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Hospital chains toys to beds to stop thieves (14th January, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds in an attempt to prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys from being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward, said he was appalled that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are seriously ill. They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children’s toy had a bike lock on it." He added: "I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing them."

A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away the more popular and more expensive items. Our hospitals have CCTV coverage and security on site at all times." He added: "As with any large buildings open to the public, we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with valuables." It is not only toys that are being stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone missing. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection on society. I cannot believe this is happening in Britain."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/vile-crooks-target-sick-kids-8417714
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/childrens-toys-chained-beds-hospitals-4959314
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-30776322

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. TOYS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about toys. 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?

hospitals / playthings / thieves / patient / appalled / seriously ill / nurses / stealing / spokesman / regular / expensive items / CCTV coverage / vigilant / reflection / society

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

3. PLAYTHINGS: How good are these? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	How educational?	Fun?	Downsides?
Video consoles
Balls
Board games
Toy cars
Dolls
Lego

4. EDUCATIONAL: Students A strongly believe all toys should be educational; Students B strongly believe otherwise. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

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. TOY: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• ball

• Lego

• PlayStation

• remote control car

• action figure

• Monopoly board game

• toy gun

• clay set

6. HOSPITALS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "". 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.	Over 10 hospitals in Wales are having problems with toys being stolen.	T / F
b.	One hospital is using bicycle locks to stop toys from being stolen.	T / F
c.	A father told reporters he was shocked a bike lock had been stolen.	T / F
d.	The father thought it was disgusting that nurses had to lock up toys.	T / F
e.	A hospital spokesman denied that toys were being stolen.	T / F
f.	The spokesman said his hospitals had no CCTV systems.	T / F
g.	The article says a television was stolen from a waiting room.	T / F
h.	The father suggested he was not surprised this happened in Britain.	T / F

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

1.	attempt	a.	event
2.	prevent	b.	urge
3.	appalled	c.	stop
4.	ill	d.	on the lookout
5.	disgusting	e.	horrified
6.	occurrence	f.	precious items
7.	encourage	g.	effort
8.	vigilant	h.	appalling
9.	valuables	i.	comment
10.	reflection	j.	sick

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

1.	an attempt to prevent thieves	a.	seriously ill
2.	using bicycle locks to keep its toys	b.	disgusting it was
3.	a patient in the	c.	expensive items
4.	kids who are	d.	from stealing them
5.	I was talking to the nurses about how	e.	valuables
6.	It is not a regular	f.	children's ward
7.	lock away the more popular and more	g.	coverage
8.	CCTV	h.	from being stolen
9.	be vigilant with	i.	on society
10.	a sad reflection	j.	occurrence

GAP FILL

Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started (1) ____________ children's toys and other playthings to beds in an (2) ____________ to prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys from being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a (3) ____________ in the children's ward, said he was (4) ____________ that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are (5) ____________ ill. They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike (6) ____________ on it." He added: "I was talking to the (7) ____________ about how disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing (8) ____________."

patient
chaining
seriously
nurses
attempt
them
appalled
lock

A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a (9) ____________ occurrence but we do encourage staff to (10) ____________ and lock away the more popular and more expensive (11) ____________. Our hospitals have CCTV coverage and security on (12) ____________ at all times." He added: "As with any large buildings open to the (13) ____________, we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with (14) ____________." It is not only toys that are being stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone (15) ____________. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad (16) ____________ on society. I cannot believe this is happening in Britain."

public
secure
missing
regular
site
reflection
items
valuables

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds ______ prevent thieves
	a. in an attempts to b. in an attempted to c. in an a tempt to d. in an attempt to
2)	The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys ______
	a. from been stolen b. from being stolen c. from be in stolen d. from bean stolen
3)	These toys are there for kids who ______
	a. are serious ill b. are series as ill c. are seriously ill d. are seriously as ill
4)	He added: "I was talking to the nurses about how ______
	a. disgusting it was b. disgusted it was c. disgust in it was d. disgust tin it was
5)	they had to do that because they were saying that people had ______
	a. been stealing him b. been stealing these c. been stealing those d. been stealing them
6)	Unfortunately we do get toys and games ______ hospitals
	a. taken from our b. taken from your c. taken from their d. taken from his
7)	It is not a regular occurrence but we do ______
	a. encourages staff b. encourage staff c. encouraged staff d. encouraging staff
8)	Our hospitals have CCTV coverage and security on ______
	a. site at any times b. site at tall times c. site a tall times d. site at all times
9)	we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant ______
	a. with valuable b. within valuables c. with valuables d. without valuables
10)	Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a ______ society
	a. sad reflection in b. sad reflection on c. sad reflection to d. sad reflection for

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Fourteen hospitals in Wales (1) ___________________ children's toys and other playthings to beds (2) ___________________ to prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys (3) ___________________. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward, said he was appalled that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These (4) ___________________ for kids who are seriously ill. They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was (5) ___________________ that a children's toy had a bike lock on it." He added: "I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it (6) ___________________ to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing them."

A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a (7) ___________________ but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away (8) ___________________ and more expensive items. Our hospitals have (9) ___________________ and security on site at all times." He added: "As with any large buildings open to the public, we advise visitors and our own staff (10) ___________________ valuables." It is not only toys that are being stolen. The television in the waiting room of (11) ___________________ has also gone missing. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a (12) ___________________ society. I cannot believe this is happening in Britain."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	How many hospitals have been chaining kids' toys?
2.	What kind of lock was used at a hospital in Gwent?
3.	How old is the son of the father mentioned in the article?
4.	Who did a father say the toys were provided by?
5.	Who did the father talk to about how disgusting the thefts were?
6.	What does a spokesman encourage staff to do to expensive items?
7.	What kind of coverage do the spokesman's hospitals have?
8.	What does the spokesman advise visitors to be?
9.	What also went missing from a waiting room?
10.	What kind of reflection on society did the father say the thefts were?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	How many hospitals have been chaining kids' toys?	6.	What does a spokesman encourage staff to do to expensive items?
	a) 10 b) 12 c) 14 d) 16		a) insure them b) lock them away c) take them home d) use them
2.	What kind of lock was used at a hospital in Gwent?	7.	What kind of coverage do the spokesman's hospitals have?
	a) a bicycle lock b) a padlock c) a big one d) a digital lock		a) CCTV b) healthcare c) insurance d) all-inclusive
3.	How old is the son of the father mentioned in the article?	8.	What does the spokesman advise visitors to be?
	a) 2 b) 3 c) 4 d) 5		a) honest b) nice c) vigilant d) healthy
4.	Who did a father say the toys were provided by?	9.	What also went missing from a waiting room?
	a) a toy store b) the hospital c) visitors d) staff		a) coffee b) a bed c) an X-ray machine d) a TV
5.	Who did the father talk to about how disgusting the thefts were?	10.	What kind of reflection on society did the father say the thefts were?
	a) receptionists b) patients c) doctors d) nurses		a) a sad one b) a shiny one c) a misted one d) an unclear one

ROLE PLAY

Role A – A ball

You think a ball is the best children's toy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their toys aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): Lego, an action figure or a PlayStation.

Role B – Lego

You think Lego is the best children's toy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their toys aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): a ball, an action figure or a PlayStation.

Role C – An action figure

You think an action figure is the best children's toy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their toys aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): Lego, a ball or a PlayStation.

Role D – A PlayStation

You think a PlayStation is the best children's toy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their toys aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least fun of these (and why): Lego, an action figure or a ball.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

toy

game

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:

started
prevent
father
seriously
shocked
nurses

spokesman
secure
security
valuables
missing
believe

TOYS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about toys 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.

TOYS DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'toys'?
3)	What do you think about what you read?
4)	Who would steal toys from a hospital, and why?
5)	What should happen to the toy thieves?
6)	How can hospitals stop thieves?
7)	Do you think the thieves care the toys are for seriously ill kids?
8)	What would you think if you saw toys in hospitals chained to beds?
9)	What could hospitals provide for children instead of toys?
10)	What would you say to one of the toy thieves?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What things like this happen in your country?
13)	Should hospitals stop providing more expensive toys?
14)	Should hospitals put security guards in waiting rooms?
15)	Is CCTV effective if toys are still being stolen?
16)	How vigilant are you with your valuables?
17)	What's your favourite toy?
18)	What would you say to a child about thieves stealing toys?
19)	What kind of reflection is this story on society?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the hospital staff?

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

Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds in an (1) ____ to prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to (2) ____ its toys from being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward, said he was (3) ____ that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are (4) ____ ill. They're provided (5) ____ the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike lock on it." He added: "I was talking to the nurses about (6) ____ disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing them."

A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a (7) ____ occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away the more popular and more expensive items. Our hospitals have CCTV (8) ____ and security on site at all times." He added: "As with any large buildings open to the public, we advise visitors and our own staff to be (9) ____ with valuables." It is not only toys that are being stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone (10) ____. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad (11) ____ on society. I cannot (12) ____ this is happening in Britain."

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

1.	(a)	tempt	(b)	attempt	(c)	tempting	(d)	temp
2.	(a)	safe	(b)	keep	(c)	have	(d)	alter
3.	(a)	apparel	(b)	appalls	(c)	appalling	(d)	appalled
4.	(a)	series	(b)	seriously	(c)	serious	(d)	seriousness
5.	(a)	on	(b)	by	(c)	as	(d)	of
6.	(a)	what	(b)	which	(c)	how	(d)	this
7.	(a)	often	(b)	frequently	(c)	regular	(d)	sometimes
8.	(a)	average	(b)	outage	(c)	coverage	(d)	leverage
9.	(a)	vented	(b)	variant	(c)	valiant	(d)	vigilant
10.	(a)	missing	(b)	amiss	(c)	missed	(d)	misses
11.	(a)	reflection	(b)	reflector	(c)	reflect	(d)	reflected
12.	(a)	interpret	(b)	infer	(c)	believe	(d)	comprehend

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	in an attempt to prevent tsevihe
2.	a pnetita in the children's ward
3.	he was laappled that anyone would steal toys
4.	kids who are osieysulr ill
5.	I was talking to the nressu
6.	how sitignsgud
Paragraph 2
7.	It is not a regular eoccencurr
8.	we do enoeacrgu staff
9.	eruesc and lock away
10.	CCTV vrgecoae
11.	be vigilant with alslvaeub
12.	a sad ielotfencr on society

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	items. Our hospitals have CCTV coverage and security on site at all times." He added: "As with any large buildings
( )	missing. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad
( )	do that because they were saying that people had been stealing them."
( )	ill. They're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike
( )	reflection on society. I cannot believe this is happening in Britain."
( )	regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away the more popular and more expensive
( )	lock on it." He added: "I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to
( )	from being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward, said he was appalled
( )	attempt to prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys
( )	that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are seriously
( )	A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a
( )	open to the public, we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with valuables." It is not only
( )	toys that are being stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone
( 1 )	Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds in an

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	prevent stealing In to from attempt thieves them an .
2.	stolen locks its being bicycle keep from Using to toys .
3.	a two patient - in year the - children's old ward who was A .
4.	are there for kids who are seriously ill These toys .
5.	talking was I was it disgusting how about nurses the to .
6.	games taken from our hospitals We do get toys and .
7.	expensive Lock more more the and items away popular .
8.	advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant We .
9.	toys being It only are not that stolen is .
10.	happening cannot in believe Britain this is I .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started charging / chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds in an attempt to prevention / prevent thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys from been / being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a two-year-old who was a patient / patience in the children's ward, said he was appalling / appalled that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are serious / seriously ill. They're provided as / by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to see that / what a children's toy had a bike lock on it." He added: "I was talking to the nurses about how disgusted / disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing / stolen them."

A hospital spokesman said: "Unfortunately we do / have get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is not a regular / often occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock / locking away the more popular and more expensive items. Our hospitals have CCTV covering / coverage and security on site at all / any times." He added: "As with any large buildings open to the public, we advise / advice visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with values / valuables." It is not only toys that are being / been stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone / went missing. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection / reflect on society. I cannot believe this is happening in Britain."

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)

F__rt__n h_sp_t_ls _n W_l_s h_v_ st_rt_d ch__n_ng ch_ldr_n's t_ys _nd _th_r pl_yth_ngs t_ b_ds _n _n _tt_mpt t_ pr_v_nt th__v_s fr_m st__l_ng th_m. Th_ R_y_l Gw_nt H_sp_t_l _s _s_ng b_cycl_ l_cks t_ k__p _ts t_ys fr_m b__ng st_l_n. D__n B_dd_s, f_th_r _f _ tw_-y__r-_ld wh_ w_s _ p_t__nt _n th_ ch_ldr_n's w_rd, s__d h_ w_s _pp_ll_d th_t _ny_n_ w__ld st__l t_ys fr_m _ h_sp_t_l. H_ t_ld r_p_rt_rs: "Th_s_ t_ys _r_ th_r_ f_r k_ds wh_ _r_ s_r___sly _ll. Th_y'r_ pr_v_d_d by th_ h_sp_t_l _nd p__pl_ _r_ st__l_ng th_m. _ w_s sh_ck_d t_ s__ th_t _ ch_ldr_n's t_y h_d _ b_k_ l_ck _n _t." H_ _dd_d: "_ w_s t_lk_ng t_ th_ n_rs_s _b__t h_w d_sg_st_ng _t w_s th_t th_y h_d t_ d_ th_t b_c__s_ th_y w_r_ s_y_ng th_t p__pl_ h_d b__n st__l_ng th_m."

_ h_sp_t_l sp_k_sm_n s__d: "_nf_rt_n_t_ly w_ d_ g_t t_ys _nd g_m_s t_k_n fr_m __r h_sp_t_ls. _t _s n_t _ r_g_l_r _cc_rr_nc_ b_t w_ d_ _nc__r_g_ st_ff t_ s_c_r_ _nd l_ck _w_y th_ m_r_ p_p_l_r _nd m_r_ _xp_ns_v_ _t_ms. __r h_sp_t_ls h_v_ CCTV c_v_r_g_ _nd s_c_r_ty _n s_t_ _t _ll t_m_s." H_ _dd_d: "_s w_th _ny l_rg_ b__ld_ngs _p_n t_ th_ p_bl_c, w_ _dv_s_ v_s_t_rs _nd __r _wn st_ff t_ b_ v_g_l_nt w_th v_l__bl_s." _t _s n_t _nly t_ys th_t _r_ b__ng st_l_n. Th_ t_l_v_s__n _n th_ w__t_ng r__m _f th_ ch_ldr_n's w_rd h_s _ls_ g_n_ m_ss_ng. Mr B_dd_s s__d: "St__l_ng t_ys wh_l_ th_ h_sp_t_l st_ff _r_ l__k_ng _ft_r th__r ch_ldr_n _s _ s_d r_fl_ct__n _n s_c__ty. _ c_nn_t b_l__v_ th_s _s h_pp_n_ng _n Br_t__n."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

fourteen hospitals in wales have started chaining children's toys and other playthings to beds in an attempt to prevent thieves from stealing them the royal gwent hospital is using bicycle locks to keep its toys from being stolen dean beddis father of a two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward said he was appalled that anyone would steal toys from a hospital he told reporters "these toys are there for kids who are seriously ill they're provided by the hospital and people are stealing them i was shocked to see that a children's toy had a bike lock on it" he added "i was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to do that because they were saying that people had been stealing them"

a hospital spokesman said "unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals it is not a regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock away the more popular and more expensive items our hospitals have cctv coverage and security on site at all times" he added "as with any large buildings open to the public we advise visitors and our own staff to be vigilant with valuables" it is not only toys that are being stolen the television in the waiting room of the children's ward has also gone missing mr beddis said "stealing toys while the hospital staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection on society i cannot believe this is happening in britain"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

FourteenhospitalsinWaleshavestartedchainingchildren'stoysandoth
erplaythingstobedsinanattempttopreventthievesfromstealingthem.
TheRoyalGwentHospitalisusingbicyclelockstokeepitstoysfrombeing
stolen.DeanBeddis,fatherofatwo-year-oldwhowasapatien
tinthechildren'sward,saidhewasappalledthatanyonewouldstealtoysf
romahospital.Hetoldreporters:"Thesetoysarethereforkidswhoarese
riouslyill.They'reprovidedbythehospitalandpeoplearestealingthem.
Iwasshockedtoseethatachildren'stoyhadabikelockonit."Headded:"I
wastalkingtothenursesabouthowdisgustingitwasthattheyhadtodoth
atbecausetheyweresayingthatpeoplehadbeenstealingthem."Ahospi
talspokesmansaid:"Unfortunatelywedogettoysandgamestakenfro
mourhospitals.Itisnotaregularoccurrencebutwedoencouragestaffto
secureandlockawaythemorepopularandmoreexpensiveitems.Ourh
ospitalshaveCCTVcoverageandsecurityonsiteatalltimes."Headded:"
Aswithanylargebuildingsopentothepublic,weadvisevisitorsandouro
wnstafftobevigilantwithvaluables."Itisnotonlytoysthatarebeingstol
en.Thetelevisioninthewaitingroomofthechildren'swardhasalsogone
missing.MrBeddissaid:"Stealingtoyswhilethehospitalstaffarelookin
gaftertheirchildrenisasadreflectiononsociety.Icannotbelievethisish
appeninginBritain."

FREE WRITING

From http://www.BreakingNewsEnglish.com/1501/150114-toys.html

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

All toys should be educational. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

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

4. CHAINED TOYS: Write a magazine article about hospitals chaining toys to beds. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

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 a toy expert. Ask him/her three questions about toys and how educational they should be. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to make toys more educational. 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

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

T

c

F

d

T

e

F

f

F

g

T

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	attempt	a.	effort
2	prevent	b.	stop
3.	appalled	c.	horrified
4.	ill	d.	sick
5.	disgusting	e.	appalling
6.	occurrence	f.	event
7.	encourage	g.	urge
8.	vigilant	h.	on the lookout
9.	valuables	i.	precious items
10.	reflection	j.	comment

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Fourteen
2.	A bicycle lock
3.	Two
4.	The hospital
5.	Nurses
6.	Lock them away
7.	CCTV
8.	Vigilant
9.	A TV
10.	A sad one

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

c

2.

a

3.

a

4.

b

5.

d

6.

b

7.

a

8.

c

9.

d

10.

a

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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Hospital chains toys to beds to stop thieves (14th January, 2015)

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