An ostrich got out of a park and ran around on the streets in Seongnam, South Korea. It ran past cars and even hit a truck, but it wasn’t hurt. People who work as police and firefighters caught the ostrich. They made sure it was safe and took it back to the park.

The bird was running everywhere in the city and made a lot of people stop and watch. It got out in the morning and the people who take care of the city caught it. A video showed the ostrich bumping into a truck. This made many people interested and they talked about it.

The people in charge in Seongnam did a good job catching the ostrich that got out. It was running in the road and could have been dangerous. They made sure it was safe and took it back to where it lives. Lots of people saw this happen on video and thought it was a big deal.

Original news source: Watch: Escaped ostrich runs loose in South Korea (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a set of vocabulary words related to the article (e.g. ostrich, park, truck, city, police). One person from each team will come to the front of the class and act out the word without speaking. The team members will try to guess the word within a time limit. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs or small groups, students will take turns summarizing the main points of the article. Encourage them to use their own words and focus on the most important information. After each summary, the other students can ask questions or add more details if they missed anything.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups and give each group a set of questions related to the article (e.g. What do you think about the ostrich escaping from the park? Should the city have done anything differently?). Students will discuss their opinions and record their answers. Afterward, each group can share their opinions with the class and explain their reasoning.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down key vocabulary words from the article on separate slips of paper and put them in a bag or hat. Divide the class into pairs or small groups. One student will pick a word from the bag and without speaking, draw a picture to represent the word. Their partner(s) will try to guess the word based on the drawing. Rotate roles until all the words have been guessed.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Give each student a few minutes to think about the following question: “How do you think the people in the city felt when they saw the ostrich running around?” Then, have them pair up with a classmate and share their thoughts. Finally, open up a class discussion and ask a few students to share their ideas with the whole group.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What animal got out of the park in South Korea?
2. What did the ostrich do when it got out of the park?
3. Did the ostrich get hurt when it hit the truck?
4. Who caught the ostrich and made sure it was safe?
5. What did the people in the city do when they saw the ostrich running around?
6. How did the people in charge catch the ostrich?
7. Why did lots of people think it was a big deal when the ostrich was caught?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

An ostrich got out of a park and ran around on the (1)______ in Seongnam, South Korea. It ran past (2)______ and even hit a truck, but it wasn’t hurt. People who work as police and firefighters (3)______ the ostrich. They (4)______ sure it was safe and took it back to the (5)______.

The bird was (6)______ everywhere in the city and made a lot of people stop and watch. It got out in the morning and the people who take care of the city caught it. A (7)______ showed the ostrich (8)______ into a truck. This made many (9)______ interested and they talked about it.

The people in charge in Seongnam did a good job catching the ostrich that got out. It was running in the road and could have been (10)______. They made (11)______ it was safe and took it back to where it lives. Lots of people saw this happen on video and (12)______ it was a big deal.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is an ostrich?
2. How do you think the people felt when they saw the ostrich running on the streets?
3. Have you ever seen an ostrich before? If so, where?
4. How would you feel if you saw an ostrich running on the streets in your city?
5. Do you think it was dangerous for the ostrich to be running on the roads? Why or why not?
6. Have you ever seen a video of an animal doing something funny or unusual? What was it?
7. Do you think the people who caught the ostrich did a good job? Why or why not?
8. Have you ever seen a bird in a park? What kind of bird was it?
9. How do you think the ostrich felt when it was running around in the city?
10. Do you like watching videos of animals? Why or why not?
11. What would you do if you saw an ostrich running on the streets?
12. How do you think the people in the city felt after the ostrich was caught and taken back to the park?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. ostrich
2. Seongnam
3. streets
4. firefighters
5. safe
6. park
7. city
8. morning
9. video
10. bumping
11. interested
12. dangerous

Meanings:
(A) A big place where lots of people live and work
(B) A very big bird that can run fast but can’t fly
(C) Hitting something lightly or with a small force
(D) Could cause harm or injury
(E) Wanting to learn more about something or find it exciting
(F) A big area with grass, trees, and paths where people can walk and relax
(G) People who put out fires and sometimes help in other emergencies
(H) A place in South Korea
(I) A recording that you can watch on a screen
(J) Not hurt or in danger
(K) The early part of the day, after the sun comes up
(L) Roads in a town or city where cars drive
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Where did the ostrich escape from?
(a) A zoo
(b) A farm
(c) A forest
(d) A park

2. What city did the ostrich run around in?
(a) Seoul
(b) Seongnam
(c) Busan
(d) Incheon

3. What did the ostrich hit while running on the streets?
(a) A car
(b) A bicycle
(c) A bus
(d) A truck

4. Who caught the ostrich?
(a) Police and firefighters
(b) Park rangers
(c) Animal trainers
(d) Teachers

5. When did the ostrich escape?
(a) In the afternoon
(b) In the evening
(c) In the morning
(d) At night

6. What did the people do when they saw the ostrich running?
(a) They stopped and watched
(b) They ran away
(c) They called the police
(d) They ignored it

7. What did the people in charge do with the ostrich?
(a) Released it into the wild
(b) Sold it to a zoo
(c) Took it back to the park
(d) Kept it as a pet

8. How did people find out about the ostrich running in the city?
(a) They read a newspaper article
(b) They saw a video
(c) They heard it on the radio
(d) They saw it in person

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. Many people stopped and watched as the ostrich ran all over the city.
2. Lots of people saw the video and thought the ostrich escaping was a big deal.
3. An emu escaped from a park in Seongnam, South Korea.
4. A video showed the ostrich peacefully walking near a truck, which made people bored and not talking about it.
5. The ostrich escaped in the morning and was caught by the people who take care of the city.
6. The people in charge did a poor job catching the ostrich, as it could have been dangerous.
7. Police and firefighters helped catch the ostrich and made sure it was safe.
8. The ostrich walked calmly on the streets and even ignored a truck, but it wasn’t hurt.
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 animal got out of the park and ran around the streets in South Korea?
2. Did the ostrich get hurt when it hit a truck?
3. Who caught the ostrich and made sure it was safe?
4. When did the ostrich get out of the park?
5. Why did lots of people think it was a big deal when the ostrich was caught?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What animal got out of the park in South Korea?
An ostrich got out of the park in South Korea.

2. What did the ostrich do when it got out of the park?
The ostrich ran around on the streets.

3. Did the ostrich get hurt when it hit the truck?
No, the ostrich wasn’t hurt when it hit the truck.

4. Who caught the ostrich and made sure it was safe?
The police and firefighters caught the ostrich and made sure it was safe.

5. What did the people in the city do when they saw the ostrich running around?
They stopped and watched the ostrich running around.

6. How did the people in charge catch the ostrich?
They caught the ostrich and took it back to the park.

7. Why did lots of people think it was a big deal when the ostrich was caught?
Lots of people thought it was a big deal because they saw it on video and it was unusual to see an ostrich running in the city.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) streets
(2) cars
(3) caught
(4) made
(5) park
(6) running
(7) video
(8) bumping
(9) people
(10) dangerous
(11) sure
(12) thought
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. ostrich
Answer: (B) A very big bird that can run fast but can’t fly

2. Seongnam
Answer: (H) A place in South Korea

3. streets
Answer: (L) Roads in a town or city where cars drive

4. firefighters
Answer: (G) People who put out fires and sometimes help in other emergencies

5. safe
Answer: (J) Not hurt or in danger

6. park
Answer: (F) A big area with grass, trees, and paths where people can walk and relax

7. city
Answer: (A) A big place where lots of people live and work

8. morning
Answer: (K) The early part of the day, after the sun comes up

9. video
Answer: (I) A recording that you can watch on a screen

10. bumping
Answer: (C) Hitting something lightly or with a small force

11. interested
Answer: (E) Wanting to learn more about something or find it exciting

12. dangerous
Answer: (D) Could cause harm or injury
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Where did the ostrich escape from?
Answer: (d) A park

2. What city did the ostrich run around in?
Answer: (b) Seongnam

3. What did the ostrich hit while running on the streets?
Answer: (d) A truck

4. Who caught the ostrich?
Answer: (a) Police and firefighters

5. When did the ostrich escape?
Answer: (c) In the morning

6. What did the people do when they saw the ostrich running?
Answer: (a) They stopped and watched

7. What did the people in charge do with the ostrich?
Answer: (c) Took it back to the park

8. How did people find out about the ostrich running in the city?
Answer: (b) They saw a video
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. Many people stopped and watched as the ostrich ran all over the city. (Answer: True)
2. Lots of people saw the video and thought the ostrich escaping was a big deal. (Answer: True)
3. An emu escaped from a park in Seongnam, South Korea. (Answer: False)
4. A video showed the ostrich peacefully walking near a truck, which made people bored and not talking about it. (Answer: False)
5. The ostrich escaped in the morning and was caught by the people who take care of the city. (Answer: True)
6. The people in charge did a poor job catching the ostrich, as it could have been dangerous. (Answer: False)
7. Police and firefighters helped catch the ostrich and made sure it was safe. (Answer: True)
8. The ostrich walked calmly on the streets and even ignored a truck, but it wasn’t hurt. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧