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PHOTOCOPIABLECambridge Discovery Readers Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/discoveryreaders

Level 2 Elementary/Lower-intermediate CEF: A2 KET

Lesson plan

A Little Trouble in Amsterdam Richard MacAndrewAims

Tomakestudentsinterestedinthebook.

Toallowstudentstogainsomeexperiencein

dialoguewriting.

Togivestudentstheopportunitytotakepartin

somerole-playactivities.

NOE: You may nd that many o the activitiesdescribed below can be exploited better in yourstudents native language, i you speak it. Te nativelanguage, i used careully as a resource, can acilitateyour students progress in English and help them tounderstand the context o the story, thus preparingthem to understand it better when they read it.

Pre-reading Activities

1 Ask students to look at Illustration 1 (the cover othe book). Do not tell them the book title at thisstage. Ask students What do you think of when youlook at the book cover?Write their ideas on theboard.

Possibleanswers: What they see, the mood o thepicture, where it might be.

Now askWhat type of story do you think it is?Inecessary, help students by eliciting the dierenttypes o genre and writing them on the board.

ell students that the title o the book isA LittleTrouble in Amsterdam. Ten askDoes this change

your ideas about what type of story it is?I theyhavent guessed already, tell them the book is anadventure story. Ten askWhat would probablyhappen in an adventure story?

2 Working in pairs, ask students to compile a list oquestions they could ask a stranger to nd out abouthim or her upon rst meeting e.g., How old areyou? Where do you live?Students now read Extract 1and look at Illustration 2. Still working in pairs,students ask Andy and Kim their questions romthe list (plus any new ones they may have now) and

write down their imagined answers.3 ell students to read Extract 2 (a news report on

V). Briey go over what the news report is about.

Students now imagine museum sta discovering therobbery and calling the police. Divide the class intotwo groups. Ask Group A to work alone to write aew lines o dialogue between two museum stamembers who discover the robbery. Ask Group B towork alone to write the dialogue o a phoneconversation where the museum sta member tellsthe police about the robbery.

Now put students into pairs. Make sure that eachpair has a member o Group A and a member oGroup B. Pairs then read their work aloud to make acomplete scene i.e., they start with the robberydiscovery and move on to the telephoneconversation.

4 Ask or volunteers to be on a panel o museum staand police at a press conerence. Te remainingstudents are journalists hungry to get the acts aboutthe robbery so they can write newspaper storiesabout it. Give the panel and the journalists ve

minutes to prepare. Direct the students on the panelto think about what questions they might be askedand their possible answers to these questions. Directthe students playing the journalists to think oquestions to ask. Now hold your pressconerence.

5 Ask students to look at Illustration 3. Working inpairs, they discuss the picture and make notes. AskWhat is happening?What do you notice?Discussstudents ideas with the whole class, and contrastanswers against the previous activity.

6 Ask students to write a caption or Illustration 3.Ask them to decide in advance what mood theywant their caption to have (e.g., exciting,rightening, mysterious, or unny). I necessary,provide the translation o these words in theirnative language. Share these with the whole class.Decide with them which mood works best with thepicture.

7 Remind students that the stolen painting is byRembrandt. Working in pairs, ask students to writedown the names o as many artists they can think o.

Afer three minutes, nd the students who wrote themost names and share their lists with the wholeclass.

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PHOTOCOPIABLECambridge Discovery Readers Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/discoveryreaders

8 Ask students to read Extract 3, which is written inreported speech instead o direct speech. Discuss thedierence between them.

Answer: Reported speech tells us what was said, butwithout using the exact words. Direct speech givesus the exact words.

Students now change the extract into direct speech

i.e., they write a dialogue with Kompier asking herquestions and Kim and Andy answering them. Askstudents Which kind of speech do you prefer? Why doyou think writers sometimes use reported speech?

Suggestedanswers: It can give inormation quickly.It avoids repetition.

9 Ask students to look at Illustration 4. Elicit whatthey think is happening in the illustration.

Answer: Kim and Andy have been locked in a roomby some bad guys. AskHow are Kim and Andyfeeling? What do you think they will do next?

Post-reading Activities

1 Working in pairs, students storyboard the book,putting the main events in the correct order. AskWhat do you think of the ending of the story? Can youthink of a better ending?

2 Ask students to think about what appealed to themmost about the book and make notes. Have themshare these thoughts with a partner or the wholeclass.

3 Ask students to think o a new title, cover idea, andblurb or the book. Tese should convey or highlightwhat they liked about the book. Students share theirideas with the whole class. Have students vote orthe most popular book. (NOE:Students are notallowed to vote or their own book).

4 Ask or a volunteer to act as Peter van Noordwyk.Te rest o the students are journalists who ask Peterquestions. Act it out.

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PHOTOCOPIABLECambridge Discovery Readers Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/discoveryreaders

My notesExtract 1

Come on, Kim! said Andy. Look at the time. Weve got toget back to the hotel. Mom said eight oclock at the latest. Itsalmost that now.

Just a minute, said Kim. I want to see whats in here.Quick! She took her brother by the hand and pulled himthrough the hal-open ront door o a house.

Hey began Andy. Kim, what are you doing? We cantgo in here. Tis is someones house.

Sometimes he couldnt believe the things his sister did. Shewas always getting them into trouble and he usually had toget them out.

Extract 2

In a robbery yesterday aternoon at the Rijksmuseum inAmsterdam, robbers escaped with a painting by Rembrandt.Te painting cost the museum $38 million our years ago, and

is an excellent and unusual example o Rembrandts early work.Police do not yet know how the robbers got in and out o themuseum and they are asking the public to help with anyinormation.

Extract 3

Kompier wanted to know everything about the night beore.She asked about the men. What did they look like? What werethey wearing? What language did they speak? She asked aboutthe boat. Was it long or short? What color was it? Did they see

the name o the boat? She asked about what the men werecarrying. What did it look like? How big was it? Why did theythink it was a painting?

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PHOTOCOPIABLECambridge Discovery Readers Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/discoveryreaders

My notesIllustration 1

Illustration 2

cover photo Getty Images | Richard Nebesky

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My notesIllustration 3

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PHOTOCOPIABLECambridge Discovery Readers Cambridge University Press 2010 www.cambridge.org/elt/discoveryreaders

My notesIllustration 4