THE ARTICLE

START

1. ROMA/GIPSY: What do you know about the Roma? Do you think they are discriminated against? Are their children discriminated against? 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 don’t know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through and explain any words or phrases you are stuck with!

5. DISCUSS THE ARTICLE: In pairs/groups briefly discuss the article. What is the article about? Sum it up to your partner or group. 3 minutes

6. QUICK DISCUSSION: Student(s) A think the EU should intervene and force Slovakia and the Czech Republic to stop discriminating against the Roma. Student(s) B think the EU hasn’t a clue about what the real issue is about.

7. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: Student A 1) Who released a report? 2) Who have EU officials appealed to? 3) Who is being discriminated against? 4) What is the size of the gipsy population? 5) What is a time bomb? 6) What isn’t a good solution? 7) Who remain at risk of social exclusion? 8) Sum up the Slovak MEPs views Student B 1) What did the Amnesty International report say? 2) What exactly are “special” schools? 3) What happened during the Communist era? 4) Who has to deal with the Roma issue? 5) Who made a ruling? 6) What did Nicola Duckworth from Amnesty International say? 7) What is the European Commission aware of? 8) What are gipsies now?

8. ROMA: With your partner on the board write as many words to do with the Roma as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Discuss together – linking your words.

9. DEBATE ON THE ROMA: In small groups or in pairs: Select some questions to discuss: Student A 1) What are your views on this issue? 2) Would you send your child to a class with Roma children in? 3) If this class for example exceeds 50% Roma would you still feel comfortable sending your child then? 4) Why are so many people so blatantly discriminatory towards the Roma people? 5) What is the difference between how you live and how the Roma live? 6) How can the mentally retarded Roma issue be prevented? 7) What is the solution to all this? 8) Your question Student B 1) What should the state/EU/Roma do? 2) What happens when the time bomb explodes? 3) Should the Roma be entitled to social welfare like everyone else? 4) Should the Roma change their lifestyle? 5) Should the Roma be given their own state? 6) If yes, where should that be? 7) Does the EU really understand the issue? 8) The Communists tried to solve the Roma issue in their own way. Do you think the EU is about to repeat the same situation, which in time could only make the matter worse?

10. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

1. European Union ________________________________________________

2. Slovak MEPs ___________________________________________________

3. The Roma _____________________________________________________

4. Amnesty International____________________________________________

5. Gipsies ________________________________________________________

6. The Communists ________________________________________________

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.

EU demands Slovakia & Czech Republic end discrimination of Roma

European Union officials have appealed to Slovakia and the Czech Republic _____________________ against Roma (Gipsy) children following a ruling by the European rights court The Associated Press reported. EU spokeswoman Katharina von Schnurbein told reporters, “The European Commission is aware of __________________. We hope there will be concrete measures to bridge segregation.” ________________ after Amnesty International released a report in Strasbourg highlighting problems of open segregation against young Roma children in Slovakia. The report added that large numbers of children ___________________ attend Roma-only schools, while others ___________________ “special” schools for the mentally retarded although ________________ learning disabilities.

Nicola Duckworth of Amnesty International said, “The failure of these governments to provide __________________ for them blights their future employment prospects ___________________ of marginalisation and poverty for the Roma people.” Following the AI report several Slovak female MEPs concurred on Thursday that Slovakia urgently ____________________ Roma issue and particularly with the education of Roma children. MEP Anna Zaborska: “The current situation is retribution for misguided policies during the Communist era, when Roma culture was destroyed and the co-existence of Roma and the white population failed to materialise.” Another Slovak MEP Edit Bauer added, “This problem __________________ Slovakia. Segregation of Roma children isn’t a good solution and neither is sending them to special schools.” Gipsies remain at risk of social exclusion ________________ the largest, poorest, and fastest growing minorities in _________________ Europe with a total population between 7 and 9 million.

DISCUSSION

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

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?

2. Do you agree with the EU officials?

3. What do you think the Slovak and Czech governments will do about the Roma issue mentioned in this article?

4. Do you agree with the Roma being sent to “special” schools?

5. Is it right the Roma should have so many children?

6. If you were a Roma what would you say about all this?

7. Should the EU mind its own business and keep its nose out of Slovakia’s and the Czech Republics internal affairs?

8. How do you think the majority of Slovaks and Czechs will react to this report?

9. Will the Slovak and Czech governments simply give this report lip service?

10. Should Roma children go to normal schools?

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

1. Why did Amnesty International intervene?

2. Do you think EU officials have the faintest idea about reality in this situation?

3. Why should the Slovak and Czech governments do anything to help the Roma?

4. Have you ever had anything stolen and by whom?

5. Why are the Roma so disliked in Slovakia and the Czech Republic?

6. Do you think the Communist era policies were a big mistake?

7. What should the Communists have done?

8. What will happen in the future?

9. Is the Roma issue in Slovakia a time bomb and why?

10. Did you like this discussion?

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

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?

2. Was there a question you didn’t like?

3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?

4. What did you like talking about?

5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

ROLE PLAY: SPEAKING:

PRESS CONFERENCE IN STRASBOURG

Divide into pairs or groups

This can be done either as one exercise or split into 3 separate exercises.

1. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: You and your partner are at a press conference that is being held at the EU in Strasbourg. One of you is from Amnesty International. The other is a reporter from a local paper. The person from Amnesty International will make a short speech about the Amnesty International Roma report then answer 3 questions from the reporter about it. Role play: 5 minutes.

2. SLOVAK MEPs: You and your partner are at the press conference which Amnesty International is hosting. It is also being attended by several Slovak MEPs. One of you is a Slovak MEP. The other is a reporter from a local paper. The MEP will respond by making a short speech about the Amnesty International Roma report then answer 3 questions from the reporter about it. Role play: 5 minutes.

3. THE ROMA: You and your partner are at the press conference which Amnesty International is hosting. One of you is a Roma spokesperson. The other is a reporter from a local paper. The Roma spokesperson will make a short speech about the Amnesty International Roma report then answer 3 questions from the reporter about it. Role play: 5 minutes.

4. A SLOVAK OR CZECH: You and your partner are at the press conference which Amnesty International is hosting. One of you is a either a Slovak or a Czech citizen. The other is a reporter from a local paper. You are there to put your point of view. You don’t agree with any of the things said at the press conference. You stand up and give your point of view. Then answer 3 questions from the reporter about the real issues you believe in. Role play: 5 minutes.

The teacher will select some students to discuss their findings in front of the class.

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

European Union officials have (1)___ to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to end discrimination against Roma (Gipsy) children (2)___ a ruling by the European rights court The Associated Press reported. EU spokeswoman Katharina von Schnurbein told (3)___, “The European Commission is aware of school segregation. We hope there will be concrete measures to (4)___ segregation.” The EU call came after Amnesty International released a report in Strasbourg highlighting problems of open segregation against young Roma children in Slovakia. The report added that large numbers of children are being forced to attend Roma-only schools, while others are being placed in “special” schools for the mentally retarded although they do not have learning disabilities.

Nicola Duckworth of Amnesty International said, “The failure of these governments to provide adequate education for them blights their future employment prospects and adds to a cycle of marginalisation and poverty for the Roma people.” Following the AI report several Slovak female MEPs concurred on Thursday that Slovakia urgently has to deal with the Roma issue and particularly with the education of Roma children. MEP Anna Zaborska: “The current situation is retribution for misguided (5)___ during the Communist era, when Roma culture was destroyed and the co-existence of Roma and the white population (6)___ to materialise.” Another Slovak MEP Edit Bauer added, “This problem is a time (7)___ for Slovakia. Segregation of Roma children isn’t a good solution and (8)___ is sending them to special schools.” Gipsies remain at risk of social exclusion & are (9)___ one of the largest, (10)___, and fastest (11)___ minorities in Central & (12)___ Europe with a total population between 7 and 9 million.

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. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: The Roma: Search the Internet and find more information about The Roma. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write a newspaper article about The Roma. (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 ‘The Roma.’ 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.”

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

GAP FILL: EU demands Slovakia & Czech Republic end discrimination of Roma: European Union officials have appealed to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to end discrimination against Roma (Gipsy) children following a ruling by the European rights court The Associated Press reported. EU spokeswoman Katharina von Schnurbein told reporters, “The European Commission is aware of school segregation. We hope there will be concrete measures to bridge segregation.” The EU call came after Amnesty International released a report in Strasbourg highlighting problems of open segregation against young Roma children in Slovakia. The report added that large numbers of children are being forced to attend Roma-only schools, while others are being placed in “special” schools for the mentally retarded although they do not have learning disabilities. Nicola Duckworth of Amnesty International said, “The failure of these governments to provide adequate education for them blights their future employment prospects and adds to a cycle of marginalisation and poverty for the Roma people.” Following the AI report several Slovak female MEPs concurred on Thursday that Slovakia urgently has to deal with the Roma issue and particularly with the education of Roma children. MEP Anna Zaborska: “The current situation is retribution for misguided policies during the Communist era, when Roma culture was destroyed and the co-existence of Roma and the white population failed to materialise.” Another Slovak MEP Edit Bauer added, “This problem is a time bomb for Slovakia. Segregation of Roma children isn’t a good solution and neither is sending them to special schools.” Gipsies remain at risk of social exclusion & are now one of the largest, poorest, and fastest growing minorities in Central & Eastern Europe with a total population between 7 and 9 million.

LANGUAGE WORK