Breaking News English

        

1. LADY GAGA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Lady Gaga. 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.

pop diva / born this way / youth / bravery / fame / change in culture / best days / autographs / initiatives / encourage / get more involved / anthem / contributed

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. EMPOWER YOUTH: How? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	How?	Problems with this?
empower youth
inspire bravery
increase tolerance
stamp out bullying
get involved
culture of love

4. YOUTH: Students A strongly believe (as Lady Gaga believes) youth are the answer to creating a braver world; Students B strongly believe otherwise.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. CHANGE: How do today’s youth most need to change? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Put the biggest changes at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

fashion getting involved in local community study habits respect for the aged

manners tolerance selflessness drinking

6. BULLYING: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘bullying’. 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.	Lady Gaga has recorded a new song about bullying.	T / F
b.	Lady Gaga has started an initiative to try and stop bullying.	T / F
c.	Lady Gaga says she wants to use her fame to change the world.	T / F
d.	The pop diva said her visit to Harvard was the very best of her life.	T / F
e.	Harvard was the first of many events for Lady Gaga’s foundation.	T / F
f.	Youth can get to Lady Gaga’s concerts on a special bus.	T / F
g.	Gaga’s new foundation is named after one of her big hits.	T / F
h.	Gaga has not yet given any money to her foundation.	T / F

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

1.	launched	a.	possibilities
2.	inspire	b.	acceptance
3.	tolerance	c.	chosen
4.	stamp out	d.	plans
5.	potential	e.	started
6.	event	f.	go with
7.	initiatives	g.	put an end to
8.	accompany	h.	stimulate
9.	adopted	i.	donated
10.	contributed	j.	occasion

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

1.	the goal of the foundation is	a.	photos
2.	stamp	b.	overnight
3.	make the world	c.	autographs
4.	not going to change	d.	to empower youth
5.	one of the best	e.	anthem
6.	She signed	f.	out bullying
7.	posed for	g.	more involved
8.	the first of a series	h.	days of my life
9.	encourage kids to get	i.	of initiatives
10.	adopted as an unofficial	j.	a better place

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Pop diva Lady Gaga (1) ____________ her Born This Way Foundation (BTWF) at Harvard University on February 29. She told reporters the goal of the foundation is to (2) ____________ youth, inspire bravery, increase tolerance of others and             (3) ____________ out bullying. The singer told her audience that she hoped to use her (4) ____________ to change the world for the better. She said: “If you have revolutionary                        (5) ____________, you must make the world a better place and use it….This is about transformative change in culture.” Gaga explained how (6) ____________ the foundation was to her, saying: “The culture of love is not going to change                    (7) ____________ but youth are the answer to creating a         (8) ____________, kinder world…This might be one of the best days of my life.”		important fame empower braver launched overnight potential stamp
Lady Gaga (9) ____________ at Harvard with her mother, and her friend Oprah Winfrey. She (10) ____________ autographs for students and (11) ____________ for photos. The Harvard event was the first of a series of initiatives for the foundation. The Born Brave Bus was at the university and will travel around America to (12) ____________ kids to get more involved in their communities. The bus will also accompany Lady Gaga's next concert tour in the U.S. Gaga hopes her foundation will also     (13) ____________ out to and help gay and lesbian youth. It is named after her global hit song “Born This Way” and has been (14) ____________ as an unofficial (15) ____________ for lesbians and gays. Lady Gaga has (16) ____________ $1.2 million of her own money to the BTWF.		encourage anthem adopted signed contributed arrived posed reach

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Pop diva Lady Gaga launched her Born This Way Foundation (BTWF) at Harvard University on February 29. She _______________________ of the foundation is to empower youth, inspire bravery, increase tolerance of others and _______________________. The singer told her audience that she hoped to use her fame to change the _______________________. She said: “If you have _______________________, you must make the world a better place and use it….This is about transformative change in culture.” Gaga explained how important the foundation was to her, saying: “The culture of love is not going _______________________ but youth are the answer to creating a braver, kinder world…This _______________________ best days of my life.”
Lady Gaga arrived at Harvard with her mother, and her friend Oprah Winfrey. She _______________________ for students and _______________________. The Harvard event was the first of a _______________________ for the foundation. The Born Brave Bus was at the university and will travel around America to _______________________ get more involved in their communities. The bus will also accompany Lady Gaga's next concert tour in the U.S. Gaga hopes her foundation will also _______________________ help gay and lesbian youth. It is named after her global hit song “Born This Way” and has been _______________________ anthem for lesbians and gays. Lady Gaga has contributed $1.2 million of her own money to the BTWF.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

gay

lesbian

• 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:

told bravery fame better answer best

signed posed more next reach own

LADY GAGA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Lady Gaga 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.

LADY GAGA 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 ‘bullying’?
c)	What do you think of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation?
d)	What do you think of Lady Gaga?
e)	How do you inspire bravery?
f)	What’s the best way to stamp out bullying?
g)	Do you think you have “revolutionary potential”?
h)	Do you think it’s possible for a pop star to create a “culture of love”?
i)	Do you think “youth are the answer to creating a braver, kinder world”?
j)	What was one of the best days of your life?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Would you like to have attended Lady Gaga’s event at Harvard?
c)	Why do you think Lady Gaga chose to launch her Born This Way Foundation at Harvard University?
d)	What can the foundation do to get kids more involved in their communities?
e)	In what way can the foundation reach out to and help gay and lesbian youth?
f)	What do you think of the name Born This Way Foundation?
g)	How good a role model is Lady Gaga to youth?
h)	What can you do to help today’s youth?
i)	How do the youth in your country need to change?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Lady Gaga?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Pop diva Lady Gaga launched her Born This Way Foundation (BTWF) at Harvard University on February 29. She told reporters the goal of the foundation is to       (1) ____ youth, inspire (2) ____, increase tolerance of others and stamp (3) ____ bullying. The singer told her audience that she hoped to use her fame to change the world for the (4) ____. She said: “If you have revolutionary potential, you must make the world a better place and use it….This is about transformative change    (5) ____ culture.” Gaga explained how important the foundation was to her, saying: “The culture of love is not going to change overnight but youth are the answer (6) ____ creating a braver, kinder world…This might be one of the best days of my life.”
Lady Gaga arrived at Harvard with her mother, and her friend Oprah Winfrey. She signed autographs for students and (7) ____ for photos. The Harvard event was the first of a series of initiatives for the foundation. The Born Brave Bus was at the university and will travel around America to encourage kids to get more (8) ____ in their communities. The bus will also (9) ____ Lady Gaga's next concert tour in the U.S. Gaga hopes her foundation will also reach (10) ____ to and help gay and lesbian youth. It is named (11) ____ her global hit song “Born This Way” and has been adopted as an unofficial (12) ____ for lesbians and gays. Lady Gaga has contributed $1.2 million of her own money to the BTWF.
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	power	(b)	powerful	(c)	powers	(d)	empower
2.	(a)	brave	(b)	brevity	(c)	bravery	(d)	bravely
3.	(a)	in	(b)	out	(c)	to	(d)	of
4.	(a)	better	(b)	well	(c)	nicely	(d)	fun
5.	(a)	up	(b)	of	(c)	in	(d)	by
6.	(a)	as	(b)	at	(c)	out	(d)	to
7.	(a)	pasted	(b)	posed	(c)	praised	(d)	parsed
8.	(a)	involved	(b)	revolved	(c)	evolved	(d)	solved
9.	(a)	play	(b)	accompany	(c)	form	(d)	rectify
10.	(a)	of	(b)	from	(c)	out	(d)	as
11.	(a)	after	(b)	before	(c)	later	(d)	earlier
12.	(a)	element	(b)	rafter	(c)	boundary	(d)	anthem

 
 

WRITING

Write about Lady Gaga 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 Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. LADY GAGA: Make a poster about Lady Gaga. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. BULLYING: Write a magazine article about bullying and how to stop it. Include imaginary interviews with a bully and someone who is bullied.
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 Lady Gaga. Ask her three questions about her work. Give her three pieces of advice on what to do next. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

T

d.

F

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	launched	a.	started
2.	inspire	b.	stimulate
3.	tolerance	c.	acceptance
4.	stamp out	d.	put an end to
5.	potential	e.	possibilities
6.	event	f.	occasion
7.	initiatives	g.	plans
8.	accompany	h.	go with
9.	adopted	i.	chosen
10.	contributed	j.	donated

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	the goal of the foundation is	a.	to empower youth
2.	stamp	b.	out bullying
3.	make the world	c.	a better place
4.	not going to change	d.	overnight
5.	one of the best	e.	days of my life
6.	She signed	f.	autographs
7.	posed for	g.	photos
8.	the first of a series	h.	of initiatives
9.	encourage kids to get	i.	more involved
10.	adopted as an unofficial	j.	anthem

GAP FILL:

Lady Gaga launches anti-bullying foundation

Pop diva Lady Gaga (1) launched her Born This Way Foundation (BTWF) at Harvard University on February 29. She told reporters the goal of the foundation is to (2) empower youth, inspire bravery, increase tolerance of others and (3) stamp out bullying. The singer told her audience that she hoped to use her (4) fame to change the world for the better. She said: “If you have revolutionary (5) potential, you must make the world a better place and use it….This is about transformative change in culture.” Gaga explained how (6) important the foundation was to her, saying: “The culture of love is not going to change (7) overnight but youth are the answer to creating a (8) braver, kinder world…This might be one of the best days of my life.”
Lady Gaga (9) arrived at Harvard with her mother, and her friend Oprah Winfrey. She (10) signed autographs for students and (11) posed for photos. The Harvard event was the first of a series of initiatives for the foundation. The Born Brave Bus was at the university and will travel around America to (12) encourage kids to get more involved in their communities. The bus will also accompany Lady Gaga's next concert tour in the U.S. Gaga hopes her foundation will also (13) reach out to and help gay and lesbian youth. It is named after her global hit song “Born This Way” and has been (14) adopted as an unofficial (15) anthem for lesbians and gays. Lady Gaga has (16) contributed $1.2 million of her own money to the BTWF.
LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

Back to the top