Урок английского языка в 9 классе

Легко ли быть подростком?

Форма урока: Ток-шоу

Цель: Совершенствовать устную речь учащихся.

Задачи:

1. Активизировать использование лексических единиц по теме и

разговорных клише в речи учащихся.

2. Способствовать развитию коммуникабельности и умению сотрудничать

друг с другом.

3. Развивать способности логически излагать свою точку зрения,

формулировать выводы.

4. Учить критически относится к своему поведению, вести здоровый

образ жизни.

5. Воспитывать уважительное отношение к своим родителям, уметь

находить пути разрешения конфликтов.

Оборудование: мультимедийный проектор, экран, презентация по теме

урока, таблица с результатами анкетирования учащихся.

Ход урока:

Teacher. Good morning dear boys and girls, our respected teachers! You are

welcome to our Talk-Show and I’m extremely pleased to meet you in our studio.

Today we are willing to discuss if it is easy to be a teenager and we are ready to

listen to your points of view on this theme. Let me introduce our experts to you.

T.K. is a psychologist dealing with teenagers’ problems and A.A. is a specialist on

family and youth issues. Please greet them. I hope they will give us some useful

advice and reasonable recommendations today. (T.K. and A.A are the students of

the 11

th

grade)

The beginning of the discussion.

Teacher. It is said that the most beautiful period in our life is when we are

teenagers. It seems that teenagers have no problems, as they don’t have to work,

take care of their families or have any responsibilities. But this is not true, because

in fact they come across different problems which are as important as those of the

adults. One of the most problems of the youth is a generation gap.

Teacher. Let me introduce a guest of our Talk-Show to you. Her name is Diana.

She is 15 years old. Diana came to our studio to tell us about her disagreements

with her parents. She came here with her father. So let’s listen to the girl’s problem.

Diana. Frankly speaking, I’ve got a great problem with my parents. They treat

me like a baby and don’t want to understand me. My father is very strict to me and

believes that I should always obey him. He always tells me, “Do as I say!”. My

Dad is sure that he is always right. Just imagine one of the situations.

Acting the dialogue.

Diana: Why do I have to go to bed so early?

Father: Why, why! Always why! I’ve answered that question so many times

already. A girl your age needs lots of sleep if she wants to be healthy. If you don’t

get your rest, you won’t do your lessons right. You have trouble enough with your

marks in school.

Diana: But nine thirty is awfully early! You let my sister stay out till ten thirty.

Not a single of my friends has to be home that early. You treat me like a baby.

Father: Never mind about your friends. Their parents will worry about them.

Diana: But it’s Saturday night. There’s no school tomorrow.

Father: I know very well what night it is.

Diana: Could you make it ten o’clock, at least?

Father: No, Diana. I’ve been very patient with you up till now, no matter how

many times you were late before. Now my patience is at an end. I expect you home

by nine thirty.

Diana: Nine forty-five, Papa, please!

Father: Diana! I said nine thirty, and not one minute more!

Diana. So you see that I can’t mix up with my friends late at night and very

often I have to stay at home and do my lessons instead of going to the disco or just

talking to my friends about various interesting things.

Discussion of the problem.

Teacher. Thank you, Diana, for your story, but it would be fair to listen to your

father’s opinion on this problem as well. I think that an attempt to look at this

situation from your parent’s position will make you see everything differently.

Father (student). I agree that I’m very strict to my daughter but Diana, you

should know that I love you so much. To my mind, it is necessary to control

teenagers, otherwise they can have fun all day long with their friends, listen to

music, watch TV or play computer games. It is my duty to prevent my daughter

from doing many wrong things. It is easy to acquire bad habits, but it is hard to get

rid of them.

Teacher. Thank you for coming here and expressing your point of view. So, we

have listened to the opinions of different sides on this problem and we see that all

in all, both Diana and her father are quite right in their own way. And what about

other boys and girls? Have you got any problems with your parents?

St1. I have no great difficulties with my parents. But sometimes I have some

problems with them. They have their own ideas and views that I sometimes don’t

share or understand. I prefer to settle all our problems peacefully because they are

my parents. They brought me up with loving care. And if I come to them for advice

and help, they will do their best and help me to cope with my problems and

difficulties.

St2. Sometimes my parents don’t understand me. They don’t understand some

problems and things which are very important in a teen’s life; for example, the

lifestyles of young people, piercing, tattoos, relationships with friends and

teachers. So sometimes I can’t tell them everything about my private life. Now I

can’t remember an instance when my parents helped me in my difficulties.

Sometimes I think we can forget about the generation gap, but sometimes I see that

my parents don’t want to understand modern views, ideals and system of values. It

is very bad for the new generation.

Teacher. Thank you, girls, for your sincerity. We see that not only Diana has

some problems with her parents. Let’s listen to the specialist on family and youth

issues. Can you tell us how to bridge the generation gap?

A.A. With great pleasure. First of all, I’d like to say that family plays a major

part in our life. It is very important to have a happy family. But nowadays it has

become a really rare thing. Parents very often do not understand what their

children want. The conflict between the two generations remains unsolved. What is

a family? A family is first of all the people, closest to you: relatives and parents.

They always support you; they love you with all your merits and demerits. Taking

care of you from your first days, they are used to treating you like a baby.

Naturally, it irritates you once in a while, so you try to prove you are not a silly

child any more. If you want to be more independent, try to make friends with your

parents. Ask them a question about their own youth, relations with their parents,

the places where they spent free time. Giving you examples from their life, they

will understand your standpoint better. If you want to prove that you are not a baby,

keep trying to think and to act as adults do for some time. Try to carry out all your

fair share of duties without any reminders from your parents’ side. They will

understand you better, if they see you taking responsibility. You must be

interesting, clever and kind and everyone will associate with you!

Teacher. Thanks a lot for useful advice and brilliant recommendations to our

teenagers. I’m sure if they follow them, they will have less problems in their life.

Diana, do you agree? And what does our psychologist think about the generation

gap? Can you advise the teenagers how to live in peace with parents?

T.K. First of all I’d like to draw your attention that the flash of the conflict

usually takes place, when the children are teenagers; to be exact, when they’re

about 13 – 16 years old. Worrying about their baby’s health, about what school,

friends and clothes to choose, the majority of parents are really keen on looking

after their kid from childhood on. But when the children grow up, they declare, that

they want to be independent. It is so very difficult for parents to understand, that

their child has become adult and wants to make decisions himself, wants to get

freedom, even if only partly. Of course, parents wish all the best for their kids, they

believe, that watching their children constantly can help avoid making mistakes

(drugs, alcohol, etc.). Children try to resist control and enforcement; they often

argue and quarrel with their parents. In some cases, the teenagers take extreme

measures – they leave their homes, or begin telling lies and doing everything

contrary to what their parents say. Well, how to find the compromise, how to have

the right for freedom without making parents nervous? To my mind, it’s a mistake

to be aggressive and to “fight for liberty”; the right way is to contract with the

parents about new concessions day by day. I made a special test, which consisted

of five simple questions.

TEST.

1. Do your parents control your daily schedule (when to come home or when to

go to bed)?

A. Yes, always B. Partly C. No

2. Do your parents have an influence on your choice of friends?

A. Yes B. Partly C. No

3. Do your parents try to influence your choice of clothes, hair-style, image or

make-up?

A. Yes, always B. Often C. Sometimes D. Never

4. What is the degree of control and guardianship of your parents over you?

A. Excessive B. Temperate C. They don’t try to control my

actions

5. How is your life with your parents?

A. I can’t stand them most of the time B. Tense, it’s difficult

C. Good D. Everything is perfect

The result was really fine. In spite of being controlled by parents, 66% of the

questioned said that their relation with their mothers and fathers was good, 30%

considered the connection to be concord, and only 4% said that it was tense. 9%

said that the degree of guardianship is excessive; 85% find it temperate; and 6%

say that the parents do not control them. 24% of the parents try to influence the

choice of friends and 96% of mothers and fathers try to have an influence on the

dress and appearance of their children. And finally, nobody said that he couldn’t

stand his parents most of the time.

Teacher. The results of the test are really exciting. We can see that teenagers

love their parents and parents love their kids. So, let’s hope that Diana and her

father will find the compromise and will be happy. Good luck to you! Another

problem of teenagers is the relationship of the young people with their friends. I

think you agree that it is impossible to imagine our life without real friends. It is

wonderful if your school friends remain your friends for the rest of your life. Real

friends never betray each other, they always understand and help each other.

- Have you got any problems with your friends?

- What are the reasons of your quarrels?

- What kind of person is your friend? (My friend is a person who is helpful to

me when I am in trouble. True friends are people who are generous and always

keep promises.)

All of you want to have good and real friends. And what about you? Are you a

good friend? Our psychologist has got some questions for you.

T.K. You should answer the following questions:

1. Do you remember your friends’ birthday? ( If your answer is “Yes” put 2

points for it, if “No” – 1 point.);

2. Are you the first to apologize if you are wrong? (“Yes” – 2; “No” - 1);

3. Can you keep your friends’ secrets? (“Yes” – 2; “No” - 1);

4. Do you sometimes laugh at your friends? (“Yes” – 1; “No” - 2);

5. Do you often criticize your friends? (“Yes” – 1; “No” - 2);

6. Do you give all the pocket money you have to your friends if they ask you?

(“Yes” – 2; “No” - 1);

7. Do you think your friend should follow you everywhere? (“Yes” – 1; “No” –

2);

8. Is it important for a good friend to be good at school? (“Yes” – 1; “No” - 2).

Results

0 – 8 points: Many people think you are unfriendly. Sometimes you can be not

very helpful and confident. You are a little bossy too.

9 – 16 points: You are a good friend. You are patient and confident. You can

give a helping hand and do not demand much.

Teacher. I hope all of you are good friends and I wish you never quarreled and

always were able to understand and support each other.

Relaxation

And now it’s time for relaxation. Close your eyes and listen to this wonderful

music. Imagine that you are in the green field full of splendid flowers. The birds

are singing their lovely songs. Open your eyes, please. I think you had a good rest.

Let’s continue our conversation.

Smoking is one more great problem that teenagers face in their life. Some

young people are sure they look more mature when holding a cigarette. They think

it is cool. I’d like you to listen to the specialist on family and youth issues. He has

got some shocking facts about smokers.

A.A. I’d like to tell you that:

- Over 90% of all smokers start before they are 18;

- The average age for a new smoker is 13;

- Among the 13-year-old smokers there are more girls than boys.

- Smoking kills about 3 million people every year. Some aren’t even smokers.

They are people who live or work with heavy smokers.

These facts are really very sad and you should think hard before taking a cigarette.

Teacher. I hope that after this information you will never start smoking. By the

way, do know what the effect of smoking on people’s health is?

Students: If you smoke......

- your clothes and hair will have a terrible smell.

- your teeth will turn yellow.

- you will have bad breath.

- your hair and skin will become dry and you’ll get premature wrinkles.

- you will store more fat around the waist.

- A smoker is 22 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a non-smoker.

- Smoking causes heart attacks. Heart disease is now the number-one killer in

Russia.

Teacher. You are quite right. Moreover, nicotine is not the only bad thing in

cigarettes. There are over 400 harmful chemicals in one cigarette. Besides,

cigarettes cost money and if you don’t smoke, you will become richer. So you

should think twice before lightning up that cigarette of yours!

You see that teenagers have got a lot of problems. They are concerned with

education, money, hobby, spending their free time, communication with their

parents and friends and many others. We have touched upon only some of them.

Could you answer the question of our Talk-Show – Is it easy to be a teenager? Is

being a teenager fearful, dangerous, exciting, great or romantic? What is your

opinion?

St1. – As for me, I think it is great, because the teenage years are the most

wonderful years in our life. At this age we start a new adult life. We get more and

more freedom. We can go to parties, discos, cafes. We can have a lot of fun with

our friends. It’s really cool.

St2. – To my mind, being a teenager is fearful. More and more teens are

turning to drugs and alcohol. Young people are under pressure of their mates who

say it’s just fun to

smoke and drink beer. Teenagers don’t realize that when they start drinking beer,

it’s destroying them. So, in my opinion, personal problems combined with the

indifference of the society to young people’s problems make being a teenager very

fearful.

St3. – I think that to be a teenager is great fun. In my opinion, young people

don’t have very serious problems like adults do. Their only problem is studies. In

spite of all the difficulties of teenage life, to be a teenager is cool.

St4. – As for me, I am sure that our teenage years are the best years of our

lives. When you are a teenager you have enough freedom to do something. Teens

spend a lot of time with their mates. We often go out together, visit some

interesting places, or just talk. Teenagers fall in love for the first time. It’s a real

event! So, I think that being a teenager is romantic.

Teacher. We can say that so many teenagers, so many opinions. I’m glad that in

spite of all the teenagers’ problems you have got a positive attitude to this age. I’m

sure, when you are in trouble, you will find a way out and become happy.

In conclusion, our experts and I would like to give you some advice to avoid

some problems in your life.

1. Be kind and tolerant to everyone.

2. Share whatever you have, even if it is only a little!

3. Treat all the people, animals and even plants with love, care and respect.

By doing these three simple things, you will be rewarded generously with

friendship and kindness from others.

Good luck to you!