Урок "Брейн - Ринг" по теме "Famous People"

УРОК В ФОРМЕ “BRAIN-RING” ПО ТЕМЕ “FAMOUS PEOPLE”

Цели:

- активизировать умения и навыки учащихся в аудировании и устной речи;

- воспитывать учащихся на примерах жизни знаменитых людей;

- развивать навыки самостоятельной работы и творчества.

Оборудование: фотографии знаменитых людей,музыкальные записи.

Ход урока

T.: Today we have a Brain-Ring. The topics under discussion are “Science”, “Cinema”, “Music”, “Literature”. We have 4 teams.

The problem under discussion is “Science”.

As we know science plays a very important role in the life of people. There are many scientists whose names are well known all over the world.

Question №1

Who wrote the books “The Origin of Species” and “The Decent of Man”?

What do you know about this scientist?

- Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born in England in 1809. When he was a boy he liked to run with dogs or go hunting. He also liked to make collections. He collected everything: birds, eggs, minerals and even leaves. When he was 16 he was sent to the University to become a doctor. But he didn`t like medicine. He loved biology, zoology and geology.

Charles went on expeditions where he saw many plants and animals. In 1859 his famous book “The Origin of Species” came out. His second book “The Decent of Man” appeared in 1871. This was the beginning of a new period in the develop-

ment of biology, the Darwin period.

Question №2

He was one of those who made our country a researching state.

What do you know about this great person?

- Sergey Pavlovich Korolev

Sergey Pavlovich Korolev was the Founder of Practical Cosmonautics. He was the

chief constructor of the first Earth sputniks and spaceships. Korolev was born in 1906 in the small Ukrainian town of Zhitomir into a family of teachers. He spent his childhood with his grandparents in the town of Nezhin where he studied at home with a teacher. He was interested in maths, literature and he read a great deal.

In 1923 Sergey Korolev joined a Glider Pilots’ Club where he learned to construct gliders and to fly them. In 1925 Korolev entered the Kiev Polytechnical Institute where he studied aviation and maths, but in the evening he had to work for money.

After two years in Kiev Korolev came to Moscow and entered the Moscow Higher Technical School. During the Great Patriotic War he constructed a jet engine for aeroplanes and rockets. The first man-made sputnik of the Earth was a result of hard work of hard work of scientist Korolev.

Sergey Korolev died in 1966.

For his brilliant work in the name of science and progress he was awarded two Gold Stars of the Hero of Socialist Labour. People will always remember the names of those who opened a new era in the conquest of outer space, and the name of Korolev is one of them.

Question №3

This person was a very talented scientist. He wrote works on physics, astronomy, geography, history. Besides scientific works, he wrote poems as well.

Who was he? What do you know about him?

- Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Lomonosov is the father of the Russian sciences and outstanding poet, the founder of Russian literature. Lomonosov was born in 1711 in Archangelsk province. He liked to spend his time fishing with his father. He began to read himself then he was a little boy. He wanted to study and when he was 19 he went by foot to Moscow. He decided to enter the Slavic-Greek-Latin academy. He entered it and six years later in 1736 he was sent abroad to complete his studies in chemistry and mining. Lomonosov worked hard and he became a great scientist. He was a physicist, a painter and astronomer, a geographer, a historian and a statesman. Lomonosov made a telescope; he observed a lot of stars and planets with his telescope. Lomonosov wrote the first scientific grammar of Russian language. He wrote many poems. Lomonosov build a factory near Petersburg. It was a factory where glass was produced. He made a portrait of Peter I of pieces of glass. Lomonosov was the founder of the first Russian University. This University is named after Lomonosov and it is situated in Moscow. Lomonosov died in 1765 but people still know and remember him.

T.: This team has got 3 balls.

Our next topic to discuss is “Cinema”. The 2^nd team is invited to take part in the game.

Question №1

This person was the best known person in the golden age of the silent cinema.

Who was he? What do you know about him?

- Charlie Chaplin

With shoes and trousers too big for him, and jacket too tight, moustache, bowler hat and walking cane the famous tramp portrayed by Charlie Chaplin as the little man suffering all unfair things of life. He produced a figure that would be immortal in film history. Charlie Chaplin was born in London as the son of a poor variety artist and appeared on the stage when was a child. During a tour of the USA in 1913 he was offered an engagement by the Keystone film company. His role in the film “The Tramp” made him world-famous during the 1920s. He also played in such films as “The Child” and “The Gold Rush” produced by United Artists, a film company he founded in 1919 together with Mary Pickford and others. Chaplin continued his work when the “talkies” appeared and produced such film as “Modern Times” and his masterpiece “The Great Dictator”. After the Second World War he settled down in Switzerland. He died in 1977. Although he became famous in the USA he remained a British citizen all his life.

Question №2

The cartoons of this gifted man are very popular all over the world. Among them we can name “Pinoccio”, “The Jungle Book” and many others.

Who is this person and what do you know about him?

- Walt Disney

Walt Disney, byname of Walter Elias Disney    (born December 5, 1901,  Chicago, Illinois, the U.S.A—died December 15, 1966,Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los Angeles in 1955, and before his death he had begun building a second such park, Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Florida. The Disney Company  he founded has become one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates.

Question №3

He is the cinema`s great enchanter. His films have enthralled the young and the old across the globe. Yet many in Hollywood dislike this man. He made such film as “Jaws”.

Who is he? What do you know about him?

- Steven Spielberg

He seems to be the all-power wizard and a cinematic magician for us. His films make us scream with laughter or shiver with horror.

The son of a computer scientist and a gifted pianist, Spielberg spent his early childhood in New Jersey and, later, in Arizona. He was eleven when he first got his dad's camera and began shooting short films about flying saucers and World War Two battles.

At the age of 13 he won a contest with his 40-minute film Escape to Nowhere. At the age of 16 he produced the movie 'Firelight' and it was shown at the local cinema.

But a real success came in 1975, when Spielberg created 'Jaws'. That little fish tale became the biggest hit of its time. This movie opened up the doors for Spielberg to work on many more great projects. And he went on to shake Hollywood with 'Close Encounters', 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'ET', and 'Jurassic Park'.

Today, Spielberg is one of the most financially successful filmmakers ever. But his talents aren't limited to the movie set. Spielberg has also proved to be one of Hollywood's most nimble entrepreneurs. His business empire includes video games, toys and even restaurants.

But what is his source of inspiration? He draws it from his 7 children (two of them are adopted). Spielberg likes to spend time with his children. His house resembles a large playground — he keeps there 2 parrots, several snakes, and a fish tank. Ask him where he gets his ideas and he shrugs. "The process for me is mostly intuitive," he says. "There are movies I feel that I need to make, for a variety of reasons, for personal reasons, for reasons that I want to have fun, that the subject matter is cool, that I think my kids will like it."

T.: This team has got 3 balls as well. I ask team №3 to deal with such problem as “Music”. You know that music plays an important role in our life. We hear music everywhere: at home, in a concert hall, in parks, at the seaside, in the forest. Now you will listen to music. Your task is to define the author of this music and tell us about him.

(Звучит «Реквием» Моцарта)

Question №1

Whose music is this? What`s the title of this work?

Who is the composer? What do you know about him?

- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the greatest composers ever born. Like Shakespeare, he stands at the summit of human achievements. In every form, from serenade to fugue, from piano concerto and symphony to the heights of grand opera, his music amazes, enchants and invades the memory.

Thousands of books have been written about Mozart. Few lives have ever been so well documented as his, and yet he is one of the most mysterious figures in the world.

Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria.

He began playing the piano at 4, and when he was 5 years old, he already composed serious music. His father took him on tours to Western Europe and Italy and the boy always had success. Then the prodigy ripened into genius. The genius conquered Vienna and the world. Mozart's fame was great. He met all the great figures of his time, from Haydn to Goethe, from George III to the luckless Marie Antoinette. But then he suddenly fell out of favour. The Vienna aristocracy grew tired of him. He lost pupils and contracts, had to move from his comfortable house in the centre to a modest flat in the suburbs. The genius was forgotten.

Mozart died in 1791, when he was only 35 years old. There's a legend that Mozart was poisoned by his rival composer Antonio Salieri. There's no truth in this legend, though it inspired many great poets, writers and composers. But it has been proved that in the last months of his life Mozart really believed that he was pursued by a spirit, "the grey messenger", who appeared and ordered him to write a requiem. In the state of depression Mozart imagined that he was to write the requiem for himself.

Not long ago a 150-volume edition of Mozart's works was published. His works include 41 symphonies, nearly 30 piano concertos, 19 operas, a vast quantity of orchestral and other instrumental music, and volumes of church music (he wrote it mostly for financial reasons). His most famous operas are Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro.

(Звучит «9 симфония» Бетховена)

Question №2

Whose music is this? What`s the title of this work?

Who is the composer? What do you know about him?

-Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. He studied in Vienna under Mozart and Hayden. In Vienna he first made his reputation as a pianist and teacher, and he became famous quickly.

At this time he composed many of his most popular works such as the Fifth symphony, the Emperor Concerto, the Eroica and Pastoral symphonies, and his only opera Fidelio.

Beethoven developed a completely original style of music, reflecting his sufferings and joys. His work forms a peak in the development of tonal music and is one of the most important developments in the history of music. Before his time, composers wrote works for religious services, and to entertain people. But people listened to Beethoven's music for its own sake.

About 1800, he discovered that he was slowly becoming deaf. I find it hard to imagine being able to compose music as wonderful as the Choral symphony while being unable to hear the music except in one's head. It wasn't surprising that many people thought that Beethoven and his career were over. Beethoven, too, at times was close to total despair. After short time he withdrew from most of the social contacts. Once he even tried to commit suicide. However, he overcame his feelings and fears and continued to compose music. By 1820, when he was almost totally deaf, Beethoven composed his greatest works. These include the last five piano sonatas, the Missa solemnis, the Ninth Symphony, with its choral finale, and the last five string quartets.

In the fall of 1826 Beethoven caught a serious cold, which developed into pneumonia. He died on March 26, 1827.

At the time of his death and even now Beethoven is considered one of the top classical composers of all times, maybe even the best. To achieve such recognition, the person without hearing has to be of unbelievable talent, and determination, and this is exactly the kind of person Beethoven - the most remarkable composer of all times.

(Звучит джазовая музыка в исполнении Луи Армстронга)

Question №3

What is this style of music?

Who is the player? What do you know about him?

L ouis Armstrong was a famous jazz trumpet player and singer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential musicians in the history of jazz music.

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901. He was one of two children born to Willie Armstrong, a turpentine worker, and Mary Ann Armstrong, whose grandparents had been slaves. As a youngster, he sang on the streets with friends. His parents separated when he was five. He lived with his sister, mother, and grandmother in a rundown area of New Orleans known as "the Battlefield" because of the gambling, drunkenness, fighting, and shooting that frequently occurred there.

In 1913 Armstrong was arrested for firing a gun into the air on New Year's Eve. He was sent to the Waif's Home (a reform school), where he took up the cornet (a trumpet-like instrument) and eventually played in a band. After his release he worked odd jobs and began performing with local groups. He was also befriended by Joe "King" Oliver, leader of the first great African American band to make records, who gave him trumpet lessons. Armstrong joined Oliver in Chicago, Illinois, in 1922, remaining there until 1924, when he went to New York City to play with Fletcher Henderson's band.

When Armstrong returned to Chicago in the fall of 1925, he organized a band and began to record one of the greatest series in the history of jazz. These Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings show his skill and experimentation with the trumpet. In 1928 he started recording with drummer Zutty Singleton and pianist Earl Hines, the latter a musician whose skill matched Armstrong's. Many of the resulting records are masterpieces of detailed construction and adventurous rhythms. During these years Armstrong was working with big bands in Chicago clubs and theaters. His vocals, featured on most records after 1925, are an extension of his trumpet playing in their rhythmic liveliness and are delivered in a unique throaty style. He was also the inventor of scat singing (the random use of nonsense syllables), which originated after he dropped his sheet music while recording a song and could not remember the lyrics.

By 1929 Armstrong was in New York City leading a nightclub band. Appearing in the theatrical revue Hot Chocolates, he sang "Fats" Waller's (1904–1943) "Ain't Misbehavin'," Armstrong's first popular song hit. From this period Armstrong performed mainly popular song material, which presented a new challenge. Some notable performances resulted. His trumpet playing reached a peak around 1933. His style then became simpler, replacing the experimentation of his earlier years with a more mature approach that used every note to its greatest advantage. He rerecorded some of his earlier songs with great results.

Armstrong continued to front big bands, often of lesser quality, until 1947, when the big-band era ended. He returned to leading a small group that, though it included first-class musicians at first, became a mere background for his talents over the years. During the 1930s Armstrong had achieved international fame, first touring Europe as a soloist and singer in 1932. After World War II (1939–45) and his 1948 trip to France, he became a constant world traveller. He journeyed through Europe, Africa, Japan, Australia, and South America. He also appeared in numerous films, the best of which was a documentary titled Satchmo the Great (1957).

The public had come to think of Louis Armstrong as a vaudeville entertainer (a light, often comic performer) in his later years—a fact reflected in much of his recorded output. But there were still occasions when he produced well-crafted, brilliant music. He died in New York City on July 6, 1971.

T.: This team has got 3 balls, too. And now I ask team №4 to deal with the problem “Literature”.

Question №1

He was born in Scotland. Who was he?

- Robert Burns

Robert Burns is the national poet of Scotland. In his poems Burns sang the beauty and the glory of his native land.

Burns was born in Alloway, near Ayr, on 25 of January 1759. His father, a small farmer, was a hard-working man. When Robert was 6, he was sent to a school at Alloway Miln. Robert and his brother Gilbert were given a good knowledge of English. They progressed rapidly in reading and writing.

For some years Burns worked on the family field, plugging and reaping. The combination of hard physical labour and poor food in his youth that brought about the first symptoms of the heart disease which troubled him for much of his life and from which he died.

Burns wrote his first poem at the age of 14 for a girl who worked with him in the fields. After father's death he immigrated to Jamaica. His most creative years were probably 1785 and 1786. During this period Burns wrote his most brilliant poems. Burns published his poems in August 1786. The success was great.

Soon, in April 1787, a second edition of his poems appeared in Edinburgh; 3000 copies were printed - a very large number for those times!

Now Burns had the opportunity to see more of his native land which he so dearly loved. He visited some historic places, which made a great impression on him.

During the last 5 years of his life Burns wrote some of his best poems and songs. After a short illness he died on 21 July 1796.

Question №2

His plays were staged at the Globe Theatre.

Who was this man?

- William Shakespeare

In the history of Great Britain there are a lot of famous names. The name of William Shakespeare is one of them. William Shakespeare, the great English poet and dramatist, was born in 1564 in the town of Stratford-on-Avon. There were no theatres in England then. Groups of actors travelled from town to town showing performances in the street. Sometimes actors came to Stratford-on-Avon. The boy went to see all their shows and liked them very much. He wanted to become an actor. Sometimes he wrote little plays and staged them with his friends. When he was twenty one, William went to London. There he joined a group of actors. At first he only helped actors and then began writing plays for them. Soon Shakespeare's plays were staged more and more and became famous. The theatre where he worked was called «The Globe». It became the first professional theatre. Everyone knows Shakespeare's plays. The most famous of them are «Othello», «Hamlet», «Romeo and Juliet», «King Lear». Shakespeare showed the real life and attitudes between people. Love and death, friendship and treason, devotion and lie are the main ideas of his plays. Shakespeare's works will always be interesting for all people.

Question №3

This person received the first Nobel Prize in literature in 1907 given to an author writing in the English language.Who was he?

- Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling is one of the outstanding British writers. He was born in 1865 in the family of an Englishman in India. He got his education in England but returned to India in 1882. There he spent 6 years working in colonial English press. There he published his first literary works. In 1890 he published his first novel “The Light that Failed”, which brought him fame. He was one of the most popular writers of his time. During his life he visited South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. “Plain Tales from the Plain Hills”, “Barrack Room Ballads”, “Naulakka” enjoyed great popularity. During the years of Anglo-Boer War Kipling used to visit the English Army. His novel “Kim” was written under the impressions of the War. In October 1902 his “Just so Stories for Little Children” were published. His fairy-tales from the book were rather unusual for the British literature of that period. One can find the influence of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” in Kipling’s work. But this influence didn’t prevent Kipling from creating absolutely new, unusual fairy-tales. The unusual effect of his tales is reached by the rhythm and the music of words. Those who were lucky to listen to Kipling reading his fairy-tales noted that they always sounded truthful. Besides, not only children but even adults were very fond of “Just so Stories”. Together with “The Jungle Book” it still enjoys great popularity. Every year the children in “Kipling Society” write continuation to his fairy-tales. In 1907 Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize.

T.: The team has got 3 balls.

Question to the audience: What team was the best?

Who is the winner?