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European leaders rap to win votes (13th April, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

European leaders tried a new way to win votes. They used rap to get young people to vote for them. More and more young people are losing interest in elections. The number of young people who vote has gone down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the last election, it was just 65 per cent. Younger politicians made a group called EU40. They said rap would get their message across to young Europeans. They took part in "a freestyle hip-hop battle" on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The aim is getting young voters interested in European politics and thus increasing young people's votes at the upcoming elections."

The European elections are in May. Europeans must choose 751 new politicians. The BBC reported on how the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were given the microphone for a minute to try and drum up some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party tried to appeal to the young crowd by saying, 'If you like money, vote for the EPP'. And then the battle commenced." The politicians made short raps about many topics. The topics that were most popular were youth unemployment and immigration. Each rapper told the audience what they would do about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the usual long speeches.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.unric.org/en/latest-un-buzz/29149-battle-for-the-youth-vote
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-eu-26978726
http://www.eu40.eu/freestyle-hip-hop-battle-your-vote/

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. POLITICIANS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about politicians. Change partners often 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.

leaders / win votes / elections / losing interest / message / freestyle / battle / hip-hop / politicians / microphone / drum / conservative / topics / unemployment / problems

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

3. RAP: Who could use rap? Would it be more interesting? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Good points	Bad points
English teacher
TV newscaster
Tour guide
Flight attendant
Supermarket cashier
A country's leader

4. RAPPING POLITICIAN: Students A strongly believe rapping politicians are a bad idea; Students B strongly believe it's a great idea. 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. ELECTIONS: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important issues at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• tax

• jobs

• education

• defence

• health

• environment

• immigration

• policing

6. VOTE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "vote". 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.	European politicians are trying to be more popular by rapping.	T / F
b.	The percentage of young Europeans voting is increasing.	T / F
c.	A group of European politicians formed a rap group called EU40.	T / F
d.	The politicians took part in a freestyle hip-hop battle.	T / F
e.	Europeans will choose 75 new politicians in May's elections.	T / F
f.	The rapping politicians had two minutes each at the microphone.	T / F
g.	The most popular topics at the rap contest were education and health.	T / F
h.	Politicians rapped their solutions to political and economic problems.	T / F

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

1.	way	a.	formed
2.	gone down	b.	attract
3.	made	c.	method
4.	took part	d.	goal
5.	aim	e.	decide on
6.	choose	f.	get
7.	drum up	g.	participated
8.	appeal to	h.	started
9.	commenced	i.	listeners
10.	audience	j.	decreased

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

1.	European leaders tried a new	a.	pre-election support
2.	They used rap to	b.	elections
3.	get their message	c.	unemployment
4.	They took part in a freestyle	d.	get young people to vote
5.	at the upcoming	e.	751 new politicians
6.	Europeans must choose	f.	hip-hop battle
7.	given the microphone	g.	way to win votes
8.	drum up some	h.	speeches
9.	youth	i.	across
10.	long	j.	for a minute

GAP FILL

European leaders tried a new (1) ____________ to win votes. They used rap to get young people to vote for them. More and more young people are losing (2) ____________ in elections. The number of young people who vote has gone down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the (3) ____________ election, it was just 65 per cent. Younger politicians made a group called EU40. They said rap would get their (4) ____________ across to young Europeans. They took part in "a (5) ____________ hip-hop battle" on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The (6) ____________ is getting young voters interested in European (7) ____________ and thus increasing young people's votes at the (8) ____________ elections."

freestyle
politics
last
way
upcoming
aim
interest
message

The European elections are in May. Europeans must (9) ____________ 751 new politicians. The BBC reported on how the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were given the (10) ____________ for a minute to try and (11) ____________ up some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party tried to (12) ____________ to the young crowd by saying, 'If you like money, (13) ____________ for the EPP'. And then the battle commenced." The politicians made short raps about many (14) ____________. The topics that were most popular were youth unemployment and (15) ____________. Each rapper told the (16) ____________ what they would do about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the usual long speeches.

topics
appeal
microphone
audience
choose
drum
immigration
vote

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	European leaders tried a new way ______
	a. to winning votes b. to win boats c. to wink votes d. to win votes
2)	More and more young people are losing ______
	a. interesting elections b. interest in elections c. interested in elections d. interest into elections
3)	The number was 87 per cent but in ______
	a. the last election b. the last elation c. the last elections d. the last re-election
4)	They said rap would get their ______
	a. message a cross b. massage across c. massage a cross d. message across
5)	The aim is getting young voters interested ______
	a. in European politicians b. in European politicos c. in European politics d. in European political
6)	Europeans must choose 751 ______
	a. new politics b. new politician c. new politics shuns d. new politicians
7)	given the microphone for a minute to try and drum up some ______
	a. pre-election supports b. pre-election support c. pre-election supportive d. pre-election supporter
8)	The conservative European People's Party tried to appeal to ______
	a. the young cloud b. the young crowd c. the young crown d. the young clown
9)	The politicians made short raps ______
	a. about many tropics b. about many top picks c. about many two pics d. about many topics
10)	They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the ______
	a. usually long speeches b. usual long speeches c. unusual long speeches d. usual long speech is

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

European leaders tried (1) ___________________ votes. They used rap to get young people to vote for them. More and more young people are losing (2) ___________________. The number of young people who vote has gone down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the last election, it (3) ___________________. Younger politicians made a group called EU40. They said rap would get (4) ___________________ to young Europeans. They took part in "a (5) ___________________ " on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The aim is getting young voters interested in European politics and thus increasing young people's votes (6) ___________________."

The European elections are in May. Europeans (7) ___________________ new politicians. The BBC reported on how the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were (8) ___________________ for a minute to (9) ___________________ some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party (10) ___________________ the young crowd by saying, 'If you like money, vote for the EPP'. And then the battle commenced." The politicians made short raps about many topics. The topics that were most popular (11) ___________________ and immigration. Each rapper told the audience what they would do about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of (12) ___________________.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What are young Europeans losing interest in?
2.	What was the percentage of young people who voted 10 years ago?
3.	What's the name of the rap group the politicians made?
4.	To whom did politicians want to get their message across?
5.	What was the name of the rap contest?
6.	What does the number 751 refer to?
7.	For how long could each politician speak at the microphone?
8.	What did the EPP ask young people if they liked?
9.	What topics were most popular?
10.	What did the politicians rap about?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What are young Europeans losing interest in?	6.	What does the number 751 refer to?
	a) wine b) the EU c) elections d) TV		a) the number of raps b) the number of new politicians c) the year rap first started d) the height of Europe's Parliament
2.	What was the percentage of young people who voted 10 years ago?	7.	For how long could each politician speak at the microphone?
	a) 87 b) 78 c) 56 d) 65		a) one hour b) 29 minutes and 59 seconds c) five minutes d) 60 seconds
3.	What's the name of the rap group the politicians made?	8.	What did the EPP ask young people if they liked?
	a) U40E b) 40EU c) E40U d) EU40		a) Europe b) money c) politics d) elections
4.	To whom did politicians want to get their message across?	9.	What topics were most popular?
	a) Angela Merkel b) young people c) world leaders d) other politicians		a) immigration and unemployment b) health and education c) defence and military d) environment and energy
5.	What was the name of the rap contest?	10.	What did the politicians rap about?
	a) Battle Of The Bands b) Hip-Hop Euro Battle c) Battle For Your Vote d) Yo! The Politicians, Bro		a) young people b) love c) football, beer and movies d) solutions to problems

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Tax

You think tax is the most important topic in an election. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so important with their topics. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): jobs, the environment or healthcare.

Role B – Jobs

You think creating jobs the most important topic in an election. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so important with their topics. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): tax, the environment or healthcare.

Role C – Environment

You think the environment is the most important topic in an election. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so important with their topics. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): jobs, tax or healthcare.

Role D – Healthcare

You think healthcare is the most important topic in an election. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are not so important with their topics. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): jobs, the environment or tax.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

hip

hop

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:

way
losing
last
took
called
upcoming

751
minute
drum
crowd
youth
short

RAP SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about rap 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.

RAP 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 'rap'?
c)	What do you think of rap?
d)	Is rap a kind of music or something different?
e)	Why don't old people like rap?
f)	Is it a good idea for politicians to use rap?
g)	Would you vote for a rapping politician?
h)	Should politicians make speeches and leave raps to rappers?
i)	Do you think the raps will make more young people vote?
j)	Do you think anyone can rap?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	Is rapping singing?
c)	What do you think of the idea of a rap battle?
d)	Is a minute too short or too long for a politician's speech?
e)	Would you vote for the party that asks if you like money?
f)	What topics are most important in elections?
g)	Is rap a good way to learn English?
h)	Would a country's leader be more popular if they rapped?
i)	Would you be a good rapper?
j)	What questions would you like to ask a rapping politician?

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

European leaders tried a new way to win votes. They (1) ____ rap to get young people to vote for them. More and more young people are losing interest in elections. The (2) ____ of young people who vote has gone down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the (3) ____ election, it was just 65 per cent. Younger politicians made a group called EU40. They said rap would get their message (4) ____ to young Europeans. They took part in "a freestyle hip-hop battle" on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The (5) ____ is getting young voters interested in European politics and thus increasing young people's votes at the (6) ____ elections."

The European elections are in May. Europeans must (7) ____ 751 new politicians. The BBC reported on how the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were (8) ____ the microphone for a minute to try and drum up some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party tried to (9) ____ to the young crowd by saying, 'If you like money, vote (10) ____ the EPP'. And then the battle commenced." The politicians made short raps about many topics. The topics that were most popular were (11) ____ unemployment and immigration. Each rapper told the audience what they would do about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the (12) ____ long speeches.

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

1.	(a)	used	(b)	uses	(c)	user	(d)	using
2.	(a)	numeral	(b)	numerical	(c)	number	(d)	digit
3.	(a)	fast	(b)	first	(c)	last	(d)	lost
4.	(a)	crossed	(b)	crossly	(c)	cross	(d)	across
5.	(a)	aim	(b)	game	(c)	name	(d)	same
6.	(a)	ongoing	(b)	upcoming	(c)	outgoing	(d)	incoming
7.	(a)	chosen	(b)	chose	(c)	choice	(d)	choose
8.	(a)	gave	(b)	given	(c)	give	(d)	gives
9.	(a)	peel	(b)	repeal	(c)	appeal	(d)	appear
10.	(a)	of	(b)	far	(c)	from	(d)	for
11.	(a)	young	(b)	adolescent	(c)	teenage	(d)	youth
12.	(a)	usually	(b)	usual	(c)	used	(d)	unusually

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	young people are losing ttiresne in elections
2.	Younger opicianitsl
3.	get their megsesa across
4.	a tfesereyl hip-hop battle
5.	interested in European copsilti
6.	the cnimogup elections
Paragraph 2
7.	Europeans must ecosoh 751
8.	drum up some pre-election upprtso
9.	The topics that were most luprapo
10.	youth tuyennlepmmo and immigration
11.	They used short, rhyming setscenne instead
12.	the usual long sphcseee

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	commenced." The politicians made short raps about many topics. The topics that were most
( )	a group called EU40. They said rap would get their message across to young Europeans. They took
( )	in European politics and thus increasing young people's votes at the upcoming elections."
( )	part in "a freestyle hip-hop battle" on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was
( )	called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The aim is getting young voters interested
( )	The European elections are in May. Europeans must choose 751 new politicians. The BBC reported
( 1 )	European leaders tried a new way to win votes. They used rap to get young people to vote for them. More and
( )	about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the usual long speeches.
( )	on how the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were given the
( )	down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the last election, it was just 65 per cent. Younger politicians made
( )	to appeal to the young crowd by saying, 'If you like money, vote for the EPP'. And then the battle
( )	microphone for a minute to try and drum up some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party tried
( )	popular were youth unemployment and immigration. Each rapper told the audience what they would do
( )	more young people are losing interest in elections. The number of young people who vote has gone

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	leaders new win European a to tried way votes.
2.	young in people elections are losing More interest.
3.	who vote has gone down The number of young people.
4.	would get They their said message rap across.
5.	young getting is aim The interested voters.
6.	choose new must 751 politicians Europeans.
7.	drum and A to minute . up support some try
8.	made topics short raps The about politicians many.
9.	do rapper audience would Each the they told what.
10.	usual sentences long instead speeches of the Rhyming.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

European leaders tried a new why / way to win votes. They used rap to get young people to vote for it / them. More and more young people are losing interest on / in elections. The number of young people who vote has going / gone down in the past ten years. The number was 87 per cent but in the last election, it was just / justly 65 per cent. Younger politicians made a group called EU40. They said rap would get their message / massage across to young Europeans. They took / taken part in "a freestyle hip-hop battle" on April the 9th in the European Parliament. It was name / called the "Battle For Your Vote". The organizers said: "The aim / aims is getting young voters interested in European politics and thus / this increasing young people's votes at the upcoming elections."

The European elections are in May. Europeans must choose / choice 751 new politicians. The BBC reported on how / now the battle started. It wrote: "MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] were given / gave the microphone for a minute to try and bass / drum up some pre-election support. The conservative European People's Party tried to appear / appeal to the young crowd by / with saying, 'If you like money, vote for the EPP'. And then the battle commenced / commanded." The politicians made short raps about many tropics / topics. The topics that were most popular were youth unemployment and immigration. Each rapper / rapture told the audience what they would do about these problems. They used short, rhyming sentences instead of the usual long / length speeches.

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)

__r_p__n l__d_rs tr__d _ n_w w_y t_ w_n v_t_s. Th_y _s_d r_p t_ g_t y__ng p__pl_ t_ v_t_ f_r th_m. M_r_ _nd m_r_ y__ng p__pl_ _r_ l_s_ng _nt_r_st _n _l_ct__ns. Th_ n_mb_r _f y__ng p__pl_ wh_ v_t_ h_s g_n_ d_wn _n th_ p_st t_n y__rs. Th_ n_mb_r w_s 87 p_r c_nt b_t _n th_ l_st _l_ct__n, _t w_s j_st 65 p_r c_nt. Y__ng_r p_l_t_c__ns m_d_ _ gr__p c_ll_d __40. Th_y s__d r_p w__ld g_t th__r m_ss_g_ _cr_ss t_ y__ng __r_p__ns. Th_y t__k p_rt _n "_ fr__styl_ h_p-h_p b_ttl_" _n _pr_l th_ 9th _n th_ __r_p__n P_rl__m_nt. _t w_s c_ll_d th_ "B_ttl_ F_r Y__r V_t_". Th_ _rg_n_z_rs s__d: "Th_ __m _s g_tt_ng y__ng v_t_rs _nt_r_st_d _n __r_p__n p_l_t_cs _nd th_s _ncr__s_ng y__ng p__pl_'s v_t_s _t th_ _pc_m_ng _l_ct__ns."

Th_ __r_p__n _l_ct__ns _r_ _n M_y. __r_p__ns m_st ch__s_ 751 n_w p_l_t_c__ns. Th_ BBC r_p_rt_d _n h_w th_ b_ttl_ st_rt_d. _t wr_t_: "M_Ps [M_mb_rs _f th_ __r_p__n P_rl__m_nt] w_r_ g_v_n th_ m_cr_ph_n_ f_r _ m_n_t_ t_ try _nd dr_m _p s_m_ pr_-_l_ct__n s_pp_rt. Th_ c_ns_rv_t_v_ __r_p__n P__pl_'s P_rty tr__d t_ _pp__l t_ th_ y__ng cr_wd by s_y_ng, '_f y__ l_k_ m_n_y, v_t_ f_r th_ _PP'. _nd th_n th_ b_ttl_ c_mm_nc_d." Th_ p_l_t_c__ns m_d_ sh_rt r_ps _b__t m_ny t_p_cs. Th_ t_p_cs th_t w_r_ m_st p_p_l_r w_r_ y__th _n_mpl_ym_nt _nd _mm_gr_t__n. __ch r_pp_r t_ld th_ __d__nc_ wh_t th_y w__ld d_ _b__t th_s_ pr_bl_ms. Th_y _s_d sh_rt, rhym_ng s_nt_nc_s _nst__d _f th_ _s__l l_ng sp__ch_s.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

european leaders tried a new way to win votes they used rap to get young people to vote for them more and more young people are losing interest in elections the number of young people who vote has gone down in the past ten years the number was 87 per cent but in the last election it was just 65 per cent younger politicians made a group called eu40 they said rap would get their message across to young europeans they took part in "a freestyle hip-hop battle" on april the 9th in the european parliament it was called the "battle for your vote" the organizers said "the aim is getting young voters interested in european politics and thus increasing young people's votes at the upcoming elections"

the european elections are in may europeans must choose 751 new politicians the bbc reported on how the battle started it wrote "meps [members of the european parliament] were given the microphone for a minute to try and drum up some pre-election support the conservative european people's party tried to appeal to the young crowd by saying 'if you like money vote for the epp' and then the battle commenced" the politicians made short raps about many topics the topics that were most popular were youth unemployment and immigration each rapper told the audience what they would do about these problems they used short rhyming sentences instead of the usual long speeches

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Europeanleaderstriedanewwaytowinvotes.Theyusedraptogetyou
ngpeopletovoteforthem.Moreandmoreyoungpeoplearelosinginter
estinelections.Thenumberofyoungpeoplewhovotehasgonedownin
thepasttenyears.Thenumberwas87percentbutinthelastelection,it
wasjust65percent.YoungerpoliticiansmadeagroupcalledEU40.Th
eysaidrapwouldgettheirmessageacrosstoyoungEuropeans.Theyt
ookpartin"afreestylehip-hopbattle"onAprilthe9thintheEuropea
nParliament.Itwascalledthe"BattleForYourVote".Theorganizerssa
id:"TheaimisgettingyoungvotersinterestedinEuropeanpoliticsand
thusincreasingyoungpeople'svotesattheupcomingelections."The
EuropeanelectionsareinMay.Europeansmustchoose751newpolitic
ians.TheBBCreportedonhowthebattlestarted.Itwrote:"MEPs[Mem
bersoftheEuropeanParliament]weregiventhemicrophoneforamin
utetotryanddrumupsomepre-electionsupport.TheconservativeE
uropeanPeople'sPartytriedtoappealtotheyoungcrowdbysaying,'If
youlikemoney,votefortheEPP'.Andthenthebattlecommenced."Th
epoliticiansmadeshortrapsaboutmanytopics.Thetopicsthatwerem
ostpopularwereyouthunemploymentandimmigration.Eachrapper
toldtheaudiencewhattheywoulddoabouttheseproblems.Theyused
short,rhymingsentencesinsteadoftheusuallongspeeches.

FREE WRITING

Write about rap for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

1. Politicians should rap so more young people will like them. Discuss.

2. Rap is not music. It is a different art form. 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 the "Battle For Your Vote" that happened on April 9th. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RAP: Make a poster about rap. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. RAP POLITICIANS: Write a magazine article about rap politicians. 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 rap. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on rap. 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

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

T

d

T

e

F

f

F

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	way	a.	method
2.	gone down	b.	decreased
3.	made	c.	formed
4.	took part	d.	participated
5.	aim	e.	goal
6.	choose	f.	decide on
7.	drum up	g.	get
8.	appeal to	h.	attract
9.	commenced	i.	started
10.	audience	j.	listeners

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Elections
2.	87
3.	EU40
4.	Young people
5.	Battle For Your Vote
6.	How many new politicians there'll be
7.	One minute
8.	Money
9.	Unemployment and immigration
10.	How they would solve problems

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

d

4.

b

5.

c

6.

d

7.

b

8.

d

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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European leaders rap to win votes (13th April, 2014)

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