Friendly Lingua – Blog – Kinderdijk – land of windmills
Author: Anita Lewicka
©Copyright: Friendly Lingua
Kinderdijk – a magical land of windmills. Use of English, speaking and CLIL activities for the B1-B2 levels.
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5. Story Two – Use of English (multiple choice)
/After your Ss’ presentations, get them to concentrate on still another story about Kinderdijk and the Dutch polder. Ss’ task is to fill in the gaps with missing words. This is a multiple choice (a-d) task which tests Ss’ grasp of fixed phrases and syntax. Elicitation follows./
If you want to see as 1.______as nineteen windmills in one place, you should definitely visit Kinderdijk. This is a village situated in the southern part of the Netherlands, in the municipality of Molenwaard.
The 2.______of Kinderdijk is located below sea level, in a polder. The polder of the Alblasserwaard near the Lek and Noord Rivers 3.______a collection of breathtaking windmills. Being one in almost three thousand polders in the Netherlands, the area is enclosed 4.______barriers (dikes). Because it is a low-lying area, already in the 13th century some canals were 5.______to get rid of excess water. However, despite these measures, the drained area started setting. It 6.______some centuries though for a new construction to be added. Between 1738 and 1760, nearly nineteen windmills were erected to drain the polder. Etymologically and historically, “windmill” refers to “milling”. The power of wind was used for crushing (milling) grain,
Friendly Lingua – Blog – Kinderdijk – land of windmills later on transported for food 7.______. Therefore, windmills have for long been used not only for grinding but also for draining.
With the surroundings overgrown with reed, the windmills are so beautiful and majestic on the outside, with their complex mechanism 8.______. Their large blades (or sails), which are seen on the outside, are turned by the 9. ______of wind, which, in turn, provides the power for draining the ground.
Dutch windmills, the great concentration of which can be found in Kinderdijk, are very often called “smock mills”, with “smock” referring to a wooden 10. ______(which may be poetically described as the coat of the windmill). The smock can be thatched, wooden or covered with tar paper or slates. 11.______such windmills are erected on the masonry base to make them even higher and more effective.
Erected on the octagonal plan, the smock windmills of Kinderdijk are still in 12.______nowadays. However, to make the draining process faster, two modern pumping stations have been constructed nearby. The undeniable architectural uniqueness of the windmills is 13.______admired by many that 14.______1997 the site has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
1. a.much b.many c.lot d.few 2. a.area b.city c.windmill d.canal 3. a.comprises b.consists c.contains d.connects 4. a.from b.for c.by d.in 5. a.dug b.dig c.digging d.digs 6. a.last b.has taken c.had lasted d.took 7. a.producer b.production c.produce d.productivity 8. a.in b.inside c.indoor d.within 9. a.hard b.strength c.force d.factor 10. a.framework b.frame c.frames d.framing 11. a.at time b.why c.sometimes d.where 12. a.use b.using c.operations d.operating 13. a.such b.never c.always d.so 14. a.for b.since c.from d.in
Friendly Lingua – Blog – Kinderdijk – land of windmills
6. Story – Lexis (picture matching)
/In the text on Kinderdijk, there are some windmill-related vocabulary items. Refer Ss to still another handout where they have a picture of one of Kinderdijk windmills with some arrows next to which Ss have to write the words indicating the structure. Of course, all the words are present in the text, so the activity involves scanning./
Name parts of the windmill and some typical geographical features of the area. Look for the missing words in the text:
Friendly Lingua – Blog – Kinderdijk – land of windmills
8.Lexis – fixed expressions (windmill)
A. /There are a lot of expressions in English which make a reference to windmills, etc. Show a picture of Don Quixote and elicit from Ss the meaning of “battling windmills.” If no response, guide them, give hints or tell them yourself. Distribute a table with four expressions. On the left – the target phrases; on the right – the definitions put randomly. Ss match and compare their answers in pairs./
EXPRESSION DEFINITION
1. battling windmills (tilting at a. If only you could turn back time! windmills) So, don’t waste time now think 2. millstone (a)round your neck what could have happened if… 3. Mill cannot grind with water that b. fighting pointless battles or is past. imaginary enemies 4. run-of-the-mill c. something common, of low quality, average d. an obstacle in your life which slows you down immensely; a problem which prevents you from doing what you want to do
Author: Anita Lewicka
©Copyright: Friendly Lingua