Understanding

Newspaper Headlines
Take a look at any newspaper or magazine headline and you
are likely to find incomplete sentences full of action packed
verbs. Headlines live in a linguistic bubble all by themselves
because they ignore grammar conventions such as the use
of helping verbs and so on. Of course, this means that
newspaper headlines can be confusing to students. This is
because newspaper headlines are often incomplete. For
example:
Difficult Times Ahead
Under Pressure from Boss
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
This lesson focuses on helping make sense of the strange
forms used in newspaper headlines. You may want to review
some of the most common grammar exceptions found in
newspaper headlines before you take this lesson into class.
Aim: Understanding newspaper headlines
Activity: "Translating" newspaper headlines into more
understandable English
Level: Intermediate to higher levels
Outline:
Find some headlines in old newspapers or on
the Internet and cut them out. There should
be at least two headlines per student.
Pass out one of the headlines to each student.
Give them a few minutes to think about the
meaning of each headline.
Ask students to read their headlines aloud
and give an explanation of what they think
the article in question concerns.
As a class, brainstorm on possible structural
meanings behind the "strange" grammar

found in headlines (refer to grammar

exceptions found in newspaper headlines).
Ask students to fit the following headlines into
the correct categories on the worksheet. You
may want to have students pair up to do this.
Correct the exercise as a class.
Pass out the headlines you have left to the
students. Ask each student to "translate"
each headline into "proper" English and give
an explanation of what they think the article
in question concerns.
As a homework option, you may want to ask
students to find some headlines on their own
and repeat this exercise. A further challenge
might be to ask students to find headlines,
read the articles, and then ask other students
to interpret their headlines in small groups.
Newspaper Headlines Worksheet
1. Match these newspaper headlines into with the following
categories (some headlines fit two categories):
Categories
Noun Phrases
Noun Strings
Simple Tenses instead of Continuous or Perfect
Auxiliary Verbs Dropped in Passive Form
Articles Dropped
Infinitive to Indicate Future
Newspaper Headlines
Difficult Times Ahead
Forgotten Brother Appears
James Wood to Visit Portland
Landscaping Company Disturbance Regulations
Man Killed in Accident
Mayor to Open Shopping Mall
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
Overwhelming Response of Voters
Passerby Sees Woman Jump

President Declares Celebration

Professors Protest Pay Cuts
Tommy the Dog Named Hero
Under Pressure from Boss
Unexpected Visit
Widow Pension Pay Committee
2. Try to "translate" the meaning of each of the headline

Understanding
Newspaper Headlines
Many students have difficulty understanding newspaper
headlines. This is because newspaper headlines are often
incomplete sentences (i.e. Difficult Times Ahead). Here is a
guide to the most common exceptions found in newspaper
headlines.
Noun Phrases
Headlines often contain a noun phrase with no verb. A noun
phrase describes a noun (i.e. around strange, exotic people).
Here are some examples of noun phrase headlines:
Under Pressure from Boss
Unexpected Visit
Overwhelming Response of Voters
It's useful to ask yourself questions such as: From what?,
About what?, From whom?, To whom? etc. when reading
these type of headlines. By asking yourself these questions,
you can begin preparing yourself for the article. This practice
helps the brain prepare itself by starting to think about
vocabulary related to the subject. Here's an example:
Unexpected Visit
The questions I can ask myself are: From whom? Why was
the visit unexpected? Who was visited? etc.
these questions will help focus my mind on vocabulary
related to relationships, travelling, surprises, important
reasons for visits, etc.
Noun Strings

Another common headline form is a string of three, four or

more nouns together (i.e. Country Leader Question Time).
These can be difficult because the words don't appear
related by verbs or adjectives. Here are some more
examples:
Widow Pension Pay Committee
Landscaping Company Disturbance Regulations
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
In the case of noun strings, it's helpful to try to connect the
ideas by reading backward. For example:
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
By reading backwards, I can guess that: There is
a complaint made by a customer about areferral program
for Mustang cars. Of course, you need to use your imagine
for this!
Various Verb Changes
There are a number of verb changes made to headlines. The
most common are:
Simple tenses used instead of continuous or
perfect forms. For example:
Forgotten Brother Appears = A forgotten brother has
appeared (after a long period of time).
Professors Protest Pay Cuts = Professors are protesting
pay cuts (at the university).
The infinitive form refers to the future. For
example:
Mayor to Open Shopping Mall = The mayor is going to
open a new shopping mall.
James Wood to Visit Portland = (Famous actor) James
Wood is going to visit Portland soon.
Auxiliary verbs are dropped in the passive
form. For example:
Man Killed in Accident = A Man has been killed in an
accident.
Tommy the Dog Named Hero = Tommy the Dog has been
named a hero (by the mayor).
Drop Articles

Perhaps you have noticed in the examples above that both

definite and indefinite articles are also dropped in newspaper
headlines (i.e. Mayor to Choose Candidate). Here are some
more examples:
President Declares Celebration = The president has
declared a celebration.
Passerby Sees Woman Jump = A passerby has seen a
woman jump (into the river).

How to Teach English

Using Newspapers
Newspapers or magazines are a must have in every
classroom - even if the class you are teaching are beginners.
There are a number of ways to use newspapers for
everything from simple reading exercises to using excerpts
for reading in class. Here are suggestions on how to use
newspapers in class arranged by linguistic objective. In some
cases, links are provided to full lesson plans on the ideas
suggested below.
Reading
Straight forward reading: Have students read
an article and discuss.
Ask students to find articles from different
nations on a global topic. Students should
compare and contrast how different nations
portray the news story.
Vocabulary
Focus on word forms using colored pens. Ask
students to circle different forms of a word
such as worth, worthy, worthless, etc. in an
article.
Ask students to find various parts of speech
such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.

 Make a mind-map of an article relating ideas

through vocabulary.
Focus on words related to certain ideas. For
example, ask students to circle verbs that are
related to finance. Have students explore the
differences between these words in groups.
Grammar
Discuss the use of present perfect for recent
events that have an effect on the current
moment by focusing on
truncated newspaper headlines that use the
past participle such as: XYZ Merger Done
Deal, Law Approved In Senate
Use colored pens to focus on grammar points.
For example, if you are studying verbs that
take the gerund or the infinitive, have
students highlight these combinations using
one color for gerunds and another color for
infinitives. Another option is to have students
highlight different tenses in different colors.
Photocopy an article from a newspaper. White
out key grammar items that you are focusing
on and have students fill in the blank. For
example, white out all the helping verbs and
ask students to fill them in.
Speaking
Break students up into groups and read a
short article. Students should then write
questions based on this article, and then
exchange articles with another group
providing questions. Once groups have
answered the questions, get students into
pairs, one from each group, and have them
discuss their answers.

 Focus on ads. How are the ads pitching their

products? What messages are they trying to
send?
Listening / Pronunciation
Ask students to prepare two paragraphs from
a newspaper article. First, students should all
the content words in the passage. Next, have
students practice reading the sentences
focusing on using correct intonation of the
sentence by focusing on content words.
Finally, students read to each other asking
simple questions for comprehension.
Focus on an IPA symbol or two through the
use of minimal pairs. Ask students to
underline example of each phoneme
practiced. For example, have students
compare and contrast the phonemes for the
short /I/ sound and the longer 'ee' of /i/ by
looking for representative words with each
phoneme.
Use a news story that has a transcript
(NPR.org often does this) for listening for gist.
First, have students listen to news story. Next,
ask questions about the gist of the story.
Finally, ask students to listen while reading
the transcript. Follow up with discussion.
Writing
Have students write short summaries of news
stories they have read.
Ask students to write a newspaper article of
their own for a school or class newspaper.
Some students can do interviews, others take
photos. Alternately, use the same idea to
create a class blog.

 Lower level students can use photos, charts,

pictures, etc. to begin writing descriptive
sentences. These can be simple sentences
describing what someone is wearing to
practice related vocabulary. More advanced
students can write about the 'back story' of
photos such as why the person was in a
certain situation shown in a photograph.

Reading and Writing

Newspaper Articles
Students often read newspapers for a wide variety of
reasons, not least of which is to keep informed in English. As
you know, newspaper writing style tends to have three
levels: Headlines, leading phrases, and article content. Each
of these has its own style. This lesson focuses on calling
students' attention to this type of writing style on a deeper,
grammatical level. It ends with students writing up their own
short articles with a follow-up listening comprehension
opportunity.
Aim: Improved writing skills and understanding newspaper
writing style
Activity: Writing short newspaper articles
Level: Intermediate to upper intermediate
Outline:
Use the provided example newspaper article,
or take a newspaper into the class.
Ask students to read the newspaper article
and summarize the contents.
Have students analyze the difference
between the headline, leading sentence and
article content in terms of tense usage and
vocabulary in small groups (3-4 students).
As a class, check that the differences between
headline, leading sentence and article content

are clear. Here is a short guideline to the main

differences:
Headline: Simple tenses, idiomatic, flashy
vocabulary, no use of function words
Leading sentence: Present perfect tense often
used to give general overview.
Article content: Proper tense usage, including
a change from present perfect to past tenses
to give detailed, specific information about
what, where and when something happened.
Once the differences have been understood,
have students split up into pairs or small
groups (3-4 students)
Using the work sheet, small groups should
write their own newspaper articles using the
headlinesprovided or come up with their own
stories.
Have students read their newspaper articles
aloud allowing you to incorporate
some listening comprehension into the lesson.
FAKE VAN GOGH SELLS FOR $35 MILLION
A fake painting supposedly by Vincent Van Gogh has been
sold for $35 million in Paris.
Paris June 9 2004
Imagine this: It's the chance of a lifetime. You have the
necessary cash and you have the opportunity to buy a Van
Gogh. After purchasing the painting and placing it on your
living room wall to show to all your friends, you discover that
the painting is a forgery!
That's what happened to an anonymous telephone bidder
who purchased Sunflowers in the Windat the Peinture
Company in Paris, France. The first (supposed) Van Gogh
painting to have been auctioned since last year's record sale
of $40 million, the forgery was sold for $35 million. The
painting had also been reported to be the last ever offered
for sale, Britain's Daily Times reported Thursday.

Unfortunately, shortly after the masterpiece had been

transferred to the buyer's home, the Academy of Fine Arts
released a statement saying that Sunflowers in the Wind was
a fake. Upon further investigation, the report proved to be
true. The unlucky buyer was forced to recognize that he or
she had indeed purchased a forgery.
Choose a Headline and Write Your Own Newspaper
Article
Newspaper Article 1
TRUCK CRASHES INTO LIVING ROOM
Leading sentence: provide your leading sentence
Article content: write at least three short paragraphs about
the incident
Newspaper Article 2
LOCAL COUNCIL: ACTION NOT PROMISES
Leading sentence: provide your leading sentence
Article content: write at least three short paragraphs about
the incident
Newspaper Article 3
LOCAL FOOTBALL PLAYER WINS BIG
Leading sentence: provide your leading sentence
Article content: write at least three short paragraphs about
the incident

Telling others
about the News Lesson Plan

Telling others about the news should be a part of every ESL /

EFL class. Despite some students' hesitation to discuss the
"news", most students will eagerly join the conversation
when issues are addressed that touch their own lives. This
need not be about earth-shaking, latest world tragedy news,
although that will certainly facilitate provoking conversations
in certain classrooms of adult English learners. The focus
should be on students finding news stories that interest

them on a more local, every day level, as well as helping

with understanding newspaper headlines. To that end, this
reporting on the news lesson focuses on getting students
engaged not only in reporting on the news, but also in followup discussions with their classmates. Combine this lesson
plan with other ideas such as using newspaper headlines to
focus on verb forms, as well as these ideas on how to teach
English using newspapers to ensure that current events are
fully taken advantage of to enliven your class and provide
ample opportunity to improve English conversational skills.
Aim: Improving English conversational skills
Activity: Telling others about the news and other current
events
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Outline:
As a class, introduce the topic of news by
asking for students to mention some of the
latest news stories.
Discuss the idea of different types of news:
international, local, organizational, family,
etc.
Using a newspaper in class, or using web sites
such as the New York Times or CNN, ask
students to choose three news stories that
might interest them. Make sure to provide a
variety of news sources beyond international
news such as a local newspaper such as one
of the many free city-news publications that
can be found in any major city.
Have students pair up and ask them to tell
their partners their choice of news stories.
Each partner should try to guess at the
reasons why the other student has chosen his
or her stories.
In class, or as homework, ask students to read
their respective news stories and choose five

expressions that they find interesting /

difficult / important.
Ask students to look up definitions,
explanations for each of their chosen
expressions.
Have students write up notes to shortly
summarize one of their news stories using the
questions below.
Ask students to get into groups of four to five
students. Each student should explain his or
her story using the notes they have taken.
Each listening student should ask at least one
question based on the news story.
Ask students to explain their five expressions
from the reading before they began reading
to their respective groups.
Finish the session with a class discussion of
news stories discussed by asking students to
choose one story they heard that especially
caught their interest.
As follow-up homework, ask students to
further the exercise by repeating the exercise
at home for a follow-up discussion in an
upcoming class.
Suggestions for Taking Notes
What was the most important or main event
in the news story?
Where and when did / will the event take
place?
Who are the main people, countries,
organizations, etc. that play an active role in
the story? What have they done, or what will
they do?

 Which people, countries, organizations, etc.

are affected by the news story? How are they
affected?
What is your personal opinion of the news
story?
If the news story is about an important
international, national or local situation, how
does the news story affect your own views on
the situation discussed in the news story?
If the story is about a local event, has the
story made you interested in learning more?
For example, would you like to visit a place or
meet someone mentioned in the story?

Why did you choose this news story? How

does it relate to your life?