talking about FAMILY

One of the first subject that you are able to talk about with beginner levels is FAMILY. Partly because you may use relatively easy language to do this, like verbs TO BE and TO HAVE GOT, but also because that's something close to everyone. My take on the subject is fairly simple and involves using pictures and a speaking game. Hope you'll like it.

SPEAKING

Remind the students the rules of using 's in expressing possessions or family relations. You may do it as follows:

• Whose book is it? It's my brother's book. - It is his book.
• Whose pen is it? It's my deskmate's pen. - It's her pen.
• Whose car is it? It's my grandparents' car. - It's their car.

The students are to look at the pictures. Ask them Who is who? to a person marked with a star.

Who is Mona to Marge?
Who is Patty?
Who is Herb?
etc.

Who is Ling to Abraham?
Who is Mona?
Who is Homer?
etc.

Who is Patty to Maggie?
Who is Lisa?
Who is Ling?
etc.

WRITING

You may also use the picture without stars and ask the students to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

Bart is Lisa's _________________________ 

Marge is Homer's_________________________ 

Clancy is Selma's_________________________ 

Abraham is Mona's_________________________ 

Maggie is Ling's_________________________ 

Lisa is Patty's_________________________ 

Homer is Abraham's_________________________ 

Selma is Ling's adoptive_________________________ 

Bart is Herb's_________________________ 

Abraham is Lisa's_________________________ 

Bart and Lisa are Marge's_________________________ 

Maggie is Jackie's_________________________ 

Maggie is Marge's_________________________ 

Herb is Marge's_________________________ 

Patty is Selma's_________________________ 

Abraham is Marge's_________________________ 

Herb is Maggie's_________________________ 

Jackie is Homer's_________________________ 

Marge is Herb's_________________________ 

Homer and Marge are Lisa's_________________________ 

Homer and Herb are Clancy's_________________________ 

Bart and Lisa are Maggie's_________________________ 

Marge is Mona's_________________________ 

Maggie and Bart are Ling's_________________________ 

SPEAKING GAME

Prepare cards with words representing different members of the family. Put them on a table face down. The student take turns to pick a card and using possessive 's explain the word to the class.

You may use the basic words but you may also enrich the game with words such as:

a boyfriend

a widower

a divorcee

twins

a stepmother

a great grandmother

etc.

DISCUSSION POINTS

• How big is your family?
• Which family is bigger: that on your father's side or your mother's?
• Who is the oldest in your family?
• Who is the youngest?
• How many brothers and sisters have you got?
• How many aunts and uncles have you got?
• How many (first) cousins have you go?
• Who are you named after?

talking about STEREOTYPES (again...)

I found the subject of STEREOTYPES not only appealing but also useful for practicing various structures. In the previous lesson concerning this topic I aimed at introducing TEND TO or HAVE A TENDENCY as alternative to unfair and rather harmful straight ahead language in opinion giving, such as "Americans love guns." which I altered with "Americans tend to love guns." This time I decided to focus on STEREOTYPES about my students' nationality (obviously I had my doubts about their reaction but they were more than happy to discuss their own vices and virtues) and a fixed phrase JUST BECAUSE... DOESN'T MEAN THAT... Enjoy.

GRAMMAR

Explain the way we use the expression JUST BECAUSE... DOESN'T MEAN THAT...

Although [A] happened, [B] will not necessarily happen as a result.

• JUST BECAUSE you study hard DOESN’T MEAN THAT you will pass the test.
• JUST BECAUSE we lost this match DOESN’T MEAN THAT we’ll lose the next one.
• JUST BECAUSE I was late yesterday DOESN’T MEAN THAT I'll be late tomorrow.

[A] is true, but [B] is not necessarily true as a result.

• JUST BECAUSE your mother is angry at you DOESN’T MEAN THAT she doesn’t love you.
• JUST BECAUSE I'm a girl DOESN’T MEAN THAT I'm sentimental.
• JUST BECAUSE it’s Saturday DOESN’T MEAN THAT you have to sleep late.

 We may also add NECESSARILY to the sentence.

JUST BECAUSE you think you are a good worker DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT you should be paid more.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Change these sentences to JUST BECAUSE... DOESN'T MEAN THAT... (the first one is done for you).

1. Evan had a steak for lunch, but he might not be full.
Just because Evan had a steak for lunch doesn’t mean that he’s full.

2. I didn’t answer my cell phone, but this doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to talk to you.
3. You should quit smoking even if you’re healthy.
4. You think you’re smart but some people may think otherwise.
5. He’s not a criminal even though he’s black and wears a hoodie and baggy jeans.
6. My room may be dirty but I am in fact an organized person.

SPEAKING PRACTICE

Each student receives a sentence representing one of stereotypes others may have about his/her country. The students are to decide if they are true or false, and justify their answer.

My students are Turkish so I've searched the Internet for stereotypes about Turkey. Here's a sample list.

• Turkish people have big families.
• Every Turkish woman wears a headscarf.
• Turkish people all have got black hair and dark skin.
• They buy only Mercedes or BMW.
• Turkey is a strict Muslim country with Islamic law.
• Turkish people are uneducated.
• Men are dominant, women have to listen to their husbands and stay at home.
• Turkish men are lazy.
• Turkish men are allowed  to have many wives.
• The country is unsafe.
• Everyone wears a fez and has a moustache.

VIDEO
The students watch a short video on their motherland and discuss what they've learnt from it. they are free to use the freshly learnt expression JUST BECAUSE... DOESN'T MEAN THAT...

Turkey in 2 minutes

talking about STEREOTYPES

It's been a considerably long time since I shared anything with you. But I'm back with new ideas. This time it's a conversation lesson on STEREOTYPES. Well, I've managed to sneak a little grammar in it as well by introducing an alternative to strong statements typical of expressing STEREOTYPES. Hope you'll enjoy it.

WARM-UP

A STEREOTYPE is a generalized view or popular belief on a particular group of people, usually inaccurate and sometimes offensive.

Look at the statements below. How accurate do you think these stereotypes are?

1. Italian people eat pasta on a daily basis.
2. Germans are hard working and never complain.
3. The French are the most romantic people. 
4. Americans are fat because they love fast food and never exercise.

Explain that the language used in the statements above is rather offensive and too general. Instead of putting those opinions like the above we may use a "softer" version.

Italian people TEND TO eat pasta on a daily basis. 

(Many Italians eat pasta on a daily basis but not all of them.)

Germans TEND TO be hard working and never complain. 

(While some Germans are hard working and never complain, many are lazy and grumpy.)

The French HAVE A TENDENCY to be very romantic. 

(Some French are romantic but some are not.)

Americans HAVE A TENDENCY to be fat because they love fast food and never exercise. 

(It's not true that all Americans are fat, love fast food and never exercise. Many are fit and lead a healthy lifestyle.)

GRAMMAR PRACTICE/SPEAKING
Give your opinion on the nationalities below using TEND TO or HAVE A TENDENCY. Remember about the grammar rule about them.

• TEND TO + V1
• HAVE A TENDENCY + V1

Russians * Thais * Arabs * Americans * the Chinese

SPEAKING

Stereotypes are not only about nationality but also about race, gender, age or religion. 

Watch the slideshow and and finish the sentences expression your views. Justify your choice. 

talking about MALE & FEMALE ROLES

The topic of the differences and similarities between women and men always sparks heated discussions in the class, especially if the class is gender diverse. My usually scheme is to use this topic in the conversation stage of a lesson with higher level as a follow-up to introduction of gender appropriate language, e.g. using words such as "a police officer" or "a firefighter" instead of "a policeman" and "a fireman". What I'm sharing today is an activity that aims at both the discussion and contrasting opinions in a single sentence, so the usage of WHEREAS, WHILE and ON THE OTHER HAND. Enjoy.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Introduce the concept of using contrast in a sentence with expressions such as WHEREAS, WHILE and ON THE OTHER HAND.

Whereas
Summers in the Mediterranean are hot and humid whereas winters are mild and pleasant.

While
Babies rely heavily on their parents while teenagers tend to be rebellious.

On the other hand 
Extroverts are very open about their feelings, introverts on the other hand keep emotions to themselves.

VIDEO
Students will watch a video contrasting women and men in the following categories:
* coming home
* speaking
* watching a romantic movie
* business trip
* on a diet
* date at 20:00
* discussion
* travelling
* seducing
* to the toilet
* handbag
* shopping
* ideal partner

The teacher stops the video after each sequence and encourages the students to form contrasting sentences,
e.g.
Women cry at romantic movies whereas men sleep.
Men talk in straight while women beat about the bush.
Whenever a man is travelling he's only packing the essentials, a woman on the other hand always travels with excess baggage.

Get some feedback from the video section asking the students whether they believe the animation tells the truth or exaggerates. Let them give their own contrasting ideas on the subject of male and female.

DISCUSSION POINTS

• What are some typical jobs for men and women in your country?
• Is it typical for women to join the military in your country?
• Is it typical for men to be teachers in your country?
• Generally speaking, what do women tend to be better at than men? Why?
• Generally speaking, what do men tend to be better at than women? Why?
• What are the roles of men and women in your society?
• In what ways, do you think, the world would be different if more world leaders were women?
• What does a woman need to do to be considered attractive in your country? What do men have to do?
• Do you see yourself as a typical man or woman?
• What are the responsibilities of a father?
• What are the responsibilities of a mother?
• Are fathers capable of carrying out the duties of a mother and vice versa?
• If all of the men in the world disappeared, what would it be like?
• If all of the women of the world disappeared, what would it be like?
• Can a man and a woman be only friends?  
• Do men/men friendships differ from women/men or women/women friendships? How? 

PAIN vs. ACHE

There's  a slight difference between the words PAIN and ACHE. Both are most commonly used as nouns which describe an unpleasant sensation or feeling of discomfort usually associated with illness. But are they actually same?

There are some slight differences between those two words.

• ACHE is a feeling of a rather long term discomfort; not sharp enough to call it PAIN. Since it's persistent you may try to ignore it or get used to it. Also, ACHE usually forms compound nouns with body parts, i.e. a headache, a toothache, a backache

e.g.
Weather changes always give me a headache.

• PAIN is often short-lived, sharp and difficult to ignore. It's also more localised. It does not form compound nouns with body parts but rather goes like this: a pain in the leg, a pain in the neck or a leg pain, a neck pain.

e.g.
After falling off the stairs I felt a massive pain in my ankle.

Now look at the difference:
When you cut your finger you feel pain.
In next few days you may have ache in the wounded finger.

Both words are also verbs. However TO PAIN is most commonly replaced with TO HURT.

e.g.
Whenever I spend few hours in front of a PC, my eyes ache terribly.
Your unjust remark pained me. (Your unjust remark hurt me.)

EAT BREAKFAST VS. HAVE BREAKFAST

Do we EAT BREAKFAST or do we HAVE BREAKFAST? I admit I've never given a second thought to the difference between those to expression and never pondered too much as to which one is correct. As the difficulty was drown to my attention let's have a look.

Both EAT BREAKFAST and HAVE BREAKFAST are correct and are practically interchangeable which basically means that you may use them in the same way and they will mean the same thing. 

I usually eat breakfast on my balcony. * I usually have breakfast on my balcony.

To go a step further, verbs EAT or DRINK and HAVE refer to the act of eating or drinking something.

We had a chocolate cake at the party last night. *We ate a chocolate cake at the party last night.

People with high blood pressure shouldn't drink any coffee. * People with high blood pressure shouldn't have any coffee. 

If you like to be more precise, it's worth noting that if your breakfast consists of a glass of orange juice or a mare cup of coffee and a cigarette, then you'd  opt for HAVE BREAKFAST since you're actually not eating anything.

I was in hurry so  I just drank a cup of coffee for breakfast. * I was in hurry so I just had a cup of coffee for breakfast. 

NOTE: Of course same rules apply to lunch and dinner or other meals.

talking about past with USED TO

USED TO is not the easiest English structure for the students to understand since is may be absent in their native language. I usually practice this structure talking about childhood memories or habits that changed over the years, and finish off with a discussion about civilisations development. Here is a simple activity the latter.

SPEAKING

Prepare some sentences comparing past and present, cut them into two parts and hand out whichever part you wish to the students. their task is to either start the sentence using USED TO or finish it with PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE (depending which part of the sentence you decide to hand out).

- People used to write letters to each other...

...but now they communicate by social media.  

- People used to count with abacuses...
...but now we have calculators and computers.
- Children used to go to work to earn money for the family...
...but now they go to school.
- We used to grow gardens for food...
...but now we buy fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. 
- People used to travel in horse carriages...
....but now we have cars and motorbikes.
- People used to keep food fresh under ground or in caves...
....but now we have fridges.
- People used to tell each other stories for fun...
...but now they watch TV and movies.
- Women used to wear long dresses...
...but now many women wear jeans.
- People used to tell the time with the sun...
...but now we use watches and clocks.

Next show the students a slidshow with pictures BEFORE and AFTER concerning different aspects of everyday life and ask them to form sentences with USED TO for the past and PRESENT SIMPLE for the present. Here is an example that you may find useful.

making requests with WOULD

There are plenty of ways to make requests or ask politely about something. Today I'd like to share a very simple and quick speaking activity in which the students are asked to use different variations of WOULD (also in expressing wishes). It could prove useful both in the practice stage of a lesson and as a revision exercise. Enjoy.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

The teacher asks particular students to make sentences with would, would like, would love or wouldn't like.

• You want to do something with your friend tonight. 
• You are in a restaurant and you ask for a glass of water.
• You are saying having children is not for you.
• At school you’re asking the teacher to repeat something.
• You want to be a famous artist very much.
• You are saying how much you want to go to Casablanca.
• You are offering your friend a piece of cake.
• You don't like to work as an undertaker.
• You are asking your friend where you should put the box.
• You are explaining that your family doesn’t like to live in a village.
• On a train station you’re asking for a one way ticket to Glasgow.
• You are excited about going to a film premiere with your friend.

using RELATIVE CLAUSES for definitions

Pf, I was away for too long! Time to share some new exercises.

I like lessons that explore areas familiar to students. Their culture, traditions, everyday subject. One such lesson is on RELATIVE CLAUSES. After a detailed grammar introduction I usually ask the students to give some definitions to specific words. Here are 3 of such activities that seem like fun to me.

SPEAKING

Answer the following questions using relative clauses. Give several examples to each questions.

What is a/an/-
smartphone?                corkscrew?          key?            envelope?      tiger?                

canary?                        torch?                  emu?           bear?             summer?

St. Valentine’s Day?    September?         5 o’clock?     Monday?       evening?

Sacrifice Holiday?        Children’s Day?   childhood?   4^th of July?    New York?

Istanbul?                      Beijing?                Paris?

Who is/was 

Mick Jagger?        Charles Darwin?   Albert Einstein?      Barak Obama?     Napoleon

SPEAKING

Ask the students to make definitions to some words you are sure they don't know. They are suppose to use relative clauses as their answers (my examples require the use of which/that). Let them have some fun deducing the meaning. My top examples of the new words are as follows (of course you're free to choose any you like).

a straitjacket

a loony

a mongrel

a mitten

a see-saw

a shortbread

an onlooker 

SPEAKING

Prepare a pile of cards with words connected with the culture and traditions of the country your students are from. Put the cards with words face down. each student takes one card and tries to explain it to the rest of the class using relative clauses. My students are from Turkey so I use words such as:

simit
Atatürka

künefe

arabesk

Zeki Muren

Ramadan

şalgam

Anıtkabir etc.

talking about SAVING ENERGY

On March the 30th an inexplicable and rather annoying event took place in Turkey. Namely, countries' worst BLACKOUT in last 15 years. Believe it or not, it inspired me to prepare a lesson on energy deficiency and ways to save power. I discovered that it would also be a good excuse to practice giving reasons in English. Hope you like it.

WARM UP

What can you do during a blackout? Give some examples.

GRAMMAR

When you give reasons you are simply answering the question WHY? The most popular way to do it, is to use BECAUSE.

e.g. Why did you leave the party so early? I left the party early BECAUSE I felt ill.

BECAUSE + a subject +  verb

I left the party early BECAUSE I (a subject) felt (a verb) ill.

However there are many other ways to give reasons. Look at the examples.

BECAUSE OF + (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) a noun

DUE TO

OWING TO

ON ACCOUNT OF

BECAUSE OF + (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) verb + -ing

DUE TO the fact that

OWING TO the fact that

ON ACCOUNT OF the fact that

e.g. Why did he lose the race?

He lost the race BECAUSE OF (his) having (a verb + -ing) an accident with another bicycle.

He lost the race BECAUSE OF a knee injury (a noun).
He lost the race DUE TO the fact that he was too slow.

In everyday English we may also use:

FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT + subject + verb

FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT + subject + verb

e.g. Why didn’t you respond to my message?

Sorry, I couldn’t respond to your message FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT my phone credit was over.

I didn't respond to your message FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT I was busy. 

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

The teacher gives each students a problem card. Their task is to give reasons to the problems described. 

• All of the lights in the house went out.
• The tree in my back yard suddenly fell.
• There is no pie left in the fridge.
• A scientist received the Nobel Prize.
• One of my friends broke his leg.
• The dog bit my leg.
• I’ve missed the bus again!
• The taxi driver had an accident.
• The ceiling in my house fell down.
• Panda in our ZOO died yesterday.
• I didn’t understand what he said.
• We don’t feel well.
• The plane crashed to the ground.
• The temperatures this summer hit record high.
• The number of bees is quickly decreasing.
• Shopping gets more expensive every year.
• I lost my job.
• Traffic police stopped me for control. 

SPEAKING

Answer the questions.

• What are the reasons for blackouts?
• What are their consequences?

READING

Read the short text and find the synonyms of the words below in the text. Then use it in the sentences.

BLACKOUT * FIRST * MIXED * OLD * RELAX * STEALING

Do you recall the famous 2003 New York City blackout?

When the lights went out on August 14, 2013 - less than two years after the September 11th attacks - New Yorkers INITIALLY ¹(___________)feared terrorism. Their concerns were however quickly RELIEVED ²(___________)when Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the blackout was actually caused by a massive power OUTAGE ³(___________)across the Northeast.

Old power lines, summer heat, overgrown trees, OUTDATED ⁴(___________) equipment, and human error had all COMBINED 5(___________) for one of the largest outages in history. 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada were without power. Different than the blackout of 1977, New York City crime and LOOTING ⁶(___________) were not the problem. In fact, police reported less crime during the 2003 blackout than during the same time in 2002.

a.    ______________ I liked the job very much but it soon got boring.

b.    During the last year’s street protest many shops were ______________.

c.    Modern time inventions are getting ______________ very quickly.

d.    The two organizations ______________ to form one company.

e.    This ______________ lasted around 14 hours and was the longest in history.

f.     This pill should ______________ your pain for few hours.

VIDEO

Watch the video and fill in each blank in the text below with TWO words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcZQmt6Spo

Each of these balloons represents ¹_______________ of carbon pollution. You can’t see it but we produce carbon pollution ²_______________ we use power. The average New South Wales home produces about 160,000 balloons ³_______________. Finding simple ways to reduce the amount of power we use ⁴_______________turning appliances off at the wall and switching to energy efficient lightning, will not only lower power bills but reduce our impact on the environment. The little things that we can all do, can make a ⁵_______________. What can you do in your world?

Answer the final question of the video: What can you do in your world to save energy?

WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED?

A few days ago I came across a very short but hilarious video of an eagle performing what is call an epic facial expression. It inspired me to introduce it in the class to practice the use of JUST in PRESENT PERFECT sentences. I believe it may be fun to use the video in the class and let the student comment on it in a creative way. Here is the short activity that I came up with.

SPEAKING/VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmizjAOH4b4
The teacher plays a short video. The students' task is to answer the question:
What has just happened to the eagle?

It's a good idea to encourage the students to be creative and invent some crazy answers to the question. Some examples of the answers may be as follows:

• It has just saw another eagle in its nest.
• It has just sat on a thorny tree branch.
• It has just saw a hunter pointing a rifle at it.
• It has just learnt that its wife pregnant.
• It has just learnt that he won a jackpot in a lottery. 
• It has just realized that he forgot to flush the toilet.

telling STORIES IN THE PAST

A fun way to practice PAST SIMPLE or/and PAST CONTINUOUS structures is obviously storytelling. Here are two enjoyable and engaging activities I always use with my students. To take it to a next level, you may add a speech sequence expressions to the lesson, such as FIRST, NEXT, THEN, BEFORE THAT, AFTER THAT, LATER, IN THE END or FINALLY. Enjoy.

SPEAKING 1
The teacher prepares little pieces of paper with random words. The students then one by one draw lots. Their task now is to make up a story together incorporating all the chosen words. The teacher may start a story with a single sentence on board and as the students give their suggestions for its follow up, the teacher writes it down as well.

Examples of entry sentences:
One day, I was walking my dog in the park when a strange things happened. 
One day, as I was coming back home from work I saw a house on fire.
One day. I woke up late for school.
One day, I had a very peculiar dream.

Examples of word cards:
RAIN * CHEEKS * FEET * STREET * SOCKS * TOMATO * MONKEY * CREDIT CARD * WINDOW * SOAP * PILLOW * KNIFE * SUNSET * MONEY * TREE * SWIMMING POOL * WATER * TAXI * VOICE * BICYCLE * HEADACHE * BATHROOM * JEANS * GIRAFFE * BOOKSHOP * CLOCK * BABYSITTER * GOLF CLUB * STAIRS * BASEMENT 

NOTE
You may do the same exercises with verb cards, e.g. regular verbs in the early stages of learning Past Simple. 

Examples of verb cards:
answer * ask * attack * borrow * brush * call * change * clap * clean * collect * copy * cry * dance * drop * earn * fail * fix * fry * help * hug * invite * join * jump * kick * kill * kiss * knit * laugh * learn * listen * live * look * marry * mix * need * open * paint * pass * play * promise * relax * rob * save * scream * talk * travel * use * visit * wait * walk * wash * watch * work * yawn * zip

SPEAKING 2
The teacher asks students the following questions and writes down their answers on board. Each students gets to answer one question. The number of questions depends on the number of students in the group. 

• What's your favourite food?
• What smells bad?
• What are you afraid of?
• Which English word starts with "V"?
• What is the synonym of good?
• Which animal can't fly?
• What can you lose?
• Which bad habit can you think of?
• Which country would you like to visit?
• Which job do you find boring?
• What is there in your pocket?
• What illness can you think of?
• What do you wear in winter?
• Which object do you use everyday?

The students then are asked to use all the words listed and combine them in a single story. 

talking about DISABILITIES

Today's lesson explores the subject of DISABILITIES. It doesn't cover much of grammar content but allows to practice proper words and expressions that should be use when talking about disabled people and provokes a discussion on their rights, difficulties and merits to society. Hope it may prove helpful to you.

WARM UP

What are some types of disabilities that you know?
________________     ________________     ________________
________________     ________________     ________________

Did you ever know someone with a disability?

VOCABULARY

Here are some proper expressions that you should use regarding disabled people.

Fill in the blanks in the sentences with words given.

born * disabled * hear * learning * move * psychic * see * speak

• A person with a disability is ____________.
• People who can’t ____________ are mute or non-vocal.
• People who can’t ____________ are blind or visually-impaired.
• People who can’t ____________ are deaf or hearing-impaired. 
• People who can’t ____________ well have a mobility disability or a physical disability.
• People who have trouble ____________ have a learning disability.
• People who were ____________ with disability have an intellectual disability or are developmentally disabled.
• People with ____________ problems have a psychiatric disability or mental illness.

Now use some of the underlined expressions from the previous exercise in the sentences below.

1.    My neighbour is _______________ so she uses a help of a guide dog.

2.    _______________ people use sign language for communication.

3.    A person who uses a wheelchair likely has a _______________.

4.    Parents of _______________ kids need more support.

5.    Schizophrenia is a type of _______________.

READING

Choose the best option. Then answer the questions about the text.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities happens every year. It highlights problems for millions of people around the world struggle EVERYDAY / DAYTIME. It started in 1992 and every year it focuses on a DIFFERENCE / DIFFERENT subject. In 2008 for example, the theme was ON / AT dignity and justice for those with disabilities. Organizers act in many ways to increase awareness, including organizing events, workshops and campaigns in support OF / ON the day.

More than 650 million people across the globe live with disabilities. In richer nations, there are very good support systems for the disabled. However, in POVERTY / POORER nations, people with disabilities are further disabled by a LACKING / LACK of help, medicines and rights. There is a very strong link between poverty and disability. The situation is also TRAGICALLY / TRAGIC for children. UNESCO says 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not go to school. It is important we RECOGNITION / RECOGNIZE the rights and dignity of people with disabilities.

VIDEO

• What do you feel when you see a disabled person?
• If you see or meet a disabled person, what actions should you take?
• What can you do to help handicapped people?

Watch a short instruction video. What are the advices given by disabled people in the video? Fill in the blanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1aDEFlXq8

- focus on a ________ not the disability.

- focus on a signing person not the ________ or their ________.

- before you help, please ________ first.

- touch the assisting devices and ________ only with permission.

- if you’re not sure what to do, just ________.

DISCUSSION POINTS

•  What daily problems do you think wheelchair users have in your town?
•  How are disabled people treated in your country?
•   What problems do people with disabilities face in your country?
•  Do disabled people have anything of value to add to society?
• What can disabled people teach those without disabilities?
• What role models with a disability do you know of?
• Do you think science will be able to end disability one day?