Aims:
- To practice using new vocabulary to discuss graffiti
- To develop Ss’analytical thinking
- To encourage students to express their emotional attitude to graffiti and its problems
Materials and preparation:
- Student’s book (Unit 6. Art today. Lesson 3.Street art).
- Power Point Presentation «A debate about graffiti»
- Recording for ex.3, p. 124. Lesson 3.Street art.
- Flashcards ().
Communicative area: expressing an opinion on graffiti, reasoning
Active vocabulary: legal, illegal, ban, vandalism, property damage, legalize, mural, graffiti writer, punishment, tag, spray paint.
Procedure:
- Warm –up.
- I know that most of you like to spend a lot of time in the street. Walking along the street with your friends you can see some bright, incomprehensible, huge pictures on the walls of the buildings, fences or garages. I think you’ve guessed what the theme of our lesson is today.
Teacher shows the slides of graffiti works (2 min) and asks Ss the following questions:
- Do you know what street art is?
- What is graffiti?
Graffiti is writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. Stickers and other adhesives are not considered graffiti. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and it has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.
- Have you ever graffitied?
- Every person has his own idea of beauty, what is beautiful for one person may not be attractive for another.
- Do you think adults and teenagers have different views about this street art? What’s graffiti for you?
- I know that many adults consider graffiti vandalism.
- Is it really so?
Setting the aim
- The aim of our lesson today is to make a decision if graffiti is art or vandalism.
2.Introducing new vocabulary using interactive flashcards ().
3.Pair work (3 min).
- So we begin with reading some facts about graffiti in Britain.
Read some facts about graffiti in Britain. Discuss in pairs which of the facts are untrue.
- Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.
- Cleaning up graffiti costs millions of pounds a year.
- Graffiti is now so popular it can be seen in many museums and art galleries.
- Graffiti is the second most common type of property vandalism (35 %) in UK.
- Sotheby’s auction house in London auctioned some works of Banksy (British graffiti artist), reaching over 102,000 for his Bombing Middle England. Two of his other graffiti works, Ballerina With Action Man Parts reached 96,000 and Glory sold for 72,000.
- Microsoft, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Toyota, and MTV have used graffiti to make their products popular among young people.
Ss report the results
Keys to ex.1: All the facts are true. Microsoft is the only exception as they haven’t used graffiti so far.
4.Problem solving.
Discussing the questions on the slide
- Is graffiti art or property damage?Both?
- What should we make of the graffiti we encounter in our day-to-day lives?
- Are graffiti artists bringing to urban environments creativity and colour?
- Are they making cities appear dangerous and crime-ridden, unwelcoming and ruled by street gangs?
When it comes to graffiti, two fundamental rights are in conflict with one another. The freedom of expression against the right to own property. The damage caused should not be underestimated; the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies has estimated an annual price tag of to remove unwanted graffiti daubed across Germany in just one year. On the other hand, a suggests that street art can raise property prices in a neighbourhood (and having the famous graffiti artist Banksy doodle on your wall is apparently the “jackpot”).
- a) Read the article below. What problem does Britain face? What do the authorities offer to solve it? (5 min)
The plan to ‘legalise’ graffiti
By Jonathan Duffy BBC News Online
Graffiti is illegal art and it’s everywhere in 21st Century Britain — on park benches and street signs, bus shelters and phone boxes, in car parks and train stations.
Authorities spend millions of pounds cleaning up after graffiti vandals and Tony Blair has lumped graffiti with drugs and mindless violence as “bad symptoms”
of modern society. In a hard hitting speech at last week’s Urban Summit, Mr Blair announced plans to ban the sale of spray paints to those under 18. But at the same summit, delegates heard an entirely different view. Instead of dismissing graffiti as vandalism, we need to “legalize” graffiti by funding giant murals in prominent inner-city sites, they were told by Kurt Iveson, an expert on urban issues. Dr Iveson wants to see graffiti walls, which are set up and run as ongoing projects, for artists to exhibit their work. The idea has the backing of Andrew Pelling, a Conservative member of the London Assembly. “Companies use graffiti imagery all the time to promote things to young people,” says Mr Pelling. “We have to accept that graffiti is part of their lives. So, I think graffiti walls are needed and, if they are going to mean anything, they need to be in prominent places.”
Keys to ex.2a:
Graffiti is illegal in Britain but it is found everywhere. Authorities spend a lot of money on cleaning up after graffiti vandals. There are two approaches to solving the problem. The first is to ban the sale of spray paints to under-18s. And the other is to legalize graffiti by funding graffiti walls in prominent places in cities for artists to have places to exhibit their work.
- b) What facts from Ex.1 are mentioned in the article? (B, D, F)
5.Listening.
Ex 3. a) You are going to listen to people in the street expressing their opinions about graffiti. Look at the chart.
What do you think people will say? Do you want to see more graffiti around town?
Would you welcome graffiti walls?
- b) Now listen and answer the questions in the first column.
Which speaker:
1) is for putting up mural-walls?
Why?
2) is a member of an anti-graffiti organization?
What’s thе name of the organization?
3) believes graffiti artists risk their lives?
Why?
4) is against making graffiti legal?
Why?
5) mentions two types of graffiti writers?
What are they?
6) invents a punishment for graffiti vandals?
What kind of punishment is it?
7) says why he enjoys writing graffiti?
Why?
- c) Listen again. Note down the details to answer the questions in the second
column.
- d) Let’s discuss your answers.
6.Debating on graffiti (Team work). Choose your role (for or against) and debate.
Suggested answers
1.For Graffiti:
-Graffiti can show messages
-Graffiti can be art
-A way for people to share their feelings and ideas freely
-It can help to improve the look of an area
-Kids are having fun and they’re not causing any other trouble on the streets
-Before graffiti artists, streets were grey, dull and boring places to be
-The town looks a lot more attractive because of the graffiti
-Museums and art galleries are now considering graffiti as art and placing it in their own buildings
-Graffiti attracts locals and tourists from around the world
-Spray cans are cheaper than using paints on canvas
-We paint on walls so that we don’t waste paper. Our art means that we are ‘green’ and don’t do harm to our planet
2.Against Graffiti:
-Waste of money cleaning up
-Waste of important police time cleaning it up
-We could be spending council money on more important projects
-Affects shop owners who have to clean their properties
-Money to clean it up comes out of our pockets
-More graffiti means fewer customers in shops or to an area. Fewer customers mean less income/salary/wage
-Has ruined walls, play equipment and trees in the park so children are too scared to go
-The so-called ‘artists’ should be fined to pay for the damage
-The streets are fine the way they are- we don’t need any colour to brighten them up
-We want to keep the streets clean and green and free of mess
-Graffiti is visual pollution. The sprays also give off toxic fumes (gas)
-Why should teenagers and kids decide what our streets look like?
-Every time you graffiti, it is still illegal so these vandals must be stopped.
-Bad influence on children, who may pick up a bad habit or see something inappropriate
-Surely it makes more sense to paint on canvas. Then you can actually sell your work for money
-Graffiti has destroyed road signs and made it confusing for road users to follow
- Work in pairs.
Describe the pieces of graffiti found in Belarusian cities’ streets. Do you find them artistic? Discuss the questions below in pairs.
- Have you seen graffiti in your home town / city / village? Was it mostly
tags or murals? Are there any authorised mural-walls nearby?
- Does graffiti make your town / village look better or worse? In what way?
- In your opinion is graffiti art or vandalism? Would you welcome graffiti on the wall of your house?
- Is graffiti illegal in Belarus? Do you believe graffiti should be banned? Why?
- Have you ever written / drawn graffiti? If yes, would you like to take part in a graffiti exhibition? If no, do you think it’s easy to make? Would you like to learn how to do it?
- If you were taking part in a street art exhibition, what theme would you choose for your graffiti piece?
- Setting homework.
Write about your attitude to graffiti for the Internet forum.
The lesson was conducted in the 10th form of Berezinskaya gymnasium by Vasilevitch Veronica Leonidovna, the teacher of English.
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