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Theme: The Royal Family in Britain
Lexical area: Family
Instructions for language assistants in Italics
Classroom materials
Introduction
This lesson is about the Royal Family. Task 1 is a simple game to introduce family vocabulary. Task 2 uses photos for students to identify and describe the relationships between various members of the Royal Family. Task 3 asks the students to draw their own family tree and Task 4 is a general knowledge quiz about the British Royal Family. Task 5 offers students some statements to discuss in groups and Task 6 is a role play, imagining the Queen comes to visit your school. Task 7 asks students to imagine they are King or Queen for a day and to plan their itinerary.
1. Family members
Before students start to talk about the Royal Family they will need to have family vocabulary. If you have a lower level group, start by drawing a simple family tree on the board. Your own will be more interesting than a ficticious one. Label the people and ask the students what relation they are to you. Elicit the vocabulary and write it up on the board.
Cut up the word cards and give a set to each group. One member of the group is going to have the cards and as they take a card they have to describe the relationship of the family member to the group so they can guess the word. Eg. “Your mother’s sister’s children are your…” “Cousins.”
The groups can compete against each other. Also introduce students to less formal names for family members such as Granny, Grandma, Aunty etc.
Task 1 Family members
| Cousin |
Brother-in-law |
Grandmother |
Step–father |
| Half-sister |
Neice |
Nephew |
Uncle |
| Mother-in-law |
Aunt |
Step-brother |
Great grandfather |
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2. Who’s who in the British Royal Family?
You will need pictures of the Royals. You could print them from the Newsround site that has good ones:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/
Hold the photos up one by one and ask students to identify them. Give clues if needed. Ask students to describe the relationships between family members by holding up the two relevant photos. Eg. A picture of Camilla and William and elicit the vocabulary for step-mother and step-son. Draw a family tree and stick the photos on it on the board so students get the idea of who’s who.
Task 2 Who’s who in the British Royal Family?
How much do you know about the British Royal Family? Your teacher is going to show you some photos. How many can you and your classmates identify?
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3. Your family tree
Ask students to sketch out a simple family tree. Then pair up students and get them to ask each other questions about their families.
Task 3 Your family tree
Draw your family tree here:
Now talk to a partner and ask each other to explain more about your family trees.
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4. The Royal Family quiz
This is a simple quiz about the Royal Family. Put students into small groups to work through the quiz together or put the whole class into two teams.
Answers: 1)b 2)a 3)b 4)c 5)a 6)c 7)c 8) abc! There are no number plates on the Queen’s cars, she never carries money with her and as Head of State she has to remain impartial to the different political parties.
Task 4 The Royal Family quiz
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What it the surname of the Royal Family? a)Buckingham
b)Windsor
c)Kensington Which member of the Royal Family is next in line to the throne? d)Prince Charles
e)Prince William
f)Prince Andrew What’s the name of the Queen’s official residence in London? g)The Tower of London
h)Buckingham Palace
i)Westminster House How many people work full time in the Royal Household? j)245
k)445
l)645 Which member of the Royal Family died on 31st August 1997? m)Lady Diana
n)The Queen Mother
o)Princess Margaret Which sport do Prince Charles and his sons like to play? p)Waterpolo
q)Golf
r)Polo What is Prince Charles’ wife’s official title? s)Princess of Cornwall
t)Queen of Cornwall
u)Duchess of Cornwall Which of the following things does the Queen not have? v)Number plates on her cars
w)Money in her handbag
x)A vote at general elections |
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5. Royal opinions…
If you are working in a country that has a Royal Family students will probably personalise the task to talk about their own Royal Family. I would encourage this as it will be easier for students to talk about the Royals they have closest to home. If the country you are in doesn’t have a monarchy then the discussion will be more general.
Task 5 Royal opinions…
Discuss these statements about Royal Families in small groups.
- The main reason for having a Royal Family is to attract more tourists to a country.
- I would hate to be a member of a Royal Family.
- I would love to be a member of a Royal Family.
- Countries that have Royal Families should be proud of them.
- Royal Families spend too much public money.
- Royal Families are an important part of a country’s history.
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6. Royal role-play
Put students into pairs and give them a role card each. If you have time, but all the students playing the role of the Queen and all those playing students in two groups beforehand for them to share ideas before splitting them off into pairs. As students do the role play, monitor and provide support. If appropriate ask some of the pairs to perform their role play to the whole group.
Task 6 Royal role-play
| A - You are the Queen of England. You come to visit this school. You want to find out about the students you meet but you don’t want to tell them too much about you. You are scared that the information will be published in a newspaper. |
| B - You have been chosen to represent your school when the Queen comes for a visit. You must tell her about your school. You also want to find out as much as you can about the Queen as you would like to write an article for your local newspaper about the Queen. |
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7. Queen for a day
Ask student to imagine they are the King/Queen for a day. They can do whatever they like. Before you start give some examples of your own of what they may like to do with the day. Encourage them to be as extravagant as they like. Students could work in pairs to help each other get more ideas. Then, ask each student or pair to tell the rest of the group about their royal day.
Task 7 Queen for a day
Imagine you are the Queen / King for a day. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you meet? You have all the money you need and all the people you need to help you plan your day.
Morning: |
Afternoon: |
Evening: |
Night: |
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Internet links
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page1.asp This is the official website of the British Monarchy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/royalty/ This is a light-hearted site from the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/ This is the CBBC Newsround quiz about the Queen.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid Here you’ll find photos of all the royals.
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page238.asp This is the address to write to if your students want to send a letter to the Queen!
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