Ghoti

New Year Rock

On the site there is a Year 2003 quiz to use with your students. To see the Quiz

There's also a brief advanced speaking lesson, '20 Big Ideas', about ideas that might take off in the UK in 2004. To see the plan

It's also time for the New Year's Resolutions lesson. Explain the idea to the students & ask them to list five personal things they would like to change. Then get them to compare before asking them together to think of five to ten famous personalities & a resolution the students think they should make. Lots of fun.

The 8th January is Elvis Presley's birthday. As interest in Elvis is still going strong, a lesson based around him would be of interest to most adult classes. Below is first a series of quotes by & about Elvis. Students could read & discuss, possibly making up their own quotes about Elvis. Then there is a gapped biography, with the missing words below. It would be appropriate to then go on to a song - for lyrics to Elvis' songs.

There is an alternative biography that could be used as an information gap task after the official biog below. As they say on this last page, 'This biography emphasises aspects of Elvis's life and character which do not feature strongly in official biographies, namely: his spiritual search and the controlling influences in his life. Elvis had to undergo various trials and tribulations on his journey through life.' A bit more interesting.

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A couple of quotes from Elvis

"Don't criticize what you don't understand, son. You never walked in that man's shoes." -Elvis often used this adaptation of a well-known quotation. "Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do 'em all together, I guess." -Elvis in 1956, talking about his way of moving on stage.

A few quotes about Elvis

"His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac...It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Frank Sinatra, 1950's "There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home...He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect from rock 'n' roll singers." John Landau Review of Elvis, (1968 TV Special). "Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution - the 60's comes from it." Leonard Bernstein, 1960s. "Elvis had an influence on everybody with his musical approach. He broke the ice for all of us." Al Green "There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king." Bruce Springsteen "...it was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody's ear, and somehow we all dreamed it." Bruce Springsteen "When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail." Bob Dylan "Elvis was the king. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps." Rod Stewart "He was a unique artist - an original in an area of imitators." Mick Jagger "Before Elvis, there was nothing." John Lennon "He was the firstest with the mostest." Roy Orbison "...if any individual of our time can be said to have changed the world, Elvis Presley is the one. In his wake more than music is different. Nothing and no one looks or sounds the same. His music was the most liberating event of our era because it taught us new possibilities of feeling and perception, new modes of action and appearance, and because it reminded us not only of his greatness, but of our own potential." Greil Marcus From his book, Mystery Train. "You know, Bush is always comparing me to Elvis in sort of unflattering ways. I don't think Bush would have liked Elvis very much, and that's just another thing that's wrong with him." Bill Clinton During the 1992 presidential campaign. "Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me." Elton John

A biography of Elvis Presley - from the Official Elvis web site Fill in the gaps in the text with the words below

Elvis Aaron Presley, in the humblest of circumstances, was __________ to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to __________ as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953. Elvis' musical influences were the pop and __________ music of the time, the gospel __________ he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1954, he began his singing __________ with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording __________ was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and __________ barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new __________ of American music and __________ culture. He starred in 33 successful __________ , made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, __________ concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has __________ over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have __________ him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 141 different __________ and singles, far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he __________ at age 36, and his being __________ One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably __________ his country in the U.S. Army. His talent,_________ , sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he __________ throughout his life. Known the world over by his first __________ , he is regarded as one of the most __________ figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis __________ at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

popular - films - name - country - albums - born - served - career - era - grow up - demonstrated - earned - good looks - important - sold - music - died - contract - named - racial - live

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Seasonal lesson ideas

Christmas & seasonal lessons will soon be here so this week we offer some ideas for those Christmas lessons. At the end are some links to previous ideas on the site.

There is a lesson plan based around a reading a text that deals with returning presents to shops 'The less than wond'rous gift'. It is a useful text for reviewing the first conditional & as a springboard for roleplays.

Below is an excerpt from an article on the Guardian Unlimited site about Xmas toys. There is a list of popular Xmas toys in the UK going back to 1965. Clearly your teaching situation will dictate whether this is suitable material or not. If the toys are alien to the situation you are in you could ask the stds to prepare their own list of popular toys over the past few years for their country. Here's a procedure to follow:

1. Put up 8-10 of the toys below - obviously known ones, not in chronological order, & ask the students in groups of four to discuss what they are & then to try & order when the might have been popular >> feedback.

2. Put the 1965 >> 2002 on the board & ask the students to tell you the year when they were eight years old & to discuss their favourite toys around that time in their childhoods.

3. Handout the list below or put on oht & students discuss if they received any of the toys round about the years given - if the toys are unknown help out & explain. Send a student from each group to go to each group to see what they said & then report back to their original group >> class feedback. You could go on to discuss which were value for money. This all lends itself to the language of description - it's a toy for ....that ...'

You can find previous Christmas ideas on the site at the following:

Xmas activities 1

Xmas activities 2

Beat the cheats plan & Xmas links

Christmas lesson plan

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To the Past Teaching Tips