Introduction
In this lesson learners imagine the class has a sum of money to donate to a charity. They work in groups to decide which of four charities they should give the money to.
Learners first work in a group, reading about one of the charities and preparing their arguments for why their charity should receive the money. Then they separate into new groups with representatives speaking on behalf of the four different charities. They take turns to present their arguments and try to convince others in the group that their charity deserves the donation. At the end of the discussion learners vote for the most deserving charity.
Learning outcomes
All learners will:
- use vocabulary related to the topic of charities
- develop skills of persuasion in spoken English
- develop speaking skills for fluency.
Materials
The materials can be downloaded below in PDF format.
- Lesson plan
- Worksheets A, B, C, D
Procedure
Stage
10
Warmer
- Write the word ‘charity’ on the board and make sure everyone understands what it means. Then brainstorm a list of charities and write them on the board. You may need to research the names of a few charities to help your learners.
- If learners suggest a lot of charities, you could ask them to organise them into different categories e.g. charities related to the environment, animals, health, age, poverty etc.
- Write the questions below on the board. Learners discuss them as a whole class, or in pairs or small groups. If they discuss in pairs/groups, ask some to share their answers with the class.
o Why do people donate to charity?
o Which charities are the most popular in your country?
15
Reading about a charity and preparing arguments
- Tell the class to imagine that they have some money to donate to a charity. You can decide the amount before the lesson or decide with the class.
- Explain that learners will work in groups. Each group will receive information about a charity. They must persuade the rest of the class to donate the money to ‘their’ charity.
- Divide the class into groups of more-or-less equal numbers and give each group a name: A, B, C or D. Give copies of worksheet A to all the Group As; copies of worksheet B to Group Bs; and so on. If possible, each learner in the group should have a copy of the assigned worksheet.
Note: The charities described in the worksheets are fictional but the facts are correct. - Review the instructions at the top of each worksheet. Learners need to read the information and discuss which points they should highlight. They also need to guess the arguments against the charity and think of counter arguments.
- Learners read the information about their charity and make sure they understand the meaning of all the words and phrases. If necessary, they can look them up in a dictionary or discuss them with their group. You can also help.
- Learners then discuss which points they should highlight about their charity when they try to convince their colleagues that it deserves the donation. They should try to guess arguments against their charity and share ideas for counter
arguments. - Draw learners’ attention to the phrases at the bottom of each worksheet (for giving your opinion, disagreeing, emphasising a point, persuading). They can prepare to use these phrases in the next stage of the lesson.
- Alternative option (no worksheets): Groups research a local charity or invent one. They should note: the name of the charity; a brief description of what the charity does; four facts about the cause; three ways in which the charity helps.
- They then prepare to present the charity in the next stage.
25
Presenting arguments
- Regroup learners into new groups of at least four, with representatives of charities A, B, C and D.
- Explain that learners should take turns in presenting their arguments to the rest of the group. They should allow 1-2 minutes each for this. Then the group should have a discussion, trying to convince each other of the most worthy charity.
- Monitor and observe the groups as they speak and help where necessary. Make a note of any important errors that you notice – either grammatical or in the use of the phrases to give opinion, disagree, emphasise a point, persuade. There will be time at the end for feedback.
5
Voting
- Have a class vote for the most worthy charity to receive the donation.
5
Feedback/homework
- Give feedback on language and use of phrases as necessary.
- As an optional homework task ask learners to find out 5 interesting facts and figures about a charity organisation of their choice.
Downloads
File attachments
Lesson plan223.25 KB
Worksheet A190.06 KB
Worksheet B141.63 KB
Worksheet C235.6 KB
Worksheet D247.76 KB
Publications
Comments
Text of the Stories
How can I find the text files for these stories that I can download for students to read? I usually can find activities or audio files but can't find the text boos.