Teacher's Notes
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PENGUIN READERS Teacher’s notes EASYSTARTS Teacher Support Programme Tom Cruise Rod Smith misrepresent him. They often print stories that are not true. Fame and happiness: Cruise is very successful. He is a good actor and makes many films. He has much wealth and material comfort but he has problems with the press and some say he is unhappy in love. Discussion activities Before reading 1 Discuss: What do your students know about Tom Cruise. Who is Tom Cruise? What do you know about him? Show students the pictures on pages 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10. Can they name the movies? (Top Gun, Rain Man, Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire, The Last Summary Samurai) Do they know other Tom Cruise movies? Tom Cruise is a biography. It tells of the life of the actor Pages 1–7 from his early years through his struggle to become a While reading Hollywood star and the success that follows. He was 2 Pair work: In pairs, take notes about Cruise. Make a born in 1962 and had a troubled childhood as his parents chart noting: Childhood, Career, Adult life. moved house often. His parents divorced when he was eleven years old. Childhood Name; Date of birth; Place of birth; Family life As a teenager Cruise discovered a love for acting. He Career Starting out; Movies (dates/information) decided to be an actor and moved to New York in the hope of finding work. At first Cruise struggled, finding Adult life Girlfriends/wives (names, dates/ information); Other issues little work and small roles. Then, he got a part in a movie, Taps, which brought him success. Many starring roles After reading followed. 3 Role play: As an eighteen-year-old, Cruise decides to We also learn about Cruise’s personal life: his first marriage move to New York to become an actor. Imagine the to Mimi Rogers, which ended in divorce, and then his discussion he has with his mother. relationship with Australian actress Nicole Kidman. Student A: You are Tom Cruise. Tell your mother about your plans to move to New York. Kidman and Cruise got married in 1990 and starred in Student B: You are Cruise’s mother. What advice do several films together. They adopted two children and you have for your son? were together for more than ten years. Pages 8–15 After their divorce in 2001, Cruise kept busy making After reading movies. Cruise later made some people unhappy away 4 Pair work: In pairs, have students complete the charts from the movies when he talked about Scientology and they started in activity 2. Have students discuss their criticized the use of drugs by doctors to treat unhappy notes. What are five things you knew about Tom Cruise people. before reading the book? What are five interesting things In 2005, Cruise met American actress Katie Holmes, and you learned? 5 Group work: Consider the pros and cons of being soon after they had a child and got married. a movie star. Make a list. (Think about Cruise’s Background and themes situation.) Good points Bad points Perseverance: Cruise has many problems and struggles – can be rich – everybody watches you when he moves to New York, and has to work hard to Are the good points about being a movie star more make his dream come true. Usually anything that is really important than the bad points? Why/why not? Have worthwhile in life has to be worked at. students discuss their ideas. Press intrusion and untruth: Cruise has problems with Vocabulary activities the press. He feels they sometimes misunderstand and For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to www.penguinreaders.com. c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Tom Cruise - Teacher’s notes 1 of 1.