Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Pink Toys

Two mothers in England are angry at a toy shop for selling too many pink toys. They have called for a boycott of the store because of the ‘pinkification’ of girls' Christmas presents. They say the pink gifts are overly cute and can hold girls back in later life. Twin sisters Abi and Emma Moore have started a Facebook page to let people know that pink toys send "narrow and damaging" messages. Abi Moore told reporters that encouraging shoppers to buy pink means “beauty is valued over brains”. Their Facebook campaign is called ‘Pink Stinks’. They point out that there are educational toys for boys on everything from action and adventure to science. They contrast this with the 'much more limited - and limiting' choices for girls.

The sisters’ criticism of pink toys has started a nationwide debate in Britain. They have been supported by British Justice Minister Bridget Prentice. She agreed that the Early Learning Centre encouraged sexist ideas that little girls must like pink things. A spokeswoman for the Early Learning Centre rejected the criticism. "Customers can choose a red kitchen, a blue kitchen, a blue cash register, a yellow dolls house or a gorgeous farm," she said. Britain’s Daily Telegraph rubbished the campaign, saying: “It really is difficult to think of a sillier cause. Little girls like pink; it is part of their innocent charm, not an indication that they plan to waste their lives in "pretty-pretty jobs", whatever they might be.”

WARM-UPS

1. PINK: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the colour pink. 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.

mothers / being angry / boycott / gifts / damaging messages / educational toys / criticism / debates / sexist ideas / pink things / silly causes / wasting your life

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

3. COLOUR: What’s the best and worst colour for these things? Complete this table and show it to your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

	Best	Why?	Worst	Why?
A computer
A car
Lipstick
Shoes
A house
An ice cream

4. SEXIST: Students A strongly believe pink for girls is sexist and holds girls back in life; Students B strongly disagree. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PINKIFICATION: What if these things were pink? Rate them with your partner(s): 10 = fab idea; 1 = oh dear. Change partners and share your ratings.

pets
fridges
roads
water

the sky
newspapers
money
eyes

6. STINK: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘stink’. 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.	Two British mothers are angry at the lack of pink toys in shops.	T / F
b.	The women say pink toys do not help girls to get ahead in life.	T / F
c.	The mums believe pink toys belittle girls’ intelligence.	T / F
d.	The women point out that there is a huge choice of toys for boys.	T / F
e.	The mothers have the support of a British politician.	T / F
f.	The politician disagreed that making pink toys for girls was sexist.	T / F
g.	A toy store agreed with the mothers and apologized to them.	T / F
h.	A newspaper said it was natural for girls to like pink.	T / F

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

1.	angry	a.	negative
2	called for	b.	beautiful
3.	damaging	c.	options
4.	brains	d.	discussion
5.	choices	e.	furious
6.	debate	f.	promoted
7.	encouraged	g.	more stupid
8.	gorgeous	h.	demanded
9.	sillier	i.	appeal
10.	charm	j.	intelligence

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

1.	They have called for a boycott	a.	choose a red kitchen
2	hold girls back in	b.	Facebook page
3.	started a	c.	ideas
4.	encouraging shoppers	d.	charm
5.	much more limited – and limiting	e.	to buy pink
6.	started a nationwide	f.	of the store
7.	sexist	g.	sillier cause
8.	Customers can	h.	later life
9.	difficult to think of a	i.	choices
10.	part of their innocent	j.	debate in Britain

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

Two mothers in England are ____________ at a toy shop for selling too many pink toys. They have called for a ____________ of the store because of the ‘pinkification’ of girls' Christmas presents. They say the pink gifts are overly cute and can hold girls ____________ in later life. Twin sisters Abi and Emma Moore have started a Facebook page to let people know that pink toys ____________ "narrow and damaging" messages. Abi Moore told reporters that encouraging shoppers to buy pink ____________ “beauty is valued ____________ brains”. Their Facebook campaign is called ‘Pink Stinks’. They ____________ out that there are educational toys for boys on everything from action and adventure to science. They contrast this with the 'much more limited - and limiting' ____________ for girls.

means
send
angry
back
choices
point
boycott
over

The sisters’ ____________ of pink toys has started a nationwide debate in Britain. They have been ____________ by British Justice Minister Bridget Prentice. She ____________ that the Early Learning Centre encouraged sexist ideas that little girls must like pink things. A spokeswoman for the Early Learning Centre ____________ the criticism. "Customers can choose a red kitchen, a blue kitchen, a blue cash register, a yellow dolls house or a ____________ farm," she said. Britain’s Daily Telegraph ____________ the campaign, saying: “It really is difficult to think of a sillier ____________. Little girls like pink; it is part of their innocent charm, not an indication that they plan to ____________ their lives in "pretty-pretty jobs", whatever they might be.”

cause
supported
rubbished
waste
criticism
rejected
agreed
gorgeous

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Two mothers in England ___________________ shop for selling too many pink toys. They have called for a boycott of the store because of the ‘pinkification’ of girls' Christmas presents. They say the ___________________ cute and can hold girls back in later life. Twin sisters Abi and Emma Moore have started a Facebook page ___________________ that pink toys send "narrow and damaging" messages. Abi Moore told reporters that encouraging shoppers ___________________ “beauty is valued over brains”. Their Facebook campaign is called ‘Pink Stinks’. They ___________________ are educational toys for boys on everything from action and adventure to science. They contrast this with the 'much more limited - and ___________________.

___________________ pink toys has started a nationwide debate in Britain. They have been supported by British Justice Minister Bridget Prentice. She agreed that the Early Learning Centre encouraged ___________________ girls must like pink things. A spokeswoman for the Early Learning Centre ___________________. "Customers can choose a red kitchen, a blue kitchen, ___________________, a yellow dolls house or a gorgeous farm," she said. Britain’s Daily Telegraph rubbished the campaign, saying: “It really is difficult to think ___________________. Little girls like pink; it is part of their innocent charm, not an indication that they plan ___________________ in "pretty-pretty jobs", whatever they might be.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

pink

toy

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:

angry
gifts
messages
brains
point
limited

started
ideas
spokeswoman
choose
cause
waste

STUDENT PINK SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about the colour pink 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.

THE COLOUR PINK 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 ‘pink’?
c)	Are you ever a pink person? What colour describes your personality?
d)	What do you think of the ‘pinkification’ claims?
e)	Do you think people should boycott the stores?
f)	Is there really so much wrong with buying little girls pink things?
g)	How do you think pink toys hold girls back in life?
h)	Do pink toys really mean “beauty is valued over brains”?
i)	Are toys for boys better than those for girls?
j)	Is there a wider choice when buying boys’ toys?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What were your favourite toys when you were a child?
c)	Do you like the colour pink?
d)	What would you say in the nationwide debate on this issue?
e)	Is associating pink with girls sexist? How about blue for boys?
f)	Is the Daily Telegraph right in saying this is a silly cause?
g)	What is wrong with buying pink presents if little girls like pink?
h)	What three adjectives would you use to describe this story?
i)	What’s the best present for a little girl?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Abi and Emma Moore?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Two mothers in England are (1) ____ at a toy shop for selling too many pink toys. They have called for a (2) ____ of the store because of the ‘pinkification’ of girls' Christmas presents. They say the pink gifts are overly cute and can hold girls back (3) ____ later life. Twin sisters Abi and Emma Moore have started a Facebook page to let people know that pink toys send "(4) ____ and damaging" messages. Abi Moore told reporters that encouraging shoppers to buy pink means “beauty is (5) ____ over brains”. Their Facebook campaign is called ‘Pink Stinks’. They point out that there are educational toys for boys (6) ____ everything from action and adventure to science. They contrast this with the 'much more limited - and limiting' choices for girls.

The sisters’ (7) ____ of pink toys has started a nationwide debate in Britain. They have been supported by British Justice Minister Bridget Prentice. She (8) ____ that the Early Learning Centre encouraged sexist ideas that little girls must like pink things. A spokeswoman for the Early Learning Centre (9) ____ the criticism. "Customers can choose a red kitchen, a blue kitchen, a blue cash register, a yellow dolls house or a gorgeous farm," she said. Britain’s Daily Telegraph (10) ____ the campaign, saying: “It really is difficult to think of a sillier (11) ____. Little girls like pink; it is part of their innocent charm, not an indication that they plan to (12) ____ their lives in "pretty-pretty jobs", whatever they might be.”

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

1.	(a)	anger	(b)	angrily	(c)	angers	(d)	angry
2.	(a)	boycott	(b)	boyish	(c)	boys	(d)	boyhood
3.	(a)	at	(b)	in	(c)	of	(d)	to
4.	(a)	narrowed	(b)	narrows	(c)	narrow	(d)	narrowly
5.	(a)	valuable	(b)	values	(c)	valued	(d)	valueless
6.	(a)	at	(b)	on	(c)	to	(d)	by
7.	(a)	critic	(b)	critical	(c)	critically	(d)	criticism
8.	(a)	agreed	(b)	agreement	(c)	agreeing	(d)	agree
9.	(a)	rejection	(b)	rejected	(c)	reject	(d)	rejecting
10.	(a)	litter	(b)	garbage	(c)	trashes	(d)	rubbished
11.	(a)	course	(b)	coarse	(c)	cause	(d)	because
12.	(a)	waste	(b)	paste	(c)	baste	(d)	haste

WRITING

Write about the colour pink 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 this story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. THE COLOUR PINK: Make a poster about the colour pink. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SEXIST: Write a magazine article about the colour pink and sexism. Include imaginary interviews with one person who thinks it is sexist and another who thinks it isn’t.

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 the sisters. Ask them three questions about the colour pink. Give them three ideas on what they can do to succeed. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	angry	a.	furious
2	called for	b.	demanded
3.	damaging	c.	negative
4.	brains	d.	intelligence
5.	choices	e.	options
6.	debate	f.	discussion
7.	encouraged	g.	promoted
8.	gorgeous	h.	beautiful
9.	sillier	i.	more stupid
10.	charm	j.	appeal

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	They have called for a boycott	a.	of the store
2	hold girls back in	b.	later life
3.	started a	c.	debate in Britain
4.	encouraging shoppers	d.	to buy pink
5.	much more limited – and limiting	e.	choices
6.	started a nationwide	f.	Facebook page
7.	sexist	g.	ideas
8.	Customers can	h.	choose a red kitchen
9.	difficult to think of a	i.	sillier cause
10.	part of their innocent	j.	charm

GAP FILL:

UK mums protest over pink girls’ toys

Two mothers in England are angry at a toy shop for selling too many pink toys. They have called for a boycott of the store because of the ‘pinkification’ of girls' Christmas presents. They say the pink gifts are overly cute and can hold girls back in later life. Twin sisters Abi and Emma Moore have started a Facebook page to let people know that pink toys send "narrow and damaging" messages. Abi Moore told reporters that encouraging shoppers to buy pink means “beauty is valued over brains”. Their Facebook campaign is called ‘Pink Stinks’. They point out that there are educational toys for boys on everything from action and adventure to science. They contrast this with the 'much more limited - and limiting' choices for girls.

The sisters’ criticism of pink toys has started a nationwide debate in Britain. They have been supported by British Justice Minister Bridget Prentice. She agreed that the Early Learning Centre encouraged sexist ideas that little girls must like pink things. A spokeswoman for the Early Learning Centre rejected the criticism. "Customers can choose a red kitchen, a blue kitchen, a blue cash register, a yellow dolls house or a gorgeous farm," she said. Britain’s Daily Telegraph rubbished the campaign, saying: “It really is difficult to think of a sillier cause. Little girls like pink; it is part of their innocent charm, not an indication that they plan to waste their lives in "pretty-pretty jobs", whatever they might be.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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Breaking News English

December 9, 2009

UK Mums Protest Over Pink Girls’ Toys