal wedding invitations sent

Buckingham Palace has sent out (1) invitations for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Officials have not disclosed who is (2) invited but journalists who follow the royal family say half of the guests are family and friends. The (3) rest will be leading British politicians, VIPs from all over the world, and a scattering of stars and (4) celebrities. Of those invited to the (5) ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, a third will go on to attend a celebration reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth, and then half of (6) those will go on to a dinner party hosted by Prince Charles, William’s father. This select (7) group will be family and close friends of the happy (8) couple. It is expected they will go on honeymoon the following day.

Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. They began (9) dating in 2003 and shared an apartment together. Their relationship became the subject of considerable (10) media speculation from the very beginning. This intensified after Ms Middleton attended a special parade when William graduated from the Sandhurst military (11) academy. The attention from the press became so intense that William had to ask the paparazzi to (12) keep their distance and respect Ms Middleton’s privacy. William has (13) painful memories of how the media hounded his mother, Princess Diana. In 2007, there were reports that the couple had (14) split up, even though they were regularly seen together at various high-profile (15) events and holidays. Prince William (16) proposed to Kate on 19 October 2010 on a trip to Kenya.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - c

4 - b

5 - b

6 - c

7 - a

8 - d

9 -d

10 - b

11 - a

12 - c

Breaking News English

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1,900 Royal Wedding Invitations Sent (18th February, 2011)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT WEDDINGS SURVEY

WEDDINGS DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

1,900 royal wedding invitations sent

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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 PDF Handout - with all-skills activities

LISTEN

MP3 (2:01 - 971KB)

1,900 Royal Wedding Invitations Sent (18th February, 2011)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT WEDDINGS SURVEY

WEDDINGS DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

1,900 royal wedding invitations sent

Help Support This Web Site

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You

13-Page PDF
Handout - with
all-skills activities