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U.S. circus to end use of elephants (8th March, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no longer have performing elephants as part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals it currently uses will be moved to an animal conservation centre in Florida. There, the giant creatures will live out their retirement. The decision came after a lot of protests from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to please humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried about the lives of the animals. The circus will continue to use other animals, such as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

Circuses have been criticised for many years by animal rights activists and the public who care about the treatment of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) explained how elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day needs to come now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the use of elephants for entertainment. This has made it hard for circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31740032
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150305-ringling-bros-retires-asian-elephants-barnum-bailey/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/05/ringling-bros-elephants_n_6807340.html

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. ELEPHANTS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about elephants. 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?

circus companies / performing elephants / conservation / creatures / protests / tigers / criticized / animal rights / treatment / retirement / travel / understood / a mood shift

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

3. ANIMALS: Should we change these? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Arguments for these things	Arguments against these thngs
Circuses
Zoos
Pets
Police dogs
Horseracing
Fur coats

4. CIRCUSES: Students A strongly believe no animal should have to work in a circus; Students B strongly believe the opposite. 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. ENTERTAINMENT: Rank these with your partner. Put the least acceptable uses of animals for entertainment at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• zoos

• horseracing

• TV commercials

• theme parks

• bullfighting

• movies

• circuses

• hunting

6. CONSERVATION: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "conservation". 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.	The largest circus in the world will stop using elephants in its shows.	T / F
b.	All of the circus' 43 elephants will retire by 2018.	T / F
c.	The circus decided to retire its elephants because of public protests.	T / F
d.	The circus will continue to use other animals like lions and tigers.	T / F
e.	PETA is an organization that campaigns for animal rights.	T / F
f.	An animal rights group said elephants have a good life in circuses.	T / F
g.	No town in the USA has banned the use of performing elephants.	T / F
h.	The circus said it did not understand the public's feeling.	T / F

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

1.	largest	a.	presently
2.	stop	b.	prohibited
3.	currently	c.	concerned
4.	please	d.	discontinue
5.	worried	e.	difficult
6.	criticised	f.	behaviour towards
7.	treatment of	g.	satisfy
8.	banned	h.	change
9.	hard	i.	biggest
10.	shift	j.	attacked

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

1.	One of the largest circus	a.	activists
2.	stop using elephants	b.	conservation centre
3.	moved to an animal	c.	for many years
4.	The decision came after	d.	for entertainment
5.	The circus will continue	e.	to use other animals
6.	Circuses have been criticised	f.	to come now
7.	animal rights	g.	by 2018
8.	their retirement day needs	h.	shift
9.	banned the use of elephants	i.	a lot of protests
10.	somewhat of a mood	j.	companies in the USA

GAP FILL

One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no (1) ____________ have performing elephants as part of its (2) ____________. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals it (3) ____________ uses will be moved to an animal conservation centre in Florida. There, the giant (4) ____________ will live out their retirement. The decision came after a lot of (5) ____________ from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to (6) ____________ to please humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried about the (7) ____________ of the animals. The circus will continue to use (8) ____________ animals, such as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

currently
creatures
perform
shows
longer
other
protests
lives

Circuses have been criticised for many years by animal (9) ____________ activists and the public who care about the (10) ____________ of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) (11) ____________ how elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are (12) ____________ arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their (13) ____________ day needs to come now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the use of elephants for (14) ____________. This has made it hard for circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the (15) ____________ to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a (16) ____________ shift among our consumers."

painfully
rights
entertainment
explained
mood
treatment
decision
retirement

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no longer have ______
	a. perform in elephants b. preforming elephants c. performing elephants d. performance elephants
2)	All the 43 animals it currently uses will be moved to an animal ______
	a. conservation centre b. conversation centre c. cons aviation centre d. conserve aviation centre
3)	There, the giant creatures will live ______
	a. about their retirement b. without their retirement c. out their retirement d. doubt their retirement
4)	One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform ______
	a. two please, humans b. to pleased humans c. to pleasing humans d. to please humans
5)	The circus will continue to use other animals, ______
	a. such by camels b. such has camels c. such was camels d. such as camels
6)	Circuses have been criticised for many years by ______
	a. animals rights activists b. animal right activists c. animal rights activist d. animal rights activists
7)	many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day ______
	a. needs to come now b. needs to belong now c. needs to join now d. needs to enter now
8)	Many cities and towns in the USA have banned ______
	a. the use for elephants b. the use of elephants c. the use from elephants d. the use off elephants
9)	Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants ______
	a. was not easily b. was not eased c. was not easy d. was not ease see
10)	There's been somewhat of a mood shift ______
	a. among our consumer b. among our consumers c. amongst our consumers d. amongst our consumer

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

One of the largest circus companies in the USA (1) ___________________ have performing elephants as part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals (2) ___________________ will be moved to an animal conservation centre in Florida. There, the (3) ___________________ live out their retirement. The decision came after (4) ___________________ from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to please humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried (5) ___________________ of the animals. The circus will continue to use other (6) ___________________ camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

Circuses have been criticised for many years by (7) ___________________ and the public who care about (8) ___________________ animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) explained how elephants (9) ___________________ circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day (10) ___________________ now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the use of elephants for entertainment. This has (11) ___________________ circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood (12) ___________________ consumers."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	By when will the circus have no performing elephants?
2.	In which U.S. state will the elephants retire?
3.	What did the public do to get the circus to stop using elephants?
4.	What are people worried about nowadays?
5.	What animals will the circus still use, besides camels, dogs and horses?
6.	Who has been criticising circuses for many years?
7.	What organization does Jessica Johnson represent?
8.	What have many cities in the USA banned elephants from doing?
9.	What is now hard for circus companies to do?
10.	Which group of people have experienced a mood shift towards circuses?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	By when will the circus have no performing elephants?	6.	Who has been criticising circuses for many years?
	a) 2018 b) 2017 c) 2019 d) 2020		a) zoologists b) zoos c) vets d) animal rights activists
2.	In which U.S. state will the elephants retire?	7.	What organisation does Jessica Johnson represent?
	a) Ohio b) Nebraska c) Florida d) Maine		a) PETRA b) PETA c) PETS d) PETER
3.	What did the public do to get the circus to stop using elephants?	8.	What have many cities in the USA banned elephants from doing?
	a) hack the circus' website b) protest c) dress up as elephants d) take legal action		a) reproducing b) playing football c) eating fast food d) being used as entertainment
4.	What are people worried about nowadays?	9.	What is now hard for circus companies to do?
	a) extinction b) diseases c) money d) animal's lives		a) buy elephants b) make profits c) tour d) attract children
5.	What animals will the circus still use, besides camels, dogs and horses?	10.	Which group of people have experienced a mood shift towards circuses?
	a) lions and tigers b) cows and pandas c) pandas and tigers d) pandas and cows		a) animal rights activists b) consumers c) vets d) zoologists

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Zoos

You think zoos are the worst places for animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most acceptable of these (and why): circuses, horseracing tracks or movies.

Role B – Circuses

You think circuses are the worst places for animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most acceptable of these (and why): zoos, horseracing tracks or movies.

Role C – Horseracing tracks

You think horseracing tracks are the worst places for animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most acceptable of these (and why): circuses, zoos or movies.

Role D – Movies

You think movies are the worst places for animals. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their places aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the most acceptable of these (and why): circuses, horseracing tracks or zoos.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

circus

show

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:

largest
2018
43
giant
one hundred
continue

many
bad
painfully
now
travel
mood

ELEPHANTS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about elephants 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.

ELEPHANTS 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 'elephant'?
3)	What do you think about elephants performing in circuses?
4)	What do you think about circuses?
5)	How do you feel about the elephants retiring?
6)	How do you think circus elephants feel about performing?
7)	Why did the public protest?
8)	Why did people think performing elephants were OK 100 years ago?
9)	Why are people more concerned about animals today?
10)	Should the circus stop using all animals?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What do you think the criticisms are from animal rights groups?
13)	What kind of life do you think circus elephants have?
14)	Should we put an end to all animals in captivity?
15)	Would you like to see elephants in a circus?
16)	What are the differences between animals in zoos and animals in circuses?
17)	When is it OK to keep animals in circuses?
18)	What's the difference between a circus animal and a pet?
19)	What will circuses be like in another fifty years?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the circus owners?

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

One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no (1) ____ have performing elephants as part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals it (2) ____ uses will be moved to an animal (3) ____ centre in Florida. There, the giant creatures will live out their retirement. The decision came after a lot of (4) ____ from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to (5) ____ humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried about the lives of the animals. The circus will continue to use other animals, (6) ____ as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

Circuses have been criticised for many years by animal rights (7) ____ and the public who care about the treatment of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) explained (8) ____ elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, (9) ____ their retirement day needs to come now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the (10) ____ of elephants for entertainment. This has made it hard (11) ____ circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood shift (12) ____ our consumers."

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

1.	(a)	longer	(b)	larger	(c)	linger	(d)	longing
2.	(a)	currency	(b)	current	(c)	currently	(d)	currant
3.	(a)	conversation	(b)	constipation	(c)	conservation	(d)	consultation
4.	(a)	probates	(b)	process	(c)	pretexts	(d)	protests
5.	(a)	thank	(b)	manner	(c)	please	(d)	polite
6.	(a)	much	(b)	such	(c)	so	(d)	like
7.	(a)	revisits	(b)	activists	(c)	nations	(d)	activities
8.	(a)	should	(b)	how	(c)	which	(d)	whenever
9.	(a)	but	(b)	and	(c)	so	(d)	for
10.	(a)	have	(b)	be	(c)	do	(d)	use
11.	(a)	so	(b)	with	(c)	by	(d)	for
12.	(a)	value	(b)	belong	(c)	without	(d)	among

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	One of the sgaetrl circus companies
2.	ngefrmrpio elephants
3.	All the 43 animals it etcyrnlur uses
4.	the giant stuerreac
5.	a lot of sorsettp from the public
6.	The circus will iceunont to use other animals
Paragraph 2
7.	Circuses have been cietrciids for many years
8.	animal rights tsvtcsaii
9.	their eerirtenmt day
10.	the use of elephants for tneattenmirne
11.	the oieisdnc to stop using elephants
12.	a mood shift among our ouncrssem

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried about the lives
( )	by 2018. All the 43 animals it currently uses will be moved to an animal conservation
( )	painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day needs to come
( )	part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop using elephants
( )	Circuses have been criticised for many years by animal rights activists and the public who care
( )	now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned the use of elephants for entertainment. This has made
( )	using elephants was not easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers."
( )	centre in Florida. There, the giant creatures will live out their retirement. The decision came after a lot of
( )	it hard for circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop
( 1 )	One of the largest circus companies in the USA will soon no longer have performing elephants as
( )	protests from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to please
( )	about the treatment of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Ethical
( )	Treatment of Animals) explained how elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are
( )	of the animals. The circus will continue to use other animals, such as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	largest in the companies USA of circus the One .
2.	shows as part Have of performing its elephants .
3.	it currently uses will be moved All the 43 animals .
4.	public the from protests of lot a after came decision The .
5.	the lives of the animals People are more worried about .
6.	many Criticised activists animal years for by rights .
7.	are elephants the of Many arthritic painfully .
8.	for circuses to travel around This has made it hard .
9.	not The stop was to elephants easy decision using .
10.	among our consumers There's been somewhat of a mood shift .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

One of the largest / longest circus companies in the USA will soon no longer have performing elephants as / was part of its shows. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus said it would stop useful / using elephants by 2018. All the 43 animals it currently / currency uses will be moved to an animal conversation / conservation centre in Florida. There, the giant creatures will live in / out their retirement. The decision came / come after a lot of protests from the public. One hundred years ago, people thought it was OK for animals to perform to thank / please humans. However, the world is different today and people are more worried / worrying about the lives of the animals. The circus will continue to use other animals, like / such as camels, dogs, horses, lions and tigers.

Circuses have been criticised for many years by / at animal rights activists and the public who care around / about the treatment of animals. Jessica Johnson, a spokeswoman for PETA (People for the Unethical / Ethical Treatment of Animals) explained how / when elephants have a bad life in circuses. She said: "Many of the elephants are painful / painfully arthritic, and many have tuberculosis, so their retirement day needs to coming / come now." Many cities and towns in the USA have banned / binned the use of elephants for entertainment. This has made it hard by / for circuses to travel around the country. Owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not / non easy but understood that: "There's been somewhat of a mood shift between / among our consumers."

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)

_n_ _f th_ l_rg_st c_rc_s c_mp_n__s _n th_ _S_ w_ll s__n n_ l_ng_r h_v_ p_rf_rm_ng _l_ph_nts _s p_rt _f _ts sh_ws. Th_ R_ngl_ng Br_th_rs _nd B_rn_m & B__l_y C_rc_s s__d _t w__ld st_p _s_ng _l_ph_nts by 2018. _ll th_ 43 _n_m_ls _t c_rr_ntly _s_s w_ll b_ m_v_d t_ _n _n_m_l c_ns_rv_t__n c_ntr_ _n Fl_r_d_. Th_r_, th_ g__nt cr__t_r_s w_ll l_v_ __t th__r r_t_r_m_nt. Th_ d_c_s__n c_m_ _ft_r _ l_t _f pr_t_sts fr_m th_ p_bl_c. _n_ h_ndr_d y__rs _g_, p__pl_ th__ght _t w_s _K f_r _n_m_ls t_ p_rf_rm t_ pl__s_ h_m_ns. H_w_v_r, th_ w_rld _s d_ff_r_nt t_d_y _nd p__pl_ _r_ m_r_ w_rr__d _b__t th_ l_v_s _f th_ _n_m_ls. Th_ c_rc_s w_ll c_nt_n__ t_ _s_ _th_r _n_m_ls, s_ch _s c_m_ls, d_gs, h_rs_s, l__ns _nd t_g_rs.

C_rc_s_s h_v_ b__n cr_t_c_s_d f_r m_ny y__rs by _n_m_l r_ghts _ct_v_sts _nd th_ p_bl_c wh_ c_r_ _b__t th_ tr__tm_nt _f _n_m_ls. J_ss_c_ J_hns_n, _ sp_k_sw_m_n f_r P_T_ (P__pl_ f_r th_ _th_c_l Tr__tm_nt _f _n_m_ls) _xpl__n_d h_w _l_ph_nts h_v_ _ b_d l_f_ _n c_rc_s_s. Sh_ s__d: "M_ny _f th_ _l_ph_nts _r_ p__nf_lly _rthr_t_c, _nd m_ny h_v_ t_b_rc_l_s_s, s_ th__r r_t_r_m_nt d_y n__ds t_ c_m_ n_w." M_ny c_t__s _nd t_wns _n th_ _S_ h_v_ b_nn_d th_ _s_ _f _l_ph_nts f_r _nt_rt__nm_nt. Th_s h_s m_d_ _t h_rd f_r c_rc_s_s t_ tr_v_l _r__nd th_ c__ntry. _wn_rs _f th_ c_rc_s c_mp_ny s__d th_ d_c_s__n t_ st_p _s_ng _l_ph_nts w_s n_t __sy b_t _nd_rst__d th_t: "Th_r_'s b__n s_m_wh_t _f _ m__d sh_ft _m_ng __r c_ns_m_rs."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

one of the largest circus companies in the usa will soon no longer have performing elephants as part of its shows the ringling brothers and barnum & bailey circus said it would stop using elephants by 2018 all the 43 animals it currently uses will be moved to an animal conservation centre in florida there the giant creatures will live out their retirement the decision came after a lot of protests from the public one hundred years ago people thought it was ok for animals to perform to please humans however the world is different today and people are more worried about the lives of the animals the circus will continue to use other animals such as camels dogs horses lions and tigers

circuses have been criticised for many years by animal rights activists and the public who care about the treatment of animals jessica johnson a spokeswoman for peta (people for the ethical treatment of animals) explained how elephants have a bad life in circuses she said "many of the elephants are painfully arthritic and many have tuberculosis so their retirement day needs to come now" many cities and towns in the usa have banned the use of elephants for entertainment this has made it hard for circuses to travel around the country owners of the circus company said the decision to stop using elephants was not easy but understood that "there's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

OneofthelargestcircuscompaniesintheUSAwillsoonnolongerhaveper
formingelephantsaspartofitsshows.TheRinglingBrothersandBarnu
m&BaileyCircussaiditwouldstopusingelephantsby2018.Allthe43ani
malsitcurrentlyuseswillbemovedtoananimalconservationcentreinFl
orida.There,thegiantcreatureswillliveouttheirretirement.Thedecisio
ncameafteralotofprotestsfromthepublic.Onehundredyearsago,peo
plethoughtitwasOKforanimalstoperformtopleasehumans.However,
theworldisdifferenttodayandpeoplearemoreworriedaboutthelivesof
theanimals.Thecircuswillcontinuetouseotheranimals,suchascamels
,dogs,horses,lionsandtigers.Circuseshavebeencriticisedformanyye
arsbyanimalrightsactivistsandthepublicwhocareaboutthetreatment
ofanimals.JessicaJohnson,aspokeswomanforPETA(PeoplefortheEth
icalTreatmentofAnimals)explainedhowelephantshaveabadlifeincirc
uses.Shesaid:"Manyoftheelephantsarepainfullyarthritic,andmanyh
avetuberculosis,sotheirretirementdayneedstocomenow."Manycitie
sandtownsintheUSAhavebannedtheuseofelephantsforentertainme
nt.Thishasmadeithardforcircusestotravelaroundthecountry.Owners
ofthecircuscompanysaidthedecisiontostopusingelephantswasnotea
sybutunderstoodthat:"There'sbeensomewhatofamoodshiftamongo
urconsumers."

FREE WRITING

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Animals should never be used in circuses. 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 elephants. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

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

4. CIRCUS ANIMALS: Write a magazine article about elephants and other circus animals. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against the use of animals in circuses.

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 an expert on elephants. Ask him/her three questions about elephants. Give him/her three of your ideas. 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

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

T

e

T

f

F

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	largest	a.	biggest
2	stop	b.	discontinue
3.	currently	c.	presently
4.	please	d.	satisfy
5.	worried	e.	concerned
6.	criticised	f.	attacked
7.	treatment of	g.	behaviour towards
8.	banned	h.	prohibited
9.	hard	i.	difficult
10.	shift	j.	change

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	2018
2.	Florida
3.	Protest
4.	The lives of animals
5.	Lions and tigers
6.	Animal rights activists
7.	PETA
8.	Being used for entertainment
9.	Travel around the USA
10.	Consumers

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

a

2.

c

3.

b

4.

d

5.

a

6.

d

7.

b

8.

d

9.

c

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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U.S. circus to end use of elephants (8th March, 2015)

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