The Reading / Listening - Apostrophe - Level 6

A defender of the use of the apostrophe has quit his decades-long battle for the correct use of the punctuation mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was established in 2001 to campaign to encourage better writing and understanding of the purpose of the apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language. We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the barbarians have won."

Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistakes over and over again". He wanted to highlight people's mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe. He said he hoped half a dozen people would join him in his quest, but was heartened by the support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters from all over the world within a month of starting the website. Mr Richards' biggest beef was not people misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He called out big companies for this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones dispensed with the apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger chain McDonald's.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Apostrophe - Level 4  or  Apostrophe - Level 5

Sources
  • https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/02/society-protect-apostrophes-shuts-barbarians-11252244/
  • https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/apostrophe-protection-society-john-richards-grammar-lazy-a9229106.html
  • https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/apostrophe-warrior-gives-up-fight/news-story/04b0858fcec41e6ea4477046d0fa8f09


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 :-)

Warm-ups

1. THE APOSTROPHE: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about the apostrophe. 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?
       defender / apostrophe / decades / battle / campaign / purpose / society / website /
       mistake / highlight / dozen / quest / support / letters / companies / bookstore / happy
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. WRITING: Students A strongly believe writing is a more important skill than reading; Students B strongly believe reading is more important.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. PUNCTUATION: What do you know about these punctuation marks? What difficulties do people have with them? How important are they? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

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. CAMPAIGN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "campaign". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. LANGUAGE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important areas of language at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • Punctuation
  • Grammar
  • Writing
  • Speaking
  • Pronunciation
  • Vocabulary
  • Reading
  • Listening

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. defender a. A person who protects and sticks up for someone or something.
      2. quit b. Lack of knowledge or information.
      3. punctuation c. Left a place or job, usually permanently.
      4. established d. Of or for a single or particular person.
      5. individual e. The marks, such as period, comma, and full stops, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to help meaning.
      6. ignorance f. Set up or started.
      7. barbarian g. An uncultured or brutish person.

    Paragraph 2

      8. highlight h. Criticised; showed the bad things someone or something is doing.
      9. quest i. A complaint or objection.
      10. heartened j. Picked out and emphasized.
      11. beef k. End using something or someone.
      12. called out l. A long search or campaign for something.
      13. dispensed with m. A group of hotels, stores, restaurants, etc. owned by the same company.
      14. chain n. Made more cheerful or confident.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The ex-head of the Apostrophe Protection Society is 96 years old.     T / F
  2. The Apostrophe Protection Society was established in 1901.     T / F
  3. The ex-boss said fewer organisations care about correct apostrophe use. T / F
  4. The ex-boss said people who misused apostrophes were barbarians.     T / F
  5. The Apostrophe Protection Society started after someone saw mistakes.  T / F
  6. The ex-boss said he didn't like beef.     T / F
  7. A bank in the UK incorrectly omits the apostrophe in its name.     T / F
  8. The article said the ex-boss might be happy with McDonald's.     T / F

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

  1. defender
  2. correct
  3. purpose
  4. ignorance
  5. barbarians
  6. highlight
  7. heartened
  8. beef
  9. called out
  10. dispensed with
  1. complaint
  2. encouraged
  3. heathens
  4. point out
  5. precise
  6. challenged
  7. omitted
  8. protector
  9. function
  10. illiteracy

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

  1. A defender of the use
  2. quit his decades-
  3. encourage better
  4. ignorance and
  5. the barbarians
  6. seeing the same mistakes over
  7. highlight people's
  8. heartened by the support
  9. Mr Richards' biggest
  10. Waterstones dispensed
  1. writing
  2. with the apostrophe
  3. have won
  4. beef
  5. long battle
  6. he received
  7. of the apostrophe
  8. and over again
  9. laziness
  10. mistakes

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
caring
defender
barbarians
ignorance
campaign
purpose
modern
battle

A (1) ____________ of the use of the apostrophe has quit his decades-long (2) ____________ for the correct use of the punctuation mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was established in 2001 to (3) ____________ to encourage better writing and understanding of the (4) ____________ of the apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and individuals are now (5) ____________ about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language. We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the (6) ____________ and laziness present in (7) ____________ times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the (8) ____________ have won."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
quest
highlight
dispensed
beef
chain
society
half
called

Mr Richards started the (9) ____________ after seeing the "same mistakes over and over again". He wanted to (10) ____________ people's mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe. He said he hoped (11) ____________ a dozen people would join him in his (12) ____________, but was heartened by the support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters from all over the world within a month of starting the website. Mr Richards' biggest (13) ____________ was not people misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He (14) ____________ out big companies for this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones (15) ____________ with the apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger (16) ____________ McDonald's.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  A defender of the use of the apostrophe has quit his ______
     a.  decades-length battle
     b.  decades-longing battle
     c.  decades-longest battle
     d.  decades-long battle
2)  chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was ______
     a.  establish it in 2001
     b.  re-established in 2001
     c.  established in 2001
     d.  dis-established in 2001
3) to encourage better writing and understanding of the ______ apostrophe
     a.  purpose of the
     b.  porpoise of the
     c.  presuppose of the
     d.  suppose of the
4)  the ignorance and laziness present ______
     a.  in modernity times
     b.  in modern times
     c.  in modern time
     d.  on modern times
5)  heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the ______
     a.  barbarians have one
     b.  barbarians have won
     c.  barbarity have won
     d.  barb Arians have won

6)  Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistakes over ______
     a.  and over again
     b.  and under again
     c.  and again again
     d.  and repeated again
7) highlight people's mistakes and get people to end the ______ apostrophe
     a.  miss use of the
     b.  miss used of the
     c.  misused of the
     d.  misuse of the
8)  He received 500 letters from all over the world ______
     a.  wither a month
     b.  within a month
     c.  without a month
     d.  withering a month
9) Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones ______ apostrophe
     a.  dispersed with the
     b.  dispensed with the
     c.  dispended with the
     d.  distended with the
10)  Maybe Mr Richards was happy with ______ McDonald's
     a.  the bugler chains
     b.  the bagel chain
     c.  the burger chains
     d.  the burger chain

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A defender of (1) ___________________ the apostrophe has quit his decades-long battle for the correct use of the punctuation mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was (2) ___________________ to campaign to encourage better writing and understanding of the (3) ___________________ apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and individuals are now caring (4) ___________________ use of the apostrophe in the English language. We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the (5) ___________________ present in modern times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the (6) ___________________."

Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "(7) ___________________ and over again". He wanted to highlight people's mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe. He said he hoped (8) ___________________ people would join him in his quest, but was (9) ___________________ support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters from all over the world within a month of starting the website. Mr Richards' (10) ___________________ not people misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He (11) ___________________ companies for this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones (12) ___________________ apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger chain McDonald's.

Comprehension questions

  1. How long did the article say John Richards had been battling?
  2. How old is John Richards?
  3. When was the Apostrophe Protection Society established?
  4. Who did Mr Richards say was caring less about the apostrophe?
  5. Who did John Richards say had won?
  6. How often did Mr Richards say he saw mistakes with the apostrophe?
  7. How many people did Mr Richards hope would join him?
  8. How many letters did Mr Richards from around the world?
  9. Who did Mr Richards say wasn't using the apostrophe at all?
  10. Which global brand did the article say Mr Richards might be happy with?

Multiple choice quiz

1) How long did the article say John Richards had been battling?
a) 44 years
b) for half a century
c) for four decades
d) for decades
2) How old is John Richards?
a) 69
b) 96
c) 57
d) 75
3) When was the Apostrophe Protection Society established?
a) 2004
b) 2003
c) 2002
d) 2001
4) Who did Mr Richards say was caring less about the apostrophe?
a) poets and haiku writers
b) libraries and public offices
c) organisations and individuals
d) people who text

5) Who did John Richards say had won?
a) heathens
b) ogres
c) monsters
d) barbarians

6) How often did Mr Richards say he saw mistakes with the apostrophe?
a) every now and then
b) every other day
c) over and over again
d) once in a blue moon
7) How many people did Mr Richards hope would join him?
a) six
b) twelve
c) twenty
d) hundreds
8) How many letters did Mr Richards from around the world?
a) 50,000
b) 5,000
c) 500
d) 500,000
9) Who did Mr Richards say wasn't using the apostrophe at all?
a) university students
b) big companies
c) newspapers
d) teachers

10) Which global brand did the article say Mr Richards might be happy with?
a) McDonald's
b) Starbucks
c) Nike
d) Amazon

Role play

Role  A – Punctuation
You think punctuation is the most important are of English. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their areas aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary.

Role  B – Pronunciation
You think pronunciation is the most important are of English. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their areas aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): punctuation, grammar or vocabulary.

Role  C – Grammar
You think grammar is the most important are of English. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their areas aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): pronunciation, punctuation or vocabulary.

Role  D – Vocabulary
You think vocabulary is the most important are of English. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their areas aren't as important. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): pronunciation, grammar or punctuation.

After reading / listening

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

'apostrophe'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'punctuation'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • 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:

    • defender
    • chairman
    • 2001
    • purpose
    • caring
    • supporters
    • over
    • highlight
    • dozen
    • 500
    • big
    • happy

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic 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.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Apostrophe

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

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'apostrophe'?
    3. What do you think of Mr Richards quitting?
    4. What do you know about the apostrophe?
    5. How important is the apostrophe?
    6. What is punctuation like in your language?
    7. What are the purposes of the apostrophe?
    8. Why do companies not use the apostrophe in their names?
    9. How important is good writing?
    10. Why did Mr Richards call people 'barbarians'?

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

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'punctuation'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. How well can you use the apostrophe?
    5. How can a misused apostrophe change communication?
    6. How do you feel when you see mistakes in writing?
    7. How can people learn to use punctuation well?
    8. What is your biggest beef about English?
    9. Why might Mr Richards be happy with McDonald's but not Starbucks?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Mr Richards?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

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

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

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

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    A defender of the use of the apostrophe has (1) ____ his decades-long battle for the correct use of the punctuation mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was (2) ____ in 2001 to campaign to encourage better writing and understanding of the (3) ____ of the apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and (4) ____ are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language. We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the (5) ____ and laziness present in modern times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the (6) ____ have won."

    Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistakes (7) ____ and over again". He wanted to highlight people's mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe. He said he hoped (8) ____ a dozen people would join him in his quest, but was (9) ____ by the support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters from all over the world within a month of starting the website. Mr Richards' biggest (10) ____ was not people misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He called (11) ____ big companies for this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones (12) ____ with the apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger chain McDonald's.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     quilted     (b)     quiescent     (c)     quit     (d)     quits    
    2. (a)     established     (b)     publish     (c)     replenish     (d)     admonish    
    3. (a)     purpose     (b)     suppose     (c)     prose     (d)     repose    
    4. (a)     individuals     (b)     singles     (c)     loners     (d)     lone wolf    
    5. (a)     comeuppance     (b)     dalliance     (c)     alliance     (d)     ignorance    
    6. (a)     concubines     (b)     minions     (c)     centurions     (d)     barbarians    
    7. (a)     over     (b)     above     (c)     under     (d)     again    
    8. (a)     all     (b)     third     (c)     quarter     (d)     half    
    9. (a)     heartened     (b)     heightened     (c)     heated     (d)     hurt    
    10. (a)     pork     (b)     beef     (c)     lamb     (d)     goat    
    11. (a)     in     (b)     out     (c)     up     (d)     down    
    12. (a)     dispensed     (b)     usurped     (c)     challenged     (d)     stepped

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. A nddefeer of the use of the apostrophe
    2. his cadesed-long battle
    3. rceoenagu better writing
    4. organisations and usaiidldvin
    5. nanorgeic and laziness
    6. the raarnaisbb have won

    Paragraph 2

    1. ihlhigght people's mistakes
    2. end the smiseu of the apostrophe
    3. half a eondz people would join him
    4. neehrtdea by the support he received
    5. Waterstones sndpeside with the apostrophe
    6. the burger hanic McDonald's

    Put the text back together

    (...)  of the punctuation mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was
    (...)  misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He called out big companies for
    (...)  this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones dispensed
    (...)  individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language. We, and our many
    (...)  established in 2001 to campaign to encourage better writing and understanding of the
    (...)  supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern
    (...)  from all over the world within a month of starting the website. Mr Richards' biggest beef was not people
    (...)  in his quest, but was heartened by the support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters
    (...)  purpose of the apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and
    (...)  Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistakes over and over again". He wanted to highlight people's
    (...)  with the apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger chain McDonald's.
    (...)  times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the barbarians have won."
    (  1  ) A defender of the use of the apostrophe has quit his decades-long battle for the correct use
    (...)  mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe. He said he hoped half a dozen people would join him

    Put the words in the right order

    1. for   Quit   the   decades-long   his   correct   battle   use   .
    2. writing   .   for   Established   in   2001   better   to   campaign
    3. about   of   the   apostrophe   .   Caring   use   correct   the
    4. in   modern   laziness   and   Ignorance   times   present   won   .
    5. thousands   .   from   the   heard   Over   have   years   we
    6. mistakes   same   over   again   .   Seeing   over   the   and
    7. received   worldwide   .   he   support   by   Heartened   the
    8. the   misusing   was   beef   His   apostrophe   .   people   not
    9. this   .   big   companies   He   called   for   out
    10. the   Richards   McDonald's   .   with   happy   was   burger   chain

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    A defender of the use / used of the apostrophe has quit his decades-long battle for the correct use of the punctuation slash / mark. John Richards, 96, was chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which was establishment / established in 2001 to campaign to encourage better writing / written and understanding of the purpose / porpoise of the apostrophe. Mr Richards wrote on the society's website: "Fewer organisations and individual / individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe on / in the English language. We, and our many supporters worldly / worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern time / times have won." He added: "Over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world...but the barbarity / barbarians have won."

    Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistaken / mistakes over and over again". He wanted to highlight / lowlight people's mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the / an apostrophe. He said he hoped half a dozen people would join him in his quest / question, but was heartened / threatened by the support he received worldwide. He received 500 letters from all over the world within a month off / of starting the website. Mr Richards' biggest pork / beef was not people misusing the apostrophe, but people not using it at all. He called in / out big companies for this. In the UK, companies like Lloyds Bank and the bookstore Waterstones dispensed / recompensed with the apostrophe in their names. Maybe Mr Richards was happy with the burger chain / sequence McDonald's.

    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)

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    M r R_c h_r d s s t_r t_d t h_ s_c__ t y _f t_r s___n g t h_ " s_m_ m_s t_k_s _v_r _n d _v_r _g__ n " . H_ w_n t_d t_ h_g h l_g h t p__ p l_' s m_s t_k_s _n d g_t p__ p l_ t_ _n d t h_ m_s_s_ _f t h_ _p_s t r_p h_. H_ s__ d h_ h_p_d h_l f _ d_z_n p__ p l_ w__ l d j__ n h_m _n h_s q__ s t , b_t w_s h__ r t_n_d b y t h_ s_p p_r t h_ r_c__ v_d w_r l d w_d_. H_ r_c__ v_d 5 0 0 l_t t_r s f r_m _l l _v_r t h_ w_r l d w_t h_n _ m_n t h _f s t_r t_n g t h_ w_b s_t_. M r R_c h_r d s ' b_g g_s t b__ f w_s n_t p__ p l_ m_s_s_n g t h_ _p_s t r_p h_, b_t p__ p l_ n_t _s_n g _t _t _l l . H_ c_l l_d __ t b_g c_m p_n__ s f_r t h_s . I n t h_ U K , c_m p_n__ s l_k_ L l_y d s B_n k _n d t h_ b__ k s t_r_ W_t_r s t_n_s d_s p_n s_d w_t h t h_ _p_s t r_p h_ _n t h__ r n_m_s . M_y b_ M r R_c h_r d s w_s h_p p y w_t h t h_ b_r g_r c h__ n M c D_n_l d ' s .

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    a defender of the use of the apostrophe has quit his decadeslong battle for the correct use of the punctuation mark john richards 96 was chairman of the apostrophe protection society which was established in 2001 to campaign to encourage better writing and understanding of the purpose of the apostrophe mr richards wrote on the societys website fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the english language we and our many supporters worldwide have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won he added over the years we have heard from thousands of supporters all over the world but the barbarians have won

    mr richards started the society after seeing the same mistakes over and over again he wanted to highlight peoples mistakes and get people to end the misuse of the apostrophe he said he hoped half a dozen people would join him in his quest but was heartened by the support he received worldwide he received 500 letters from all over the world within a month of starting the website mr richards biggest beef was not people misusing the apostrophe but people not using it at all he called out big companies for this in the uk companies like lloyds bank and the bookstore waterstones dispensed with the apostrophe in their names maybe mr richards was happy with the burger chain mcdonalds

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Adefenderoftheuseoftheapostrophehasquithisdecades-longbattlef
    orthecorrectuseofthepunctuationmark.JohnRichards,96,waschairm
    anoftheApostropheProtectionSociety,whichwasestablishedin2001t
    ocampaigntoencouragebetterwritingandunderstandingofthepurpos
    eoftheapostrophe.MrRichardswroteonthesociety'swebsite:"Fewero
    rganisationsandindividualsarenowcaringaboutthecorrectuseofthea
    postropheintheEnglishlanguage.We,andourmanysupportersworldw
    ide,havedoneourbestbuttheignoranceandlazinesspresentinmodern
    timeshavewon."Headded:"Overtheyearswehaveheardfromthousan
    dsofsupportersallovertheworld...butthebarbarianshavewon."MrRic
    hardsstartedthesocietyafterseeingthe"samemistakesoverandovera
    gain".Hewantedtohighlightpeople'smistakesandgetpeopletoendthe
    misuseoftheapostrophe.Hesaidhehopedhalfadozenpeoplewouldjoin
    himinhisquest,butwasheartenedbythesupporthereceivedworldwide
    .Hereceived500lettersfromallovertheworldwithinamonthofstartingt
    hewebsite.MrRichards'biggestbeefwasnotpeoplemisusingtheapostr
    ophe,butpeoplenotusingitatall.Hecalledoutbigcompaniesforthis.
    IntheUK,companieslikeLloydsBankandthebookstoreWaterstonesdis
    pensedwiththeapostropheintheirnames.MaybeMrRichardswashappy
    withtheburgerchainMcDonald's.

    Free writing

    Write about apostrophe for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    Punctuation isn't so important. 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 this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. THE APOSTROPHE: Make a poster about the apostrophe. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. PUNCTUATION: Write a magazine article about ending all punctuation in English. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    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 the apostrophe. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your reasons why punctuation is very, very, very, very important. 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

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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