Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Media

US President Barack Obama has changed many things since he took office. The latest is the end of an 18-year ban on media coverage of returning American war dead. Since 1991, no American news network has been allowed to televise coffins of US military personnel returning from foreign wars. George Bush senior imposed the ban in 1991 during the first Gulf War. He said he wanted to protect families from the grief of seeing their loved ones return in coffins. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the policy. President Obama made it an election promise to overturn the ban. He said it was for families to choose whether or not to allow the media to film the return of their fallen heroes.

News cameras were present at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday April 5th for the arrival of the remains of Phillip Myers. The 30-year-old airman was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday by a roadside bomb. Eight colleagues carried the flag-draped coffin past seven of Mr. Myers’ family. Nearly 40 members of the press were present at the ceremony. Their cameras remained silent as prayers were said and there was no flash photography. The Pentagon says that 4,262 members of America’s military have died in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003. Another 673 have been killed in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said the ban had allowed coffins to be "snuck back into the country" to hide the cost of the war on terror.

WARM-UPS

1. THE MEDIA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the media. 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.

President Obama / war dead / foreign wars / grief / loved ones / election promises / news cameras / flash photography / invasions / America’s military / hiding the truth

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

3. NEWS: What should and shouldn’t be allowed on the news? Complete the table. Talk about what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you found out.

News	Allowed or not?	Why?
Dead bodies
Killing
Nudity
Air crashes
Faces of criminals
Starving children

4. MEDIA COVERAGE: Students A strongly believe there should be no limits to what is shown on TV news; Students B strongly believe there should be censorship of TV news. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. OBAMA CHANGES: Rank these things according to which is most vital to change. Share your ranking with your partner(s).

_____ Climate change

_____ US relations with other countries

_____ The war in Afghanistan

_____ Nuclear Weapons

_____ Guantanamo Bay

_____ Gun control

_____ Immigration

_____ Healthcare

6. MILITARY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘military’. 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.	Barack Obama took many things to his office.	T / F
b.	TV cameras have not filmed America’s returning war dead since 1991.	T / F
c.	Bill Clinton changed the ban that George W. Bush put in place.	T / F
d.	Families can now decide to allow cameras to film returning coffins.	T / F
e.	Cameras were present for the return of 30 airmen killed in action.	T / F
f.	Almost 40 journalists attended the return of a fallen American hero.	T / F
g.	The media took no photos of Phillip Myers’ coffin.	T / F
h.	Joe Biden said the ban was to hide the truth about America’s war dead.	T / F

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

1.	latest	a.	reverse
2	coverage	b.	attack
3.	imposed	c.	in attendance
4.	grief	d.	sorrow
5.	overturn	e.	reporting
6.	present	f.	dead body
7.	remains	g.	most recent
8.	remained	h.	conceal
9.	invasion	i.	introduced
10.	hide	j.	stayed

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

1.	changed many things since he took	a.	foreign wars
2	US military personnel returning from	b.	were present
3.	the grief of seeing their loved ones	c.	heroes
4.	Obama made it an election promise	d.	the invasion
5.	the return of their fallen	e.	return in coffins
6.	News cameras	f.	of the war on terror
7.	killed in Afghanistan on Saturday	g.	prayers were said
8.	Their cameras remained silent as	h.	office
9.	died in Iraq since	i.	to overturn the ban
10.	hide the cost	j.	by a roadside bomb

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

US President Barack Obama has changed many things since he __________ office. The latest is the end of an 18-year ban on media __________ of returning American war dead. Since 1991, no American news network has been allowed to __________ coffins of US military personnel returning from foreign wars. George Bush senior imposed the ban in 1991 __________ the first Gulf War. He said he wanted to protect families from the grief of __________ their loved ones return in coffins. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the __________. President Obama made it an election promise to overturn the ban. He said it was for families to choose __________ or not to allow the media to film the return of their fallen __________.

seeing
whether
coverage
during
heroes
took
policy
televise

News cameras were __________ at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday April 5th for the arrival of the __________ of Phillip Myers. The 30-year-old airman was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday by a roadside __________. Eight colleagues carried the flag-draped coffin past seven of Mr. Myers’ family. Nearly 40 members of the __________ were present at the ceremony. Their cameras remained silent as prayers were said and there was no __________ photography. The Pentagon says that 4,262 members of America’s military have died in Iraq since the __________ in March 2003. Another 673 have been killed in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said the ban had allowed __________ to be "snuck back into the country" to __________ the cost of the war on terror.

invasion
bomb
flash
present
hide
remains
coffins
press

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the spaces.

US President Barack Obama has changed many things ________________ office. The latest ________________ an 18-year ban on media coverage of returning American war dead. Since 1991, no American news network has been allowed to televise coffins of US military personnel returning from foreign wars. George Bush senior ________________ in 1991 during the first Gulf War. He said he wanted to protect families from the grief of seeing ________________ return in coffins. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the policy. President Obama made it an election promise ________________ ban. He said it was for families to choose whether or not to allow the media to film the return of ___________________.

News cameras ________________ Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday April 5th for the arrival of the remains of Phillip Myers. The 30-year-old airman was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday ________________ bomb. Eight colleagues carried the flag-draped coffin past seven of Mr. Myers’ family. Nearly 40 members ________________ present at the ceremony. Their cameras remained silent as prayers were said and there was no flash photography. The Pentagon says that 4,262 members of America’s military have died in Iraq ___________________ in March 2003. Another 673 have been killed in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said the ban had allowed coffins ________________ back into the country" to ________________ the war on terror.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

news

network

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:

office
televise
imposed
grief
promise
heroes

arrival
colleagues
ceremony
flash
members
hide

STUDENT MEDIA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about the media 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.

MEDIA 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 ‘media’?
c)	What do you think of U.S. President Obama?
d)	What do you think of the changes President Obama has made?
e)	Do you agree with the ending of the media ban in the article?
f)	What impact does it have on people when they see their soldiers returning from wars in coffins?
g)	Do you think there should be special ceremonies to receive fallen heroes?
h)	Are military personnel in your country thought of as heroes?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think people have a right to see coffins returning from wars?
c)	Do you think televising returning coffins will make people anti-war?
d)	Should there be special rules that control how the media film events?
e)	What do you think of the war in Afghanistan?
f)	Do you agree with what Joe Biden said in the article?
g)	What is the cost of the war on terror?
h)	What questions would you ask Barack Obama?

LANGUAGE

US President Barack Obama has (1) ____ many things since he took office. The latest is the end of an 18-year ban on media (2) ____ of returning American war dead. Since 1991, no American news network has been allowed to televise coffins of US military (3) ____ returning from foreign wars. George Bush senior imposed the ban in 1991 during the first Gulf War. He said he wanted to protect families from the grief (4) ____ seeing their loved ones return in coffins. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the policy. President Obama made (5) ____ an election promise to overturn the ban. He said it was for families to choose whether or not to allow the media to film the return of their (6) ____ heroes.

News cameras were present at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday April 5th for the (7) ____ of the remains of Phillip Myers. The 30-year-old airman was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday (8) ____ a roadside bomb. Eight colleagues carried the flag-draped coffin (9) ____ seven of Mr. Myers’ family. Nearly 40 members of the press were present at the ceremony. Their cameras remained silent as prayers were (10) ____ and there was no flash photography. The Pentagon says that 4,262 members of America’s military have died in Iraq since (11) ____ invasion in March 2003. Another 673 have been killed in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said the ban had allowed coffins to be "snuck back into the country" to (12) ____ the cost of the war on terror.

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

1.	(a)	changing	(b)	changes	(c)	change	(d)	changed
2.	(a)	covers	(b)	coverage	(c)	covered	(d)	covering
3.	(a)	personnel	(b)	person	(c)	personality	(d)	personal
4.	(a)	to	(b)	at	(c)	of	(d)	for
5.	(a)	them	(b)	him	(c)	it	(d)	we
6.	(a)	fell	(b)	fallen	(c)	falling	(d)	fall
7.	(a)	arrival	(b)	arrived	(c)	arrive	(d)	arrives
8.	(a)	at	(b)	to	(c)	of	(d)	by
9.	(a)	parsed	(b)	past	(c)	passed	(d)	psst
10.	(a)	told	(b)	spoke	(c)	voiced	(d)	said
11.	(a)	a	(b)	one	(c)	the	(d)	this
12.	(a)	hide	(b)	hid	(c)	hidden	(d)	hides

WRITING:

Write about the media 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 Barack Obama’s changes. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MEDIA: Make a poster about different news channels. How are they similar and different? Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. OBAMA: Write a magazine article about Barack Obama. Include imaginary interviews with him and someone who disagrees with his policies.

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 a news network chief. Ask him/her three questions about his/her news network. Give him/her three ideas on what he/she could do to bring us better news. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	latest	a.	most recent
2	coverage	b.	reporting
3.	imposed	c.	introduced
4.	grief	d.	sorrow
5.	overturn	e.	reverse
6.	present	f.	in attendance
7.	remains	g.	dead body
8.	remained	h.	stayed
9.	invasion	i.	attack
10.	hide	j.	conceal

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	changed many things since he took	a.	office
2	US military personnel returning from	b.	foreign wars
3.	the grief of seeing their loved ones	c.	return in coffins
4.	Obama made it an election promise	d.	to overturn the ban
5.	the return of their fallen	e.	heroes
6.	News cameras	f.	were present
7.	killed in Afghanistan on Saturday	g.	by a roadside bomb
8.	Their cameras remained silent as	h.	prayers were said
9.	died in Iraq since	i.	the invasion
10.	hide the cost	j.	of the war on terror

GAP FILL:

Media show war dead after 18-year ban

US President Barack Obama has changed many things since he took office. The latest is the end of an 18-year ban on media coverage of returning American war dead. Since 1991, no American news network has been allowed to televise coffins of US military personnel returning from foreign wars. George Bush senior imposed the ban in 1991 during the first Gulf War. He said he wanted to protect families from the grief of seeing their loved ones return in coffins. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the policy. President Obama made it an election promise to overturn the ban. He said it was for families to choose whether or not to allow the media to film the return of their fallen heroes.

News cameras were present at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday April 5th for the arrival of the remains of Phillip Myers. The 30-year-old airman was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday by a roadside bomb. Eight colleagues carried the flag-draped coffin past seven of Mr. Myers’ family. Nearly 40 members of the press were present at the ceremony. Their cameras remained silent as prayers were said and there was no flash photography. The Pentagon says that 4,262 members of America’s military have died in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003. Another 673 have been killed in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said the ban had allowed coffins to be "snuck back into the country" to hide the cost of the war on terror.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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Breaking News English

April 7, 2009

Media Show War Dead After 18-Year Ban