Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Slumdog Millionaire

‘Slumdog’ children in millionaire world

The two child stars from the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” are on their way to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony. The two children, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, actually live in the Mumbai slums where the movie was filmed. Their trip to Hollywood is an example of life imitating art. The movie tells the story of how a teenager from one of the poorest parts of India becomes a millionaire. Little Rubina and Azharuddin will now do the same, for a weekend at least. They will swap the poverty of their daily lives for the riches and glamour of the movie world’s biggest night. It could turn out to be a rags-to-riches tale for the young stars. They are already getting many enquiries from India’s film studios about acting in Bollywood movies.

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle said he was very excited for the two young stars. He said it was fantastic that the pair would rub shoulders with the stars on the famous red carpet. Boyle has already promised to fund all of the children's education. Nine-year-old Rubina said she couldn’t wait to arrive in L.A. She told the AP news agency: “I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars…My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good’.” She said she wasn’t scared and that she would take lots of photos to show her friends in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there are more rumours of life copying art. The on-screen romance between Jamal, played by 18-year-old Dev Patel, and Latika, played by Freida Pinto, 24, may be happening for real.

WARM-UPS

1. MILLIONAIRES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about millionaires. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

child stars / hit movies / Oscars / slums / poverty / glamour / rags-to-riches / acting / fantastic / the stars / red carpet / fate / being scared / rumours / on-screen romances

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. MILLIONAIRE MOVIES: With your partner(s), talk about the storyline of these imaginary movies. Complete the table below. You must put these genres in the table and use each once: Horror, Romance, Action, Comedy, and Mystery. Change partners and share what you wrote. Vote as a class on the best storyline.

Movie name	Genre	Story	Actors
Millionaire Baby
Millionaire English
Millionaire Billionaire
Mars Millionaire
Millionaire Rose

4. SLUMDOG: Students A strongly believe the term “Slumdog” is a terrible name to use; Students B strongly believe there’s nothing wrong with it. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. RAGS TO RICHES: In pairs / groups, talk about what 10-year-old children would think about going to these places. Give each a score from 10 (the children would be totally amazed) to 1 (the children would not be in the slightest bit interested).

____ The Oscars

____ The United Nations General Assembly

____ The International Space Station

____ A chocolate factory

____ The Olympics

____ Sony PlayStation factory

6. FATE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘fate’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Many children in Mumbai, India have become millionaires.	T / F
b.	The two child stars from the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” live in a slum.	T / F
c.	The two children are moving to Los Angeles.	T / F
d.	Movie studios are interested in the children acting in Bollywood films.	T / F
e.	“Slumdog” director said the children would rub the shoulders of stars.	T / F
f.	The director is looking after the education of his two young stars.	T / F
g.	One of the children said she was afraid of going to the Oscars.	T / F
h.	The actors who played Jamal and Latika are dating in real life.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	movie	a.	gossip
2	attend	b.	exchange
3.	imitating	c.	wonderful
4.	swap	d.	go to
5.	tale	e.	pay for
6.	fantastic	f.	story
7.	fund	g.	film
8.	fate	h.	relationship
9.	rumours	i.	copying
10.	romance	j.	destiny

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):

1.	The two child	a.	the movie was filmed
2	the Mumbai slums where	b.	to show her friends
3.	an example of life	c.	stars from the hit movie
4.	swap the poverty of their daily lives for	d.	education
5.	It could turn out to be a rags-	e.	shoulders with the stars
6.	the pair would rub	f.	the riches and glamour
7.	fund all of the children's	g.	to-riches tale
8.	your fate is	h.	imitating art
9.	she would take lots of photos	i.	romance
10.	on-screen	j.	so good

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

The two child stars from the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” are on their __________ to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony. The two children, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, actually live in the Mumbai __________ where the movie was filmed. Their trip to Hollywood is an example of life imitating __________. The movie tells the story of how a teenager from one of the __________ parts of India becomes a millionaire. Little Rubina and Azharuddin will now do the same, for a weekend at __________. They will __________ the poverty of their daily lives for the riches and glamour of the movie world’s biggest night. It could turn out to be a rags-to-__________ tale for the young stars. They are already getting many __________ from India’s film studios about acting in Bollywood movies.

poorest
slums
swap
enquiries
way
least
art
riches

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle said he was very __________ for the two young stars. He said it was fantastic that the pair would __________ shoulders with the stars on the famous red __________. Boyle has already promised to fund all of the children's education. Nine-year-old Rubina said she couldn’t __________ to arrive in L.A. She told the AP news agency: “I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars…My friends are saying, 'your __________ is so good’.” She said she wasn’t __________ and that she would take lots of photos to show her friends in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there are more rumours of life copying art. The on-screen __________ between Jamal, played by 18-year-old Dev Patel, and Latika, played by Freida Pinto, 24, may be happening for __________.

scared
rub
romance
excited
carpet
real
fate
wait

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.

The two child stars from the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” _____________ to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony. The two children, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, _____________ the Mumbai slums where the movie was filmed. Their trip to Hollywood is an example of life imitating art. The movie tells the story of how a teenager from _________________ parts of India becomes a millionaire. Little Rubina and Azharuddin will now do the same, for _________________. They will swap the poverty of their daily lives for the riches and glamour of the movie world’s biggest night. It could turn out to be a _________________ for the young stars. They are already ___________________ from India’s film studios about acting in Bollywood movies.

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle said he was ________________ two young stars. He said it was fantastic that the pair would _________________ the stars on the famous red carpet. Boyle has already promised _________________ children's education. Nine-year-old Rubina said she couldn’t wait to arrive in L.A. She told the AP news agency: “I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars…My friends are saying, ‘_________________’.” She said she wasn’t scared and that she would take lots of photos to show her friends in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there are more rumours of life copying art. ____________________ between Jamal, played by 18-year-old Dev Patel, and Latika, played by Freida Pinto, 24, may be _________________.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘slum’ and ‘dog’.

slum

dog

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

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 how they were used in the text:

hit
actually
imitating
least
swap
enquiries

excited
rub
fund
fate
scared
romance

STUDENT RAGS-TO-RICHES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about rags-to-riches 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

“SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE” DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘millionaire’?
c)	Do you think “Slumdog Millionaire” is a good name for a movie?
d)	What would you do if you attended the Oscars?
e)	What do you think of the two children from the Mumbai slums going to the Academy Awards?
f)	Do you know of any rags-to-riches stories?
g)	Are you interested in who wins at the Oscars?
h)	What would you like to swap your daily life for?
i)	Many Mumbai people are angry at the phrase ‘slumdog’ because they say it is offensive. What do you think?
j)	Do you prefer the word ‘movie’ or ‘film’?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	When was the last time you were excited for someone?
c)	Would you like to rub shoulders with the stars?
d)	Have you ever had the red carpet treatment?
e)	What do you think the child stars will think about the Oscars ceremony?
f)	Do you believe in fate?
g)	What were the last rumours you heard?
h)	What’s the best movie you’ve ever seen and why?
i)	Do you know other cases of life imitating art?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail?

LANGUAGE

The two child stars from the (1) ____ movie “Slumdog Millionaire” are on their way to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony. The two children, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, actually live in the Mumbai slums where the movie was (2) ____. Their trip to Hollywood is an example of life (3) ____ art. The movie tells the story of how a teenager from one of the poorest (4) ____ of India becomes a millionaire. Little Rubina and Azharuddin will now do the same, for a weekend at least. They will swap the poverty of their daily lives (5) ____ the riches and glamour of the movie world’s biggest night. It could turn out to be a rags-to-riches tale for the young stars. They are already getting many enquiries (6) ____ India’s film studios about acting in Bollywood movies.

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle said he was very excited (7) ____ the two young stars. He said it was fantastic that the pair would rub (8) ____ with the stars on the famous red carpet. Boyle has already promised to fund all of the children's education. Nine-year-old Rubina said she couldn’t (9) ____ to arrive in L.A. She told the AP news agency: “I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars…My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good’.” She said she wasn’t (10) ____ and that she would take lots of photos to show her friends in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there are more rumours of life copying art. The on-screen (11) ____ between Jamal, played by 18-year-old Dev Patel, and Latika, played by Freida Pinto, 24, may be happening for (12) ____.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	hits	(b)	hitting	(c)	hitter	(d)	hit
2.	(a)	filmed	(b)	films	(c)	filming	(d)	filmgoer
3.	(a)	imitated	(b)	imitator	(c)	imitating	(d)	imitation
4.	(a)	part	(b)	parts	(c)	party	(d)	parted
5.	(a)	of	(b)	for	(c)	at	(d)	from
6.	(a)	for	(b)	of	(c)	from	(d)	to
7.	(a)	for	(b)	of	(c)	from	(d)	to
8.	(a)	cheeks	(b)	knees	(c)	noses	(d)	shoulders
9.	(a)	waiting	(b)	waited	(c)	waits	(d)	wait
10.	(a)	scary	(b)	scared	(c)	scares	(d)	scaring
11.	(a)	romance	(b)	romancer	(c)	romantic	(d)	romantics
12.	(a)	reality	(b)	really	(c)	real	(d)	realize

WRITING:

Write about poverty for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. 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 out more about the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. NOMINATIONS: Make a poster about the different movies that were nominated for an Oscar. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. RAGS-TO-RICHES: Write a magazine article about the rags-to-riches story of the child stars in “Slumdog Millionaire”. Include imaginary interviews with the two children.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail. Ask them three questions about their evening at the Oscars. Give them your three pieces of advice on what they should do next in life. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	movie	a.	film
2	attend	b.	go to
3.	imitating	c.	copying
4.	swap	d.	exchange
5.	tale	e.	story
6.	fantastic	f.	wonderful
7.	fund	g.	pay for
8.	fate	h.	destiny
9.	rumours	i.	gossip
10.	romance	j.	relationship

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	The two child	a.	stars from the hit movie
2	the Mumbai slums where	b.	the movie was filmed
3.	an example of life	c.	imitating art
4.	swap the poverty of their daily lives for	d.	the riches and glamour
5.	It could turn out to be a rags-	e.	to-riches tale
6.	the pair would rub	f.	shoulders with the stars
7.	fund all of the children's	g.	education
8.	your fate is	h.	so good
9.	she would take lots of photos	i.	to show her friends
10.	on-screen	j.	romance

GAP FILL:

‘Slumdog’ children in millionaire world

The two child stars from the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” are on their way to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony. The two children, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, actually live in the Mumbai slums where the movie was filmed. Their trip to Hollywood is an example of life imitating art. The movie tells the story of how a teenager from one of the poorest parts of India becomes a millionaire. Little Rubina and Azharuddin will now do the same, for a weekend at least. They will swap the poverty of their daily lives for the riches and glamour of the movie world’s biggest night. It could turn out to be a rags-to-riches tale for the young stars. They are already getting many enquiries from India’s film studios about acting in Bollywood movies.

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle said he was very excited for the two young stars. He said it was fantastic that the pair would rub shoulders with the stars on the famous red carpet. Boyle has already promised to fund all of the children's education. Nine-year-old Rubina said she couldn’t wait to arrive in L.A. She told the AP news agency: “I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars…My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good’.” She said she wasn’t scared and that she would take lots of photos to show her friends in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there are more rumours of life copying art. The on-screen romance between Jamal, played by 18-year-old Dev Patel, and Latika, played by Freida Pinto, 24, may be happening for real.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - c

4 - b

5 - b

6 - c

7 - a

8 - d

9 -d

10 - b

11 - a

12 - c

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THE ARTICLE

‘Slumdog’ children in millionaire world

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT RAGS-TO-RICHES SURVEY

“SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE” DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE

WRITING:

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

‘Slumdog’ children in millionaire world

Help Support This Web Site

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You