Online News
Teacher's notes The main aim of this lesson is learner training - to encourage students to read online newspapers outside class, in order to improve their reading skills, widen their vocabulary etc.
The lesson is based around a jigsaw activity.
First they discuss their attitudes to the news and the sources they get it from. If students dislike reading about political and economic news, encourage them to think of personal and professional or academic interests they can read about.
Next groups think of three major news stories, which they can research at the online stage. The papers reflect a mixture of serious and tabloid papers, different political biases, national or regional viewpoints. Though students may not be aware of all these distinctions when comparing them.
Then students form new groups to compare information on the stories and the papers. This should allow them to make an informed choice about which paper they prefer.
Finally, 'Reflection', they make a personal choice about reading outside class.
Suggested websites for four groups:
The Guardian The Mirror www.guardian.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
The Sun The Times www.thesun.co.uk www.thetimes.co.uk
The Sunday Times The Scotsman www.sunday-times.co.uk www.thescotsman.co.uk
The Financial Times The Observer www.ft.com www.observer.co.uk
The Daily Telegraph The Daily Express www.telegraph.co.uk www.express.co.uk
The Evening Standard The Independent www.thisislondon.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
Preparation Talk to one or two other people in your class. Discuss these questions: How interested are you in keeping up with the latest news?
D:\Docs\2018- 04-18\042fdbeca754083b457314c9a5186fcd.doc
© Chris Jones and The British Council, 2002
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity. Online News
Where do you get your news? - TV? - Newspapers? - Magazines? - Friends? How can reading the news regularly help you improve your English?
Three stories Work with two other students. Think of three major, international stories that are in the news at the moment. Write a title for each story below:
Story one
Story two
Story three
Online Work in groups and be ready to tell others about your findings.
1. Your teacher will give you the websites for three British newspapers. 2. Look for articles on your three stories. Make notes on the main points. You may not find an article on your story. Why do you think? 3. Compare the three newspapers. How informative was each one? Did it give a lot of information or only a little? Which did you find the easiest to read? How easy was it to find the articles you wanted? How attractive was the website? Finally, decide which you liked best. Why?
Offline Form new groups with students who looked at other newspapers.
1. Tell each other about the news stories you looked for and the information you found. 2. Talk about the best of the online papers and why you preferred them.
D:\Docs\2018- 04-18\042fdbeca754083b457314c9a5186fcd.doc
© Chris Jones and The British Council, 2002
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity. Online News
Reflection Do you have time look at an online newspaper once a week? Which one would you read again? Remember you don't have to read the whole paper, pick one or two articles that interest you. You can also look at news sites with audio and video clips such as http://news.bbc.co.uk or http://cnn.com.
D:\Docs\2018- 04-18\042fdbeca754083b457314c9a5186fcd.doc
© Chris Jones and The British Council, 2002
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a charity.