A video of a church steeple collapsing in New London, Connecticut is going around the internet. The church roof and steeple fell down suddenly, but luckily no one got hurt because there wasn’t a service happening at the time. The area was evacuated quickly to make sure everyone stayed safe. The mayor, Michael Passero, says they still don’t know why it happened.

The video shows the moment when the church steeple falls down and causes a lot of damage to the building. They’re not sure why it happened yet, so they’re investigating to find out. This reminds us how important it is to regularly check and take care of buildings, especially ones that are important to history.

The church is a well-known place in New London, Connecticut. Lots of people go there to worship and it’s important to the community. The steeple falling has made everyone worried about the safety of other buildings in the area.

The people in charge are checking how bad the damage is and making sure they fix everything that needs fixing. The most important thing is to keep everyone safe, so they’re going to do everything they can to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For now, they’re telling people to stay away from the area and listen to what the emergency workers say.

All in all, the church steeple collapsing in New London, Connecticut is a big deal. They’re still trying to find out why it happened and they’re going to do things to stop it from happening again. The community is coming together to support each other during this tough time.

Original news source: Watch: US church steeple collapse caught on camera (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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Normal

Fast

📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
2. Give each group a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the groups to read the article and summarize the main points in 3-5 sentences.
4. After a designated time, have each group share their summaries with the class.

– Word Association
Instructions:
1. Write the word “church” on the board.
2. Instruct the students to come up with as many words as they can that are associated with the word “church”.
3. Encourage them to think of both related nouns and adjectives.
4. Have the students share their words with the class and discuss the connections.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into small groups.
2. Assign each group a role: churchgoers, residents of New London, or local government officials.
3. Instruct each group to come up with 3-5 questions related to the church steeple collapse.
4. The groups should then conduct a mini-opinion poll within their assigned role, asking other groups their questions and recording their responses.
5. After the poll, have each group share their findings with the class and engage in a class discussion about the different perspectives.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions:
1. Divide the class into pairs.
2. Give each pair a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the pairs to take turns summarizing the article to each other in one minute or less.
4. After each round, encourage students to try to summarize the article more efficiently and concisely.
5. Have a few pairs share their best speed summaries with the class.

– Future Predictions
Instructions:
1. Instruct the students to imagine they are journalists reporting on the church steeple collapse one year from now.
2. Ask them to write a news article or create a news segment predicting what has happened since the incident.
3. Encourage them to think about how the community has recovered, any changes that have been made, and the overall impact of the incident.
4. After a designated time, have a few students share their future predictions with the class.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What happened to the church steeple in New London, Connecticut?
2. Why was no one hurt when the steeple collapsed?
3. Who is investigating why the steeple fell down?
4. Why is it important to regularly check and take care of buildings?
5. Why is the church important to the community in New London?
6. What are the people in charge doing to fix the damage caused by the collapsing steeple?
7. What is the most important thing the people in charge want to ensure?
8. How is the community coming together to support each other during this time?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

A (1)______ of a (2)______ steeple collapsing in New London, Connecticut is going around the internet. The church roof and steeple fell down suddenly, but luckily no one got hurt because there wasn’t a service happening at the time. The area was evacuated quickly to make sure everyone stayed safe. The mayor, Michael (3)______, says they still don’t know why it (4)______.

The video shows the moment when the church steeple falls down and causes a lot of damage to the (5)______. They’re not sure why it happened yet, so they’re (6)______ to find out. This reminds us how important it is to regularly (7)______ and take care of buildings, especially ones that are important to history.

The church is a well-known place in New London, (8)______. Lots of people go there to worship and it’s important to the community. The (9)______ falling has made everyone worried about the (10)______ of (11)______ buildings in the area.

The people in charge are checking how bad the damage is and making sure they fix everything that needs (12)______. The most important thing is to keep everyone safe, so they’re going to do everything they can to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For now, they’re telling people to stay away from the area and listen to what the emergency (13)______ say.

All in all, the church steeple collapsing in New (14)______, Connecticut is a big deal. They’re still trying to find out why it happened and they’re going to do (15)______ to stop it from happening again. The community is coming together to (16)______ each other during this tough time.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is a church steeple?
2. How would you feel if you saw a building collapse like in the video?
3. Do you think it’s important to regularly check and take care of buildings? Why or why not?
4. Have you ever been to a well-known place in your city? What was it like?
5. How do you think the community in New London, Connecticut feels after the steeple collapsed?
6. Do you think the people in charge are doing enough to fix the damage? Why or why not?
7. What would you do if you were in charge of investigating why the steeple collapsed?
8. Have you ever been in a situation where you had to evacuate quickly? What happened?
9. Do you think it’s important to support each other during tough times? Why or why not?
10. How do you think the people in the community can support each other after the steeple collapsed?
11. What do you think the emergency workers are telling people to do?
12. Do you think the community will be able to recover from this incident? Why or why not?
13. Have you ever seen a building being repaired? What was being repaired and why?
14. How do you think the people who used to worship at the church feel now that it’s damaged?
15. What can we learn from this incident about the importance of safety in buildings?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. steeple
2. collapsing
3. evacuated
4. investigating
5. maintenance
6. worship
7. community
8. structural
9. precaution
10. emergency
11. significant
12. stability
13. heritage
14. authorities
15. solidarity

Meanings:
(A) A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common
(B) Things that are important to the history and culture of a group or country
(C) An action taken to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening
(D) Falling down suddenly and uncontrollably
(E) Unity and mutual support within a group
(F) Related to the parts of a building that hold it up
(G) The act of showing respect and love for a god, often in a religious service
(H) The ability to remain firm and not fall or move
(I) Help or services provided during or after a disaster or immediate need
(J) Looking into something carefully to find out the facts
(K) People who have the power to make decisions and enforce rules in a certain area
(L) Very important or noticeable
(M) A tall tower on a building, often found on churches
(N) The work of keeping something in good condition
(O) Moved people to a safe place
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What happened to the church steeple in New London, Connecticut?
(a) It collapsed
(b) It caught fire
(c) It was renovated
(d) It was moved to a different location

2. Why was no one hurt when the steeple collapsed?
(a) The mayor evacuated the area quickly
(b) There was no service happening at the time
(c) The steeple fell during the night
(d) The church was empty at the time

3. Who is currently investigating why the steeple collapsed?
(a) The mayor of New London
(b) The church officials
(c) The local community
(d) They are still unsure

4. Why is it important to regularly check and take care of buildings?
(a) To increase the historical value of the building
(b) To prevent accidents like this from happening
(c) To attract more people to the area
(d) To make the community feel safe

5. What is the significance of the church in New London?
(a) It is the tallest building in the city
(b) It is a popular tourist attraction
(c) It is a well-known place of worship
(d) It is the oldest building in the area

6. What is the main focus of the people in charge after the steeple collapse?
(a) Ensuring everyone’s safety
(b) Determining the cause of the collapse
(c) Repairing the damage to the building
(d) Preventing future accidents

7. What are people being advised to do regarding the area around the church?
(a) Visit it to show support
(b) Help with the investigation
(c) Stay away from it
(d) Attend the church services

8. How is the community responding to the steeple collapse?
(a) Blaming the church officials
(b) Ignoring the incident
(c) Planning to demolish the church
(d) Coming together to support each other

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. Investigations are underway to determine the reason behind the collapse.
2. The church holds great significance to the community and is a popular place for worship.
3. No concerns have arisen about the safety of other buildings in the area following this incident.
4. A video of a church steeple collapsing in New York, Connecticut is circulating on the internet.
5. Thankfully, no one was hurt because there was no service happening at the time of the incident.
6. The video captures the moment when the steeple falls, causing minimal damage to the building.
7. The mayor, Michael Passero, stated that the cause of the collapse is still unknown.
8. The area was slowly evacuated to ensure everyone’s safety.
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 happened to the church steeple in New London, Connecticut?
2. Why was it lucky that no one got hurt?
3. Why is it important to regularly check and take care of buildings?
4. Why is the church important to the community?
5. What are the people in charge doing to fix the damage and prevent it from happening again?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What happened to the church steeple in New London, Connecticut?
The church steeple in New London, Connecticut collapsed.

2. Why was no one hurt when the steeple collapsed?
No one was hurt because there wasn’t a service happening at the time.

3. Who is investigating why the steeple fell down?
The authorities are investigating why the steeple fell down.

4. Why is it important to regularly check and take care of buildings?
It is important to regularly check and take care of buildings to ensure their safety and prevent accidents like this from happening.

5. Why is the church important to the community in New London?
The church is important to the community in New London because many people go there to worship and it holds historical significance.

6. What are the people in charge doing to fix the damage caused by the collapsing steeple?
The people in charge are assessing the damage and working on fixing everything that needs to be repaired.

7. What is the most important thing the people in charge want to ensure?
The most important thing the people in charge want to ensure is the safety of everyone in the area.

8. How is the community coming together to support each other during this time?
The community is coming together to support each other by offering help and assistance to those affected by the incident and by showing solidarity.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) video
(2) church
(3) Passero
(4) happened
(5) building
(6) investigating
(7) check
(8) Connecticut
(9) steeple
(10) safety
(11) other
(12) fixing
(13) workers
(14) London
(15) things
(16) support
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. steeple
Answer: (M) A tall tower on a building, often found on churches

2. collapsing
Answer: (D) Falling down suddenly and uncontrollably

3. evacuated
Answer: (O) Moved people to a safe place

4. investigating
Answer: (J) Looking into something carefully to find out the facts

5. maintenance
Answer: (N) The work of keeping something in good condition

6. worship
Answer: (G) The act of showing respect and love for a god, often in a religious service

7. community
Answer: (A) A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common

8. structural
Answer: (F) Related to the parts of a building that hold it up

9. precaution
Answer: (C) An action taken to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening

10. emergency
Answer: (I) Help or services provided during or after a disaster or immediate need

11. significant
Answer: (L) Very important or noticeable

12. stability
Answer: (H) The ability to remain firm and not fall or move

13. heritage
Answer: (B) Things that are important to the history and culture of a group or country

14. authorities
Answer: (K) People who have the power to make decisions and enforce rules in a certain area

15. solidarity
Answer: (E) Unity and mutual support within a group
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What happened to the church steeple in New London, Connecticut?
Answer: (a) It collapsed

2. Why was no one hurt when the steeple collapsed?
Answer: (b) There was no service happening at the time

3. Who is currently investigating why the steeple collapsed?
Answer: (d) They are still unsure

4. Why is it important to regularly check and take care of buildings?
Answer: (b) To prevent accidents like this from happening

5. What is the significance of the church in New London?
Answer: (c) It is a well-known place of worship

6. What is the main focus of the people in charge after the steeple collapse?
Answer: (a) Ensuring everyone’s safety

7. What are people being advised to do regarding the area around the church?
Answer: (c) Stay away from it

8. How is the community responding to the steeple collapse?
Answer: (d) Coming together to support each other
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. Investigations are underway to determine the reason behind the collapse. (Answer: True)
2. The church holds great significance to the community and is a popular place for worship. (Answer: True)
3. No concerns have arisen about the safety of other buildings in the area following this incident. (Answer: False)
4. A video of a church steeple collapsing in New York, Connecticut is circulating on the internet. (Answer: False)
5. Thankfully, no one was hurt because there was no service happening at the time of the incident. (Answer: True)
6. The video captures the moment when the steeple falls, causing minimal damage to the building. (Answer: False)
7. The mayor, Michael Passero, stated that the cause of the collapse is still unknown. (Answer: True)
8. The area was slowly evacuated to ensure everyone’s safety. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧