Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Police emergency
Contents
All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only.
You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other website without written
permission from the British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials
please email us at: esolnexus@britishcouncil.org
© British Council 2014
1
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Introduction
This resource has been produced in two different formats:
• Self-access resources for learners with online activities. These are available at:
http://esol.britishcouncil.org/uk-life/be-safe-uk
Overview
This resource Police emergency is taken from the Emergency services series of resources
which aims to give learners the confidence needed to be able to call for help in the event of
an emergency.
Unit 1: Call 999 aims to give beginner learners the skills to call the emergency services and
give vital basic information in case of an emergency.
Unit 2: Is it an emergency? This unit aims to give learners an overview of each service and
what they do. It also teaches learners when they should call 999 and when they should seek
alternative help for less urgent incidents.
Unit 3: Police emergency aims to help learners to be able to describe criminal activity and
dangerous situations and to seek help from the police.
Unit 4: Fire emergency helps learners describe the nature and location of dangerous fires
and also to understand instructions on staying safe when they are waiting for the fire engine
to arrive.
Unit 5: Ambulance emergency teaches learners how to give information when calling for an
ambulance. It enables learners to give information about their location and any injuries
suffered. It also teaches them to be able to follow first aid instructions given by the call-
handler while they are waiting for the ambulance.
Level (Unit 1): This unit has been designed for beginner learners.
Level (Units 2-5): Entry 2/Access 3 in Scotland / CEF A2. The materials are designed to be
flexible in terms of differentiation and are accessible to stronger E1 learners.
2
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Police emergency
• Topic 1: introduction
• Topic 2: police emergency vocabulary
• Topic 3: describing an incident
• Topic 4: listening
• Topic 5: hit and run
• Topic 6: stating location
• Topic 7: role plays
• Topic 8: witness statements
The resource is suitable for whole class use in a number of settings, including voluntary and
community ESOL classes. Timings are flexible since teachers can adapt the resource to suit
their learners and build in revision as required.
In this document:
3
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Police Emergency
Aims
• To enable learners to be able to report a police emergency quickly and accurately.
• To enable learners to be able to respond to questions from a police call-handler.
Objectives
All learners will be able to:
4
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Preparation
• to download a copy of the PowerPoint file Police emergency.ppt. This file includes
links to video resources from YouTube, ’
Audio files
• Dialogue 3a.mp3
• Dialogue 3b.mp3
• Dialogue 4.mp3
• Dialogue 5.mp3
• Dialogue 8.mp3
Interactive activities are available to support this resource. We have provided links to each
individual activity (these activities are also available to learners as self-access items). On
some interactive whiteboards (not all), the activities will be fully functional (i.e. you will be
able to touch the screen to drag and drop, and so on). Links for interactive whiteboards
appear in boxes throughout the resource. As part of your preparation before the session you
may wish to bookmark the activities you plan to use.
5
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Call-handlers will then try to get more details, such as a description of any offender(s), a
description of a missing person, details of a weapon used, the car registration, etc.
Many callers have poor English. If the caller’s language skills are at a low level, they can
access an interpreter for a three-way call. However, there may be callers who know a little
English, but have difficulty understanding and being understood. These callers may believe
their English to be proficient enough and refuse an interpreter and this can lead to frustration.
Some may panic and talk too fast to be clearly understood. The activities in this teachers’
pack address this situation with activities to familiarise learners with vocabulary and protocol.
The main focus for learners in this unit is 999 calls, and learners should understand that if
they are in any doubt as to the severity of the situation they should always call 999.
Calling 101 for non-emergency calls is covered in the unit, ‘Is it an emergency?’ Many calls
are not 999 calls and if this is the case call-handlers will advise callers to call 101 in the
future. Learners may well need to assimilate the idea of calling 101 as having two numbers is
rare in other countries. If there is any doubt as to whether the call is an emergency or not,
then callers should always call 999.
999 101
• Aggressive dog off the lead and • A dog barking on a lead with the
posing a possible threat owner clearly training it for fighting
6
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Topic 1: introduction
a) What is happening?
Tell learners they are going to watch a video of a police emergency call and then answer
some questions. The link to the video is: http://youtu.be/mQzJURnCMMI. There is also a
clickable link to the video in the included PowerPoint presentation.
Note to teacher: The video is about domestic abuse. A neighbour hears a woman and a
man shouting at each other. The neighbour thinks it is serious enough to call 999 for the
police. The police arrive, bang on the door of the man and woman’s house and the situation
is stopped.
This is quite a powerful video and might not be appropriate. Therefore it is imperative
that the teacher watches this video beforehand to judge whether it is appropriate for
their particular learners.
If you do feel that this video would be too distressing for your learners, there is an
alternative video and activity suggested below.
Give out Worksheet 1. Ask learners to watch the video and then answer the questions on
the worksheet.
Learners should complete the worksheet individually at first; tell them that they will be able to
discuss the video after this. Monitor and assist learners where appropriate.
b) Discussion
Elicit answers to the questions on Worksheet 1 and discuss as a class. You could ask the
following questions:
• Could the neighbour go to the house of the man and woman and ask them to stop
shouting?
• What information would the police ask the neighbour on the phone?
7
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Alternative Activity 1:
What’s happening?
The link to the video for this exercise is: http://youtu.be/ICa5nwza2Ps. There is also
a clickable link to the video in the included PowerPoint presentation.
• Ask learners to watch the video and then answer the questions on the worksheet
Alternative Worksheet 1. Highlight that this is a CCTV recording of a real incident.
Elicit the meaning of CCTV and ask if learners know where it can be found.
• If you have an IWB, you could replace the worksheets with the activity at:
http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/p/MTU2MTI= . Display the activity and ask a
volunteer from the class to choose the correct answer. Elicit suggestions from the
whole class.
• Play the video a second time and assist learners with their worksheets.
• Ask learners to discuss what they would do if they saw this happen.
After the discussion, elicit learners’ suggestions and write them up on the board. If some
learners do not understand a situation or any of the vocabulary, elicit explanations or if
necessary, give an explanation yourself.
Extension activity: Pick some of the topics that come up in this discussion and ask learners
to find out more outside the classroom and report back in the next lesson.
8
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Tell learners they are going to describe some pictures of police emergencies. Put learners
into small groups and give them one or two Activity 2 - Police vocabulary flashcards to
describe (there are nine flashcards in all). Ask learners to tell their group what they can see
and what is happening. Monitor learners’ vocabulary knowledge and assist as needed.
Tell groups that they are going to feedback their picture descriptions to the class. Show the
Activity 2a PowerPoint slides and ask each group to describe their picture, for example:
‘There are two men – they are hitting each other’.
Elicit other words from the class and write them on the board. Drill new words to practise
pronunciation.
Continue until all pictures/slides have been discussed.
b) Police vocabulary
Give out Worksheet 2b and ask learners to look at picture ‘A’ and the words below. Ask
them if they can see any of the words in picture ‘A’, for example, ‘arrest’, ‘theft/robbery’. Tell
learners to write the words next to the picture on the worksheet. The PowerPoint allows you
to feedback on this activity by revealing words underneath the images one-by-one.
If you have an IWB in the classroom there is an interactive vocabulary activity which could be
used as an alternative way of presenting the vocabulary (using the ‘learn’ section), or as a
learning check at the end of the lesson (using the ‘remember’ section). Encourage the whole
class to support the individual learners answering the questions on the IWB.
IWB link: http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/p/MTU2MTM=
After this, tell learners to work in pairs or small groups to complete part 2 of the worksheet.
Encourage learners to use their dictionaries. Remind learners that if they do not know the
vocabulary, they can look at the definitions on the worksheet, think of a word that could
describe this in their own language and look that up to see if it is the same as the English
word. Monitor and assist groups.
Whole class feedback: using the flashcards, go through each picture eliciting answers. Ask
concept-check questions, such as ‘Is picture ‘A’ vandalism? Why/Why not?’ / ‘Is picture ‘C’ a
crime? Why/Why not?’. The Activity 2b PowerPoint slides can also be used to display the
correct answers.
Drill all words for pronunciation.
Ensure all learners have the correct words/definitions on their worksheets.
9
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Give out Worksheet 2c, folded at the fold lines. Tell learners that they have 10 seconds to
read Text 1 to find out what the story is about. Remind them not to read every word. The
story can also be displayed using the PowerPoint presentation.
If reading for gist is new to the class, help them to understand the concept of what ‘mainly
about’ means by asking them to think of a headline for this ‘story’ in a newspaper.
Elicit answers from several learners and write up on the board. Check for any problem words
and encourage peer explanations.
Now ask learners to unfold their worksheets and look at the possible answers. Compare with
ideas on the board, discuss and agree on correct answers.
Ask learners to look at the definitions at the bottom of the page and to find words from the
text that fit these definitions. Learners could work in pairs to complete this exercise. Remind
learners to use their dictionaries if necessary. For differentiation, learners can unfold the
bottom of their worksheets where the words in the text are identified. They could then match
them to the definitions. Monitor and assist pairs helping with any problem words (e.g.
‘attempted’).
When learners finish, they should compare their answers with other pairs. Elicit answers and
write them up on the board. Check that all learners have written the words down correctly.
Ask learners to work individually on questions 3 and 4. Monitor and assist learners.
When learners have finished, feedback as a class and ensure that all learners have the
correct answers. To assess understanding ask questions such as ‘Who does something bad,
the victim or the offender?’, 'If I throw a stone at a man, do I injure him or damage him?’
If you have an IWB in the classroom, there are two interactive activities either or both of
which could be used to consolidate knowledge of this vocabulary.
Display the first activity and then ask learners to match the definitions to the target
vocabulary. Encourage the whole class to support the individual learners answering the
questions on the IWB. Check answers with the whole group before clicking on ‘check
answers’.
In the second activity, learners have to fill a gapped version of the text with the target
vocabulary.
IWB links:
http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/p/MTU4MDA=
http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/p/MTU2MTQ=
10
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Give out Worksheet 3b which has only the call-handler’s questions. Elicit what is missing
from this script, i.e. the caller’s responses.
Show the picture prompts from the PowerPoint presentation and go through the first slide as
a class. The first slide shows a woman on a double-decker bus.
Tell learners that they are the woman on the double-decker bus. They are the witness and
they are going to report what they are seeing to the police. Display the following prompt
slides, eliciting what is happening from the class.
Give out Activity 3b picture summary. Tell learners to use the picture summary to help
them discuss what the caller would say. A scribe within the group could make notes. Monitor
and assist groups.
Discuss the crime and the caller’s responses to the call-handler.
Tell learners you are going to play a recording of a caller reporting this crime to a call-
handler. Ask learners to compare their answers to those on the recording and play Dialogue
3b.mp3.
Discuss similarities and differences between learners’ answers and those in the recording.
The transcript can be used for further consolidation or as an aid to differentiation.
© British Council 2014
11
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Topic 4: listening
a) Listening for gist
Play Dialogue 4.mp3 a few times, each time eliciting what the call is about from the class,
encouraging peer correction. Do not confirm any corrections.
12
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
13
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Ask learners to think of some Yes/No questions to practise asking with rising intonation. Do
the same with Wh-type questions with rising-falling intonation. Ask learners to practise in
pairs. Elicit feedback from learners, focussing on the answering of the questions. Did
listening to the intonation in the questions help learners to answer?
Ask learners to listen to how Katarzyna gives her name. Does the intonation go up or down?
What does this mean? Elicit how Katarzyna spells out her name to the call-handler. Why do
they think the last letter of Katarzyna’s name being spelt out goes down. Elicit or teach that
this is a signal that Katarzyna has finished.
Now tell learners they are going to listen to the whole dialogue, marking their texts as they
go. They can mark upwards intonations with an upward arrow and use a downwards arrow
for falling intonation. Play the recording again.
Discuss learners’ findings as a class. Explain that intonation is important in English. If a
learner does not hear what someone is saying to them, they can use intonation as a signal
that the person wants more information. This can then allow them to say that they don’t
understand and ask for clarification.
For further practice learners could highlight individual words of two syllables, underlining the
stressed part of the word.
14
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Note to teacher: Some learners may not want to divulge their addresses to the whole
class for various reasons. Taking this into account, this activity has been designed so
that learners do not have to say their addresses out loud.
Tell the class that they need to be able to say where they live and where they are in relation
to the scene of an incident. Tell them that the most important thing is that they can give a
street name or postcode.
Tell the class that you want them to write down their address so that you can check them.
Reassure learners that you will not ask them to say their addresses out loud in front of the
class. Check around the class that all learners know their addresses and postcodes.
To practise stating location, display and give out copies of a map of the local area and
choose a random street to use as an example. Ask learners to identify places near the
random street on the map. They can then practise using the random street, for example:
‘I live on the corner of the High Street and Madely Road; I'm on Manchester Square, near the
station. My postcode is __________ (learners could use the class venue postcode to protect
privacy).’
Make sure learners understand that their address is probably the most important piece of
information that the police call-handler needs.
15
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
16
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
If you have an IWB in the classroom, there is an interactive version of this activity where
learners are required to type the correct past simple verbs into a gapped text. As this requires
typing, you could either use the on screen keyboard built into most IWB software, or ask
learners to come to the keyboard. Encourage the whole class to support the individual
learners answering the questions.
c) Listening comprehension
Give out Worksheet 8c. This has Katarzyna’s and Maria’s statements based on dialogues 5
and 8, but with some missing information. Play the recordings again and ask learners to
complete the statement with the correct details. Play the recording several times to allow
learners to check their answers.
17
Police emergency: teachers’ notes
Follow-up activities
As mentioned above, learners can do some research in their local area about what the police
do. There is also a wealth of information on what constitutes a crime, different types of crime
and what to do in a situation on www.police.uk and on regional police websites. Learners
might want to visit their local site and find out more, especially as part of project work.
Teachers could approach their local police station to invite an officer to give them a talk, go to
an open day or event.
18
Police emergency: transcripts
Listening transcripts
Dialogue 3a
19
Police emergency: transcripts
Dialogue 3b
20
Police emergency: transcripts
Dialogue 4
21
Police emergency: transcripts
Dialogue 5
22
Police emergency: transcripts
Dialogue 8
23
Police emergency: answers
Answers
Worksheet 1
1. no correct answers
2. no correct answers except, ‘the police must get here quickly’
3. The police bang on the man and woman’s door / the man stops shouting
4. They will break down the door if they have to
5. Domestic abuse
6. Yes
Alternative Worksheet 1
1. b
2. a
3. a
4. b
5. c
6. c
1. Possible answers. As this activity is open to interpretation, the answers below are
suggested answers.
H emergency
C, D accident
A, B, E, I crime/offence
B, C, F danger/risk
E vandalism
D injury
B, G weapon
F violence
A theft/robbery
24
Police emergency: answers
damage 6
registration 7
threaten 8
report 9
rob 10
vehicle or car 11
25
Police emergency: answers
Activity 3b
See dialogue 3b for a possible answer
Worksheet 4b
See dialogue 4
Activity 5a and 5b
See dialogue 5
26
Police emergency: answers
27
Police emergency: flashcards
28
Police emergency: flashcards
29
Police emergency: flashcards
30
Police emergency: flashcards
31
Police emergency: flashcards
32
Police emergency: flashcards
33
Police emergency: flashcards
34
Police emergency: flashcards
35
Police emergency: flashcards
36
Police emergency: activity 1 classroom materials
Please tick (□!) all the answers you think are true
1. What’s happening?
a) A man and a woman are shouting at each other.
b) The man is angry.
c) It is a normal argument between a husband and wife.
d) The woman is scared.
4. What if the man doesn’t open the door? What will the police do?
a) The police will go away.
b) They will break down the door if they have to.
37
Police emergency: activity 1 classroom materials
Alternative Worksheet 1
Please tick (!) the correct answer
38
Police emergency: activity 2a classroom materials
Worksheet 2a:
1. What can you see in these pictures? Can you see any of the words below?
Write the words by the pictures.
39
Police emergency: activity 2a classroom materials
40
Police emergency: activity 2b classroom materials
Police are looking for two people who attacked an old lady outside her house in West Street
and took about £100 from her. A witness who saw the attack told police that one offender
was male and the other was female. They ran off when he shouted at them to stop. Police
say the victim is in hospital for checks, but she is not injured.
……………………………………………..fold…………………………………………………………
2. Now read the text again and find a word that matches the definition. Then write the
word next to the definition.
1. 2. 3.
A boy or man Someone who commits a crime Someone who sees a crime
happen
4. 5.
A person that has been harmed, injured A girl or woman.
or killed
……………………………………………………..fold…………………………………………………
41
Police emergency: activity 2b classroom materials
Worksheet 2b continued
Three men tried to rob a security van outside Southland Bank and steal £100,000 this
morning. They had guns and threatened to shoot the driver, but he was not hurt. They broke
the van window and damaged the van badly, but they didn't get the money and escaped in a
car. Police found the vehicle a mile away. The make is a VW, the model is a Golf GTi and the
registration is HG11 XRS. Police would like anyone with information to report it to them.
………………………………………………….fold……………………………………….……………
a) An attempted robbery
b) Damage to a van
c) A violent attack
4. Now read the text again and find a word that matches the definition. Then write the
word next to the definition.
6. 7. 8.
Do physical harm Letters and numbers Tell someone you
to something on the front and back are going to do
of a car them harm
9. 10. 11.
Tell someone about Take something Something to
something you have from someone by transport people
seen, heard or done force or things in
………………………………………………………..fold………………………………………………………...
42
Police emergency: activity 3a classroom materials
OK. Thank you, Sara. Can you tell me what’s happening now?
OK the police are on their way. They might want to ask you some
questions later. Is that OK?
43
Police emergency: activity 3a classroom materials
I can see a woman in the corner shop. She is pointing something at the shop assistant. I
can’t see it. It’s in her pocket. I think it’s a gun or something.
Sara
07789 59873
21 High Road
The woman with the weapon looks like she’s shouting at the shop assistant. The shop
assistant looks scared.
Yes, the shop assistant is putting some money in a bag and giving it to the offender. The
offender is leaving the shop now with the bag. She is running up the street now.
Yes
44
Police emergency: activity 3b classroom materials
OK, Caller. A police car is on its way. Please stay on the line until the police get there.
45
Police emergency: activity 3b classroom materials
46
Police emergency: activity 4b classroom materials
Worksheet 4b
Put the caller (C) sentences into the correct order. The first one has been done for you.
Call handler: Police emergency; go ahead, caller.
(a) 9
Call handler: What's your name?
(b)
Call handler: What's your address and your number?
(c)
Call handler: OK. Thank you Ali. Can you tell me what's happening?
(d)
Call handler: Are the offenders still there?
(e)
Call handler: Did you see them clearly?
(f)
Call handler: About how old were they?
(g)
Call handler: How is the victim? Did you go to his assistance?
(h)
Call handler: Did the offenders have a weapon?
(i)
Call handler: OK. We'll get somebody out there.
47
Police emergency: activity 4c classroom materials
STATEMENT T/F
48
Police emergency: activity 5a classroom materials
Greenhill
Road
49
Police emergency: activity 5a classroom materials
What do you think the caller says? Discuss it with your partner and then listen and try
to find out what she says.
Caller:
Caller:
Caller:
Caller:
Caller:
50
Police emergency: activity 5a classroom materials
Caller:
Caller:
Caller:
Call-handler:
Whereabouts are you in the street?
Caller:
Caller:
Caller:
51
Police emergency: activity 5b classroom materials
Caller: K-A-T-A-R-Z-Y-N-A.
The girl started crossing the road, and this car came very quickly and hit her.
Caller:
It didn't stop.
52
Police emergency: activity 5b classroom materials
Caller: She's about fifteen. She looks badly hurt, but she's breathing.
Caller: Yes, I am
Caller: I'm about halfway down, near the entrance to the park.
Caller: It's blue. I think it's a VW, but I don't know the model.
53
Police emergency: activity 7a classroom materials
54
Police emergency: activity 7a classroom materials
55
Police emergency: activity 7a classroom materials
Activity 7: summary 1
Activity 7: summary 2
56
Police emergency: activity 8a classroom materials
Learner A:
I was in my daughter’s bedroom reading her a story. It was about 7pm. I heard a
noise. I thought it was coming from our back garden. I looked out of the window
but couldn’t see anything. I turned off my daughter’s bedroom light and kissed
her good night. I went downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen is also at the back
of the house. I didn’t turn on the kitchen light because I heard another noise. I
thought someone was in our garden. I looked out of the kitchen window and saw
something move.
57
Police emergency: activity 8a classroom materials
Learner B:
58
Police emergency: activity 8b classroom materials
Worksheet 8b
Writing statements based on the dialogues.
If you witness a crime, the police may ask you to write down what you saw. This is called a
witness statement. Here Ali's written statement from dialogue 4. Read it and write in the
verbs correctly and in the correct tense.
be, be, be, come, fall, go, go, have, hear, look, look, run, run, see, start
I _____________ in my house at 21 Station Road yesterday evening. I _____________
shouting in the street outside the pub at the corner of the road and I _____________ one
man running. Two men _____________ after him. He _____________ down and they
_____________ beating him. After about a minute, the offenders _____________ away.
One _____________ in his thirties and the other one _____________ a little older. I don't
think they _____________ a weapon. The victim _____________ on the ground holding his
stomach. I _____________ to help him. He _____________n't badly injured, but the police
and an ambulance _____________ and he _____________ to hospital.
59
Police emergency: activity 8c classroom materials
Worksheet 8c
Here's Katarzyna's statement based on dialogue 5, but it has some information missing.
Listen to the dialogue again and complete the statement.
Here's Maria's statement based on dialogue 8, but it has some information missing. Look at
the dialogue again and complete the statement.
60