Ниже представлен план открытого урока “Страницы Британской истории, который может быть проведен в 5–9 классах общеобразовательных школ и гимназий с углубленным изучением иностранных языков.
The Presenter:
Country studies is really an essential part of foreign language studies. It widens the awareness of social cultural development of the country, gives the students better understanding of culture, traditions, history of the country. It is very important for the people of the XXI century which may be called “The Globalized Era”, when there are practically no boundaries between countries. For pupils learning English it is very significant to know more about the history of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and we consider the best way for it is the personalized history of Britain – the history of Kings and Queens. That is why we dedicate this lesson to the famous representatives of the different dynasties – Tudors, Stuarts, Windsors and some others. Each of them made the great contribution into the economics, social, cultural and other parts of British life.
Now the participants of our lesson will make their presentations about the most famous British Kings and Queens and after that the audience can ask them some questions. The most valuable ideas of the presentation are introduced below.
- William the Conqueror (1066-1087) – the end of Anglo-Saxon period and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066 and was the first king crowned in the Westminster Abbey in 1066. He brought great changes on English society, instigated the great survey of England known as Domesday Boom.
- Richard I the Lion Heart (1189-1199) spent a lot of time fighting in the crusades. He was a popular king and regarded as very brave, and for this reason he is often called Richard the Lion Heart.
- Edward I (1272 – 1327) took part in the Crusades and later established English control over Wales. He tried to do the same with Scotland, but was unsuccessful. Was the effective ruler of England, two features distinguished his role – his legal reforms and use of Parliament as the instrument of government.
- Henry VIII (1509 – 1547) expect the well-known fact that he had six wives he made himself the head of the church in England, he started the Reformation in England, in which the Protestant church was established. During his reign many schools were established and England became more powerful country.
- Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was the most politically gifted of the Tudor dynasty. Her reign was notable for the settlement of the Church of England (1559), for her on the whole successful the maturing parliamentary system, for the first statutory attemps to solve the major social problems of vagrancy and poverty arising from economic change, for the maritime exploits of Hawkins, Drake and Raleigh and for the artistic achievements of Marlowe, Spencer, Shakespeare.
- Mary, Queen of Scotland (1542 – 1587). She became Queen of Scotland when she was 1 week old, but in 1568 she was forced to give up her position, and she escaped to England. Instead of helping her, the English Queen Elisabeth I (who was her cousin) put her to prison and later ordered Mary to be killed, because she believed Mary was involved in a secret plan to kill her. After Elizabeth’s death, Mary’s son James, who was the King of Scotland, became the King of England and Scotland as James I.
- Victoria (1837 – 1901) – the British Queen and the Empress of India. She reigned 64 years. While she was a Queen, the UK became one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world, as a result of the growth of industry and the development of the British Empire. When people think now of the “Victorian period”, it is often seen as a time of strict moral standards. Her children had married into foreign royal houses, and she had become the matriarchal figure of Europe.
- Elizabeth II (1926 – present), the British Queen since 1952 and also the Head of the British Commonwealth. She is married to the Duke of Edinburgh and they have four children. Queen Elizabeth is the most respected member of the British royal family because she is seen as the person who works hard and is very serious about her responsibilities. She is the only monarch who has in her lifetime three generations of successors – her son Charles, her grandson William and her grand-grandson George.
So let’s try all together to answer the question – if British people need monarchy today.