Global Goals - ESL Lesson 1: End Poverty

Important information:

This blog's purpose is to share all of the United Nations 17 Global Goals while giving ESL English language lessons and information for each goal.   Readers will be able to know which goals are being taught by simply looking at the top part of the lesson page for this information. For example, the first lessons in this blog refer to the global goal entitled: End Poverty in all its Forms Everywhere, therefore this heading will be placed near the top of the lesson page of the blog while looking at that particular goal (please note that the goals may not be taught in any particular order).  Teachers please refer to: Teacher notes (1)   

End Poverty in all its Forms Everywhere

Global Goals - ESL lesson 1: South Sudan's terrible poverty and suffering

Lesson type: 

Vocabulary

Lesson aims: 

* Main:

To introduce the first United Nations Global Goal: End Poverty in all its forms everywhere and to look at one specific country's suffering and poverty: South Sudan.

* Subsidiary: 

To provide practice / fluency practice in the use of words taken from an article about South Sudan.  Reading practice.

Level:

Level: A2 - B1.   The content of the lesson is adaptable for all levels from beginners to advanced.  For lower or higher levels the template and procedure remains the same but the content would be changed.  Also, I have simplified the lesson a little by not including any additional exercises during the production part of the lesson(second half of the lesson) and want to keep the first few lessons in this blog as simple as possible.  

Resources:

What are Global Development Goals?

How to teach the UN's Development Goals and why

Raymond Van Neste's blog: 'Learn English by Thinking Globally'

Learn English / Global Goals - ESL Teachers and Students




Task 1

Put a picture on the board (or give out handouts of the picture) about poverty in South Sudan and the terrible situation of life and death in this country.

With the person next to you discuss: what do you think is happening in the picture? 

Length of time to carry out this task: 2 minutes

Student feedback: Students and teacher discuss what they think the picture is about

Length of time: 3 minutes

Picture for Task 1

Task 2

Tell the class that you want them to read a text.  But before reading it we will go through some vocabulary which is in the text.   

Explain the meaning of each word (vocabulary) and attempt to put the word into a context / meaning.  Pronounce the new word.  Then, ask the students to ‘say’ the word out loud several times (drill).  

Also, on the board give the form of the word, which is the syllable stress, noun, verb or adjective and also put the word into the context of a sentence:

Take between 5 - 10 minutes for this task

Vocabulary:

declared     destitute     holding off     catastrophe     consumed

De’clared: verb

Meaning: If you declare that something is true, you say that it is true in a firm, deliberate way.

Des’ti’tute: adjective

Meaning: Someone who is destitute has no money or possessions

Hold-off: phrasal verb

Meaning: if you hold-off something you delay doing it or delay making a decision about it

Ca’tas’tro’phe: noun

Meaning: An unexpected event that causes great suffering or damage

Con’sumed: verb

Meaning: If you are consumed with a feeling or idea it affects you very strongly indeed

Task 3

Ask the students to read the text (handouts) and while reading it to think about the answer to this question: What is generally happening in South Sudan? (this is reading for gist). 

The students have 2 minutes to read the text.

Ask your students to share their thoughts with other students.  After this the students will be able to share their answers to the question with the whole class in a feedback for two or three minutes.  During the 'feedbacks' use this time to explain in more detail to the students what is happening in South Sudan but make sure that you do not extend the 'feedback' time (TTT) of two to three minutes.  Also, make sure that each student who wants to share gets the chance to share even if it's only for a few seconds.  

Text for Task 3:

Fighting Famine in War–torn South Sudan

Correspondent of the CBS News, Scott Pelley, writes:

"In South Sudan, 5M people don’t know where their next meal is coming from and, of them, 100,000 are starving and face death.   If not for humanitarian efforts, millions could die.

 

A rare famine emergency has been declared in the youngest nation on Earth.  South Sudan, in East Africa, was brought into the world, in 2011, with the help of the United States.  But it’s one of the world’s least developed countries and civil war has left it destitute.  Five million people don’t know where their next meal is coming from and of them, 100,000 are facing death.  Holding off a catastrophe is the mission of the UN’s World Food Programme.  The WFP was an American idea, created in 1961, and the U.S. is still the largest donor.  Now WFP has launched on of its largest rescues ever but in South Sudan too many people are fighting for life. 

 

Josephine is seven and down to 24 pounds.  Hunger left her at the mercy of disease.  And now she’s being consumed by tuberculosis.  This is why TB used to be called consumption.  Josephine’s mother shooed away the 90 degrees, waiting to be seen by Dr Meroni Abraham.

Sudan was Africa’s largest nation, ruled from Khartoum by people of Arab heritage.  In the south, African tribes have rebelled since the 1950s.  And millions have died.  In a quest for peace, the Bush administration started humanitarian and diplomatic campaign.  Eleven billion dollars went into aid, and to train a South Sudanese government and security force.  Five years ago, there was hope.  Khartoum no longer ruled over them, and beneath them, there was oil".  

Task 4

Ask the students to read the text again but this time read it more slowly and while reading share with the person next to you what you think are the answers to these questions:

You have 5 minutes to read the text and answer the questions:

Questions:

1.    Where in the world is South Sudan?

2.    Why are so many people starving and dying in this country?

3.    Why has the World Food Programme become involved?

4.    Do you think the WFP are doing a good job?

5.    In the Bush administration how much money went into aid?

Ss will have an 8 – 10 minute feedback regarding the questions.   The students and teacher share the answers and their thoughts. 

Task 5

The ss have learnt some new words as well as their pronunciation.  They also have some new knowledge about Africa and South Sudan.  

With this knowledge the ss go into groups of three and discuss for five minutes how do you think people can be helped in South Sudan?     Do you think that the West can help?  

Tell the ss: while talking please try to use some of the new learnt vocabulary learnt earlier by putting the vocabulary into the context of a sentence.   Refer the ss to the earlier handouts for vocabulary or put on the board once again the words learnt earlier so that the ss can relate to them first hand.  

Well done!  You have completed lesson 1

Next two lessons:

The next two lessons, lesson 2 - 3, will continue to look at the same life and death situation in South Sudan but this time we will look at a grammar point using the present and past simple verbs to analyse more closely what is happening in this country.