Lesson "Sport in the USA"

Lesson

Sport in the USA

Мета: ознайомити учнів з найпопулярнішими видами спорту Сполучених Штатів Америки, активізувати лек-сичні одиниці з теми «Спорт»; розвивати творчі  здібності учнів; навички монологічного та  діалогічного мовлення, перекладу; розвивати пізнавальний інтерес.

PROCEDURE

1. Warm up.

     Look at the blackboard. Here you can see a proverb and a saying about sport and healthy lifestyle. Let’s read and discuss them.

1. A sound mind in a sound body.

2. Citius! Altius! Fortius! or Quicker! Higher! Stronger!

2. Listening.                                                                     

American Sports and Games

Baseball is the most popular game in the US. It is played throughout the spring and summer by schools, colleges and professional teams.

Football is the most popular game in the autumn. There are professional football teams in all the main cities of the United States. In American football there are eleven players in each team, as in original football, but the rules are different. Players are often hurt in American football. So the teams wear special clothing and helmets as in hockey.

Basketball is a very popular game in the United States too. It is especially popular in high schools, both among boys and girls.

The game of golf is very popular with businessmen and professional people. It is played by both men and women. There are now more golfers than tennis players.

       Swimming, water siding and skin diving. are popular summer sports In winter many people go in for ice-skating, skiing and hockey if they live in the Northern and Central states.

Other sports include wrestling, boxing and horse-racing.

3. Understanding the text.

 Complete the sentences using the words and phrases of the       text.

1. It is played throughout the spring and summer by … .

2. In American football there are … players in each team, as in           original football, but the rules are different.

3. Basketball is especially popular in … .

4. …  are popular summer sports.

5. In winter many people go in for … .

4. Reading.

You are going to read the text about the famous American basketball player Michael Jordan. Use the dictionary and work out the meaning of the words from the Vocabulary File.

Michael Jordan

     Michael Jordan is an American profess-sional basketball player. He is often considered the greatest player in the history of the game. He led the National Basketball Association (NBA) Chicago Bulls to five championships.
         Jordan was born on the 17th of February, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Wilmington, N.C., and entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. As a freshman, he made the winning basket in the 1982 national championship game. Jordan was named College Player of the Year in both his sophomore and junior years. He left North Carolina after his junior year. Two times Jordan led the U.S. basketball team to Olympic gold medals in 1984 in Los Angeles and in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.

       In 1984 Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls. In his first season as a professional (1984—1985), he led the league in scoring and was named Rookie of the Year. He missed the following season because of an injury. When he returned, he was again a success, scoring 32 points per game. He was only the second player (after Wilt Chamberlain) to score 3,000 points in a single season (1986—1987). Jordan was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) four times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996) and was also named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.

   In October 1993 Jordan retired briefly to pursue a career in professional baseball. But in 1995 he returned to basketball again. In the 1995—1996 season Jordan led the Bulls to a regular season record, the best in the history of the NBA. The following season he won his fifth championship with the Bulls and was named MVP of the  NBA Finals.

  At 1.98 m, Jordan, a guard, was an exceptionally talented shooter and passer and a tenacious defender. His nickname is «Air Jordan» because of his extraordinary leaping ability and the acrobatic manoeuvres he used to evade defenders as he approached the basket.

    5. Reading comprehension.

1. Work individually.

Write five questions to the text.

2.  Work in pairs.

    Discuss the questions with each other. Then make a short dialogue and act it out.

     6. Relaxation.

Read the joke silently to make sure you understand each sentence. Retell the joke.

Mark Twain in France

Mark Twain, the famous American writer, was travelling in France. Once he was going by train to Dijon. That afternoon he was very tired and wanted to sleep. He therefore asked the conductor to wake him up when they came to Dijon. But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. “I’ll probably protest loudly when you try to wake me up”, he said to the conductor. “But do not take any notice, just put me off the train anyway.”

Then Mark Twain went to sleep. Later, when he woke up, it was night-time and the train was in Paris already. He realized at once that the conductor had forgotten to wake him up at Dijon. He was very angry. He ran up to the conductor and began to shout at him. “I have never been so angry in all my life,” Mark Twain said.

The conductor looked at him calmly. “You are not half so angry as the American whom I put off the train at Dijon,” he said.

 7. Say it

1. Group work.

Choose a sport and tell the rest of the group about it. Say how often you watch it or practise it, what it takes to be good at it, what equipment you need, who the famous stars are, if any film has been made about it, etc.

2. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Express your opinion.

1. A person, who doesn’t go in for sports, has weak muscles.

2. A sportsman mustn’t smoke.

3. Many people practise running because it makes them strong and quick.

4. Swimming helps to develop all muscles.

5. One must be talented to be a professional sportsman.

6. Sport is a national passion in the USA.

8. Reading and speaking activities.

1. Read the dialogue in parts, noting what expressions are appropriate in the situation.

- Do you like watching football on TV?

- Not very much. I prefer live entertainment. I often go to the stadium.

- I see. What is your favourite football team?

- The Rovers.

- And who’s your favourite football player?

- Well, I can’t say I’ve got one favourite football player. I  like Brown very much, and Ball, and Baker.

- You don’t like the Panthers, then?

- I quite like some of them but I prefer to watch the Rovers playing.

2. Reproduce the dialogue with another student in class.

3. Make up your own dialogues. Express a preference for something or lack of preference.

Prompts: I prefer skating to skiing (football – hockey; tennis – volleyball; swimming – running; cycling – walking). I like both skating and skiing. I haven’t got any particular preferences.

      9. Write it

Write about a match or game you have seen or heard.

Say what kind of match or game it was, who took part, who you supported and who won.

Also say what you thought about the referee, if he or she was fair, if your heroes did well or failed and how you felt about the result.

10. Vocabulary activity

1. Use a dictionary and give another word for:

Competition, trainer, opponent, score, fight, aim.

* Model: Competition – contest.

2. Find some opposites for the following words. Illustrate the meanings of the words with some examples.

* Model: Winner – looser. The winner received a silver cup. John is a bad looser. He hates losing and  complains.

Winner, professional, success, rival, widely-spread.

3. Select the odd word that does not fit into a list, giving  reasons for your choice.

A.  1. Basketball. 2. Football. 3. Handball. 4. Ice hockey.

      5. Water polo. 6. Volleyball.

B.  1. Stadium. 2. Court. 3. Cycling track. 4. Beam.              5. Swimming pool. 6. Gymnasium.

C.  1. Athlete. 2. Arbiter. 3. Archer. 4. Boxer. 5. Goal-             keeper. 6. Fencer. 7. Cyclist. 8. Gymnast. 9. Shooter.

D.  1. Competition. 2. Contest. 3. Tournament.

      4. Training. 5. Championship.

E.   1. Chess. 2. Marathon. 3. Squash. 4. Cricket.

      5. Hockey. 6. Golf.

11. Act it.

Group work.

Act out a scene from any sport. Some take part in the scene, others are spectators, reporters and camera people. Perhaps you can take real pictures and use a video camera?

Let the rest of the class guess what sport you are acting out.

12. Home task

Choose a sport you like and present it to the class.