CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Americans Out for the Evening

Урок английского языка: аудирование в 6-м классе

(6-й год обучения) с использованием учебного и аутентичного текстов. Программа для школ с углублённым изучением английского языка (Учебник И.Н. Верещагиной и О.В. Афанасьевой English IV, Lesson 48)

Цели урока:

1. Образовательные: учить понимать аутентичную речь в нормальном темпе.

2. Развивающие: развивать чувство языка, языковой догадки; учить навыкам самостоятельной работы в парах.

3. Воспитательные: прививать интерес к культуре и традициям англоязычных стран; учить выражать своё мнение.

Оборудование: магнитофон; плёнка с записью учебного текста № 3; запись песни Ф. Синатры “Strangers In The Night”; карточки с заданиями для учащихся; упражнения на доске; карточки с текстом песни с пробелами для подстановки пропущенных слов для каждого учащегося.

ХОД УРОКА

Step I

Teacher: Good morning, boys and girls. Glad to see you.

Pupils: Glad to see you, too.

Teacher: Today we’re going to listen to some English texts and do some exercises in order to show how well you can understand real English and native speakers. Then you can show how well you know English.

Step II. Phonetic Exercises

Teacher: Look at the blackboard and say after me:

Step III. Рrе-listening Task

Written on the blackboard: Americans Out For The Evening; American music: jazz, blues, rock, country music; Movies = cinema

Teacher: What do people like doing in their free time? As for me I like reading and listening to music. Sometimes it’s American music. It can be jazz (improvised music, often played by ear), rock, country music (music of the west) and blues (negro tunes – a wonderful mixture of classical European and African beat). Blues is my favourite. But my sons prefer playing computer games and going to the cinema. Americans call it “movies”. Tastes differ, you know. What about you? What do you like doing in your free time?

Pupils: I like... I prefer...

Step IV. Listening

Teacher: Now we’ll find out what Americans like doing in their free time. The title of the text is “Americans Out For The Evening”. You’ll get cards with some tasks. While listening to the text think and say which activity is the first in the text, the second and so on.
Do it on the cards first, then we’ll check it.

Text. Americans Out For The Evening.

If Americans want to go for the evening, where do they go and what do they see? It is easy if they are in New York as there are many theatres there. But you don’t have to be in New York to see an interesting show. Many of the theatres travel from town to town. In many theatres in America, you can sit at table and eat dinner and then watch the show as there are “dinner theatres”.
It’s cheaper of course to go to the cinema. Americans say “to go to the movies”. Even in small towns in America you can go to the movies and see the latest film.
If you don’t want to see a play or a movie, you can always go and listen to music. Americans have given many forms of music to the world: jazz, blues and rock. They all have a connection to the music that African people brought to America. You can also hear country music in America.
Some people spend an evening dancing as this is also very popular with Americans.
Americans love sports of all kinds. Many people play sports and many go to see games or watch them on TV. In stadiums people usually shout loudly for their favourite sportsmen. One of the most popular sports is American football.
On the blackboard: Music, Sport, Dancing, Movies, Theatre.

Listening.

Teacher: Listen to the text again. Pay attention to the details. Then we’ll see how well you’ve understood the text.

Step V. Comprehension Check

Say if these statements are true or false:

a) It is easy to go to the theatre in New York;
b) A lot of the cinemas travel from town to town;
c) You can eat fish and chips when you are in the theatre;
d) It is very expensive to go to the cinema;
e) Americans have given the world jazz, blues, rock and country music;
f) All kinds of American music came from Indians;
g) Americans especially like winter sports;
h) In stadiums people usually shout loudly for their favourite sportsmen.

Match the following words with activities:

Quiz (multiple choice):

1. Dinner Theatre is the place where you can

a) have lunch and dance;
b) have dinner and watch the show;
c) listen to music;

2. At the movies you can

a) watch a film;
b) listen to jazz;
c) move a little bit;

3. The African people in America created

a) blues;
b) break-dance;
c) tango;

4. People shout in stadiums

a) to show how to shout;
b) for their favourite sportsmen;
c) to frighten their enemies.

Teacher: If you were in America where would you go?

Pupils: If I were in America I would go to... (the stadium, the movies, the dancing, dinner theatre).

Teacher: If you had a chance to listen to American music what kind of music would you like to listen to?

Pupils: I’d like to listen to...

Step VI. Listening to the Authentic Text

Teacher: I hope you can recognize jazz, rock, blues and country music. Now I want you to listen to Frank Sinatra, one of the most talented American musicians. At the end of the lesson you’ll tell me what kind of music he sings. It will be “Strangers in the Night”. As usual you’ll complete the lines with missing words.

Listening to the song (twice).
Comprehension check (T-Ps).
Spelling check.

Teacher: Now you’ll work in pairs. Think and tell what the song is about. You may do it in English or in Russian. It’s up to you. On the blackboard you see some words which can help you.

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Strangers ______ the night exchanging glances
Wondering in the ______ what were the chances
We’d be sharing ______
Before the night was through.
Something in ______ eyes was so inviting,
Something in your ______ was so exciting,
Something in my ______
Told me I ______ have you.
Strangers in the night, two lonely ______,
We were strangers in the night, up to the moment
When we said our ______ hello,
Little did we ______
Love was just a glance away,
A warm embracing ______ away and –
Ever since that night we’ve been ______,
Lovers at first sight, in love ______.
It turned out so right, for ______ in the night.
Love was just a glance away,
A warm embracing dance away and –
Ever ______ that night we’ve been together.
Lovers at first sight, in ______ forever.
It turned out ______ right for strangers in ______ night.

Missing Words:

Listening and singing.
Pupils’ opinions about the song.

На доске – опоры:

Teacher: Would you like to learn it by heart? Who sang it? What kind of music is it?
Does it sound like rock? It’s close to blues, pop music.

Pupils: ...

Step VII. Extra Task. Chainword (cards)

What did Frank Sinatra say about the song “Strangers In The Night”?

“Thesongisawonderfulmixtureofbluesandjazzmusicllikeit.”

Step VIII. Final Step

1. Teacher: Our time is up. We’ve got to stop. I’m happy to say we’ve done a good bit of work during this lesson. I thank you for your cooperation. Your marks are…

2. Hometask: Crossword

Find 13 words:

Keys: 1. STRANGERS; 2. SHOUT; 3. TOGETHER; 4. SPORT; 5. SINATRA; 6. JAZZ; 7. MUSIC; 8. DANCING; 9. BLUES; 10. TANGO; 11. ROCK; 12. NIGHT; 13. COUNTRY

By Yelena Ageyeva,
School No. 3, Tuchkovo,
Moscow Reg.