Got Happy?

Submitted by: Raegina Taylor    Borrowed or inspired from: The newspaper     Date added: 08-27-07     Edited by: Fiona Steele

Brief Outline:  Students listen to a student-friendly article on happiness and fill-in the missing words. Then, they complete a comparative worksheet followed by a class discussion about other various ‘happy’ topics.

Materials Needed:

Detailed Explanation:

1. Listening:
   • Read the article as a class, helping with the difficult areas.
   • Students listen to the article and fill in the missing words.
     • “Australians are the happiest people in the world. Interviewers asked 30,000 people in 30 different countries how happy they are. 46% of Australians said they were very happy. Next were the USA (40%), Egypt (36%), India (34%) and finally the UK and Canada (32%). Hungary was the most ‘miserable’. 35% of its people said they were very unhappy.
     • "The interview showed that money and age made people happier. Unhappy people have no money or have no job. The older we are, the more happy we are. Teenagers are the happiest people. The things that make us happier are good health, money and a happy family, not cars and clothes.”
2. Reading:
   • Hand out the 'happy' survey and have the students circle the options they like better.
3. Writing:
   • Below the survey are seven lines for the students to write comparative sentences survey. Six sentences will be in response to what they chose and one sentence will be one they create on their own.
4. Speaking:
   • Discuss with the students other topics that make them happy: hiking, good health, money, having many video games, sunshine, friends, family, watching television, exercise, etc.

Variations and Options:

• The class discussion could be done as a warm-up.

Attachments:

 GotHappy                GotHappy1