ESL / EFL Lesson Plan on the Arrest of a Mexican Beauty Queen

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Mexican beauty queen arrested
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0812/081226-beauty_queen.html
Contents
The Article
2

Warm-ups
3

Before Reading / Listening
4

While Reading / Listening
5

Listening Gap Fill
6

After Reading / Listening
7

Student Survey
8

Discussion
9

Language Work
10

Writing
11

Homework
12

Answers
13

26th December, 2008
THE ARTICLE
Mexican police arrested a beauty queen on Monday night as part of a raid on some gangsters. Laura Zuniga, 23, was travelling in a truck with seven gang members, a lot of weapons and over $50,000 in cash. The weapons included high-tech army rifles and powerful handguns. There were also a lot of bullets and other ammunition. Special officers followed the truck and arrested Ms Zuniga and her seven male companions. The police received a tip-off that an armed gang was travelling near the Mexican city of Guadalajara. After their arrest, they were all immediately transported to Guadalajara International Airport and put on a plane to Mexico City. They will soon appear in court on charges of drug trafficking and possession of deadly weapons.
One of the arrested men was Angel Orlando Garcia Urquiza, 29, who is Zuniga`s boyfriend. He is the brother of one of Mexico’s biggest gang bosses. Zuniga is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has a long history of activities involving drugs and gangs. She was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July. The beauty queen had a promising career ahead of her. Following her win in the Sinaloa beauty pageant, she also won the Hispano-American Queen title in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in October. No one yet knows how deeply she is involved in the drugs gang. She has already appeared on Mexican TV wearing handcuffs. The CNN news agency reported that the Mexican media has given Zuniga the nickname “Miss Pistols”.

WARM-UPS
1. BEAUTY QUEENS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about beauty queens. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

police / gangsters / weapons / gangs / bullets / tip-offs / drug trafficking / courts / arrested / promising career / beauty pageants / handcuffs / the media / nicknames

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. NICKNAMES: With your partner(s), give these people a nickname. Share what you wrote with other students for more ideas. Decide as a class who has the best nicknames.
Person
Nickname
Why?

A nation’s leader



Your nation’s leader



A singer



An actor



A sports star



Your English teacher



4. PAGEANTS: Students A strongly believe beauty pageants do not help women; Students B strongly believe beauty pageants help women. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. GANGSTER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘gangster’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING
1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a.
A Mexican beauty queen was arrested for cheating in a beauty contest.
T / F

b.
The people she was arrested with had half-a-million dollars in cash.
T / F

c.
Police arrested the beauty queen in a Mexican airport.
T / F

d.
She could appear in court on charges of dealing in drugs.
T / F

e.
Her boyfriend is one of Mexico’s biggest drug barons.
T / F

f.
The woman won the Miss Mexico title in July.
T / F

g.
It is not yet clear if she is actually part of a drug-running gang.
T / F

h.
Mexico’s news agencies have nicknamed her “Miss Pistols”.
T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1.
raid
a.
friends

2
truck
b.
bright

3.
ammunition
c.
sporting

4.
companions
d.
ammo

5.