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These tasks:
These tasks:
can form a full lesson when expanded on,
can serve as an extra activity for the beginning or the end of another lesson,
will work best for online teaching, or in a classroom with an interactive whiteboard / projector,
do not require students to share their own opinions on politics -- though can be used as a springboard for that conversation if you deem it safe enough.
Politics and public institutions
Politics and public institutions
Grab and move the words to arrange them into two categories: (1) words used for describing political systems, and (2) words for talking about elections. Some words may work fine in either category.
Then, do the following tasks:
Use at least 5 words from the board to write sentences about the political system in Poland.
Use at least 5 words from the board to write sentences about the political systems in other countries, and how they are different from Poland.
Use 5 words from the board to write questions you will ask your partner. You may use these prompts for inspiration:
Have you ever...
Do you know anyone who...
Would you prefer to...
If you ..., what would you do?Â
Teacher notes
Teacher notes
When I do this task, I have students put the words into the two categories on their own or in pairs. Then, I elicit most of the words to make sure students understand their meaning correctly.
Example: Can you find me a word which we can use to describe a system of government where one person, the head of state, holds all the power? (student: a dictatorship!) Exactly. In Poland, we don't have a dictatorship. Instead, the power is divided between various bodies. What do we call the group of people who make legislative decisions in Poland? (student: parliament) --> and so on.
You may find it useful to provide students with the Polish translation of a few of the terms.
The three follow-up tasks can be used in class, in writing or as a speaking task, or assigned as homework. You may want to choose one out of the three if you don't have much time.
The selected words come mostly from the unit on politics in English Vocabulary in Use: Upper Intermediate.
Politics: collocations
Politics: collocations
Match the cards below into pairs that show common collocations from the world of politics. You may find it useful to start by putting all the verbs to one side.
When you're done, prepare to tell the class what would happen if you (or your partner) decided to run for office. Use at least 6 collocations from the corkboard.
Teacher notes
Teacher notes
You'll find the answers at the bottom of the page. Students may come up with other possible matches -- if they show correct collocations, you may want to underline that, or specify that their answers are less common.
A good way of extending this task could be to choose a few of the cards and get students to brainstorm more collocates (in a competitive game if working with a group). I suggest to run (for office, a race, a company, etc.), a close (race, friend, call, etc.), to cast (a vote, a wide net, a line), to gain (independence, popularity, support, experience, etc.), to win (a prize, a seat in Parliament, an election, an argument, a war, etc.).
Many of these collocations come from the unit on politics in English Vocabulary in Use: Upper Intermediate.
Politics collocations: answers
Politics collocations: answers
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