The Reading / Listening - Level 3

American pop singer Beyonce surprised her fans on Friday. She released her fifth album without telling anyone. The album was one of the biggest secrets in music history. Beyonce wanted to try a new way of releasing her music. She did not want to advertise it weeks or months before it came out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album herself. She did not want to let record company executives or newspapers tell them. The release was even a surprise for other celebrities and singers. She said: "There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out."

Beyonce released her new album exclusively on iTunes, which means people can only download it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed the videos in different parts of the world. She said she wanted to do something people would remember. She remembers being very excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to do something similar. She said: "I feel like right now people experience music differently." The album sold 80,000 copies in the first three hours of its release. Sales were helped by millions of people tweeting about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the first 12 hours. That's around 5,300 tweets a minute.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Level 0 Level 1   or  Level 2

Sources
  • http://gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/celebrity/beyonce-surprises-all-with-secret-album-release-1.1266796
  • http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-beyonce-visual-album-celebrity-reactions-20131213,0,2572540.story
  • http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/beyonces-surprise-itunes-album-receives-overwhelming-response-20131214-2zdmv.html#ixzz2nQuYE95P


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. POP SINGERS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about pop singers. Change partners often 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.

 

pop singer / surprised / album / secrets / music history / advertise / executives / exclusively / iTunes / remember / excited / something similar / experience / tweets

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

3. MUSIC: What are the good and bad points of these ways of listening to music? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Good points

Bad points

MP3

 

 

Vinyl record

 

 

YouTube

 

 

CD

 

 

Illegal download

 

 

Radio

 

 

4. POP: Students A strongly believe pop music is the best music in the world; Students B strongly believe pop music is the worst music in the world.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.



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5. SONGS: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the most important things at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • lyrics (words)

  • video

  • guitar solos

  • danceability

  • catchy tune

  • singer's voice

  • length

  • song/album artwork

6. ALBUM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "album". 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.

Beyonce said her fans surprised her on Friday.

T / F

b.

Beyonce released five albums before this new one.

T / F

c.

The singer wanted to tell her fans about the new record herself.

T / F

d.

Many other singers knew about the album before it came out.

T / F

e.

People can only buy the record on iTunes.

T / F

f.

There are more videos than songs on the album.

T / F

g.

The album sold 80,000 copies in the first three days.

T / F

h.

The article says people's comments on Facebook helped album sales.

T / F

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

1.

fans

a.

album

2.

telling

b.

method

3.

way

c.

shot

4.

surprise

d.

aided

5.

record

e.

close

6.

exclusively

f.

followers

7.

filmed

g.

about

8.

similar

h.

informing

9.

helped

i.

shock

10.

around

j.

only

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

1.

American pop singer Beyonce surprised

a.

on iTunes

2.

She released her fifth album

b.

about the album herself

3.

one of the biggest secrets

c.

coming out

4.

She wanted to tell her fans

d.

without telling anyone

5.

when my record is

e.

in the first three hours

6.

Beyonce released her new album exclusively

f.

of people tweeting

7.

wanted to do something

g.

her fans on Friday

8.

The album sold 80,000 copies

h.

5,300 tweets a minute

9.

Sales were helped by millions

i.

in music history

10.

That's around

j.

similar

 

GAP FILL

American pop singer Beyonce (1) ____________ her fans on Friday. She released her fifth album (2) ____________ telling anyone. The album was one of the biggest secrets in music (3) ____________. Beyonce wanted to try a new way of releasing her music. She did not want to (4) ____________ it weeks or months before it came out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album herself. She did not want to let record company (5) ____________ or newspapers tell them. The release was even a surprise for other (6) ____________ and singers. She said: "There's so much that gets (7) ____________ the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is (8) ____________ out."

 

 

advertise
between
coming
without
executives
surprised
history
celebrities

Beyonce released her new album (9) ____________ on iTunes, which means people can only (10) ____________ it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed the videos in different parts of the world. She said she wanted to do something people would (11) ____________. She remembers being very excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to do something (12) ____________. She said: "I feel like right now people experience music differently." The album sold 80,000 (13) ____________ in the first three hours of its release. Sales were helped by millions of people (14) ____________ about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the (15) ____________ 12 hours. That's around 5,300 tweets a (16) ____________.

 

similar
tweeting
remember
minute
exclusively
first
download
copies

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)

American pop singer Beyonce ______

 

a.  surprising her fans
b.  surprised the fans
c.  surprised her fan
d.  surprised her fans

2)

She released her fifth album ______

 

a.  without telling no one
b.  without telling anyone
c.  without telling someone
d.  without telling everyone

3)

She did not want to advertise it weeks or months before ______

 

a.  it came out
b.  it comes out
c.  it became out
d.  it becomes out

4)

She wanted to tell her fans about the ______

 

a.  album himself
b.  album herself
c.  album themselves
d.  album ourselves

5)

I felt like I didn't want anybody to ______

 

a.  give the massage
b.  give the mess age
c.  give the mass age
d.  give the message

6)

Beyonce released her new album ______

 

a.  exclusive on iTunes
b.  exclusives on iTunes
c.  exclusivity on iTunes
d.  exclusively on iTunes

7)

She said she wanted to do something people ______

 

a.  would remembers
b.  would remember
c.  would remembered
d.  would remembering

8)

wanted to do ______

 

a.  something similarly
b.  something similar
c.  something dissimilar
d.  something similarity

9)

I feel like right now people experience ______

 

a.  music different
b.  music difference
c.  music differently
d.  music differentiate

10)

There were more than 1.2 million tweets ______ 12 hours

 

a.  in the fast
b.  in the firstly
c.  in the first
d.  in the firsts

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

American pop singer Beyonce (1) ___________________ on Friday. She released her fifth album without telling anyone. The album was one of the (2) ___________________ music history. Beyonce wanted to try a new way of releasing her music. She did not want to (3) ___________________ or months before it came out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album herself. She did not want (4) ___________________ company executives or newspapers tell them. The release was (5) ___________________ for other celebrities and singers. She said: "There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record (6) ___________________."

Beyonce released her new (7) ___________________ iTunes, which means people can only download it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed the videos (8) ___________________ the world. She said she wanted to do something people would remember. She remembers being very excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to (9) ___________________. She said: "I feel like right now people experience music differently." The album (10) ___________________ in the first three hours of its release. Sales were helped (11) ___________________ tweeting about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the first 12 hours. That's around 5,300 (12) ___________________.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.

What did Beyonce do to her fans on Friday?

2.

Who did she tell about the album before its release?

3.

How big a secret was the album?

4.

Who did Beyonce not want to talk about her album?

5.

What did Beyonce say gets between the music, the artist and the fans?

6.

Where can we buy the record?

7.

How many more videos than songs are there?

8.

How does Beyonce think people nowadays experience music?

9.

How many copies of the album did people buy in the first three hours?

10.

What really helped sales of the album?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.

What did Beyonce do to her fans on Friday?

6.

Where can we buy the record?

 

a) give money to them
b) surprise them
c) wave to them
d) ignore them

 

a) iTunes
b) New York
c) any record store
d) only from Beyonce's website

2.

Who did she tell about the album before its release?

7.

How many more videos than songs are there?

 

a) her fans
b) reporters
c) no one
d) Internet music sites

 

a) none
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3

3.

How big a secret was the album?

8.

How does Beyonce think people nowadays experience music?

 

a) not really so big
b) the biggest in music history
c) nowhere near the biggest
d) one of the biggest in music history

 

a) on the go
b) more clearly
c) differently
d) at home

4.

Who did Beyonce not want to talk about her album?

9.

How many copies of the album did people buy in the first three hours?

 

a) her fans
b) record company executives
c) Twitter followers
d) celebrities

 

a) eight million
b) eight hundred thousand
c) 18 thousand
d) eighty thousand

5.

What did Beyonce say gets between the music, the artist and the fans?

10.

What really helped sales of the album?

 

a) so much
b) not much
c) nothing
d) everything

 

a) iTunes
b) Twitter
c) other celebrities
d) newspapers

ROLE PLAY

Role  A – Lyrics

You think the lyrics are the most important thing about a song. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): danceability, a catchy tune or the singer's voice.

Role  B – Danceability

You think danceability is the most important thing about a song. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): the lyrics, a catchy tune or the singer's voice.

Role  C – A catchy tune

You think a catchy tune is the most important thing about a song. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): danceability, the lyrics or the singer's voice.

Role  D – Singer's voice

You think the singer's voice is the most important thing about a song. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): danceability, a catchy tune or the lyrics.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

music

history

 

 

 

  • 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:

  • fifth
  • history
  • weeks
  • herself
  • celebrities
  • message
  • exclusively
  • 17
  • world
  • similar
  • three
  • minute

POP MUSIC SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about pop music 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.

BEYONCE & MUSIC 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 'music'?

c)

What do you know about Beyonce?

d)

Why do you think Beyonce is so popular?

e)

Is keeping an album a secret a good idea?

f)

Do you think other singers will keep their album releases a secret?

g)

Who is your favourite singer (and why)?

h)

What feelings do you have for your favourite singer?

i)

What music are you listening to these days?

j)

Is pop music good?

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

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

a)

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?

b)

Do you prefer to buy CDs or download music from the Internet?

c)

How important is it for an album to come with videos?

d)

Do you think more artists will now release song/video albums?

e)

What do you think of Michael Jackson's Thriller video?

f)

How have your musical tastes changed since you were younger?

g)

What's your favourite album (and why)?

h)

How does music make you feel?

i)

What would life be like without music?

j)

What questions would you like to ask Beyonce?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

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

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________

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

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

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

American pop singer Beyonce (1) ____ her fans on Friday. She released her fifth album without (2) ____ anyone. The album was one of the biggest secrets in music history. Beyonce wanted to try a new (3) ____ of releasing her music. She did not want to advertise it weeks or months before it came out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album (4) ____. She did not want to let record company executives or newspapers tell them. The release was even a surprise for other celebrities and singers. She said: "There's so (5) ____ that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is (6) ____ out."

Beyonce released her new album (7) ____ on iTunes, which means people can only download it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed the videos in (8) ____ parts of the world. She said she wanted to do something people would remember. She remembers (9) ____ very excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to do something (10) ____. She said: "I feel like right now people experience music (11) ____." The album sold 80,000 copies in the first three hours of its release. Sales were helped by millions of people tweeting about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the first 12 hours. That's (12) ____ 5,300 tweets a minute.

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

1.

(a)

surprise

(b)

surprised

(c)

surprises

(d)

surprising

2.

(a)

told

(b)

telling

(c)

tells

(d)

tell

3.

(a)

use

(b)

form

(c)

stylish

(d)

way

4.

(a)

hers

(b)

herself

(c)

her own

(d)

her

5.

(a)

most

(b)

much

(c)

more

(d)

many

6.

(a)

came

(b)

comes

(c)

coming

(d)

come

7.

(a)

excluding

(b)

exclaiming

(c)

exclusively

(d)

exceptionally

8.

(a)

variety

(b)

whole

(c)

different

(d)

original

9.

(a)

be

(b)

been

(c)

was

(d)

being

10.

(a)

similar

(b)

same

(c)

alike

(d)

matching

11.

(a)

differently

(b)

differed

(c)

difference

(d)

indifferent

12.

(a)

abound

(b)

abut

(c)

around

(d)

errand

SPELLING

Paragraph 1

1.

Beyonce idrpsseru her fans

2.

one of the biggest stresec

3.

a new way of silergean her music

4.

record company ectevuesxi

5.

eecrtlibsei and singers

6.

give the esemgas

Paragraph 2

7.

eyvselculxi on iTunes

8.

It nasincto 14 new songs

9.

She remembers being very cdeixet

10.

do something rslimai

11.

people reexpeeinc music differently

12.

inllsoim of people

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

(    )

copies in the first three hours of its release. Sales were helped by millions of people

(    )

company executives or newspapers tell them. The release was even a surprise for other

(    )

and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out."

(    )

telling anyone. The album was one of the biggest secrets in music history. Beyonce wanted to try a new

(    )

similar. She said: "I feel like right now people experience music differently." The album sold 80,000

(    )

way of releasing her music. She did not want to advertise it weeks or months before it came

1  )

Beyonce released her new album exclusively on iTunes, which means people can only download

(    )

American pop singer Beyonce surprised her fans on Friday. She released her fifth album without

(    )

parts of the world. She said she wanted to do something people would remember. She remembers being very

(    )

out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album herself. She did not want to let record

(    )

tweeting about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the first 12 hours. That's around 5,300 tweets a minute.

(    )

celebrities and singers. She said: "There's so much that gets between the music, the artist

(    )

excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to do something

(    )

it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed the videos in different

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.

her    Pop    fans    singer    on    Beyonce    Friday    surprised.   

2.

telling    her    anyone    fifth    album    She    without    released.   

3.

history   music   in   secrets   biggest   the   of   one   was  album   The.   

4.

her   releasing   of   way   new   a   try   to   wanted   Beyonce    music.   

5.

other    The    even    for    was    surprise    celebrities    release    a.   

6.

album    Beyonce    exclusively    released    on    her    iTunes    new.   

7.

only    site    download    it    People    from    can    that.   

8.

do    something    She    people    wanted    would    to    remember.   

9.

sold    first   copies   80,000   The   three   in   ,   album    hours    the.   

10.

5,300    That's    tweets    around    a    minute.   

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

American pop singer Beyonce surprised / surprising her fans on Friday. She released her fifth album without telling no one / anyone. The album was one of the biggest secrecy / secrets in music history. Beyonce wanted to try a new way of releases / releasing her music. She did not want to advertise it weeks or months before / behind it came out. She wanted to tell her fans about the album themselves / herself. She did not want to let record company executive / executives or newspapers tell them. The release was ever / even a surprise for other celebrities and singers. She said: "There's such / so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out / in."

Beyonce released her new album excluded / exclusively on iTunes, which means people can only upload / download it from that site. It contains 14 new songs and 17 videos. She filmed / films the videos in different parts of the world. She said she wanted to do something people wouldn't / would remember. She remembers being very exciting / excited when Michael Jackson released his Thriller video and wanted to do something similarity / similar. She said: "I feel like right / left now people experience music differently." The album sold 80,000 copies in / on the first three hours of its release. Sales were helping / helped by millions of people tweeting about the album. There were more than 1.2 million tweets in the first 12 hours. That's around / round 5,300 tweets a minute.

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)

_m_r_c_n p_p s_ng_r B_y_nc_ s_rpr_s_d h_r f_ns _n Fr_d_y. Sh_ r_l__s_d h_r f_fth _lb_m w_th__t t_ll_ng _ny_n_. Th_ _lb_m w_s _n_ _f th_ b_gg_st s_cr_ts _n m_s_c h_st_ry. B_y_nc_ w_nt_d t_ try _ n_w w_y _f r_l__s_ng h_r m_s_c. Sh_ d_d n_t w_nt t_ _dv_rt_s_ _t w__ks _r m_nths b_f_r_ _t c_m_ __t. Sh_ w_nt_d t_ t_ll h_r f_ns _b__t th_ _lb_m h_rs_lf. Sh_ d_d n_t w_nt t_ l_t r_c_rd c_mp_ny _x_c_t_v_s _r n_wsp_p_rs t_ll th_m. Th_ r_l__s_ w_s _v_n _ s_rpr_s_ f_r _th_r c_l_br_t__s _nd s_ng_rs. Sh_ s__d: "Th_r_'s s_ m_ch th_t g_ts b_tw__n th_ m_s_c, th_ _rt_st _nd th_ f_ns. _ f_lt l_k_ _ d_dn't w_nt _nyb_dy t_ g_v_ th_ m_ss_g_ wh_n my r_c_rd _s c_m_ng __t."

B_y_nc_ r_l__s_d h_r n_w _lb_m _xcl_s_v_ly _n _T_n_s, wh_ch m__ns p__pl_ c_n _nly d_wnl__d _t fr_m th_t s_t_. _t c_nt__ns 14 n_w s_ngs _nd 17 v_d__s. Sh_ f_lm_d th_ v_d__s _n d_ff_r_nt p_rts _f th_ w_rld. Sh_ s__d sh_ w_nt_d t_ d_ s_m_th_ng p__pl_ w__ld r_m_mb_r. Sh_ r_m_mb_rs b__ng v_ry _xc_t_d wh_n M_ch__l J_cks_n r_l__s_d h_s Thr_ll_r v_d__ _nd w_nt_d t_ d_ s_m_th_ng s_m_l_r. Sh_ s__d: "_ f__l l_k_ r_ght n_w p__pl_ _xp_r__nc_ m_s_c d_ff_r_ntly." Th_ _lb_m s_ld 80,000 c_p__s _n th_ f_rst thr__ h__rs _f _ts r_l__s_. S_l_s w_r_ h_lp_d by m_ll__ns _f p__pl_ tw__t_ng _b__t th_ _lb_m. Th_r_ w_r_ m_r_ th_n 1.2 m_ll__n tw__ts _n th_ f_rst 12 h__rs. Th_t's _r__nd 5,300 tw__ts _ m_n_t_.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

american pop singer beyonce surprised her fans on friday she released her fifth album without telling anyone the album was one of the biggest secrets in music history beyonce wanted to try a new way of releasing her music she did not want to advertise it weeks or months before it came out she wanted to tell her fans about the album herself she did not want to let record company executives or newspapers tell them the release was even a surprise for other celebrities and singers she said "there's so much that gets between the music the artist and the fans i felt like i didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out"

beyonce released her new album exclusively on itunes which means people can only download it from that site it contains 14 new songs and 17 videos she filmed the videos in different parts of the world she said she wanted to do something people would remember she remembers being very excited when michael jackson released his thriller video and wanted to do something similar she said "i feel like right now people experience music differently" the album sold 80000 copies in the first three hours of its release sales were helped by millions of people tweeting about the album there were more than 12 million tweets in the first 12 hours that's around 5300 tweets a minute

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

AmericanpopsingerBeyoncesurprisedherfansonFriday.Shereleasedher
fifthalbumwithouttellinganyone.Thealbumwasoneofthebiggestsecretsin
musichistory.Beyoncewantedtotryanewwayofreleasinghermusic.Shedi
dnotwanttoadvertiseitweeksormonthsbeforeitcameout.Shewantedtotell
herfansaboutthealbumherself.Shedidnotwanttoletrecordcompanyexecu
tivesornewspaperstellthem.Thereleasewasevenasurpriseforothercelebr
itiesandsingers.Shesaid:"There'ssomuchthatgetsbetweenthemusic,the
artistandthefans.IfeltlikeIdidn'twantanybodytogivethemessagewhenmyr
ecordiscomingout."BeyoncereleasedhernewalbumexclusivelyoniTunes
,whichmeanspeoplecanonlydownloaditfromthatsite.Itcontains14newso
ngsand17videos.Shefilmedthevideosindifferentpartsoftheworld.Shesai
dshewantedtodosomethingpeoplewouldremember.Sheremembersbein
gveryexcitedwhenMichaelJacksonreleasedhisThrillervideoandwantedt
odosomethingsimilar.Shesaid:"Ifeellikerightnowpeopleexperiencemusic
differently."Thealbumsold80,000copiesinthefirstthreehoursofitsrelease.
Saleswerehelpedbymillionsofpeopletweetingaboutthealbum.Therewere
morethan1.2milliontweetsinthefirst12hours.That'saround5,300tweetsa
minute.

FREE WRITING

Write about Beyonce for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

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ACADEMIC WRITING

Digital music (mp3s, etc.) is better than music on CD or record.   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 Beyonce. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BEYONCE: Make a poster about Beyonce. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SECRETS: Write a magazine article about secrets. Include imaginary interviews with people who are good and bad at keeping secrets.

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 Beyonce. Ask her three questions about her life. Give her three pieces of advice on what to do in the future. 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

$US 9.99

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

T

f

T

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.

fans

a.

followers

2.

telling

b.

informing

3.

way

c.

method

4.

surprise

d.

shock

5.

record

e.

album

6.

exclusively

f.

only

7.

filmed

g.

shot

8.

similar

h.

close

9.

helped

i.

aided

10.

around

j.

about

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.

Surprise them

2.

No one

3.

One of the biggest in music history

4.

Record company executives and newspapers

5.

So much

6.

iTunes

7.

Three

8.

Differently

9.

80,000

10.

Twitter / People tweeting

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

c

3.

d

4.

b

5.

a

6.

a

7.

d

8.

c

9.

d

10.

b

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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