Breaking News English Lesson: Flight Simulator

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Microsoft Flight Simulator includes all world airports (29th February, 2020)

The Reading / Listening - Flight Simulator - Level 3

The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has been upgraded to include every airport in the world. This means gamers will have a choice of over 37,000 airports to take off from and land at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the previous version of the game, which included 24,000 airports. The game includes international hubs like New York's JFK and London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy landing strips and runways that are in the middle of deserts or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been manually designed to look like the real airports. Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps to do this.

The graphics are also much better in the latest release of Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot of work and effort into increasing the level of detail you see. Gamers will see windsocks blowing in the wind and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways. The markings on the runways in the game are the same as those on the real runways. Lead game designer Sven Mestas said: "To reach a new level, we needed a new approach. We decided to innovate by editing airports from real satellite pictures. This technique involves editing each airport manually. This means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step closer to reality."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Flight Simulator - Level 0, Flight Simulator - Level 1 or Flight Simulator - Level 2

Sources

https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-contains-every-airport-in-the-world/
https://www.ladbible.com/technology/gaming-microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-will-feature-every-airport-on-earth-20200221
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/02/21/asobo-studio-manually-edited-37000-airports-for-microsoft-flight-simulator/

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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. FLIGHT SIMULATORS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about flight simulators. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
airplane / game / flight / simulator / choice / airports / international / runway / desert
designer / detail / wind / vehicles / level / approach / innovate / satellite / reality
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. FLYING: Students A strongly believe flying is the best way to travel; Students B strongly believe it isn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. AIRPORTS: How could these things be improved? Why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Improvements	Why?
Runways
Check-in
Shopping
Immigration
Information
Facilities

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. GAME: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "game". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. SIMULATORS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best simulator games at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Flying a plane
Racing an F1 car
Walking on the moon
Being US President
Scuba diving
War games
Being Harry Potter
Being an eagle

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	upgraded	a.	The one before.
2.	choice	b.	The action of an airplane, helicopter or rocket moving from the ground into the air.
3.	take off	c.	An act of selecting something when you have to decide which one or which ones you want.
4.	land	d.	By hand rather than automatically.
5.	previous	e.	Increasing the level of something by making it better or by adding to it.
6.	hub	f.	The action of an airplane, helicopter or rocket moving from the air onto the ground.
7.	manually	g.	A central airport or other transport facility from which many services operate.

Paragraph 2

8.	detail	h.	Cars, buses, trucks, etc.
9.	vehicles	i.	Make changes in something, especially by introducing new methods and ideas.
10.	runway	j.	The world or life as it actually is.
11.	approach	k.	The thin strip of land at airports that airplanes use to leave and arrive.
12.	innovate	l.	The action of taking special care of someone or something.
13.	attention	m.	A way of doing something.
14.	reality	n.	Exactness.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

Gamers will be able to simulate landing at more than 37,000 airports. T / F
Microsoft has more than doubled the number of airports in the game. T / F
The new game does not include landing strips or desert runways. T / F
Designers used Google Maps to create the graphics for the airports. T / F
Designers want to add windsocks in a future version of the game. T / F
The game's runway markings are the same as in real-life runways. T / F
A designer said each airport in the game was edited manually. T / F
A designer said airports in the game are exactly the same as in reality. T / F

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

upgraded
choice
previous
manually
images
latest
detail
lead
technique
step

stage
done by hand
most recent
selection
top
improved
method
earlier
exactness
pictures

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

upgraded to include every
over 37,000 airports to take
added over 13,000 new airports
tiny airports like rural, grassy
manually designed to look
The graphics are also much better
windsocks blowing
We decided to innovate by
we paid particular
bring every airport a step

editing airports
landing strips
in the latest release
like the real airports
attention to detail
off from
closer to reality
airport in the world
in the wind
to the previous version

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

choice
strips
manually
hubs
upgraded
satellite
version
deserts

The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has been (1) ____________ to include every airport in the world. This means gamers will have a (2) ____________ of over 37,000 airports to take off from and land at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the previous (3) ____________ of the game, which included 24,000 airports. The game includes international (4) ____________ like New York's JFK and London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy landing (5) ____________ and runways that are in the middle of (6) ____________ or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been (7) ____________ designed to look like the real airports. Designers used (8) ____________ images and Bing Maps to do this.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

blowing
level
reality
release
those
manually
detail
innovate

The graphics are also much better in the latest (9) ____________ of Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot of work and effort into increasing the level of (10) ____________ you see. Gamers will see windsocks (11) ____________ in the wind and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways. The markings on the runways in the game are the same as (12) ____________ on the real runways. Lead game designer Sven Mestas said: "To reach a new (13) ____________, we needed a new approach. We decided to (14) ____________ by editing airports from real satellite pictures. This technique involves editing each airport (15) ____________. This means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step closer to (16) ____________."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has ______
     a. bin upgraded
     b. been upgraded
     c. being upgraded
     d. be upgraded
2) have a choice of over 37,000 airports to take off from ______
     a. and land at
     b. and laud at
     c. and lard at
     d. and loud at
3) which included 24,000 airports. The game includes ______
     a. international shrubs
     b. international huts
     c. international nubs
     d. international hubs
4) It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy ______
     a. landing straps
     b. landing strips
     c. landing stripes
     d. landing slips
5) Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps ______
     a. to doing this
     b. to do these
     c. to do this
     d. to do them

6) The graphics are also much better in ______
     a. the lay tryst release
     b. the lay test release
     c. the late test release
     d. the latest release
7) The designers put a lot of work and effort into increasing the level of ______
     a. detail you sees
     b. detail you see
     c. detail you seen
     d. detail you seer
8) To reach a new level, we needed ______
     a. anew approach
     b. a newer approach
     c. a new approach
     d. a new a app roach
9) This technique involves editing each ______
     a. airport man knew all Lee
     b. airport man new ally
     c. airport manual Lee
     d. airport manually
10) we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a ______ reality
     a. step closer too
     b. step closed to
     c. step closer to
     d. step cloister to

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has (1) ___________________ include every airport in the world. This means gamers will have a choice of over 37,000 airports to (2) ___________________ and land at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the (3) ___________________ the game, which included 24,000 airports. (4) ___________________ international hubs like New York's JFK and London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy (5) ___________________ runways that are in the middle of deserts or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been (6) ___________________ look like the real airports. Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps to do this.

The graphics are also much better in the (7) ___________________ Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot of (8) ___________________ into increasing the level of detail you see. Gamers will see windsocks blowing (9) ___________________ and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways. The markings on the runways in the game are the (10) ___________________ on the real runways. Lead game designer Sven Mestas said: "To reach a new level, we needed a new approach. We decided to (11) ___________________ airports from real satellite pictures. This technique involves editing each airport manually. This means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step (12) ___________________."

Comprehension questions

How many airports does Microsoft's Flight Simulator now have?
How many new airports did Microsoft add to Flight Simulator?
Where did the article say there were airports in the middle of?
What did designers do to each airport?
What search engine did designers get their images from?
What did the article say was much better in the latest release?
What can gamers see blowing in the wind?
What can gamers see driving around runways?
What did the designers decide to do?
What did a designer say the simulator was a step closer to?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How many airports does Microsoft's Flight Simulator now have?
a) over 57,000
b) over 45,000
c) over 37,000
d) over 73,000
2) How many new airports did Microsoft add to Flight Simulator?
a) over 13,000
b) over 14,000
c) over 15,000
d) over 16,000
3) Where did the article say there were airports in the middle of?
a) cities
b) deserts
c) mountains
d) the sea
4) What did designers do to each airport?
a) add virtual reality
b) start from scratch
c) make them 3D
d) deign them manually
5) Where did designers get their satellite images from?
a) Google Maps
b) National Geographic
c) Bing Maps
d) an aerial photographer

6) What did the article say was much better in the latest release?
a) the people's faces
b) the graphics
c) the sound
d) the colour
7) What can gamers see blowing in the wind?
a) people's hair
b) airplanes
c) the answer
d) windsocks
8) What can gamers see driving around runways?
a) airplanes
b) service vehicles
c) the police
d) buses
9) What did the designers decide to do?
a) start from scratch
b) innovate
c) give up
d) call it a day

10) What did a designer say the simulator was a step closer to?
a) reality
b) perfection
c) finishing
d) a cheaper product

Role play

Role A – War Games
You think a war game is the best simulator. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their simulators. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): being Harry Potter, scuba diving or flying a plane.

Role B – Being Harry Potter
You think being Harry Potter is the best simulator. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their simulators. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): war games, scuba diving or flying a plane.

Role C – Scuba Diving
You think scuba diving is the best simulator. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their simulators. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): being Harry Potter, war games or flying a plane.

Role D – Flying a Plane
You think flying a plane is the best simulator. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their simulators. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): being Harry Potter, scuba diving or war games.

After reading / listening

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

'flight'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'airport'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

upgraded

choice

previous

strip

top

this

much

see

wind

reach

editing

step

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Flight Simulator

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

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'flight'?
What do you know about flight simulators?
Do you think flight simulators are fun?
What is your favourite video game?
What would it be like to fly a real airplane?
Why does this game need to have 37,000 airports?
What do you think of flying?
Which do you like better, taking off or landing?
Is it better to land on top of a mountain or on a grassy strip?

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

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'airplane'?
What do you think about what you read?
How important are graphics in video games?
How important are video games to you?
What other simulator games would you like to play?
Would you like to be a pilot?
Which is better, flying or using a flight simulator?
What will games be like in 50 years from now?
What questions would you like to ask the game developers?

Discussion — Write your own questions

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

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

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

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has been (1) ____ to include every airport in the world. This means gamers will have a (2) ____ of over 37,000 airports to take off from and (3) ____ at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the previous version of the game, which included 24,000 airports. The game includes international (4) ____ like New York's JFK and London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy (5) ____ strips and runways that are in the middle of deserts or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been (6) ____ designed to look like the real airports. Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps to do this.

The graphics are also much better in the (7) ____ release of Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot of work and effort into increasing the level of (8) ____ you see. Gamers will see windsocks blowing in the wind and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways. The markings on the runways in the game are the same as (9) ____ on the real runways. Lead game designer Sven Mestas said: "To reach a new level, we needed a new (10) ____. We decided to innovate by editing airports from real satellite pictures. This technique involves editing (11) ____ airport manually. This means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step closer to (12) ____."

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) downgraded (b) graded (c) re-graded (d) upgraded
(a) choice (b) chosen (c) choose (d) chase
(a) land (b) down (c) ground (d) port
(a) hubs (b) rubs (c) tubs (d) subs
(a) ending (b) flying (c) sending (d) landing
(a) many (b) menially (c) manually (d) manly
(a) latest (b) least (c) lest (d) lost
(a) decaf (b) dovetail (c) decal (d) detail
(a) those (b) they (c) them (d) this
(a) roach (b) approach (c) poach (d) peach
(a) whole (b) each (c) all (d) entire
(a) reality (b) really (c) realty (d) real

Spelling

Paragraph 1

Flight Simulator has been agpreudd
the previous ersovni of the game
grassy landing trissp
in the middle of rtsseed
ynaalmul designed to look like the real airports
Designers used ttsailele images

Paragraph 2

The riahpsgc are also much better
service eiehclvs driving around the roads
we needed a new hoarpacp
We decided to noavneti by editing airports
we paid particular oatettnin to detail
bring every airport a step closer to ayletri

Put the text back together

(...) on the runways in the game are the same as those on the real runways. Lead game designer Sven Mestas said:
(...) particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step closer to reality."
(...) The graphics are also much better in the latest release of Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot
(...) to look like the real airports. Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps to do this.
(...) London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy landing strips and runways that are in the middle of
(...) "To reach a new level, we needed a new approach. We decided to innovate by editing airports from real
(...) deserts or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been manually designed
( 1 ) The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has been upgraded to include every airport in the
(...) satellite pictures. This technique involves editing each airport manually. This means we paid
(...) land at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the previous version of the
(...) game, which included 24,000 airports. The game includes international hubs like New York's JFK and
(...) world. This means gamers will have a choice of over 37,000 airports to take off from and
(...) in the wind and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways. The markings
(...) of work and effort into increasing the level of detail you see. Gamers will see windsocks blowing

Put the words in the right order

in the include airport world . Upgraded every to
This gamers choice . have means a will
middle of deserts . Runways the in are that
airports . real like to designed the look Manually
satellite used this . to Designers do images
the much in Graphics latest better are release .
wind . in windsocks see the blowing will Gamers
to Driving the next runways . around roads the
decided airports . editing innovate to We by
reality . to step every closer airport a Bring

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

The Microsoft airplane game Flight Simulator has been downgraded / upgraded to include every airport on / in the world. This means gamers will have a choice / choose of over 37,000 airports to take off from and land at. The upgrade has added over 13,000 new airports to the passed / previous version of the game, which included / include 24,000 airports. The game includes international cubs / hubs like New York's JFK and London Heathrow. It also includes tiny airports like rural, grassy landing straps / strips and runways that are in the / a middle of deserts or on the top of mountains. The 37,000 airports in Flight Simulator have been annually / manually designed to look like the real airports. Designers used satellite images and Bing Maps to do this / these.

The graphics are also much / more better in the latest realise / release of Flight Simulator. The designers put a lot of work and / end effort into increasing the level of detail you see. Gamers will see windsocks blew / blowing in the wind and service vehicles driving / drove around the roads next to the runways. The markings on the runways in the game are the same as those on the really / real runways. Lead game design / designer Sven Mestas said: "To reach a new level, we needed a new flight / approach. We decided to innovate by editing airports from real satellite pictures. This technique involves editing whole / each airport manually. This means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step / stair closer to reality."

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)

T h_ M_c r_s_f t __ r p l_n_ g_m_ F l_g h t S_m_l_t_r h_s b__ n _p g r_d_d t_ _n c l_d_ _v_r y __ r p_r t _n t h_ w_r l d . T h_s m__ n s g_m_r s w_l l h_v_ _ c h__ c_ _f _v_r 3 7 , 0 0 0 __ r p_r t s t_ t_k_ _f f f r_m _n d l_n d _t . T h_ _p g r_d_ h_s _d d_d _v_r 1 3 , 0 0 0 n_w __ r p_r t s t_ t h_ p r_v___s v_r s__ n _f t h_ g_m_, w h_c h _n c l_d_d 2 4 , 0 0 0 __ r p_r t s . T h_ g_m_ _n c l_d_s _n t_r n_t__ n_l h_b s l_k_ N_w Y_r k ' s J F K _n d L_n d_n H__ t h r_w . I t _l s_ _n c l_d_s t_n y __ r p_r t s l_k_ r_r_l , g r_s s y l_n d_n g s t r_p s _n d r_n w_y s t h_t _r_ _n t h_ m_d d l_ _f d_s_r t s _r _n t h_ t_p _f m__ n t__ n s . T h_ 3 7 , 0 0 0 __ r p_r t s _n F l_g h t S_m_l_t_r h_v_ b__ n m_n__ l l y d_s_g n_d t_ l__ k l_k_ t h_ r__ l __ r p_r t s . D_s_g n_r s _s_d s_t_l l_t_ _m_g_s _n d B_n g M_p s t_ d_ t h_s .

T h_ g r_p h_c s _r_ _l s_ m_c h b_t t_r _n t h_ l_t_s t r_l__ s_ _f F l_g h t S_m_l_t_r . T h_ d_s_g n_r s p_t _ l_t _f w_r k _n d _f f_r t _n t_ _n c r__ s_n g t h_ l_v_l _f d_t__ l y__ s__ . G_m_r s w_l l s__ w_n d s_c k s b l_w_n g _n t h_ w_n d _n d s_r v_c_ v_h_c l_s d r_v_n g _r__ n d t h_ r__ d s n_x t t_ t h_ r_n w_y s . T h_ m_r k_n g s _n t h_ r_n w_y s _n t h_ g_m_ _r_ t h_ s_m_ _s t h_s_ _n t h_ r__ l r_n w_y s . L__ d g_m_ d_s_g n_r S v_n M_s t_s s__ d : " T_ r__ c h _ n_w l_v_l , w_ n__ d_d _ n_w _p p r__ c h . W_ d_c_d_d t_ _n n_v_t_ b y _d_t_n g __ r p_r t s f r_m r__ l s_t_l l_t_ p_c t_r_s . T h_s t_c h n_q__ _n v_l v_s _d_t_n g __ c h __ r p_r t m_n__ l l y . T h_s m__ n s w_ p__ d p_r t_c_l_r _t t_n t__ n t_ d_t__ l t_ b r_n g _v_r y __ r p_r t _ s t_p c l_s_r t_ r__ l_t y . "

Punctuate the text and add capitals

the microsoft airplane game flight simulator has been upgraded to include every airport in the world this means gamers will have a choice of over 37000 airports to take off from and land at the upgrade has added over 13000 new airports to the previous version of the game which included 24000 airports the game includes international hubs like new yorks jfk and london heathrow it also includes tiny airports like rural grassy landing strips and runways that are in the middle of deserts or on the top of mountains the 37000 airports in flight simulator have been manually designed to look like the real airports designers used satellite images and bing maps to do this

the graphics are also much better in the latest release of flight simulator the designers put a lot of work and effort into increasing the level of detail you see gamers will see windsocks blowing in the wind and service vehicles driving around the roads next to the runways the markings on the runways in the game are the same as those on the real runways lead game designer sven mestas said to reach a new level we needed a new approach we decided to innovate by editing airports from real satellite pictures this technique involves editing each airport manually this means we paid particular attention to detail to bring every airport a step closer to reality

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

TheMicrosoftairplanegameFlightSimulatorhasbeenupgradedtoinclu
deeveryairportintheworld.Thismeansgamerswillhaveachoiceofover
37,000airportstotakeofffromandlandat.Theupgradehasaddedover1
3,000newairportstothepreviousversionofthegame,whichincluded2
4,000airports.ThegameincludesinternationalhubslikeNewYork'sJFK
andLondonHeathrow.Italsoincludestinyairportslikerural,grassyland
ingstripsandrunwaysthatareinthemiddleofdesertsoronthetopofmou
ntains.The37,000airportsinFlightSimulatorhavebeenmanuallydesig
nedtolookliketherealairports.DesignersusedsatelliteimagesandBing
Mapstodothis.ThegraphicsarealsomuchbetterinthelatestreleaseofFl
ightSimulator.Thedesignersputalotofworkandeffortintoincreasingth
elevelofdetailyousee.Gamerswillseewindsocksblowinginthewindan
dservicevehiclesdrivingaroundtheroadsnexttotherunways.Themark
ingsontherunwaysinthegamearethesameasthoseontherealrunways
.LeadgamedesignerSvenMestassaid:"Toreachanewlevel,weneeded
anewapproach.Wedecidedtoinnovatebyeditingairportsfromrealsate
llitepictures.Thistechniqueinvolveseditingeachairportmanually.This
meanswepaidparticularattentiontodetailtobringeveryairportastepcl
osertoreality."

Free writing

Write about flight simulator for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

Using a flight simulator game is better than really flying. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. FLIGHT SIMULATORS: Make a poster about flight simulators. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. DANGEROUS: Write a magazine article about banning flight simulators because they could be used for spying. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
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 flight simulators. Ask him/her three questions about flight simulators. Give him/her three of your ideas. 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

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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Breaking News English Lesson: Flight Simulator

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