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The 16-Year-Old Head Teacher (14th October, 2009)

Here is some very happy news. A 16-year-old Indian boy got onto the news pages of the BBC website. This happened because he is the head teacher of his school in India. Babar Ali is the boss of a school in West Bengal that has over 800 students. All of the children in his classes are very poor. Without Babar Ali, they would never have any education. Babar told the BBC: "In the beginning I was just play-acting, teaching my friends. But then I realized - these children will never learn to read and write if they don't have proper lessons."

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Babar is the world’s youngest head teacher. He is a hero all round the teaching world. Many teachers wrote posts on the BBC’s blog. They all said they thought Babar was amazing. Many said his story made them want to be a better teacher. Babar will change the lives of hundreds of children. He is a shining light in education. There are so many students around the world who don’t want to go to school. They are so lucky they have a school, but they misbehave in class and say they don’t want to study. We must all wish Babar the best of luck.

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PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.	Here is some very	a.	school in West Bengal
2	the news pages of	b.	have any education
3.	Ali is the boss of a	c.	read and write
4.	children in his classes	d.	happy news
5.	they would never	e.	are very poor
6.	learn to	f.	the BBC website

Paragraph 2

1.	the world’s youngest	a.	blog
2	posts on the BBC’s	b.	in class
3.	want to	c.	light in education
4.	He is a shining	d.	head teacher
5.	they misbehave	e.	of luck
6.	wish Babar the best	f.	be a better teacher

LISTENING GAP FILL

Here ______________ happy news. A 16-year-old Indian boy got onto the news pages of the BBC website. This happened because he is the head teacher of his school in India. Babar Ali ______________ a school in West Bengal that has over 800 students. All of the children in his classes ______________. Without Babar Ali, they would never ______________. Babar told the BBC: "______________ I was just play-acting, teaching my friends. But then I realized - these children will never learn to read and write if they don't have ______________."

Babar is ______________ head teacher. He is a hero all round the teaching world. Many teachers wrote posts on ______________. They all said they thought Babar was amazing. Many said his story ______________ to be a better teacher. Babar will change the lives of hundreds of children. He is a ______________ in education. There are so many students around the world who don’t want to go to school. They ______________ they have a school, but they misbehave in class and say they don’t want to study. We must all wish Babar ________________.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Here is some very (1) ____ news. A 16-year-old Indian boy got onto the news pages of the BBC website. This happened because he is the head teacher (2) ____ his school in India. Babar Ali is the boss of a school in West Bengal that (3) ____ over 800 students. All of the children in his classes are very poor. Without Babar Ali, they would never have (4) ____ education. Babar told the BBC: "In the beginning I was just play-acting, teaching my friends. But then I realized - these children will never learn to read and write if they don't have (5) ____ lessons."

Babar is the world’s youngest head teacher. He is a hero all (6) ____ the teaching world. Many teachers wrote posts on the BBC’s blog. They all said they thought Babar was (7) ____. Many said his story made them want to be a better teacher. Babar will change the lives of (8) ____ of children. He is a shining light in education. There are so many students around the world who don’t want to go to school. They are (9) ____ lucky they have a school, but they misbehave in class and say they don’t want to study. We must all wish Babar the (10) ____ of luck.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.	(a)	happiest	(b)	happy	(c)	happily
2.	(a)	of	(b)	from	(c)	by
3.	(a)	have	(b)	having	(c)	has
4.	(a)	a	(b)	any	(c)	some
5.	(a)	proper	(b)	properly	(c)	prop
6.	(a)	round	(b)	circle	(c)	oval
7.	(a)	amazed	(b)	amazement	(c)	amazing
8.	(a)	hundredths	(b)	hundreds	(c)	hundred
9.	(a)	such	(b)	as	(c)	so
10.	(a)	best	(b)	good	(c)	better

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1
1.	ppyah news
2.	daIinn boy
3.	800 tssdeutn
4.	All of the cldhnrie
5.	In the bneniigng
6.	have proper nloesss
Paragraph 2
7.	all round the nteaihcg world
8.	the BBC’s obgl
9.	be a better hraetec
10.	echang the lives of hundreds
11.	They are so uykcl
12.	they imehasebv in class

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	West Bengal that has over 800 students. All of the children in his classes are very poor. Without Babar Ali, they would never have
( )	Babar is the world’s youngest head teacher. He is a hero all round the teaching world. Many teachers wrote
( )	website. This happened because he is the head teacher of his school in India. Babar Ali is the boss of a school in
( )	friends. But then I realized - these children will never learn to read and write if they don't have proper lessons."
( )	any education. Babar told the BBC: "In the beginning I was just play-acting, teaching my
( )	posts on the BBC’s blog. They all said they thought Babar was amazing. Many said his story made them want to be a
( )	better teacher. Babar will change the lives of hundreds of children. He is a shining light in education. There are so
( )	a school, but they misbehave in class and say they don’t want to study. We must all wish Babar the best of luck.
( 1 )	Here is some very happy news. A 16-year-old Indian boy got onto the news pages of the BBC
( )	many students around the world who don’t want to go to school. They are so lucky they have

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

With a partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.	news Here some happy is very.
2.	website BBC the of pages news The.
3.	his school in India He is the head teacher of.
4.	classes The are children very in poor his.
5.	and never write learn to Children read will.
6.	head youngest world’s The teacher.
7.	world teaching the round all hero A.
8.	children of hundreds of lives the Change.
9.	a so school lucky they They have are.
10.	We wish best all the luck must Babar of.

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

WRITING

Write about happy news for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more happy news. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about teachers. Include imaginary interviews with two teachers. One of them is good, the other one is bad. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Babar Ali. Ask him three questions about his school. Give him three of your opinions on what makes a good teacher. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner will answer the questions you asked.

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News English Lessons FREE Handout, Listening & Quizzes on Head Teacher (11 Pages of Materials & 8 Online Activities)