CLASSROOM ACTIVITYES

Round London Sightseeing Tour

Тема: “Лондон. Достопримечательности.”

Задачи:

Образовательные: а) практика речевой деятельности: чтение, аудирование, письмо; б) активизация лексики по теме “Лондон”, расширение словарного запаса.
Воспитательные: развитие интереса к изучению иностранного языка; знакомство учащихся с достопримечательностями столицы Великобритании; приобщение к культурному и историческому наследию народа страны изучаемого языка.

Форма проведения: Виртуальная экскурсия по столице страны изучаемого языка.

Оснащение:

– аудитория оформляется плакатами, рисунками с достопримечательностями Лондона (плакаты располагаются в соответствии с маршрутом);
– парты ставятся в ряд, обтягиваются красной тканью, тем самым мы имитируем “автобус”, на котором отправляемся на экскурсию;
– на партах приготовлен материал: карта, на которой учащиеся будут отмечать маршрут; карточки с заданиями, которые будут выполняться в ходе экскурсии;
– билеты (вручаются каждому экскурсанту при посадке в “автобус”);
– видео фрагмент о соборе Святого Павла и материал для аудирования о Тауэре;
– костюмы полицейского, королевы, художника, лейб-гвардейца. Ученики в костюмах будут вести экскурсию вместе с гидом.

Достопримечательности, которые будут посещены:

– Trafalgar Square
– 10, Downing Street
– Buckingham Palace
– London Parks
– Piccadilly Circus
– St. Paul’s Cathedral
– The Tower of London

ХОД УРОКА

Перед началом экскурсии для того, чтобы вовлечь ребят в ситуацию, мы предлагаем ответить на вопросы о стране изучаемого языка и ее столице:

1) The UK is an Island State, isn’t it? Where is it situated?
2) What channel separates the British Isles from the European continent?
3) What are the most important rivers of the UK?
4) How many countries does the UK consist of? Name them.
5) What are their capitals?
6) Is London the largest city in the world?
7) What is the population of London?
8) What is the population of the UK?
9) Traditionally London is divided into several parts. Can you name them?
10) What are London’s most famous museums and art galleries?

За правильный ответ экскурсанту дается билет и он занимает место в “автобусе”.
После того, как все места будут заняты, “кондуктор” проверяет наличие билетов.
Роль “кондуктора” исполняет учитель, так как “проверка” билетов проводится в форме фонетической зарядки. Каждый учащийся по очереди читает в транскрипции географические названия и собственные имена:

Затем группа отправляется на экскурсию с гидом.

После “осмотра” каждой достопримечательности ребятам дается время для того, чтобы cориентироваться по карте и отметить маршрут. Для заполнения пауз может быть использована музыка. После посещения резиденции премьер-министра остановки будут более продолжительными – учащимся предлагаются задания для контроля понимания материала.

Guide: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our round London sightseeing tour. London is situated in the south-east of England on the River Thames, where the Romans landed nearly 2000 years ago. It is 46 kilometres from the north to the south and 58 kilometres from the east to the west. London is one of the most famous capital cities of the world and every year it attracts crowds of visitors from home and abroad. This city has got a population of about 7 million people. That is 13% of Britain’s population. London really consists of 3 cities: the City of London, the City of Westminster, and the City of Southwark.
The City is the heart of London, its commercial and business district. The area of the City is about a square mile. The “City” doesn’t refer to the whole of central London but rather to a small area east of the centre, including the site of the original Roman town. The City of London is one of the major banking centres of the world and one can find the banks of many nations. Here can also be found the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and Lloyds, the most famous insurance company in the world. Only 5000 people live in the City, but more than a million come here to work.

We Are in Trafalgar Square

It was so named in memory of the victory in the battle of Trafalgar, where on October, 21, 1805 the English fleet under Admiral Nelson’s command defeated the combined fleet of France and Spain. The victory was won at the cost of Nelson’s life. In the middle you can see Nelson’s monument – a tall column with the figure of Nelson on its top. The column is 170 feet (about 52m) tall and the statue is 17 feet (more than 5m) in height. The column is guarded by 4 bronze lions. To the north-east of Trafalgar Square there is a building that houses the National Gallery of Art and behind it is the National Portrait Gallery. Quite often the square becomes a location for public meetings. So it can be said that Trafalgar Square is the heart from which the beat is emitted to all Londoners. There are many pigeons in the square and Londoners like to feed them.
Now we are driving down Whitehall. On the right you can see a severe-looking house known as 10, Downing Street. It’s our first stop.

Policeman: You shouldn’t be noisy, as this is the Prime Minister’s residence.

1) By the way, do you know who is now the Prime Minister? (Tony Blair)
This building is 200 years old. But its interior has been brought up-to-date. It has got electric lights, central heating, and several bathrooms. But at the same time it’s where the Cabinet meets.
From here you can see the Houses of Parliament, the home of the British government.

2) Do you know what river the Houses of Parliament face? (The Thames)

3) How many Houses does the Parliament consist of? (It consists of two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords).
The House of Commons sits to the side of the Clock Tower and the House of Lords – to the Victoria Tower side. Here there is the historical Woolsack, where the Lord Chancellor takes his place to preside over the sittings. At the end of the House of Commons is the Speaker’s Chair, on the right side of which the members of the parliamentary majority sit. The members of the groups that form the Opposition sit on the left, directly facing the Government benches.

4) Is Big Ben the name of the clock, the Tower or the bell?
(Big Ben is the name of the bell only – not the clock, and not the tower. The bell is 7 foot 6 inches high, and 9 foot 6 inches across the mouth. It weights 13.5 tons).

Guide: Ladies and gentlemen, in front of you is Buckingham Palace. You have a good chance to meet the Queen.

The Queen: Good afternoon! I’m the Queen of England, Elizabeth the Second. I live in this famous palace, first built in 1703, which is situated in the centre of the city. It’s the London home of the kings and queens of this country. As a matter of fact it serves two functions, not one. It’s a family home, where my grandchildren play and grow up. It’s also the place where presidents, kings and politicians come to meet me. Buckingham Palace is like a small town with a police station, two post offices, a bar, two sports clubs, a disco, a cinema and a swimming pool. There are 600 rooms and 3 miles of red carpet. Two men work full-time to look after 300 clocks. About 700 people work in my house.
Every day at Buckingham Palace there’s a famous ceremony the Changing of the Guard, at 11 a.m. Every day a new guard of 30 guardsmen marches to the Palace and takes the place of the old guard. A large crowd of people gather to see this famous and traditional ceremony.

Task 1: Say what things/dates/facts these numbers refer to?

Guide: Say good-bye to the Queen. Ladies and gentlemen, breathe deeply. This is Hyde Park and you know our parks are called the lungs of London.

Painter: Hello. You are lucky to be in Hyde Park or the Park, as we Londoners call it. The best thing about London is the parks. There are 5 beautiful ones in the city centre.
Let’s start with St. James’s Park, near Buckingham Palace. It’s London’s oldest. It belonged to Henry VIII – the King who had six wives. In the park you can feed the swans, geese, ducks and other water birds. The park which is connected with Hyde is called Kensington Gardens. There is the Albert Memorial, which Queen Victoria built in memory of her husband. One of the best times to visit London’s parks is in spring. At this time of the year, Regent’s Park is a beautiful place of blossoms and flowers. It’s perhaps London’s most elegant park, with its attractive gardens and lakes. You can visit the Zoo. There are animals from all the continents, about 6000 in all. But the Zoo’s most popular residents are the pandas. Hyde Park was originally a royal hunting forest. You can walk along its shady avenues, sit on the grass admiring its beautiful flower-beds, or watch birds. It seems almost unbelievable that all around, there is a large city with its heavy traffic and exhaust. Another attraction of Hyde Park is the horse-riding lane known as Rotten Row, which is a mile and a half long. Near Marble Arch is Speaker’s Corner where everyone can go and air their views to anyone who will listen.

Task 2: Match A with B

Guide: We are coming to Piccadilly Circus with the statue of Eros. We are going to look back into the history and learn how it got its name.

Task 3: Complete this text, please. Open the brackets. Put the verbs into the necessary verb forms:

Piccadilly Circus is a fine street which 1.______(to see) much history over the centuries. For generations Piccadilly 2.______(to be) the heart of London, the centre of night life in the West End. This is one of the most popular meeting places of London, probably second only to Trafalgar Square. It 3.______(to be) actually quite small, and most people are rather disappointed when they see it for the first time because they 4.______(to imagine) it would be much bigger. There stroll people who 5.______(to come) from the most far-flung countries in the world, of all races, dressed in their national clothes. Piccadilly Circus is a West End shopping centre. Piccadilly 6.______(to call) after the man who 7.______(to grow) rich by making high collars called “piccadillies”. He 8.______(to build) a grand house which he 9.______(to call) “Piccadilly Hall”, and the name 10.______(to live on).

KEYS: 1. has seen; 2. has been; 3. is; 4. had imagined;
5. come; 6. was called; 7. grew; 8. built; 9. called; 10. has lived on

Guide: Now we are driving along Oxford Street past the British Museum and you can see St. Paul’s Cathedral on the left. Let’s go inside.
(Учащимся предлагается просмотреть отрывок из видео курса “Лондон”. После просмотра учащиеся выполняют следующее задание.)

Task 4: Choose the correct variant:

1. _____is the work of the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren.

a) The chapel of King’s College
b) St. Paul’s Cathedral
c) Globe Theatre

2. For…years the building of St. Paul’s Cathedral went on.

a) 65
b) 45
c) 35

3. The interior of the Cathedral is very beautiful, it’s full of…

a) paintings
b) monuments
c) flower-beds

4. After looking round you can climb 263 steps to the…

a) National Gallery
b) Portrait Gallery
c) Whispering Gallery

5. _____was buried in the Cathedral

a) Christopher Wren
b) William Shakespeare
c) Charles Dickens

6. Christopher Wren is now known as…

a) “the architect of London”
b) “the architect of Europe”
c) “the architect of the World”

KEYS: 1. b; 2. c; 3. b; 4. c; 5. a; 6. a

Guide: Our last stop is the Tower of London. Meet our guide here.

A Yeomen Warder: Welcome to the Tower of London. It was begun by William the Conqueror who invaded Britain in 1066. He wanted to frighten the English and to protect Londoners from invasion by river. Since then it has served as a prison, a palace, and a fortress, so it has a long history full of cruelties. Let’s listen to the text and complete it.

Task 5:

The Tower of London was founded in the 1._____ century by William the Conqueror. For many centuries the tower has been a fortress, a palace, a prison and 2._____. It is now a museum of arms and armour and it has 3._____. The grey stones of the Tower could tell terrible stories of 4._______ and injustice. It was here that 5._______, the greatest humanist, was falsely accused and executed. Among famous prisoners executed at the Tower were 6.______ wives Anna Boleyn and Catherine Howard. When Queen Elizabeth I was a princess, she was sent to the Tower by 7.______ and kept prisoner for some time. The 8._______ whose forefathers used to find food in the Tower, still live here as part of its history. There is a 9.________ that if the ravens disappear, the Tower will fall. The White Tower was built in 10._______ to protect and control the City of London. The Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Warders called 11._______.

KEYS: 1. 11th; 2. royal treasury; 3. the Crown Jewels; 4. violence; 5. Thomas More; 6. Henry VIII’s; 7. Mary Tudor;
8. ravens; 9. legend; 10. 1078; 11. “Beefeaters”

Guide: I hope you’ve had wonderful time with us. Have a nice holiday in London. Enjoy your stay. And one more task for you is to write a letter to your new friend from London. (Написать письмо другу из Лондона дается в качестве домашнего задания.)
Good-bye.

By Margarita Frolova, Ukhta, Komi