News Café
News Café
By the end of this activity, you can...
✔ understand the main message and important information in a news article.
✔ summarise a news story clearly in your own words.
✔ express and explain your opinion about a current topic.
✔ take part actively in a group discussion by asking questions and responding to others.
Important
The News Café is not a reading-aloud exercise and not a memorised presentation.
The goal is to have a real conversation about real news
Lesduur is: 100 minOnderdelen in deze les
News Café
By the end of this activity, you can...
✔ understand the main message and important information in a news article.
✔ summarise a news story clearly in your own words.
✔ express and explain your opinion about a current topic.
✔ take part actively in a group discussion by asking questions and responding to others.
Important
The News Café is not a reading-aloud exercise and not a memorised presentation.
The goal is to have a real conversation about real news
Discussion groups - When to attend BZW@school
Nov 18
Ali
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Oct 7
Oct 14
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Jamie
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Discussion groups - When to attend BZW@school
Nov 18
Oct 14
Ali
Arne
Arthur
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Delphine
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NEWS CAFÉ
What are we going to do?
During the News Café, you will read a current news article and discuss it with a small group.
The aim is not to understand every single word. You should understand the main message well enough to explain the story, give your opinion and talk about it with others.
Step 1 — Choose an article
Browse the Metro UK website and choose one article that genuinely interests you.
Choose an article that:
contains enough information to talk about;
is understandable to you;
gives you something to think or talk about;
is not just a photo gallery, live blog or very short news update.
Step 2 — Read and prepare
Read your article carefully. You do not need to understand or translate every word.
Prepare short notes about:
The story
Explain what happened.
Key info
Select the most important facts.
Your choice
Explain why you chose this article.
Your opinion
Say what you think about the topic and why.
Vocab
Select 3 useful or new words/expressions.
Discussion
Prepare at least 1 good question for your group.
Keyword: keywords
Step 3 — Present your news story / ask & react
In groups of five, everyone briefly introduces their article.
You should be able to explain:
What is the article about?
What happened?
Why did you choose it?
What do you think about it?
Aim for approximately 1–2 minutes.
You may use your notes, but do not read out a prepared text.
After each news story, the other students react.
Ask questions such as:
Why did you choose this story?
Why do you think this is important?
What happened next?
Do you agree with …?
How would you react?
Could this happen in Belgium?
What do you think should happen?
Do not simply wait for your turn. Listen and respond to each other.
Step 4 — News Café discussion
After everyone has introduced their article, you (as a group) choose two stories to discuss in more detail.
You should:
give your opinion;
explain why you think something;
agree or disagree politely;
ask follow-up questions;
react to what others say;
invite other students into the conversation.
Useful language:
Giving an opinion
I think… / In my opinion… / I find this interesting because…
Agreeing
I agree because… / That's a good point.
Disagreeing
I'm not sure I agree. / I see your point, but…
Asking for clarification
What do you mean? / Could you explain that?
Keeping the discussion going
What do you think? / Does anyone have a different opinion?
