"Nature briefing" is the no. 1 website I recommend to my students because it sends us top fresh science news in a few sentences in plain English.
I made the following three worksheets to support the students to find their favorite news and share them with laughter.
I made the following three worksheets to support the students to find their favorite news and share them with laughter.
Weekly News Report Sheet can be downloaded here. This sheet supports the students to find their favorite news from the websites listed at the bottom. They can practice writing a summary and fill in the main points in each box. Then, they are ready to share their news in class.
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Fun News Question and Reaction (Q & R) Sheet is available here. After the favorite news is recorded in the above weekly news report sheet, bring to the class and share the news in pairs. This Q & R Sheet supports the sharing by providing chance to ask key questions as well as to express the opinions on the news. Reactions such as" Wow!" and "Amazing!" which are displayed in the sheet trigger laughter and encourage more explanation.
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Sample shows How to Use the worksheets. This file shows the sample news and a related news that the students found interesting in my class. Starting from one news, we can notice the heartwarming nature of living things which are commonly reported. This example introduces some gay penguin couples trying to take care of abandoned eggs.
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References
Nature briefing (2017, April 27). Bisexuality can benefit animals. Nature briefing. Retrieved on February 26, 2020, from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bisexuality-can-benefit-animals1/
Yger, P., Stimberg, M., & Brette, R. (2015). Fast learning with weak synaptic plasticity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(39):13351– 13362.
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/35/39/13351.full.pdf
Helgesen, M. (2019). English teaching and the science of happiness: Positive psychology communication activities for language learning. Tokyo: ABAX ELT Publishers
The New York Times (2019, August 14). Gay penguin and their hope for a baby, have enchanted Berlin. Nytimes.com. Retrieved on February 26, 2020 from
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/world/europe/male-penguins-adoption-egg-berlin-zoo.html
Helgesen M, Mercer S, Snyder B, Yoshieda M, Walters J, Maeda M, Mishima E, Ramacciotti M, Oxford University Press.
Mind Brained Think Tank+: Positive Psychology in Language Teaching. Bulletin of the JALT Mnd, Brain, and
Education SIG, volume 6, ISSN 2434-1002 Pages 24-26 Ryan S M, Kelly C, Daley J, Playsted S, and the
publications team. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1myYnhnte38j-4QdKc-zdzTuuUGKRsD1R/view