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Stars and Astrology
This unit should take 3-5 hours, depending on time, interest, and extension activities. It is designed for intermediate level students age 12 and above. Objectives Students will: Materials to Print
Activities Activity I: Guesswork (15 minutes) Try to guess the astrological signs of some or all of your students. Tell students your birthday and sign and ask them theirs. Find out what they know about their signs and astrology in general. Then let them take the quiz in Printout I. Answers for teacher: 1. Twelve; 2. It means you were born between two signs; 3. Astrology is the philosophy that the planets affect personality and events. A horoscope is a prediction based on astrological signs; 4. Aquarius; 5. Taurus; 6. Fire, air, water, and earth; 7. Lenny Kravitz - Gemini; Albert Einstein - Pisces; Jennifer Lopez - Leo; 8. Aries. Activity II: Reading (25-40 minutes) Hand out Printout II. Have students read it and answer the comprehension questions. Ask if anyone has ever been to an astrologer, had his/her natal chart done, or if they would ever consider it. Discuss the view on astrology in the countries represented in your class. Activity III: Vocabulary (20 minutes) Have students do Printout III. You might also wish to go over adjectives found in the second reading which are not covered in this exercise. After you have gone over the answers and additional vocabulary (on the board, students can take notes on the back of the printout), ask students to come up with famous people (or classmates or professions) who embody the adjectives, and explain why they chose those people or professions. For example, Madonna is very outspoken; Ally McBeal is eccentric; mobsters are vengeful. Answers: 1g; 2j; 3m; 4c; 5h; 6f; 7a; 8p; 9q; 10b; 11l; 12k; 13d; 14r; 15m; 16e; 17i; 18h Activity IV: Grammar (25-40 minutes) Introduce both and neither by writing them on the board, and then writing something like, "Both Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso were very creative," or "Neither Mother Theresa nor Jackie Onassis was vengeful." Important points to remember: 1. Both...and... requires a plural verb. See first example above. 2. Neither...nor... requires a singular verb. See second example above. 3. Neither can be correctly pronounced in one of two ways: with a long i or long e sound in the first syllable. (If you have access to a copy and would like to add a listening to this lesson, prepare a cloze version of the song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," which features all kinds of pronunciation variations, including this one.) Have students practice both and neither by giving examples using famous people and adjectives, as above. Activity V: Reading (20-30 minutes) Have students read Printout IV and do the comprehension activity. Then discuss whether they agree with the zodiacal profiles. Activity VI: Horoscopes (30-40 minutes) Put students in pairs at computers and have them go to Daily Horoscopes and read the horoscopes for their signs, taking notes on what they say. Another idea is to bring in or have students bring in horoscopes from newspapers and/or magazines, which might be more interesting since they are usually monthly. If you have magazines on hand from the past few months (ask friends-almost all women's magazines feature monthly horoscopes), make copies of the columns from, say, the last three months. Have students read them and compare them to actual events/tendencies in their lives. Discuss the accuracy of the predictions. Activity VII: Debate (20 minutes - 1 hour) Discuss all or some of the following topics in class. Encourage/remind students to use both and neither where possible. 1. Astrology and religion have a lot in common. 2. Astrology should be considered a science. 3. There are two types of astrology: popular and serious. 4. Astrology is a useful tool for self-understanding and self-development. 5. The goings-on in the universe have absolutely no effect on our personalities. 6. Everything in the universe affects everything else in the universe. |