The Reading / Listening - Level 5

A teacher at a school in the USA has been allowed to keep her pink Hello Kitty Christmas tree in her classroom. The teacher, Catherine Gordon, was ordered by the school principal Paul Butler to remove it from her classroom. Mr Butler decided it was an "inappropriate" Christmas decoration. He explained to ABC News that the tree did not fit with the way the school celebrated the different religious events happening at this time of the year. He said: "A concern was shared with me regarding an inconsistency with our balanced approach to holiday observances."

Ms Gordon said she didn’t think her tree was offensive. She said it had no religious symbols such as crosses or angels on it. Her story went viral on Facebook. Ms Gordon wrote that she thought society was becoming too worried about upsetting people. She said she thought her experience with her tree was "definitely a turning point in our society when everything offends everyone all the time". She added that: "It just sucks the joy out of everything." She told a newspaper that: "It just seems that in our quest to be tolerant of everything, we've become intolerant to everything."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Level 4 or  Level 6

Sources
  • http://abcnews.go.com/US/hs-teacher-told-remove-kitty-christmas-tree-classroom/story?id=35908832
  • http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/teacher-asked-to-remove-hello-kitty-christmas-tree-from-clas#.lmqaZqqK6
  • http://fox4kc.com/2015/12/22/after-forcing-teacher-to-remove-christmas-tree-school-backs-down/


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 Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.

A teacher at a school in the USA

a.

events

2.

the school

b.

has been allowed

3.

Christmas

c.

inconsistency

4.

the tree did

d.

principal

5.

different religious

e.

approach

6.

happening at this

f.

not fit

7.

regarding an

g.

time of the year

8.

our balanced

h.

decoration



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ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
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PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.

she didn’t think her

a.

symbols

2.

religious

b.

of everything

3.

Her story went

c.

tree was offensive

4.

worried about upsetting

d.

everything

5.

definitely a turning

e.

people

6.

everything offends everyone

f.

point in our society

7.

It just sucks the joy out

g.

viral on Facebook

8.

intolerant to

h.

all the time

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

A teacher at a school in the USA (1) ___________________ to keep her pink Hello Kitty Christmas tree in her classroom. The teacher, Catherine Gordon, (2) ___________________ the school principal Paul Butler to remove it from her classroom. Mr Butler (3) ___________________ an "inappropriate" Christmas decoration. He explained to ABC News (4) ___________________ did not fit with the way the school celebrated the different religious events happening (5) ___________________ the year. He said: "A concern was shared with me regarding an inconsistency with (6) ___________________ to holiday observances."

Ms Gordon said she didn’t think her (7) ___________________. She said it had no religious symbols (8) ___________________ or angels on it. Her story went viral on Facebook. Ms Gordon wrote that she thought society was becoming too worried about (9) ___________________. She said she thought her experience with her tree was "definitely (10) ___________________ in our society when everything offends everyone all the time". She added that: "It just sucks the joy (11) ___________________." She told a newspaper that: "It just seems that (12) ___________________ be tolerant of everything, we've become intolerant to everything."

CHRISTMAS TREES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Christmas trees 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.

 

 

 

 

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)

________________________________________________________

b)

________________________________________________________

c)

________________________________________________________

d)

________________________________________________________

e)

________________________________________________________

f)

________________________________________________________

g)

________________________________________________________

h)

________________________________________________________

 

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

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)

________________________________________________________

b)

________________________________________________________

c)

________________________________________________________

d)

________________________________________________________

e)

________________________________________________________

f)

________________________________________________________

g)

________________________________________________________

h)

________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

Write about Christmas trees for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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