Learning English through Popular Culture

Horoscope Columns
Teachers Notes
Objectives
By the end of the lessons, students will be better able to:
use vocabulary to describe personality
read and understand horoscope predictions
write predictions using appropriate language
produce horoscopes that adhere to the typical structural features of this
text-type
Time Needed
2-3 forty-minute periods
Learning / Teaching / Assessment Tass / Activities
Students practise vocabulary to describe Western and hinese horoscope
signs
!n pairs, students exchange information to complete a table about
horoscopes
!n pairs " small groups, students complete a multiple-choice vocabulary
definition #ui$ on ad%ectives of personality
Students add to descriptions of star signs using the ad%ectives of
personality
Students read 3 hinese horoscopes and answer noticing #uestions
focussing on comprehension, language and structure
Students complete sentences to ma&e predictions, then use these
sentence starters to compile horoscopes for classmates " teacher
!aterials "e#uired
Student's handouts S((-S()
* +rac& ,
Horoscope Columns
T 60
$
%
%
Learning English through Popular Culture
Horoscope Columns
+eacher's -otes
&ntroduction'
+hese activities are designed to support students in producing a maga$ine
column: horoscopes. +hey begin by focussing on vocabulary typically used to
describe the characteristics of each star sign, using both hinese and Western
horoscopes for cultural balance /plus students may be more familiar with the
hinese ones0. +hey wor& on defining ad%ectives by guessing from a given
context, an important s&ill for students to learn in order to develop their reading
and vocabulary s&ills. +o chec& and consolidate their understanding of these
items, they read descriptions of the Western star signs which use synonyms and
then students add the appropriate ad%ective from the previous activity. +hey
follow this with a reading activity focussing on comprehension, language features
and structure and content designed to raise their awareness of this text-type. +he
final activity is for students to write their own horoscopes. +hey practise the
necessary grammatical structures by completing sentences to ma&e predictions.
+hese are then incorporated into horoscopes for classmates or their teacher.
Learning Activit( ) *ocabular( and $peaing
A *ocabular( + Horoscope signs (5 minutes)
This activity provides students with practice of animal vocabulary related to
Chinese horoscopes and introduces the theme of horoscopes.
Students identify the animals and discuss what they represent. 1s& them what
the year is now and which animal their birth year is. !ntroduce the words
horoscope /2a description or prediction of things that will happen to you and of
your personality according to the position of the stars " planets at your time of
birth30 and star signs /2one of the 42 signs of the $odiac 5 the system that uses
birth dates to say what will happen to you in the future30.
Answers: +he animals /cloc&wise from top left0 are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon,
sna&e, horse, sheep, mon&ey, rooster, dog and pig. +here are many versions of
the origin of the 42 hinese $odiac animals. 1ccording to legend, one day the
gods tried to develop a calendar system to &eep trac& of time and decided to hold
a race for the animals on the earth. +he first 42 animals to cross the river would
be the signs of the $odiac calendar, and would appear according to their order in
finishing the race. +hey represent what others thin& of you or how you present
yourself. 6or interest, students may visit http:""42$odiac.com"learnsigns"
learnsign.shtml for what personality each of them represents. hec& current year
and students' years of birth at http:""chinese.astrology.com"sign.aspx or in an
issue of the South hina 7orning 8ost.
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more support
9ou may decide to supply the animal names for students to match to the
pictures. :ere is a list to enlarge and cut up:
rat ox tiger rabbit
dragon sna&e horse sheep
mon&ey rooster dog pig
Horoscope Columns
T 61
$
%
%
$
%
.
Learning English through Popular Culture
/ *ocabular( + Personality adjectives quiz (10 minutes)
This activity is designed to introduce / revise adjectives of personality associated
with character descriptions of star signs.
+his can be done in pairs or groups /this might ma&e it more competitive 5 you
could also set a time limit0. *iscuss whether the ad%ectives are positive or
negative. 6ollow up with pronunciation practice of the ad%ectives, perhaps
focussing on syllable stress /in bold below0.
Answers: 4. laid-bac /c0 0; 2. stubborn /c0 1; 3. ,ran /c0 1 " 0 /depending on
context0; (. generous /a0 0; <. bossy /b0 1; =. sh( /c0 1 " neutral /depending
on context0; ,. optimistic /b0 0; ). romantic /a0 0; >. intelligent /c0 0;
4?. sensible /a0 0; 44. patient /b0 0; 42. adventurous /c0 0
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more challenge
9ou could challenge students more by supplying the sentences with the words
missing /perhaps providing %ust the first letter0 for them to guess and fill in as
well as choose the correct definition.
C $peaing2 Listening and Pronunciation + Horoscope dictation
and information exchange (5 minutes!)
"# $rac% &
These activities (a) allow students to listen to and practise pronunciation of
horoscope vocabulary and (b) give students practice in listening and speaing in
pairs in order to share information.
a0 /e,ore class2 cop( the column dictation sheet on T.3 so that there is
one ,or each student4 @sing the * /+rac& , - 3:?3 minutes0 as a model, allow
students to listen to the horoscope names being pronounced correctly. 1s they
listen, they should distinguish between the names for hinese horoscopes and
those for Western star signs and fill in the correct columns /hinese " Western0.
+he words are supplied below the table to assist with spelling. 9ou may li&e to
drill the words as a class afterwards to reinforce the listening practice and prepare
students for the next spea&ing activity.
Horoscope Columns
T 62
Learning English through Popular Culture
hinese Western
4.
2.
3.
(. Horse
<.
=.
,.
). Tiger
>.
4?
44.
42. !one(
4.
2. *irgo
3.
(.
<.
=. A#uarius
,.
).
>.
4?.
44. Taurus
42.
:ere are all the words you will need. Some have been filled in for you.
Aat 7on&ey 8isces Beo 8ig 1ries +iger Aabbit ancer apricorn :orse
Scorpio Sna&e Cirgo Demini Aooster +aurus Bibra Sagittarius *og Ex
*ragon Sheep 1#uarius
Answers:
+he students should have filled in the words in the following order as heard on the
* /+rac& ,0:
hinese Western
4. "at
2. -ragon
3. $heep
(. :orse
<. -og
=. Pig
,. O5
). +iger
>. $nae
4?. "abbit
44. "ooster
42. 7on&ey
4. Libra
2. Cirgo
3. Capricorn
(. Pisces
<. $corpio
=. 1#uarius
,. $agittarius
). Aries
>. Cancer
4?. Leo
44. +aurus
42. 6emini
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more challenge
9ou may decide not to supply the words with the dictation table so that
students have to rely on existing &nowledge and deduction from sounds to
spell the words correctly.
Horoscope Columns
T 63

Learning English through Popular Culture

b0 /e,ore class2 cop( the charts belo7 so that there are enough to give
one to each student 8hal, the class9A2 the other hal,9/:. Students wor& in
pairs. +ell them they must not show their information to each other but that they
should as& #uestions in order to fill in the missing information on their sheet.
Flicit the types of #uestions they need to as&, e.g. !hich is the animal or symbol
for (Aries)" !hich star sign is the (bull)" !hat are the dates for (#eo)"
$T;-ENT A
E5ample #uestion' !hich is the animal or symbol for (Aries)"
$tar sign Animal / $(mbol -ates
1ries 7arch 24 - 1pril 4>
bull
twins 7ay 24 - Gune 24
ancer
Beo lion Guly 23 - 1ugust 22
1ugust 23 - September 22
scales September 23 - Ectober 22
Scorpio scorpion
-ovember 22 - *ecember 24
apricorn *ecember 22 - Ganuary 4>
water carrier Ganuary 2? - 6ebruary 4)
fish
$T;-ENT /
E5ample #uestion' !hich star sign is the (ram)"
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more support
9ou could supply pictures of the respective star sign symbols so that students
have an idea of the meaning of the word before they tell their partner, then
Horoscope Columns
$tar sign Animal / $(mbol -ates
ram /a male sheep0
+aurus 1pril 2? - 7ay 2?
Demini
crab Gune 22 - Guly 22
Beo lion Guly 23 - 1ugust 22
Cirgo woman
Bibra
Ectober 23 - -ovember 24
Sagittarius archer
goat
1#uarius
8isces 6ebruary 4> - 7arch 2?
T 64

$
%
<
$
%
.
Learning English through Popular Culture
they may be able to define it for their partner more clearly.
6or students who need more challenge
+his could be prefaced with dictionary wor& to identify and define the star sign
symbols.
- *ocabular( and $peaing + Personality adjectives
(10 minutes)
$n this activity% students consolidate vocabulary from the previous tass
(adjectives of personality and western star signs).
Students read the descriptions of the 42 star signs and choose one of the
ad%ectives from Bearning 1ctivity 4B that is most similar in meaning to add to the
description. 1s& students to discuss if they are typical of their star sign's
description. &ote: these are not meant to be scientifically correct descriptions of
the 42 signs 5 they're %ust for funH
Answers: 1ries 5 bossy; +aurus 5 patient; Demini 5 intelligent; ancer 5
romantic; Beo 5 optimistic; Cirgo 5 sensible; Bibra 5 laid-bac&; Scorpio 5 fran&;
Sagittarius 5 adventurous; apricorn 5 stubborn; 1#uarius 5 generous; 8isces 5
shy
Learning Activit( = "eading 'agazine horoscopes 8)>
minutes:
This activity e'poses students to the topical areas typically appearing in
horoscope columns.
+here are three example horoscope texts provided which students should read,
then they can discuss the #uestions in pairs " groups /circling the correct animal0,
or if you prefer, you could lead it as a whole class discussion so that you can
ensure they are focussing on the correct language, etc. !n #uestion /h0 ensure
that you draw students' attention to the structures that follow these forms so that
they are aware of the correct usage for their own production later.
Answers: a0 dog; b0 rooster; c0 dog; d0 pig; e0 pig; f0 will; g0 modal verbs
e.g. may, might; h0 imperative e.g. be /Iad%ective0, tr( /Ito infinitive0, avoid
/IverbIing0; i0 about (? words; %0 Jyou'; &0 topics not included in texts are
crossed through in boxes below; l0 see boxes below
emotions /feelings0
pig2 rooster2 dog
relationships
rooster2 dog
school " wor& finance /money0
dog2 pig
decisions
rooster
health
rooster2 pig
entertainment the past
Horoscope Columns
T 65
$
%
?
Learning English through Popular Culture
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more support
+he #uestions could be turned into simple yes " no #uestions concentrating on
one text at a time, e.g. Aooster 5 Will s"he ma&e good decisions todayK 9 " -.
+his reduces the load on students having to read and understand all three
texts and #uestions together and simplifies the tas&.
Learning Activit( 3 @riting
Horoscopes for your classmates (5! minutes)
This activity consolidates the language features of horoscopes by providing an
opportunity for students to write predictions.
Students can wor& individually to complete the sentences. 7onitor carefully to
chec& they are using the correct forms after each verb. +hey then choose
classmates or someone else /e.g. teacher, favourite pop star0 to write a
horoscope for. 1gree with students on the number of horoscopes they should
write. +hey should write the star sign /they can select Western signs or hinese
animals0 at the top and add a symbol " picture if they want to. Aemind them to
write about (? words for each horoscope and to decide if it is a generally good or
bad day for that person so that their horoscope is appropriate. +hey should also
try to include some of the vocabulary learnt in the lessons to describe the
person's personality or behaviour for that day.
Catering ,or Learner -iversit(
6or students who need more challenge
+his activity could be extended by as&ing students to produce more
horoscopes and setting criteria for them to conform to, e.g. one horoscope
should be negative about money; another must have good news about
relationships.
1lternatively, they could try to produce horoscopes which illustrate that star
sign's personality according to the previous wor& done on ad%ectives, then
other students have to guess which star sign it is for. 7ore able students could
also be encouraged to produce longer texts incorporating all aspects of a
person's life /e.g. money, love, health, wor&, travel0 for prediction.
Horoscope Columns
T 66
Learning English through Popular Culture
"esources ,or Horoscopes
@ebsites ,or Horoscopes'
6eneral astrolog(
+his site covers all aspects of astrology, including hinese horoscopes. +he
language is #uite challenging. !t has a section aimed specifically at teens.
http:""horoscopes.astrology.com"index"dailyteenindex.html
http:""www.astrology.com
Teenage horoscopes
+his site has descriptions of each star sign in very collo#uial language so it is
#uite challenging.
http:""www.atomicteen.com"horoscopes
Teenage horoscopes
+his is a slightly more mature " serious teen horoscope site which although
containing collo#uial language and abbreviations, has fairly short manageable
texts of about (? words.
http:""www.alloy.com"astro
Teaching ideas ,or teachers'
1 site with lots of practical ideas based on maga$ines for teachers to try out in
the classroom.
http:""www.teachingenglish.org.u&"try
Horoscope Columns
T 67
Learning English through Popular Culture
Horoscope Columns
T 68