CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Lesson in Reading

I teach English in the town of Uren in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It’s no secret that nowadays village schools face problems of the shortage of good textbooks. Some of them are out-of-date; others are too expensive for our pupils to buy. I have some positive experience meeting this challenge and I want to share it with my colleagues.

It’s a pity, but we do not read and speak very often about science, education and arts. If, however, such a discussion begins, it ends very quickly. Very few of my pupils are interested in it. But when we begin to read and discuss thrillers, or horror, detective, historical and adventure stories, everybody becomes interested. Many of my pupils enjoy such lessons greatly, though, frankly speaking, we have some difficulties with the vocabulary. Preparing the material for such lessons I usually look through many English textbooks, and heaps of magazines, books and newspapers. As a result of such “research” work, I’ve put together quite an interesting textbook which I assembled myself. Reading such stories is an exciting process and every teacher can have such a book for themselves. The texts and stories may be photocopied and used for retelling, but if the teacher has limited printing opportunities she/he may read these stories for listening practice. Here is one of the stories provided with lesson notes.

VISUAL AIDS:

1. A diagram summarising stages of the lesson based on the story “The Tower of London”
2. A picture of the Tower of London.

I. Pre-reading Activities:

1. Discussion of the picture.
2. Listening to the text on historical background.
3. Completing a diagram with words from the text.
4. Reading the last sentence of the story.
5. Poster presentation of the main characters of the story.
6. Guessing the meaning of the unfamiliar words from the context.

II. Reading Activities:

Reading the story “The Tower of London”.

III. Post-reading Activities:

1. Reading comprehension.
2. Giving the reason why the two boys were never seen again.
3. Writing a short essay to summarise the story of the princes in the Tower.
4. Discussion.
5. Post-reading research.

LESSON NOTES

I. Pre-reading Activities:

Purpose:

a) Preparing pupils to comprehend the story by activating their background knowledge.
b) Stimulating interest in the story and motivating pupils to read.
c) Previewing the text before reading it in order to have a general understanding of its theme.

Procedure:

1. Discussion of the picture “The Tower of London”.

a) What can you see in the picture?
b) Where is it located?
c) What do you know about the Tower of London?

2. Listening to the text on historical background.

3. Completing a diagram with the words from the text.

II. Reading Activities

Pupils read the story “The Tower of London”.

THE TOWER OF LONDON

The Tower of London bears the official title of “Her Majesty’s Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London.” The name “Tower of London” has long been used for the whole of the great fortress and palace founded by William the Conqueror. William raised the Tower to defend the city, placing it at the south-east corner of the city. The strategic position gives the Tower control of the River Thames and London Bridge as well as the city itself. Since then it has, in turn, been used as a fortress, palace and prison – it witnessed murders, executions, and years of solitary imprisonment. It is one of England’s finest castles and as one of the strongest and most impregnate fortresses in the land, is the guardian of the Crown Jewels. It also houses Britain’s finest collection of arms and armour and many other displays depicting nine colourful centuries of British history.
The two young princes Edward and Richard were the sons of King Edward IV. When the King died in 1483 the elder of two brothers, Edward, became King Edward V. But two months later Gloucester, who was the princes’ uncle and “protector”, sent the boys to the Tower of London. This was in July. No one saw the two princes alive again. The same month Gloucester became King Richard III.
In 1674 some workmen found a chest containing the skeletons of two children under a staircase in the Tower of London. The remains were reinterred in the “Innocents’ Corner” at Westminster Abbey by the command of Charles II. Most historians think that they were the bones of the two young princes, Edward and Richard. Historians also believe that the boys died of suffocation and that their uncle Richard gave an order to murder them because he wanted to be King. That’s why some people call the Tower “the Bloody Tower”, a name possibly bestowed based on this incident.

4. Reading the last sentence of the story “That’s why some people call the Tower the ‘Bloody Tower’”. Discuss in pairs what you think is meant by this sentence.

5. Poster presentation of the main characters of the story.
Look at the poster “The United Kingdom – Ten Centuries in the Making” and find the period of time when King Edward V reigned (1483). He reigned for a short period of time. Say what you think happened to King Edward V.

6. Find in the story the word that means “a kind of death” (suffocation). Translate it. Guess the meaning of the unfamiliar words from context.

III. Post-reading Activities

A. Reading Comprehension

1. Answer the questions:

1. Who was the princes’ father?
2. How old was Edward when he became King?
3. Who was the princes’ “protector”?
4. When did the princes disappear?
5. What did some workmen find in 1674?
6. Where did the workmen find them?
7. How do historians think the princes died?

2. Correct the statements:

1. Richard III was a good king.
2. He sent the princes to Westminster Abbey.
3. Richard III was the princes’ father.
4. Workmen found the skeletons in a garden.
5. Historians believe the two princes died naturally.

B. Give reasons why the two boys were never seen again.

C. Write a summary of the story of the princes in the Tower.