Understanding Newspaper Headlines Take a look at any newspaper or magazine headline and you Take are likely to fnd incomplete sentences ull o action packed verbs. Headlines live in a linguistic bubble all by themselves because they ignore grammar conventions such as the th e use o helping verbs and so on. O course, this means that newspaper headlines can be conusing to students. This is because newspaper headlines are oten incomplete. For eample! Difcult Times Ahead Under Pressure rom Boss Mustang Reerral Customer Complaint This lesson ocuses on helping make make sense o the strange orms used in newspaper headlines. "ou "ou may want to review some o the most common grammar eceptions ound in newspaper headlines beore headlines beore you take this lesson into class. Aim: #nderstanding newspaper headlines $Translating$ ranslating$ newspaper new spaper headlines into more Activity: $T understandable %nglish Level: &ntermediate to higher levels Outline: Find some headlines in old newspapers or on the &nternet and cut them out. There should be at least two headlines per student. 'ass out one o the headlines to each student. (ive them a ew minutes to think about the meaning o each headline. •
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)sk students to read their headlines aloud and give an eplanation o what they think the article in *uestion concerns. )s a class, brainstorm on possible structural meanings behind the $strange$ grammar
ound in headlines +reer to grammar eceptions ound in newspaper headlines. •
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)sk students to ft the ollowing headlines into the correct categories on the worksheet. "ou may want to have students pair up to do this. -orrect the eercise as a class. 'ass out the headlines you have let to the students. )sk each student to $translate$ each headline into $proper$ %nglish and give an eplanation o what they think the article in *uestion concerns.
)s a homework option, you may want to ask students to fnd some headlines on their own and repeat this eercise. ) urther challenge might be to ask students to fnd headlines, read the articles, and then ask other students to interpret their headlines in small groups. Newspaper Headlines Worksheet . /atch these newspaper headlines into with the ollowing categories +some headlines ft two categories! •
Categories 0oun 'hrases 0oun 1trings 1imple Tenses instead o -ontinuous or 'erect )uiliary 2erbs 3ropped in 'assive Form )rticles 3ropped &nfnitive to &ndicate Future Newspaper Headlines Difcult Times Ahead Forgotten Brother Appears James Wood to Visit Portland Landscaping Company Disturbance egulations !an "illed in Accident !ayor to #pen $hopping !all !ustang e%erral Customer Complaint #&er'helming esponse o% Voters Passerby $ees Woman Jump
President Declares Celebration Pro%essors Protest Pay Cuts Tommy the Dog (amed )ero *nder Pressure %rom Boss *ne+pected Visit Wido' Pension Pay Committee 4. Try to $translate$ the meaning o each o the headline
Understanding Newspaper Headlines /any students have di5culty understanding newspaper headlines. This is because newspaper headlines are oten incomplete sentences +i.e. Difcult Times Ahead. Here is a guide to the most common eceptions ound in newspaper headlines. Noun Phrases Headlines oten contain a noun phrase with no verb. ) noun phrase describes a noun +i.e. around strange, exotic people. Here are some eamples o noun phrase headlines! Under Pressure rom Boss Unexpected Visit !er"helming Response o Voters &t6s useul to ask yoursel *uestions such as! From what7, )bout what7, From whom7, To whom7 etc. when reading these type o headlines. 8y asking yoursel these *uestions, you can begin preparing yoursel or the article. This practice helps the brain prepare itsel by starting to think about vocabulary related to the sub9ect. Here6s an eample!
*ne+pected Visit The *uestions & can ask mysel are! From whom7 :hy was the visit unepected7 :ho was visited7 etc. these *uestions will help ocus my mind on vocabulary related to relationships, travelling, surprises, important reasons or visits, etc.
Noun Strings
)nother common headline orm is a string o three, our or more nouns together +i.e. Countr# $eader %uestion Time. These can be di5cult because the words don6t appear related by verbs or ad9ectives. Here are some more eamples! &ido" Pension Pa# Committee $andscaping Compan# Distur'ance Regulations Mustang Reerral Customer Complaint &n the case o noun strings, it6s helpul to try to connect the ideas by reading backward. For eample!
!ustang e%erral Customer Complaint 8y reading backwards, & can guess that! There is a complaint made by a customer about areerral program or !ustang cars. O course, you need to use your imagine or this; "arious "er# Changes There are a number o verb changes made to headlines. The most common are! 1imple tenses used instead o continuous or perect orms. For eample! Forgotten Brother Appears < ) orgotten brother has appeared +ater a long period o time. Pro%essors Protest Pay Cuts < 'roessors are protesting pay cuts +at the university. The infnitive orm reers to the uture. For eample! !ayor to #pen $hopping !all < The mayor is going to open a new shopping mall. James Wood to Visit Portland < +Famous actor =ames :ood is going to visit 'ortland soon. )uiliary verbs are dropped in the passive orm. For eample! !an "illed in Accident < ) /an has been killed in an accident. Tommy the Dog (amed )ero < Tommy the 3og has been named a hero +by the mayor. $rop Articles •
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'erhaps you have noticed in the eamples above that both defnite and indefnite articles are also dropped in newspaper headlines +i.e. Ma#or to Choose Candidate. Here are some more eamples! President Declares Celebration < The president has declared a celebration. Passerby $ees Woman Jump < ) passerby has seen a woman 9ump +into the river.
How to Teach English Using Newspapers 0ewspapers or magazines are a must have in every classroom > even i the class you are teaching are beginners. There are a number o ways to use newspapers or everything rom simple reading eercises to using ecerpts or reading in class. Here are suggestions on how to use newspapers in class arranged by linguistic ob9ective. &n some cases, links are provided to ull lesson plans on the ideas suggested below.
%eading •
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1traight orward reading! Have students read an article and discuss. )sk students to fnd articles rom di?erent nations on a global topic. 1tudents should compare and contrast how di?erent nations portray the news story.
"oca#ulary •
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Focus on word orms using colored pens. )sk students to circle di?erent orms o a word such as worth, worthy, worthless, etc. in an article. )sk students to fnd various parts o speech such as nouns, verbs, ad9ectives, adverbs.
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/ake a mind>map o an article relating ideas through vocabulary. Focus on words related to certain ideas. For eample, ask students to circle verbs that are related to fnance. Have students eplore the di?erences between these words in groups.
&rammar •
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3iscuss the use o present perect or recent events that have an e?ect on the current moment by ocusing on truncated newspaper headlines that use the past participle such as! @"A /erger 3one 3eal, Baw )pproved &n 1enate #se colored pens to ocus on grammar points. For eample, i you are studying verbs that take the gerund or the infnitive, have students highlight these combinations using one color or gerunds and another color or infnitives. )nother option is to have students highlight di?erent tenses in di?erent colors. 'hotocopy an article rom a newspaper. :hite out key grammar items that you are ocusing on and have students fll in the blank. For eample, white out all the helping verbs and ask students to fll them in.
Speaking •
8reak students up into groups and read a short article. 1tudents should then write *uestions based on this article, and then echange articles with another group providing *uestions. Once groups have answered the *uestions, get students into pairs, one rom each group, and have them discuss their answers.
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Focus on ads. How are the ads pitching their products7 :hat messages are they trying to send7
Listening ' Pronunciation •
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)sk students to prepare two paragraphs rom a newspaper article. First, students should all the content words in the passage. 0et, have students practice reading the sentences ocusing on using correct intonation o the sentence by ocusing on content words. Finally, students read to each other asking simple *uestions or comprehension. Focus on an &') symbol or two through the use o minimal pairs. )sk students to underline eample o each phoneme practiced. For eample, have students compare and contrast the phonemes or the short C&C sound and the longer 6ee6 o CiC by looking or representative words with each phoneme. #se a news story that has a transcript +0'D.org oten does this or listening or gist. First, have students listen to news story. 0et, ask *uestions about the gist o the story. Finally, ask students to listen while reading the transcript. Follow up with discussion.
Writing •
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Have students write short summaries o news stories they have read. )sk students to write a newspaper article o their own or a school or class newspaper. 1ome students can do interviews, others take photos. )lternately, use the same idea to create a class blog.
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Bower level students can use photos, charts, pictures, etc. to begin writing descriptive sentences. These can be simple sentences describing what someone is wearing to practice related vocabulary. /ore advanced students can write about the 6back story6 o photos such as why the person was in a certain situation shown in a photograph.
Reading and Writing Newspaper Articles 1tudents oten read newspapers or a wide variety o reasons, not least o which is to keep inormed in %nglish. )s you know, newspaper writing style tends to have three levels! Headlines, leading phrases, and article content. %ach o these has its own style. This lesson ocuses on calling students6 attention to this type o writing style on a deeper, grammatical level. &t ends with students writing up their own short articles with a ollow>up listening comprehension opportunity.
Aim: &mproved writing skills and understanding newspaper writing style Activity: :riting short newspaper articles Level: &ntermediate to upper intermediate Outline: #se the provided eample newspaper article, or take a newspaper into the class. •
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)sk students to read the newspaper article and summarize the contents. Have students analyze the di?erence between the headline, leading sentence and article content in terms o tense usage and vocabulary in small groups +E> students. )s a class, check that the di?erences between headline, leading sentence and article content
are clear. Here is a short guideline to the main di?erences! •
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Headline! 1imple tenses, idiomatic, Gashy vocabulary, no use o unction words Beading sentence! 'resent perect tense oten used to give general overview. )rticle content! 'roper tense usage, including a change rom present perect to past tenses to give detailed, specifc inormation about what, where and when something happened. Once the di?erences have been understood, have students split up into pairs or small groups +E> students
#sing the work sheet, small groups should write their own newspaper articles using the headlinesprovided or come up with their own stories. Have students read their newspaper articles aloud allowing you to incorporate some listening comprehension into the lesson. (A)* "AN &O&H S*LLS (O% +,- !.LL.ON A a(e painting supposedl# '# Vincent Van )ogh has 'een sold or *+ million in Paris'aris =une 4II •
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&magine this! &t6s the chance o a lietime. "ou have the necessary cash and you have the opportunity to buy a 2an (ogh. )ter purchasing the painting and placing it on your living room wall to show to all your riends, you discover that the painting is a orgery; That6s what happened to an anonymous telephone bidder who purchased .un/o"ers in the &indat the 'einture -ompany in 'aris, France. The frst +supposed 2an (ogh painting to have been auctioned since last year6s record sale o JI million, the orgery was sold or JEK million. The painting had also been reported to be the last ever o?ered or sale, 8ritain6s 3aily Times reported Thursday.
#nortunately, shortly ater the masterpiece had been transerred to the buyer6s home, the )cademy o Fine )rts released a statement saying that .un/o"ers in the &ind was a ake. #pon urther investigation, the report proved to be true. The unlucky buyer was orced to recognize that he or she had indeed purchased a orgery. Choose a Headline and Write /our Own Newspaper Article (e'spaper Article , 0%1C) C%ASH*S .N0O L.".N& %OO! Beading sentence! pro!ide #our leading sentence )rticle content! "rite at least three short paragraphs a'out the incident (e'spaper Article LOCAL CO1NC.L: AC0.ON NO0 P%O!.S*S Beading sentence! pro!ide #our leading sentence )rticle content! "rite at least three short paragraphs a'out the incident (e'spaper Article . LOCAL (OO02ALL PLA/*% W.NS 2.& Beading sentence! pro!ide #our leading sentence )rticle content! "rite at least three short paragraphs a'out the incident
Telling others about the News Lesson Plan Telling others about the news should be a part o every %1B C %FB class. 3espite some students6 hesitation to discuss the $news$, most students will eagerly 9oin the conversation when issues are addressed that touch their own lives. This need not be about earth>shaking, latest world tragedy news, although that will certainly acilitate provoking conversations in certain classrooms o adult %nglish learners. The ocus should be on students fnding news stories that interest
them on a more local, every day level, as well as helping with understanding newspaper headlines. To that end, this reporting on the news lesson ocuses on getting students engaged not only in reporting on the news, but also in ollow> up discussions with their classmates. -ombine this lesson plan with other ideas such as using newspaper headlines to ocus on verb orms, as well as these ideas on how to teach %nglish using newspapers to ensure that current events are ully taken advantage o to enliven your class and provide ample opportunity to improve %nglish conversational skills.
Aim: &mproving %nglish conversational skills Activity: Telling others about the news and other current events Level: &ntermediate to advanced Outline: )s a class, introduce the topic o news by asking or students to mention some o the latest news stories. •
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3iscuss the idea o di?erent types o news! international, local, organizational, amily, etc. #sing a newspaper in class, or using web sites such as the 0ew "ork Times or -00, ask students to choose three news stories that might interest them. /ake sure to provide a variety o news sources beyond international news such as a local newspaper such as one o the many ree city>news publications that can be ound in any ma9or city. Have students pair up and ask them to tell their partners their choice o news stories. %ach partner should try to guess at the reasons why the other student has chosen his or her stories. &n class, or as homework, ask students to read their respective news stories and choose fve
epressions that they fnd interesting C di5cult C important. •
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)sk students to look up defnitions, eplanations or each o their chosen epressions. Have students write up notes to shortly summarize one o their news stories using the *uestions below. )sk students to get into groups o our to fve students. %ach student should eplain his or her story using the notes they have taken. %ach listening student should ask at least one *uestion based on the news story. )sk students to eplain their fve epressions rom the reading beore they began reading to their respective groups. Finish the session with a class discussion o news stories discussed by asking students to choose one story they heard that especially caught their interest.
)s ollow>up homework, ask students to urther the eercise by repeating the eercise at home or a ollow>up discussion in an upcoming class. Suggestions or 0aking Notes :hat was the most important or main event in the news story7 •
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:here and when did C will the event take place7 :ho are the main people, countries, organizations, etc. that play an active role in the story7 :hat have they done, or what will they do7
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:hich people, countries, organizations, etc. are a?ected by the news story7 How are they a?ected7 :hat is your personal opinion o the news story7 & the news story is about an important international, national or local situation, how does the news story a?ect your own views on the situation discussed in the news story7 & the story is about a local event, has the story made you interested in learning more7 For eample, would you like to visit a place or meet someone mentioned in the story7 :hy did you choose this news story7 How does it relate to your lie7
