Breaking News English.com Ready-to-Use English Lessons by Sean Banville “1,000 IDEAS & ACTIVITIES Thousands more free lessons FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS” from Sean's other websites breakingnewsenglish.com/book.html www.freeeslmaterials.com/sean_banville_lessons.html Level 3 - 19th December, 2019 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years FREE online quizzes, mp3 listening and more for this lesson here: https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1912/191219-mariah-carey.html Contents The Article 2 Discussion (Student-Created Qs) 15 Warm-Ups 3 Language Work (Cloze) 16 Vocabulary 4 Spelling 17 Before Reading / Listening 5 Put The Text Back Together 18 Gap Fill 6 Put The Words In The Right Order 19 Match The Sentences And Listen 7 Circle The Correct Word 20 Listening Gap Fill 8 Insert The Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) 21 Comprehension Questions 9 Punctuate The Text And Add Capitals 22 Multiple Choice - Quiz 10 Put A Slash ( / ) Where The Spaces Are 23 Role Play 11 Free Writing 24 After Reading / Listening 12 Academic Writing 25 Student Survey 13 Homework 26 Discussion (20 Questions) 14 Answers 27 Please try Levels 0, 1 and 2 (they are easier). Twitter twitter.com/SeanBanville Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/BreakingNewsEnglish/155625444452176 THE ARTICLE From https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1912/191219-mariah-carey.html American singer Mariah Carey has reached number one in the U.S. music charts with her classic song "All I Want For Christmas Is You". It is not unusual for a festive song to be the best seller at Christmas, but Carey's famous song was first released 25 years ago. When the song first came out in 1994, it was on a record with several other songs. This meant it was not allowed to compete in Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Rules have been changed over the years. Carey's song has got near number one several times since 1994. The singer said she was very happy her song finally hit the top spot. She tweeted: "We did it". The song is also currently the most streamed song in the U.K. on the music streaming service Spotify. Mariah Carey was born in 1969. She is a singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is now the solo artist with the most ever number ones in the U.S. chart. She is one behind The Beatles, who had 20 number ones. The Guinness World Records book called her the "Songbird Supreme". She has a unique voice and can sing in five different octaves. Her song "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is famous worldwide. It has become an essential tune at Christmas parties and family get-togethers. Wikipedia said: "The track is an up-tempo love song that includes bell chimes, heavy back-up vocals, and synthesizers....It is the most played holiday song in modern history." Sources: https://www.nme.com/news/music/mariah-careys-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you-is-finally-us- number-one-after-25-years-2588214 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_I_Want_for_Christmas_Is_You https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50818039 Level 3 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years – 19th December, 2019 More free lessons at breakingnewsenglish.com - Copyright Sean Banville 2019 2 WARM-UPS 1. CHRISTMAS SONGS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Christmas songs. 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? number one / music / chart / festive / famous / 1994 / singer / happy / streaming / 1969 / actress / entrepreneur / unique / worldwide / family get-togethers / history Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. CHRIST: Students A strongly believe all Christmas songs should be about the birth of Jesus Christ; Students B strongly believe Xmas songs can be about anything. Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 4. CHRISTMAS: What do you know about Christmas? What do you want to know? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote. About... What I Know What I Want To Know Christmas Jesus' birth Santa Presents Christmas Trees Boxing Day 5. SONG: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "song". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. ALL I WANT FOR XMAS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best presents at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings. • Wireless ear pods • iTunes vouchers • Adidas trainers • Donate the money to charity • Lots of books • Expensive chocolates • Clothes • Socks Level 3 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years – 19th December, 2019 More free lessons at breakingnewsenglish.com - Copyright Sean Banville 2019 3 VOCABULARY MATCHING Paragraph 1 1. reached a. Made a movie or song, book, etc. available for people to buy or listen to, watch, etc. 2. classic b. Take part in a contest. 3. festive c. Got as far as. 4. released d. Now. 5. compete e. Looked at over a period of time to be of the highest quality of its kind. 6. several f. About a celebration, party or happy time. 7. currently g. More than two but not many. Paragraph 2 8. streaming h. Parts of a piece of music that are sung. 9. entrepreneur i. Sending or receiving data (especially video and audio) over a computer network or the Internet. 10. solo j. A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking risks in order to do that. 11. supreme k. Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else in the world. 12. unique l. Strongest, most important, or most powerful. 13. essential m. Done by one person alone. 14. vocals n. Absolutely necessary; extremely important. Level 3 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years – 19th December, 2019 More free lessons at breakingnewsenglish.com - Copyright Sean Banville 2019 4 BEFORE READING / LISTENING From https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1912/191219-mariah-carey.html 1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). a. Mariah Carey's Christmas song is number one all across the world. T / F b. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was first released in 1994. T / F c. Mariah Carey tweeted that was "satisfied" about being number one. T / F d. The article said the song is number 1 in the UK on iTunes. T / F e. Mariah Carey is in her fifties. T / F f. Only The Beatles have had more U.S. number ones then Mariah Carey. T / F g. Mariah Carey can sing across seven octaves. T / F h. Wikipedia said Ms Carey's song has soft and peaceful back-up vocals. T / F 2. SYNONYM MATCH: (The words in bold are from the news article.) 1. reached a. well-known 2. unusual b. permitted 3. released c. businesswoman 4. allowed d. presently 5. currently e. harmonies 6. entrepreneur f. strange 7. unique g. necessary 8. famous h. got to 9. essential i. one-of-a-kind 10. vocals j. issued 3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.) 1. reached number one in a. voice 2. it was on a record with b. modern history 3. Rules have been changed c. song in the U.K. 4. her song finally hit the d. togethers 5. the most streamed e. several other songs 6. solo f. Christmas parties 7. She has a unique g. the U.S. music charts 8. an essential tune at h. artist 9. family get- i. top spot 10. the most played holiday song in j. over the years Level 3 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years – 19th December, 2019 More free lessons at breakingnewsenglish.com - Copyright Sean Banville 2019 5 GAP FILL From https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1912/191219-mariah-carey.html American singer Mariah Carey has reached number one in the U.S. released music charts with her (1) ____________ song "All I Want For over Christmas Is You". It is not unusual for a festive song to be the classic best (2) ____________ at Christmas, but Carey's famous song was streamed first (3) ____________ 25 years ago. When the song first came out in 1994, it was on a record with (4) ____________ other several songs. This meant it was not allowed to compete in Billboard's Hot service 100 chart. Rules have been changed (5) ____________ the years. seller Carey's song has got near number one several times since 1994. finally The singer said she was very happy her song (6) ____________ hit the top spot. She tweeted: "We did it". The song is also currently the most (7) ____________ song in the U.K. on the music streaming (8) ____________ Spotify. Mariah Carey was born in 1969. She is a singer, songwriter, solo actress, record (9) ____________, and entrepreneur. She is now tune the (10) ____________ artist with the most ever number ones in octaves the U.S. chart. She is one behind The Beatles, who had 20 number ones (11) ____________. The Guinness World Records book called her the "Songbird Supreme". She has a (12) ____________ voice and history can sing in five different (13) ____________. Her song "All I Want producer For Christmas Is You" is famous worldwide. It has become an vocals essential (14) ____________ at Christmas parties and family get- unique togethers. Wikipedia said: "The track is an up-tempo love song that includes bell chimes, heavy back-up (15) ____________, and synthesizers....It is the most played holiday song in modern (16) ____________." Level 3 Mariah Carey Xmas hit number 1 after 25 years – 19th December, 2019 More free lessons at breakingnewsenglish.com - Copyright Sean Banville 2019 6 LISTENING – Guess the answers.