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Breaking News English
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Activity Description
Breaking News English is a Web site that contains numerous reading lessons on a variety of high-interest news items that have been put into simplified language for ESL and ABE students. The reading levels begin a level 4. The site's main page lists new entries, posted every few days in chronological order. If you are looking for a reading lesson on a specific topic, scroll down to the bottom of the home page where you can search for lessons categorized in the following groupings: Business English, Environment, Health, Lifestyle, Famous People and Gossip, Technology, and World News.
Preparation
- Select the story, "New paint to say goodbye to car washes". (see the Example Web Site above) Preview it and the activities available. Print copies of the story if necessary.
- Print activities students will be required to complete (Example Document - see above) or provide a link to the Web site for online activities.
- Go through the story as a class, answering questions together. Hand out the Example Document, "Breaking News English Summary Sheet." Have students fill out the worksheet.
- Assign a second story to do as pairs / groups.
How-To
Each lesson (a downloadable PDF file) has a downloadable audio file (mp3), so students can listen to the article while reading it, or you can use the lesson plan materials for listening skills practice.
The lessons have the following types of activities (all with answers) based around short news articles:
- warm-ups (e.g., conversation, interviews, ranking)
- before reading/listening (e.g., prediction, vocabulary preparation)
- while reading/listening (e.g., cloze)
- after reading/listening (vocabulary, comprehension, recall)
- discussion
- language (grammar, parts of speech)
- writing
There are also online interactive exercises to accompany the lessons, which include fill-in-the-blank, matching, hangman, flash cards, sentence jumble, missing words, and crossword puzzles.
Teacher Tips
These stories with audio support can be used for developing reading skills, as students can read and listen. Each lesson also has numerous off-line activities that support language development.
More Ways
Also see Breaking New English creator Sean Banville's other sites, Famous People Lessons , News English Lessons (easier), ESL Holiday Lessons , and Listen a Minute (easier English listening).
Program Areas
- ABE: Adult Basic Education
Levels
- Intermediate
- High
Documents
- Breaking News English Summary Sheet.docx - Breaking News Summary Sheet
Subjects
- Reading
- Vocabulary
- Writing
- Basic Sentences
- Paragraph Skills