a little trouble in dublin

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

Lesson Plan

CambridgeDiscoveryReaders

Lesson plan

Aims

To make students interested in the book. To think about the types of events that might

happen in an adventure story. To learn more about some of the characters in the

story and their relationship with each other. NB You may fi nd that many of the activities

described below can be exploited better in your students own language or mother tongue, if you speak it. Th e mother tongue, if used carefully as a resource, can facilitate your students progress in English and help them to understand the context of the story, thus preparing them to understand it better when they read it.

Pre-reading Activities

1 Tell students the title of the book is A Little Trouble in Dublin. Write a list of types of stories (genres) on the board (e.g. murder mystery, comedy, science fi ction, romance, adventure). Discuss these with students to ensure they know what they all are. Students now look at Illustration 1. Ask What do you see?

Suggested answers: two people (a boy and a girl) running away from a building at night, money.

Now ask What genre do you think A Little Trouble in Dublin is?

Answer: Adventure.

2 Ask students to look at Extract 1, a list of people in the story, and Illustration 1. Working in pairs, students try to guess something that happens in the story. Th ey should write their ideas on small pieces of paper. Feedback to the whole class and help students to stick their pieces of paper up so that similar ideas are next to each other. How diff erent are the ideas?

3 Ask students to read Extract 2 and to look at Illustration 2. Talk about what is happening (a shop assistant refuses to accept Marys 20 note as he says its forged). Look back at the ideas for Activity 2. Did anyone think the story was about forged money?

4 Talk briefl y to students about bank notes. What sort of images do they have on them?

Suggested answer: images of people or places that are important to a country or group of countries.

Give students a piece of paper the size of a bank note and ask them to design a new note. Stick the notes up and give them all a number. Now ask students to vote for their three favourite designs.

NB Students must not vote for their own bank note. Which is the most popular design?

5 Tell students that in A Little Trouble in Dublin, Mary visits a museum shop. Divide the class into two teams and ask each team to write up a list of items they think are on sale in a museum shop. Th ey give each item a price (in euros). Th is price should be a whole number (e.g. 13, not 13.55). Teams now swap lists. Give each team two minutes to memorise the list of items and their prices. Atthe end of the two minutes, the winning team is the team that remembers the most items and their prices accurately.

6 Ask students to read Extract 3. Discuss what is happening in the extract.

Suggested answer: Andy and Mary are following a man in Dublin. Th e man goes into a house. Andy wants to leave, but Mary wants to wait longer. Andy isnt happy, but he doesnt want to leave his sister. Th ey wait another 30 minutes.

Now ask students to imagine that Andy does decide to say what he thinks about waiting. Th ey should write a few lines to continue the dialogue between the brother and sister, to show how they are both feeling. Students share their dialogue with a partner or the whole class.

7 Ask students to discuss with a partner what happens to Mary and Andy aft er Extract 3 ends. Feedback to the whole class.

8 Students think of a place they know well and imagine they are following someone. Ask them to list possible hiding places (e.g. cafs, trees, etc.). Next, ask them to think about how they would feel if they were following someone (e.g. frightened,

A Little Trouble in Dublin Richard MacAndrew

Level 1 Beginner/Elementary CEF: A1


nervous). Finally, ask them to write a simple scene as in Extract 3, where they follow someone. Th ey should try to show what the place is like and how they feel as well as what is happening.

9 Ask students to look at Illustration 3 and to discuss with a partner. What do they think is happening and why?

Answer: Andy and Mary are trying to escape from the two men in the picture by putting their hands over their eyes so they cant see while the car is moving (although you may wish to let the students fi nd this out by reading the book).

10 Students think of a caption for the Illustration 3 and share these with the whole class.

Post-reading Activities

1 Ask students to complete the sentence: Th e thing I liked best about A Little Trouble in Dublin was

2 Ask students to make a change to the story to provide an entirely diff erent ending. Feedback to the whole class. How similar are the ideas?

3 Game How well do you know me? Place the class in groups of three Student 1 is Mary, Student 2 is Andy and Student 3 is the questioner.

Student 3 secretly writes three questions about Mary and three questions about Andy (e.g. At a restaurant, does Mary choose a burger, a pizza or a salad?). Student 3 then asks Student 1 the three questions about Mary without Student 2 being present and notes the answer.

Student 2 then returns and Student 3 asks him the same three questions about Mary. Student 2 gets apoint for every answer that is the same as Student 1s.

Now repeat the above, but this time with Student 3 asking Student 2 questions about Andy while Student 1 is out of the room.

4 Write a 100-word story for a Dublin newspaper about Mary and Andys adventures.


My notes Extract 1

People in the storyAndy Lawson: a thirteen-year-old boy; Mary Lawsons

twin brotherMary Lawson: a thirteen-year-old girls: Andy Lawsons

twin sisterMiss OBrien: Andy and Marys science teacherMr Green Shirt: Mary sees this man in a shopMr Blue Shirt: a friend of Mr Green ShirtInspector Helen Forrester: a Dublin police offi cerSergeant Tom Brady: A Dublin Police offi cer.

Extract 2

I cant take this, said the shop assistant.Why not? asked Mary.Its not a real 20 note, he answered. Its forged its not

real. Look here. He found a new 20 note and put it on the shop window. Th en he put Marys note next to it.

Look on the left of the note, the assistant told Mary. You can see a kind of window on the real note, but there isnt one on yours. Yours is forged.

Extract 3

Mary watched the man. He turned right. Andy and Mary ran aft er him and turned right too.

Dont get too near him, said Mary. We dont want him to see us.

For ten minutes they walked about fi ft y metres behind the man. First there was Trinity College on their left , then the National Gallery on their right.

Next came Merrion Square. Th ere were houses round the square, and trees and gardens in it.

Th e man walked up to the front door of a house, opened the door and went in.

OK, said Andy. We can go back now. Weve still got time to get to the cinema. Th e fi lm actually starts at half past fi ve.

No, said Mary and took him by the arm. Were going to wait in the gardens.

Why? asked Andy. We cant see him.But whats he doing there? asked Mary. I want to know.Andy was angry, but he didnt say anything. I cant leave

my sister here, he thought. Th ey waited and they waited. Aft er thirty minutes Andy said, Come on, Mary. Hes not coming out again.

Just fi ve more minutes, said Mary. Please, Andy.


My notes Illustration 1

CambridgeDiscoveryReaders

Richard MacAndrew

A Little Troublein Dublin

A1CEF

9788483236956cvr.indd 1 25/02/2010 16:09Illustration 2


My notes Illustration 3

a little trouble in dublin

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