Breaking News English

        

1. TWITTER: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Twitter. 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.

Pope Benedict XVI / news websites / Vatican / social networking / technology / followers / Catholic Church / a new era / relationships / impressed / in awe / iPad

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

3. FIRST-TIME TECH: What about yours? Complete this table and share with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

	How did you feel?	Why?
First mobile
Facebook/Twitter
Computer
E-mail
Game
Other ___________

4. SOCIAL MEDIA: Students A strongly believe it’s a good thing; Students B strongly believe it isn’t.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. COMMUNICATE: What’s the best way? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Twitter Letter Phone call Facebook

E-mail SMS / text Face-to-face Telepathy

6. TWEET: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘tweet’. 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.	The Pope sent a first tweet on an iPad. Earlier tweets were on a mobile.	T / F
b.	The tweet was on the same day as another special day for the Pope.	T / F
c.	The tweet was to ask everyone in the world to love each other.	T / F
d.	The Vatican Twitter account does not follow anyone.	T / F
e.	The Pope has encouraged the Catholic Church to use technology.	T / F
f.	The Pope said priests should use tech to spread the Bible’s message.	T / F
g.	A spokesperson said the Pope was unimpressed by the iPad.	T / F
h.	The spokesman said the Pope was not in awe of technology.	T / F

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

1.	launch	a.	react
2	marked	b.	attempt
3.	effort	c.	following
4.	audience	d.	urged
5.	gather	e.	start
6.	encouraged	f.	period
7.	threshold	g.	commemorated
8.	era	h.	wonder
9.	respond	i.	collect
10.	awe	j.	beginning

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

1.	launch the Vatican’s	a.	wider audience
2	With my prayers and	b.	of a new era
3.	connect with a	c.	follows no one
4.	update this	d.	deeper relationships
5.	has over 50,000 followers but	e.	at the new technology
6.	use it to communicate the	f.	blessings
7.	stand at the threshold	g.	news portal
8.	new technologies create	h.	moment
9.	clearly in awe	i.	three times a day
10.	It's a lighter	j.	Bible’s message

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Pope Benedict XVI sent his first (1) ____________ tweet on Wednesday June the 29th to launch the Vatican’s news             (2) ____________, www.news.va. He did so on a papal iPad. The day also (3) ____________ the 84-year-old pontiff’s 60th anniversary of his ordination as a (4) ____________. He tweeted in English: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my (5) ____________ and blessings, Benedictus XVI." The new portal is the latest (6) ____________ by the Vatican to use technology and social networking sites to connect with a (7) ____________ audience. It will gather together news from all of the Vatican’s departments and (8) ____________ this three times a day. The Vatican’s twitter account has over 50,000 followers but follows no one.		effort priest portal update prayers ever wider marked
Pope Benedict understands the importance of (9) ____________ the latest technology. On World Communications Day, 2010, he encouraged workers in the Catholic Church to use it to communicate the Bible’s (10) ____________ to their followers. He said: “Priests stand at the threshold of a new (11) ____________. As new technologies create deeper…relationships across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the   (12) ____________ …at the service of the Word.” Vatican official Thaddeus Jones said the Pope was "interested and                  (13) ____________” with Twitter and the iPad. He told reporters that the Pope “was clearly in (14) ____________ at the new technology”. He added: “It's a (15) ____________ moment but also an important one. It (16) ____________ a new way of communicating.”		awe media message lighter using impressed marks era

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Pope Benedict XVI _________________ tweet on Wednesday June the 29th to launch the Vatican’s news portal, www.news.va. _________________ papal iPad. The day also marked the 84-year-old pontiff’s 60th anniversary _____________________ a priest. He tweeted in English: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my _________________, Benedictus XVI." The new portal is the latest effort by the Vatican to use technology and social networking sites to connect _____________________. It will gather together news from all of the Vatican’s departments and update this three times a day. The Vatican’s twitter account has over 50,000 _____________________ one.

Pope Benedict understands _____________________ using the latest technology. On World Communications Day, 2010, he encouraged workers in the Catholic Church to use it to communicate the Bible’s message to their followers. He said: “Priests stand at the _______________________. As new technologies create deeper…relationships _____________________, they are _______________________ by putting the media…at the service of the Word.” Vatican official Thaddeus Jones said the Pope was "interested and impressed” with Twitter and the iPad. He told reporters that the Pope “was _____________________ the new technology”. He added: “It's a lighter moment but also an important one. _____________________ of communicating.”

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

news

portal

• 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:

ever marked just latest connect update

importance message era greater service lighter

STUDENT TWITTER SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Twitter 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.

TWITTER 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 ‘Pope’?
c)	What do you think of the Vatican?
d)	Why has the Pope left it so late to send his first tweet?
e)	What do you think of Twitter?
f)	Do you think social media and religion is a good mix?
g)	What’s Twitter best for?
h)	When did you send your first tweet / e-mail / Facebook message?
i)	How important are social media sites to you?
j)	Why do you think the Vatican doesn’t follow anyone back?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think the Pope really understands the importance of technology?
c)	Is technology the best way of getting across the message of the world’s holy books?
d)	Do you think religious apps are useful?
e)	What’s the difference between Twitter and Facebook?
f)	Should technology be used in churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, etc?
g)	What do you think of the idea of online religious services?
h)	Do you think people could get married on Twitter one day?
i)	How has Twitter changed the world?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the Pope?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Pope Benedict XVI sent his first (1) ____ tweet on Wednesday June the 29th to launch the Vatican’s news portal, www.news.va. He did (2) ____ on a papal iPad. The day also marked the 84-year-old pontiff’s 60th anniversary of his ordination  (3) ____ a priest. He tweeted in English: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and (4) ____, Benedictus XVI." The new portal is the latest effort by the Vatican to use technology and social networking sites to connect with a (5) ____ audience. It will gather together news from all of the Vatican’s departments and (6) ____ this three times a day. The Vatican’s twitter account has over 50,000 followers but follows no one.

Pope Benedict understands the importance (7) ____ using the latest technology. On World Communications Day, 2010, he encouraged workers in the Catholic Church to use (8) ____ to communicate the Bible’s message to their followers. He said: “Priests stand at the threshold of a new (9) ____. As new technologies create deeper…relationships across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media…(10) ____ the service of the Word.” Vatican official Thaddeus Jones said the Pope was "interested and impressed” with Twitter and the iPad. He told reporters that the Pope “was clearly (11) ____ awe at the new technology”. He added: “It's a lighter moment but also an important one. It (12) ____ a new way of communicating.”

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

1.	(a)	even	(b)	never	(c)	every	(d)	ever
2.	(a)	do	(b)	so	(c)	go	(d)	no
3.	(a)	as	(b)	has	(c)	was	(d)	is
4.	(a)	blesses	(b)	blessed	(c)	blessings	(d)	bless
5.	(a)	width	(b)	widen	(c)	wider	(d)	widens
6.	(a)	outdated	(b)	update	(c)	on a date	(d)	dated
7.	(a)	of	(b)	if	(c)	by	(d)	on
8.	(a)	these	(b)	that	(c)	them	(d)	it
9.	(a)	are	(b)	era	(c)	ore	(d)	roe
10.	(a)	from	(b)	so	(c)	of	(d)	at
11.	(a)	up	(b)	at	(c)	in	(d)	on
12.	(a)	marks	(b)	parks	(c)	barks	(d)	larks

 
 

WRITING

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

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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 Vatican and its social media. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. SOCIAL MEDIA: Write a magazine article about social media. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

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 Pope. Ask him three questions about Twitter. Give him three ideas on how he can make better use of social media. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

T

e.

T

f.

T

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	launch	a.	start
2	marked	b.	commemorated
3.	effort	c.	attempt
4.	audience	d.	following
5.	gather	e.	collect
6.	encouraged	f.	urged
7.	threshold	g.	beginning
8.	era	h.	period
9.	respond	i.	react
10.	awe	j.	wonder

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	launch the Vatican’s	a.	news portal
2	With my prayers and	b.	blessings
3.	connect with a	c.	wider audience
4.	update this	d.	three times a day
5.	has over 50,000 followers but	e.	follows no one
6.	use it to communicate the	f.	Bible’s message
7.	stand at the threshold	g.	of a new era
8.	new technologies create	h.	deeper relationships
9.	clearly in awe	i.	at the new technology
10.	It's a lighter	j.	moment

GAP FILL:

Pope sends first tweet, on an iPad

Pope Benedict XVI sent his first (1) ever tweet on Wednesday June the 29th to launch the Vatican’s news (2) portal, www.news.va. He did so on a papal iPad. The day also (3) marked the 84-year-old pontiff’s 60th anniversary of his ordination as a (4) priest. He tweeted in English: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my (5) prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI." The new portal is the latest (6) effort by the Vatican to use technology and social networking sites to connect with a (7) wider audience. It will gather together news from all of the Vatican’s departments and (8) update this three times a day. The Vatican’s twitter account has over 50,000 followers but follows no one.

Pope Benedict understands the importance of (9) using the latest technology. On World Communications Day, 2010, he encouraged workers in the Catholic Church to use it to communicate the Bible’s (10) message to their followers. He said: “Priests stand at the threshold of a new (11) era. As new technologies create deeper…relationships across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the (12) media…at the service of the Word.” Vatican official Thaddeus Jones said the Pope was "interested and (13) impressed” with Twitter and the iPad. He told reporters that the Pope “was clearly in (14) awe at the new technology”. He added: “It's a (15) lighter moment but also an important one. It (16) marks a new way of communicating.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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