Урок "Hobbies. Interests. Pastime"

                                                          Hobbies. Interests. Pastime

                                                                   Level  - elementary

                                                   Oksana Viniukova, a teacher of English,

                                                     school #2, specializing in English and French,

                                                      Rubizhne, Luhansk region

Objectives:

- to teach how a story is constructed;

- to expand vocabulary, use the language creativity;

- to develop creativity, imagination;

- to involve the learners in storytelling.

Equipment: handouts with the tasks for listening and creative writing

                                               Procedure

I. Introduction. Warming-up

1. Exchange opinions about the activities which can be our hobbies:

- reading books (tales, fables, adventure stories, novels);

- collecting things (coins, sea-shells, stamps, butterflies);

- playing sports, computer games;

- creating stories in English.

2. Say what books you prefer to read or like, enjoy reading and what different books can teach you.

II. Beginning of creating stories

1. Name the adjectives for describing books characters: kind, strong, clever, silly, angry, lazy, hardworking, faithful, courageous, cowardly, curious, serious, naughty, sad, greedy, funny.

2. Name the adjectives-forming suffixes:

- our: dangerous, curious, serious, nervous

- less: heartless, tearless, helpless, cloudless

- ful: beautiful, wonderful, faithful, thoughtful

- ish: selfish, reddish, childish

3. Choose a story character: Jimmy and Dragon

Making a word web

Aim: to learn how a simple sentence is constructed; particularizing the details.

1. One day a boy found a dragon.

2. The brave boy found a dragon.

3. The brave boy found a small dragon.

4. The brave, kind boy found a small, hungry dragon, etc.

Boy: Kind; Brave; Strong

Dragon: Small; Green; Hungry

III. Listening and Speaking

I found a small dragon in the garden. I think it came from the middle of a dark thick forest. It was funny, green and wet and there were leaves on its back. I gave it many things: grass, leaves, flowers, chocolate, yoghurt, but it didn't eat them. It made a nest by the back door but it wasn't happy and it was  silent. I didn't know what to do either. They didn't come to see it! Then I took it back to the edge of the big forest and I said, "Go away! Go home!" And it walked into the forest and disappeared.

1. Guess which words might describe the dragon (wet, green, unhappy, silent,  with the leaves on its back).

2. Bare bones story: I'll keep on  stopping to say "I don't know anything more about this or that thing". You are to tell me.

e.g. One day the boy found a dragon in the... .

(I don't know anything about the place)... in the garden.

It was...(It was funny, wet, green...)

3. Exchanging opinions: What do you think the boy was right to bring a small dragon to his home or not?

4. Listening and Speaking (pair dialogues)

Two children had to walk through the dark woods to their home from school. But the problem is: there was a dragon in the woods. The dragon was only frightened of one thing - a whistle. The children always took it  with them. No problem. So they heard  the noise and wanted to take their whistle. But where was it? There was no whistle. The dragon came closer.

Dramatize:

a) the talk between two children;

b) the talk with the dragon.

IV. Creative Writing (Individual Work)

You are thinking of the dragon living in the woods. You want him to be kind and not to eat animals and people. Write him a letter and ask him to eat something else instead of eating people.

e.g. Dear Jimmy the Dragon,

       I am sorry you are very bad. You eat animals. Please, eat ice - cream. Let's be friends.

Yours,

.....

V. Homework (Individual Task)

1. Write an amusing, exciting or provocative end of the story.

2. You like a cruel dragon. Write him a letter.

3. Make your own word web.