Tuesday December 7, 2004

Pre-Intermediate +

THE ARTICLE

Twelve more people lost their lives in a gun battle at the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among the dead were five non-US staff, four Saudi guards and three militants. This happened in spite of increased security measures imposed to protect foreigners from terrorism in Saudi following two years of bombing and shootings in the Kingdom. All US nationals were safe, having rushed to a secure zone of the consulate once gunfire was heard.

The attacks bear the hallmark of al-Quaida, which wants to rid Saudia Arabia of all non-Muslims. In the daring attack, undertaken in broad daylight, militants used explosives to break through the heavily-fortified entrance and shot their way into the consulate building. They used grenades and machine guns to take hostages. A standoff ensued with the militants being engaged in heavy gun battles with Saudi security forces.

Right on cue, US President George W. Bush made his ‘say-something-obvious-now’ assessment of the tragedy by stating, “terrorists are still on the move”. He also did his usual banding together of barely-related events by informing the World, “That's why these elections in Iraq are very important.” Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf showed better understanding hours before the attack, telling the BBC the world was now less safe, because the ‘War on Terror’ was not “addressing the core problems.”

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about A safer world, Saudi Arabia, George W. Bush, terrorism, where is Osama bin Laden, core problems of terror …
To make things more fun, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. WAR ON TERROR TIMELINE: Teacher brainstorms any terror attacks that have taken place since 9/11. Students talk about their memories of these and whether the world is now a safer place.

3. WE ARE GEORGE: Students each take on the role of US President George W. Bush and talk in pairs about how to end the War on Terror. Share solutions with other students. Teacher brainstorms best ideas.

4. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:
(a) The War on Terror will end. vs. Impossible.
(b) George Bush has the best solutions. vs No way.
(c) The world is not a safer place since 9/11. vs. It is a safer place.
(d) Americans and other foreigners living in Iraq are crazy. vs. No. If they leave, or run away, they are crazy.
(e) al Quaida is the biggest cause of terror. Vs. Americanization and ignorance of Islamic peoples and cultures are the main causes of terror.
(f) The War on Terror is a war on Islam. vs. Absolutely not.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘safe’ and ‘terror’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Students predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:
(a)  The World is a safer place.  T / F
(b)  There was a terrorist attack on the US Embassy in the Saudi Arabia capital city, Riyadh.  T / F
(c)  Twelve American consular staff were killed.  T / F
(d)  All US nationals were safe. T / F
(e)  The attacks bear the hallmark of al-Quaida. T / F
(f)  A gun battle took place involving US Marines.  T / F
(g)  George Bush made a poignant assessment of the attack. T / F
(h)  The Pakistani President said the War on Terror was addressing the core problems of terror.  T / F

3. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	twelve	security measures
(b)	gun	on cue
(c)	increased	move
(d)	the attacks	daylight
(e)	broad	battle
(f)	take	more people
(g)	right	bear the hallmark of …
(h)	on the	hostages
(i)	addressing the core	problems

4. PRE ARTICLE OPINIONS: Students ask each other about their opinions on the following statements from the article:
(a)  The world is a safer place.
(b)  Twelve more people lost their lives.
(c)  The attacks bear the hallmark of al-Quaida.
(d)  Al Quaida wants to rid Saudia Arabia of all non-Muslims.
(e)  Terrorists are still on the move.
(f)  These elections in Iraq are very important.
(g)  The ‘War on Terror’ is not addressing the core problems.

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

The World is safer - 12 more killed in Saudi

Twelve __________ people lost their lives in a gun battle at the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among the __________ were five non-US staff, four Saudi guards and three militants. This happened in __________ of increased security measures imposed to protect foreigners from terrorism in Saudi following two years of bombing and shootings in the Kingdom. All US nationals were safe, having rushed to a secure zone of the consulate __________ gunfire was heard.		spite dead more once
The attacks __________ the hallmark of al-Quaida, which wants to rid Saudia Arabia of all non-Muslims. In the __________ attack, undertaken in __________ daylight, militants used explosives to break through the heavily-fortified entrance and shot their way into the consulate building. They used grenades and machine guns to take hostages. A standoff ensued with the militants being engaged in __________ gun battles with Saudi security forces.		heavy daring bear broad
Right on __________, US President George W. Bush made his ‘say-something-__________-now’ assessment of the tragedy by stating, “terrorists are still on the __________”. He also did his usual banding together of barely-related events by informing the World, “That's why these elections in Iraq are very important.” Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf showed better understanding hours before the attack, telling the BBC the world was now less safe, because the ‘War on Terror’ was not “addressing the __________ problems.”		obvious core cue move

 

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. PHRASE MATCH: Students check their answers to the word match exercise.

4. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

5. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

6. ANGRY / SAD / HOPEFUL:  Students underline anything that made them angry, sad or hopeful while reading the article.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article / War on Terror. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners tocompare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ANGRY / SAD / HOPEFUL:  Students share with each other and comment upon the things they were angry, sad or hopeful about from the article.

6. DISCUSSION: Students ask each other the following questions:
(a)  How did you feel after 9/11 and how do you feel now?
(b)  What is your initial reaction to TV news reports about more attacks / bombs in Saudi Arabia (or other countries)?
(c)  Why do you think militants are targeting Saudi Arabia?
(d)  Can/Should the US pull out of Saudi Arabia, or Iraq?
(e)  Do you think Osama bin Laden is controlling the attacks, or has al-Quaida become a synonym for terrorist groups?
(f)  Are foreign nationals foolish for living in the world’s danger zones?
(g)  Could you live and work in Saudi Arabia?
(h)  Does George Bush impress you with his televised comments?
(i)  Is there a strong link between the attack in Jeddah yesterday and the January elections in Iraq? Why did Bush link the two?
(j)  Is General Pervez Musharraf more ‘with it’ by saying the War on Terror does not address the ‘core problems’ of terror?
(k)  What are the core problems of terror?
(l)  What are the solutions for addressing these problems?
(m)  What are the solutions for winning the War on Terror?

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Homo floresiensis. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. CORE PROBLEMS: Make a poster / report on some of the core problems of terror.

4. LETTER TO GEORGE: Write a letter to US President George W. Bush giving him your opinion of these recent attacks in Jeddah.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:
(a)  The World is a safer place.  ?
(b)  There was a terrorist attack on the US Embassy in the Saudi Arabia capital city, Riyadh.  F
(c)  Twelve American consular staff were killed.  F
(d)  All US nationals were safe. T
(e)  The attacks bear the hallmark of al-Quaida. T
(f)  A gun battle took place involving US Marines.  F
(g)  George Bush made a poignant assessment of the attack. ?
(h)  The Pakistani President said the War on Terror was addressing the core problems of terror.  F

3. PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	twelve	more people
(b)	gun	battle
(c)	increased	security measures
(d)	the attacks	bear the hallmark of …
(e)	broad	daylight
(f)	take	hostages
(g)	right	on cue
(h)	on the	move
(i)	addressing the core	problems