START

1. KOSOVO: What do you know about Kosovo? Where is it? Why is it? (History) Who are its leaders? What is its capital? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work from page 2 - filling in spaces and correcting mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total number of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

3. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

4. VOCABULARY: Students look through the article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you do not know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through & explain any words or phrases you do not understand.

5. EXPLAIN: Explain the following: declaration of independence / ethnic communities / false country / the cradle of their civilisation / mass protest / strong reservations / wrong signal / null and void / moved on / deep concern / unilateral declaration / Pandora’s Box         

6. 6 OTHER POSSIBLE SEPERATIST AREAS: Think of 6 other possible separatist areas in Europe. (You may need to use the internet to help you) Why these? Compare and discuss with your partner. Do you think separatism is a good idea or not? Why? 

7. KOSOVO: With your partner on the board write as many words to do with ‘Kosovo’ as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Discuss together – linking your words.

8. SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of the words from no 7. Write two/three sentences using two/three words in each. Underline your chosen words. The teacher will if necessary correct your work. Students might be asked to read their sentences aloud.

9. FORMER YUGOSLAVIA: Name the countries and their capitals that make up the former areas of Yugoslavia. Draw a map (on the board) to show your results.

10. BALKAN WARS: Discuss what you know with your partner about the various (recent) Balkan wars. What conclusion do you come to?  (You may need to look on the internet)         5 minutes.

11. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: (1 point for each correct answer. Lose ½ point if you look at the article for help!)                                              

Student A                                                                                             

1)         Which country declared independence?                                                  

2)         From which country did Kosovo declare independence from?                        

3)         Who expressed its deep concerns?                                                          

4)         Who said it could open a Pandora’s Box?                                              

5)         Which countries will not recognise Kosovo immediately?                                  

6)         How many countries have issued a statement saying “The situation had moved on”?

7)         Name the countries who actually said “The situation had moved on”            

8)         Name the Serbian Prime Minister                                                            

9)         Name the two breakaway Georgian states                                             

10)       Who indicated it might send the wrong signal to separatists?                  

11)       Sum up the Kosovo Prime Ministers words                                                      

Student B                                                                          

1)         Who indicated possible implications?                                                     

2)         What did the UN Secretary General do?                                             

3)         Who holds the current EU Presidency?                                              

4)         Name the Kosovo Prime Minister                                                            

5)         What lit up the night sky?                                                                  

6)         What do Serbs consider?                                                                   

7)         Where did demonstrations break out?                                               

8)         Who was meeting in Brussels?                                                       

9)         What is the Serbian government planning?                                                 

10)        Describe the new Kosovo flag                                                       

11)        Sum up the Serbian Prime Ministers words

12. UN-SCRAMBLE: Un-scramble the following… (Answers are on page 14)  Easier                                 

1)         up night sky fireworks lit the   

2)         later an he independence signed monument                                                 

3)         country a be will democratic Kosovo                                                    

4)         Kosovo the him behind flag flew new of                                               

5)         night of the went scenes celebration on into                                                    

Harder                                                                                        

6)         broke the in US Demonstrations out Belgrade Embassy at                   

7)         emerged UN split at Council meanwhile the a Security                                 

8)         has General calm Secretary for UN appealed Ban Ki-Moon                           

9)         civilisation territory cradle their of the Serbs the consider                  

10)         rally called government Serbian protest mass a has the                                                                        

13. QUICK DISCUSSION: Student(s) A thinks Kosovo should be recognised. Explain why. Student(s) B thinks otherwise. Explain why.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

GAP FILL: LISTENING:

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Kosovo declares independence

Scenes of celebration ________________ night _________________ Pristina following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday. Fireworks ____________________. Earlier when addressing a huge crowd in ______________ Boulevard in Pristina’s centre Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said, “Kosovo will be a democratic country that respects _________________ ethnic communities.” He added, “I congratulate the people of Kosovo. I wish you all stability, peace and prosperity.” Behind _____________________ of Kosovo – a yellow outline of its territory beneath six white stars, each symbolising one of its ethnic groups. He later signed an independence monument. In response Serbian Prime Minister Vojisslav Kostunica said, “Serbia will never accept the establishment of a false country on its territory.” Serbs consider the territory ___________________ civilisation. Demonstrations broke out in Belgrade at the US Embassy and at the Slovenian Embassy, which currently holds the EU Presidency. The Serbian government has called a mass protest rally this Thursday.

A number of countries are expected to recognise an independent state of Kosovo after EU foreign ministers meet today – Monday in Brussels. However the difficulty for the EU ___________________ a common response. Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Romania have expressed strong reservations fearing _________________ wrong signal to separatists. Slovakia and Bulgaria have said they will not recognise Kosovo immediately. Meanwhile a split emerged at the UN Security Council when Russia said that Kosovo’s declaration should ________________.  Seven western countries including Britain, France, Belgium and the US issued a statement saying the situation had moved on. China ______________________ concern about Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appealed ________________ people to refrain from violence. Russia has indicated possible implications for the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia ____________________ “a Pandora’s Box”.   

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)   Did the headline make you want to read the article?

b)   Have you ever been or would you consider going to Kosovo?

c)    Would you call the current situation in Kosovo like “Opening Pandora’s Box”? Why?

d)   Have you ever been on a protest rally? If yes, when?

e)   Do you support Kosovo’s independence?

f)     Should Serbs be right to demonstrate their anger at Kosovo?

g)   Is history about to repeat itself all over again in this region?

h)   Do you think the Balkan wars could restart?

i)     Is America and most of Europe right or is Russia right in its fight for what Kosovo stands for? … And what exactly is that?

j)     Should the West not be worried about the spread of Islam in the Balkans?

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)   Are you interested in politics?

b)   Could there be another war created out of this independence?

c)    Were the Albanian majority in Kosovo right to declare independence from Serbia?

d)   Who do you think is “right” in this whole situation?

e)   What does your country say about this situation?

f)     Have you considered or would you consider going to Serbia?

g)   What do you think will happen to the Serbs in Kosovo?

h)   Is the situation in Kosovo more to do with religion than anything else?

i)     Would you fight for your country?

j)     Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

a.   What was the most interesting thing you heard?

b.   Was there a question you did not like?

c.    Was there something you totally disagreed with?

d.   What did you like talking about?

e.   Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

United Nations Security Council meeting…

In (small) teams

You are at the United Nations (UN) in New York at a Security Council session. You represent one of the below countries. The session is discussing the Kosovo situation. Debate the issue…Think of two good questions to ask.

List your findings below.

Present your ideas to the class

The teacher may ask some pairs/groups to present their findings.

LANGUAGE: CORRECT WORD: Choose the correct words from a–d below and write them in the article.

(1)__ of celebration went on into the (2)__ in the (3)__ of Pristina (4)__ Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday. Fireworks (5)__ up the night sky. Earlier when addressing a huge crowd in Mother Theresa Boulevard in Pristina’s centre Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said, “Kosovo will be a democratic country that respects the rights of all ethnic communities.” He added, “I congratulate the people of Kosovo. I wish you all stability, peace and prosperity.” Behind him flew the new flag of Kosovo – a yellow outline of its territory beneath six white stars, each symbolising one of its ethnic groups. He later signed an independence monument. In response Serbian Prime Minister Vojisslav Kostunica said, “Serbia will never accept the establishment of a false country on its territory.” Serbs consider the territory the cradle of their civilisation. Demonstrations broke out in Belgrade at the US Embassy and at the Slovenian Embassy, which (6)__ holds the EU Presidency. The Serbian government has called a mass protest rally this Thursday. A number of countries are expected to recognise an independent state of Kosovo after EU foreign ministers meet today – Monday in Brussels. However the (7)__ for the EU will be in agreeing a common response. Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Romania have expressed strong reservations fearing it might send the wrong signal to separatists. Slovakia and Bulgaria have said they will not recognise Kosovo immediately. Meanwhile a split emerged at the UN Security Council when Russia said that Kosovo’s declaration should be null and void.  Seven western countries (8)__ Britain, France, Belgium and the US issued a statement saying the situation had moved on. China (9)__ expressed its deep concern about Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appealed for calm and for people to refrain from violence. Russia has indicated possible (10)__ for the Georgian breakaway (11)__ of Abkhazia and South Ossetia saying it could open “a Pandora’s (12)__”.   

GRAMMAR 1: MIDWAY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

GRAMMAR 2: EASY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

HOMEWORK

1. INTERNET:  Search the internet. Find out more information about Kosovo.

2. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on ‘Kosovo’ (Minimum 200 words)

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

WRITING: IN CLASS:

1. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on ‘Kosovo’ You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work.

Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, “You have xx minutes.” why?

SPELLING TEST

The teacher will ask the class individually to spell the following words that are in the article:                                                                                                                                                                                

ANSWERS: 2

13. UN-SCRAMBLED:                                                                           

Easier                                                                                 

1)         Fireworks lit up the night sky

2)         He later signed an independence monument

3)         Kosovo will be a democratic country                                                    

4)         Behind him flew the new flag of Kosovo                                                

5)         Scenes of celebration went on into the night                                                  

Harder                                                                                          

6)         Demonstrations broke out in Belgrade at the US Embassy                       

7)         Meanwhile a split emerged at the UN Security Council                                  

8)         UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appealed for calm                    

9)         Serbs consider the territory the cradle of their civilisation                     

10)       The Serbian government has called a mass protest rally          

ANSWERS: 1

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

GAP FILL: Kosovo declares independence: Scenes of celebration went on into the night in the streets of Pristina following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday. Fireworks lit up the night sky. Earlier when addressing a huge crowd in Mother Theresa Boulevard in Pristina’s centre Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said, “Kosovo will be a democratic country that respects the rights of all ethnic communities.” He added, “I congratulate the people of Kosovo. I wish you all stability, peace and prosperity.” Behind him flew the new flag of Kosovo – a yellow outline of its territory beneath six white stars, each symbolising one of its ethnic groups. He later signed an independence monument. In response Serbian Prime Minister Vojisslav Kostunica said, “Serbia will never accept the establishment of a false country on its territory.” Serbs consider the territory the cradle of their civilisation. Demonstrations broke out in Belgrade at the US Embassy and at the Slovenian Embassy, which currently holds the EU Presidency. The Serbian government has called a mass protest rally this Thursday. A number of countries are expected to recognise an independent state of Kosovo after EU foreign ministers meet today – Monday in Brussels. However the difficulty for the EU will be in agreeing a common response. Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Romania have expressed strong reservations fearing it might send the wrong signal to separatists. Slovakia and Bulgaria have said they will not recognise Kosovo immediately. Meanwhile a split emerged at the UN Security Council when Russia said that Kosovo’s declaration should be null and void.  Seven western countries including Britain, France, Belgium and the US issued a statement saying the situation had moved on. China too expressed its deep concern about Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appealed for calm and for people to refrain from violence. Russia has indicated possible implications for the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia saying it could open “a Pandora’s Box”.   

LANGUAGE WORK