Topic: the news, anxiety, coping strategies, positivity
Level: B2+
Objectives:
- to develop students’ vocabulary
- to develop student’s reading and speaking skills
- to develop their knowledge about certain global issues
- to develop students’ critical thinking skills
- to develop students’ researching and analytical skills
- to develop students’ communicative and argumentative skills
- to develop students’ attitudes of openness, curiosity and positivity
- to develop group dynamics
Equipment and material needed: 10-15 images printed out from https://www.thehappybroadcast.com/, bluetech, a worksheet for each student, 2 news articles for a pair (attached), wifi, smartphone or laptop for each pair
Preparation: Put the images on the wall, as if in a gallery.
Activity sequence:
1. Warmer – Full class activity or pair work
Ask students the following questions:
1. Do you follow the news? If yes, how regularly do you do so and what platforms do you use?
2. How do the news make you feel?
3. How do you feel if you see that something bad happens in the world (far-far away from you)? How does it affect you?
2. Warmer 2 – Gallery walk
Ask your students to go around in the room with a partner, look at the images on the wall and discuss the images and the headlines. Ask them to write a #hashtag under three images (it develops their ability to find keywords in the headlines) while going around the room. Finally, ask them to pick the headline/image they like the most, the one they would like to learn more of and stand next to it.
Ask them the following questions:
1. What do these pieces of news have in common? (they are positive, + they are mostly about global issues)
2. Which image/news headline did you pick and why did you choose it? (Ask 1-2 pairs to say why.)
Ask them to sit down and try to predict what they will read about.
ONLINE TIP:
You can create a gallery on padlet and ask your students to comment on the images.
Here's an example: https://padlet.com/aquagirl22/gqg8mf61mrfgvo10
3. Researching and reading
Ask students to google the news story they picked, compare their guesses and the facts. They should then switch partners and tell each other about what they read about.
4. Reading about the project
Italian Illustrator Mauro Gatti Was Fed Up With Hearing All The Bad News So He Created ‘The Happy Broadcast’
Bad news is everywhere and it’s almost impossible to bear the amount of negativity in the world. In order to show that there is also good in this world, Italian creative artist Mauro Gatti created The Happy Broadcast. This series of illustrations shows some of the positive news of 2019 that media failed to broadcast. Indeed, when you turn on the news, it feels like the world is crumbling. Natural calamities, killings, corruption, economic problems and more. These heart-breaking headlines can really get us down. To make it worse, bingeing on the news cycle can be bad for mental health. When it seems like everything is bad it can make us feel a little overwhelmed, stressed and even depressed.
But aren’t good things happening too?
In this world full of negative news, are there any positive things happening? Truth be told, there is so much good in this world. But these inspiring stories just don’t make it to the headlines as much as the negative ones do. People tend to pay more attention to bad news. This is mainly because the human brain is simply built with a greater sensitivity to unpleasant news. In his attempt to balance the good and the bad, the artist aims to acknowledge the positive events happening around the world.
“A potential solution could be to limit the amount of bad news, basically slow down our personal news cycle, adding some positive news to our “news diet” to make sure that our outlook on the world is more optimistic. Also, it’s very important to invest time to deal with misinformation and the reliability of news sources.”, Gatti explains.
Together with his fellow artists, Gatti came up vibrant illustrations to emphasize some of the most uplifting news from different parts of the world. Through this project the public can discover the brighter side of the coin that mainstream media often overlooks. If you’re also fed up with all the negativity, it’s time to look away from the bad news for the meantime. And focus more on the good news for a change. Besides, having our daily dose of heart-warming news can also prove beneficial to our mental health and overall wellbeing.
We’ve picked out the best illustrations to help restore your faith in humanity once again (see on the previous page). You can also follow their official Instagram page to browse the entire collection and see their latest posts. From animal rights promotion, clever eco-solutions, equality and scientific innovations.
5. Comprehension questions – Ask your students to find the answers to the following questions:
1. What’s the problem with the news, according to the article?
It feels like the world is crumbling, heart-breaking headlines can really get us down, bingeing on the news cycle can be bad for one’s mental health.
2. Why do people pay more attention to bad news?
Because the human brain is simply built with a greater sensitivity to unpleasant news.
3. What advice does Gatti give to people following the news?
“A potential solution could be to limit the amount of bad news, basically slow down our personal news cycle, adding some positive news to our “news diet” to make sure that our outlook on the world is more optimistic. Also, it’s very important to invest time to deal with misinformation and the reliability of news sources.”
4. What benefits does reading positive news have?
It’s beneficial to our mental health and overall wellbeing.
6. Vocabulary – What do these definitions refer to? Find the words/expressions among the highlighted words.
Ask your students to do this individually, then check it in pairs.
1. to fail to notice, ignore- to overlook
2. a person's way of understanding and thinking about something - outlook
3. to break into small pieces – to crumble
4. to accept, admit, or recognize something – to acknowledge
5. to believe in something or someone again – to restore faith in
6. to arrive successfully or on time, or succeed in something – to make it to
7. to cause someone to feel unhappy and negative – to get someone down
8. a serious accident or bad event causing damage or suffering - calamity
9. feeling sudden strong emotion (adj.) - overwhelmed
10. to consume too much of something – to binge
7. Discussion – Ask students to discuss it in pairs or in smaller groups, then have a full-class discussion.
1. In what ways do you find Gatti’s advice useful? Would you be interested in following his website/Instagram?
2. According to the American Psychological Association (APA)’s 2019 survey, more than half of the respondents (54%) say that they want to stay informed about the news, but following it causes them stress. Many people choose to deal with this issue by avoiding the news. What do you think about this “excuse” for not following the news?
3. How do you usually cope with bad world news?
8. Reading and speaking – Coping with bad news
Pair up your students and give them two different articles (“Dealing with bad world news” and “How to Cope When the World Seems Completely Terrible”). - Find them below! They will have to read them individually and tell each other about what they’ve read about.
Then, they will have to rank the pieces of advice according to their usefulness. Monitor and at the end of the activity, ask 1-2 pairs to say which pieces of advice they deemed useful.
9. Project
You can give it as HW: Students should choose a topic they’re interested in (e.g. education, sport, environmental issues, celebrities, media… etc.) and collect positive news items from around the world from the past month. They’ll have to present their collection of headlines in a short creative presentation. (This activity will make them read the news and will hopefully put them in a positive mindset)
ONLINE TIP:
They can collect the articles using a digital bookmarking site, e.g. www.booky.io , https://www.diigo.com/ , https://evernote.com/ and present them afterwards.
Student worksheet
Teacher's guide
Article 1
Article 2