•PHOTOCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015
TEENAGERS / Beyond: Arts and Media / Magazines
ARTS AND MEDIA
ARTS AND MEDIA MAGAZINES
CELEBRITY GOSSIP
1. Ask the students for the best piece of celebrity
gossip they have heard recently. Let them briey
exchange some stories. Then ask them if they read
celebrity magazines. If so, why? Make sure the following
pieces of vocabulary come up, and write them on the
board as they do:
story, celebrity, news, gossip
Ask them if they know the names of any English-
language celebrity magazines. The most famous ones
are Heat, Closer and Hello.
2. Ask the class what kinds of stories the magazines
tend to publish. Write their suggestions on the
board (possible answers: celebrity breakups, affairs,
marriages; celebrity babies, holidays, homes; celebrities
caught in embarrassing situations; celebrities’
new looks, new hairdos). Talk about how celebrity
magazines aim to shock their readers, and are guilty of
exaggeration and sensationalism.
3. Hand out the Celebrity gossip worksheet and read
through the examples of sensationalist language with
the students. Can they use any of the language in the
Phrasebook to talk about the celebrity gossip they
shared with you at the beginning of the class?
CREATING A SENSATIONALIST NEWS
STORY
1. Give out copies of the Creating a sensationalist
news story worksheet and get students to look at
both worksheets at once. Explain that they are going
to create the content for a ctitious magazine called
Cheat. Ask if they know what cheat means (to behave
dishonestly; to have an affair with someone who is
not your husband, wife or partner), and why they think
the magazine has this name (possible answers: The
magazine has this name because it arrives at its stories
by dishonest means, such as snapping pictures of
celebrities in uncompromising situations using telephoto
lenses; The magazine has this name because it reveals
instances of celebrity infidelity).
2. Now, draw their attention to the incomplete titles on
the worksheet. Get them to read over these, and deal
with any unfamiliar vocabulary.
3. Put students in groups and tell them to complete at
least four of the titles, either about real celebrities, or
imagining that they are celebrities. The stories the titles
refer to can be completely ctitious.
4. Pairs within each group should take responsibility
for writing one or more of the stories for the titles they
have just created. These can be short, and, once again,
can contain information that is completely ctitious.
Level: Pre-intermediate – Intermediate / A2–B1
Age: Teenagers
Time: This lesson can be divided up in various ways to suit the time you have with your students. Below are two
options which you can choose from depending on the length of your class. However, these are just suggestions
and there are plenty of other ways you could divide the lesson up.
60 minutes – Complete all activities in Celebrity gossip and Creating a sensationalist news story.
45 minutes – Complete all activities in Celebrity gossip and Creating a sensationalist news story but describing
the stories instead of writing them.
Note: These activities can be spread over more than one lesson.
Summary: This lesson is divided into two sections: Celebrity gossip and Creating a sensationalist news story. In
this lesson, students will:
1. exchange celebrity gossip;
2. talk about celebrity magazines;
3. make their own magazine.
Key skill: writing, speaking
Subskills: using sensationalist language; writing magazine articles
Materials: one copy of Celebrity gossip per student; one copy of Creating a sensationalist news story per pair;
scissors, glue and plain paper for each group
Teacher’s notes 1
•PHOTOCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015
TEENAGERS / Beyond: Arts and Media / Magazines
ARTS AND MEDIA
ARTS AND MEDIA MAGAZINES
Remind them that the language on the Celebrity gossip
worksheet is there to help them create articles that are
as sensational as possible.
5. When the stories are written, the group becomes an
editorial team. They cut out the completed headlines
and place them above the stories. Group members then
read the stories and decide on the order they should
appear in the magazine. Once they have decided,
students stick the stories onto blank sheets of paper
to create the magazine pages. If you are doing this over
more than one class, you might want your students to
try and nd photos of the celebrities or of themselves
to bring to the next class to add to the pages and make
the magazine look more real.
6. The nal job is to complete the front cover. Once
again, the group should decide which stories from the
inside pages to include on the front cover, and write
punchy titles for these. Students could also nd photos
to add interest. The magazine can now be put together.
7. The nished magazines should be displayed on
a table at the front of the class. Groups then take a
magazine to read together. When they have read each
other’s magazines, hold a class vote on which one they
enjoyed most.
HOMEWORK TASK
For homework, students search the internet, or gossip
magazines if they have access to them, for a juicy bit of
celebrity gossip. The following lesson, they report back
on what they found out, using as much sensational
language as they can.
Teacher’s notes 2
•PHOTOCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015
TEENAGERS / Beyond: Arts and Media / Magazines
ARTS AND MEDIA
ARTS AND MEDIA MAGAZINES
Celebrity gossip worksheet
PHRASEBOOK
Writing a sensationalist news story
• Introducing your news story
Well, here’s a shocker!
We never would have believed it
but ...
Well, here is something you never
thought you would hear!
• Making the beginning of a news
story sound exciting using the
present perfect
... has just announced ...
... has been spotted ...
... has denied ...
... has admitted ...
... have split up.
• Describing people
insanely gorgeous
stupidly talented
megastar
the luckiest girl / boy in the world
the love of his / her life
an emotional wreck
completely devastated
absolutely heartbroken
CELEBRITY GOSSIP
CREATING A SENSATIONALIST NEWS STORY
EVEN MORE
HEARTBREAK
AS JUSTIN’S
AT IT AGAIN
EXCLUSIVE
This week’s hottest celebrity news
KATE’S
DOUBLE
LIFE
THE TRUTH BEHIND
THE RUMOURS
X-SHOW
EXCLUSIVE
CHANTAL: HOW IT ALL WENT WRONG
ONLY IN
WE GO ON TOUR
WITH
TAKE CHAT!
HER ONLY
INTERVIEW
•PHOTOCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2015
TEENAGERS / Beyond: Arts and Media / Magazines
ARTS AND MEDIA
ARTS AND MEDIA MAGAZINES
Creating a sensationalist news story worksheet
This week’s hottest celebrity news
spotted in
Hot
stories.....
Fact or ction? We reveal the
truth about
and
Are and
an item?
talks about split
We speak to
about
The truth about
We focus on the style of
EXCLUSIVE! IT’S OFFICIAL!
BREAKING NEWS
!
HOT!
to
marry
!