Цели и задачи: развивать познавательный интерес к стране изучаемого языка; усилить эмоциональный аспект преподавания; формировать устойчивую мотивацию к изучению английского языка; развивать социо-культурные компетенции; совершенствовать умение практического владения английским языком в монологической и диалогической форме.
Оборудование: компьютер, презентация со слайдами достопримечательностей, карта Лондона с отмеченными достопримечательностями, проспекты и фотографии с видами Лондона.
Урок проходил в 6 классе. Ученики прочитали и подобрали для урока дополнительный материал. Все учащиеся класса делились на гидов и туристов, был выбран руководитель группы и директор туристического агентства. “Гиды” – готовили небольшие сообщения о памятных местах Лондона, подбирали к ним иллюстрации в электронном виде, также фотографии, буклеты. Для того, чтобы экскурсия носила эмоциональный характер, “туристам” было дано задание подготовить вопросы “гидам”. Экскурсия сопровождалась демонстрацией слайдов с видами Лондона на компьютере.
Нестандартные формы проведения уроков привлекают внимание учащихся, повышают их интерес к предмету и, как следствие, способствуют лучшему усвоению материала.
T: A group of Russian tourists (RT) is in London for the first time. They want to see the most famous sights of London. This gentleman is a group leader (GL). And these ladies and gentlemen are guides (G) from the London Tourist Information Office. This gentleman is a director (D) of the office. And I am a Russian tourist too. I think we’ll start with a visit to the London Tourist Information Office. Let’s begin.
GL: Good morning!
D: Good morning! Can I help you?
GL: I am a leader a group of Russian tourists. We are in London for the first time and we’d like to see famous London sights. What could you suggest?
D: London sights? (Picture1). I can suggest a double-decker bus tour about London and a boat tour trip along the Thames from Tower Bridge to the Houses of Parliament. Which of these tours would you prefer?
GL: I think we’ll go on both tours. And we’d like to start with the boat trip along the Thames.
D: That’s OK. Here you can see some leaflets about the most famous London sights. (Picture2).
GL: Thanks a lot.
G1. Dear guests! You are welcome on board. As you know London stands on the river Thames. (Picture3). London, the capital of Great Britain, is a very old city. It is two thousand years old. Many years ago London was a small town on the river Thames. Now London is a big port and a beautiful city with large squares and parks. About seven million people live here. London is one of the biggest cities in the world. The Thames is not a long river. It is three hundred and thirty kilometers long and it flows into the sea. The English people call it “The Father of London”. London began on the river Thames. When we go on a boat up the Thames we pass under Tower Bridge, London Bridge and others.
G2. And now we start our tour from Tower Bridge (Picture4). The Bridge was opened in 1894 and it’s a masterpiece of Victorian engineering and architecture. Tower Bridge is the only Thames bridge which can be raised. The road over the bridge on two central sections, they open two or three times a week to let ships through. Up the bridge there are walkways with good views of London.
On the right bank of the Thames you can see the Tower of London (Picture 5). The Tower of London is a very old building. It is nine hundred years old. In the early days of the history of England it was a fortress, a royal palace, later it was a prison where many people died. The Tower is surrounded by gardens, where a lot of black ravens have been living since ancient times. Black ravens had much food near the walls of the Tower in those years. The English people love them very much. Nowadays a man looks after the ravens and gives them food in the morning and in the evening. The legend says that without ravens the Tower will fall. The Tower of London is a museum now. The walls of the Tower are five meters thick. In the museum you can see interesting collections of old guns. The Tower is guarded by the “Beefeaters”. At ten o’clock every evening the guards lock the big doors of the Tower for the night.
G3. Now we are coming to the famous London Bridge (Picture 6). It is two thousand years old. The first bridge was wooden. In 1014 the bridge was pulled down to prevent the Danes from attacking London. In 1209 people built a bridge of stone and called it London Bridge. There were houses and shops on it and people paid money when they crossed the bridge. In 1831 a new bridge rose in the place of the old one. But the city grew very quickly and in1960 the people of London wanted to build a large new bridge at that place. A very rich American bought the old London Bridge. The American brought the parts of the bridge on a ship to Arizona in the USA. In1973 New London Bridge was opened on the site of the old over the Thames.
RT3: Excuse me? I’ve got a question. Why did that rich American buy the old London Bridge?
G3: He wanted to show it to people for money as a tourist attraction.
RT3: Thanks a lot.
G4: Here we can get off the boat to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral (Picture 7). St. Paul’s Cathedral is the greatest work of England’s greatest architect Sir Christopher Wren. The Cathedral was begun in 1675 and was finished only in 1710. The Cathedral is second in size only to St. Peter’s in Rome. Christopher Wren was buried there.
G5: And now we are making our way up the Thames to the Houses of Parliament (Picture 8). The Houses of Parliament are the seat of the British government. There is the Clock Tower and the clock in the Houses of Parliament. The clock has two faces and a very big loud bell. The bell weighs 13 tons. The Clock Tower is 318 feet high. The clock’s face is 23 feet wide. The minute hand is 14 feet long. The hour hand is 9 feet long. The man in charge of building was Sir Benjamin Hall. This man was very tall and the workers and his friends called him Big Ben. So they called the bell Big Ben too.
G1: Dear guests! Our boat tour is over. I hope you liked it. And now we can take a double-decker bus to make our second tour. But we have some time and I advise you to go to the British Airway London Eye (Picture 9). Look at a 450 foot high observation wheel and see some sights of the city from there.
RT4: With great pleasure!
G1: Can you see the oldest monument in London? It is Cleopatra’s Needle (Picture 10).
RT4: How high is it!
G1: Yes. It is a 60 foot Egyptian obelisk. It was presented to Britain in 1475 BC, which makes it London’s oldest monument. It is as old as the hills.
There is another sight over there on the Victoria Embankment (Picture 11). It is Somerset House, London’s newest cultural centre with the modern fountain. It is famous for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings.
On the right-hand side there is the Tate Modern Gallery. You can see paintings of Picasso, Dali, Rodin, and Henry Moore.
G1: We start our bus tour from the Covent Garden. It was a big fruit and vegetable market. It is now a tourist shopping centre with cafes and restaurants. It attracts a lot of shoppers both from Britain and abroad. If you are hungry you can go to a café to have lunch.
RT: No, thank you.
G6: Then we are going to Trafalgar Square (Picture 12). Trafalgar Square is in the centre of the West End of London. It was designed between 1829 and 1840. In the middle of the square there is Nelson’s Column. Admiral Nelson defeated the French at the battle of Trafalgar. Trafalgar Square commemorates Nelson’s victory in which he was fatally wounded. The Column is over170 feet high with the statue of Nelson. Nelson’s statue is over 16 feet high, about three times his own height. The statue shows Nelson with one arm and one eye. He lost them in the battle. The bronze bas-relief at the foot of the column, made from the same metal, represents Nelson’s four great victories. The four bronze lions at the base were added in 1867. Today it is the place where people meet, where they gather to celebrate New Year’s Eve; it is also famous for political demonstrations.
RT5: Excuse me. What do the four lions symbolize?
G6: They symbolize Nelson’s four great victories.
RT5: Thanks a lot.
G3: On the north side of Trafalgar Square there is the National Gallery. It houses one of the finest collections in the world. It includes paintings of the British, Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Flemish and other famous schools. It has a priceless collection of paintings by the famous artists Van Gogh, Rubens, Constable and many others.
G4: There are a lot of parks and gardens in London (Picture 13). In Regent’s Park there is London Zoo. It is one of the biggest zoos in the world. Today there are more than 8.000 animals in the Zoo. There are elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, foxes, and monkeys there. There are also many birds in the Zoo. The elephants have the biggest appetite. An elephant’s daily rations consist of hay, grass, cabbages, carrots, apples, potatoes, bread, vitamins, minerals and 100 liters of water.
RT1: Which animals are the biggest in the Zoo?
G4: The biggest animals are giraffes, elephants, and rhinos.
RT2: What birds live in London Zoo?
G4: There are parrots, pelicans, ducks, eagles and many others.
RT2: Thank you.
G5: We are coming now to Westminster Abbey (Picture 14). It is a symbol of English tradition at its best. The coronation of nearly all English kings and queens since William the Conqueror has taken place here. Westminster Abbey is a historic building. It is a royal church. Here you can see the tombs of many British kings and queens and other famous people, and the beautiful Henry VII Chapel. The Abbey was founded in the 11th century. Many of Great Britain’s famous men are buried in Westminster Abbey. There are the graves of famous poets, writers, and statesmen. Here you can see memorials to Newton, Darwin, Dickens, Chaucer and others.
G6: Now we are at Buckingham Palace (Picture 15). It is an official residence of the Queen and her family. It has 600 rooms, a swimming pool, a cinema, a ballroom, and a garden, which is like a private park. When the flag is flying on the top the Queen is at home. The ceremony of Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is a great tourist attraction. It takes place daily at 11:30 a.m. and lasts half an hour. To the sounds of music the guardsmen in their traditional bearskins arrive and give the keys to another group.
RT3: How many rooms are there in the palace?
G6: There are 600 rooms.
RT3: Does the Queen’s family also live at the Palace?
G6: The Queen and Prince Philip stay at the Palace on weekdays.
G7: And now we are coming to Hyde Park (Picture 16). It is the largest park in the West End of London and one of the greatest city parks in the world. Hyde Park in London has something for everyone. You can enjoy swimming, boating, cycling and skating. There are pitches for team games, tennis courts, tracks for horse riding and a children’s playground. In the 19th century it became popular place for public meetings. The Park has Speaker’s Corner where anyone can make a speech about anything they want. It is a very democratic park.
G8: I welcome you to the British Museum (Picture 17) which is one of the greatest museums of the world. The British Museum has one of the largest libraries in the world. It shows the works of man from prehistory to the present day. It was founded in 1753 after the death of Sir Hans Sloane. His collection of 80.000 objects led to the foundation of the British Museum. Today its galleries total 4.5 km in length. The collection is big in size and variety. It was a wonderful art gallery and unique collections of coins and medals, sculpture, drawings and paintings. You can see the Magna Carta, The Rosetta Stone, the Sutton Hoo Treasure and other objects of special interest.
There are more than six millions books in the library. You can see beautifully illustrated old manuscripts which they keep in glass cases.
G7: We are now on Piccadilly Circus (Picture 18). It is a square in the central part of London. In the square you can see people of many nationalities. Piccadilly Circus is the meeting-point of six streets. It is famous for its fountain and a statue. People call this winged figure, which is known as Eros, “God of Love”. London’s famous restaurants, best-known theatres, cinemas and concert halls are on Piccadilly Circus.
G1: Our tour is over. I hope that you have enjoyed it.
RT: Thank you very much.
T: Did you enjoy our excursion? What places of interest in London do you like best? Fill in the blanks in the quiz, please.
“London. Sightseeing”.
1. You can see the column with a statue of Nelson in…
A. Piccadilly Circus
B. Hyde Park
C. Trafalgar Square
2. … is a very democratic park.
A. Hyde Park
B. Regent’s Park
C. St. James’s Park
3. London Zoo is in ….
A. Regent’s Park
B. St. James’s Park
C. Hyde Park
4. They change the Guard every day at …
A. 9.30 a.m.
B. 11.30 a.m.
C. 12 o’clock
5. Piccadilly Circus is the meeting point of …
A. 5 streets
B. 7 streets
C. 6 streets
6. Another famous sight outside the Tower of London is…
A. pelicans
B. ravens
C. ducks
7. The London home of the Queen is…
A. Buckingham Palace
B. Westminster Abbey
C. Covent Garden
8. The seat of the British Government is…
A. the Houses of Parliament
B. Buckingham Palace
C. Piccadilly Circus
T: You have worked very well today. Thank you. Good bye.