And the Romans came | Teaching English | British Council

Theme: Museums and their interactive features.
Lexical area: Adjectives to describe opinions and exhibitions.
Cross curricular links: Science, History, Cultural Studies.
Instructions for language assistants in italics

Classroom materials

Introduction
This lesson consists of two texts, which are reviews of museums. The two reviews are written by teenagers on half term holiday. You can use both reviews and the activities that follow. Tasks 1 to 5 can apply to one or both reviews. You can reduce the load by focussing on one review and its theme. The shortest review on the 'science of chocolate' exhibition can lead to tasks 6 and 7 for a lower level group.

The overall teaching aim is to give students some idea of how important museums are in the UK as their economic impact on tourism is somewhere near two billion pounds a year. Innovation in the types of activity in museums can be seen right across the whole of the UK and not just in the big, well known London museums. It is also an important part of the curriculum with school visits to these places on the increase and excellent teaching facilities on site. Check out the websites for the places described to see the excellent support given to students' learning.

Introduce this theme by listing some of the museums or exhibitions you have visited or would like to see in your host country. Would students recommend going? How often do they go to museums? Then put the first task adjectives on the board and ask pairs to confer.

If you have leaflets from places in your hometown ask students to say what the leaflets are advertising and which place looks the most interesting.

1. Museums

Give this task to students in pairs. Get a reaction from students during feedback. Ask them what they think of museums. Are they boring? Why are some museums quiet? Try to keep the task quite brief though.

Task 1 Museums

Which of these words do you associate with museums?

cool	intellectual	trendy	noisy	exciting
serious	boring	quiet	dull	full

2. Your experience

Ask the first two questions around the class and then get students to discuss the first four questions in pairs. Give examples of your own experience to help them and introduce key ideas.

The last two questions can be discussed by intermediate students and upwards in small groups but do not let the discussions drag on.
Ask for 2 reasons why people go and two things that might appeal to teenagers. Are teenagers interested in more practical activities? Are there computers in their local museums? How useful can computers be?

Task 2 Your experience

Ask your partner these questions

Have you ever visited a museum with the school?
What was the last exhibition you saw?
Has your town or area got any good museums?
Are there any special exhibitions on at the moment?
Why do people go to museums?
What things might make a museum attractive to teenagers?

3. Adjective hunt

You can choose at this point to only copy one review. Use the Life Science Centre chocolate exhibition on its own for lower levels.

You could, as an alternative approach, give different reviews to different groups of higher level students. They will then go on to do task 4 as an information exchange and ask each other about the different exhibitions.
The hands-on concept is very important to get across. How can history be hands on? How can science be hands on? How can Art be hands on? Give more examples from your own experience of school in the UK.

Task 3 Adjective hunt

Read the reviews of two museums in Newcastle.

Underline all the adjectives used to describe the exhibition and the activities
Compare them to those in task 1. Did you choose the same ones?
Make a list of the activities that can be described as 'hands-on'.

Students in the UK: Visiting museums

Students all around the UK spend a week on half-term holiday three times a year. If they aren't rushing off to ski slopes, foreign cities or visiting relatives, they are joining the crowds in the UK's growing number of interactive exhibitions and museums. Research shows that half of children in the UK visit a museum at least once a year and there were over 100 million visits to national museums last year. That is more visits than to all the UK's live sports events.

We asked teenagers in Newcastle Upon Tyne to tell us what they saw during their week in February and which activities they enjoyed most.

The Life Science Centre

I've been to the Life Science Centre a few times and it is great fun, especially as you get to touch so many of the exhibits and play on the computers. The half term theme was 'Chocolate'. It isn't a good idea to come to this exhibition if you're on a diet as you get to eat a lot of the exhibits and taste the experiments! It was very hands-on. We made candy floss from sugar to see what happens to the sugar and we found out how long it takes to burn off the calories in a smartie. I ate some smarties too.

As you go through the exhibits you can do experiments with real sweets and follow a treasure hunt called the 'Chocolate Hunt' to find clues. We were very involved and lots of helpers were there to explain things. There was just the right combination of fun and factual information which is important as we are on half term holiday.

I hate museums which make you feel like you are in the classroom with some boring Professor. As a self confessed chocoholic, I would give this exhibition ten out of ten. It got me interested in the science of food and I can remember everything I heard, saw and tasted. The chemistry of chocolate is seriously cool!

The Roman Fort at Segedunum

We did The Roman Empire in primary school history lessons but I don't remember much. I had no idea how interesting life was in Roman Britain until I had a day at the Roman Museum in Wallsend. It is unexpected. I think of Wallsend as an industrial town with shipyards. Wallsend means 'end of the wall' and it is at the end of Hadrian's Wall, just outside Newcastle. The Romans built a very important fort here to protect their wall. The fort was a hidden treasure, buried for hundreds of years.

When you get off the train at Wallsend metro the signs are in English and in Latin! Then just down from the metro station, next to the river and the shipyards, is the site of the Roman fort Segedunum. It is another world. The foundations of the fort are all there and inside an amazing visitors' centre you can travel back in time.

The best bits for me were the games room where you can sit down and play some of the games that the Romans played and the interactive computer room where you can hear about life in the fort told by different people of that time. I really enjoyed visiting the Bath house because they have rebuilt a communal toilet and reconstructed a whole building where the Romans bathed. They were like Turkish baths with hot rooms, cold rooms and also a big room for chatting and playing games. The walls are decorated with frescos. You can just imagine spending a few hours in there! Fascinating.

It's OK to look at maps and diagrams but tasting food and trying on Roman clothes brings everything to life. I have never enjoyed history so much. It is amazing that this frontier post to the Roman Empire is right on my own doorstep! 600 Roman soldiers lived here and their fort was buried for centuries under houses. When the old houses were demolished the archaeologists were able to discover a whole way of life.

The best thing about this special centre is that instead of having lots to read and objects in glass cases, you have lots to do with puzzles and hand-held computer games and you can touch things too. I would recommend it to anyone, even small children can enjoy it. The activities are practical and challenging. It is a whole day out for all the family. You will learn so much about what the Romans brought to Britain and about their daily life in the fort. You might start to enjoy history!

4. Preparing a review

This reading for information can be done as a pair or group effort. It can then lead to written work or to practise in giving an oral review.

Put students in pairs to make their notes and build up an example during feedback on the board.
If you have used both reviews ask students for their preference.
Move on to another task if the class do not show enough direct experience of going to an exhibition but remember that they can use a school outing to review.
If they have lots to say put them in small groups to present an oral review to the class using the headings to guide their presentations.
The written review can be done for homework and they can read each others next lesson.

Task 4 Preparing a review

The students in Newcastle were asked to write a review for their local newspaper. Here are the main areas of the plan.

The name of the Museum
The main theme of the exhibition
Examples of activities and exhibits
Your favourite activity at the exhibition
Who the exhibition is aimed at
Your overall opinion of the exhibition

Use the headings to make notes about each exhibition
Say which museum you would prefer to visit and why
Prepare a review of a museum or exhibition you have visited

5. Making subjects come to life

The first two of the questions below can be adapted depending on if you use one or both texts.

Put students in pairs to discuss the third and fourth questions but give examples for yourself to get them started. You will learn a lot about their tastes if you prompt them well. Do they like going out on trips? Do they like lots of visuals? Do they use CD-ROMs or videos in their lessons?
Ask them to think of one lesson from the past year that they enjoyed. They can tell each other in pairs or groups about this lesson.
Groups of 3-4 students can draw up their list of tips for teachers. You can start them off and guide the structure with an example using either 'Do's and Don't's' or a 'You should/shouldn't.'
Groups can then pass around their efforts and vote for the best suggestions!

Task 5 Making subjects come to life

Experts agree that making learning fun can help students study.

Which school subjects are catered for in the two exhibitions?
Describe two methods used by the museums to make their subjects 'come to life'.
What are your favourite school subjects? Why?
Describe activities that help you enjoy learning.
Prepare a list of suggestions for new teachers: How to make your students enjoy learning.
Show your suggestions to your classmates. Do you all agree?

6. The Sweet tooth challenge

Start by showing the students your own list of sweet stuff that you eat and then give them a minute to write their own.

Ask them to look at each others. This analysis of their lists can be done in groups of 4 or 5 students. You might like to hold feedback after the third question and then extend the discussion on changing diets to making a typically weekly menu for their era and their grandparents' era.
Looking at the different dietary habits ask them to talk about good habits and bad ones. What is making them modify their eating habits?

Task 6 The Sweet tooth challenge

Make a list of all the sweet things you might eat on a normal day.

Who eats the most sweet stuff?
What's the most popular type of sweet snack?
Which sweet snack has the most calories?
Do you eat more sweet stuff than your grandparents did?

7. Chocolate fun

Make this sentence writing game competitive. This task can be done in mixed groups if you have a mixed ability class so everyone gets a chance to compete and win.

The first task can be done individually or in pairs and then make groups of 4 for the sentence challenge. Award points for correct English and correct information.
Give copies of the quiz to each group and set a time limit.
Scoring and marking of the quiz should be done by another team to avoid them changing their answers!
You could use the quiz questions on cards as a class team challenge.

Task 7 Chocolate fun

Write as many sentences as you can about chocolate. Use words like cocoa bean, Easter eggs, milk, sugar.

Compile your sentences in groups and try to think of more
Score a point for each correct sentence
Try our chocolate quiz: Which group knows the most about chocolate and its history?

The Chocolate Quiz

1. Where do cocoa beans grow?
a) On bushes b) On trees (*) c) In the ground

2. Where was cocoa discovered?
a) In West Africa b) In Mexico (*) c) In Spain

3. When was the cocoa bean introduced into Europe?
a) In the 1200s b) In the 1500s (*) c) In the 1800s

4. Who enjoyed the first chocolate drinks?
a) The Ancient Greeks b) The Mayans(*) c) The Native Americans
Note that Montezuma drank up to 50 cups of hot chocolate a day. It was bitter too.

5.Who brought the first cocoa bean to Europe?
a) Cortez b) Cook c) Columbus (*)
Cortez brought the recipe for making a drink out of the bean at a later date but Columbus brought the first beans to the Spanish court.

6. Who kept the new hot chocolate drink a secret for a century?
a) English explorers
b) French nuns
c) Spanish monks (*)
The French found out about the drink through marriage into the Spanish Royal family and then the drink was passed to the UK. Chocolate bars were not made until the 1800s.

7. Who used the cocoa bean as money?
a) The Spanish
b) The Aztecs (*)
c) The North American Indians

8. What is the main ingredient of good quality chocolate bars?
a) A high percentage of milk
b) A high percentage of sugar
c)A high percentage of cocoa solids (*)
62-85% cocoa solids = dark chocolate
36-40% cocoa solids = milk chocolate

9. Which of these products contain cocoa butter?
a) Toothpaste
b) Lipstick (*)
c) Furniture polish

10. Which animal loves chocolate?
a) Horses
b) Mice (*)
c) Sheep
Mice actually prefer chocolate to cheese and a new mousetrap was invented last year which smells of chocolate.

8. Roman Britain

Find out from teachers at the school or textbooks if there is coverage of The Roman Empire. Check out the links for downloadable maps of Hadrian's wall and Roman Britain.

This task can be done in groups and will work well with classes who have internet access as you can complete it using the Segedunum sites.
The discussion on the Roman legacy in Britain can lead to students considering their cultural borrowings from other peoples

Task 8 Roman Britain - Project

Take a blank map of Europe

Mark the countries which were part of the Roman Empire.
Draw a line to indicate where The Roman wall was in Britain and the fort of Segedunum.
Find the Roman names for the countries in Europe, including countries in the UK.

The Romans introduced many things to Britain that are still in use today. A recent TV programme asked: What did the Romans do for us? Here are some examples.

Sanitation
Irrigation
Roads
Laws
Shops
The calendar
Coins
Paved streets and pavements
Cement and bricks
Towns
Wine
Glass
Language (new words)
Central heating

Does your country have a Roman history?
Find out what the Romans introduced.
Describe the historical period which interests you most.

Internet links

This site has links to all Newcastle's museums and their resources, including the Roman Museum Segedunum. Look at the 'fun and games' sections to see interactive activities linked to exhibitions:
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk

This has good descriptions of the Roman fort and some maps:
http://www.segedunum.com/

You can do a virtual tour of this excellent science museum:
http://www.lifesciencecentre.org.uk

The BBC's Newsround site has some fun stories on the theme of chocolate and they could be used for jigsaw reading and lower level story telling activities:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Essential UK links

The Secret agent follows up the theme of exhibitions and reviewing them with the James Bond exhibition at The National Science Museum.
A Boyhood home follows up the idea of living history and bringing the past to life through the restoration of John Lennon's house by The National Trust.
Spring in to science links well to the idea of making science accessible, cool and hands on.
Innovation nation looks at Britain's scientific heritage and history of inventiveness.
Fizzy drink is a good extension of the theme of bad dietary habits and changing tastes in food.
Visitors to the UK links to the theme of visitor attractions. Segedunum is a major tourist draw and museums are an important part of the UK tourist industry. Who comes to the UK and where they go.

By Clare Lavery

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