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Date: Dec 2, 2007
THE ARTICLESpice Girls start world reunion tourThe Spice Girls launch their comeback world tour in Vancouver this weekend after seven years out of the limelight. They hope to bring back “girl power” and introduce it to a whole new generation of teenagers. The five-member group was one of the hottest bands of the 1990s and sold a massive 55 million albums worldwide. They became instant heroes for millions of their fans with their songs, dance movements and street fashion. They also encouraged young women to be more self confident with their “girl power” message. Their debut single "Wannabe" was a smash hit in 1996 and was number one in the singles charts all over the world. They followed this with eight other number one records in the UK, which had many music writers and journalists comparing them to the Beatles. There has been much hype surrounding the upcoming tour. More than 750,000 tickets have been sold so far and the band’s website says they’ll play additional concerts in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney. Each band member should make up to $20 million from the tour and associated record sales. However, the girls were quick to tell the media that the reunion concerts were more about their fans than the cash. Geri Halliwell, who left the band in 1998, two years before it eventually split up, said: "For me it's about celebrating the past and enjoying each other; It's about our fans." One fan eagerly awaiting the Vancouver gig, 28-year-old Sherri Reeve claimed the concert was a dream come true. “The Spice Girls changed my life when I was a teenager. They are perfect role models,” she said. WARM-UPS1. BANDS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about pop and rock bands. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. TWO-MINUTE POP DEBATES: Have the following fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the first argument, students B the second. Change pairs often.
4. POP STARS: With your partner(s), talk about which of these are necessary to be the perfect pop star. Rate them from 10 (= totally necessary) to 1 (= no need for this at all, whatsoever). Repeat this activity for rock stars and opera singers. ___ a beautiful/attractive face and body ___ the ability to write one’s own songs and music ___ the ability to play a musical instrument very well ___ nice teeth ___ a knowledge of musical scores and how to read music ___ fantastic at dancing ___ a brain ___ a good sense of fashion 5. ALBUM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘album’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. QUICK ROLE PLAY: Student A is a famous pop star who retired ten years ago and is still fed up with music; Student B is a long-time fan of Student A who wants him/her to make a comeback. Role play their conversation. Change partners often. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.The Spice Girls launch their comeback world tour in Vancouver this weekend ________________________ the limelight. They hope to bring back “girl power” and introduce it ________________________ of teenagers. The five-member group was one of the hottest bands of the 1990s and sold a massive 55 million albums worldwide. They ________________________ millions of their fans with their songs, dance movements and street fashion. They also encouraged young women ___________________ with their “girl power” message. Their debut single "Wannabe" was a smash hit in 1996 and was number one in the singles charts all over the world. They followed this with ______________________ records in the UK, which had many music writers and journalists ________________________ Beatles. There ________________________ surrounding the upcoming tour. More than 750,000 tickets have been sold so far and the band’s website says ________________________ concerts in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney. Each band member should make up to $20 million ___________________________ record sales. However, the girls were quick to tell the media that the reunion concerts were more about ________________________. Geri Halliwell, who left the band in 1998, two years before it eventually split up, said: "For me it's about celebrating the past and enjoying each other; It's about our fans." ____________________ the Vancouver gig, 28-year-old Sherri Reeve claimed the concert was a dream come true. “The Spice Girls changed my life when I was a teenager. They ________________________,” she said. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘spice’ and ‘girl’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
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 exactly how these were used in the text:
STUDENT POP STAR SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about pop stars 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.
DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGECORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article. The Spice Girls (1) ____ their comeback world tour in Vancouver this weekend after seven years out of the limelight. They hope to bring back “girl power” and introduce it to a (2) ____ new generation of teenagers. The five-member group was one of the hottest bands of the 1990s and sold a (3) ____ 55 million albums worldwide. They became (4) ____ heroes for millions of their fans with their songs, dance movements and street fashion. They also encouraged young women to be more self confident with their “girl power” message. Their (5) ____ single "Wannabe" was a smash hit in 1996 and was number one in the singles charts all over the world. They followed this with eight other number one records in the UK, which had many music writers and journalists comparing them (6) ____ the Beatles. There has been (7) ____ hype surrounding the upcoming tour. More than 750,000 tickets have been sold so (8) ____ and the band’s website says they’ll play additional concerts in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney. Each band member should make (9) ____ to $20 million from the tour and associated record sales. However, the girls were quick to tell the media that the reunion concerts were more about their (10) ____ than the cash. Geri Halliwell, who left the band in 1998, two years before it eventually split (11) ____, said: "For me it's about celebrating the past and enjoying each other; It's about our fans." One fan eagerly awaiting the Vancouver gig, 28-year-old Sherri Reeve claimed the concert was a dream (12) ____ true. “The Spice Girls changed my life when I was a teenager. They are perfect role models,” she said.
WRITING:Write about role models for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. 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 more information about the Spice Girls and their tour. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. POP BANDS: Make a poster about different pop bands around the world. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all include similar things? 4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about a day in the life of one of the Spice Girls. Include imaginary interviews with a Spice Girl and a fan. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down new words and expressions. 5. LETTER: Write a letter to one the Spice Girls. Give her three suggestions on what she and her band can really do to give power to girls. Give three reasons why she should give most of her $20 million to girls’ charities. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Spice Girls start world reunion tourThe Spice Girls launch their comeback world tour in Vancouver this weekend after seven years out of the limelight. They hope to bring back “girl power” and introduce it to a whole new generation of teenagers. The five-member group was one of the hottest bands of the 1990s and sold a massive 55 million albums worldwide. They became instant heroes for millions of their fans with their songs, dance movements and street fashion. They also encouraged young women to be more self confident with their “girl power” message. Their debut single "Wannabe" was a smash hit in 1996 and was number one in the singles charts all over the world. They followed this with eight other number one records in the UK, which had many music writers and journalists comparing them to the Beatles. There has been much hype surrounding the upcoming tour. More than 750,000 tickets have been sold so far and the band’s website says they’ll play additional concerts in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney. Each band member should make up to $20 million from the tour and associated record sales. However, the girls were quick to tell the media that the reunion concerts were more about their fans than the cash. Geri Halliwell, who left the band in 1998, two years before it eventually split up, said: "For me it's about celebrating the past and enjoying each other; It's about our fans." One fan eagerly awaiting the Vancouver gig, 28-year-old Sherri Reeve claimed the concert was a dream come true. “The Spice Girls changed my life when I was a teenager. They are perfect role models,” she said. LANGUAGE WORK
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