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THE TITANIC

 
 
A fascinating subject with lots of documentation available.
Most of the vocabulary can be introduced beforehand with the help of pictures and eventually short extracts and "frame freeze" from the video... and why not have the pupils de some research through Internet.

In the above picture it would be quite easy to introduce :
ocean liner, lifeboat, to hit/to strike and to sink (+ passengersand iceberg if necessary) 

 
After the visual preparation, a short text (see below) can be used to give a few more details - 
each teacher making the necessary changes to the text in order to obtain maximum feed-back from his class. 
The Titanic


       One night in April 1912, a huge new ocean liner was crossing the Atlantic.  It was her maiden voyage and she was carrying two thousand passengers.  She was also going very fast, which was dangerous because there were icebergs around.  The passengers were all having a good time when the ship suddenly struck one of these icebergs.
        The ship began to sink and the passengers tried to escape, but there were not enough lifeboats.  Another ship was passing nearby.  The Titanic fired rockets into the air to get the other ship's help but it didn't stop.  Two thirds of the passengers went down with the Titanic, it was one of the greatest sea disasters of all time.
This same text could be presented with blanks for the whole class  or  the same technique as with split viewing in video could be used with one half of the class questioning the other ... "When did the disaster happen?"  "Where did it happen?" "How many passengers were there?" etc ...

 
Grammatical points

Main point: Simple past and continuous past - 

"The passengers were all having a good time when the ship suddenly struck one of these icebergs."

Secondary points:  "It was HER maiden voyage ...  SHE was carrying two thousand passengers ..."
                                        "It was one of THE greatEST sea disasters of all time" 
 
 

INVERSION:(understanding is easier with the subordonate clause at the beginning of the sentence)
When the ship struck an iceberg, the passengers were all having a good time.
Imagine different people ... what were they doing ?
... for example, when the ship struck an iceberg .... Mr and Mrs Smith were dancing
                                                                                    their baby was sleeping
                                                                                    the captain was drinking a whiskey    etc ...

then, what did they do, when the ship struck an iceberg?
                                                                                       Mr and Mrs Smith fell 
                                                                                       their baby woke up
                                                                                       the captain dropped his glass          etc  ...

It's easy to imagine other, everyday situations to re-employ the same structures...

 
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