This lesson plan for teachers of teenagers and adults at intermediate level and above explores the theme of things to do in a city at night. Students will have an opportunity to develop their reading skills.

Introduction

Reading can sometimes be a very solitary experience and many teachers prefer to get students to do it at home, but with the right kind of text and the right tasks, reading can be turned into a fun, collaborative and communicative experience.

This lesson exploits an authentic text taken from a British Council 'UKinfocus' website and has a range of quite simple tasks that students work through in groups. There are also a range of suggestions for follow up tasks.

Note this is an old plan, so the webpage it links to is no longer available. You can print out the texts from the lesson plan below though.

Topic

Things to do in a city at night

Level

Intermediate and above

Time

60-90 mins

Aims

  • To develop reading skills
  • To develop the ability to work co-operatively in a group
  • To develop the ability to deduce meaning from context

Materials

Lesson Plan:  guide for teacher on procedure including answers to tasks.

Download lesson plan 101k pdf

Worksheets:  exercises which can be printed out for use in class. The worksheet contains:

  • Pre-reading
  • Jigsaw reading task
  • Collaborative comprehension task
  • Vocabulary development task
  • Discussion task

Download worksheets 86k pdf

Audio - the complete text
Note: The audio is not essential for the lesson but you may like to use it in class as an optional element.

913Kb Mp3 - Newcastle

To download audio, right click on audio file in the Attachment below and save to your computer.

For more information about this topic you can visit these sites:

  • http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_upon_Tyne

Nik Peachey, teacher, trainer and materials writer, British Council

The plans and worksheets are downloadable and in pdf format. Where indicated, there is also audio available to be downloaded. Audio is supplied in mp3 format. If you have difficulty downloading the materials see the download section of the Help page.

 

Copyright - please read
All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site without written permission from the BBC and British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials please email us at: teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org

Language Level

Comments

Submitted by Mandoumbé on Sat, 05/01/2021 - 02:55

It is very interesting

I have discovered another way of dealing with reading 

Submitted by DISNEY ARAUJO AIRES on Sat, 04/20/2019 - 01:07

Amazing topic! It helps me improve my skills on pronounciation. Thanks to British Council for that.

Submitted by ngimoel on Tue, 03/05/2019 - 13:33

This lesson plan is great! Thanks

Submitted by gogoing35 on Mon, 10/31/2016 - 23:17

I can't see the text, I can only see the downloadable lesson plan and the worksheets.. Please help me find the text

Submitted by ဘိဒ္ on Thu, 09/08/2016 - 16:40

Though the paragraph seems to be out of date, it still remains a useful material for reading in pronunciation and analysing grammar. Thanks for posting. Still useful!

Submitted by Jason Jixun M… on Wed, 08/17/2016 - 13:43

This lesson plan awoke me so many beautiful memories about the night life in Newcastle, though it was really out of time. I think: joining some participant-observations, experiences, photography from teachers' real life there would make the lesson much vivid and touched. Merely, about the policeman's part, I can't really agree more. They are somehow doing too many extra and over-controlled matters; might-be, their hearts are good, but who really did know? More helps and smiles are usefully for dealing with problems, in my opinion. In conclusion, a very good course plan directly abstracted from true life-style in Newcastle, itself. Integrating it with students' life experiences, teachers would make more innovations in teaching

Submitted by akbarali on Sat, 07/09/2016 - 16:22

After following British Council for almost 6 years, I have found that this is the best place to learn, share, interact, and teach. The authentic material they use is amazing and matchless. Having been inspired by the teachers working for the British Council, I did TKT in 2012. I have been using latest teaching techniques and strategies in my class for a long time. Thanks a lot for the support you provide in a different and more interesting way.

Submitted by ASSEM HUSSAIN on Mon, 12/21/2015 - 14:33

Nice exercise. I enjoyed it a lot.

Submitted by DISNEY ARAUJO AIRES on Sat, 04/20/2019 - 01:48

In reply to by ASSEM HUSSAIN

I totally agree with Mr. Hussain. But maybe a text transcription could give a hand to the class. They loved it!

Submitted by Derek Spafford on Tue, 08/18/2015 - 14:46

Many thanks for the feedback. I'll pass this on to the team for discussion. Cheers Del

Submitted by wescombeco on Tue, 08/18/2015 - 10:47

Totally agree with SLavr. I used to use this exercise and I've looked it up. It's dated 2003 - 12 years old. The activities are still valid, but I feel it's important to up date materials where possible and here it's certainly possible!

Submitted by SLavr on Mon, 05/09/2011 - 11:32

While this is a nice exercise in principle there is no example of the geordie accent and is very out of date now.  The Tuxedo Royal has been gone for over a decade.

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