The World of Proverbs

Цели урока:

• Практические: формирование практических умений в чтении, письме и говорении.
• Образовательные: учить правильно употреблять английские пословицы, повышать общую культуру выражения мысли.
• Развивающие: развивать мышление, память, воображение, самостоятельность.
• Воспитательные: формировать интерес к изучению иностранного языка.

Оборудование: рисунки, карточки с заданиями и диалогами.

Ход урока

Начало урока: приветствие, сообщение темы урока.

Teacher: Good morning students!

Yesterday Kate didn’t do her homework and got a bad mark. She is a lazy girl. What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flash. She promised her parents and teachers that she would improve her knowledge, but promises are like piecrust, made to be broken.

And now answer my question: “What did I use in my speech?’

Student: You used some proverbs.

Teacher: Right you are! And what is a proverb? The dictionary defines this word as “an old, well-known sentence that tells you something about life.” So a proverb is a well-known utterance which contains people’s wisdom and which is usually made in the form of advice. Proverbs are created on the basis of our knowledge of life. In the English language there are a lot of proverbs. Some of them have Russian equivalents and some of them are translated word for word. We can find a great number of synonymous proverbs: “Deeds, not words”. – “Handsome is as handsome does”. “О человеке судят не по словам, а по делам”.

And your home task was to learn how proverbs appeared.

Student: Some English proverbs were borrowed from other languages. For example the proverb “Through hardships to the stars” (“Через тернии к звёздам”) came from the proverb “Per aspera ad astra”. Some proverbs were taken from the Bible such as “Charity covers a multitude of sins” (“Милосердие искупает многие грехи”). And some of them came from famous people’s quotations. Once Churchill said “Give us the tools and we will finish the job” and there appeared such proverbs as “What is a workman without his tools?” (“Чего стоит мастер без инструментов?), “You cannot make brick without straw”(“Без соломы кирпича не сделаешь”).

Task №1.

Teacher: Your home task was also to illustrate some proverbs. You have drawn a lot of pictures. So, let’s match the pictures with the proverbs. And then you will explain what they mean and find their Russian equivalents.

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16.

1. Pie in the sky.
2. She has money to burn.
3. Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.
4. Neither fish nor flesh.
5. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
6. Love laughs at locksmiths.
7. Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
8. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
9. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
10. The lion is not so fierce as he is painted.
11. There is no rose without a thorn.
12. All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws.
13. The early bird catches the worm.
14. Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.
15. Catch the bear before you sell his skin.
16. Every mother thinks her own gosling a swan.

1. Своё дитя и горбато, да мило.
2. Из огня да в полымя.
3. Не выноси сор из избы.
4. У неё денег куры не клюют.
5. У семи нянек дитя без глазу.
6. Видит око, да зуб неймёт.
7. Для любви нет преград.
8. Делить шкуру неубитого медведя.
9. Дареному коню в зубы не смотрят.
10. И хочется, и колется.
11. Кто рано встаёт, тому Бог даёт.
12. Не так страшен чёрт, как его малюют.
13. Нет розы без шипов.
14. Делать из мухи слона.
15. Журавль в небе.
16. Ни рыба ни мясо.

Task №2.

Teacher: Your next task will be to complete each proverb (A – L) with one of the endings (1 – 12).

1. Make hay1. before they are hatched.
2. A cat in gloves2. in the mouth.
3. Too many cooks3. is past recalling.
4. Don’t make a mountain 4. catches no mice.
5. To be born with 5. out of a molehill.
6. There is no use 6. makes a bad ending.
7. Don’t count one’s chickens 7. spoil the broth.
8. What is done8. while the sun shines.
9. Actions speak 9. a silver spoon in one’s mouth.
10. Don’t look a gift horse 10. crying over spilt milk
11. A bad beginning 11. cannot be undone.
12. A word spoken 12. louder than words.

Task №3.

Teacher: And now you are to find synonymous proverbs. Look at the blackboard and find some pairs.

• “Don’t halloo till you are out of the wood”.
• “Fear takes mole-hills for mountains”.
• “Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you”.
• “None but the brave deserve the fair”.
• “What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flash”.
• “First think, then speak”.
• “The leopard cannot change his spots”.
• “No pains, no gains”.
• “There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip
• “Let sleeping dogs lie”.
• “No cross, no crown”.
• “Fear hath a hundred eyes”.
• “Fortune favours the brave”.
• “A word spoken is past recalling”.

Task №4.

Teacher: Now I’ll give you some cards with dialogues. Your task is to choose an appropriate proverb and to put it into the conversation.

Dialogue I.

Bill: Hi, Betty! As far as I know your class is to make a school newspaper.

Betty: Yes, you are right. But when you see it, you will be rather surprised.

Bill: But why?

Betty: Everybody wanted to take part in this work. Every pupil from our class had his own task: somebody was writing some material, somebody was drawing pictures and so on. As a result our newspaper is too loud and there are too many details in it.

Bill: Well, as the famous proverb says: ______________________________.

Dialogue II.

Rachel: Do you know that Nick is in hospital now?

Penny: Really? What’s the matter with him?

Rachel: He fell from a tall tree yesterday.

Penny: Oh dear! Did he fracture his leg or his arm?

Rachel: No, he didn’t. He is all right. Nick _________________________. He has just a few bruises and scratches.

Penny: I hope he will recover soon.

Dialogue III.

George: Yesterday I got ______________________________.

Andrew: Really?

George: When I returned home from school my mother gave me a dressing-down for a terrible mess in my room. But when she learnt about the marks I got at school she was so angry that I decided to lock myself in the room and to do my homework.

Andrew: Then let that be a lesson to you.

Dialogue IV.

Mother: Why are you crying Robert?

Robert: Carol has eaten all my sweets.

Mother: But she is only four and she doesn’t understand her fault. Besides ________________________________. So wipe your tears and don’t be a cry-baby.

Robert: OK, Mummy.

Dialogue V.

Mark: What present did your parents make you for your birthday?

Sally: They presented me roller skates.

Mark: That’s great! You must be happy now.

Sally: But I was eager to have the latest model and they bought me another pair which was cheaper.

Mark: _____________________________. Just thank your parents for their present. They wanted to please you.

Task №5.

Teacher: Now your task is to make up your own dialogues using proverbs. Work in pairs. I’ll give you five minutes.

Teacher: So, let’s draw a conclusion. Why do we use proverbs in our speech and is it really important to use them?

Student 1: We use proverbs in our speech to make it more beautiful and expressive. I think that everybody who learns the English language should know some English proverbs in order to understand other people and to make his own speech vivid and colourful. Proverbs can make the process of learning English easier and more interesting.

Student 2: I quite agree with you. Every educated person should know a lot of proverbs and use them actively.

Teacher: I hope that our lesson was interesting for you. Thank you for active work! Good bye!