Age range: 12 - adult
Theme: Economic crisis
Lexical area: Money
Instructions for language assistants in Italics
Classroom materials
Introduction:
This lesson takes a light hearted look at the economic crisis, or ‘credit crunch' as it's often refered to in the UK. Although some of the task are better suited to higher levels, several of the activities can be used with low levels too. You may like to combine some of the activities here with some of the activities in the lesson on Pocket Money and Pester Power or Consumer Society which you can find in the Essential UK archive on the website.
Task one is a little gloomy and asks students to discuss and rank some of the big global problems facing us today! Task two looks at headlines and pictures from the media about the economic situation to get students thinking about the topic. Task three is a reading task based on a radio phone in where listeners were asked to share their top tips for saving money and task four looks at the idea of ‘freecycling', which may well be totally new to your students. Task five is a role play based on lending andborrowing money and task six asks students to work in groups to come up with an idea for a scheme to get rich quick!
1. Problems, problems!
Depending on where you are teaching you can choose your problems and add to them as appropriate. To introduce the topic of the credit crunch, some of the problems should be linked to the economy.The idea is to dictate six or seven problems (or write them on the board) to your students and then to get them talking in groups about which are the most and least important. Obviously there are no real answers but try and encourage your students to express their ideas clearly and respect their classmates' opinions.
Problems could include: Climate change, hunger, war, terrorism, economic crisis, unemployment...
Task 1 Problems, problems!
Your teacher is going to dictate some big problems to you. Write them down and then decide in your group which are the most and least important.
2. In the news
Before class, find some headlines and pictures from newspapers to introduce the topic of the economic crisis. If you have a low level group be sure to include lots of pictures, for higher level groups choose a selection of headlines from several different newspapers. Use the internet to find them if you don't have access to real papers. Type ‘credit crunch' or ‘economic crisis' into a search engine.
Show the class the headlines and pictures and ask them to tell you what they know about the economic situation either globally or within their county. From here introduce the term ‘Credit crunch' which is being used in the UK to describe the crisis. This is the time to introduce students to useful vocabulary such as unemployment, mortgages, stock exchange etc.
Task 2 In the news
Listen to your teacher's instructions.
3. Top Tips for Saving Money
To really get students talking, put students into groups of five and cut up the tips. Give each student one tip each. Ask them to read (and understand!) their tip and then explain it in their own words to their group. Then students can move on to answer the questions below and write their own tips.
Task 3 Top Tips for Saving Money
A radio station asked its listeners to phone in with their top tips for saving money. Here's a selection of their comments. Read them and then decide which are the best and worst tips. Then write your own tip below.
What are your top tips for saving money? Susan: "My tip for saving money is to take your lunch to work instead of eating out. I used to spend £10 every day on lunch, but now I take a tupperware of food and eat it in the office or, if it's sunny, in a park. Imagine, that saves me £50 a week, so that's £200 a month more or less! Ok, it's not as tasty or as fun as eating in a restaurant every day, but heh, think of all that money I'm saving!" Mark: "My tip for saving money is to go out less at the weekends. I used to go out all weekend, to the cinema, bars, for a pizza, you know, just normal things. But now I ask friends to come to my house instead, we watch a film, play computer games and just hang out at home. It's much cheaper and sometimes just as fun as going out." Jasmine: "I think that most people spend lots of money on clothes these days. My tip is to buy second hand clothes instead of new ones. There are lots of good second hand clothes shops and charity shops in my town and I find lots of really funky things. You just need a bit of imagination and you can wear really cool clothes for a fraction of the cost of new ones. I reckon second hand clothes are more original and trendy anyway." Pablo: "My tip is to keep a list of everything you spend for a week. I mean absolutely everything, from that extra special coffee you didn't really need to the lottery ticket you bought with the hope of winning a million! I mean, it all adds up doesn't it? So when you have your list, look and see what things you didn't really need to buy and the next week, just don't buy them! It's simple!" Louise:"I used to get the bus to work and now I've started cycling. In fact I didn't make the change in order to save money, I did it to get fit. But now I really notice that I save money too. So, my tip is to take less public transport and cycle and walk around the city when you can. You've save money and keep fit!" |
- Whose tip is the best?
- Whose tip is going to save the most money?
- Is there any advice in the tips that you would never take? Why?
Write your own top tip here:
4. Freecycling
‘Freecycling' is a way of getting rid of things you no longer want or use and giving them to somebody who does. Freecycle.org was set up five years ago by an American eco-activist who wanted to see less white goods in landfill sites and it now has over six million members world wide. Have a look at the website of freecycle.org to see if there are any local groups where you live. There are over 1.2 million ‘Freecyclers' in the UK alone.
Ask students to think about things they may have at home that they no longer want or use. Give some examples of your own to get them started. Then ask each student to describe one item they'd like to freecyle. When they have all done this they should talk to one another about their items until they find somebody who would like to have their item. You never know you may create some real freecycling situations!
You could use this activity as a starting point to talk about jumble sales, second hand clothes, bring and buy sales etc. which are all a part of UK culture but may not be where you are living.
Task 4 Freecycling
- What do you do with things you don't want or need anymore?
- Have you ever heard of ‘Freecycle?'
Freecycle is an organisation where you can give things you don't use anymore to somebody who wants them. There are lots of regional ‘Freecycle' groups on the internet.
Do you own anything that you don't need or don't want anymore? What is it? Describe the item below.
Now talk to your classmates and see if anyone wants the item you're freecycling! You may find something you'd like to have too!
- Do you know what a ‘jumble sale' or a ‘bring and buy' sale is. Have a guess and then check with your teacher.
- Have you ever bought anything second-hand?
5. Could you lend me a tenner? Role play.
The verbs to borrow and to lend often cause confusion with learners so be prepared to explain the concepts clearly and concisely. If you have a ten pound note, or any sterling currency, bring it in to class to show your students.
Task 5 Could you lend me a tenner? Role play.
In the UK, ‘a tenner' refers to a ten pound note.
Think of as many reasons as you can to ask somebody to lend you a tenner. Write your ideas here:
Now do a role play with a partner. One of you is the borrower and one of you is the lender. The borrower needs a good reason to want to borrow the tenner and s/he should try and convince the lender! You could start your dialogue like this:
A: Hi ___________ ! Could you lend me a tenner?
B: Oh, I don't know mate. What's it for?
A: Well....
6. Get Rich Quick Scheme
Set the scenario for your students that they need to make some money quickly. You (or they) can decide why they need it and how urgent it is. As students are working in their groups, monitor carefully and go around offering help and ideas. When all the groups have finished ask them to present their idea to the whole class then have a vote to see which group has come up with the best scheme.
Task 6 Get Rich Quick Scheme
You need to make some money quickly! Work in pairs or groups to think of a way to make some money (preferably lots!) quickly. The only rules are:
- You mustn't break the law!
- You mustn't hurt other people!
Internet links
A great article from Newsround. ‘What's so scary about the credit crunch?'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7620000/newsid_7623300/7623384.stm
Freeclying organisation
http://www.freecycle.org/
an article from Times online about Freecycling.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/ar...
An article from the BBC about the Credit Crunch.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/business/2007/creditcrunch/default.stm
an article from the business section of The Guardian. There are some good pictures here for task two.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch
Money Facts - an explanation of the credit crunch.
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/Savings/guides/credit-crunch-explained.aspx
By Jo Budden
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Credit.pdf | 74.82 KB |
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