Theme: Wales
Lexical area: Describing places
Instructions for language assistants in Italics
Classroom materials
Introduction
This Essential UK lesson plan is part of a series of four entitled Destination UK. They look at the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. This one gives learners an insight into life in Wales. The Destination UK lessons would be greatly enhanced by bringing in your personal experiences of living in or visiting the country so some adaptation may be necessary.
Task 1 introduces Wales and gives you the chance to find out how much your students already know about the country. Task 2 is a guessing game for students to identify four internationally famous Welsh celebrities and Task 3 is a quiz about Wales. Task 4 is a jigsaw reading task from the British Council’s UK in focus website and Task 5 looks at the Welsh language. Task 6 asks students to plan a trip to Wales in groups and prioritise activities they’d like to do.
1. Welcome to Wales
This is an introductory task where you can find out how much your students know about the country. Some may have visited and you should use their knowledge to share with the group. Either draw a map of the UK on the board or use a map you have. Ask students some simple questions to locate the countries that make up the UK. When they have located Wales, ask if anyone has been there. If you are from Wales or study there, here’s your chance to personalise the class and tell them about life there. If you have photos or pictures you could show them now and get the class to ask for information about the places and people.
Then brainstorm some ideas they have about the country and get students to write or draw their thoughts in the box.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/europe/wales/wales.htm
Task 1 Welcome to Wales
What do you know about Wales? Make notes below on anything you know about the country. Write or draw your ideas.
2. Guess the Welsh celebrity
This task gives students short descriptions of famous Welsh people who they have to identify. You could read the descriptions out and see if they can guess who they are or give each student a copy of the classroom materials to read. Follow up the task by asking students whether or not they knew these celebrities were Welsh. If you think your students will have difficulty recognising the 4 people try and get pictures of them to show afterwards or as they are guessing. Do they know any more famous Welsh people?
Answers: A – Catherine Zeta-Jones B – Tom Jones C – Anthony Hopkins D – Ryan Giggs
Task 2 Guess the Welsh celebrity
Read the descriptions of four famous Welsh people and try to guess who they are.
| A - She was born in South Wales, near Swansea, in 1969. She started
acting at an early age and has starred in blockbusters like The Mask of
Zorro, Traffic and Chicago. She is married to Hollywood star Michael
Douglas and has two children. |
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B - He was born in South Wales in 1940. He is a singer and his most famous songs are ‘It’s not unusual’, ‘Delilah’ or more recently, ‘Sex Bomb’. He is well known for wearing tight trousers and exotic shirts on stage. |
| C - He was born in 1937 in Port Talbot, South Wales but now he lives in Hollywood. He’s a very famous actor. He played the character of Hannibal Lecter in 1991 in The Silence of the Lambs. |
| D – This football player was born in Cardiff and plays for Manchester
United and the Welsh national football team. He has played for
Manchester United since 1991, so is one of the longest serving players
in the team. |
3. Wales quiz
Answers: 1) b, 2) a, 3)c, 4) c 5) b 6) a 7)a 8) b
Task 3 Wales quiz
See how much you know about Wales by doing this quiz.
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Wales quiz |
4. Living in Wales: Jigsaw reading
Divide the class into three groups – A,B and C. Give all members of group A the text marked A and so on. Give the students time to read the text and check with each other if they don’t understand parts of it. You can offer support with vocabulary too. Then re-group the students so the new groups are with 3 students in, one student A, one B and one C and ask the students to explain their text to the others. The text is taken from the British Council’s UK in focus website.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/ism-ukinfocus-regional-wales.htm
Task 4 Living in Wales: Jigsaw reading
You are going to read a text about life in Wales. Make sure you understand it well, as you are going to explain it to your classmates.
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Student A: Language, Rugby and the Millenium Stadium – Living in Wales Wales is a land of rugby, singing and beautiful scenery situated on the western side of the UK. Its population is just under three million which is about 5% of the total UK population. The main cities are Cardiff, the capital city, Swansea and Newport. Wales was ruled directly from London until 1999 when the first elections to the Welsh National Assembly were held. The Assembly has some powers specific to people in Wales and can make decisions on areas such as education and health. Wales remains part of the UK and Members of Parliament (MPs) from Welsh constituencies continue to have seats in the UK Parliament at Westminster. Laws passed by Parliament in Westminster still apply to Wales. |
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Student B: Language The Welsh language is probably the most important thing that distinguishes Wales from the rest of the UK. Welsh (or Cymraeg) is one of Europe’s oldest languages and is spoken by one in five Welsh people. This number doubles among children and teenagers which shows that the language is very much alive among the young. Road signs and other signs are in both English and Welsh. The language is at its strongest along the Llyn Peninsula in North-West Wales, where 75 per cent of the population speak Welsh. Towns, villages and cities in Wales often have both a Welsh and an English name and Wales is home to one of the longest place names in the world - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which means St Mary's (Church) by the white aspen over the whirlpool, and St Tysilio's (Church) by the red cave! |
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Student C: Sport and culture Wales is also known for its ‘Eisteddfodau’ which are festivals celebrating Welsh language, art, culture and heritage and which include an eclectic mix of music, dance, drama, debate and cultural competitions. Most people know of the annual National Eisteddfod which is held alternately in North and South Wales and the International Eisteddfod which is held in Llangollen, but there are Eisteddfodau of varying sizes held in towns and villages throughout the land. The national sport is very much rugby union and the national team are sometimes known as the Dragons as a red dragon appears on the national flag of Wales. The home ground is the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff. |
5. Let’s learn Welsh!
The aim of this activity is to raise students’ awareness that English is not the only language spoken in the UK. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to pronounce the words! Ask students to have a go at saying the words and then answer the questions below as a group.
Task 5 Let’s learn Welsh!
Did you know that the Welsh language is taught at all schools in Wales and some schools do all their classes in Welsh?
Have a look at these common expressions and try saying them.
- Bore daGood morning
- Prynhawn daGood afternoon
- Sut mae?How are you?
- Da iawnVery well
- DiolchThanks
- Creosol i GymruWelcome to Wales
- HwylGoodbye
Do you think Welsh would be an easy language to learn? Why / why not?
How many different languages are spoken in your country?
6. Trip to Wales
Some pictures of the Welsh countryside and of the events mentioned in the task would greatly enhance this task. With the map still on the board tell students they have won a holiday to Wales. They will go as a whole group. They have to decide on the activities they want to do. Make sure students understand all the activities they can choose from and then let small groups discuss with each other to select their three choices. Then get each small group to tell their choices to the whole group and see if you can reach a unanimous decision amongst the whole class.
Task 6 Trip to Wales
You have won a trip to Wales. You will go with your English class and will stay for one week. There are lots of things you can do on holiday in Wales. Here are some of the options. Discuss the options you’re your group. You must choose the three you would prefer to do. All of you have to agree, so you may have to persuade your classmates to change their minds!
- Watch a rugby match.
- Learn to speak Welsh.
- Go horse riding in the countryside.
- Do a Welsh cookery course.
- Visit Cardiff Castle.
- Learn to surf at the beach.
- Go to a concert in the Millennium Stadium.
- Go shopping in Cardiff city centre.
- Go out for the evening in Swansea. (Famous for its night life)
- Go mountain biking / quad biking in the countryside.
Our top three activities are:
1.
2.
3.
Internet links
http://www.britishcouncil.org/ism-ukinfocus-regional-wales.htm The British Council’s UK in focus site.
http://www.visitwales.com/ The official site of the Welsh tourist board.
http://www.homecomingwales.com/gettoknow_celebrities.php This site has information on Welsh celebrities
http://www.artofeurope.com/thomas/tom6.htm Dylan Thomas’ Hunchback in the Park. This would be a good poem to use with high levels.
http://www.owain-glyndwr-soc.org.uk/mapofwales.htm This site has a detailed map of Wales
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/iconsofwales/sites/content/ Thios site has information on icons of Wales
By Jo Budden
| Attachment | Size |
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| wales.pdf | 70.66 KB |
