Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Live Earth

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

Rock stars did their bit on July 7th in raising awareness about climate change through the series of Live Earth concerts. Musical extravaganzas featuring some of the biggest names in rock and pop were held in eight different cities across six continents. The venture was inspired by Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The mix of music and political message was watched live by an estimated two billion people worldwide. The concerts themselves were attended by hundreds of thousands of music lovers and those wanting to be a part of history. The music spectaculars kicked off in Sydney, Australia, before moving on to Tokyo and Shanghai, and then heading farther west to Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and eventually America’s east coast.

The organizer of the concerts, Kevin Wall, was also the brains behind the Live 8 concerts in 2005. He managed to amass a sparkling line-up of talent to get the climate change message across. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium offered perhaps the most exciting bill, which included Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a turbo-charged ending climax from Madonna. In spite of the glamour and good intent, the shows were sharply criticized. Many newspapers were critical of the pop stars who created a considerable amount of carbon by flying half way round the world in their private jets. The Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders confessed it would be "a bit hypocritical" to think his young band could change the world, "especially when we're using enough power for ten houses just for lighting," he said.

WARM-UPS

1. LIVE EARTH: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the Live Earth concerts. 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.

rock stars / climate change / concerts / rock and pop / Al Gore / music lovers / brains / Live 8 / talent / messages / Madonna / glamour / carbon / lighting

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

3. MY FOOTPRINT: In pairs / groups, discuss what you can (should/will) do to reduce your carbon footprint. Use the points in the table:

transportation
light bulbs
computer use
studying

television
spreading the word
staying warm/cool
other ____________________

4. HEADLINES: Talk with your partner(s) about these headlines. What are the stories behind the headlines? Do you think they’ll come true? Change partners and share what you said and heard.

Eco-friendly light bulb sales rocket to record levels
Live Earth concerts pump millions of tones of carbon into atmosphere
Al Gore receives Nobel Prize
George W. Bush to plan free trade concerts
Live Iraq concerts plea for peace in Iraq
Private jet use banned worldwide

5. CLIMATE CHANGE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with climate change. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. GLOBAL WARMING: In pairs / groups, discuss which of these items are most worrying for you:

melting of polar ice-caps
desertification
rising sea levels

increase in hurricanes / typhoons
disappearing summers
the spread of malaria

7. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think the Live Earth concerts will not change anything, and created too much carbon. Students B think the opposite. Change partners often. Share your findings.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	A series of global rock concerts attracted an audience of billions.	T / F
b.	The concerts took place in over 80 cities across six continents.	T / F
c.	Ex-US vice president Al Gore inspired millions with a special song.	T / F
d.	Hundreds of thousands of concertgoers attended the events.	T / F
e.	Bono from U2 and Bob Geldof organized the extravaganzas.	T / F
f.	The best of the concerts was probably the one in London.	T / F
g.	Many newspapers poured praise on the event for its greenness.	T / F
h.	Concert lighting used enough electricity to power as 10 houses.	T / F

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

1.	awareness	a.	ambition
2	extravaganzas	b.	started
3.	inconvenient	c.	mastermind
4.	inspired	d.	spectacles
5.	kicked off	e.	gather
6.	brains	f.	cast
7.	amass	g.	consciousness
8.	bill	h.	difficult
9.	intent	i.	admitted
10.	confessed	j.	motivated

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

1.	Rock stars did their	a.	by Al Gore and his documentary
2	Musical extravaganzas featuring	b.	message was watched live
3.	The venture was inspired	c.	be "a bit hypocritical”
4.	The mix of music and political	d.	behind the Live 8 concerts
5.	The music spectaculars kicked	e.	critical of the pop stars
6.	the brains	f.	climax from Madonna
7.	amass a sparkling	g.	bit on July 7th
8.	a turbo-charged ending	h.	off in Sydney
9.	Many newspapers were	i.	some of the biggest names in rock
10.	Matt Helders confessed it would	j.	line-up of talent

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

Rock stars did their __________ on July 7th in raising awareness about climate change through the __________ of Live Earth concerts. Musical extravaganzas featuring some of the biggest names in rock and pop were __________ in eight different cities across six continents. The __________ was inspired by Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The mix of music and __________ message was watched live by an estimated two billion people worldwide. The concerts themselves were attended by hundreds of thousands of music __________ and those wanting to be a part of history. The music spectaculars __________ off in Sydney, Australia, before moving on to Tokyo and Shanghai, and then heading farther west to Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and __________ America’s east coast.

political
held
bit
kicked
venture
eventually
series
lovers

The organizer of the concerts, Kevin Wall, was also the __________ behind the Live 8 concerts in 2005. He managed to __________ a sparkling line-up of talent to get the climate change message across. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium offered perhaps the most exciting __________, which included Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a turbo-charged ending __________ from Madonna. In __________ of the glamour and good intent, the shows were __________ criticized. Many newspapers were critical of the pop stars who created a __________ amount of carbon by flying half way round the world in their private jets. The Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders confessed it would be "a bit __________ " to think his young band could change the world, "especially when we're using enough power for ten houses just for lighting," he said.

sharply
bill
amass
hypocritical
climax
brains
considerable
spite

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

Rock stars ______________ July 7th in raising awareness about climate change __________________ Live Earth concerts. Musical extravaganzas featuring some of the biggest names in rock and pop were held in eight different cities across six continents. The venture ______________ Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The _____________________ message was watched live by an estimated two billion people worldwide. The concerts themselves were attended by hundreds of thousands of music lovers and __________________ part of history. The music spectaculars kicked off in Sydney, Australia, before moving on to Tokyo and Shanghai, __________________ west to Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and eventually America’s east coast.

The organizer of the concerts, Kevin Wall, was __________________ the Live 8 concerts in 2005. He managed to _______________________ of talent to get the climate change message across. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium offered perhaps __________________, which included Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a __________________ climax from Madonna. In __________________ good intent, the shows were sharply criticized. Many newspapers were critical of the pop stars who created a considerable amount of carbon by flying half way round the world in their private jets. The Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders confessed it would be "__________________ " to think his young band could change the world, "especially when we're using enough power for ten houses just for lighting," he said.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

live

earth

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 exactly how these were used in the text:

bit
featuring
inspired
message
lovers
heading

the brains
sparkling
bill
sharply
jets
power

STUDENT LIVE EARTH SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about LIVE EARTH or CLIMATE CHANGE 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.

DISCUSSION

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What did you think of the Live Earth concerts?
Which of the worldwide concerts would you like to have gone to?
Do you think the concerts will help our planet?
What do you think of rock stars who went to the concert in private jets and added to carbon emissions?
The concerts produced the same amount of carbon as 3,000 British people use in one year. What do you think of this?
Do you think Al Gore should get a Nobel Prize for raising awareness of climate change and getting the concerts going?
Do you think rock and pop music can help change the world?
Will you do anything from now to reduce your carbon footprint?
What do you think George W. Bush and other world leaders should do from now?

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

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

Did you like reading this article?
Have you done your bit to support the Live Earth message or that of other awareness concerts (like Live 8)?
Do you think rock stars are good with political messages?
What can the two billion people around the world who watched the shows do to slow down or reverse climate change?
Do you think newspapers were right to criticize the shows?
Do you think a young rock band can change the world?
Would it be better to have had just one global concert rather than eight?
What world extravaganza would you like to see put together?
Do you think the concerts did more good than harm?
Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

What was the most interesting thing you heard?
Was there a question you didn’t like?
Was there something you totally disagreed with?
What did you like talking about?
Which was the most difficult question?

LANGUAGE

CORRECT WORD: Put the correct words from a–d below in the article.

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

Rock stars did their (1) ____ on July 7th in raising awareness about climate change through the (2) ____ of Live Earth concerts. Musical extravaganzas featuring some of the biggest names in rock and pop were held in eight different cities across six continents. The venture was (3) ____ by Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The mix of music and political message was watched live by an (4) ____ two billion people worldwide. The concerts themselves were attended by hundreds of thousands of music (5) ____ and those wanting to be a part of history. The music spectaculars (6) ____ off in Sydney, Australia, before moving on to Tokyo and Shanghai, and then heading farther west to Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and eventually America’s east coast.

The organizer of the concerts, Kevin Wall, was also the (7) ____ behind the Live 8 concerts in 2005. He managed (8) ____ amass a sparkling line-up of talent to get the climate change message (9) ____. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium offered perhaps the most exciting bill, which included Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a turbo-charged ending climax from Madonna. In spite of the glamour and good intent, the shows were (10) ____ criticized. Many newspapers were critical (11) ____ the pop stars who created a considerable amount of carbon by flying half way round the world in their private jets. The Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders confessed it would be "a (12) ____ hypocritical" to think his young band could change the world, "especially when we're using enough power for ten houses just for lighting," he said.

1.	(a)	bit	(b)	bite	(c)	bites	(d)	biting
2.	(a)	serial	(b)	series	(c)	cereal	(d)	serious
3.	(a)	inspirational	(b)	inspiration	(c)	inspiring	(d)	inspired
4.	(a)	estimating	(b)	estimates	(c)	estimated	(d)	estimate
5.	(a)	love life	(b)	lovey-dovey	(c)	lovers	(d)	loves
6.	(a)	kicked	(b)	punched	(c)	slapped	(d)	head butted
7.	(a)	grey matter	(b)	skull	(c)	forehead	(d)	brains
8.	(a)	for	(b)	to	(c)	with	(d)	by
9.	(a)	throughout	(b)	across	(c)	down	(d)	in
10.	(a)	sharply	(b)	sharp	(c)	sharpness	(d)	sharper
11.	(a)	in	(b)	by	(c)	of	(d)	for
12.	(a)	biting	(b)	bites	(c)	bite	(d)	bit

WRITING:

Write about climate change 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 more information about the Live Earth concerts. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CLIMATE PROBLEMS: Make a poster showing different problems created by climate change. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about the effects of the Live Earth concerts. Discuss whether the carbon created by rock stars jetting around the world was worthwhile.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the organizers of the Live Earth concerts. Ask him/her three questions about whether the concerts will help save our planet. Give three suggestions about how to make better global concerts in the future. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	awareness	a.	consciousness
2	extravaganzas	b.	spectacles
3.	inconvenient	c.	difficult
4.	inspired	d.	motivated
5.	kicked off	e.	started
6.	brains	f.	mastermind
7.	amass	g.	gather
8.	bill	h.	cast
9.	intent	i.	ambition
10.	confessed	j.	admitted

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	Rock stars did their	a.	bit on July 7th
2	Musical extravaganzas featuring	b.	some of the biggest names in rock
3.	The venture was inspired	c.	by Al Gore and his documentary
4.	The mix of music and political	d.	message was watched live
5.	The music spectaculars kicked	e.	off in Sydney
6.	the brains	f.	behind the Live 8 concerts
7.	amass a sparkling	g.	line-up of talent
8.	a turbo-charged ending	h.	climax from Madonna
9.	Many newspapers were	i.	critical of the pop stars
10.	Matt Helders confessed it would	j.	be "a bit hypocritical”

GAP FILL:

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

Rock stars did their bit on July 7th in raising awareness about climate change through the series of Live Earth concerts. Musical extravaganzas featuring some of the biggest names in rock and pop were held in eight different cities across six continents. The venture was inspired by Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The mix of music and political message was watched live by an estimated two billion people worldwide. The concerts themselves were attended by hundreds of thousands of music lovers and those wanting to be a part of history. The music spectaculars kicked off in Sydney, Australia, before moving on to Tokyo and Shanghai, and then heading farther west to Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and eventually America’s east coast.

The organizer of the concerts, Kevin Wall, was also the brains behind the Live 8 concerts in 2005. He managed to amass a sparkling line-up of talent to get the climate change message across. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium offered perhaps the most exciting bill, which included Phil Collins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a turbo-charged ending climax from Madonna. In spite of the glamour and good intent, the shows were sharply criticized. Many newspapers were critical of the pop stars who created a considerable amount of carbon by flying half way round the world in their private jets. The Arctic Monkeys' drummer, Matt Helders confessed it would be "a bit hypocritical" to think his young band could change the world, "especially when we're using enough power for ten houses just for lighting," he said.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - d

4 - c

5 - c

6 - a

7 - d

8 - b

9 - b

10 - a

11 - c

12 - d

Breaking News English

THE ARTICLE

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

LISTENING

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT LIVE EARTH SURVEY

DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

WRITING:

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Live Earth rocks 2 billion worldwide

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