Puzzle Story Leading to a Reading

Mario Rinvolucri

Mario Rinvolucri teacher, teacher trainer and author. Has has worked for Pilgrims for 32 years and used to edit Humanising Language Teaching. Regularly contributes to The Teacher Trainer. His books include: Creative Writing, with Christine Frank, Helbling, Multiple Intelligences in EFL, with Herbert Puchta, Helbling, Unlocking Self-Expression through NLP, with Judy Baker, Delta Books, New edition of Vocabulary, with John Morgan, OUP, Humanising your Coursebook, Delta Books, Using the Mother Tongue, with Sheelagh Deller, Delta Books, Ways of Doing, with Paul Davis and Barbara Garside, CUP, Imagine That with Herbert Puchta and Jane Arnold. Mario's first CDrom for students, Mindgame, was written with Isobel Fletcher de Tellez, and engineered and published by Clarity, Hongkong in 2000 . E-mail: mario@pilgrims.co.uk

Level: lower intermediate

Time: 20-30 minutes

Preparation: Make copies of the text

In class:

1.Write these semi-key words from a very short newspaper text on the board:

Mountain top main square Light November-February

2. Tell the students these are words taken from a short newspaper item. They are to find out what the item is about by asking you, the teacher, "yes no" questions. These must not be "wh" questions…. So

" Is the square on the mountain top?" is a fine question which you answer YES or NO , while

" What happens between November and February" is an illegal question!

3. If the students run out of ideas let them have a semi-key word clue like REFLECTION to spark more questions

4. When they are nearing the solution but before they get there ask them to read this text:

Alpine village sees the light
Viganella, Italy

A village in the Alps is basking in winter sunshine for the first time, thanks to a giant mirror installed on a mountain top to reflect the sun's rays into the main square.
Viganella , with a population of less than 200, lies in a valley so steep that from 11 November to 2 February it hardly receives any sunshine. The 100,000 euro project to erect the 5 metre by 8 metre mirror was the brainchild of the village mayor Pierfranco Midali.

5. For homework as the students to google Viganella + Pierfranco Midali. They will find over 700 texts with oodles of diagrams, pictures and extra information. They bring some of this to the next class and exchange what they found interesting.

Please check the Secondary Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.