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FAMILIES
READING
WARMER
Write the following family words from Unit 20 on the
board. Invite volunteers to come and complete them:
a _ _ t
b r _ _ _ _ r
c h _ _ d
c _ _ _ _ n
d _ _ _ _ _ _ _
f _ _ _ _ r
g r _ _ _ c _ _ _ d
g r _ _ _ d _ _ _ _ _ _ r
g r _ _ _ s _ n
g r _ _ _ f _ _ _ _ r
m _ _ _ _ _
g r _ _ _ m _ _ _ _ r
s _ _ _ _ r
s _ n
u _ _ _ e
Answers
aunt brother
child cousin
daughter father
grandchild granddaughter
grandson grandfather
mother grandmother
sister son
uncle
Now rub out the words from the board and organise the
class into teams. Give a definition for each family word
and award a point to the team who puts up their hand
first, gives the correct answer and can spell it correctly,
e.g. ‘My mum’s sister is my …’ (
A-U-N-T
)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A nuclear family is one where the parents live with one
or more children. An extended family is one where other
relatives such as the grandparents, aunts, uncles or
cousins also live with the family. A single-parent family
is where there is only one parent. In some cultures, like
Spain, a large family is where there are three or more
children, whereas in China, families could only have
one child until 2016. Famous people with large families
include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was the seventh
of seven children, Madonna, who has six children and
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who also have six children.
1
Tell the class that they are going to read about Ella and
her really big family. Ask them to look at the photo and
find Ella’s parents. Then, ask ‘How many brothers and
sisters has Ella got?’ and let them count. Now ask the
students to read the question in the title, i.e.
What’s it
like to grow up in a big family?
and ask ‘What does
grow
up
mean?’ (
become older or an adult
) Next, ask if anyone
has got a big family (i.e. three or more siblings) and if so,
what it’s like. If they haven’t, ask what they think it’s like.
Invite some ideas from the class and ask the students to
write down three ideas each. Then, ask them to read the
article quickly and answer the question
Does Ella enjoy
living in a really big family?
(yes)
