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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

How Different the World Is!

урок в 10-м классе по теме “There Is No Place Like Home”

Teacher: We have already discussed how geographical position and environment can influence people’s lives, how they help shape some specific character traits. Today we’ll revise all the information. So today we’ll play a game. Now I’ll divide you into two teams. Choose captains and name your teams.

Teacher: First of all we’ll travel for a while and visit different countries. I’ll show you a picture and give the description of the country.

Task 1:

Guess what country we are visiting:

– Nature hasn’t been kind. It is very cold most of the year. People could do little during winter months. (Russia)
– Mountainous areas of this island state are found only in the north and west. (England)
– It is the world’s largest island and its smallest continent. Much of the land is useless desert. Severe droughts, floods, and cyclones happen on the continent very often. (Australia)
– It is the fourth largest nation in the world. Three quarters of the country are washed by ocean. (USA)
– In spring there is much to be done and in a short period of time to take advantage of warmer weather. (Russia)
– We live on a very small island with a mild climate. (England)
– The landscape changed dramatically, so that at one moment you were in moorland, the next one in a glen, and the next one in the mountains. (Scotland)

Teacher: You know that geographical position can influence a nation’s character and this influence is very deep. On the blackboard I put some specific character traits of the Americans and the Russians, but one character trait in each column is an odd word.

Task 2:

Find the odd word and explain why.

THE AMERICANS

Risk-taking
Hospitality
Willingness to experiment
Toughness
Love of gardening

THE RUSSIANS

Predictability
Strength
Passivity
Communalism
Ability to overcome hardships

Key: Love of gardening (Americans);
Risk-taking (Russians)

Task 3:

Make up a good scene to illustrate these words:

mobility
hospitality
love of gardening

Task 4:

Put the words in the right order. I’ll read the definition of the word. Find this word and put the right number:

1. Cautiousness – ability to take great care.
2. Politeness – ability to be always well–mannered.
3. Optimism – ability to believe that everything will be fine.
4. Self-reliance – ability to depend only on one’s own judgment.
5. Mobility – ability to move quickly.
6. Risk-taking – ability to risk everything for something important.
7. Toughness – ability to overcome difficulties.

Task 5:

Guess the word using the clues on the cards.

1. The 1st letter takes the 6th place in the word осторожность – cautiousness.
2. The 2nd letter occupies the 1st place in the word вежливость – politeness.
3. The 3rd letter occupies the 1st position in the word выносливость – toughness.
4. The word подвижность – mobility gives 4 letters to this word: the 4th letter takes the 4th and the 6th positions; the 1st letter takes the 5th and the 8th positions.
5. The 1st letter of the word скептицизм – skepticism takes the 7th position in this word.

Key: optimism

1. The 1st letter takes the 1st place in the second part of the word азартный – risk-taking.
2. The 2nd letter of the word подвижность – mobility is the same with the 2nd letter of this word.
3. The 3rd letter in the same with the 3rd letter of the word осторожность – cautiousness; the last four letters of these words are also the same.
4. The 4th letter occupies the last place in the word азартный – risk-taking.
5. The 1st letter of the word гостеприимный – hospitable is the same with the 5th letter of this word.

Teacher: Very often we say: “There is no place like home”. Is it true? At home you were to make up a short advertisement of the place where you live.

Task 6:

Consult each other and get ready to present your advertisement.

Teacher: It is really true that “East or West home is best”, but sometimes we want to travel and see some foreign countries. When you are abroad you have to ask for some information.

Task 7:

Make up short dialogues and use as many polite questions as you can.

Task 8: Crossword Puzzle

Guess the words by the definitions given below. Fill in the puzzle.

H:

1. A willingness to do what somebody tells you to do.
3. The ability to see a future action, a future event.
6. The ability to move quickly from one place to another.
7. The ability to be always kind and well-bred, even if it is unpleasant.
8. The ability to take great care.

V:

1. The ability to doubt and question everything.
2. The ability to believe that everything will be fine.
4. The ability to live through difficult conditions.
5. The ability to wait for something calmly for a long time.

Key: H: 1. submission, 3. predictability, 6. mobility, 7. politeness, 8. cautiousness; V: 1. scepticism, 2. optimism, 4. patience, 5. toughness.

By Galina Stepanova,
Blagoveschensk