Проблемно-поисковое чтение. Разработка урока на тему "Across the USA"

Разработка урока: «Across the USA»

Смагулова Слушаш Кажкеновна, учитель английского языка высшей категории, КГУ средняя школа-лицей №2, Ерейментауский район, Акмолинская область

          Использование проблемно-поисковых заданий можно использовать при работе со страноведческим материалом.

Цели урока: 1. Проблемный метод в чтении страноведческих текстов будет способствовать активному усвоению языковых и лингво-культуроведческих знаний учащихся. 2. Учащиеся накопят опыт овладения проблемно-поисковыми приемами чтения. 3. Будут способны переносить выработанные навыки и умения решения проблемно-поисковых задач в говорении и письмо на английском. 4. Смогут реализовать полученную с помощью чтения информацию в проектных работах.

Today we are going across the USA.

Now let’s begin  with the text. Read the text about the USA. The numbers in brackets refer to the following  questions try to answer each question when you reach it. First pay attention to the unknown words from the text.

Amazingly, associated with, border, headquarters , movie industry, sunshine,

1. What are the three largest countries?

2. Which are the two countries with more people?

3. What is the name of this federal district?

4. What are the names of these two states?

5. What are the names of these two countries?

6. Which state is this?

7. Which  state is this?

8. Which city is this?

                                                The USA

The United States of America is the world’s fourth largest country in area(1) and the third largest country in population size.(2) There are 50 states in the union, plus one federal district which is not in any state(3). Two of the states are outside the borders of the main nation.(4).Amazingly for such a large country, the USA only has borders with two other countries(5).Interestingly, the largest state has the smallest population of any of the states (6).  The state with the biggest population is usually associated with computers, sunshine and the movie industry (7). The largest city is an important financial centre and is also the place where the United Nations has its headquarters (8).

Today at the lesson you have an opportunity to widen your knowledge about the USA.

Now work in groups. Look at the map of the USA .What do you know about the named cities?

Choose a city for your group and make notes about what you know. Share your information in pairs , then in your groups.

Now you are going to hear some information about five of the cities named on the map. But before pay attention to these words. Can you predict the cities that are connected with these words?

bridge  cosmetics  criminal gangs  desert  European  film industry  French  gambling  get married  Hollywood  jazz clubs  lake  natural harbor  skyscrapers  windy city

Now you may check your predictions reading this information.

Los Angeles is situated on the west coast of the United States, in Southern California. It is the second biggest city in the United States after New York. It is famous because of Hollywood, where the American film industry is located but it is also an important manufacturing centre, especially of cosmetics.

Las Vegas is a city in the middle of the Nevada desert. It is famous as a place where people go gambling. In the past, Nevada was the only US state where gambling was legal, although now there are other places as well. There is very little to do in Las Vegas except gamble, although a lot of people go there to get married.

San Francisco is situated to the north of los Angeles, in Northern California. The city was built around a huge bay, the second largest natural harbor in the world. It also has some of the most beautiful bridges in the country, including the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge. Although it is now a major financial centre, San Francisco is also the place where some of the great rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s lived and worked.

Chicago is one the shore of Lake Michigan. Chicago is called the windy city, although the winds here are no stronger than any other city. The expression ‘windy city’ goes back to a story about a mayor of Chicago many years ago, who didn’t like having confrontations with local criminal gangs and always avoided upsetting them. ‘Windy’ can also mean cowardly.

If you feel like listening to good jazz and eating excellent food, then New Orleans in Louisiana is the place to visit. New Orleans was founded and developed by the French, and a lot of French-speaking Canadians went there when they were driven out of Quebec and Nova Scotia by the British in the eighteenth century. It has one of the most famous streets in the country. Bourbon Street, where you can find lots of the excellent jazz clubs that exist in the city.

Work in pairs. Many US place names have Native American or Spanish origins. Below left is a list of names of US states or cities, and o the right are the meanings of their names (not in the right order).

Student A: Read the origins of the names.

Student B: Try to guess which meaning refers to which city or state.

You may use the following.

Arizona                                      hot furnace

California                                   people of the big hill

Chicago                                      cloudy water

Massachusetts                           snowy mountain range

Minnesota                                  small place by the spring

Nevada                                      friends

Oklahoma                                  garlic place

Texas                                         red people

Arizona: There are two possible origins for the name. Spanish speakers like to say that it comes from arida zona, which means dry zone. But the original Native American word arizonac means small place by the spring.

California: Spanish speakers say it means caliente fornalla, which means hot furnace. The other possibility is that Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico, named the region after Caliphia, the queen of a mythical Greek island.

Chicago: The name was first given to the river, and then to the city. It is an Algonquian name, meaning garlic place.

Massachusetts: This is a Native American word which means people of the big hill.

Minnesota: The name comes from the language of the Sioux tribe and means cloudy water.

Nevada: The name refers to the mountains in the region, which were named Sierra Nevada by the Spanish colonists, in memory of  the mountain chain in Spain. It means snowy mountain range.

Oklahoma: The name comes from the language of the Chocktaw tribe and means red people.

Texas: The name comes from the Spanish word tejas and Native American word techas, meaning friends.

At home you should write ten factual questions based on information in this unit. Plot a route across the USA from New York to Los Angeles.