Two people who make movies were looking for tiny animals in a big lake in Canada. They found an old, broken boat under the water. This boat, called the ‘Africa,’ sank a long, long time ago. It was carrying black rocks that burn and was going from one place to another when it went under the water. The movie people took pictures of the old boat.

Finding this old boat is very special for people who like to learn about the past. The movie people did not think they would find it, but they did. Now, other people can learn from the pictures they took. There are many old boats under the water, and they help us know more about old times. The movie people’s surprise find shows that looking around can help us find amazing things from long ago.

Original news source: Filmmakers discover 128-year-old shipwreck (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Each group will take turns acting out a word or phrase related to the article, while the other groups guess what it is. The group that guesses correctly gets a point. The group with the most points at the end wins.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Give each student a piece of paper and a pen. Choose a word from the article and ask a student to come to the front of the class to draw a picture that represents that word. The rest of the class must guess what the word is based on the drawing. The student who guesses correctly gets a point. Repeat with different words from the article.

– Keyword Hangman
Instructions: Write a sentence from the article on the board, but leave out some of the keywords. Divide the class into two teams. One team will choose a missing keyword and draw the hangman scaffold. The other team will guess letters to complete the missing keyword. If they guess a correct letter, it is written in the correct place. If they guess a wrong letter, a body part is added to the hangman. The team that completes the missing keyword first wins.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Ask the students to think about the article for a few minutes. Then, pair them up with a partner and ask them to discuss what they found interesting or surprising about the article. After a few minutes, bring the class back together and ask some pairs to share their thoughts with the whole class.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Write a statement related to the article on the board, such as “Finding old boats under the water is important for understanding history.” Ask the students to stand on one side of the classroom if they agree with the statement, and on the other side if they disagree. Then, ask individual students to explain why they agree or disagree with the statement.

Comprehension Questions:

1. What were the two people looking for in the big lake in Canada?
2. What did they find under the water?
3. What was the name of the old boat they found?
4. What was the boat carrying when it sank?
5. Why is finding this old boat special?
6. What can we learn from the pictures the movie people took?
7. What does this surprise find show us?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Two people who make movies were looking for tiny animals in a big lake in Canada. They found an old, (1)______ boat under the water. This boat, called the ‘Africa,’ sank a long, long (2)______ ago. It was carrying black rocks that burn and was (3)______ from one place to another when it went under the water. The (4)______ people took pictures of the old boat.

Finding this old boat is very special for (5)______ who like to learn about the (6)______. The movie people did not think they would find it, but they did. Now, other people can learn from the pictures they took. There are many old boats under the water, and they help us (7)______ (8)______ about old times. The movie people’s surprise find shows that looking around can help us find amazing things from long ago.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a movie?
2. How would you feel if you found something very old and special?
3. Do you like learning about the past? Why or why not?
4. What do you think is under the water in a big lake?
5. How do you think the movie people felt when they found the old boat?
6. Do you think it is important to learn from the past? Why or why not?
7. Have you ever found something interesting? What was it?
8. What do you think the pictures of the old boat can teach us?
9. How do you think the old boat got under the water?
10. Do you like looking for things? Why or why not?
11. What do you think is the most amazing thing you could find from long ago?
12. Why do you think the movie people were surprised to find the old boat?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. movies
2. animals
3. lake
4. boat
5. water
6. pictures
7. surprise
8. find

Meanings:
(a) Discovering something that you were looking for
(b) Living creatures like cats and dogs
(c) Something that you didn’t expect to see or find
(d) Something that floats on water and can carry people
(e) A big area of water
(f) Moving pictures that tell a story
(g) A clear liquid that you drink and swim in
(h) Images that you take with a camera
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What were the movie people looking for in the big lake?
(a) Big rocks
(b) Old boats
(c) Tiny animals
(d) Fish

2. What did the movie people find under the water?
(a) A big fish
(b) An old, broken boat
(c) Tiny animals
(d) Black rocks

3. What was the name of the boat that sank a long time ago?
(a) Canada
(b) America
(c) Europe
(d) Africa

4. What was the boat carrying when it sank?
(a) Black rocks that burn
(b) Tiny animals
(c) Old pictures
(d) Big fish

5. Why is finding the old boat special?
(a) It was a big boat
(b) The boat was made of wood
(c) People can learn about the past from the pictures
(d) The boat was very old

6. What do the old boats under the water help us know?
(a) More about the future
(b) More about old times
(c) More about tiny animals
(d) More about big fish

7. What does the surprise find show?
(a) Looking around is dangerous
(b) Looking around is boring
(c) Looking around is easy
(d) Looking around can help us find amazing things from long ago

8. What did the movie people take pictures of?
(a) The old boat
(b) Tiny animals
(c) Big rocks
(d) The lake

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Finding this old boat is special for people who like learning about the past.
2. The movie people didn’t expect to find the boat, but they did.
3. They found an old, broken boat underwater.
4. The movie people didn’t take pictures of the old boat.
5. The boat was carrying black rocks that burn.
6. The boat was called the ‘Africa’ and floated a long time ago.
7. Finding old boats underwater hinders us from learning more about the past.
8. Two people were avoiding tiny animals in a big lake in Canada.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What did the movie people find in the big lake in Canada?
2. What was the name of the old boat they found?
3. What was the boat carrying when it sank?
4. Why is finding the old boat special for people who like to learn about the past?
5. What can we learn from the pictures the movie people took of the old boat?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What were the two people looking for in the big lake in Canada?
They were looking for tiny animals in the lake.

2. What did they find under the water?
They found an old, broken boat.

3. What was the name of the old boat they found?
The boat was called the ‘Africa.’

4. What was the boat carrying when it sank?
The boat was carrying black rocks that burn.

5. Why is finding this old boat special?
Finding this old boat is special because it helps us learn about the past.

6. What can we learn from the pictures the movie people took?
We can learn more about the old boat and what it looked like.

7. What does this surprise find show us?
This surprise find shows us that looking around can help us find amazing things from long ago.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) broken
(2) time
(3) going
(4) movie
(5) people
(6) past
(7) know
(8) more
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Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. movies
Answer: (f) Moving pictures that tell a story

2. animals
Answer: (b) Living creatures like cats and dogs

3. lake
Answer: (e) A big area of water

4. boat
Answer: (d) Something that floats on water and can carry people

5. water
Answer: (g) A clear liquid that you drink and swim in

6. pictures
Answer: (h) Images that you take with a camera

7. surprise
Answer: (c) Something that you didn’t expect to see or find

8. find
Answer: (a) Discovering something that you were looking for
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What were the movie people looking for in the big lake?
Answer: (c) Tiny animals

2. What did the movie people find under the water?
Answer: (b) An old, broken boat

3. What was the name of the boat that sank a long time ago?
Answer: (d) Africa

4. What was the boat carrying when it sank?
Answer: (a) Black rocks that burn

5. Why is finding the old boat special?
Answer: (c) People can learn about the past from the pictures

6. What do the old boats under the water help us know?
Answer: (b) More about old times

7. What does the surprise find show?
Answer: (d) Looking around can help us find amazing things from long ago

8. What did the movie people take pictures of?
Answer: (a) The old boat
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Finding this old boat is special for people who like learning about the past. (Answer: True)
2. The movie people didn’t expect to find the boat, but they did. (Answer: True)
3. They found an old, broken boat underwater. (Answer: True)
4. The movie people didn’t take pictures of the old boat. (Answer: False)
5. The boat was carrying black rocks that burn. (Answer: True)
6. The boat was called the ‘Africa’ and floated a long time ago. (Answer: False)
7. Finding old boats underwater hinders us from learning more about the past. (Answer: False)
8. Two people were avoiding tiny animals in a big lake in Canada. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧