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Lesson: Coal Addiction

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United Nations warns world to quit 'coal addiction' (5th November, 2019)

The Reading / Listening - Coal Addiction - Level 3

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders to end their addiction to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "major threat" to climate change and warned that the coal addiction "must be overcome". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many countries in danger from climate change are in Asia. He told the world leaders that: "Countries in these areas are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change." He added that: "Unless we are able to...defeat climate change, in 2050, the research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be flooded by sea water."

Mr Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threat to the planet at the present moment". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a price on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels." He urged, "stopping the construction of coal-power electricity plants in order to be able to defeat climate change." The UN chief was speaking on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" levels of air pollution in India's capital of Delhi. An Indian health ministry official, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have enough digits to accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are heading towards Delhi recording the most polluted day in the history of the world!! This is a disaster!"

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Coal Addiction - Level 0, Coal Addiction - Level 1 or Coal Addiction - Level 2

Sources

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050491
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/asia-must-quit-coal-addiction-un-chief/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-03/united-nations-chief-warns-asia-quit-addiction-to-coal/11667416

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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. COAL: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about coal. 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?
United Nations / addiction / coal / world leader / climate change / fossil fuels / flooded
threat / planet / construction / electricity / hazardous / air pollution / history / disaster
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. POLLUTION: Students A strongly believe we will should be able to sue companies if there is a lot of pollution; Students B strongly believe that's silly. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. ADDICTIONS: How bad are these addictions? How can we stop them? Are you addicted? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	How bad?	How We Can Stop Them	Are You Addicted?
TV
Shopping
Coffee
Smartphone
Chocolate
English

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. LEADER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "leader". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. CLEANER ENERGY: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Wind power
Solar power
Biofuel
Hydro-electricity
Geothermal power
Nuclear power
Tidal power
Heat pumps

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	addiction	a.	The fact or condition of wanting or needing something so much that you cannot stop using it.
2.	fossil fuel	b.	Stop someone or something from doing something.
3.	threat	c.	A natural form of energy like coal, gas or oil.
4.	summit	d.	Being weak enough to be easily attacked or harmed.
5.	vulnerable	e.	A person or thing that could cause damage or danger.
6.	defeat	f.	A meeting between world leaders.
7.	flooded	g.	When water levels get so high they enter the city, land, homes etc. and cause damage.

Paragraph 2

8.	present	h.	Risky; dangerous.
9.	carbon	i.	The action of building things.
10.	subsidy	j.	Being or happening now.
11.	construction	k.	A machine used for looking at, checking, or keeping a continuous record of something.
12.	hazardous	l.	A chemical with the symbol C.
13.	monitor	m.	In a way that is correct in all details; exactly.
14.	accurately	n.	Money given by a government or a person to help an industry, company.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

The UN asked energy company CEOs to end their addiction to coal. T / F
The UN said world leaders were a major threat to fossil fuels. T / F
The UN chief was speaking at a summit in Bangkok. T / F
The UN said 300 million people could be flooded by 2050. T / F
The UN chief said climate change was the world's second biggest threat. T / F
The UN chief said there should be more subsidies for fossil fuels. T / F
Air pollution in Delhi was so high it could not be recorded. T / F
A health official said it could be the most polluted day in history. T / F

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

world
major
overcome
vulnerable
forecasted
threat
subsidies
hazardous
monitors
disaster

danger
weak
catastrophe
big
support
defeated
detectors
predicted
dangerous
global

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

told world leaders to end their
fossil
the coal addiction must be
one of the most vulnerable
the world will be flooded
the biggest threat
at the present
coal-power electricity
hazardous levels
the most polluted day in the

moment
areas
of air pollution
addiction
to the planet
fuel
plants
by sea water
history of the world
overcome

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

defeat
danger
flooded
end
forecasted
areas
vulnerable
threat

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders to (1) ____________ their addiction to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "major (2) ____________" to climate change and warned that the coal addiction "must be overcome". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many countries in (33) ____________ from climate change are in Asia. He told the world leaders that: "Countries in these (4) ____________ that are countries that are in one of the most (5) ____________ areas to climate change." He added that: "Unless we are able to... (6) ____________ climate change, in 2050, the research has (7) ____________ that 300 million people in the world will be (8) ____________ by sea water."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

urged
history
price
speaking
digits
present
plants
official

Mr Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threat to the planet at the (9) ____________ moment". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a (10) ____________ on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels." He (11) ____________, "stopping the construction of coal-power electricity (12) ____________ in order to be able to defeat climate change." The UN chief was (13) ____________ on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" levels of air pollution in India's capital of Delhi. An Indian health ministry (14) ____________, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have enough (15) ____________ to accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are heading towards Delhi recording the most polluted day in the (16) ____________ of the world!! This is a disaster!"

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders to ______
     a. end them addiction
     b. end they addiction
     c. end their addiction
     d. end these addiction
2) threat" to climate change and warned that the coal addiction "______"
     a. must be over came
     b. must be overcome
     c. must be overt came
     d. must be over comes
3) Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many ______
     a. countries in danger
     b. countries on danger
     c. countries endanger
     d. countries danger
4) Countries in these areas are countries that are in one of the ______
     a. most vulnerability areas
     b. most vulnerable areas
     c. most venerable area
     d. most vulnerability area
5) the research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world ______
     a. will been flood it
     b. will being flooded
     c. will be flooded
     d. will be flood it

6) Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threat to the planet at ______"
     a. the presence moment
     b. the present moment
     c. the presently moment
     d. the presented moment
7) We have to put a price on carbon. We need to stop subsidies ______
     a. for fossils fuels
     b. for fossil few all
     c. for fossils fuel
     d. for fossil fuels
8) the construction of coal-power electricity plants in order to be able ______ change
     a. two defeats climate
     b. too defeat climate
     c. to defeats climate
     d. to defeat climate
9) on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" levels of air pollution ______
     a. in India's capitals
     b. in India's cap it all
     c. in India's cap italic
     d. in India's capital
10) Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have ______
     a. enough digits
     b. enough digit
     c. enough dig its
     d. enough dig it is

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world (1) ___________________ their addiction to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "major threat" to climate (2) ___________________ that the coal addiction "must be overcome". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many (3) ___________________ from climate change are in Asia. He told the world leaders that: "Countries in (4) ___________________ are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change." He added that: "Unless we (5) ___________________...defeat climate change, in 2050, the research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be (6) ___________________ water."

Mr Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threat to the planet at (7) ___________________". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a price on carbon. We need to stop subsidies (8) ___________________." He urged, "stopping the construction of coal-power electricity plants in order to be (9) ___________________ climate change." The UN chief was speaking on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" levels of air pollution (10) ___________________ of Delhi. An Indian health ministry official, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have (11) ___________________ accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are heading towards Delhi recording the (12) ___________________ in the history of the world!! This is a disaster!"

Comprehension questions

Which person warned world leaders to end their coal addiction?
What did the UN say was a "major threat"?
Where was a summit held?
Where are many countries in danger?
How many people might be flooded by 2050?
What did the UN say we have to put a price on?
What must we stop giving subsidies for?
What kinds of plants did the UN say we have to stop constructing?
Where was there hazardous levels of air pollution?
Who is Varun Jhaveri?

Multiple choice quiz

1) Which person warned world leaders to end their coal addiction?
a) Donald Trump
b) the UN Secretary-General
c) a Greenpeace leader
d) Greta Thunberg
2) What did the UN say was a "major threat"?
a) carbon
b) dioxide
c) CO2
d) fossil fuels
3) Where was a summit held?
a) Bangkok
b) in the mountains
c) Mount Everest
d) at the top
4) Where are many countries in danger?
a) the South Pacific
b) South America
c) Asia
d) Europe
5) How many people might be flooded by 2050?
a) 400 million
b) 300 million
c) 500 million
d) 200 million

6) What did the UN say we have to put a price on?
a) carbon
b) the environment
c) life
d) oil
7) What must we stop giving subsidies for?
a) industry
b) people
c) fossil fuels
d) the UN
8) What kinds of plants did the UN say we have to stop constructing?
a) coal-power electricity plants
b) bamboo
c) green plants
d) car plants
9) Where was there hazardous levels of air pollution?
a) Delhi
b) Jakarta
c) London
d) Beijing
10) Who is Varun Jhaveri?
a) a coal company CEO
b) a pollution expert
c) a UN leader
d) a health ministry official

Role play

Role A – Wind Power
You think wind power is the best form of energy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): nuclear power, solar power or hydro-electricity.

Role B – Nuclear Power
You think nuclear power is the best form of energy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): wind power, solar power or hydro-electricity.

Role C – Solar Power
You think solar power is the best form of energy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): nuclear power, wind power or hydro-electricity.

Role D – Hydro-electricity
You think hydro-electricity is the best form of energy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their forms. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): nuclear power, solar power or wind power.

After reading / listening

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

'coal'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'addiction'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

end

major

summit

vulnerable

most

sea

planet

problem

price

defeat

capital

history

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - United Nations warns world to quit 'coal addiction'

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'coal'?
What do you know about the United Nations?
What do you think about fossil fuels?
How 'addicted' is your country to coal?
Can your country survive without coal?
Why is coal bad for the environment?
What do you know about climate change?
Is your country suffering from climate change?
What are the dangers of climate change?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'addiction'?
What do you think about what you read?
What are the biggest threats to the planet at the moment?
How can we stop using fossil fuels?
How polluted is your town?
Are you worried about pollution?
How can you help the planet?
What will the world's climate be like in 50 years?
What questions would you like to ask the United Nations?

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

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

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders to end their (1) ____ to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "(2) ____ threat" to climate change and warned that the coal addiction "must be (3) ____ ". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many countries in danger from climate change are in Asia. He told the world leaders that: "Countries in (4) ____ areas that are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable areas (5) ____ climate change." He added that: "Unless we are able to...defeat climate change, in 2050, the research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be flooded (6) ____ sea water."

My Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest (7) ____ to the planet at the present moment". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a (8) ____ on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels." He urged, "stopping the construction of coal-power electricity plants in (9) ____ to be able to defeat climate change." The UN chief was speaking on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" (10) ____ of air pollution in India's capital of Delhi. An Indian health ministry official, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have (11) ____ digits to accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are (12) ____ towards Delhi recording the most polluted day in the history of the world!! This is a disaster!"

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) addiction (b) addicts (c) addictive (d) addict
(a) majority (b) majorly (c) major (d) majored
(a) overdone (b) oversee (c) overcome (d) overlook
(a) there (b) these (c) them (d) those
(a) to (b) at (c) for (d) as
(a) as (b) by (c) for (d) on
(a) threaten (b) treaty (c) treat (d) threat
(a) sell (b) price (c) purchase (d) profit
(a) receipt (b) buy (c) order (d) sell
(a) leveled (b) levels (c) leveler (d) level
(a) suffice (b) much (c) plenty (d) enough
(a) backing (b) heading (c) fronting (d) forwarding

Spelling

Paragraph 1

coal addiction must be emcvoero
the ASEAN timuSm
Countries in these sraea
one of the most bnlulvaere
aeeftd climate change
the world will be deodfol

Paragraph 2

the biggest arhtte to the planet
We have to put a price on orbcan
stop subsidies for sofils fuels
unbearable and zsrudahao levels
accurately record the ilpultono
This is a dtssaire

Put the text back together

(...) digits to accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are heading
(...) to defeat climate change." The UN chief was speaking on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous" levels of air
(...) pollution in India's capital of Delhi. An Indian health ministry official, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors did not have enough
(...) fuels." He urged, "stopping the construction of coal-power electricity plants in order to be able
(...) moment". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a price on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil
(...) towards Delhi recording the most polluted day in the history of the world!! This is a disaster!"
(...) forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be flooded by sea water."
(...) be overcome". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many
(...) countries in danger from climate change are in Asia. He told the world leaders that: "Countries in these
(...) addiction to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "major threat" to climate change and warned that the coal addiction "must
(...) areas are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable areas to climate
(...) The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders to end their
(...) change." He added that: "Unless we are able to...defeat climate change, in 2050, the research has
(...) Mr Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threat to the planet at the present

Put the words in the right order

leaders addiction World to to coal . end their
said was fuel major a fossil threat . He
vulnerable of one most areas . the In
climate to are we change . Unless able defeat
by The sea water . world flooded will be
at present . The the planet threat to biggest
on put to carbon . price have We a
capital . Hazardous in of levels India's pollution air
have Pollution not enough did monitors digits .
towards Delhi day . polluted the recording Heading most

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has telling / told world leaders to end their addiction / addict to coal. He said the fossil fuel was a "major threaten / threat" to climate change and waned / warned that the coal addiction "must be overcome". Mr Guterres was in Thailand for the ASEAN Summit. He said that many countries on / in danger from climate change are in Asia. He told / tell the world leaders that: "Countries in these areas are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable / vulnerability areas to climate change." He added that: "Unless we are able to...defeat / win climate change, in 2050, the researchers / research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be floods / flooded by sea water."

Mr Guterres said climate change was, "the biggest threaten / threat to the planet at the present moment / memento". He said using coal was a big problem. "We have to put a price in / on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels." He purged / urged, "stopping the construction of / off coal-power electricity plants in order to be ability / able to defeat climate change." The UN chief was speaking on a day that saw "unbearable" and "hazardous / hazard" levels of air pollution in India's capital of Delhi. An Indian health ministry official, Varun Jhaveri, said pollution monitors / monitor did not have enough digits to accuracy / accurately record the pollution. He tweeted: "I think we are heading towards Delhi recording the most polluted day in the history / historian of the world!! This is a disaster!"

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)

T h_ U n_t_d N_t__ n s S_c r_t_r y - G_n_r_l A n t_n__ G_t_r r_s h_s t_l d w_r l d l__ d_r s t_ _n d t h__ r _d d_c t__ n t_ c__ l . H_ s__ d t h_ f_s s_l f__ l w_s _ " m_j_r t h r__ t " t_ c l_m_t_ c h_n g_ _n d w_r n_d t h_t t h_ c__ l _d d_c t__ n " m_s t b_ _v_r c_m_" . M r G_t_r r_s w_s _n T h__ l_n d f_r t h_ A S E A N S_m m_t . H_ s__ d t h_t m_n y c__ n t r__ s _n d_n g_r f r_m c l_m_t_ c h_n g_ _r_ _n A s__ . H_ t_l d t h_ w_r l d l__ d_r s t h_t : " C__ n t r__ s _n t h_s_ _r__ s _r_ c__ n t r__ s t h_t _r_ _n _n_ _f t h_ m_s t v_l n_r_b l_ _r__ s t_ c l_m_t_ c h_n g_. " H_ _d d_d t h_t : " U n l_s s w_ _r_ _b l_ t_. . . d_f__ t c l_m_t_ c h_n g_, _n 2 0 5 0 , t h_ r_s__ r c h h_s f_r_c_s t_d t h_t 3 0 0 m_l l__ n p__ p l_ _n t h_ w_r l d w_l l b_ f l__ d_d b y s__ w_t_r . "

M y G_t_r r_s s__ d c l_m_t_ c h_n g_ w_s , " t h_ b_g g_s t t h r__ t t_ t h_ p l_n_t _t t h_ p r_s_n t m_m_n t " . H_ s__ d _s_n g c__ l w_s _ b_g p r_b l_m . " W_ h_v_ t_ p_t _ p r_c_ _n c_r b_n . W_ n__ d t_ s t_p s_b s_d__ s f_r f_s s_l f__ l s . " H_ _r g_d , " s t_p p_n g t h_ c_n s t r_c t__ n _f c__ l - p_w_r _l_c t r_c_t y p l_n t s _n _r d_r t_ b_ _b l_ t_ d_f__ t c l_m_t_ c h_n g_. " T h_ U N c h__ f w_s s p__ k_n g _n _ d_y t h_t s_w "_n b__ r_b l_" _n d " h_z_r d__ s " l_v_l s _f __ r p_l l_t__ n _n I n d__ ' s c_p_t_l _f D_l h_. A n I n d__ n h__ l t h m_n_s t r y _f f_c__ l , V_r_n J h_v_r_, s__ d p_l l_t__ n m_n_t_r s d_d n_t h_v_ _n__ g h d_g_t s t_ _c c_r_t_l y r_c_r d t h_ p_l l_t__ n . H_ t w__ t_d : " I t h_n k w_ _r_ h__ d_n g t_w_r d s D_l h_ r_c_r d_n g t h_ m_s t p_l l_t_d d_y _n t h_ h_s t_r y _f t h_ w_r l d ! ! T h_s _s _ d_s_s t_r ! "

Punctuate the text and add capitals

the united nations secretarygeneral antonio guterres has told world leaders to end their addiction to coal he said the fossil fuel was a major threat to climate change and warned that the coal addiction must be overcome mr guterres was in thailand for the asean summit he said that many countries in danger from climate change are in asia he told the world leaders that countries in these areas are countries that are in one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change he added that unless we are able todefeat climate change in 2050 the research has forecasted that 300 million people in the world will be flooded by sea water

mr guterres said climate change was the biggest threat to the planet at the present moment he said using coal was a big problem we have to put a price on carbon we need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels he urged stopping the construction of coalpower electricity plants in order to be able to defeat climate change the un chief was speaking on a day that saw unbearable and hazardous levels of air pollution in indias capital of delhi an indian health ministry official varun jhaveri said pollution monitors did not have enough digits to accurately record the pollution he tweeted i think we are heading towards delhi recording the most polluted day in the history of the world this is a disaster

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

TheUnitedNationsSecretary-GeneralAntonioGuterreshastoldworldl
eaderstoendtheiraddictiontocoal.Hesaidthefossilfuelwasa"majorthr
eat"toclimatechangeandwarnedthatthecoaladdiction"mustbeoverc
ome".MrGuterreswasinThailandfortheASEANSummit.Hesaidthatm
anycountriesindangerfromclimatechangeareinAsia.Hetoldtheworldl
eadersthat:"Countriesintheseareasarecountriesthatareinoneof
themostvulnerableareastoclimatechange."Headdedthat:"Unlesswe
areableto...defeatclimatechange,in2050,theresearchhasforecasted
that300millionpeopleintheworldwillbefloodedbyseawater."MrGuter
ressaidclimatechangewas,"thebiggestthreattotheplanetattheprese
ntmoment".Hesaidusingcoalwasabigproblem."Wehavetoputapriceo
ncarbon.Weneedtostopsubsidiesforfossilfuels."Heurged,"stoppingt
heconstructionofcoal-powerelectricityplantsinordertobeabletodefe
atclimatechange."TheUNchiefwasspeakingonadaythatsaw"unbeara
ble"and"hazardous"levelsofairpollutioninIndia'scapitalofDelhi.AnIn
dianhealthministryofficial,VarunJhaveri,saidpollutionmonitorsdidno
thaveenoughdigitstoaccuratelyrecordthepollution.Hetweeted:"Ithi
nkweareheadingtowardsDelhirecordingthemostpolluteddayinthehis
toryoftheworld!!Thisisadisaster!"

Free writing

Write about coal addiction for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

We should stop using coal within the next decade. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. COAL: Make a poster about coal. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. END THE USE OF COAL: Write a magazine article about ending the use of coal in the next 10 years. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
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 coal. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on cleaner energies. 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

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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Breaking News English Lesson: Coal Addiction

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