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Black Friday brings out bargain hunters (29th November, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

One of the biggest shopping days of the year has brought out millions of bargain hunters across the world. The day is called Black Friday. Real and online stores offer discounts of up to 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is traditionally a big shopping day in the USA, but four years ago it crossed the Atlantic and is now huge in the U.K. It has become so popular in Britain that police had to be called to four supermarkets just after midnight on Friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers getting crushed in the crowds. A police spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-goers were able to enter and exit the stores safely."

While shoppers in the U.K. were happy to head to the shops, many store workers in the USA were angry. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day early, which was on the US celebration of Thanksgiving. Store employees and shoppers thought it was wrong for stores to ask employees to work on Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a time for people to spend with their family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page has more than 114,000 likes. Many big stores, such as Costco and IKEA did not open. CNN reports that there are over 60 petitions on the website Change.org trying to get stores and customers to change Black Friday. They want a bigger focus on family instead of profits.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2851919/Early-bird-backlash-Thanksgiving-store-opening-hours-spark-fury-employees-shoppers.html#ixzz3KLBfuwFf
https://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=uk&hl=en&topic=b&ncl=dPzVr0qzoU9mrVMM3Wdeewr5e-nSM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30241459

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. SHOPPING: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about shopping. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

shopping / online stores / traditionally / huge / popular / supermarkets / worried / exit / workers / celebration / employees / boycott / petitions / focus / family / profits

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

3. STORES: How can we make stores better? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Problems	Solutions
Prices
Location
Cashiers
Interior
Products
Parking

4. ONLINE: Students A strongly believe online stores are better than real stores; Students B strongly believe real stores are better than online stores. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. SALES: Rank these with your partner. Put the best things to but in a sale at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• clothes

• computer

• games

• furniture

• TV

• mobile phone

• jewellery

• flowers

6. BARGAIN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "bargain". 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.	One billion people went shopping on Black Friday.	T / F
b.	Stores offer discounts of up to 70% off thousands of products.	T / F
c.	Police went to supermarkets in England to stop people being crushed.	T / F
d.	Police said store staff refused to help them.	T / F
e.	Shoppers in England and staff in the USA were not happy.	T / F
f.	The US holiday of Thanksgiving is the day before Black Friday.	T / F
g.	An anti-Black Thursday Facebook page has over 100,000 likes.	T / F
h.	There are more than 600 online for Black Friday to change.	T / F

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

1.	offer	a.	set out for
2.	items	b.	normally
3.	huge	c.	products
4.	crushed	d.	use
5.	ensure	e.	squashed
6.	head to	f.	concentrate
7.	workers	g.	give
8.	traditionally	h.	employees
9.	spend	i.	enormous
10.	focus	j.	make certain

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

1.	One of the biggest shopping	a.	one minute past midnight
2.	offer discounts of	b.	on the website
3.	the bargains went on sale at	c.	exit the stores safely
4.	worried about shoppers getting	d.	114,000 likes
5.	enter and	e.	days of the year
6.	shoppers in the U.K. were happy	f.	instead of profits
7.	traditionally a time for people to spend	g.	crushed in the crowds
8.	more than	h.	with their family
9.	there are over 60 petitions	i.	up to 70 per cent
10.	a bigger focus on family	j.	to head to the shops

GAP FILL

One of the (1) ____________ shopping days of the year has brought out millions of (2) ____________ hunters across the world. The day is called Black Friday. Real and online stores offer (3) ____________ of up to 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is traditionally a big shopping day in the USA, but four years ago it (4) ____________ the Atlantic and is now (5) ____________ in the U.K. It has become so popular in Britain that police had to be called to four supermarkets (6) ____________ after midnight on Friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers getting (7) ____________ in the crowds. A police spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-goers were able to enter and exit the stores (8) ____________."

discounts
just
bargain
crossed
safely
biggest
crushed
huge

While shoppers in the U.K. were happy to (9) ____________ to the shops, many store workers in the USA were angry. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day (10) ____________, which was on the US celebration of Thanksgiving. Store employees and shoppers thought it was (11) ____________ for stores to ask employees to work on Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a time for people to (12) ____________ with their family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page has more than 114,000 (13) ____________. Many big stores, such as Costco and IKEA, did not open. CNN reports that there are over 60 (14) ____________ on the website Change.org trying to get (15) ____________ and customers to change Black Friday. They want a bigger focus on family instead of (16) ____________.

wrong
petitions
head
early
profits
likes
stores
spend

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	…brought out millions of bargain hunters ______
	a. across the world b. across their world c. across this world d. across a world
2)	Real and online stores offer discounts of ______
	a. along to 70 per cent b. down to 70 per cent c. up to 70 per cent d. on to 70 per cent
3)	it crossed the Atlantic and is now ______
	a. fugue in the U.K. b. luge in the U.K. c. huge in the U.K. d. who in the U.K.
4)	Police were worried about shoppers getting crushed ______
	a. in the crowd b. in the crowds c. in the clouded d. in the clouds
5)	sale-goers were able to enter and ______ safely
	a. excite the stores b. exit the stores c. ex it the stores d. exist the stores
6)	shoppers in the U.K. were happy to ______
	a. hand to the shops b. nose to the shops c. help to the shops d. head to the shops
7)	Many stores decided to start Black Friday ______
	a. a day earlier b. a day earliest c. a day earl d. a day early
8)	traditionally a time for people to spend ______
	a. with a family b. with that family c. with their family d. with the family
9)	CNN reports that there are over 60 petitions ______
	a. in the website b. on the website c. to the website d. at the website
10)	They want a bigger focus on family ______
	a. instead of profits b. instead for profits c. instead by profits d. instead at profits

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

One of the biggest shopping days of the year (1) ___________________ millions of bargain hunters across the world. The day is called Black Friday. Real and online stores offer (2) ___________________ 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is traditionally a big shopping day in the USA, but four years ago it crossed the Atlantic (3) ___________________ in the U.K. It has become so popular in Britain that police had to be called to four supermarkets (4) ___________________ on Friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers (5) ___________________ the crowds. A police spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that (6) ___________________ to enter and exit the stores safely."

While shoppers in the U.K. were (7) ___________________ the shops, many store workers in the USA were angry. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day early, which was (8) ___________________ of Thanksgiving. Store employees and shoppers thought it was wrong for stores to ask (9) ___________________ Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a time for people to spend with their family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page has more than (10) ___________________. Many big stores, such as Costco and IKEA, did not open. CNN reports that there are (11) ___________________ on the website Change.org trying to get stores and customers to change Black Friday. They want (12) ___________________ family instead of profits.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	How many bargain hunters went shopping in the UK and USA?
2.	How big were the discounts on offer?
3.	When did Black Friday first start in the UK?
4.	At what time did the sales in the UK start?
5.	What did police worry might happen to the crowds of shoppers?
6.	How did many workers in the USA feel?
7.	How early did Black Friday start in the USA?
8.	How many likes on Facebook does an anti-Black Thursday page have?
9.	How many Black Friday petitions are there online?
10.	What do people want a bigger focus on?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	How many bargain hunters went shopping in the UK and USA?	6.	How did many workers in the USA feel?
	a) hundreds of thousands b) millions c) thousands d) billion		a) angry b) fed up with sales c) very happy d) bored
2.	How big were the discounts on offer?	7.	How early did Black Friday start in the USA?
	a) not so big b) 50-60% c) up to 70% d) 25%		a) 3 months early b) very early c) 6 am d) a day early
3.	When did Black Friday first start in the UK?	8.	How many likes on Facebook does an anti-Black Thursday page have?
	a) 1999 b) this year was the first time c) last year d) four years ago		a) 140,000 b) 1.4 million c) 114,000 d) 14 million
4.	At what time did the sales in the UK start?	9.	How many Black Friday petitions are there online?
	a) three in the afternoon b) 12.01 am c) mid-day d) midnight		a) 6,000 b) 600 c) 16 d) over 60
5.	What did police worry might happen to the crowds of shoppers?	10.	What do people want a bigger focus on?
	a) they would get crushed b) they would steal things c) there would be a terror alert d) they would not find a bargain		a) holidays b) family c) money d) eyes

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Furniture

You think furniture is the best thing to buy in a sale. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): jewellery, clothes or flowers.

Role B – Jewellery

You think jewellery is the best thing to buy in a sale. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): furniture, clothes or flowers.

Role C – Clothes

You think clothes are the best thing to buy in a sale. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): jewellery, furniture or flowers.

Role D – Flowers

You think flowers are the best thing to buy in a sale. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): jewellery, clothes or furniture.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'black' and 'Friday'.

black

Friday

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:

brought
70
ago
after
worried
exit

head
early
ask
spend
60
focus

SHOPPING SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about shopping 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.

SHOPPING DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'shopping'?
3)	How important is shopping to you?
4)	What do you think of discounts and sales?
5)	What's the biggest bargain you've found?
6)	What do you think of shopping days like Black Friday?
7)	What are the good and bad things about shopping malls?
8)	How long would you wait in line for a store to open?
9)	What do you think of going shopping when it's crowded?
10)	When's the best time to go shopping?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	Why does shopping make so many people happy?
13)	Should there be days on which stores do not open?
14)	Are we all becoming too focused on buying things?
15)	Should there be "no shopping" days?
16)	Do women like shopping more than men like it? Why?
17)	What do you think of boycotting stores?
18)	What is consumerism? Is it good or bad?
19)	Have profits become more important than family?
20)	What questions would you like to ask a store owner?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

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

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

One of the biggest shopping days of the year has (1) ____ out millions of bargain hunters across the world. The day is called Black Friday. (2) ____ and online stores offer discounts of up to 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is (3) ____ a big shopping day in the USA, but four years ago it crossed the Atlantic and is now huge in the U.K. It has become so (4) ____ in Britain that police had to be called to four supermarkets just after midnight on Friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers getting (5) ____ in the crowds. A police spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-(6) ____ were able to enter and exit the stores safely."

While shoppers in the U.K. were happy to (7) ____ to the shops, many store workers in the USA were angry. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day early, (8) ____ was on the US celebration of Thanksgiving. Store employees and shoppers thought it was wrong (9) ____ stores to ask employees to work on Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a time for (10) ____ to spend with their family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page has more than 114,000 likes. Many big stores, such (11) ____ Costco and IKEA, did not open. CNN reports that there are over 60 petitions on the website Change.org trying to get stores and customers to change Black Friday. They want a bigger focus (12) ____ family instead of profits.

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

1.	(a)	bring	(b)	bought	(c)	bringing	(d)	brought
2.	(a)	Reality	(b)	Realism	(c)	Really	(d)	Real
3.	(a)	tradition	(b)	traditionally	(c)	traditions	(d)	traditional
4.	(a)	populous	(b)	populated	(c)	popular	(d)	poplar
5.	(a)	brushed	(b)	rushed	(c)	crushed	(d)	trashed
6.	(a)	goers	(b)	comers	(c)	doers	(d)	takers
7.	(a)	tail	(b)	head	(c)	hand	(d)	foot
8.	(a)	which	(b)	when	(c)	what	(d)	that
9.	(a)	by	(b)	for	(c)	which	(d)	as
10.	(a)	persons	(b)	them	(c)	people	(d)	we
11.	(a)	was	(b)	has	(c)	as	(d)	is
12.	(a)	of	(b)	to	(c)	in	(d)	on

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	millions of ibgnara hunters
2.	cstundsio of up to 70 per cent
3.	It is llatdniiaryto a big shopping day
4.	after ithnigdm on Friday
5.	getting hsurdec in the crowds
6.	enter and exit the stores slayef
Paragraph 2
7.	the US btnaoeeicrl of Thanksgiving
8.	ask seymopele to work
9.	A 'otoBtyc Black Thursday' Facebook page
10.	over 60 istoetpin
11.	a bigger ufocs on family
12.	instead of tiporsf

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	the world. The day is called Black Friday. Real and online stores offer discounts of
( )	angry. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day early, which was on the US celebration
( )	spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-goers were able to enter and exit the stores safely."
( )	past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers getting crushed in the crowds. A police
( )	as Costco and IKEA, did not open. CNN reports that there are over 60 petitions on the website Change.org
( )	of Thanksgiving. Store employees and shoppers thought it was wrong for stores to ask
( )	While shoppers in the U.K. were happy to head to the shops, many store workers in the USA were
( )	employees to work on Thanksgiving, which is traditionally a time for people to spend with their
( )	ago it crossed the Atlantic and is now huge in the U.K. It has become so popular in Britain that police had to
( )	family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page has more than 114,000 likes. Many big stores, such
( )	trying to get stores and customers to change Black Friday. They want a bigger focus on family instead of profits.
( )	up to 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is traditionally a big shopping day in the USA, but four years
( )	be called to four supermarkets just after midnight on Friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute
( 1 )	One of the biggest shopping days of the year has brought out millions of bargain hunters across

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	the days year of shopping the One biggest of.
2.	Brought of across millions hunters world out bargain the.
3.	the USA It is traditionally a big shopping day in.
4.	minute past midnight The bargains went on sale at one.
5.	safely exit to goers the enter were Sale stores and able - .
6.	were workers angry in the Many USA store.
7.	employees to work It was wrong for stores to ask.
8.	time to their A people with for spend family.
9.	are over 60 petitions on the website Reports that there.
10.	of want focus instead They bigger family profits a on.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

One of the biggest shopping days of / by the year has brought out millions of bargain hunters crossing / across the world. The day is called Black Friday. Real and online stores offer discounts of down / up to 70 per cent on thousands of items. It is traditionally / traditions a big shopping day in the USA, but four years ago it across / crossed the Atlantic and is now huge in the U.K. It has become so / such popular in Britain that police had to be called / calling to four supermarkets just after midnight on Friday (the bargains went to / on sale at one minute past midnight). Police were worried about shoppers getting crush / crushed in the crowds. A police spokesman said: "Officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-goers were able to enter and exit the stores safety / safely."

While shoppers in the U.K. were happy to heading / head to the shops, many / much store workers in the USA were angry / angrily. Many stores decided to start Black Friday a day earliest / early, which was on the US celebration of Thanksgiving. Store employs / employees and shoppers thought it was wrong for stores to ask employees to work on Thanksgiving, which is traditionally / tradition a time for people to spend with their family. A 'Boycott Black Thursday' Facebook page / pages has more than 114,000 likes. Many big stores, such as / was Costco and IKEA, did not open. CNN reports that there are over 60 petitions on the website Change.org tried / trying to get stores and customers to change Black Friday. They want a bigger focus on family instead for / of profits.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

_n_ _f th_ b_gg_st sh_pp_ng d_ys _f th_ y__r h_s br__ght __t m_ll__ns _f b_rg__n h_nt_rs _cr_ss th_ w_rld. Th_ d_y _s c_ll_d Bl_ck Fr_d_y. R__l _nd _nl_n_ st_r_s _ff_r d_sc__nts _f _p t_ 70 p_r c_nt _n th__s_nds _f _t_ms. _t _s tr_d_t__n_lly _ b_g sh_pp_ng d_y _n th_ _S_, b_t f__r y__rs _g_ _t cr_ss_d th_ _tl_nt_c _nd _s n_w h_g_ _n th_ _.K. _t h_s b_c_m_ s_ p_p_l_r _n Br_t__n th_t p_l_c_ h_d t_ b_ c_ll_d t_ f__r s_p_rm_rk_ts j_st _ft_r m_dn_ght _n Fr_d_y (th_ b_rg__ns w_nt _n s_l_ _t _n_ m_n_t_ p_st m_dn_ght). P_l_c_ w_r_ w_rr__d _b__t sh_pp_rs g_tt_ng cr_sh_d _n th_ cr_wds. _ p_l_c_ sp_k_sm_n s__d: "_ff_c_rs h_v_ w_rk_d w_th st_r_ st_ff t_ _ns_r_ th_t s_l_-g__rs w_r_ _bl_ t_ _nt_r _nd _x_t th_ st_r_s s_f_ly."

Wh_l_ sh_pp_rs _n th_ _.K. w_r_ h_ppy t_ h__d t_ th_ sh_ps, m_ny st_r_ w_rk_rs _n th_ _S_ w_r_ _ngry. M_ny st_r_s d_c_d_d t_ st_rt Bl_ck Fr_d_y _ d_y __rly, wh_ch w_s _n th_ _S c_l_br_t__n _f Th_nksg_v_ng. St_r_ _mpl_y__s _nd sh_pp_rs th__ght _t w_s wr_ng f_r st_r_s t_ _sk _mpl_y__s t_ w_rk _n Th_nksg_v_ng, wh_ch _s tr_d_t__n_lly _ t_m_ f_r p__pl_ t_ sp_nd w_th th__r f_m_ly. _ 'B_yc_tt Bl_ck Th_rsd_y' F_c_b__k p_g_ h_s m_r_ th_n 114,000 l_k_s. M_ny b_g st_r_s, s_ch _s C_stc_ _nd _K__, d_d n_t _p_n. CNN r_p_rts th_t th_r_ _r_ _v_r 60 p_t_t__ns _n th_ w_bs_t_ Ch_ng_._rg try_ng t_ g_t st_r_s _nd c_st_m_rs t_ ch_ng_ Bl_ck Fr_d_y. Th_y w_nt _ b_gg_r f_c_s _n f_m_ly _nst__d _f pr_f_ts.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

one of the biggest shopping days of the year has brought out millions of bargain hunters across the world the day is called black friday real and online stores offer discounts of up to 70 per cent on thousands of items it is traditionally a big shopping day in the usa but four years ago it crossed the atlantic and is now huge in the uk it has become so popular in britain that police had to be called to four supermarkets just after midnight on friday (the bargains went on sale at one minute past midnight) police were worried about shoppers getting crushed in the crowds a police spokesman said "officers have worked with store staff to ensure that sale-goers were able to enter and exit the stores safely"

while shoppers in the uk were happy to head to the shops many store workers in the usa were angry many stores decided to start black friday a day early which was on the us celebration of thanksgiving store employees and shoppers thought it was wrong for stores to ask employees to work on thanksgiving which is traditionally a time for people to spend with their family a 'boycott black thursday' facebook page has more than 114000 likes many big stores such as costco and ikea did not open cnn reports that there are over 60 petitions on the website changeorg trying to get stores and customers to change black friday they want a bigger focus on family instead of profits

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Oneofthebiggestshoppingdaysoftheyearhasbroughtoutmillionsofba
rgainhuntersacrosstheworld.ThedayiscalledBlackFriday.Realandonl
inestoresofferdiscountsofupto70percentonthousandsofitems.Itistra
ditionallyabigshoppingdayintheUSA,butfouryearsagoitcrossedtheA
tlanticandisnowhugeintheU.K.IthasbecomesopopularinBritainthatp
olicehadtobecalledtofoursupermarketsjustaftermidnightonFriday(t
hebargainswentonsaleatoneminutepastmidnight).Policewereworrie
daboutshoppersgettingcrushedinthecrowds.Apolicespokesmansaid
:"Officershaveworkedwithstorestafftoensurethatsale-goerswer
eabletoenterandexitthestoressafely."WhileshoppersintheU.K.were
happytoheadtotheshops,manystoreworkersintheUSAwereangry.M
anystoresdecidedtostartBlackFridayadayearly,whichwasontheUSce
lebrationofThanksgiving.Storeemployeesandshoppersthoughtitwas
wrongforstorestoaskemployeestoworkonThanksgiving,whichistradi
tionallyatimeforpeopletospendwiththeirfamily.A'BoycottBlackThurs
day'Facebookpagehasmorethan114,000likes.Manybigstores,sucha
sCostcoandIKEA,didnotopen.CNNreportsthatthereareover60petitio
nsonthewebsiteChange.orgtryingtogetstoresandcustomerstochang
eBlackFriday.Theywantabiggerfocusonfamilyinsteadofprofits.

FREE WRITING

Write about shopping for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

There should be one day a week when all stores close. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 Black Friday. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SHOPPING: Make a poster about shopping and how stores attract customers. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. BLACK FRIDAY: Write a magazine article about Black Friday. 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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on shopping. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to make stores better for shoppers. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

F

f

T

g

T

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	offer	a.	give
2.	items	b.	products
3.	huge	c.	enormous
4.	crushed	d.	squashed
5.	ensure	e.	make certain
6.	head to	f.	set out for
7.	workers	g.	employees
8.	traditionally	h.	normally
9.	spend	i.	use
10.	focus	j.	concentrate

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Millions
2.	Up to 70%
3.	Four years ago
4.	At one minute past midnight
5.	They would get crushed
6.	Angry
7.	A day early
8.	114,000
9.	Over 60
10.	Family

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

c

3.

d

4.

b

5.

a

6.

a

7.

d

8.

c

9.

d

10.

b

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Black Friday brings out bargain hunters (29th November, 2014)

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