Topic: “Life on the street”
Grade: 11
Aim:
- to develop learners ‘communicative competence via personalizing the topic under study and involving the learners into meaningful speech activity.
Lesson objectives:
- to develop reading for detail and intensive reading skills;
- to enable learners to talk about problems of homeless people using topic related vocabulary;
- to develop learners ‘fluency in speaking and increase confidence in expressing their personal opinions;
- to broaden learners ‘mental outlook and to form the culture of group work ( ‘Reading Circles ‘activity).
Personal objective:
- to build rapport with the learners.
Learning outcomes:
- by the end of the lesson the students will be able to speak about homeless people, suggest solutions to their problems; it is expected that the students will become more compassionate, caring and empathetic towards others, and reduce judgmental attitudes.
Interaction Patterns:
- interactive class and group work.
Materials: Spotlight 11. Student’s book by Virginia Evans, Jenny Dooley, Bob Obey, Olga Afanasyeva, Irina Mikheeva, Student’s worksheets, PPT presentation, song “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins in MP3 format, whiteboard.
Beginning (10 min)
1. Lesson hook (8 min)
Aims:
- to boost students’ curiosity in the lesson;
- to help students develop listening skills;
- to enable students to express opinions and understand implicit information;
- to enlarge students’ Personalised Feelings Words List.
T.: As an assignment for today’s lesson I asked you to listen to the song “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins and search the Internet to find out about him. Share what you’ve discovered about him.
Ss.: Philip David Charles Collins is an English drummer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was the drummer and singer of the rock band Genesis.
Ss: I’d like to add that Philip Collins is an active musician, a solo artist and entertainer. "Another Day in Paradise" is one of the most successful songs in his solo career.
T.: Let’s listen to his song “Another Day in Paradise” again and fill in gaps.
Phil Collins - Another Day in Paradise
____ calls out to the___ on the street
"Sir, ___ you help ___?
__ and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there ____ you can tell me?"
___ walks on, ____ look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he ___ the street
Seems embarrassed to be there
Oh think twice, it's just another ___ for you and me in Paradise
She calls out to the man on the street
He can ___ she's been crying
She's got blisters on the ____ of her feet
Can't ____ but she's trying
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you and me in Paradise
Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can ___
Oh ____, there must be something you can ___
You can tell from the lines on her ___
You can see that she's been ___
Probably been ____ on from every place
'Cos she didn't fit in there
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you and me in Paradise
T.: I think you’ve enjoyed the song. Look at the screen to check if you’ve filled in the gaps right (see the lyrics of the song in Appendix1).
T.: Who is the woman in the song?
Ss: She is a homeless person who begs for money.
T.: What help does the woman want? Who is she asking help for?
Ss: The homeless woman asks a man who is passing by for help because it’s cold outside but she has nowhere to go to.
T.: Does she get the help?
Ss: Unfortunately, the man the homeless woman is asking for help pretends that he doesn’t hear her and just keeps walking on as if the woman doesn’t exist.
T.: Which adjectives, in your opinion, better describe the man and the woman in the song? Justify by quoting the text. You may use The Feelings Words List in Worksheet1 (see Appendix2).
T.: What is the impact of the song on you?
Ss: The song makes me feel sad because the homeless woman is lonely and helpless. She has no place to live in, no money for living. It’s so disheartening.
Ss: The song is very meaningful to me because it tells about unfortunate people who are homeless and beggars. These people ask for help but passersby usually feel embarrassed to see them and pretend that they don’t see or hear them. Of course, I feel sympathy for this woman.
T.: How do you understand the line ‘Oh think twice, it's just another day for you and me in Paradise’?
Ss: In my opinion, the musician says in this song that we are happy because we have comfortable warm houses, money, we can by things we want rather than we need. At the same time there are many people who are homeless and unhappy. For them, we live in Paradise.
Ss: That’s how I feel too. I also believe that I this line Phil Collins asks his listeners to ‘think twice’ and help the homeless and not to turn the blind eye to them because God is watching us.
T.: Thank you very much for sharing your opinions.
2. Introducing the topic of the lesson (2 min)
Aims:
- to facilitate guessing activity and activate students’ schemata;
- to personalize the lesson.
T.: Why do you think I’ve chosen this song to start our lesson with? What do you think the topic of the lesson is?
(Students state that at the lesson they are going to talk about homeless people)
T.: You are absolutely right. The topic of today’s lesson is “A life on the street”.
T.: Do you know why people become homeless? What should be done to help them? Who should help? These are the questions we are going to find answers to at the lesson.
Main part (28 min)
3. Guessing activity (2 min)
Aims:
- to develop students’ deductive abilities;
- enable students to guess the content of the text under discussion.
T.: On p. 84 of your textbooks there is a picture. Does the man in the picture remind you the woman from the song? Why? /Why not?
Ss: Sure, this person reminds me about the woman from the song because they both are homeless.
T.: Now read the title of the text. It is called “A life on the streets”. Can you guess what this text is about?
Ss: In my view, the text is about beggars because in the picture I see a person who is sitting on the street in a paper box and asking for money.
T.: You are absolutely right. We are going to read a story about Jasmine, a young homeless girl and explore some disastrous facts in her life that made her live in the street.
4. Introducing the topic vocabulary (6 min)
Aim:
- to enable students enlarge topic vocabulary.
T.: But first let’s explore some topic vocabulary that will help you understand the text. Match the words with their definitions (Appendix3)
T.: Use the words to doexercise 5 on page 85.
5. Speaking Practice based on Reading Circles Activity (20 min)
Aims:
- develop reading skills: reading for detail and intensive reading so that learners can analyze and discuss the given text;
- develop logical abilities and the use of evidence in building arguments;
- to enable learners to talk about homelessness using topic vocabulary;
- to practice fluency in speaking;
- to practice group work in ‘Reading Circles’;
- to increase learners’ confidence in expressing their personal opinions;
T.: Now you are ready to read the text. I’d like you to split into groups. We are going to have ‘Reading circles’. (The Teacher splits the students into mini groups. Every group gets a role in ‘Reading circles’. The roles are: Question Master, Summarizers, Feelings Masters, Connectors, Prediction Masters. The groups are provided with Role Badges and Role sheets (Appendix 4). Students read the text and fulfill the tasks in Role Sheets according to the role they get. While the students work in their ‘Reading Circles’ the teacher monitors their work ,makes notes and helps with grammar or vocabulary if necessary. The teacher encourages the students to add new vocabulary to their ‘Personalized Word List’ while working on the Role.)
T.: And now we can start checking your tasks. The floor is given to Question Masters. Listen attentively to their questions and try to give detailed answers.
Question Masters: How old is Jasmine?
Ss: She is twenty-two.
Question Masters: Why was Jasmine placed in foster care?
Ss: Jasmine’s parents died when she was very little so she lived with foster parents.
Question Masters: Why did she go to London?
Ss: She wanted to be independent and she thought London it would be easier to survive in a big city.
Ss: In London she hoped to find a job and an accommodation.
Question Masters: Did she manage to make it in London?
Ss: Her money ran out because she paid for rooms in hotels. She couldn’t find a job as nobody wanted to take her on. She had no fixed address.
Question Masters: Where does she spend her nights?
Ss: There are some squats in abandoned houses, empty office buildings, disused warehouses around the city center.
Ss: She spends the odd night in a hostel for homeless people.
Ss: If the weather is warm, she sometimes sleeps on a park bench.
Question Masters: How does she make ends meet?
Ss: She sells The Big Issue, a magazinewhich exists to offer homeless people, or individuals at risk of homelessness, the opportunity to earn a legitimate income.
Ss: Jasmine has her meals in a soup kitchen, a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a below market price.
Ss: She sometimes goes begging but she doesn’t like it because most people rush past her and avoid looking her in the eye.
Question Masters: What dream does she have?
Ss: She dreams of having a place which she could call home so she is on a council waiting list.
Ss: She wants to find a job.
T.: Thank you very much. Let us listen to Summarizers.
Summarizers:
Jasmine is a beggar. She’s been homeless since she was 16 years old. She left her foster home for London because she wanted to be independent and live by her own. But she didn’t have any clues how to survive in a big city. Nor did she have any proper professional training and fixed address. So she failed to find a job and after spending all her money she became homeless. Now she lives in temporary accommodation for homeless people and has to beg for money to survive. She hates being a beggar and dreams of finding a job and getting a flat from the city authorities.
T.: Now I’d like Feelings Masters to interpret Jasmine’s feelings and emotions.
Feelings Masters:
Jasmine feels abandoned and neglected because she has no shelter above her head and has to beg for money. She finds this very disgraceful and humiliating. The fact that she can’t find a decent job for herself makes her lose her confidence and self-esteem. She is afraid of the future because she doesn’t know what it holds. As a result she is often miserable, depressed and devastated.
Connectors:
The story makes us think about homeless people. Many of us have run into the homeless and beggars. Some of us tossed some money to them, others, like a man from the song, turned their blind eyes to the homeless and tried to walk away quickly. We think that homeless people need help because they are not able to break out of this vicious circle: on the one hand they can’t get a job because they are homeless; on the other hand they are homeless because they can’t get a job and don’t have money.
Prediction Masters:
In our opinion, Jasmine will hardly ever live the street even if she gets a flat from the city authority. Firstly, it will be difficult for her to find a job because she has no professional training and has never worked in her life. Besides, we believe that has got used to begging for money.
T.: Thank you very much for creative and fruitful work. I’d suggest that we get back to the questions raised at the beginning of the lesson.
So, what makes people homeless? (Students give their answers and the teacher writes them in the Spider Web. See Appendix 5)
T.: What should be done to help them? Who should help?
Ss: I think the government and charity organizations should help the homeless to find a job.
Ss: In my view, the government should provide these people with cheap housing and help them find a job. It’s a shame that people have live on the street.
Ss: I can’t agree with the above opinions, I’m afraid. I think that the Government does enough for the homeless and other organizations also help them. Nevertheless, the homeless usually get back to street because this is their way of living.
Ss: I am pretty sure that all homeless and beggars are liars. Most of the time they are just ask for money for alcohol or drugs. Besides, in most cases they are not poor people. I would also like to point out there are lots chances to get a job, may be not a well-paid one, but at least a person can earn money in a decent way. So it is their fault.
T.: Well, the issue we’ve discussed today is rather controversial I should say, so diverse views are inevitable. I really appreciate your opinions and would like you to state your position on the problem under discussion in an essay.
Round up (4-5min)
Homework (to choose from) (2 min)
Aim:
- to explain to students what they need to do at home
- to encourage creative thinking.
T.: Here is your homework for the next lesson. There are tasks to choose from.
1. You have received а letter from your English-speaking pen-friend Liz who writes:
... Yesterday I saw a homeless woman on the street. She looked so miserable. Have you ever seen homeless people in your town? Do feel sorry for them? What do you think we can do to help these people?
…Oh, before I forget, I got very high scores in my midterm science test and almost failed Literature.
Write а letter to Liz.
In your letter
- answer her questions
- ask 3 questions about her test in Literature.
Write 100-140 words.
Remember the rules of letter writing.
2. Comment on the following statement.
People who are homeless should blame themselves
What is your opinion? Do you agree with this statement?
Write 200-250 words (RNE format task 40).
3. Have a look at the picture of the homeless person on p.84 again. Describe the photo in the RNE format.
4. Imagine that you are a journalist who is going to write an article about the homeless and homelessness. What questions would ask Jasmine? Retell Jasmine’s story from the point of view of the journalist, giving some solutions to her problem.
Reflection (2-3 min)
Aim:
- to reflect on the outcomes of the lesson and give feedback on the lesson.
T: Our lesson is over. Let’s draw the conclusion. What have you learnt today?
Ss: Today we have read about Jasmine’s life.
Ss: We have learnt new words which we can use to speak about homeless people.
Ss. We tried to understand facts that bring people to street.
T.: Thank you very much for the work you’ve done at the lesson. Have a nice day.