Unit 1 Know yourself Integrated skills
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. read 12 animal signs and their corresponding personalities;
2. say something about animal signs in English fluently;
3. understand what you hear and write down the answers correctly;
4. express your opinions about the animal signs and people’s personalities with your partner.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: lunar, calendar, animal sign, represent, appear, fixed, cycle, powerful, lively, practical, loyal, in all, star sign, divide, divide … into …, shape
2. New structures: They appear in a fixed order and the cycle repeats every 12 years.
It is you who shape your life and your future.
It is said that people born in the Year of the Tiger are brave.
What it says about me may be true, but for my cousin Julie, that’s not the case.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. Some tips about listening;
2. To express one’s own opinions about animal signs and people’s personalities.
IV. Teaching procedures
A What decides your personality
Step 1 Lead-in
1. Free talk
T: When were you born
S1: I was born in 1999.
T: So you were born in the Year of the Rabbit.
T: What’s you like
S1: …
2. New words
(1) Present new words
T: (Show students the calendar)
Good news for you. Look, the elegant lady, Zhou Tao, a famous hostess, is so gentle in her daily life, but on the stage she is so lively and always makes us excited. This year she appears on Page 1 of CCTV calendar. We know this year is the year of sheep. In the Chinese lunar calendar, there are 12 animal signs.
(Write down “lunar calendar, animal sign” on the blackboard)
T: Here’s a video about them. Do you know what they are
T: As the video says, they appear in a fixed order and the cycle repeats every 12 years.
(Write down the phrase: appear in a fixed order)
(2) Prediction
It’s said that different animal signs represent different personalities. Work in groups and try to predict the most suitable word for each animal sign.
(3) Students read the information in Part A1on page 15, and then check their answers.
(4) Students fill in the blanks. (Write the answers on the paper in 1 minute.)
(Tip one: write the first letter of the word if time is limited. For example, Rabbit can be written “R”.)
(5) Talk about star signs:
T: Just now, we talked about animal signs. I have an English Friend Jack. He came to visit me last year. But he doesn’t know animal signs. Do you know why
S: Because there are no animal signs in the west. They just talk about star signs.
T: Clever. Here’s some information about star signs. Read carefully and think about two questions: NO 1. How many star signs are there in a year
NO 2. What decides people’s star signs
Step 2 Listening
Millie is interested in animal signs and star signs. She is listening to a radio programme about them. And she is making some notes. What a pity! She missed some. Can you help her (Part A2)
1. Look through A2 on Page 15
(Tip Two: Try to predict some missing words before listening.)
2. Listen and write down the answers
3. Play some difficult sentences again if necessary
E.g. Your star sign: depends on your _____________.
4. The middle-level students report their answers
5. Students read the notes by themselves and try to compare animal signs with star signs
6. Listen again and help Millie write an article about what she has learned from the radio (Part A3)
7. Check the answers in class and understand the two important sentences
Step 3 Do a guessing game
B Speak up: We can read about them just for fun.
Step 1 Speak up
1. Show your ideas: Do you think animal signs decide people’s personalities
The teacher gives examples first:
(1) I was born in the Year of the Rooster. The animal sign says that I am practical. What it says about me may be true. So I agree with it.
(2) My friend Helen has her opinion about it. Do you want to listen (Play the recorder)
I was born in the Year of the Tiger. The animal sign says that I am brave. But I am often afraid to do this or to do that. So I don’t agree with it.
2. Listen and answer:
3. Follow the pronunciation. Offer some tips about liaison and loss of explosion before that.
4. Pair work: Talk about animal signs and personalities and use the conversation on the screen.
Step 2 Make a conclusion
V. Homework
1. Read A3 on page 16 and try to remember more information;
2. Practice talking about animals and personalities with your partner;
3. Write down your own ideas about what decides your personality.
教学反思: