Task 1:LISTENING Christmas Irn-Bru Advert

THE UNITED KINGDOM
Scotland: Nessie and other strange things

Task 1:LISTENING Christmas Irn-Bru Advert

Exercise 1: Guess the missing word and put it in the lyrics next to where it says “Guess”. Then listen to the song and put the word you hear where it says “Answer from song”.

We're walking in the air,

I'm sipping on (Guess) ______IrnBru,(Answer from song) ______

My chilly snowman mate

says he (Guess) ______like some too. (Answer from song) ______

I tell him “get (Guess) ______own”. (Answer from song) ______

He looks like he is (Guess) ______to cry.(Answer from song) ______

I tell him once again the Irn-Bru is (Guess) ______.(Answer from song) ______

Now I'm falling through the (Guess) ______(Answer from song) ______

I wonder (Guess) ______I'm going to land(Answer from song) ______

He nicked my Irn-bru and let go of my (Guess) ______(Answer from song) ______

(B1 Version, lyrics copyright A.G. Barr Ltd)

Task 1: LISTENING Christmas Irn-Bru Advert

Exercise 1: Guess the missing word and put it in the lyrics next to where it says “Guess”. Then listen to the song and put the word you hear where it says “Answer from song”.

We're (Guess) ______in the air,(Answer from song) ______

I'm sipping (Guess) ______an IrnBru,(Answer from song) ______

My chilly snowman (Guess) ______(Answer from song) ______

says he would like (Guess) ______too. (Answer from song) ______

I tell him “get your (Guess) ______”. (Answer from song) ______

He looks like he is going to cry.

I tell him (Guess) ______again the Irn-Bru is mine.

(Answer from song) ______

Now I'm falling (Guess) ______the air(Answer from song) ______

I wonder where I'm going to (Guess) ______(Answer from song) ______

He nicked my Irn-bru and (Answer from song) ______

(Guess) ______go of my hand.

(B2 version, lyrics copyright A. G. Barr Ltd)

Exercise 2:

Task 2: SPEAKING AND LISTENINGThe Mystery of the Loch

Exercise 1: This famous photo was taken by a doctor, visiting Loch Ness on holiday, in the 1930s. It became famous all over the world and made the Loch Ness Monster, or “Nessie” famous throughout the world.

What do you know about the Loch Ness Monster? Do you think it exists? Are you convinced by photos like these?

Exercise 2: With your partner think of reasons why the monster might exist or not. Here are some ideas to help you.

Mistaken identity– how easy is it confuse with other things?
How old is Nessie?
What does it eat?
The number of tourists with cameras.
When do most Nessie sightings occur?
What type of animal is it?
Scientific missions to Loch Ness
How honest are the witnesses?

Exercise 3: Now you are going to listen twice to a Nessie expert explaining why he doesn’t believe in the monster. Write notes about what he says for each of the eight ideas. You will listen twice.

The Mystery of the Loch

There is little real evidence for the existence of Nessie but plenty of reasons to think it doesn’t exist.

Boats leave trails called wakes as they move through the water and in a deep lake like Loch Ness, which is deeper than the North Sea in places, they can appear up to half an hour later, looking like a dark body moving underneath the surface. Trees, birds and seals may also be mistaken for the monster, especially at longer distances.

If the monster has survived so long, there must be more than one because there would need to be a breeding population to create baby Nessies. Because the loch is so deep, there aren’t enough places where the sunlight can reach the bottom for plants to grow and if there are no plants, fish have nothing to eat, so there are no fish. There isn’t enough food for one monster so there couldn’t be a whole family of them.

The Loch is connected to the sea via the River Ness but the River is quite shallow so it would be impossible for a large creature to swim undetected, especially as it would have to pass through the city of Inverness. There might be underwater caves though but they’re probably not big enough for a Nessie. The monster can’t be feeding in the sea then going back home to the Loch.

The first recorded sighting of the monster was in the 6rh century, by the Christian Saint, Columba, but it was only seen again tin the 1930s when the road was built and tourism started. By a happy coincidence, most sightings happen just before the tourist season starts which seems suspicious. Could it just be a conspiracy to help the local economy?

Most Nessie believers think that it is a dinosaur like animal, like the extinct Plesiosaurs, back which breathed air like a whale – they couldn’t breathe water like a fish. If Nessie exists, it must need to surface regularly to breathe or it’ll die. With the number of tourists around with cameras ever summer, someone would have taken a higher quality photo by now, if that were the case.

The DEEP SCAN team scanned the lake with sonar equipment, using dozens of boats, and although they saw several moving objects, none of them were bigger than a seal. The team covered the whole loch, but no Nessie. If it’s real, he can’t have been at home that day.

Some of the witnesses may not have been very honest. The famous doctor’s photo was later revealed to be a fake – he used a toy submarine to create the effect which hasn’t stopped the image being used thousands of times on the internet. Everyone who’s seen it might not be lying, but that just brings us back to misidentification.

Matt Jackson, 2017

Task 3: GRAMMAR Language of Deduction and Speculation

Look at all the underlined words in this sentence:

Trees, birds and seals may also be mistaken for the monster, especially at longer distances.

What type of word is it? How is it being used?

1)Look at the transcript and underline all the examples of modal verbs.

a)Which word(s) is/are used when the speaker is certain that something is true because they have solid evidence or a good logical reason? ______

b)Which word(s) is/are used when the speaker thinks that something is possible but doesn´t know for sure? ______

c)Which word(s) are used when the speaker has a good reason for thinking that something is impossible? ______

2)When speakers refer to the present what form do they use?

Modal verb + ______

When the speakers are referring to the past what form do they use?

Modal verb + ______+ ______

3)Which word (s) don´t the speakers contract in the negative form? ______

4)Find two examples of modal verbs, NOT being used for speculation or deduction and circle them.

5)Complete the table below using the words in the examples in their present and past forms. Be careful! One word means “possible” in its affirmative form and “impossible” in its negative form.

Certainly True / Possible / Impossible
Speculation about the PRESENT
Speculation about the PAST

Modals of Deduction Practice

Exercise 1: Put the correct modal verb of deduction in the correct form (past or present, negative, or affirmative) in the gaps to complete the sentences below.

That______(be) Bob sitting over there. He’s in Australia this week!

They ______still ______(be) on holiday. There’s nobody home.

It ______(rain) last night. There’s water everywhere.

Bigfoot ______(exist) but I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem so likely but there’s so much uninhabited forest in Canada and Alaska and places like that he ______(be) real.

Angela ______(come) to our party. She said she’d phone back and confirm it later.

There ______really ______(be) a zombie in my kitchen. It ______(be) a dream.

That ______the new teacher over there. Let’s go over and say hi!

Exercise 2: Complete the Following Sentences using the word in BOLD and 2-5 words.

I think someone broke into the house last night. Look at the broken window!

HAVE

It ______last night. Look at the broken window!

I don´t think that NASA went to the moon because it´s impossible for humans to survive the radiation of space.

VISITED

NASA ______moon because the astronauts would have been killed by the radiation.

I think we might have met before but I´m terrible with faces.

REALLY

I think we´ve met before but ______sure.

The Loch Ness monster can´t really exist. There isn´t enough food for it in the lake!

MUST

The Loch Ness monster ______hoax!

Task 4: SPEAKING: It really happened!

Exercise 1: Nessie Exists!

Look again at the arguments against the existence of Nessie that you made notes on earlier. Imagine you are a “True Believer” in Nessie. You really want to the monster to exist. Can you and your partner think of arguments why Nessie might really exist? Write them down using modal verbs of speculation and deduction.

Take turns with your partner. He/She will try to disprove the existence of Nessie then you tell him/her why you still think Nessie exists. Then change roles.

Exercise 2: NASA Moon Landings.

Many people think that the NASA Moon landings are a hoax (they didn’t really happen). With your partner can you think of reasons why someone might think this? Write down 4-5 arguments using modal verbs. Then think of 4-5 arguments that someone from NASA might use to say that they really happened. Use modal verbs in your sentences.

Then change partner. With your new partner take turns to argue about the Moon Landing conspiracy.

THE UNITED KINGDOM
Scotland: Nessie and other strange things

Teachers’ Notes

Level:B2

Aims:To practice modal verbs of deduction using the context of the Loch Ness Monster

This lesson takes a task based approach to modal verbs of deduction. Every student is interested in Nessie – it’s the one thing everyone knows about Scotland (except for kilts). It uses a guided discovery approach using the transcript of an alleged Nessie expert disproving its existence to give context for students to work out or revise the use of modals of deduction and speculation before doing a speaking task where they try to prove or disprove Nessie’s existence.

Procedure

Task 1: LISTENING Christmas Irn-Bru Advert

Tell students that there are only two countries in the world where Coca-Cola is not the number one soft drink. Can they guess where they are? One is Peru (Inka Kola) and the other is…. Then play the video without sound to see if they can guess where it is (Scotland).
Give the students the handout – there are B1 and B2 versions of the gap-fill. While the Nessie task itself will be quite demanding for B1 students, certainly for weaker ones, the video can still be used at this level. The B2 gap fill is harder.
Students try to guess the missing word and write it in the gap marked “guess”. Pair feedback.
Then play the song and they write the correct answer where it says, “Answer from song”. Class feedback.
The students are then given the map of Scotland. First, they locate each place on the map and read the descriptions then they watch the video again and draw the route the snowman takes as they fly around the country.
Teacher asks students if they spotted Nessie in the video.

Task 2: SPEAKING AND LISTENING The Mystery of the Loch

Students are given sheet with famous “Surgeon’s photo” of Nessie. In pairs, they ask each other how much they know about Nessie and if they believe in its existence.
Then they think of reasons why Nessie doesn’t exist using the clues below.
They listen to the recording twice, making notes each time about what the “expert” says about each idea. Then pair feedback. Students in pairs check their ideas against the transcript. Class feedback.
Students are given second worksheet and look for examples of modal verbs in transcript once they have looked at the example. They then go through the questions together before class feedback. Make sure they understand that “you mustn’t say mustn’t and you can’t say can” when using modals for deduction.

Task 3: GRAMMAR Language of Deduction and Speculation

Students complete table at bottom after identifying modal verbs NOT being used for deduction (e.g. the use of can/could for ability – “would” is a little problematic here as it is not usually taught as a modal of deduction but conditional sentences can clearly be used to speculate or reason about hypothetical scenarios – for the purpose of this exercise, it will not be treated as a modal of deduction).
Students do practice exercises to practise using modals of deduction.

Task 4: SPEAKING: It really happened!

Students look back at arguments against Nessie and working in pairs, think of counterarguments a “True Believer” might come up with arguing each of these points. Students think of counterarguments for each point and then write them down individually in their notebooks, using modal verbs while teacher monitors.
Students take turns to debate the existence of Nessie in pairs before class feedback
As an extension, students can work together in pairs thinking of 4-5 arguments and counterarguments about some conspiracy theory or monster theory. The example given is the NASA moon landing hoax theory but there are many other fringe beliefs that can be debated in this way. The key is to give students time to prepare and think and then write down examples before changing partners and doing the task as a speaking – otherwise the cognitive load will be too much for them to use new language effectively.

Answer Key

Task 1: LISTENING Christmas Irn-Bru Advert

Warsaw ELT Forum 1st – 3rd September 2017, The United Kingdom, with Matthew Jackson
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We're walking in the air,

I'm sipping on anIrnBru,

My chilly snowman mate

says he would like some too.

I tell him “get your own”.

He looks like he is going to cry.

I tell him once again the Irn-Bru is mine.

Now I'm falling through the air

I wonder where I'm going to land

He nicked my Irn-bru and let go of my hand.

B1 Version

We're walking in the air,

I'm sipping on an IrnBru,

My chilly snowman mate

says he would like some too.

I tell him “get your own”.

He looks like he is going to cry.

I tell him once again the Irn-Bru is mine.

Now I'm falling through the air

I wonder where I'm going to land

He nicked my Irn-bru and let go of my hand.

B2 Version

Warsaw ELT Forum 1st – 3rd September 2017, The United Kingdom, with Matthew Jackson
Like us

Task 2: SPEAKING AND LISTENING The Mystery of the Loch

There is little real evidence for the existence of Nessie but plenty of reasons to think it doesn’t exist.

Task 3: GRAMMAR Language of Deduction and Speculation

Look at all the underlined words in this sentence:

Trees, birds and seals may also be mistaken for the monster, especially at longer distances.