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Obama announces new Clean Power Plan (6th August, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

The U.S. president Barack Obama has announced a new plan to combat climate change. It is called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an important project to protect America's economy and health. He wants to reduce the amount of electricity provided by power plants that use coal and move towards a greater use of renewable energies. He said the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at the White House that: "This is our moment to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that: "If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able to reverse it."

President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good for the health of Americans. It will stop 3,600 premature deaths each year. It will also mean 1,700 fewer heart attacks and a reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days because of sickness. Obama said America could save up to $34 billion a year on its health budget. However, not everyone in the USA thinks the plan is a good idea. Possible future president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw countless people out of work, and increase everyone's energy prices". Another opponent, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise their energy rates."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2015/08/03/obama-climate-change-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush/31049443/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/us/obama-unveils-plan-to-sharply-limit-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html?_r=0
http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-to-unveil-plan-to-cut-carbon-emissions-from-power-production/2895453.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. CLEAN ENERGY: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about clean energy. 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?

new plan / combat / climate change / economy / health / carbon emissions / reverse / premature deaths / heart attacks / sickness / president / energy prices / opponent

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

3. CARBON EMISSIONS: What can we do to reduce them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Problems now	How to reduce them
In the kitchen
Computers
Cars
Shopping
At work / school
Your idea ________

4. CLEAN POWER TAX: Students A strongly believe there should be a tax on fossil fuels to help research and develop clean power; Students B strongly believe this would be wrong. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. RENEWABLES: Rank these with your partner. Put the best renewable energies at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• wind power

• wave power

• solar power

• geothermal power

• hydroelectricity

• bio fuels

• heat pump

• hydrogen fuel cells

6. CLIMATE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "climate". 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.	Obama said the Clean Power Plan would protect America's health.	T / F
b.	Obama wants to close all power plants that use coal.	T / F
c.	Obama wants carbon emissions to return to 2005 levels.	T / F
d.	Obama said it would be quite easy to reverse climate change.	T / F
e.	The plan could prevent 3,600 people a year from dying too soon.	T / F
f.	The plan could save America $34 billion over ten years.	T / F
g.	A presidential hopeful called Jeb Bush does not like the plan.	T / F
h.	A U.S. governor said people would lose jobs because of the plan.	T / F

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

1.	combat	a.	cut
2.	protect	b.	fight
3.	reduce	c.	a great number of
4.	goal	d.	time
5.	moment	e.	prevent
6.	stop	f.	rival
7.	premature	g.	keep safe
8.	countless	h.	increase
9.	opponent	i.	aim
10.	raise	j.	untimely

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	announced a new plan to	a.	of electricity
2.	protect America's	b.	people out of work
3.	reduce the amount	c.	to get this right
4.	cut their carbon	d.	economy
5.	This is our moment	e.	of Americans
6.	good for the health	f.	$34 billion a year
7.	fewer heart	g.	combat climate change
8.	save up to	h.	rates
9.	throw countless	i.	emissions by 32%
10.	raise their energy	j.	attacks

GAP FILL

The U.S. president Barack Obama has (1) ____________ a new plan to (2) ____________ climate change. It is called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an important (3) ____________ to protect America's economy and health. He wants to reduce the amount of electricity (4) ____________ by power plants that use coal and move towards a greater (5) ____________ of renewable energies. He said the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 (6) ____________ by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at the White House that: "This is our (7) ____________ to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that: "If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able to (8) ____________ it."

project
announced
levels
use
reverse
provided
moment
combat

President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good for the (9) ____________ of Americans. It will stop 3,600 premature (10) ____________ each year. It will also mean 1,700 fewer heart (11) ____________ and a reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days because of (12) ____________. Obama said America could save up to $34 billion a year on its health (13) ____________. However, not everyone in the USA thinks the plan is a good idea. Possible (14) ____________ president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw countless people out of work, and increase everyone's energy prices". Another (15) ____________, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise their energy (16) ____________."

attacks
deaths
future
health
rates
budget
opponent
sickness

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	The U.S. president Barack Obama has announced a new plan to ______
	a. combative climate change b. combat climate changes c. combat climate's change d. combat climate change
2)	Obama said it was an important project to protect America's ______
	a. economy and healthy b. economy and health c. economy and wealth d. economy and wealthy
3)	He wants to reduce the amount of electricity provided ______
	a. buy power plants b. bye power plants c. by power plants d. bay power plants
4)	the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 32 per cent ______
	a. below 2005 levels b. below 2005 level c. be low 2005 levels d. be low 2005 level
5)	If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able ______
	a. too reverse it b. two reverse it c. to reverse it d. through reverse it
6)	President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good ______ Americans
	a. for the health of b. from the health of c. of the health of d. far the health of
7)	a reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days ______
	a. because of sicknesses b. because of sickness c. because of sick nest d. because of thickness
8)	Obama said America could save up to $34 billion a year on ______
	a. its health budgets b. its health budge it c. its health budge its d. its health budget
9)	Possible future president Jeb Bush said it would throw countless people ______
	a. outer work b. out of work c. out for work d. after work
10)	It will cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise ______
	a. their energy rate b. their energy ratios c. their energy ratio d. their energy rates

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The U.S. president Barack Obama has (1) ___________________ plan to combat climate change. It is called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an important (2) ___________________ America's economy and health. He wants to reduce the amount of electricity provided by power plants that use coal and move (3) ___________________ use of renewable energies. He said (4) ___________________ power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at the White House that: "(5) __________________ to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that: "If we don't get climate change right, we may not be (6) ______________."

President Obama said the Clean Power Plan (7) ___________________ the health of Americans. It will stop 3,600 (8) ___________________ each year. It will also mean 1,700 fewer heart attacks and a reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days (9) ___________________. Obama said America could save up to $34 billion a year on its health budget. However, not everyone in the USA thinks the plan (10) ___________________. Possible future president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw countless people out of work, (11) ___________________ energy prices". Another opponent, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will (12) ___________________ Americans jobs and raise their energy rates."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What does President Obama hope his plan will combat?
2.	What will the plan protect besides America's economy?
3.	What did President Obama say he wanted to use more of?
4.	Who did President Obama speak to at the White House?
5.	What does President Obama want to leave for America's kids?
6.	How many people will the plan stop from dying early each year?
7.	How much could America save on health each year?
8.	How many people does Jeb Bush think will lose their jobs?
9.	What did Scott Walker say the plan should be called?
10.	What did Scott Walker say the plan would raise?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What does President Obama hope his plan will combat?	6.	How many people will the plan stop from dying early each year?
	a) terrorism b) climate change c) viruses d) troops		a) 3,600 b) 300,000 c) 1,700 d) 34 billion
2.	What will the plan protect besides America's economy?	7.	How much could America save on health each year?
	a) Internet b) defence c) security d) health		a) $34 quadrillion b) $34 trillion c) $34 billion d) $34 million
3.	What did President Obama say he wanted to use more of?	8.	How many people does Jeb Bush think will lose their jobs?
	a) renewable energy b) clever people c) computers d) coal		a) countless people b) zero people c) numerous people d) people person
4.	Who did President Obama speak to at the White House?	9.	What did Scott Walker say the plan should be called?
	a) the leader of China b) his wife c) journalists d) coal company CEOs		a) Costly Power Plan b) Costly Fuel Plan c) Costly Fuel Project d) Costly Power Project
5.	What does President Obama want to leave for America's kids?	10.	What did Scott Walker say the plan would raise?
	a) zero debt b) something better c) a better health service d) democracy		a) eyebrows b) temperatures c) glasses d) energy rates

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Solar

You think solar is the best form of power. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): wind, wave or oil.

Role B – Wind

You think wind is the best form of power. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): solar, wave or oil.

Role C – Wave

You think wave is the best form of power. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): wind, solar or oil.

Role D – Oil

You think oil is the best form of power. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): wind, wave or solar.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'clean' and 'power'.

clean

power

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:

new
protect
amount
goal
2005
reverse

3,600
1,700
300,000
34
countless
hard

CLEAN ENERGY SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about clean energy 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.

CLEAN ENERGY DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'energy'?
3)	What do you know about President Obama's new plan?
4)	What is your country doing about climate change?
5)	What is climate change?
6)	Do you think global warming is because of human activity?
7)	How important are renewable energies?
8)	What damage is global warming doing?
9)	What do you do to save energy?
10)	What more could you do from now to save energy?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	Should all countries have a Clean Power Plan?
13)	What are renewable energies?
14)	What do you do that uses a lot of energy?
15)	Why do some people think Obama's plan is not so good?
16)	Is it OK to pay more for energy if fewer people get sick?
17)	What renewable energy is best, and why?
18)	What do you think of Barack Obama?
19)	What will Earth's climate be like in 50 or 100 years from now?
20)	What questions would you like to ask Barack Obama?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

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

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

The U.S. president Barack Obama has announced a new plan (1) ____ combat climate change. It is called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an (2) ____ project to protect America's economy and health. He wants to (3) ____ the amount of electricity (4) ____ by power plants that use coal and move towards a greater use of renewable energies. He said the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon emissions (5) ____ 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at the White House that: "This is our moment to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that: "If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able to (6) ____ it."

President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good for the (7) ____ of Americans. It will stop 3,600 premature deaths (8) ____ year. It will also mean 1,700 fewer heart attacks and a reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days because (9) ____ sickness. Obama said America could save up to $34 billion a year on its health budget. However, not everyone in the USA thinks the plan is a good idea. Possible (10) ____ president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw (11) ____ people out of work, and increase everyone's energy prices". Another opponent, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will (12) ____ hard-working Americans jobs and raise their energy rates."

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

1.	(a)	of	(b)	by	(c)	for	(d)	to
2.	(a)	importantly	(b)	importance	(c)	imported	(d)	important
3.	(a)	redact	(b)	reduce	(c)	re-enact	(d)	deduce
4.	(a)	provision	(b)	provider	(c)	provided	(d)	provides
5.	(a)	of	(b)	at	(c)	by	(d)	on
6.	(a)	reverse	(b)	revise	(c)	revere	(d)	reserve
7.	(a)	healthy	(b)	health	(c)	healthier	(d)	healthiest
8.	(a)	each	(b)	all	(c)	whole	(d)	entire
9.	(a)	by	(b)	of	(c)	to	(d)	at
10.	(a)	present	(b)	past	(c)	future	(d)	timeless
11.	(a)	counting	(b)	counted	(c)	countless	(d)	counter
12.	(a)	price	(b)	sell	(c)	pay	(d)	cost

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	a new plan to cboamt climate change
2.	lenreaweb energies
3.	uonsatsljri at the White House
4.	carbon nisismose
5.	our ommten to get this right
6.	we may not be able to esvrere it
Paragraph 2
7.	emrrtapeu deaths
8.	1,700 fewer heart kttasca
9.	health gtudbe
10.	throw tuoesscnl people out of work
11.	Another ntonoppe
12.	siera their energy rates

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	"If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able to reverse it."
( )	$34 billion a year on its health budget. However, not everyone in the USA thinks the plan is a good
( )	of Americans. It will stop 3,600 premature deaths each year. It will also mean 1,700 fewer heart attacks and a
( )	Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an important project to protect America's
( )	called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise their energy rates."
( )	President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good for the health
( )	idea. Possible future president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw countless people out of work, and increase
( )	economy and health. He wants to reduce the amount of electricity provided by power plants that use
( 1 )	The U.S. president Barack Obama has announced a new plan to combat climate change. It is called the
( )	everyone's energy prices". Another opponent, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be
( )	emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at
( )	the White House that: "This is our moment to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that:
( )	coal and move towards a greater use of renewable energies. He said the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon
( )	reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days because of sickness. Obama said America could save up to

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	a climate new change plan to Announced combat .
2.	was project America's It important protect an to economy .
3.	of by amount provided plants the electricity power Reduce .
4.	plants power for is goal The emissions carbon their cut to .
5.	our kids Get this right and leave something better for .
6.	deaths It premature year stop 3,600 each will .
7.	a Save health year $34 up budget on billion to its .
8.	good plan USA everyone idea is thinks in a the the Not .
9.	said it would throw countless people out of work Bush .
10.	He Americans "It said jobs" - will : hard-working cost .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The U.S. president Barack Obama has announcing / announced a new plan to combat / combative climate change. It is called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama said it was an importance / important project to protect America's economy and health / healthy. He wants to reduce the amount for / of electricity provided by power plants that use coal and move / movement towards a greater use of renewable energies. He said the score / goal is for power plants to cut their oxide / carbon emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Obama told journalists at the White House that: "This is our monument / moment to get this right and leave something better for our kids." He warned that: "If we don't get climate change right, we may not be able to reverse / reserve it."

President Obama said the Clean Power Plan would be good for the healthy / health of Americans. It will stop 3,600 premature dies / deaths each year. It will also mean / meaning 1,700 fewer heart attacks and a reduce / reduction of 300,000 missed work and school days because of / for sickness. Obama said America could save up / down to $34 billion a year on its health budget. However, not everyone / someone in the USA thinks the plan is a good idea. Possible future president Jeb Bush said it would, "throw countable / countless people out / from of work, and increase everyone's energy prices". Another opponent, Governor Scott Walker, agreed. He said the plan should be called the "Costly Power Plan". He said: "It will cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise / rise their energy rates."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_ _.S. pr_s_d_nt B_r_ck _b_m_ h_s _nn__nc_d _ n_w pl_n t_ c_mb_t cl_m_t_ ch_ng_. _t _s c_ll_d th_ Cl__n P_w_r Pl_n. Pr_s_d_nt _b_m_ s__d _t w_s _n _mp_rt_nt pr_j_ct t_ pr_t_ct _m_r_c_'s _c_n_my _nd h__lth. H_ w_nts t_ r_d_c_ th_ _m__nt _f _l_ctr_c_ty pr_v_d_d by p_w_r pl_nts th_t _s_ c__l _nd m_v_ t_w_rds _ gr__t_r _s_ _f r_n_w_bl_ _n_rg__s. H_ s__d th_ g__l _s f_r p_w_r pl_nts t_ c_t th__r c_rb_n _m_ss__ns by 32 p_r c_nt b_l_w 2005 l_v_ls by th_ y__r 2030. _b_m_ t_ld j__rn_l_sts _t th_ Wh_t_ H__s_ th_t: "Th_s _s __r m_m_nt t_ g_t th_s r_ght _nd l__v_ s_m_th_ng b_tt_r f_r __r k_ds." H_ w_rn_d th_t: "_f w_ d_n't g_t cl_m_t_ ch_ng_ r_ght, w_ m_y n_t b_ _bl_ t_ r_v_rs_ _t."

Pr_s_d_nt _b_m_ s__d th_ Cl__n P_w_r Pl_n w__ld b_ g__d f_r th_ h__lth _f _m_r_c_ns. _t w_ll st_p 3,600 pr_m_t_r_ d__ths __ch y__r. _t w_ll _ls_ m__n 1,700 f_w_r h__rt _tt_cks _nd _ r_d_ct__n _f 300,000 m_ss_d w_rk _nd sch__l d_ys b_c__s_ _f s_ckn_ss. _b_m_ s__d _m_r_c_ c__ld s_v_ _p t_ $34 b_ll__n _ y__r _n _ts h__lth b_dg_t. H_w_v_r, n_t _v_ry_n_ _n th_ _S_ th_nks th_ pl_n _s _ g__d _d__. P_ss_bl_ f_t_r_ pr_s_d_nt J_b B_sh s__d _t w__ld, "thr_w c__ntl_ss p__pl_ __t _f w_rk, _nd _ncr__s_ _v_ry_n_'s _n_rgy pr_c_s". _n_th_r _pp_n_nt, G_v_rn_r Sc_tt W_lk_r, _gr__d. H_ s__d th_ pl_n sh__ld b_ c_ll_d th_ "C_stly P_w_r Pl_n". H_ s__d: "_t w_ll c_st h_rd-w_rk_ng _m_r_c_ns j_bs _nd r__s_ th__r _n_rgy r_t_s."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the us president barack obama has announced a new plan to combat climate change it is called the clean power plan president obama said it was an important project to protect america's economy and health he wants to reduce the amount of electricity provided by power plants that use coal and move towards a greater use of renewable energies he said the goal is for power plants to cut their carbon emissions by 32 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030 obama told journalists at the white house that "this is our moment to get this right and leave something better for our kids" he warned that "if we don't get climate change right we may not be able to reverse it"

president obama said the clean power plan would be good for the health of americans it will stop 3600 premature deaths each year it will also mean 1700 fewer heart attacks and a reduction of 300000 missed work and school days because of sickness obama said america could save up to $34 billion a year on its health budget however not everyone in the usa thinks the plan is a good idea possible future president jeb bush said it would "throw countless people out of work and increase everyone's energy prices" another opponent governor scott walker agreed he said the plan should be called the "costly power plan" he said "it will cost hard-working americans jobs and raise their energy rates"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

TheU.S.presidentBarackObamahasannouncedanewplantocombatcl
imatechange.ItiscalledtheCleanPowerPlan.PresidentObamasaiditw
asanimportantprojecttoprotectAmerica'seconomyandhealth.Hewa
ntstoreducetheamountofelectricityprovidedbypowerplantsthatusec
oalandmovetowardsagreateruseofrenewableenergies.Hesaidthego
alisforpowerplantstocuttheircarbonemissionsby32percentbelow20
05levelsbytheyear2030.ObamatoldjournalistsattheWhiteHousethat
:"Thisisourmomenttogetthisrightandleavesomethingbetterforourki
ds."Hewarnedthat:"Ifwedon'tgetclimatechangeright,wemaynotbea
bletoreverseit."PresidentObamasaidtheCleanPowerPlanwouldbego
odforthehealthofAmericans.Itwillstop3,600prematuredeathseachy
ear.Itwillalsomean1,700fewerheartattacksandareductionof300,00
0missedworkandschooldaysbecauseofsickness.ObamasaidAmerica
couldsaveupto$34billionayearonitshealthbudget.However,notever
yoneintheUSAthinkstheplanisagoodidea.PossiblefuturepresidentJe
bBushsaiditwould,"throwcountlesspeopleoutofwork,andincreaseev
eryone'senergyprices".Anotheropponent,GovernorScottWalker,agr
eed.Hesaidtheplanshouldbecalledthe"CostlyPowerPlan".Hesaid:"It
willcosthard-workingAmericansjobsandraisetheirenergyrates."

FREE WRITING

Write about clean energy for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

People should get a fine if they waste energy. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CLEAN ENERGY: Make a poster about clean energy. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. FOSSIL FUELS: Write a magazine article about fossil fuels. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against them.

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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on clean energy. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to get people to save energy. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

F

d

F

e

T

f

F

g

T

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	combat	a.	cut
2	protect	b.	fight
3.	reduce	c.	a great number of
4.	goal	d.	time
5.	moment	e.	prevent
6.	stop	f.	rival
7.	premature	g.	keep safe
8.	countless	h.	increase
9.	opponent	i.	aim
10.	raise	j.	untimely

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Climate change
2.	Health
3.	Renewable energies
4.	Journalists
5.	Something better
6.	3,600
7.	$34 billion
8.	Countless people
9.	Costly Power Plan
10.	Energy rates

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

d

3.

a

4.

c

5.

b

6.

a

7.

c

8.

a

9.

a

10.

d

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Obama announces new Clean Power Plan (6th August, 2015)

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