Breaking News English Lesson: Maple Syrup

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World faces maple syrup shortage (9th December, 2021)

The Reading / Listening - Maple Syrup - Level 3

Changing weather patterns and an increase in demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite pancake topping have gone down. This has caused Canada to release 22 million kilograms of the sweet, sticky stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The province of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of global supply. Canada keeps huge amounts of it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost half of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would be no shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made.…We won't lack maple syrup."

A warmer spring this year has reduced syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and freezing nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led to a poorer harvest than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased by more than 20 per cent this year. One major reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are at home, cooking pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of us have developed a sweet tooth. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our case because we're seeing people cook more at home and use more local products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand is increasing."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Maple Syrup - Level 0, Maple Syrup - Level 1 or Maple Syrup - Level 2

Sources

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/28/business/canada-maple-syrup-reserves-shortage/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59555141
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/maple-syrup-strategic-reserve-1.6268352

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. MAPLE SYRUP: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about maple syrup. 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?
weather / patterns / maple syrup / pancake / sticky / market / emergency / lack /
spring / daytime / freezing / harvest / demand / coronavirus / sweet tooth / local
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. TOPPING: Students A strongly believe maple syrup is the best topping for pancakes and waffles; Students B strongly believe it isn't. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. SHORTAGES: How bad would these shortages be? How would they affect you? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	How Bad?	How It Would Affect You
Maple syrup
Chocolate
Gasoline
Wi-Fi
Milk
Potatoes

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

Maple syrup
Cream
Chocolate sauce
Hot fudge
Fruit
Nuts
Cereal
Matcha

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	pattern	a.	A lot of things kept somewhere for later use.
2.	stock	b.	Like glue because it sticks to things.
3.	topping	c.	A regular way something happens.
4.	sticky	d.	A serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation that needs immediate action.
5.	province	e.	An area of a country.
6.	emergency	f.	A person, company, or country that makes, grows, or supplies goods or things for sale.
7.	producer	g.	A kind of sauce, cream, fruit, etc. to put on top of food to make it look or taste better.

Paragraph 2

8.	freezing	h.	In or nearby one's house or area.
9.	temperature	i.	Something that leads to an action or event.
10.	harvest	j.	Very important.
11.	factor	k.	Below 0°C.
12.	major	l.	How hot or cold something is in ºC or ºF.
13.	sweet tooth	m.	A great liking for cakes, candies, chocolate, etc.
14.	local	n.	The process of getting crops and other things that grow from the fields, trees, etc.

Before reading / listening

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

People wanting more maple syrup has led to shortages. T / F
Canada released 22 million tons of maple syrup from its reserves. T / F
The Canadian province of Quebec produces half of the world's syrup. T / F
A maple syrup spokeswoman said there would be no shortages. T / F
Maple trees need freezing nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. T / F
A longer spring than usual cut the supply of maple syrup. T / F
The article says we have all developed a sweet tooth. T / F
More people are at home this year cooking. T / F

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

increase
worldwide
producer
huge
lack
reduced
led to
major
developed
local

be without
very big
resulted in
maker
neighbourhood
rise
formed
cut
global
important

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

Changing weather patterns and an
stocks of everyone's favourite pancake
22 million kilograms of the sweet,
Canada is the world's largest
Canada keeps huge amounts of it
A warmer spring this year has
freezing nighttime
coronavirus
more of us have developed
we're seeing people

pandemic
for emergencies
producer
cook more at home
topping
sticky stuff
a sweet tooth
reduced syrup supplies
temperatures
increase in demand

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

half
topping
lack
sticky
amounts
producers
increase
province

Changing weather patterns and an (1) _____________________ in demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite pancake (2) _____________________ have gone down. This has caused Canada to release 22 million kilograms of the sweet, (3) _____________________ stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The (4) _____________________ of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of global supply. Canada keeps huge (5) _____________________ of it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost (6) _____________________ of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup (7) _____________________ said there would be no shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made....We won't (8) _____________________ maple syrup."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

harvest
cooking
case
reduced
local
major
freezing
tooth

A warmer spring this year has (9) _____________________ syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and (10) _____________________ nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led to a poorer (11) _____________________ than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased by more than 20 per cent this year. One (12) _____________________ reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are at home, (13) _____________________ pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of us have developed a sweet (14) _____________________. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our (15) _____________________ because we're seeing people cook more at home and use more (16) _____________________ products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand is increasing."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite ______
     a. pancake top ping
     b. pancake top pin
     c. pancake top pine
     d. pancake topping
2) caused Canada to release 22 million kilograms of the ______
     a. sweet, sticky stuff
     b. sweets, sticky stuff
     c. sweet, stick key stuff
     d. sweets, stick key stuff
3) three-quarters of global supply. Canada keeps ______ it
     a. hug a mince of
     b. huge a mounts of
     c. huge a mince of
     d. huge amounts of
4) The syrup it has just released is almost half of those ______
     a. emergent sea reserves
     b. emergent seer serves
     c. emergency reserves
     d. emergencies reserve
5) That's why the reserve is made....We won't ______
     a. track maple syrup
     b. black maple syrup
     c. lack maple syrup
     d. slack maple syrup

6) temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led to ______
     a. a poor are harvest
     b. a poorer harvest
     c. a poor rear harvest
     d. a purer harvest
7) One major reason for this rise is the ______
     a. coronavirus pingdemic
     b. coronavirus pan epidemic
     c. coronavirus pandemic
     d. coronavirus panda mic
8) It is possible that more of us have developed ______
     a. a sweet teeth
     b. a sweet tooth
     c. a sweet oaf
     d. a sweets tooth
9) helped our case because we're seeing people cook more at home and use ______
     a. more locally products
     b. mere local products
     c. more local products
     d. mere locally products
10) It's not just in Quebec where the ______
     a. demand is increasing
     b. demand this in creasing
     c. deem and is increasing
     d. demand is in creasing

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Changing (1) ____________________ an increase in demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite pancake (2) ____________________ down. This has caused Canada to release 22 million kilograms of the (3) ____________________ into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The province of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of global supply. Canada keeps (4) ____________________ it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost half of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would (5) ____________________. She said: "That's why the reserve is made.... (6) ____________________ maple syrup."

A warmer spring this year has (7) ____________________. Maple trees need warm (8) ____________________ nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led to (9) ____________________ than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased by more than 20 per cent this year. One (10) ____________________ this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are at home, cooking pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of us have developed (11) ____________________. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our case because we're seeing people cook more at home and use (12) ____________________. It's not just in Quebec where the demand is increasing."

Comprehension questions

What has led to a maple syrup shortage besides increased demand?
How many kgs of maple syrup has Canada released from its reserves?
How much of the world's maple syrup does Quebec produce?
What does Canada keep huge amounts of maple syrup for?
Who said there would not be a lack of maple syrup?
What kinds of nighttime temperatures do trees need to produce syrup?
What was poorer than usual this year?
What was a major reason for the increase in demand for maple syrup?
What might many of us have developed?
What kinds of products are people using more of?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What has led to a maple syrup shortage besides increased demand?
a) changing weather patterns
b) new pancake making techniques
c) a lack of bees
d) sugar
2) How many kgs of maple syrup has Canada released from its reserves?
a) 20.2 million
b) 2.2 million
c) 22 million
d) 12 million
3) How much of the world's maple syrup does Quebec produce?
a) 50%
b) almost three-quarters
c) a third
d) just a little
4) What does Canada keep huge amounts of maple syrup for?
a) parties
b) pancake restaurants
c) children
d) emergencies
5) Who said there would not be a lack of maple syrup?
a) a maple syrup spokeswoman
b) a maple worker
c) Canada's prime minister
d) a pancake restaurant

6) What kinds of nighttime temperatures do trees need to produce syrup?
a) warm temperatures
b) just above 0ºC
c) cool
d) freezing temperatures
7) What was poorer than usual this year?
a) the maple quality
b) the maple syrup harvest
c) people
d) syrup prices
8) What was a major reason for the increase in demand for maple syrup?
a) bugs
b) no international travel
c) profit
d) a coronavirus pandemic
9) What might many of us have developed?
a) a maple syrup addiction
b) headaches
c) a sweet tooth
d) decayed teeth

10) What kinds of products are people using more of?
a) maple products
b) local products
c) pancake products
d) Canadian products

Role play

Role A – Maple Syrup
You think maple syrup is the best dessert topping. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their toppings. Also, tell the others which is the least tasty of these (and why): cream, chocolate sauce or fruit.

Role B – Cream
You think cream is the best dessert topping. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their toppings. Also, tell the others which is the least tasty of these (and why): maple syrup, chocolate sauce or fruit.

Role C – Chocolate Sauce
You think chocolate sauce is the best dessert topping. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their toppings. Also, tell the others which is the least tasty of these (and why): cream, maple syrup or fruit.

Role D – Fruit
You think fruit is the best dessert topping. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their toppings. Also, tell the others which is the least tasty of these (and why): cream, chocolate sauce or maple syrup.

After reading / listening

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

'maple'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'syrup'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• 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:

changing

release

province

huge

half

lack

warm

spring

factor

tooth

cook

just

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 - Maple Syrup

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 'maple syrup'?
What do you think of maple syrup?
What's your favourite pancake topping?
How serious is a maple syrup shortage?
How healthy is maple syrup?
What can we use maple syrup for?
What dessert toppings do you like?
Why is maple syrup so popular?
Is it important to keep reserves of maple syrup?

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 'shortage'?
What do you think about what you read?
How does the weather affect maple syrup?
Why has demand for maple syrup increased?
What other things are there shortages of?
How much of a sweet tooth do you have?
Do you like cooking at home?
Which do you prefer - pancakes or waffles?
What questions would you like to ask maple syrup producers?

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)

Changing weather patterns and an increase (1) ____ demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of (2) ____ favourite pancake topping have gone down. This has caused Canada (3) ____ release 22 million kilograms of the sweet, sticky stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The province of Quebec produces (4) ____ three-quarters of global supply. Canada keeps huge amounts of (5) ____ for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost half of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would be (6) ____ shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made....We won't lack maple syrup."

A warmer spring this year (7) ____ reduced syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and freezing nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led (8) ____ a poorer harvest than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased by more than 20 per cent this year. One (9) ____ reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are at (10) ____, cooking pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of us have developed a sweet (11) ____. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our case because we're seeing people cook more at home and use more local products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand is (12) ____."

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) at (b) on (c) at (d) in
(a) they (b) someone (c) all (d) everyone's
(a) on (b) to (c) of (d) at
(a) whole (b) much (c) almost (d) many
(a) them (b) all (c) it (d) us
(a) no (b) none (c) not (d) nil
(a) having (b) has (c) have (d) haves
(a) to (b) on (c) by (d) at
(a) majority (b) major (c) majorly (d) majors
(a) homes (b) homely (c) home (d) homed
(a) tongue (b) mouth (c) tooth (d) gum
(a) increased (b) increases (c) increase (d) increasing

Spelling

Paragraph 1

Changing weather septarnt
everyone's favourite pancake piptgno
the sweet, tkyics stuff
the world's largest edporurc of maple syrup
Canada keeps huge mntuaso of it
almost half of those eeencmgry reserves

Paragraph 2

reduced syrup ipulpess
nrifzgee nighttime temperatures
spring led to a poorer atversh
the coronavirus ncpamedi
more of us have pvdeoldee a sweet tooth
use more local todpscru

Put the text back together

(...) usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased by more than 20 per cent this
(...) be no shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made....We won't lack maple syrup."
(...) A warmer spring this year has reduced syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and freezing
( 1 ) Changing weather patterns and an increase in demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks
(...) producer of maple syrup. The province of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of global
(...) of everyone's favourite pancake topping have gone down. This has caused Canada to release
(...) spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our case because we're seeing people cook more at
(...) supply. Canada keeps huge amounts of it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost
(...) nighttime temperatures to produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led to a poorer harvest than
(...) half of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would
(...) year. One major reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are at home, cooking pancakes
(...) home and use more local products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand is increasing."
(...) 22 million kilograms of the sweet, sticky stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest
(...) and waffles. It is possible that more of us have developed a sweet tooth. The Quebec

Put the words in the right order

weather Changing patterns and an demand . increase in
largest producer of the syrup . Canada world's is
of it keeps Canada amounts huge for emergencies .
half . almost syrup The just is released it
Quebec's for spokeswoman syrup maple producers . A
warmer reduced supplies . spring this syrup A year
shorter a to harvest . spring led poorer A
is demand for worldwide Another syrup . factor maple
us have a developed of tooth . sweet More
home . cook We're seeing more at people

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

Changing weather patterns and an increase / decrease in demand have led to a shortage on / of maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite pancake bottoming / topping have gone down. This has caused Canada to release / realize 22 million kilograms of the sweet, sticker / sticky stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The provincial / province of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of globally / global supply. Canada keeps huge amounts of it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost halve / half of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would be no / none shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made....We won't lack / slack maple syrup."

A warmer spring this year has / have reduced syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and freezing nighttime temperatures to / for produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led on / to a poorer harvest than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased of / by more than 20 per cent this year. One major / majority reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are in / at home, cooking pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of us / they have developed a sweet tooth. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our bag / case because we're seeing people cook more at home and use / useful more local products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand are / is increasing."

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)

Ch_ng_ng w__th_r p_tt_rns _nd _n _ncr__s_ _n d_m_nd h_v_ l_d t_ _ sh_rt_g_ _f m_pl_ syr_p. W_rldw_d_ st_cks _f _v_ry_n_'s f_v__r_t_ p_nc_k_ t_pp_ng h_v_ g_n_ d_wn. Th_s h_s c__s_d C_n_d_ t_ r_l__s_ 22 m_ll__n k_l_gr_ms _f th_ sw__t, st_cky st_ff _nt_ th_ m_rk_t. C_n_d_ _s th_ w_rld's l_rg_st pr_d_c_r _f m_pl_ syr_p. Th_ pr_v_nc_ _f Q__b_c pr_d_c_s _lm_st thr__-q__rt_rs _f gl_b_l s_pply. C_n_d_ k__ps h_g_ _m__nts _f _t f_r _m_rg_nc__s. Th_ syr_p _t h_s j_st r_l__s_d _s _lm_st h_lf _f th_s_ _m_rg_ncy r_s_rv_s. _ sp_k_sw_m_n f_r Q__b_c's m_pl_ syr_p pr_d_c_rs s__d th_r_ w__ld b_ n_ sh_rt_g_s. Sh_ s__d: "Th_t's why th_ r_s_rv_ _s m_d_....W_ w_n't l_ck m_pl_ syr_p."

_ w_rm_r spr_ng th_s y__r h_s r_d_c_d syr_p s_ppl__s. M_pl_ tr__s n__d w_rm d_yt_m_ _nd fr__z_ng n_ghtt_m_ t_mp_r_t_r_s t_ pr_d_c_ syr_p. _ w_rm_r _nd sh_rt_r spr_ng l_d t_ _ p__r_r h_rv_st th_n _s__l. _n_th_r f_ct_r _s w_rldw_d_ d_m_nd f_r m_pl_ syr_p. Th_s h_s _ncr__s_d by m_r_ th_n 20 p_r c_nt th_s y__r. _n_ m_j_r r__s_n f_r th_s r_s_ _s th_ c_r_n_v_r_s p_nd_m_c. M_r_ p__pl_ _r_ _t h_m_, c__k_ng p_nc_k_s _nd w_ffl_s. _t _s p_ss_bl_ th_t m_r_ _f _s h_v_ d_v_l_p_d _ sw__t t__th. Th_ Q__b_c sp_k_sw_m_n s__d: "Th_ p_nd_m_c h_lp_d __r c_s_ b_c__s_ w_'r_ s___ng p__pl_ c__k m_r_ _t h_m_ _nd _s_ m_r_ l_c_l pr_d_cts. _t's n_t j_st _n Q__b_c wh_r_ th_ d_m_nd _s _ncr__s_ng."

Punctuate the text and add capitals

changing weather patterns and an increase in demand have led to a shortage of maple syrup worldwide stocks of everyones favourite pancake topping have gone down this has caused canada to release 22 million kilograms of the sweet sticky stuff into the market canada is the worlds largest producer of maple syrup the province of quebec produces almost threequarters of global supply canada keeps huge amounts of it for emergencies the syrup it has just released is almost half of those emergency reserves a spokeswoman for quebecs maple syrup producers said there would be no shortages she said thats why the reserve is madewe wont lack maple syrup

a warmer spring this year has reduced syrup supplies maple trees need warm daytime and freezing nighttime temperatures to produce syrup a warmer and shorter spring led to a poorer harvest than usual another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup this has increased by more than 20 per cent this year one major reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic more people are at home cooking pancakes and waffles it is possible that more of us have developed a sweet tooth the quebec spokeswoman said the pandemic helped our case because were seeing people cook more at home and use more local products its not just in quebec where the demand is increasing

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Changingweatherpatternsandanincreaseindemandhaveledtoashort
ageofmaplesyrup.Worldwidestocksofeveryone'sfavouritepancaketo
ppinghavegonedown.ThishascausedCanadatorelease22millionkilog
ramsofthesweet,stickystuffintothemarket.Canadaistheworld'slarge
stproducerofmaplesyrup.TheprovinceofQuebecproducesalmostthre
e-quartersofglobalsupply.Canadakeepshugeamountsofitforemerge
ncies.Thesyrupithasjustreleasedisalmosthalfofthoseemergencyres
erves.AspokeswomanforQuebec'smaplesyrupproducerssaidtherew
ouldbenoshortages.Shesaid:"That'swhythereserveismade....Wewo
n'tlackmaplesyrup."Awarmerspringthisyearhasreducedsyrupsuppli
es.Mapletreesneedwarmdaytimeandfreezingnighttimetemperature
stoproducesyrup.Awarmerandshorterspringledtoapoorerharvestth
anusual.Anotherfactorisworldwidedemandformaplesyrup.Thishasin
creasedbymorethan20percentthisyear.Onemajorreasonforthisrisei
sthecoronaviruspandemic.Morepeopleareathome,cookingpancakes
andwaffles.Itispossiblethatmoreofushavedevelopedasweettooth.T
heQuebecspokeswomansaid:"Thepandemichelpedourcasebecause
we'reseeingpeoplecookmoreathomeandusemorelocalproducts.It's
notjustinQuebecwherethedemandisincreasing."

Free writing

Write about maple syrup for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

Maple syrup is the best thing to put on pancakes and waffles. 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. MAPLE SYRUP: Make a poster about maple syrup. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. SHORTAGES: Write a magazine article about governments spending lots of money of making sure there are no shortages of anything. 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 maple syrup. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on what to do with maple syrup. 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

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Answers

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

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