The Reading / Listening - Taylor Swift - Level 3

Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The singer-songwriter superstar is the first artist to win best album of the year four times. The Grammys are given for outstanding achievements in the music industry. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift overtook music legends Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her acceptance speech, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song…or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show." She added: "All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so happy." Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She began writing songs professionally at the age of 14. In 2005, she signed with Big Machine Records to become a country singer. Since then, she has branched out into a variety of music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now the biggest music star in the world and has sold over 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert tour "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film ever. She is also a huge influencer of popular culture and is on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes Swift as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment".

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Taylor Swift - Level 0,  Taylor Swift - Level 1   or  Taylor Swift - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.grammy.com/news/taylor-swift-album-of-the-year-2024-grammys-speech
  • https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/grammys-2024-recap-taylor-swift-sza-miley-cyrus-1234961256/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift


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. TAYLOR SWIFT: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about Taylor Swift. 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?
       history / singer-songwriter / superstar / album / legends / the best moment / happy /
       writing songs / country music / music styles / hip-hop / concert your / popular culture
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. THE GREATEST: Students A strongly believe Taylor Swift is the greatest ever singer; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. MUSIC LEGENDS: What do you know about these artists? What do you want to know? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

What I Know

What I Want to Know

Taylor Swift

 

 

Frank Sinatra

 

 

Beyonce

 

 

David Bowie

 

 

Jay Z

 

 

Tina Turner

 

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

  • Country
  • Rock
  • Pop
  • Hip-hop
  • Electronic
  • Reggae
  • Classical
  • Jazz

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. superstar a. Practicing a play, piece of music, or other work for later public performance
      2. artist b. Very, very, very, very good.
      3. outstanding c. An area of business in a country.
      4. achievement d. A very, very, very famous and successful singer, actor or sports player.
      5. industry e. An exact point in time.
      6. moment f. A person who practices or performs things, such as a singer, sculptor, film-maker, actor, or dancer, etc.
      7. rehearsing g. A thing done successfully with effort, skill, or courage.

    Paragraph 2

      8. professionally h. There being lots of different things of a similar kind.
      9. signed i. A person who can change people's minds, usually on social media.
      10. branched out j. A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular issue or policy.
      11. variety k. Promised to work or do something putting your name on a contract.
      12. influencer l. A person who helps others, especially by giving lots of money to good causes.
      13. philanthropist m. Moved into different kinds of activities.
      14. advocate n. Done or performed for money.

 

Before reading / listening

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

  1. Taylor Swift won the best album award for four years in a row.     T / F
  2. A Grammy is awarded for the most records sold.     T / F
  3. Taylor Swift said the award was the best moment in her life.     T / F
  4. All Taylor Swift wants to do is sing, make music and dance.     T / F
  5. Taylor Swift signed her first record contract when she was 14.     T / F
  6. The article says Taylor Swift is the world's biggest music star.     T / F
  7. Forbes magazine named Ms Swift as the world's most powerful woman.   T / F
  8. Taylor Swift does a lot for the rights of women and artists.     T / F

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

  1. outstanding
  2. legends
  3. rehearsing
  4. show
  5. happy
  6. branched out
  7. ever
  8. describes
  9. philanthropist
  10. advocate
  1. concert
  2. champion
  3. giver
  4. calls
  5. excellent
  6. practicing
  7. superstars
  8. in history
  9. cheerful
  10. diversified

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

  1. outstanding
  2. this is the best moment
  3. when I'm rehearsing with my
  4. All I wanna do is keep being
  5. It makes me
  6. She began writing songs professionally
  7. she has branched out into a variety
  8. the highest-grossing
  9. a huge influencer of popular
  10. an advocate for artists'
  1. dancers or my band
  2. rights
  3. so happy
  4. of music styles
  5. concert film ever
  6. able to do this
  7. culture
  8. of my life
  9. achievements
  10. at the age of 14

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
rehearsing
industry
speech
artist
ready
happy
moment
legends

Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The singer-songwriter superstar is the first (1) _____________________ to win best album of the year four times. The Grammys are given for outstanding achievements in the music (2) _____________________. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift overtook music (3) _____________________ Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her acceptance (4) _____________________, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the best (5) _____________________ of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song…or when I'm (6) _____________________ with my dancers or my band, or getting (7) _____________________ to go to Tokyo to play a show." She added: "All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so (8) _____________________."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
signed
star
list
writing
popular
variety
rights
tour

Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She began (9) _____________________ songs professionally at the age of 14. In 2005, she (10) _____________________ with Big Machine Records to become a country singer. Since then, she has branched out into a (11) _____________________ of music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now the biggest music (12) _____________________ in the world and has sold over 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert (13) _____________________ "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film ever. She is also a huge influencer of (14) _____________________ culture and is on Forbes magazine's (15) _____________________ of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes Swift as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate for artists' (16) _____________________ and women's empowerment".

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) The Grammys are given for outstanding achievements in ______
     a.  the music industrial
     b.  the musically industry
     c.  the music in dust try
     d.  the music industry
2)  I would love to tell you that this is the best moment ______
     a.  of my life
     b.  of my live
     c.  of my alive
     d.  of my leaf
3)  I feel this happy when I finish a song…or ______
     a.  when I'm rehearse in
     b.  when I'm rehearsal
     c.  when I'm rehearsing
     d.  when I'm rehearse sing
4)  or getting ready to go to Tokyo to ______
     a.  play a slow
     b.  play a snow
     c.  play a show
     d.  play a shoe
5)  I love it so much. It makes ______
     a.  me so hoppy
     b.  me so hippy
     c.  me so happily
     d.  me so happy

6)  In 2005, she signed with Big Machine Records to become ______
     a.  a country singer
     b.  a countries singer
     c.  a country's singer
     d.  a countryside singer
7)  Since then, she has branched out into a ______
     a.  varieties of music
     b.  variety off music
     c.  variety of music
     d.  various of music
8)  her 2023-2024 concert tour "Eras" is the highest-grossing ______
     a.  concert film never
     b.  concert film ever
     c.  concert film every
     d.  concert film even
9)  She is also a huge influencer ______
     a.  of poplar culture
     b.  of polar culture
     c.  off popular culture
     d.  of popular culture
10)  Wikipedia describes Swift as being a philanthropist and an advocate ______
     a.  for artists' lights
     b.  for artists' sights
     c.  for artists' tights
     d.  for artists' rights

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The singer-songwriter superstar is the first (1) ____________________ best album of the year four times. The Grammys (2) ____________________ outstanding achievements in the music industry. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift (3) ____________________ Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her acceptance speech, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the (4) ____________________ my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song…or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or (5) ____________________ go to Tokyo to play a show." She added: "All I wanna do is (6) ____________________ to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so happy."

Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She (7) ____________________ professionally at the age of 14. In 2005, (8) ____________________ Big Machine Records to become a country singer. Since then, she has branched out into (9) ____________________ music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now the biggest music star in the world and (10) ____________________ 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert tour "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film ever. She is also a huge influencer (11) ____________________ and is on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes Swift as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate (12) ____________________ and women's empowerment".

Comprehension questions

  1. What is given for outstanding achievements in the music industry?
  2. What's the name of the album that won the Grammy for the best album?
  3. What is Taylor Swift happy about finishing?
  4. Who does Ms Swift like rehearsing with?
  5. Where did Taylor Swift say she was ready to do a show?
  6. When did Taylor Swift start writing songs professionally?
  7. What's the name of a record label that Swift signed with?
  8. How many records has Taylor Swift sold?
  9. Where is Ms Swift in a Forbes list of the world's most powerful women?
  10. Who does Ms Swift advocate for besides artists?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What is given for outstanding achievements in the music industry?
a) cash
b) a Grammy
c) a trophy
d) a handprint in LA
2) What's the name of the album that won the Grammy for the best album?
a) Evenings
b) Middays
c) Mornings
d) Midnights
3) What is Taylor Swift happy about finishing?
a) a song
b) a tour
c) a book
d) 2023
4) Who does Ms Swift like rehearsing with?
a) alone
b) her family
c) her dancers and band
d) children
5) Where did Taylor Swift say she was ready to do a show?
a) New York
b) Tokyo
c) anywhere
d) the Super Bowl

6) When did Taylor Swift start writing songs professionally?
a) aged 14
b) aged 15
c) aged 16
d) aged 17
7) What's the name of a record label that Swift signed with?
a) Big Records Machine
b) Machine Big Records
c) Big Machine Records
d) Records Big Machine
8) How many records has Taylor Swift sold?
a) over 200 million
b) exactly 200 million
c) slightly fewer than 200 million
d) around 200 million
9) Where is Ms Swift in a Forbes list of the world's most powerful women?
a) in the top 100
b) first
c) in the top ten
d) 13th
10) Who does Ms Swift advocate for besides artists?
a) music producers
b) journalists
c) children
d) women

Role play

Role  A – Country
You think country is the best music genre. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their genres. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): rock, classical or jazz.

Role  B – Rock
You think rock is the best music genre. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their genres. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): country, classical or jazz.

Role  C – Classical
You think classical is the best music genre. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their genres. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): rock, country or jazz.

Role  D – Jazz
You think jazz is the best music genre. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their genres. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): rock, classical or country.

After reading / listening

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

'award'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'album'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • artist
    • legends
    • speech
    • moment
    • band
    • able
    • began
    • signed
    • variety
    • movie
    • huge
    • describes

    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 - Taylor Swift

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'award'?
    3. What do you know about Taylor Swift?
    4. What do you think of music awards shows?
    5. What do you think is the best album ever?
    6. What was the best moment of your life?
    7. Who is the best singer in the world at the moment?
    8. Would you like to be a singer-songwriter superstar?
    9. What makes you happy?
    10. What advice do you have for Taylor Swift?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'singer'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think about Taylor Swift?
    5. What would you like to write songs about?
    6. What is the best music genre?
    7. What do you think of popular culture?
    8. Who are the most powerful women in the world?
    9. How could Taylor Swift change the world?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Taylor Swift?

    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)

    Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The singer-songwriter superstar is the first (1) ____ to win best album of the year four times. The Grammys are given (2) ____ outstanding achievements in the music industry. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift (3) ____ music legends Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her acceptance (4) ____, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song…or when I'm rehearsing (5) ____ my dancers or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show." She added: "All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it (6) ____ much. It makes me so happy."

    Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She began writing songs professionally (7) ____ the age of 14. In 2005, she signed with Big Machine Records to become a (8) ____ singer. Since then, she has branched out into a (9) ____ of music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now the biggest music star in the world and has sold over 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert (10) ____ "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film ever. She is also a (11) ____ influencer of popular culture and is on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes Swift as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate (12) ____ artists' rights and women's empowerment".

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     artistry     (b)     artist     (c)     artisan     (d)     arty    
    2. (a)     to     (b)     for     (c)     by     (d)     as    
    3. (a)     undertook     (b)     mistook     (c)     took     (d)     overtook    
    4. (a)     speak     (b)     speech     (c)     speaks     (d)     speaking    
    5. (a)     to     (b)     with     (c)     of     (d)     at    
    6. (a)     to     (b)     such     (c)     so     (d)     at    
    7. (a)     of     (b)     to     (c)     at     (d)     in    
    8. (a)     rural     (b)     countryside     (c)     country     (d)     town    
    9. (a)     various     (b)     varies     (c)     vary     (d)     variety    
    10. (a)     tour     (b)     yarn     (c)     trip     (d)     holiday    
    11. (a)     huge     (b)     enormously     (c)     biggest     (d)     well    
    12. (a)     at     (b)     from     (c)     for     (d)     under

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. The singer-ogsirwtner superstar
    2. given for uttodnaisng achievements
    3. in the music disuntry
    4. In her cetpaaccne speech
    5. this is the best ommnet
    6. when I'm eersraihng with my dancers

    Paragraph 2

    1. writing songs epirsofanolsly
    2. Since then, she has nabcrehd out
    3. a rveiaty of music styles
    4. A movie of her 2023-2024 onccret tour
    5. a huge nfuinelcer of popular culture
    6. an ovacdate for artists' rights

    Put the text back together

    (...)   culture and is on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes
    (...)   songwriter superstar is the first artist to win best album of the year four times. The Grammys are given for
    (...)   legends Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her acceptance
    (...)   show." She added: "All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me so happy."
    (...)   Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She began writing songs professionally at the age of 14. In 2005, she signed
    (...)   tour "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film ever. She is also a huge influencer of popular
    (...)   of music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now
    (...)   a song…or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a
    (...)   outstanding achievements in the music industry. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift overtook music
    (...)   with Big Machine Records to become a country singer. Since then, she has branched out into a variety
    (...)   speech, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish
    (...)   the biggest music star in the world and has sold over 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert
    (...)   Swift as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate for artists' rights and women's empowerment".
    (  1  )   Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. The singer-

    Put the words in the right order

    1. best   album   times   .   Win   four   the   year   of
    2. the   achievements   in   for   industry   .   outstanding   Given   music
    3. moment   of   best   the   This   life   .   is   my
    4. I   a   feel   I   happy   when   finish   song   .
    5. I   do   keep   doing   is   All   this   .   wanna
    6. songs   began   14   .   aged   professionally   writing   She
    7. a   music   into   of   styles   .   out   Branched   variety
    8. now   She   is   the   star   .   biggest   music   world's
    9. is   She   of   popular   culture   .   huge   a   influencer
    10. being   Swift   describes   as   Wikipedia   a   philanthropist   .

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Taylor Swift has made history at the 2024 Grammy Rewards / Awards. The singer-songwriter superstar is the first artistry / artist to win best album of the year four / fourth times. The Grammys are given / giving for outstanding achievements in the music industry. By winning for the fourth time, Ms Swift overtook / undertook music legends Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. She won for her album "Midnights". In her accept / acceptance speech, she said: "I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my live / life, but I feel this / such happy when I finish a song…or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or getting / got ready to go to Tokyo to play a show." She added: "All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much. It makes me such / so happy."

    Taylor Swift was born in 1989. She began writing songs professional / professionally at the age of 14. In 2005, she singed / signed with Big Machine Records to become a countryside / country singer. Since then, she has branched / twigged out into a variety by / of music styles. She has moved from country, to rock, to electronic, synth-pop and hip-hop. She is now the biggest music star in / on the world and has sold over 200 million records. A movie of her 2023-2024 concert tour "Eras" is the highest-grossing concert film never / ever. She is also a huge influencer of popular culture and is on Forbes magazine's list of / to the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Wikipedia describes Swift has / as being, "a philanthropist and an advocate at / for artists' rights and women's empowerment".

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    T_yl_r  Sw_ft  h_s  m_d_  h_st_ry  _t  th_  2024  Gr_mmy  _w_rds.  Th_  s_ng_r-s_ngwr_t_r  s_p_rst_r  _s  th_  f_rst  _rt_st  t_  w_n  b_st  _lb_m  _f  th_  y__r  f__r  t_m_s.  Th_  Gr_mmys  _r_  g_v_n  f_r  __tst_nd_ng  _ch__v_m_nts  _n  th_  m_s_c  _nd_stry.  By  w_nn_ng  f_r  th_  f__rth  t_m_,  Ms  Sw_ft  _v_rt__k  m_s_c  l_g_nds  Fr_nk  S_n_tr_  _nd  St_v__  W_nd_r.  Sh_  w_n  f_r  h_r  _lb_m  "M_dn_ghts".  _n  h_r  _cc_pt_nc_  sp__ch,  sh_  s__d:  "_  w__ld  l_v_  t_  t_ll  y__  th_t  th_s  _s  th_  b_st  m_m_nt  _f  my  l_f_,  b_t  _  f__l  th_s  h_ppy  wh_n  _  f_n_sh  _  s_ng…_r  wh_n  _'m  r_h__rs_ng  w_th  my  d_nc_rs  _r  my  b_nd,  _r  g_tt_ng  r__dy  t_  g_  t_  T_ky_  t_  pl_y  _  sh_w."  Sh_  _dd_d:  "_ll  _  w_nn_  d_  _s  k__p  b__ng  _bl_  t_  d_  th_s.  _  l_v_  _t  s_  m_ch.  _t  m_k_s  m_  s_  h_ppy."

    T_yl_r  Sw_ft  w_s  b_rn  _n  1989.  Sh_  b_g_n  wr_t_ng  s_ngs  pr_f_ss__n_lly  _t  th_  _g_  _f  14.  _n  2005,  sh_  s_gn_d  w_th  B_g  M_ch_n_  R_c_rds  t_  b_c_m_  _  c__ntry  s_ng_r.  S_nc_  th_n,  sh_  h_s  br_nch_d  __t  _nt_  _  v_r__ty  _f  m_s_c  styl_s.  Sh_  h_s  m_v_d  fr_m  c__ntry,  t_  r_ck,  t_  _l_ctr_n_c,  synth-p_p  _nd  h_p-h_p.  Sh_  _s  n_w  th_  b_gg_st  m_s_c  st_r  _n  th_  w_rld  _nd  h_s  s_ld  _v_r  200  m_ll__n  r_c_rds.  _  m_v__  _f  h_r  2023-2024  c_nc_rt  t__r  "_r_s"  _s  th_  h_gh_st-gr_ss_ng  c_nc_rt  f_lm  _v_r.  Sh_  _s  _ls_  _  h_g_  _nfl__nc_r  _f  p_p_l_r  c_lt_r_  _nd  _s  _n  F_rb_s  m_g_z_n_'s  l_st  _f  th_  W_rld's  100  M_st  P_w_rf_l  W_m_n.  W_k_p_d__  d_scr_b_s  Sw_ft  _s  b__ng,  "_  ph_l_nthr_p_st  _nd  _n  _dv_c_t_  f_r  _rt_sts'  r_ghts  _nd  w_m_n's  _mp_w_rm_nt".

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    taylor swift has made history at the 2024 grammy awards the singersongwriter superstar is the first artist to win best album of the year four times the grammys are given for outstanding achievements in the music industry by winning for the fourth time ms swift overtook music legends frank sinatra and stevie wonder she won for her album midnights in her acceptance speech she said i would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life but i feel this happy when i finish a songor when im rehearsing with my dancers or my band or getting ready to go to tokyo to play a show she added all i wanna do is keep being able to do this i love it so much it makes me so happy

    taylor swift was born in 1989 she began writing songs professionally at the age of 14 in 2005 she signed with big machine records to become a country singer since then she has branched out into a variety of music styles she has moved from country to rock to electronic synthpop and hiphop she is now the biggest music star in the world and has sold over 200 million records a movie of her 20232024 concert tour eras is the highestgrossing concert film ever she is also a huge influencer of popular culture and is on forbes magazines list of the worlds 100 most powerful women wikipedia describes swift as being a philanthropist and an advocate for artists rights and womens empowerment

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    TaylorSwifthasmadehistoryatthe2024GrammyAwards.Thesinger-
    songwritersuperstaristhefirstartisttowinbestalbumoftheyearfourti
    mes.TheGrammysaregivenforoutstandingachievementsinthemusic
    industry.Bywinningforthefourthtime,MsSwiftovertookmusiclegends
    FrankSinatraandStevieWonder.Shewonforheralbum"Midnights".In
    heracceptancespeech,shesaid:"Iwouldlovetotellyouthatthisisthebe
    stmomentofmylife,butIfeelthishappywhenIfinishasong…orwhenI'm
    rehearsingwithmydancersormyband,orgettingreadytogotoTokyoto
    playashow."Sheadded:"AllIwannadoiskeepbeingabletodothis.Ilovei
    tsomuch.Itmakesmesohappy."TaylorSwiftwasbornin1989.Shebega
    nwritingsongsprofessionallyattheageof14.In2005,shesignedwithBi
    gMachineRecordstobecomeacountrysinger.Sincethen,shehasbranc
    hedoutintoavarietyofmusicstyles.Shehasmovedfromcountry,torock
    ,toelectronic,synth-popandhip-hop.Sheisnowthebiggestmusicstari
    ntheworldandhassoldover200millionrecords.Amovieofher2023-20
    24concerttour"Eras"isthehighest-grossingconcertfilmever.Sheisals
    oahugeinfluencerofpopularcultureandisonForbesmagazine'slistofth
    eWorld's100MostPowerfulWomen.WikipediadescribesSwiftasbeing,
    "aphilanthropistandanadvocateforartists'rightsandwomen'sempow
    erment".

    Free writing

    Write about Taylor Swift for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Taylor Swift is the world's greatest music artist. Discuss.

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    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. TAYLOR SWIFT: Make a poster about Taylor Swift. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. THE GREATEST: Write a magazine article about Taylor Swift being the greatest music artist of all time. Include imaginary interviews with people who agree and disagree with 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 Taylor Swift. Ask him/her three questions about her. Give him/her three of your opinions of her. 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

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

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