Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Wedding Dress

A Chinese bride has set a new world record for wearing the longest wedding dress. Lin Rong, a 25-year-old schoolteacher, walked down the aisle wearing the record-breaking 2.2km gown at her wedding in China’s Jilin province. It took the 200 wedding guests more than three hours to stretch out the 2,162-meter-long train. The special dress was handmade by her groom's family. Lin’s new husband Zhao Peng said he wanted to show how much he loved her but didn’t want to spend money on a gorgeous wedding banquet. He also wanted to break the previous record of 1,579 metres, set in Romania in April 2009. The record is not yet official. Zhao has sent a video and details of the dress to Guinness World Records in London.

The dress was an impressive sight. It took three months to create. There were 9,999 silk red roses pinned to the two kilometres of material. An additional decoration took the form of 608 crystals sewn into the garment, one for each day the couple had dated. Mr. Zhao added another personal touch to the dress by cutting the length down to 1,984.1022 meters. This number represents his bride's date of birth – October the 22nd, 1984. The dress cost 40,000 yuan (around $US 5,800) to make. At first, his family were against the idea but soon changed their minds. His mother said it was a waste of money, but understood that her son wanted to show his love for his bride on his big day.

WARM-UPS

1. WEDDINGS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about weddings. Change partners often. Sit with your first 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.

brides / wedding dress / world record / guests / showing your love / wedding banquet / impressive sights / red roses / date of birth / changing your mind / waste of money

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

3. WEDDING DETAILS: Plan your own wedding by completing this table. Show your plans to your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

Details	My plan	Why?
Place
Guests
Food
Music
Flowers
Dress

4. RECORD DRESS: Students A strongly believe having a 2km-long wedding dress to break a world record is silly; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. MY LOVE FOR YOU: What’s the best way to show your love for someone? Put these in order – the best way on top. Talk about your choices with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

red roses
saying “I love you”
marrying them
diamonds or cars

giving them the remote control forever
telling them your e-mail passwords
losing weight and getting in perfect shape
singing a love song outside their home

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A woman in China bought the world’s longest wedding dress.	T / F
b.	The woman didn’t actually wear the dress at the ceremony.	T / F
c.	A designer wedding dress company made the dress.	T / F
d.	Guinness World Records hasn’t yet said the dress is the record holder.	T / F
e.	The dress took around 90 days to make.	T / F
f.	There were 9,999 crystals sewn into the dress.	T / F
g.	The groom shortened the dress after the wedding.	T / F
h.	The groom’s mother said the dress wasn’t a good use of money.	T / F

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

1.	set	a.	dinner
2	gown	b.	stitched
3.	show	c.	earlier
4.	banquet	d.	important
5.	previous	e.	dress
6.	impressive	f.	symbolizes
7.	sewn	g.	opposed to
8.	represents	h.	created
9.	against	i.	breathtaking
10.	big	j.	demonstrate

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

1.	set a	a.	much he loved her
2	walked down	b.	bride's date of birth
3.	stretch out	c.	another personal touch
4.	he wanted to show how	d.	yet official
5.	The record is not	e.	into the garment
6.	The dress was an	f.	new world record
7.	608 crystals sewn	g.	was a waste of money
8.	Mr. Zhao added	h.	the aisle
9.	This number represents his	i.	the 2,162-meter-long train
10.	His mother said it	j.	impressive sight

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A Chinese bride has ____________ a new world record for wearing the longest wedding dress. Lin Rong, a 25-year-old schoolteacher walked down the ____________ wearing the record-breaking 2.2km gown at her wedding in China’s Jilin province. It took the 200 wedding guests more than three hours to ____________ out the 2,162-meter-long train. The special dress was handmade by her groom's family. Lin’s new husband Zhao Peng said he wanted to ____________ how much he loved her but didn’t want to spend money on a ____________ wedding banquet. He also wanted to break the ____________ record of 1,579 metres, set in Romania in April 2009. The record is not ____________ official. Zhao has sent a video and ____________ of the dress to Guinness World Records in London.

previous
aisle
show
details
set
gorgeous
yet
stretch

The dress was an impressive ____________. It took three months to create. There were 9,999 silk red roses pinned to the two kilometres of ____________. An additional decoration took the ____________ of 608 crystals sewn into the garment, one for each day the couple had dated. Mr. Zhao added another personal ____________ to the dress by cutting the ____________ down to 1,984.1,022 meters. This number represents his bride's date of ____________ – October the 22nd, 1984. The dress cost 40,000 yuan (around $US 5,800) to make. At first, his family were ____________ the idea but soon changed their minds. His mother said it was a ____________ of money, but understood that her son wanted to show his love for his bride on his big day.

birth
material
against
length
sight
form
waste
touch

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A Chinese bride __________________ world record for wearing the longest wedding dress. Lin Rong, a 25-year-old schoolteacher walked __________________ the record-breaking 2.2km gown at her wedding in China’s Jilin province. It took the 200 wedding guests more than three hours __________________ 2,162-meter-long train. The special dress was handmade by her groom's family. Lin’s new husband Zhao Peng said he wanted __________________ he loved her but didn’t want to spend money __________________ wedding banquet. He also wanted to break the previous record of 1,579 metres, set in Romania in April 2009. The record __________________. Zhao has sent a video and details of the dress to Guinness World Records in London.

The dress was __________________. It took three months to create. There were 9,999 silk red roses pinned to the two kilometres of material. An additional decoration __________________ 608 crystals sewn into the garment, one for each day the couple had dated. Mr. Zhao added another __________________ the dress by cutting the length down to 1,984.1,022 meters. This number __________________ date of birth – October the 22nd, 1984. The dress cost 40,000 yuan (around $US 5,800) to make. At first, his family were ____________________ soon changed their minds. His mother said it was a waste of money, but understood that her son wanted to show his love for his bride __________________.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

world

record

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:

set
walked
stretch
gorgeous
break
details

sight
pinned
dated
birth
against
waste

STUDENT WEDDINGS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about weddings 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.

WEDDINGS 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 ‘wedding’?
c)	Do you think your wedding is the happiest day of your life?
d)	What do you think of a 2km-long wedding dress?
e)	Do you think this dress really showed the groom’s love for his bride?
f)	Would you rather have a record-breaking dress/suit or a gorgeous banquet?
g)	Do you like going to weddings?
h)	Where do you think the dress is now?
i)	Do you think the groom will be disappointed if the record is not accepted?
j)	What world record would you like to break?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What do you think of wedding dresses?
c)	Have you ever been to a wedding in another country? Was it better than weddings in your country?
d)	What are the best and worst things about weddings?
e)	What do you think of the red roses, crystals and cutting the length of the dress to match the bride’s date of birth?
f)	Is $5,800 a reasonable price for a wedding dress?
g)	Do you think Mr. Zhao is romantic?
h)	Would you listen to your mother if she disagreed with your wedding plans?
i)	Are weddings a big waste of money?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the bride Lin Rong?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A Chinese bride has (1) ____ a new world record for wearing the longest wedding dress. Lin Rong, a 25-year-old schoolteacher walked down the (2) ____ wearing the record-breaking 2.2km gown at her wedding in China’s Jilin province. It took the 200 wedding guests more than three hours to stretch (3) ____ the 2,162-meter-long train. The special dress was handmade by her groom's family. Lin’s new husband Zhao Peng said he wanted to show how much he loved (4) ____ but didn’t want to spend money (5) ____ a gorgeous wedding banquet. He also wanted to break the previous record of 1,579 metres, set in Romania in April 2009. The record is not yet (6) ____. Zhao has sent a video and details of the dress to Guinness World Records in London.

The dress was an impressive (7) ____. It took three months to create. There were 9,999 silk red roses pinned to the two kilometres of material. An additional decoration took the (8) ____ of 608 crystals sewn into the garment, one for each day the couple had dated. Mr. Zhao added (9) ____ personal touch to the dress by cutting the length down to 1,984.1,022 meters. This number represents his bride's date of (10) ____ – October the 22nd, 1984. The dress cost 40,000 yuan (around $US 5,800) to make. At (11) ____, his family were against the idea but soon changed their minds. His mother said it was a (12) ____ of money, but understood that her son wanted to show his love for his bride on his big day.

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

1.	(a)	set	(b)	setting	(c)	sets	(d)	settings
2.	(a)	window	(b)	I’ll	(c)	aisle	(d)	wedding
3.	(a)	in	(b)	up	(c)	on	(d)	out
4.	(a)	hers	(b)	her	(c)	she	(d)	she’s
5.	(a)	by	(b)	to	(c)	at	(d)	on
6.	(a)	officials	(b)	officially	(c)	official	(d)	office
7.	(a)	site	(b)	sight	(c)	sighting	(d)	sites
8.	(a)	form	(b)	forms	(c)	forming	(d)	formed
9.	(a)	another	(b)	other	(c)	others	(d)	the others
10.	(a)	born	(b)	birthday	(c)	birth	(d)	birthing
11.	(a)	firstly	(b)	firsts	(c)	firsthand	(d)	first
12.	(a)	wasting	(b)	waste	(c)	waster	(d)	wastage

WRITING

Write about weddings 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 record-breaking wedding dress. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. WEDDINGS: Make a poster about weddings around the world. Write about the similarities and differences. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. LOVE: Write a magazine article about this wedding and Mr. Zhao’s love. Include imaginary interviews with the happy couple (the bride and groom).

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 Lin Rong. Ask her three questions about her wedding. Give her three suggestions how she can show her love to her husband. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	set	a.	created
2	gown	b.	dress
3.	show	c.	demonstrate
4.	banquet	d.	dinner
5.	previous	e.	earlier
6.	impressive	f.	breathtaking
7.	sewn	g.	stitched
8.	represents	h.	symbolizes
9.	against	i.	opposed to
10.	big	j.	important

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	set a	a.	new world record
2	walked down	b.	the aisle
3.	stretch out	c.	the 2,162-meter-long train
4.	he wanted to show how	d.	much he loved her
5.	The record is not	e.	yet official
6.	The dress was an	f.	impressive sight
7.	608 crystals sewn	g.	into the garment
8.	Mr. Zhao added	h.	another personal touch
9.	This number represents his	i.	bride's date of birth
10.	His mother said it	j.	was a waste of money

GAP FILL:

China bride wears 2km-long wedding dress

A Chinese bride has set a new world record for wearing the longest wedding dress. Lin Rong, a 25-year-old schoolteacher walked down the aisle wearing the record-breaking 2.2km gown at her wedding in China’s Jilin province. It took the 200 wedding guests more than three hours to stretch out the 2,162-meter-long train. The special dress was handmade by her groom's family. Lin’s new husband Zhao Peng said he wanted to show how much he loved her but didn’t want to spend money on a gorgeous wedding banquet. He also wanted to break the previous record of 1,579 metres, set in Romania in April 2009. The record is not yet official. Zhao has sent a video and details of the dress to Guinness World Records in London.

The dress was an impressive sight. It took three months to create. There were 9,999 silk red roses pinned to the two kilometres of material. An additional decoration took the form of 608 crystals sewn into the garment, one for each day the couple had dated. Mr. Zhao added another personal touch to the dress by cutting the length down to 1,984.1,022 meters. This number represents his bride's date of birth – October the 22nd, 1984. The dress cost 40,000 yuan (around $US 5,800) to make. At first, his family were against the idea but soon changed their minds. His mother said it was a waste of money, but understood that her son wanted to show his love for his bride on his big day.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - d

4 - b

5 - d

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 -a

10 - c

11 - d

12 - b

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Breaking News English

August 11, 2009

China Bride Wears 2km-Long Wedding Dress