Урок английского языка "Should cars be banned from the city centers?"

Цель: активизация речевой и мыслительной деятельности учащихся.

Задачи: ознакомить учащихся с проблемами экологии в родном городе; формировать навыки письменной речи-эссе с аргументацией за и против: развитие способности к обобщению, развитие логичности и доказательности; воспитывать чувство любви к своему родному краю, бережное отношение к природе и чувство ответственности за свои поступки.

Формы урока: фронтальный опрос, групповая, парная, индивидуальная.

Оборудование:  интерактивная  доска, компьютер (мультимедийная презентация “Do we have a right to air that we can breathe without fear?”).

Образовательные технологии: технология коммуникативного обучения, технология проблемного обучения, информационно-коммуникационная  технология, проектная технология, здоровьесберегающая технология, элементы игровой технологии.

Метапредметные результаты (УДД):

Личностные результаты:

• формирование навыков взаимо- и самооценки;
• умение вести диалог на основе равноправных отношений и взаимного уважения и принятия;
• формирование навыка монологического высказывания;

Коммуникативные:

• умение слушать и вступать в диалог;
• организация и планирование учебного сотрудничества с учителем и сверстниками;
• осуществление взаимного контроля и оказание в сотрудничестве необходимой взаимопомощи.

Регулятивные:

• целеполагание;
• осуществление познавательной рефлексии в отношении действий по решению учебных и познавательных задач.

Познавательные:

• умение выделять главное и второстепенное, главную идею текста, выстраивать последовательность описываемых событий;
• установление причинно-следственных связей.

Связь с другими предметами: экология, ИКТ.

I. Beginning of the lesson.  

- Good morning, boys and girls. How are you?

- Well, we are all fine, so we can work hard.

II. Presentation of the theme. Look at the pictures and photos. Listen to the music.

What might  the subject for today`s discussion be about?

(учащимся демонстрируются начальные слайды мультимедийной презентации “Do we have a right to air that we can breathe without fear?”).

Релаксационная пауза представлена музыкальным сопровождением к начальным слайдам презентации, ее прослушивание использовано в начале урока до предстоящей умственной деятельности учащихся. В этом случае музыка, по мнению  психологов, отлично снимает стресс, накопившуюся усталость, улучшает память.

III. Warm-up. 

Teacher: Well, today we’ll discuss some of the ecological problems namely air and noise pollution and try not only to focus on them, but to think about the ways of their solutions.

More and more our town residents have to commute to work every day and they also find cars a convenient means of travel. But there are also people who consider cars to be a threat for life. Who is right?

Express your own opinion:

Do you believe the car is an essential part of our life or a risk factor? (Encourage students to use long sentences and linkers -ex. 6a, ex. 7a p. 73) Students give their ideas:

IV. Speaking.  Class discussion. (исследование-интервью):

PP: In my opinion, possessing a car gives a much greater degree of mobility enabling the driver to move around freely. The owner of the car is no longer forced to rely on public transport.

- To my mind, travelling to work by car is certainly more comfortable than having to use public transport, the driver can adjust the heating in winter and the air conditioning in summer to suit his own needs and preferences.

- In addition, there is no irritation caused by waiting for trains or buses, standing in long queues. Many people are now able to enjoy their leisure time to the full by making trips to the country or seaside.

- I would agree that travelling by car is faster and more convenient than a coach trip. It’s pleasant to enjoy speed and nature but a journey might be tiring for a driver. Also, it can be very expensive if you travel a long distance as petrol costs a lot.

- And what is more, speeding is dangerous for people. They are killed and injured in car accidents and breakdowns.

- As for me, I don’t see any risks in having a car. I’ll buy a car and will drive to work, to shopping centres which are built outside towns.

- On the other hand, traffic jams can spoil your drive. People feel nervous when they waste time and wait and have nothing to do. As for me, I know that cars are the biggest threat for the environment, they produce toxic chemicals and release them into the air. As a result, people’s health is getting worse. Nevertheless, our life is organized around cars and they make it easier.

- As far as I`m concerned, I’d like to have a car in the near future because we depend on cars in our daily life. However, it can be expensive. Not only petrol costs a lot but we also need to have the car checked and repaired at times.

Teacher: Well, as English people say, “so men, so minds”, and, nevertheless, all things considered, modern society, in your opinion, can’t exist without cars as they give a lot of benefits, but on the other hand, we pay a heavy price for these benefits. It’s up to you to decide to have or not to have the car. But some people discuss the other problem concerning cars…

V. PRE- Reading Activities.

Scanning.

1. Ex. 2b, p. 72.So, what problem does the text deal with? Yes, we are going to discuss  if cars should be banned from city centres.
To begin with, read the essay and match the paragraphs with the headings.
*writer’s opinion *arguments against & justifications*presenting the topic*arguments for and justifications

2. This type of text is called For-and-against essay. Ex. 1, p. 72. Read the theory box and write the essay plan on the board. Does the text correspond to the plan?

3. Ex. 3, p. 73 Read the text again and find the topic sentences in the essay. Which sentences support them?

4. Ex. 6a, p. 73. Look at the list of linkers in the table. Which of them can you see in the essay on p. 72? What is the purpose of each one? Replace them with suitable alternatives.

VI. Brainstorming.  Pair Work

Now discuss in pairs  and  write down advantages  and drawbacks of having cars:

VII. Post-reading Activity.  Role-play.  Team work. Speaking

Teacher: Now imagine that we are in the TV studio. We’ve come here to discuss an extremely important problem. ‘‘Should cars be banned from our city center?

You are representatives of the community. We all live in one community and everyone should express his point of view, his opinion on social problem. Among you- drivers, doctors,  lonely elderly people, ecologists, experts on hygiene and epidemiology, members of “ECO-friends”. Take turns expressing your opinion about banning traffic from city centres.

To arrange ideas and to give yourself thinking time please try to use useful opening expressions from our Oral Functions Bank and don`t forget about convincing arguments in the table.

Учащиеся слушают и соглашаются или не соглашаются с выступающими, используя конструкции:

Students’ answers (защитамини- проектов): Projects Defense

Drivers: - We think it’s absolutely wrong to ban cars from city centres because it would bring lots of difficulties to people. Firstly, more people would use public transport and it would be overcrowded. Secondly, public transport follows fixed routs and less comfortable than the car.    And don’t forget about the other side of the problem, is it pleasant to stand at the bus stop in the nasty weather waiting for a bus?

- And I`d like to add that truck drivers are not to blame for road accidents. Problems like faulty traffic lights, sudden narrowing of a street and congested parking are the real cause of traffic accidents.

- All in all, motor cars are highly desirable for obvious reasons. We should recognize this and adapt ourselves.

Doctors: We strongly agree that our city should be a safe and pleasant place. The roads are so often jammed with cars that ambulances and fire engines find it difficult to fulfil their duties. For this reason cars should be banned from city centres.

- That’s right. I also think so. That will reduce traffic jams and the number of accidents on the road. And what is more, cars produce a lot of pollution. Exhaust gases especially the carbon dioxide pollute the air that we breathe  in  and  it is harmful for our health.

Experts on hygiene and epidemiology: We`d like to note, that we  began to monitor car pollution in our town several years ago. After analyzing data we concluded that the exhaust fumes are really toxic and can cause or make worse diseases: e.g.  sulfur  dioxide (SO2)  causes stinging eyes, lung damage, asthma, bronchitis. carbon monoxide(CO) interferes with the transfer of oxygen from lungs to body tissues. Additionally, exhaust fumes contribute to global warming and acid rain.

Ecologists: That’s right. I also think so. The soil surface is heavily polluted with gases, dust and heavy metals (HM) from motor vehicles. The level of HM in the soil along motorways increases as it approaches the city centre. Toxic chemicals  are found in the soil, leaves of trees, grass of lawns and sandboxes for the children on the territory within 150 m. from motorways.

Ecologists: The most polluted territories are those near the Railway Station, Market Place, along the main streets such as Proletarskaya, Sovetskaya, Novaya, Oktyabrskaya, Yubileinaya, Pionerskaya and many others.

 Elderly people: We live in the city centre and we are very much in favour of banning cars from the downtown area. The noise of  motor cars make our  life less pleasant for us. Loud noise is not just unpleasant – you know it can make people ill, it is a real threat for our health.
- We suffer from insomnia, headaches and tiredness. We are exposed to unbearable noise all the time and run the risk of going deaf. We have to take drugs to keep calm and to get to sleep at night.

“ECO-friends” members:   (they suggest Environmental programme ):

VIII. Feedback. (Завершение работы. Выводы. Решение проблемы, поставленной на уроке).

Teacher: Well, students. Let’s make the conclusion.  Do you remember the purposes of our lesson? Look at the blackboard. You can see here some pros & cons. And they are approximately equal. What are your decisions according these statements? ((pupils give their opinions)

Рефлексивный компонент урока

В качестве рефлексивного компонента учащимся было предложено оценить свою деятельность на уроке. При помощи зрительной опоры  необходимо закончить фразу (прием незаконченного предложения). Учитель может предложить лишь некоторые из этих фраз исходя из темы урока:

We have reached the aim of the lesson .

Now I can talk and write about …. (environmental protection/environmental issues…);
I can express …. (my personal opinion about banning cars from city centres…);
I can discuss … (advantages and disadvantages of having  cars…);
I can explain … (how exhaust fumes affect on human`s health and the
                                                   nearby surroundings…);
I can write … (for-and against essays);
I can present … a project about …

Due to intersubject communications now I can ... (systematize and deepen my knowledge about ... and express myself in English).  

We worked in groups and it helped me to…(to listen carefully to the other person and accept  that he might see the problem in a different way).

IX. Оценка работы учащихся на уроке.

Teacher: I’m quite satisfied with your work in today`s lesson. You were very active in our discussion about ecological problems in Zheleznodorozhny, you demonstrated creative thinking, pretty good linguistic skills and communicative abilities. Your home task will be to write an essay “Some people think that trucks are the main cause of ecological problems in big cities. What is your opinion?” And don’t forget to give your arguments for and against this idea. I’m looking forward to our next English lesson so much!

Могу с уверенностью сказать, что проведение такого типа интегрированного урока на практике показывает, что межпредметные и интегративные связи являются действенным стимулом коммуникативно-познавательной активности,  способствуют расширению кругозора учащихся, пробуждают интерес к предмету, стимулируют учащихся к самостоятельному поиску источников информации, повышают мотивацию изучения английского языка.

Если говорить конкретно об уроке «Should cars be banned from our city center?», то следует отметить, что все аргументы учащихся о вредном влиянии выхлопных газов на здоровье человека, о шумовом дискомфорте, высказанные в процессе деловой игры сопровождались слайдами  мультимедийной презентации на основе фактических данных ученических проектных работ. Учащиеся беседовали с экологами города, с представителями Администрации Железнодорожного, работниками медицинских учреждений, с учителями химии, экологии, ИКТ; проводили опрос жителей микрорайона  по обсуждаемой теме.
Несомненно, интегрированные уроки также способствуют повышению педагогического мастерства учителя, побуждают его к самообразованию, самореализации в профессии, творчеству, взаимодействию с коллегами.

Литература.

1. O. Afanasyeva, I. Mikheeva. Spotlight 10, Prosvescheniye, 2014.

2. “Oral Workshop: Argument”, Shanghai, 1995.