About a Boy (110

Unit 5 Bullying

Chapters15-18

Lead-in

1.What are the problems school children usually face?

2.Why are some children singled out and terrorized?(looks, style, clothes, music tastes, behaviour, etc.)

3.Divide the following words into groups which you find logical.

eccentric, hot-headed, gifted, impulsive, depressed, anxious, sad, weird, brainy, tense, cruel, clever, nerdy, sociable, reserved, polite, friendly, dominant, lonely, bossy, kind-hearted

Which words would you use to describe a bully? A child who is bullied at school?

Watching

1.Watch the episode (11:47 – 12:12) with the sound off and guess what happened. Then turn the sound on and check your guess.

2.Look through the sayings below. Watch the episode (12:20 – 13:15) and name the authors of each saying.

(1)“Are you going to computer club later?”

(2)“Madonna! Go on, give us a song!”

(3)“You made me lose my football.”

(4)“..we don't really want you hanging around with us anymore.”

(5)“They've got nothing to do with me.”

(6)“We never had trouble with them before we started hanging out with you.”

(7)“Besides, everyone thinks you're weird.”

Why do you think Marcus is bullied?

Reading

Answer the questions:

1.Why does visiting Will become so necessary for Marcus? How does Will feel about that?

2.Is their friendship developing? Does Will notice any motion of paternal love towards Marcus?How does Will influence Marcus and vice versa?

3.How do they spend time together? What do they talk about?

4.Why is Marcus bullied at school? Why isn’t there any understanding of Marcus’s eccentricities?

5.Why is Will so concerned about Marcus’s problems at school? What makes him react immediately? Does it make Marcus feel happy?

6.Who shows more consideration for his problems at school – Fiona or Will? According to Marcus, Will “knows things”. What are the “things”?

7.Why doesn’t Fiona notice new trainers?

8.Why don’t schoolboys “appreciate” his new purchase? What do they want to demonstrate by stealing his new trainers?

9.Why does Marcus start to rebel against Fiona? (being a vegetarian, music, visiting Will)

10.Why does Marcus bring up the subject of “father figure”? Does he need one?

Vocabulary work

1а Complete the following collocations with the verbs in the box. Some verbs can be used

bComplete the sentences with an appropriate phrase above. You may have to change the form of the verbs.

1.Children who frequently ___ their peers ________ are more likely than others to smoke or ________.

2.Children have to know that they ___________ who is willing to help them.

3.While it is natural to protect your child by solving the problem for him, it’s better to teach him to ____________.

4.Children who ____________ usually expect failure and can’t cope with their schoolwork successfully.

5.James was a shy boy who never wanted to be the centre of attention. He always tried to

__________.

6.Bullies offend their classmates by teasing them or ____________.

7.There are times when even the best parents become too nervous and _________.

8.If you don’t want to get into trouble with those hooligans, you’d better __________.

2.Workwithapartner. Match the idioms in A with the definitions in B. How would you express the same ideas in your own language?

3. Find the English equivalents of the following.

подумывать/помышлять/обдумыватьидею, сдерживатьулыбку, битьпосамомубольному (слабоеместо, ахиллесовапята), промокшийнасквозь, не усложнять себе жизнь,прибегнуть к (сарказму), увиливать от разговора, уличный музыкант, вертеть в руках, быть в долгу, неброский

4.Fill in the correct word derived from the word in bold.

a)It is not enough to be …. You must also act.COMPASSION

b)Fear has its use but … has none. (Mahatma Gandhi) COWARD

Speaking

Discussion questions

1.Is bullying widely spread in modern schools?

2.Is it an inevitable part of school life?

3.Why is the atmosphere in the classroom friendly or unfriendly? What does it depend on (teacher, pupils, etc.)?

4.Are parents able to support and help children who are bullied?

5.Does peer pressure have a negative or positive influence on teenagers?

Role play

With a partner, act out a dialogue, giving advice to your best friend. Spend a few minutes preparing what you are going to say.

Student A. Your classmates give you a hard time at school. You don’t see a way out. You are scared and depressed.

Student B. Your best friend is bullied at school. You feel sorry and want to help.

Look at the conversation pieces below. Decide in what circumstances they are used and what emotions they express. (E.g. surprise, agreement, disagreement, sympathy, etc.). Try to use them in your dialogues.

Unit 6 Ever Played Truant?

Lead-in

1.Have you ever played truant? Why/why not?

2.In your opinion, what are the reasons for students to stay away from school? (problems at school, influence of friends, family problems, boredom, etc.)

Watching

1.Will wants to help Marcus. Guess what advice Will is going to give Marcus? Watch the episode(44:05 – 47:35) and check your guess.Do you believe Will’s advice will work?

2.Watch the episode (44:05 – 47:35) again and mark the sentences T (true), F (false) or NS (nothing said) after watching the episode.

1.The kids give Marcus hard time at school.

2.According to Marcus one of the reasons for being bullied is singing.

3.Marcus doesn’t cope with the situation.

4.Marcus never talks about his problems with his mum.

5.Will is going to take Marcus to the headmistress' office.

6.Marcus didn’t like new trainers.

7.The trainers cost 60 pounds.

8.The trainers were all the rage.

9.Will was happy to make Marcus happy.

10.Marcus was afraid Fiona wouldn’t approve of the present.

3.Answer the following questions:

1.According to Marcus what is the reason of being bullied out at school?

2.Does Marcus cope with this situation?

3.What is Will’s resolution?

4.What would you advise?

Answering the questions use the following words and expressions from the movie. Place them in the original context:

To chuck sweets; to give smb a hard time; singing without noticing; to be invisible; nothing to do about; the headmistress` office; to take smb shopping; to blend in with the crowd; trendy; to be hit by an extraordinary rush of well-being; a natural high.

4. Listen to the episode(47:37 – 47:55) and guess what happened with Marcus’s new trainers? Watch the episode and check your guess.

Reading

Answer the questions.

1.What are the chances for Marcus to become a habitual truant?

2.Why does Marcus lose his temper with the headmistress? What are ‘survival strategies’ she talksabout? Does she really sympathize with Marcus? Why (not)?

3.Marcus has never been cheeky to a teacher before, hasn’t he? What does he feel as soon as he leavesMrs Morrison’s office? Why?

4.What are Marcus’s speculations about truants?

5.Why has Will decided to take Marcus under his wing?

Vocabulary work

1. Divide the following words and expressions into groups which you find logical.

2. Complete the sentences with an appropriate word. The first letter is already given.

1. Jake used to a… classes but now plays t… all the time. 2. My brother can’t keep his h… on and gets c… easily. 3. Brandon s… a bad example for his classmates.

4. Unfortunately some kids are never punished for b… off school.

5. Parents as well as schools are responsible for c… truancy in middle schools.

3. a. Replace the words underlined in the sentences with the words and phrases below. You may have to change the form of the verbs.

to ask forfavours, hilarious, to nag atsmb, sulky, to keep one’s feet on the ground, scruffy, to blush, cheeky

b.Tell your partner about someone you know who …

a)isbad-tempered and constantly shows dissatisfaction.

b)isshabby and untidy.

c)isrude or disrespectful in an amusing way.

d)isboisterous, joyful and very funny.

e)annoys you by continual complaining or faultfinding.

f)is very sensible and realistic.

g)oftenbecomes red in the face.

h)continuously asks you to do something to help them

4.Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions from the text.

(1)шантажировать; (2) он ничего не мог с собой поделать; (3) не попадаться кому-либо на пути; (4) оскорблять; (5) нахальный; (6)настоящий прогульщик; (7)«среди бела дня»; (8) мало-помалу; (9) бродяга; (10) быть сытым по горло чем-то/кем-то; (11) вызыватьподозрение, (12) сыгратьвничью, (14) просчитать время до секунды, (14) раздавитькакбукашку, (15) «промывать мозги»

Speaking

Discussionquestions

1.What is a typical truant like?

2.Truancy can cause a child a lot of problems. What are they?

3.What are the possible ways to combat truancy?

Role play

With a partner, act out a dialogue, apologizing, offering an excuse and accepting or rejecting an apology. Spend a few minutes preparing what you are going to say.

1.You are Marcus. You feel sorry for being rude. Apologise to Mrs Morrison and explain why you behaved like that.

2.You are late for school. Apologise to your teacher.

3.You couldn’t attend your best friend’s birthday party. Apologise to him/her.

Unit 7 Friends for life

Chapters 19-21

Lead-in

1.Friendship is the most important relationship. Do you agree? Why? Why not?

2.What qualities do you think are important in a friend?What makes friends different from family?

Watching

1.How do you think lonely people spent holidays, Christmas for instance? Watch the episode (52:28 – 53:19) and fill in the gaps:

“I was going to spend this Christmas the way I (1)__________ did: (2)__________

___________ and getting (3)____________ and _____________.”

2.Watch the episode (52:28 – 53:19) one more time. What is the name of the video Will is watching? Are its characters right in your opinion?

Reading

Answer the questions.

1.What drives Marcus to get acquainted with Ellie? What kind of person is she?

2.What are Ellie’s interests? Why do you think she is always in trouble? Do you like her manner of behaviour?

3.You can see that Marcus takes to her. What kind of interest is it? What makes Ellie be interested in Marcus? Do they have anything in common?

4.Do you think friendship is possible between them? What will their relationship be like?

5.Does Ellie influence Marcus and how?

Vocabulary work

1. Divide the following words into groups which you find logical?

Which words would you use to describe a good friend?

When I met Tina, we hit it 1) … straightaway. We soon found we had a lot 2) … common and quickly became close friends. We always had really good discussions about everything that was important to us at the time: literature, movies, cooking. We fell 3) … a couple of times but made it 4) … immediately. I knew I could rely 5) … her and she would never talk 6) … my back or let me 7) ….

When we graduated two years ago, we went our separate ways and drifted 8) …. We don’t see each other often but we still talk 9) … the phone. When she comes 10) … for the weekend we have a laugh. I know she’ll always be there 11) … me.

3. Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions from the text.

(1) угрюмая неряшливая девчонка; (2)кромсать/отрубать собственные волосы; (3) нарушить тишину; (4) получать по физиономии; (5) твёрдо заявить; (6) придерживаться своей линии; (7) малый/парень; (8) толстовка; (9) забить гол

Speaking

Discussion questions

1.Is being a good friend a natural ability from birth or does it have to be learnt?

2.What makes people look for friends? Is it possible to manage without friendship?

3.Do you believe that there is an end to any true friendship?

4.What qualities do you appreciate in your friends? What makes someone special or bestfriend?

5.Do you make friends easily?Is it difficult for you to strike up a conversation?

6.Do you have friends who are older than you? How do you get on with each other?

7.Do you think it is possible to have a best friend of the opposite sex without becoming a girlfriend or boyfriend?Are all your friends of the same sex?

Role play

With two classmates, act out a dialogue, introducing people to each other. Spend a few minutes preparing what you are going to say.

1.Student A. You’re Suzie. Introduce Marcus to Will. Students B and C. You are Marcus and Will. Greet each other.

2.Introduce your friends who have never met each other.

Unit 8It’s Christmas Time!

Chapters 22-23

Lead-in

1. Read the quote by Kate L.Bosher and say what you think it means. (comment on it).

“Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for… something that you don't mind so much not having at other times”.

Do you agree with it? Why do some people dislike this holiday?

2.Read some people’s opinions about Christmas. Which three do you relate to most?

a)To me Christmas means a day with laughter, fun and not having to worry about problems. (Vera, 15)

b)Christmas to me: Good food, presents, Hallmark, no school - altogether, a top-notch holiday.(Matt, 12)

c)Christmas is to be with familycaring, sharing and loving and just being happy and being together.(Kaylee, 18)

d)Christmas should be a day for family, but any more it has became a day about how much money can be spent and how quick you can open one present to get to the next. (Jeniffer, 21)

e)Christmas is for children. For grown-ups it’s a headache, a chore, and nightmare.(Steve, 37)

3.What does Christmas mean to you? Is it as important as New Year? What are your expectations of these holidays?

Watching

1.Watch the following episode (49:25 – 55:20)andmark the sentences T (true), F (false) or NS (nothing said).

a)Will understands Marcus because he used to have the same problems.

b)Christine thinks Will is selfish.

c)Will accepts Marcus’s invitation without a moment’s hesitation.

d)Will always celebrates Christmas watching videos and getting drunk.

e)Will doesn’t like the presents Marcus gets.

f)Marcus’s reaction to the presents amazes Will.

g)Suzie wants Will to stay.

h)Fiona doesn’t like the presents Will makes.

i)Will has never enjoyed Christmas before.

2.Watch the episode (49:25 – 55:20). Enumerate all Fiona’s Christmas guests. What presents did they give to Marcus? Answer the questions below.

1

2

3

4