TEFL - Advanced Lesson Plan

Article

This is an original article as printed in the Guardian Weekly which is suitable for advanced comprehension classes written by Mark Brown.

Fan who gatecrashed Lennon Bed-In sells lyrical gift

Gail Renard in bed with John Lennon, Yoko Ono - Montreal, 1969

Twenty-seven years after his death John Lennon will make good a promise he once made to a star-struck Canadian teenagerr: that he would always look after her.

In one of the most keenly anticipated sales of rock memorabilia for years, Gail Renard, who is now a television comedy writer, is to auction Lennon's handwritten lyrics of Give Peace a Chance, which have hung in her study for years.

The lyrics - "Everybody's talking bout [sic] /Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism, This-ism, That-ism" etc - will be sold nect month by Christie's for a sum estimated to be between $400,000 and $600,000.

The sale has revealed the remarkable story of how Renard was given the lyrics nearly 40 years ago.

Lenon and Yoko Ono were in Montreal for their Bed-In in 1969, a week of staying in bed calling for peace, plus a recording of Give Peace a Chance sung by Lennon and 50 or so others in the hotel suite. With them for most of the week was Renard who, with a friend, got into the hotel via a fire escape to bring a present for Ono's five-year-old daughter, Kyoko; they waited for security on Lennon's floor to change and then simply knowcked on the suite door. "It's incredible the things you'd do when you're young that you wouldn't do now," she said.

Renard and Lennon bonded, and the self-described "hyperventilating teenager" was allowed to stay until the media circus ended.

Renard says she had an amazing week. "My mother spoke to him and made it quite clear what the rules were. He got me home for bedtime each night."

Lennon gave Renard several mementos, saying they would be worht something one day. He also kickstarted her writing career by telling the editor of the Beatles Monthly magazine to publish her review of the Bed-In.

The lyrics have hung in her study for years, but when her roof leaked she thought it was time to let them go.

Helen Hall, head of popular culture at Christie's said she expected the lyrics to beat the $450,000 paid at Christie's in 2003 for the original of the Beatles' Nowhere Man.

A few months after the Bed-In, half a million anti-Vietnam protesters sang "Give Peace a Chance" in Washington. Lennon said it was "one of the b iggest moments of my life".

Glossary

gatecrash: (verb) to go to a party or event without being invited
bond: (verb) to develop a special friendship with a person
hyperventilating: (adjective) breathing too quickly because you are very excited
kickstart: (verb) to do something to help a process or project start more quickly
make good a promise: (expression) to do something you have promised to do

Questions

The questions below are divided into three groups - before, during and after reading the above article.

Before reading

Look at the photo. Then find words in the headline and caption to complete the paragraph below.

In (a) ___ John Lennon and (b) ___ staged a protest by staying in (c) ___ for a week in a hotel in the Canadian city of (d) ___. This famous event was called a (e) ___. At this time, Lennon gave a gift to a young (f) ___ called (g) ___.

Work in small groups. Discuss the questions below. Make notes and report your ideas back to the group.

What do you know about the life of John Lennon?
Have you heard of the event in the photo? If yes, what do you know about it?
What gift do you think Lennon gave to the girl in the photo.

Nouns from the article. Match the words and the definitions which follow -

lyrics
memento
memorabilia
recording
review

a report in a magazine which gives opinions about a film/concert, etc.
the process of making a record/CD etc.
the words to a song.
things people collect because they once belonged to a famous person.
a thing you give to someone to remind them of a person or place.

While reading

Complete the questions with the correct words below. Then find the answers to the question in the first four parapgraphs of the article - how long, how many, how much, what, where, which -

___ years have passed since John Lennon's death?
___ did John Lennon give to Gail Renard?
___ did Renard put the gift from Lennon?
___ will Renard receive for the item at auction?
___ company will auction the item?
___ ago did Lennon give Renard the gift?

Read the rest of the article from paragraph five onwards. Put yes/no next to the statements below. Gail Renard ...

... entered the hotel through a window.
... brought a gift with her for Ono's daughter.
... made friends with a guard outside the hotel rrom.
... is amazed at what she did in the past.
... stayed at the hotel every night.
... began her career with a review in Beatles Monthly.
... decided to sell the lyrics because there was a hole in her roof.
... had "one of the biggest moments of her life" when she sang in Washington.

Write a short summary of the events in the article from Gail Renard's point of view: "In 1969, I ..."

After reading

Synonym crossword. Complete the crossword by finding synonyms in the article for the words below. Put any verbs in the base form.

Across	Down
2 by way of (3) 5 words (song) (6) 7 every (4) 8 present (4) 9 office (5) 10 vow (7)	1 to demand (4,3) 3 amazing (10) 4 demonstrator (9) 6 to sell off (7)

Activity - role play

As a class, role play a chat show interview with Gail Renard. One student is the host, one is Gail Renard and the rest of the class is the audience

Each person spends ten minutes preparing their role and making notes. Students in the audience think of four interesting question to ask Renard.
As a class, role play the chat show with an introduction by the host and an interview with Renard based on questions from the audience.