Some people threw soup at a very famous painting called the Mona Lisa in Paris. The painting is very old and many people love it. It was safe because it has strong glass in front of it. The people who threw the soup said they want everyone to have good food to eat. They think the way we grow food now is not good.

This soup throwing made many people talk about food and how we get it. The people who did it are upset about how food is made. They used soup to show they want food to be made in a better way. They hope by doing this, more people will think about how to make food in a good way for everyone. It’s important to think about how we can all have good food and take care of our planet.

Original news source: Watch: Soup thrown at Mona Lisa painting (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a slip of paper with a word related to the article (e.g. painting, food, soup, planet). One person from each group will act out the word without speaking, while the rest of the group tries to guess what it is.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Have a class discussion about the article. Ask each student to write down their opinion on how food should be made and why. Collect the responses and tally up the different opinions to create a class opinion poll. Discuss the results as a class.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down a list of vocabulary words from the article on separate slips of paper (e.g. soup, painting, food, planet). Divide the class into pairs. One person from each pair will choose a slip of paper and draw the word without speaking, while their partner tries to guess what it is.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Have each group discuss the pros and cons of the way food is currently made, as mentioned in the article. Each group should write down their ideas and then share them with the class.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Have the students think about a time when they were upset about something and wanted to bring attention to it. Pair them up and have them discuss their experiences with their partner. Then, have each pair share their experiences with the rest of the class.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What did some people throw at the Mona Lisa painting?
2. Why did the people throw soup at the painting?
3. What did the people want to happen by throwing the soup?
4. Why did the soup throwing make people talk about food?
5. What are the people upset about when it comes to food?
6. How do the people want food to be made?
7. Why is it important to think about how we can have good food and take care of our planet?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Some people threw soup at a very famous painting called the Mona Lisa in Paris. The painting is very old and many people love it. It was (1)______ because it has (2)______ glass in front of it. The people who threw the soup (3)______ they want everyone to have good food to eat. They (4)______ the way we grow food now is not good.

This soup throwing made many people talk about (5)______ and how we get it. The (6)______ who did it are upset about how food is made. They used soup to show they want food to be made in a better way. They hope by doing this, more people will think about how to make food in a (7)______ way for everyone. It’s important to think about how we can all have good food and take care of our (8)______.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is the Mona Lisa?
2. How would you feel if someone threw soup at a painting you really liked?
3. Do you like soup? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it’s important to have good food to eat? Why or why not?
5. What do you think is a good way to make food?
6. Have you ever thrown soup before? Why or why not?
7. How do you think the people who threw soup felt after they did it?
8. What do you think about the way food is made now?
9. How can we take care of our planet?
10. Do you think more people will think about how to make food in a good way after this happened? Why or why not?
11. What is your favorite food to eat? Why do you like it?
12. How can we make sure everyone has good food to eat?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. painting
2. famous
3. Paris
4. glass
5. food
6. grow
7. throwing
8. upset
9. planet
10. care

Meanings:
(A) A picture made with paint
(B) Feeling sad or mad
(C) Known by many people
(D) To look after someone or something
(E) The big round place where we all live, with land and water
(F) To send something through the air by moving your arm quickly
(G) A big city in France
(H) To get bigger or taller, like plants or animals
(I) What we eat
(J) Hard, clear stuff you can see through
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What did some people throw at the Mona Lisa painting?
(a) Soup
(b) Salad
(c) Juice
(d) Ice cream

2. Why did the people throw soup at the painting?
(a) They were hungry
(b) They want food to be made in a better way
(c) They wanted to ruin the painting
(d) They were playing a game

3. What protected the Mona Lisa painting from being damaged by the soup?
(a) Metal bars
(b) Wooden frame
(c) Plastic cover
(d) Strong glass

4. What do the people who threw soup want everyone to have?
(a) Expensive toys
(b) Good food to eat
(c) New clothes
(d) Fancy cars

5. What did the people hope to make others think about by throwing soup?
(a) How to make food in a good way
(b) How to paint like Leonardo da Vinci
(c) How to dance
(d) How to drive a car

6. What is important to think about according to the article?
(a) How to make more money
(b) How to watch TV all day
(c) How to play video games
(d) How we can all have good food and take care of our planet

7. What did the people use to show they want food to be made better?
(a) Cake
(b) Pizza
(c) Soup
(d) Ice cream

8. What is the name of the famous painting that was targeted by the soup throwers?
(a) Starry Night
(b) The Scream
(c) Mona Lisa
(d) The Last Supper

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. The painting was safe because it has strong glass in front of it.
2. Some people threw soup at a famous painting in Paris.
3. They think the way we grow food now is not good.
4. The painting is called the Mona Lisa and many people love it.
5. The soup throwing made people talk about fashion and how we get it.
6. The soup throwers want no one to have good food to eat.
7. The salad throwers used salad to show they want food to be made in a better way.
8. It’s not important to think about how we can all have good food and take care of our planet.
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 some people throw at the Mona Lisa painting?
2. Why did the people throw soup at the painting?
3. Did the soup hurt the painting?
4. What do the people want to change about how food is made?
5. Why is it important to think about how we make food?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What did some people throw at the Mona Lisa painting?
Some people threw soup at the Mona Lisa painting.

2. Why did the people throw soup at the painting?
The people threw soup at the painting because they want everyone to have good food to eat.

3. What did the people want to happen by throwing the soup?
The people wanted more people to think about how to make food in a good way for everyone.

4. Why did the soup throwing make people talk about food?
The soup throwing made people talk about food because it made them think about how we get our food.

5. What are the people upset about when it comes to food?
The people are upset about how food is made.

6. How do the people want food to be made?
The people want food to be made in a better way.

7. Why is it important to think about how we can have good food and take care of our planet?
It is important to think about how we can have good food and take care of our planet because we need to make sure everyone has enough food and we need to protect our Earth.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) safe
(2) strong
(3) said
(4) think
(5) food
(6) people
(7) good
(8) planet
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. painting
Answer: (A) A picture made with paint

2. famous
Answer: (C) Known by many people

3. Paris
Answer: (G) A big city in France

4. glass
Answer: (J) Hard, clear stuff you can see through

5. food
Answer: (I) What we eat

6. grow
Answer: (H) To get bigger or taller, like plants or animals

7. throwing
Answer: (F) To send something through the air by moving your arm quickly

8. upset
Answer: (B) Feeling sad or mad

9. planet
Answer: (E) The big round place where we all live, with land and water

10. care
Answer: (D) To look after someone or something
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What did some people throw at the Mona Lisa painting?
Answer: (a) Soup

2. Why did the people throw soup at the painting?
Answer: (b) They want food to be made in a better way

3. What protected the Mona Lisa painting from being damaged by the soup?
Answer: (d) Strong glass

4. What do the people who threw soup want everyone to have?
Answer: (b) Good food to eat

5. What did the people hope to make others think about by throwing soup?
Answer: (a) How to make food in a good way

6. What is important to think about according to the article?
Answer: (d) How we can all have good food and take care of our planet

7. What did the people use to show they want food to be made better?
Answer: (c) Soup

8. What is the name of the famous painting that was targeted by the soup throwers?
Answer: (c) Mona Lisa
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. The painting was safe because it has strong glass in front of it. (Answer: True)
2. Some people threw soup at a famous painting in Paris. (Answer: True)
3. They think the way we grow food now is not good. (Answer: True)
4. The painting is called the Mona Lisa and many people love it. (Answer: True)
5. The soup throwing made people talk about fashion and how we get it. (Answer: False)
6. The soup throwers want no one to have good food to eat. (Answer: False)
7. The salad throwers used salad to show they want food to be made in a better way. (Answer: False)
8. It’s not important to think about how we can all have good food and take care of our planet. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧