Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Swiss Muslims

Muslims in Switzerland held a nationwide open mosque day on November 7th. The event was to encourage better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three weeks ahead of a national vote on whether or not to ban the building of new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country opened their doors and invited non-Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do away with the fears and prejudices people have against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said the many visitors who came enjoyed themselves.

Switzerland will vote on November 29th on a plan to ban the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-wing Swiss People's Party called the small towers a symbol of Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim political power. However, most Swiss people are against a ban. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are against a ban and 34 percent for it. There are 400,000 Muslims and less than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are worried the vote will harm their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went further. She said: "A vote in favour of the referendum could make Switzerland a target for Islamic terrorism."

WARM-UPS

1. ISLAM: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Islam. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

nationwide / community relations / neighbours / prejudices / dialogue / visitors / construction / minarets / intolerance / ban / business leaders / relations / targets

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. NEIGHBOURS: What are the good and bad things about these neighbours? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

Neighbours with…	Good	Bad
a different religion
pets
children
no money
criminal records
big hearts

4. PREJUDICE: Students A strongly believe prejudice will disappear from our society one day; Students B strongly believe prejudice in the world will only get worse. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. INTOLERANCE: What kind of intolerance is there in your country? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = loads of intolerance; 1 = almost none. Change partners and share your ratings again.

religious intolerance
racial intolerance
intolerance based on class / caste
intolerance based on accent

sexism
intolerance to change
ageism
intolerance towards the homeless

6. MOSQUE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘mosque’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

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

a.	Swiss people can now visit mosques every day of the week.	T / F
b.	Swiss people will soon vote on a ban on building mosque minarets.	T / F
c.	Muslim leaders in Switzerland want to talk more with Swiss people.	T / F
d.	A BBC reporter said people enjoyed visiting the mosque she went to.	T / F
e.	There will be no more mosques built in Switzerland after November 29.	T / F
f.	The vast majority of Swiss people oppose a ban on minaret building.	T / F
g.	Only four mosques in Switzerland currently have a minaret.	T / F
h.	The Swiss president is afraid a ban could bring terrorism to her nation.	T / F

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

1.	encourage	a.	damage
2	ahead	b.	welcomed
3.	invited	c.	building
4.	dialogue	d.	opposed to
5.	prejudices	e.	for
6.	construction	f.	before
7.	symbol	g.	discrimination
8.	against	h.	promote
9.	harm	i.	conversation
10.	in favour of	j.	icon

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

1.	encourage better	a.	to ban the building
2	three weeks ahead	b.	have a minaret
3.	whether or not	c.	prejudices people have
4.	do away with the fears and	d.	dialogue
5.	build a	e.	relations
6.	a plan to ban the construction	f.	against a ban
7.	most Swiss people are	g.	community relations
8.	four of these	h.	favour of the referendum
9.	the vote will harm their nation’s	i.	of minarets
10.	A vote in	j.	of a national vote

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Muslims in Switzerland held a nationwide ____________ mosque day on November 7th. The event was to ____________ better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three weeks ____________ of a national vote on whether or not to ban the building of new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country ____________ their doors and invited non-Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do away with the ____________ and prejudices people have against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a ____________ and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a ____________ Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said the many visitors who came ____________ themselves.

enjoyed
encourage
opened
open
fears
senior
ahead
dialogue

Switzerland will vote on November 29th on a plan to ____________ the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-wing Swiss People's Party called the small ____________ a symbol of Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim political ____________. However, most Swiss people are against a ban. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are ____________ a ban and 34 percent for it. There are 400,000 Muslims and ____________ than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are ____________ the vote will harm their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went further. She said: "A vote in ____________ of the referendum could make Switzerland a ____________ for Islamic terrorism."

against
towers
target
worried
power
ban
favour
less

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Muslims in Switzerland ________________ open mosque day on November 7th. The event was to encourage better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three ________________ national vote on whether ________________ building of new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country opened their doors ________________ -Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do away with the fears and ___________________ against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said __________________ came enjoyed themselves.

Switzerland will vote on November 29th ________________ the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-wing Swiss People's Party called the small towers ________________ Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim political power. However, most Swiss people are ________________. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are against a ban and ________________. There are 400,000 Muslims and less than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are worried ________________ their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went further. She said: "A vote in favour of the referendum could make Switzerland ________________ Islamic terrorism."

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

national

vote

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:

held
ahead
whether
away
dialogue
enjoyed

plan
symbol
poll
four
harm
target

STUDENT ISLAM SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Islam in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘Islam’?
c)	What do you think of the news in this article?
d)	Do you think the open day was a good idea?
e)	What do you think of Switzerland for holding a vote to ban minarets?
f)	Why do you think there is prejudice against Muslims in Switzerland?
g)	How are relations among different religions in your country?
h)	If all religions teach the importance of harmony and love, why is their so much fear, hatred and mistrust among religions?
i)	Would you like to know more about other religions?
j)	What is needed to increase religious tolerance in our world?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Should Switzerland include other religious buildings in its ban?
c)	Do you think the vote on minarets is religious discrimination?
d)	What do you think of the tolerance of a party requesting a ban on the building of minarets?
e)	Are you surprised only 53% of Swiss are against the ban (so far)?
f)	Why do you think the Swiss People’s Party fears the construction of a few minarets?
g)	Are Swiss business leaders right to worry about the vote harming Switzerland’s relations with Muslim countries?
h)	Why do people talk about “Islamic” terrorism but never “Catholic” terrorism or “Christian” terrorism?
i)	What would you say to someone voting in this referendum?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Micheline Calmy-Rey?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Muslims in Switzerland held a nationwide (1) ____ mosque day on November 7th. The event was to encourage better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three weeks (2) ____ of a national vote on whether or not to ban the building (3) ____ new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country opened their doors and invited (4) ____ Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do (5) ____ with the fears and prejudices people have against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said the many visitors who came (6) ____ themselves.

Switzerland will vote on November 29th on a plan to ban the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-(7) ____ Swiss People's Party called the small towers a symbol of Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim (8) ____ power. However, most Swiss people are against a ban. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are against a ban and 34 percent (9) ____ it. There are 400,000 Muslims and less than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are worried the vote (10) ____ harm their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went (11) ____. She said: "A vote in favour of the referendum could (12) ____ Switzerland a target for Islamic terrorism."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	open	(b)	opens	(c)	opened	(d)	opening
2.	(a)	headed	(b)	ahead	(c)	heading	(d)	header
3.	(a)	for	(b)	by	(c)	of	(d)	from
4.	(a)	no-no	(b)	not	(c)	nor	(d)	non
5.	(a)	ahead	(b)	ago	(c)	another	(d)	away
6.	(a)	enjoying	(b)	enjoyable	(c)	enjoyed	(d)	enjoys
7.	(a)	wing	(b)	tail	(c)	nose	(d)	cockpit
8.	(a)	politics	(b)	political	(c)	politician	(d)	politically
9.	(a)	for	(b)	far	(c)	of	(d)	from
10.	(a)	will	(b)	have	(c)	did	(d)	was
11.	(a)	crazy	(b)	on	(c)	home	(d)	further
12.	(a)	be	(b)	make	(c)	increase	(d)	create

WRITING

Write about Islam for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 Islam. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. ISLAM: Make a poster about Islam and its major teachings. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. THE VOTE: Write a magazine article about the Swiss vote to ban the building of minarets. Include imaginary interviews with people for and against a ban.

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. LETTER: Write a letter to Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey. Ask her three questions about the vote. Give her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	encourage	a.	promote
2	ahead	b.	before
3.	invited	c.	welcomed
4.	dialogue	d.	conversation
5.	prejudices	e.	discrimination
6.	construction	f.	building
7.	symbol	g.	icon
8.	against	h.	opposed to
9.	harm	i.	damage
10.	in favour of	j.	for

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	encourage better	a.	community relations
2	three weeks ahead	b.	of a national vote
3.	whether or not	c.	to ban the building
4.	do away with the fears and	d.	prejudices people have
5.	build a	e.	dialogue
6.	a plan to ban the construction	f.	of minarets
7.	most Swiss people are	g.	against a ban
8.	four of these	h.	have a minaret
9.	the vote will harm their nation’s	i.	relations
10.	A vote in	j.	favour of the referendum

GAP FILL:

Swiss Muslims open mosques to public

Muslims in Switzerland held a nationwide open mosque day on November 7th. The event was to encourage better community relations between Swiss people and their Muslim neighbours. It also comes three weeks ahead of a national vote on whether or not to ban the building of new minarets. Over 100 mosques and Islamic religious centres across the country opened their doors and invited non-Muslims in. Muslim leaders said they wanted to do away with the fears and prejudices people have against Muslims. "We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim spokesman. BBC reporter Imogen Foulkes visited a mosque in Zurich and said the many visitors who came enjoyed themselves.

Switzerland will vote on November 29th on a plan to ban the construction of minarets on mosques. The right-wing Swiss People's Party called the small towers a symbol of Islamic religious intolerance and of Muslim political power. However, most Swiss people are against a ban. The Wall Street Journal reported a poll in which 53 per cent of people are against a ban and 34 percent for it. There are 400,000 Muslims and less than 200 mosques in Switzerland. Only four of these have a minaret. Business leaders are worried the vote will harm their nation’s relations with Muslim countries. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey went further. She said: "A vote in favour of the referendum could make Switzerland a target for Islamic terrorism."

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - d

4 - b

5 - d

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 -a

10 - c

11 - d

12 - b

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Breaking News English

November 9, 2009

Swiss Muslims Open Mosques to Public