A scientist named Dr. Roberts found hot, melted rocks moving under the ground, making it crack. This is why the town had to be empty. The ground keeps shaking, making big cracks and breaking houses. Everyone is waiting to see if a fire mountain will start soon. If it does, it could break more things and make bad air.
A long time ago, people in Iceland had to leave their homes because of a fire mountain, but that was 50 years back. Now, there is hot rock not too far under the ground. People can't go home for a while. The fire mountain might not explode big, but it could leak out fire for a long time. People are trying to make plans to keep safe, like building walls and closing a place where people swim in warm water.
Original news source: Iceland volcano: Peninsula faces 'decades' of instability (BBC)
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Reporter Role-play
Instructions: Pair up students and assign them the roles of a news reporter and a local resident of the Icelandic town. The reporter should ask questions about the situation, and the resident should answer based on information from the article. Encourage the use of past tense and vocabulary related to natural disasters.
– Sketch It
Instructions: Ask students to read the article and then, on a piece of paper, individually sketch one of the scenes described (e.g., the town sinking, houses being damaged). After sketching, they should show their drawing to a partner and explain what is happening in the scene using English vocabulary from the text.
– Opinion Spectrum
Instructions: Write a statement on the board, such as "People should be allowed to return to their homes in the town near the fire mountain." Have students line up according to how strongly they agree or disagree with the statement. Then, ask students from different points on the spectrum to explain their position using reasons and examples from the article.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down key vocabulary words from the article (e.g., ground shakes, spit fire, sinking, hot melted rocks, etc.). Divide the class into two teams. Have one student from each team come to the board to draw the selected word for their team to guess. The team that guesses the most words correctly wins.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: Have students work in small groups to discuss and write down predictions about the situation described in the article. They should consider questions like: Will the fire mountain erupt? What will happen to the town? How might the residents prepare? Each group can then share their predictions with the class, using the future tense.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
The place is in Iceland.
It has been 800 years.
The small town had to send everyone away.
Dr. Roberts found hot, melted rocks moving under the ground.
The houses and streets are getting hurt because the town is sinking.
The last time was 50 years ago.
People are making plans, building walls, and closing a place where they swim in warm water to stay safe.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
There is a in Iceland where the ground shakes and might to spit fire. This place hasn't had any big fire mountains wake up for 800 years, but now they might start again. A small town near the ocean had to send everyone away because the ground is and might open up. The town is also sinking, which is hurting the houses and streets. A scientist named Dr. Roberts found hot, melted rocks under the , making it crack. This is why the town had to be empty. The ground keeps , making big cracks and breaking houses. Everyone is waiting to see if a mountain will start soon. If it , it could break more things and make bad air. A long time ago, people in Iceland had to leave their homes because of a fire mountain, but that was 50 back. Now, there is hot rock not too far under the ground. People can't go home for a while. The fire mountain might not explode big, but it could leak out fire for a long time. People are to plans to keep safe, like building walls and closing a place where people swim in warm .
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a fire mountain?
2. Have you ever felt the ground shake? How did it make you feel?
3. Do you like living near the ocean? Why or why not?
4. What would you do if your town started to sink?
5. How would you feel if you had to leave your home quickly?
6. Do you think it's scary when a fire mountain might start? Why?
7. Have you ever seen a big crack in the ground? What did you think?
8. What do you think people should do when their houses get broken?
9. If you were a scientist like Dr. Roberts, what would you want to learn about the ground?
10. Do you think it's important to make plans for safety? Why or why not?
11. Do you like swimming in warm water? Would you miss it if you couldn't go anymore?
12. What would you take with you if you had to leave your home because of a fire mountain?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
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