Try these activities out with your ESL students. They make use of articles from a newspaper or magazine, and they’ll get your students to speak in English about the latest news. Use them for free and modify them to suit your needs.
HEADLINE ANALYZATION
Choose an article from a magazine or newspaper. Make enough copies for all students. Cut the headline from each copy. Distribute the headline to students. Don’t give students the article, at least for the moment. Invite students to analyze the headline. Get them to speculate on the possible content of the article without having read the article but only the headline. Make sure participants use the five Ws “why, where, when who and what” to come up with their answers. After students have commented, pass out the article and have them read it. Go over any new vocabulary and then start up a conversation.
TELL ME WHAT THE GIST IS
Choose a news article from a magazine or newspaper. Make enough copies for all students. Distribute one copy to each student. Tell students that they should read the article without the help of a dictionary and/or assistance of their classmates. Set a time limit for them to do so. Afterwards, ask students what the gist of the article of is. Read the article again and go over any new vocabulary words after all students have expressed their opinions about what they think the gist is.
THE ART OF PARAPHRASING
Make copies of an article from a magazine or newspaper and distribute one to each student. Tell students to read it. Help them with any new vocabulary. Have students explain the article by paraphrasing it.
USEFUL LINKS
Here is a link to additional ESL activities that make use of newspapers and the latest news.
