Japan town beats world snowman record

The Reading / Listening - Level 4

A town in Japan has broken the world record for building snowmen. Around 630 people at the Iiyama Snow Festival made 1,585 snowmen in one hour. The old record was 1,279 snowmen. The event was for the opening of a new bullet train station. A judge from Guinness World Records said the event was a wonderful occasion. He said although the town was being buried in snow, the residents tackled the challenge together, "in a positive light".

Guinness made strict rules. One was that each snowman had to be over 80 cm tall. They also had to be made of three snowballs, with eyes, a nose and arms. People made them with their hands. A committee member said the event suited the opening of the bullet train station. He said the record was broken because the town's people cooperated. An eight-year old said that it was a tough thing to do because the snow didn't stick together.

Try the same news story at these levels:

Level 5 or Level 6

Sources

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/02/16/1585-snowmen-break-Guinness-record-in-Japan/9931424121049/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/15/national/record-set-nagano-prefecture-1585-snowmen-built-hour/#.VORIQSzsQxI
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/476500/do-you-wanna-build-a-snowman-japanese-city-makes-1585

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 Activities

MATCHING

PARAGRAPH ONE:

1.	A town in Japan has	a.	together
2.	Around 630 people at the l	b.	wonderful occasion
3.	1,585 snowmen	c.	light
4.	the opening of a new bullet	d.	in one hour
5.	the event was a	e.	broken the world record
6.	the town was being	f.	Iiyama Snow Festiva
7.	tackled the challenge	g.	buried in snow
8.	in a positive	h.	train station

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

PARAGRAPH TWO:

1.	Guinness made	a.	the bullet train station
2.	each snowman had to	b.	with their hands
3.	They also had to be made	c.	thing to do
4.	People made them	d.	people cooperated
5.	A committee	e.	strict rules
6.	the event suited the opening of	f.	of three snowballs
7.	the record was broken because the town's	g.	member
8.	it was a tough	h.	be over 80 cm tall

LISTEN AND FILL IN THE GAPS

A town in Japan (1) ___________________ world record for building snowmen. Around 630 people at the Iiyama Snow Festival made 1,585 snowmen (2) ___________________. The old record was 1,279 snowmen. The event (3) ___________________ of a new bullet train station. A judge from Guinness World Records said (4) ___________________ wonderful occasion. He said although the town (5) ___________________ snow, the residents tackled the challenge together, "(6) ___________________".

Guinness (7) ___________________. One was that each snowman had to be over 80 cm tall. They (8) ___________________ made of three snowballs, with eyes, (9) ___________________. People made them with their hands. A committee member said (10) ___________________ the opening of the bullet train station. He said the record (11) ___________________ the town's people cooperated. An eight-year old said that it (12) ___________________ to do because the snow didn't stick together.

SNOWMEN SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about snowmen 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.

WRITE QUESTIONS & ASK YOUR PARTNER(S)

Student A: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

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

Student B: Do not show these to your speaking partner(s).

a)	________________________________________________________
b)	________________________________________________________
c)	________________________________________________________
d)	________________________________________________________
e)	________________________________________________________
f)	________________________________________________________
g)	________________________________________________________
h)	________________________________________________________

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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