CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Theatre In My Life

Урок в 11-ом классе

Я предлагаю материал открытого урока в 11-ом классе (историко-филологическом) по теме “Мы и театр”.
Этот урок проводится при изучении темы “Culture”.
За долгий срок работы в школе у меня сформировалось свое понимание открытого урока. Это не урок-спектакль, однажды подготовленный для гостей, а обычный урок, который планируется и проводится ежегодно во всех классах. К открытому уроку дети не готовятся заранее, более того, накануне детям не дается никакого домашнего задания.
Задача учителя создать на уроке атмосферу общения и сотрудничества, стимулировать желание ребят получить информацию по теме и поделиться с одноклассниками и учителем своими знаниями и мнениями по данному вопросу. Учитель только направляет учащихся, создает проблемные ситуации и подводит ребят к выводам.

Teacher: Good morning, boys and girls. I am really very glad to see you. Let’s start our work.
At the previous lessons we spoke much about the role of literature in the lives of people and in your life. As you have been studying in a philological class, I hope you are fond of literature, of reading books. Today I offer you another theme to discuss. I think you’d agree with me if I said that theatre is also a wonderful kind of art. Theatre educates people, influences their way of life, helps them to solve problems, to find answers to a lot of questions. Theatre carries them away from real life into the world of imagination. But theatre also entertains us; it is a place where we can have a good rest. We can enjoy ourselves listening to good music, splendid voices, and seeing the excellent acting of the performers. Do you agree with me?

P1, P2, P3 – express their points of view.

Teacher: O.K.! Let’s begin our talk, as it is interesting for me to know what you think of theatre, whether you are theatre-goers, what theatres you prefer to visit and what performances you are fond of.
While preparing for this lesson, I decided to ask a few pupils from different classes and of different ages what they think of the theatre. Listen to what they say and agree or disagree with them. (Pupils listen to different recordings on a tape recorder and agree with the pupils or express different opinions).

Examples:

A boy of 14: You ask me if I love theatre. Oh no, I am not interested in it at all. Theatre is our past and now is a time of television and video. I think that teenagers don’t like to visit theatres.

A girl of 15: What do I think of theatre? I can’t say that I am a theatre-goer; but sometimes when I have free time and no idea how to spend it, I go to the theatre with my friends, but only to our musical theatre, as I am sure that theatre exists for our amusement and entertainment. When I am at the theatre I don’t want to think much, I only want to rest, to laugh and enjoy myself.

A girl of 14: I love theatre very much, and my friends consider me to be a theatre-fan. I am fond of seeing comedies, dramas and even tragedies; but I also watch ballets and listen to operas occasionally. They are difficult for me. I understand that this is bad, but in our town there is no opera-house and children are not taught to understand this art. It’s a pity.

A boy of 15: My thoughts about theatre? Well, I think that this kind of art is dying now, because nobody is interested in the fact that young people don’t like it. Though in our town there are some theatres, it is difficult for teenagers or youth to see a play. Such plays are not staged in our theatres. This is bad. That’s why theatres are visited mostly by grown-ups and old people. I think that something should be done to change the situation. Each town should have a children’s theatre.

After each recorded text I ask the pupils to agree or disagree with the opinion expressed and say what they think.

Teacher: Well, I see that your opinions are quite different from theirs and you can be called theatre-goers. But do you really know theatre well? Do you know Russian and foreign classical plays written by the greatest playwrights of different countries and of different times?
Listen to my descriptions and try to guess what plays I am speaking about. If you recognise the play and the writer, tell us.

a) This play is a well-known comedy written by a great Russian playwright. It is a kind of sharp satire on our society in the first half of the 19th century, as the action in the comedy takes place in a Russian provincial town. The comedy portrays a gallery of persons of all ranks of the Russian society of that time and through these people the playwright depicts a true picture of life in the 19th century. The main character of the comedy is a young man who comes to this provincial town by chance and is mistaken by its people for an inspector. Guess what play it is and who the author of it is.

(N. Gogol “Inspector”)

b) This play is a well-known tragedy, written by the greatest English playwright. The plot of this tragedy is based on history. The main character of the tragedy is an old king who one day decided to divide his kingdom among his daughters. The only question he asked them is how much they loved him. Though he was an old and clever man, he misunderstood his youngest daughter’s words that she loved him not more than a daughter could love her father. He got angry with her and gave her none of his kingdom. Only at the end of the play, when the king saw his dead daughter at his feet could he realise how great her love towards him was. His heart broke and he died.

(W. Shakespeare “King Lear”)

c) This play is a drama written by a famous Russian playwright. The main character of this drama is a young woman. The play describes the life, customs and morals of a provincial Russian town in the second half of the 19th century.
The heroine of the drama protests against the generally accepted middle-class morals by her unusual, extraordinary behaviour. She wants freedom for herself; she wants to have the right to express her ideas, thoughts, to be happy, to love and be loved. But she dies, because people around her don’t understand her.

(N. Ostrovsky “Thunderstorm”)

The pupils guessed all the plays. They expressed their opinions of them. Those who saw these plays at the theatre shared their impressions of the performances. They mentioned the playwrights, and said what other plays they had written.

Everything was done in the form of a discussion.

Teacher: Now, I see that you really love theatre, you know much about our Russian plays and foreign ones as well. I suppose you remember that I also love theatre very much and I like to see different plays, dramas, musical comedies and ballets. You know that in October (or in winter holidays – it depends on when the lesson is given) I was on a business trip to Moscow and I used my opportunity to visit a theatre there. Do you want to ask me what theatre I visited and what play I saw; to know about my impressions of the performance? (It so happened that I saw the play “Master and Margaret” by Bulgakov in the “Theatre at Taganka”).

The pupils ask the teacher 8–10 questions.
At another lesson children interviewed the guests who were present – whether they loved theatre and what plays they had seen.

Teacher: That’s fine, now you see that theatre is really loved by people of different ages. And now I’d like to see your work on the topic in groups or pairs. Once again tell what you think of theatre; if you are a theatre-goer; what plays you prefer to watch and why; but do it in a form of conversations with your friends, classmates. I can give you a few life situations but if you have your own one, you may use it in a dialogue.

3–4 minutes for pupils’ work in pairs or groups.

The class and the teacher listen to the conversations, ask questions if they want to, or in case they haven’t got enough information.

The teacher sums up the pupils’ work at the lesson, thanks them for their sincerity, their good English (it is really good).

Teacher: I want you to love theatre; I want your children also to love it. The theatre is a temple which saves our souls. Remember it. Thank you. Good-bye.

At the lesson I don’t interrupt pupils by correcting their mistakes if they make them. I write those mistakes down, and at the next lesson or at a lesson of grammar I’ll analyse and discuss them.

By M.V. Dudova,
Ivanovo