Homework: Ex:3a Date: Form: IX Subject: English Theme: Small political parties in the USA Aim: • to familiarise PP with website materials and how they are presented
• to introduce cultural information about the USA and its small political
parties
• to practise reading for gist and for main ideas
• to practise inferring information which is not explicitly stated in the text
• to practise writing a formal letter making suggestions
Equipment: picture, dictionary
T h e p r o c e d u r e o f t h e l e s s o n 1. The beginning of the lesson 2.Checking up the homework T h e m a i n p a r t o f t h e l e s s o n Begin by checking the homework from the previous lesson.
Activity 1a
Objective: to practise reading for gist
Ask PP to read the text and answer the question.
Culture Note:
There are Green parties in most countries in Europe and the USA. Their platform is environmental protection, and freedom and social justice for all groups in society. They are usually in favour of non-violence and against any kind of fighting or war. They have strong support at the local level. They act as a pressure group, lobbying government on environmental issues and non-violence.
Activity 1b
Objective: to practise reading for specific information
Divide PP into pairs and ask them to read the questions first. Then let them read the text and answer the questions. You may need to draw attention to the date to give them a clue about what the disaster was (the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, in which many people, including some from Uzbekistan, died).
Activity 1c
Objective: to practise writing a formal letter
Ask PP in pairs to write a letter to the National Coordinating Committee of
Green Party USA with their suggestions for what can be done.
Activity 2
Objective: to practise talking about small parties
Ask PP to work in pairs and answer the questions. When most PP have finished you can have a class discussion about the answers to the questions. You could ask PP if they think it would be good to have a Green Party in Uzbekistan and what problems the party could help with e.g. the Aral Sea problem.
Activity 3a
Objective: to practise listening for gist
Ask PP to listen to the BBC 1 programme and answer the question. You could introduce the word 'pressure group' explaining that the Green Party is a pressure group for environmental issues and non-violence in the USA. In the UK there are also pressure groups who draw attention to issues that they feel are important. In the interview they will hear a representative of such a group talking about a demonstration to raise awareness about an environmental issue. Explain that there is nothing wrong with such demonstrations if they are organised and do not involve violence. In western countries it is traditional for people to express their opinions through peaceful demonstrations.
Tapescript:
Reporter: (Noise of people talking and moving) Hello everybody. Today we're going to join protesters in Berkshire. The environmental pressure group, Friends of the Earth, wants to stop the building of a new road in Newbury. Newbury's a pretty country town in Berkshire with lots of pleasant country sights. We can see a lot of people here. I would like to talk to some of them. Hello, can you introduce yourself? Mr Colebrook: Yeah ... My name's John Colebrook, I'm a member of the environmental pressure group ... Friends of the Earth.
R: Mr Colebrook, could you tell us the aim of this demonstration?
C: Yeah ... sure... The government wants to build a new motorway ... around Newbury ... and we don't want it!
R: But a new motorway will be more comfortable ... and better... than the old one...
C: .. .yea ... you see ... the problem is ... a new motorway will cut straight through some of the most beautiful countryside in the south of England. ... And thousands of beautiful trees will be chopped down ... it's terrible! We must stop them.
R: Thank you very much Mr Colebrook. Now let's listen to a police officer, who works here. Hello, officer, could we talk a little?
O: Yes, of course.
R: Can you tell us what you're doing here?
O: Well, we're here to protect workers.
R: To protect them? ... Is there anything dangerous here?
O: .. .Well... you see ... there're a lot of people... they're protesting against building a new motorway...
R: What do you think about these people?
O: ... erm ... I think they're right ... but ... we're sent here to protect workers and we'll do it...
R: Thanks a lot.
Activity 3b
Objective: to practise talking about environmental problems
Ask PP to work in pairs and compare their answers.
