Have you heard about…? (discussing the news)

Joe | Dec 12, 2025Dec 12, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• engage in discussing the news and sharing perspectives;
• practise useful questions and reaction phrases;
• watch parts of videos featuring unusual news stories.

In this lesson, students discuss the news stories they follow, share their opinions and explore questions and reactions related to the news (e.g., Did you see the story about…?, I can’t believe that). They engage in short dialogues, work in pairs and watch two video segments about unusual news stories. Students also discuss news stories by inventing facts and reacting to them.

WARM-UP AND USEFUL LANGUAGE

This lesson starts with a warm-up. Students examine different types of news stories (e.g. crime, fashion, politics) and say which ones they like to follow and which ones they don’t. They give reasons. After that, students read opinions about the news (e.g. News should always be free). They pick three, say if they agree or disagree and explain. Moving on, students match questions to their responses, all of which include phrases for discussing the news (e.g. Have you heard about…?, Makes sense, I’m not shocked).  Afterwards, they complete sentences in short dialogues, using the words from the previous exercise. Then, students work in pairs. They look at news headlines (e.g. Actor wears pyjamas to film premiere), choose one and share the news using a question. Their partner responds in two ways – as if they are surprised and not surprised. They use news-related questions and phrases. Students change roles and repeat with all headlines. 

VIDEOS AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students watch two videos about unusual news stories. First, they look at different icons (e.g. a pool, a dog) and predict what they think each story will be about. Then, students watch part of video 1 (00:52-01:23) and part of video 2 (00:54-01:20) and check their answers. Afterwards, they use phrases for discussing the news to react to the stories in the videos. Students add details. Following that, in pairs, they look at news stories (e.g. Extreme weather predicted). Student A chooses a story and invents three facts about it. Student B reacts to each fact, explaining why it is surprising or not. They swap roles and repeat until they discuss all the news stories.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students read situations and write a dialogue for each. They use questions and phrases for discussing the news. Add more details to the reaction. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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