april fool

TeachingEnglish|Lessonplans

©BBC|BritishCouncil2010

ool’sDay

youknowaboutAprilFool’sDay?

aveasimilardayinyourcountry?

ikepracticaljokes?

uplayedatrickonanyonerecently?

’sthejokerinyourclass/family?

TeachingEnglish|Lessonplans

©BBC|BritishCouncil2010

olingAround.

ReadthetextaboutAprilFool’ureachaquestion

discussit

withyourpartner.

JustFoolingAround

Alieninvasion

Picturethis-aUFOcirclingtheskiesoverLondonwatchedbythousandsof

icearriveatthesceneexpectinganalieninvasion

andwitnessasilversuitedpersonemergingfromthecraft!

ldyoufeelifyousawtheUFOoverLondon?

DidyouknowthatBritishscientistscancontroltheweather?Theinventionofa

weathermachinewillenabletheUKtohavelonghotsummerdaysandensure

still,snowatChristmastimewillalwaysbe

guaranteed!

ouliketheweathertobecontrolled?

Whistlingcarrots

Fancysomethingdifferentfordinner?Haveyouevertastedthegenetically

modifiedwhistlingcarrot?Speciallyengineeredtogrowwithairholesintheir

side,thecarrotsbegintowhistlewhentheyarefullycooked.

oubelievethisstoryifyouhearditonthenews?

AprilFool's

Unfortunatelynoneofthestoriesaretrue,theyarepartofthetraditionofApril

Fool'ecustomintheUKtocarryoutajokeortrickuponsomeone

ersonfallsforthejokethentheyarenamed

anAprilFool.

It'sanannualpastimeofnewspapersandtelevisiontotakepartinplayingthe

wasinfactahot-

airballoonindisguiflownbyRichardBranson!AprilFoolsDaywillcontinue

sobeonthelookoutthisyearforanyhoaxes,thereareboundtobesome.

Maybeyoucouldtrysomeofyourown?

Sourceoftext:/

Notethisisanoldplan,sothewebpageitlinkstoisnolongeravailable.

TeachingEnglish|Lessonplans

©BBC|BritishCouncil2010

eboard–AprilFool’sDay–DoyouLoveitorHateit?

AwebsiteaskedsomeBritishpeoplethequestion“DoyouloveorhateApril

Fool’sDay?”Here’emessagesonthemessageboard.

Malisa“IloveAprilFool’layingtrickson

peopleandIdon’’sonedayoftheyearyou

canbereallysillyandhavealaughandit’etobequitensible

fortheother364daysoftheyear,soIlookforwardtoApril1st.“

Johnny“Idon’tlikeAprilFool’hinking

elveo’clockpassIfeelquite

relievedthatit’sfinishedforanotheryear!”

Phil“WhenIwasatschoolAprilFool’ed

,oneyearoneofthe

boysatschoolputabucketofwaterontopofthedoorandwhenthechemistry

teachercameinhegotverywet!Itwasfunny,buttheboygotinbigtrouble!”

Loui“AprilFool’’asytoforgettheactualdateandI

alwaysbelieveeverythingIreadinthenewspapersorwatchontheTVnews.I

usuallybelievethebignationalhoaxesanditalwaysmakesmelaugh

’sgoodtoremindusthatmaybeweshouldn’talwaysbelieve

everythingwehearinthenews.”

Clare“AprilFool’sDayisfunwhenyou’berputtingaplastic

friedeggonmyDad’dedtocutitupand

pretendtoeatit!NowIthinksomeofthetricksareabitsillyandpeoplecanbe

abitcruelplayingtricksontheir‘friends’!”

Mark“IhateAprilFool’arpeopleatworkchangedthesugarfor

saltsoweallputsaltinourcoffee!Thensomejokerintheofficedecidedhe

wantedadayoffandhedidsomethingtothecomputerssotheywouldn’twork.

Itjustwasn’tfunny!Ihadlotstodoandweallhadtostopworkingandsolvethe

problem.”

uldyousayifyouwereaskedthesamequestion?

outhinklovesAprilFool’sDaymost?

outhinkhatesAprilFool’sDaymost?

hinkanyofthetricksthepeoplementionedarefunny?

TeachingEnglish|Lessonplans

©BBC|BritishCouncil2010

Tricks

ReadanAprilFool’strickandthenexplainittoyourclassmates.

•In1998BurgerKingpublishedanadvertinthemagazineUSAToday

offeringnew‘Left-handedWhoppas’forthe32millionleft-handed

Americans!Thousandsofcustomersorderedthenewburgerinthe

restaurants!

•AzooinJapansaidthattheyhadagiantpenguinthatwas165cmtalland

weighed80kilograms!Infactitwasamandresdupinapenguinsuit.

•ABritishnewspaperprintedanarticlesayingthattheEuropeanUnionhad

decidedtobanAprilFool’sDay!Itwasonlyahoax.

•InthenightofMarch31st1989hundredsofLondonersphonedthepoliceto

itwasahoaxand

itwasahotairballoonthatlookedlikeaspacecraft.

•LastyearintheUKachildren’snewsprogrammesaidthatscientistshad

inventeda‘BrainBand’.Itwasacolouredheadbandthatyouputonyour

headandithelpedtomakeyoumoreintelligent!Onanon-linepoll,47%of

thechildrenwhoheardthenewswantedtobuya‘brainband’!

•In1949aradioprenterinNewZealandtoldlistenersthattherewere

viewerstoweartheirsocksover

nsoflistenersbelieved

him!

•In1957averyriousdocumentaryprogrammeontheBBCreportedonthe

iditwasanexcellentplacetogrow

spaghetti!HundredsofviewersphonedtheBBCtoaskwheretheycould

buyspaghettitrees.

•In1999amusicwebsiteclaimedthatBritneySpearshadliedaboutherage.

Theysaidshewas28,dsofpeoplephonedhermusiclabel

toaskhowoldBritneyreallywas.

•InSwedenin1962theyhaveonetelevisionchannelandallTVwasinblack

tisttoldviewersthattheywouldetheTVincolouris

theyputanylonstockingoverthescreen.

•In1976averyfamousBritishastronomertoldradiolistenersthatat9.47am

that

JupiterandPlutowouldcrossandiflistenersjumpedintheairatexactly

9.47amtheywouldfeelthensationofhavingnogravity!Hundredsof

listenersphonedtheradiotosaytheyhadjumpedandfloatedintheair!

TeachingEnglish|Lessonplans

©BBC|BritishCouncil2010

MakeupyourownAprilFool’strick.

dentstothinkoftheirownidea

foranAprilFool’ave

ant,

holdaclassvotetodecideonthebesttrick.

Thereisn’taworksheetforthisactivity,butifyoufeelyourstudentsneeda

structure,mple,

MyAprilFool’itwouldfoolpeoplebecau…