Breaking News English Lesson: Astronomy

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Photo of Andromeda Galaxy wins astronomy prize (18th September, 2020)

The Reading / Listening - Astronomy - Level 3

A French photographer has won a top photography contest. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious prize in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This is run by the Royal Observatory in the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our closest galaxy - the Andromeda galaxy. Andromeda is two million light years from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a special technique called tilt-shift to take his photo. The result is a spectacular photo that makes Andromeda look amazingly close to us. In the photo, we can clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the darkness of space. It is surrounded by countless other stars and celestial objects.

Mr Lefaudeux is a celebrated astronomy photographer. His winning photo is titled "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat thousands of other photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won in the "Galaxies" category, as well as the competition's overall best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was very surprised at winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be the overall winner. I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked the sense of depth given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the news that he had scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "reach for the stars" and win more prizes.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Astronomy - Level 0, Astronomy - Level 1 or Astronomy - Level 2

Sources

https://www.livescience.com/astronomy-photography-contest-greenwich-winners.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/09/10/stunning-photograph-of-a-socially-distanced-andromeda-galaxy-scoops-13000-prize/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8722329/Stunning-image-Andromeda-galaxy-takes-prize-astronomy-photographer-year-2020.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. ASTRONOMY: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about astronomy. 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?
photographer / top / prize / royal / galaxy / light years / technique / close / bright /
astronomy / reporters / winning / hopes / reporters / sense / depth / Moon / stars
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SCHOOL SUBJECT: Students A strongly believe astronomy should be a school subject; Students B strongly believe it shouldn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. THE GALAXY: What do you know about these things in our galaxy? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What I Know	What I Want to Know
The Sun
The Moon
Jupiter
Asteroids
Comets
The ISS

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

Space
Flowers
Cute puppies
Children
Families
Nature
Food
Yourself

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	top	a.	A way of doing a particular task.
2.	contest	b.	Thing.
3.	galaxy	c.	The highest or most important.
4.	neighbour	d.	An event in which people try to win or be the best at something; competition.
5.	technique	e.	A person or place next to where you live or are.
6.	surrounded	f.	Be all around someone or something.
7.	object	g.	A system of millions or billions of stars (like the Milky Way).

Paragraph 2

8.	celebrated	h.	Very, very, very happy.
9.	category	i.	A feeling.
10.	overall	j.	Thinking something will probably happen.
11.	expecting	k.	Greatly admired or liked; well known.
12.	sense	l.	Try to achieve greater and greater things.
13.	over the moon	m.	A type or class of people or things regarded as being similar.
14.	reach for the stars	n.	Taking everything into account; thinking about everything together.

Before reading / listening

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

A Russian photographer won a top astronomy photo prize. T / F
The photo contest was run by the USA Observatory. T / F
The Andromeda Galaxy is two million light years from Earth. T / F
The winning photo showed the Andromeda Galaxy with nothing around it. T / F
The winning photo is called "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". T / F
The winning photographer was not at all surprised he won. T / F
The photographer said he was over the Moon about winning. T / F
Reporters told the photographer to reach for the stars. T / F

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

contest
run
closest
spectacular
celestial
celebrated
category
sense
over the Moon
scooped

very, very happy
impressive
heavenly
well-known
organised
feeling
nearest
won
class
competition

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

A French photographer has won a top
his photo of our closest
used a special
in the darkness
countless other stars and
It beat thousands of
the competition's overall
I liked the sense
he was over
he could now reach

other photos
for the stars
celestial objects
best photograph
galaxy
of space
the Moon
photography contest
of depth
technique

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

light
top
darkness
technique
closest
objects
prize
close

A French photographer has won a (1) _____________________ photography contest. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious (2) _____________________ in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This is run by the Royal Observatory in the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our (3) _____________________ galaxy - the Andromeda galaxy. Andromeda is two million (4) _____________________ years from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a special (5) _____________________ called tilt-shift to take his photo. The result is a spectacular photo that makes Andromeda look amazingly (6) _____________________ to us. In the photo, we can clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the (7) _____________________ of space. It is surrounded by countless other stars and celestial (8) _____________________.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

winner
celebrated
thousands
category
reach
news
overall
titled

Mr Lefaudeux is a (9) _____________________ astronomy photographer. His winning photo is (10) _____________________ "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat (11) _____________________ of other photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won in the "Galaxies" category, as well as the competition's (12) _____________________ best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was very surprised at winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be the overall (13) _____________________. I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy (14) _____________________, as I liked the sense of depth given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the (15) _____________________ that he had scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "(16) _____________________ for the stars" and win more prizes.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) A French photographer has won a top ______
     a. photography contests
     b. photography con test
     c. photography cons test
     d. photography contest
2) Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of ______
     a. our close it galaxy
     b. our closet galaxy
     c. our closest galaxy
     d. our close test galaxy
3) The result is a spectacular photo that makes Andromeda look amazingly ______
     a. close too us
     b. close touts
     c. close to us
     d. close 'twas
4) we can clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the ______
     a. dark nest of space
     b. dark mess of space
     c. darker nest of space
     d. darkness of space
5) It is surrounded by countless other stars and ______
     a. celestial object
     b. celestial objects
     c. celestial objectives
     d. celestial subjects

6) His winning photo is titled "Andromeda Galaxy ______"
     a. at Arm's Length
     b. at Leg's Length
     c. at Harm's Length
     d. at Ark's Length
7) It beat thousands of other photos from the world's ______
     a. lead in photographers
     b. lead ding photographers
     c. leading photographers
     d. led in photographers
8) He said: "I was really not expecting to be ______
     a. the over all winner
     b. the overalls winner
     c. the overall winner
     d. the coverall winner
9) I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked the ______
     a. sense soft depth
     b. sense oft depth
     c. sense off depth
     d. sense of depth
10) He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the news that he had ______
     a. scooped the prize
     b. scampered the prize
     c. scraped the prize
     d. scrimped the prize

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A French photographer has won a (1) ____________________. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious prize in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This (2) ____________________ the Royal Observatory in the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our closest galaxy - the Andromeda galaxy. Andromeda is 2 (3) ____________________ from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a special technique called tilt-shift to take his photo. The result is (4) ____________________ that makes Andromeda look amazingly close to us. In the photo, we (5) ____________________ the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the darkness of space. It is surrounded by (6) ____________________ and celestial objects.

Mr Lefaudeux (7) ____________________ astronomy photographer. His winning photo is titled "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat (8) ____________________ photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won in the "Galaxies" category, as well as the competition's overall best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was (9) ____________________ winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be (10) ____________________. I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked the (11) ____________________ given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the news that he had scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "reach for the stars" and (12) ____________________.

Comprehension questions

What is the nationality of the winning photographer?
How much did the photographer win?
What is the distance between the Andromeda Galaxy and Earth?
What is the name of the special technique the photographer used?
What was the Andromeda Galaxy surrounded by in the photo?
How many other photographers did Mr Lefaudeux beat?
What was the photographer's reaction at winning the top prize?
What category did the winner hope he would get in?
What phrase did the photographer use to say he was very, very happy?
What did reporters suggest the photographer could reach for?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What is the nationality of the winning photographer?
a) Japanese
b) French
c) Mexican
d) Kenyan
2) How much did the photographer win?
a) $18,000
b) $16,000
c) $17,000
d) $19,000
3) What is the distance between the Andromeda Galaxy and Earth?
a) two billion light years
b) 20,000,000 light years
c) 200,000 light years
d) two million light years
4) What is the name of the special technique the photographer used?
a) lilt-tilt
b) tilt-shift
c) shift-tilt
d) tilt-lilt
5) What was the Andromeda Galaxy surrounded by in the photo?
a) stars and celestial objects
b) space dust
c) space garbage
d) asteroids and comets

6) How many other photographers did Mr Lefaudeux beat?
a) thousands
b) dozens
c) hundreds
d) gazillions
7) What was the photographer's reaction at winning the top prize?
a) anger
b) shock
c) delight
d) surprise
8) What category did the winner hope he would get in?
a) the space category
b) the stars category
c) the galaxy category
d) the universe category
9) What phrase did the photographer use to say he was very, very happy?
a) by the by
b) under the weather
c) up in arms
d) over the moon

10) What did reporters suggest the photographer could reach for?
a) the Sun
b) the stars
c) a more powerful lens
d) heaven

Role play

Role A – Space
You think space is the best thing to take photos of. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least photogenic of these (and why): cute puppies, nature or food.

Role B – Cute Puppies
You think cute puppies are the best things to take photos of. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least photogenic of these (and why): space, nature or food.

Role C – Nature
You think nature is the best thing to take photos of. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least photogenic of these (and why): cute puppies, space or food.

Role D – Food
You think food is the best thing to take photos of. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least photogenic of these (and why): cute puppies, nature or space.

After reading / listening

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

'photo'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'galaxy'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

top

run

light

special

amazingly

countless

winning

beat

well

really

sense

reach

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 - Astronomy

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 'stars'?
What do you know about astronomy?
How interested are you in space?
Should students study astronomy at school?
How good are you at taking photos?
What do you know about the Milky Way?
What kinds of photos do you like?
What do you think of space?
Would you like to go into space?

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 'photo'?
What do you think about what you read?
What do you think about astronomy?
Do you have a favourite photographer?
What is the best photo you have ever seen?
Have you ever won a competition?
When was the last time you were over the Moon?
What would you like to reach for the stars to do?
What questions would you like to ask the photographer?

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)

A French photographer has won a (1) ____ photography contest. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious prize in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This is (2) ____ by the Royal Observatory in the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our closest galaxy - the Andromeda galaxy. Andromeda is two million (3) ____ years from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a special technique called tilt-shift to (4) ____ his photo. The result is a spectacular photo that makes Andromeda look (5) ____ close to us. In the photo, we can clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the darkness of space. It is surrounded by (6) ____ other stars and celestial objects.

Mr Lefaudeux is a celebrated astronomy photographer. His winning photo is (7) ____ "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat thousands (8) ____ other photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won in the "Galaxies" category, as well as the competition's overall best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was very surprised (9) ____ winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be the overall winner. I had (10) ____ hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked the (11) ____ of depth given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the news that he had scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "(12) ____ for the stars" and win more prizes.

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) atop (b) top (c) topping (d) topped
(a) walked (b) run (c) paced (d) jogged
(a) dark (b) bright (c) dim (d) light
(a) open (b) take (c) do (d) give
(a) amaze (b) amazes (c) amazed (d) amazingly
(a) counting (b) count (c) countless (d) counted
(a) titled (b) tilted (c) tiled (d) title
(a) to (b) on (c) of (d) by
(a) of (b) as (c) on (d) at
(a) some (b) any (c) each (d) every
(a) sense (b) mental (c) face (d) file
(a) reach (b) vision (c) touch (d) dust

Spelling

Paragraph 1

a top photography stncote
the euigoprists prize
Lefaudeux used a special ueqhectni
a cpsuaeatcrl photo
Andromeda look igynaalzm close to us
It is nodsururde by countless other stars

Paragraph 2

Lefaudeux is a ltrbcdeaee astronomy photographer
ndatosshu of other photos
The photo won in the "Galaxies" gotarcey
expecting to be the olreavl winner
I liked the sense of dthpe
he had oosdcep the prize

Put the text back together

(...) amazingly close to us. In the photo, we can clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the darkness
(...) surprised at winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be the overall
(...) galaxy. Andromeda is two million light years from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a special
(...) prize in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This is run by the Royal Observatory in
(...) of space. It is surrounded by countless other stars and celestial objects.
(...) category, as well as the competition's overall best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was very
(...) technique called tilt-shift to take his photo. The result is a spectacular photo that makes Andromeda look
(...) Mr Lefaudeux is a celebrated astronomy photographer. His winning photo is titled "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat
(...) depth given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Moon" when he got the news that he had
(...) winner. I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked the sense of
(...) the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our closest galaxy - the Andromeda
(...) thousands of other photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won in the "Galaxies"
(...) scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "reach for the stars" and win more prizes.
( 1 ) A French photographer has won a top photography contest. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious

Put the words in the right order

top won A a contest . photographer photography French
years from million is Andromeda Earth . light two
his used techniques take special He photo . to
makes Andromeda look close It to us . amazingly
is stars . other by surrounded countless It
world's Thousands photos photographers . the of from leading
prize . surprised top winning the He was at
over He the that he was joked Moon .
scooped news the had prize . that The he
more and win the stars prizes . Reach for

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

A French photographer has winning / won a top photography contest. Nicolas Lefaudeux won the prestigious prize on / in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. This is run by / in the Royal Observatory in the UK. Mr Lefaudeux won the $17,000 prize for his photo of our closet / closest galaxy - the Andromeda galaxy. Andromeda is two million light / slight years from Earth. It neighbours our Milky Way galaxy. Lefaudeux used a specially / special technique called tilt-shift to take his photo. The result is a spectacular photo that makes / takes Andromeda look amazingly close to us. In the photo, we can clear / clearly see the bright, oval-shaped galaxy in the darkness of space. It is rebounded / surrounded by countless other stars and celestial objects / subjects.

Mr Lefaudeux is a celebrated / celebration astronomy photographer. His winning photo is titled / framed "Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length". It beat thousand / thousands of other photos from the world's leading photographers. The photo won on / in the "Galaxies" category, as well as the competition's overall / coverall best photograph. Lefaudeux told reporters he was very surprised at whining / winning the top prize. He said: "I was really not expecting to be / being the overall winner. I had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category, as I liked / liking the sense of depth given to the galaxy." He joked that he was "over the Sun / Moon" when he got the news that he had scooped the prize. Reporters said he could now "reach for the stars / moons" and win more prizes.

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)

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M r L_f__ d__ x _s _ c_l_b r_t_d _s t r_n_m y p h_t_g r_p h_r . H_s w_n n_n g p h_t_ _s t_t l_d " A n d r_m_d_ G_l_x y _t A r m ' s L_n g t h " . I t b__ t t h__ s_n d s _f _t h_r p h_t_s f r_m t h_ w_r l d ' s l__ d_n g p h_t_g r_p h_r s . T h_ p h_t_ w_n _n t h_ " G_l_x__ s " c_t_g_r y , _s w_l l _s t h_ c_m p_t_t__ n ' s _v_r_l l b_s t p h_t_g r_p h . L_f__ d__ x t_l d r_p_r t_r s h_ w_s v_r y s_r p r_s_d _t w_n n_n g t h_ t_p p r_z_. H_ s__ d : " I w_s r__ l l y n_t _x p_c t_n g t_ b_ t h_ _v_r_l l w_n n_r . I h_d s_m_ h_p_s f_r b__ n g p l_c_d _n t h_ g_l_x y c_t_g_r y , _s I l_k_d t h_ s_n s_ _f d_p t h g_v_n t_ t h_ g_l_x y . " H_ j_k_d t h_t h_ w_s "_v_r t h_ M__ n " w h_n h_ g_t t h_ n_w s t h_t h_ h_d s c__ p_d t h_ p r_z_. R_p_r t_r s s__ d h_ c__ l d n_w " r__ c h f_r t h_ s t_r s " _n d w_n m_r_ p r_z_s .

Punctuate the text and add capitals

a french photographer has won a top photography contest nicolas lefaudeux won the prestigious prize in the astronomy photographer of the year 2020 competition this is run by the royal observatory in the uk mr lefaudeux won the 17000 prize for his photo of our closest galaxy the andromeda galaxy andromeda is two million light years from earth it neighbours our milky way galaxy lefaudeux used a special technique called tiltshift to take his photo the result is a spectacular photo that makes andromeda look amazingly close to us in the photo we can clearly see the bright ovalshaped galaxy in the darkness of space it is surrounded by countless other stars and celestial objects

mr lefaudeux is a celebrated astronomy photographer his winning photo is titled andromeda galaxy at arms length it beat thousands of other photos from the worlds leading photographers the photo won in the galaxies category as well as the competitions overall best photograph lefaudeux told reporters he was very surprised at winning the top prize he said i was really not expecting to be the overall winner i had some hopes for being placed in the galaxy category as i liked the sense of depth given to the galaxy he joked that he was over the moon when he got the news that he had scooped the prize reporters said he could now reach for the stars and win more prizes

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AFrenchphotographerhaswonatopphotographycontest.NicolasLefa
udeuxwontheprestigiousprizeintheAstronomyPhotographeroftheYe
ar2020competition.ThisisrunbytheRoyalObservatoryintheUK.MrLef
audeuxwonthe$17,000prizeforhisphotoofourclosestgalaxy-theAnd
romedagalaxy.AndromedaistwomillionlightyearsfromEarth.Itneigh
boursourMilkyWaygalaxy.Lefaudeuxusedaspecialtechniquecalledtil
t-shifttotakehisphoto.TheresultisaspectacularphotothatmakesAnd
romedalookamazinglyclosetous.Inthephoto,wecanclearlyseethebri
ght,oval-shapedgalaxyinthedarknessofspace.Itissurroundedbycou
ntlessotherstarsandcelestialobjects.MrLefaudeuxisacelebratedastr
onomyphotographer.Hiswinningphotoistitled"AndromedaGalaxyat
Arm'sLength".Itbeatthousandsofotherphotosfromtheworld'sleadin
gphotographers.Thephotowoninthe"Galaxies"category,aswellasthe
competition'soverallbestphotograph.Lefaudeuxtoldreportershewas
verysurprisedatwinningthetopprize.Hesaid:"Iwasreallynotexpectin
gtobetheoverallwinner.Ihadsomehopesforbeingplacedinthegalaxyc
ategory,asIlikedthesenseofdepthgiventothegalaxy."Hejokedthathe
was"overtheMoon"whenhegotthenewsthathehadscoopedtheprize.
Reporterssaidhecouldnow"reachforthestars"andwinmoreprizes.

Free writing

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

We should all study astronomy at school. 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. ASTRONOMY: Make a poster about astronomy. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. SCHOOL SUBJECT: Write a magazine article about astronomy being a school subject that all children have to study. 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 astronomy. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on astronomy. 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: Astronomy

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