THE CAT THAT GOT THE CREAM

2011

Seeta Reading Challenge Ways to Motivate your Students

Janet Bianchini

A B R U Z Z O I T A L Y

“The Cat that got the Cream” is the title of a new film just released at the cinema.

What does this idiom mean?

Would you go and see this film? Why? Why not?

What would you expect it to be about?

In fact it is part of a newspaper headline of an article you are going to read. Can you guess the missing parts of the headline? Write your ideas down for now. You will have a second chance to guess in a moment.

Hathaway is the cat who got the cream as new Catwoman

Below you will see a Tagxedo word cloud in the shape of a cat.

How many words can you find related to films?

How many adjectives can you find?

Can you find the names of some comic strip Super heroes?

Do you recognise any names of famous film stars?

Have another go at guessing the missing parts of the headline now.

Hathaway is the cat who got the cream as new Catwoman

How did you get on? Did you guess correctly this time?

Do you have a bit more idea of what the text you are about to read consists of?

Now I’d like you to read the full text and with your partner or in groups, write down 5 questions about the text to ask another pair / group.

Hathaway is the cat who got the cream as new Catwoman

Jan. 20, 2011

Anne Hathaway has beaten competition from Sienna Miller, Charlize Theron and Kate Beckinsale to land the coveted role of comic book villain Catwoman in the new Batman movie.

A slew of Hollywood actresses were clawing at the opportunity to play the feline femme fatale after movie bosses announced plans for The Dark Knight Rises - the follow-up to 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight.

But it will be Hathaway who climbs into the sexy catsuit to bring back Catwoman for the next installment of the superhero franchise in a role previously played by Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992's Batman Returns, and again by Halle Berry in a 2004 spin-off of the Caped Crusader movies.

Christian Bale will reprise his role as Batman.

Warner Bros. bosses, who made the announcement on Wednesday, also revealed Tom Hardy will play Batman's other villain Bane.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who directed Hardy in Inception, says: "I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman's most formidable enemies."

Go to The Ultimate Word Search Maker - http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/

In groups , based on the vocabulary in this text, I’d like you to create a word puzzle of your own to hand out as a warmer activity in the next class. You can focus on any aspect of vocabulary from the text as you like. The aim is for you to create a fun and quick recycling activity for your classmates! You can easily embed your word search puzzle in your blog or wiki.

Read the question below and then in pairs/groups answer what Cat Woman asks you. Aim to speak for at least 2-3 minutes each!!

Next, I’d like you to create your own Super Hero comic by going to this website:

http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic

Create a dialogue or monologue or a question of your own. Save it onto your computer and then you can embed it onto your blog or wiki. You can send me your comic for me to print out if you like and we can place them around the class for everyone to view them.

Alternative suggestion: We will share all your fabulous comics on an interactive and dynamic Glogster!!!

http://edu.glogster.com/edit/glog/?action=glogs_create

So, after doing all these activities, do you feel like the cat?

If you wish, you might like to read the following post with amusing video clip via the English Blog:

http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2011/03/ad-of-the-day-cats-with-thumbs.html