Macmillan Academy Crime Lesson

Aim
To practise crime phrasal verbs
To practise speaking
Level
Upper-Intermediate/Advanced
Length
90 mins
Resources and materials
MEC resources Carnival Criminals and Usual suspects (to find the resources write in Carnival
Criminals and Usual Suspects in the Word and Phrase Search).
Extracts from the Celebrity Crimes lesson plan on www.onestopenglish.com
Preparation
Open MEC up on an IWB or data projector and bookmark the MEC resources above.
Copy and paste onto the flipchart or print out the images of crime to be used in the opening activity
(see Opening Worksheet at the end of this document).
Copy and paste onto the flipchart or print out mugshots of celebrities. Try to find the celebrities that
are popular in your country. You may also want to mix national and international celebrities to make it
more interesting. You may find the mugshots on www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/. Alternatively, you
can google celebrity mugshots to find the most recent ones (see Warm-up activity Part 1 Worksheet).
Print out and cut the description of the crimes committed by the celebrities you had selected (see
Warm-up activity Part 1 Worksheet).
Copy and paste onto the flipchart or print out the discussion questions (see Group discussion
questions Worksheet).
1. Opening
Open the flipchart with images of crime or pass round the handout, one per pair (see Opening
Worksheet). Learners guess what the theme of the lesson is and what the images stand for. Learners
work in pairs, ask learners for their feedback.
2. Warm-up
Open the flipchart with mugshots of celebrities or pass round the handout, one per pair (see Warm-up
activity Part 1 Worksheet).
Put learners in pairs and give them five minutes to try to guess the names of celebrities. Monitor the
learners. Check their answers. Pass round the descriptions of the crimes the celebrities have
committed. Learners work in the same pairs and match the crimes with the pictures (see Warm-up
activity Part 2 Worksheet). *There are more celebrities than crimes.
Key celebrities:
1. Nicole Richie
4. Mathew McConaughey
7. Mischa Barton

2. Mel Gibson
5. Jay-Z
8. P. Daddy

3. Paris Hilton
6. Bill Gates
9. Lindsay Lohan

2. c
5. d

3. b
6. e

Key matching:
1. a
4. f

3. Pre-activity
Open the flipchart and write Rio de Janeiro on the board. Ask learners whether they know the place.
Learners work individually for 2 minutes and tell you what Rio is famous for. Write down their answers.
Alternatively, you may find picture of Rio de Janeiro on the internet and bring it to the class. Ask your
learners to guess what city it is by slowly revealing the photo.
4. Vocabulary Activity Part 1
Open MEC up on an IWB or data projector and open Carnival Criminals. Put learners in groups of
three, they only do Part1 of the activity. Give them 10 minutes to complete the activity. Monitor
learners and help with vocabulary when necessary. Check the answers as a class. Ask the class if their
ideas of the city go with what they read. *Use the notes to remind the learners of what they said.
5. Vocabulary Activity Part 2
Learners work in the same groups of three. Tell learners they have 5 minutes to do the second part of
the activity. Monitor your learners and help when necessary. At the end ask for their answers.
6. Group discussion
Open the flipchart with the Group discussion questions or print out the discussion questions (see Group
discussion questions Worksheet).Put your learners in different groups of three/four. Relate them to the
crimes they worked on at the beginning of the lesson, as well as to the vocabulary from the activity
Carnival Criminals. Give learners 15 minutes to discuss the questions. At the end ask learners for their
feedback.
7. Optional activity
If some groups have finished early or you have some time left, you may want to play the game Usual
Suspects. To find the resource write in Usual Suspects in the Word and Phrase Search.

Opening Worksheet

Warm-up activity Part 1 Worksheet

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1.

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4.

6.
7.

8.

9.

Warm-up activity Part 2 Worksheet

a)
.posed for the below left mug shot on August 23, 2007 after surrendering to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department to begin serving four days in jail for a DUI conviction. .was released after spending 82
minutes in custody. The photo on the right was taken by the sheriff's department in December 2006 after .was
arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
b)
.was booked into a Los Angeles jail in June 2007 to begin serving time for violating terms of a
probation sentence imposed following a drunk driving plea. In January, weeks after pleading no contest to a reckless
driving charge, .was cited for driving with a suspended license. After signing a document acknowledging she
was not to drive, ..was pulled over by cops in February and charged with a probation violation. As a result, she
was sentenced to 45 days in jail. .posed for the below left mug shot after her September 2006 arrest. The second
booking photo was taken when she surrendered to Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to begin her brief sentence.
c)
The mug shot of was taken following the star's slur-spewing drunk driving bust in July 2006. Considering
some of the booking photos previously snapped by Los Angeles sheriff's deputies, the star looks downright dapper.
d)
..was arrested by New York City cops in December 1999 for allegedly stabbing a record executive at a
Manhattan nightclub. Originally charged with felony assault, the star pleaded guilty in October 2001 to a reduced
misdemeanor count and was sentenced to three years probation.
e)
..was photographed by the Albuquerque, New Mexico police in 1977 after a traffic violation (details of
which have been lost over time).
f)
..was arrested by Austin, Texas police in October 1999 and charged with possession of marijuana
and drug paraphernalia after a neighbor called to complain about music blaring from the actor's crib. When cops
arrived, they found ..dancing around in the buff and playing bongo drums. The drug charges against
.were eventually dropped, though the star did plead guilty to violating Austin's noise ordinance, for which he
paid a $50 fine.

Group discussion questions Worksheet

Celebrity Crimes
1.

What kind of punishment would you suggest for some of the people accused in
the photos?

2.

Are there any celebrities from your country that have been accused of a crime?
Who? What crime?

3.

Do you think rich and famous people are treated differently by the law in your
country?

4.

Do celebrities have a responsibility to act as role-models for society?