Unit 3 The Internet-Listening and Speaking
内容导航
This section focuses on the theme of online habits and Internet applications. It includes listening materials about students’ daily Internet use and oral activities about sharing online habits, helping students master related vocabulary and expressions to improve their listening and speaking skills.
1. 教学目标
Language Ability: Master core vocabulary and expressions about Internet use, and improve the ability to obtain key information in listening and express personal views orally. Cultural Awareness: Understand the impact of the Internet on people’s lives in different contexts and form a rational attitude towards Internet use. Thinking Quality: Develop logical thinking through sorting out listening information and critical thinking through discussing the pros and cons of Internet use. Learning Ability: Cultivate the habit of active listening and cooperative communication, and learn to use listening strategies to improve learning efficiency.
2. 教学重难点
Key Points: Master core vocabulary (blog, stream, discount, account, etc.) and phrases (keep track of, look up, add...to...) related to Internet use; be able to understand the main idea and key details of listening materials; be able to talk about personal online habits and Internet applications in simple English. Difficult Points: Accurately distinguish and use the present perfect continuous tense in listening and speaking; fluently express personal views on Internet use and properly use relevant expressions to participate in discussions.
Lead-in: Activate Prior Knowledge and Arouse Interest The lead-in part aims to connect students’ daily life with the theme of the unit, activate their prior knowledge about the Internet, and lay a foundation for the subsequent listening and speaking activities. First, the teacher greets the students and starts with a free discussion: “Good morning, everyone. As we all know, the Internet has become an important part of our daily life. Now, I’d like to ask you some simple questions. Please answer them freely. First question: How much time do you spend online every day Second: What do you usually do when you are online Third: Do you use any apps when you go online What are they used for ” After asking the questions, the teacher invites 3-4 students to share their answers. For example, if a student says, “I spend about two hours online every day. I usually stream videos and chat with my friends,” the teacher can respond positively: “Great! Your answer is very clear. ‘Stream videos’ and ‘chat with friends’ are common online activities. Let’s repeat these phrases together: stream videos, chat with friends.” If another student mentions using fitness apps or money-saving apps, the teacher can guide the class to pay attention to these expressions and write key words such as “fitness app,” “save money,” “discount” on the blackboard. Then, the teacher shows some pictures on the screen, including scenes of writing a blog, using a search engine, streaming music, chatting online, and looking up information. The teacher asks students to match the pictures with the corresponding activities and read the related phrases aloud. This activity not only helps students review and consolidate relevant vocabulary but also further stimulates their interest in the theme, making them more active in the subsequent learning. Finally, the teacher briefly introduces the learning objectives of this lesson: “Today, we will learn the Listening and Speaking part of Unit 3. Through this lesson, we will first listen to some conversations about students’ online habits, master how to obtain key information in listening, and then learn to talk about our own online habits and Internet applications in English. I believe everyone can do a good job!” Pre-Listening: Preview Vocabulary and Predict Listening Content The pre-listening stage is crucial for improving students’ listening efficiency. It mainly includes vocabulary preview and content prediction, helping students remove language barriers and better understand the listening materials. First, the teacher focuses on teaching the core vocabulary and phrases in the listening materials. The teacher writes the following words and phrases on the blackboard: blog, stream, search engine, keep track of, make a fitness plan, discount, account, add...to..., look up information. For each word and phrase, the teacher explains its meaning, reads it aloud with correct pronunciation and intonation, and gives simple example sentences related to students’ daily life to help them understand and remember. For example, when teaching “blog,” the teacher says: “A blog is like an online diary where you can write about things you are interested in. For example, if you like basketball, you can write a lot about your favorite team on your blog. Let’s read it together: blog, write a blog post.” When teaching “keep track of,” the teacher explains: “It means to monitor or record something regularly. For example, an app can keep track of how much you exercise every day. Read after me: keep track of.” For difficult words such as “discount” and “account,” the teacher can use pictures or simple gestures to help students understand, and let students make their own sentences to consolidate their mastery. After the vocabulary teaching, the teacher guides students to predict the listening content. The teacher says: “Now, we will listen to two conversations. The first conversation is a survey about students’ online habits, and the second one is a talk between Laura and Xiao Bo about using apps. Before listening, let’s think: What information may we hear in the first conversation Maybe the time they spend online every day, the online activities they do, and the reasons for using the Internet. What about the second conversation They may talk about different apps and their functions. Let’s write down your predictions on your notebook, and then check if they are correct when listening.” In addition, the teacher briefly introduces listening strategies: “When listening, we should pay attention to key words, such as numbers (time, money), verbs (stream, chat, write), and adjectives (cheap, easy, helpful). These key words can help us quickly obtain important information. At the same time, we should focus on the main idea of the conversation, not just individual words.” While-Listening: Conduct Listening Practice and Improve Listening Skills The while-listening stage is the core of the listening teaching. It is divided into two parts: listening for the first time and listening for the second time, with different training focuses, to help students gradually improve their listening ability. First, the teacher plays the first listening material (the survey about online habits) for the first time. The listening material is a conversation between Sam, Anna, Paul, and Joe. Sam asks his classmates about their daily online time, online activities, and reasons for using the Internet. After playing the recording, the teacher asks students: “What is the main idea of this conversation Yes, it’s a survey about students’ online habits. Now, let’s check your predictions. Did you hear the time they spend online and their online activities ” Then, the teacher plays the recording for the second time, and asks students to complete the following table (prepared in advance and displayed on the screen): NameTime Spent Online Every DayOnline ActivitiesReasonsAnnaPaulJoe
After students finish filling in the table, the teacher invites several students to share their answers, and corrects mistakes in time. For example, if a student writes “one hour” for Joe’s online time, the teacher corrects: “No, Joe says he spends at least an hour every day. ‘At least’ means not less than, so we should write ‘at least an hour’.” At the same time, the teacher emphasizes the key words in the listening material, such as “two or three hours,” “stream videos and music,” “look up information,” “write a blog post,” and lets students read these phrases again to consolidate their memory. Next, the teacher moves on to the second listening material (the conversation between Laura and Xiao Bo about apps). First, the teacher plays the recording for the first time and asks students: “What are Laura and Xiao Bo talking about Yes, they are talking about different apps, such as fitness apps, money-saving apps, and study apps. What apps do they mention Let’s list them together: an app that counts steps, an app that keeps track of exercise and diet, an app that finds discounts, an app that saves money by putting a little money into a bank account when paying.” Then, the teacher plays the recording for the second time, and asks students to answer the following questions: 1. What is Xiao Bo trying to do 2. What does the first app that Xiao Bo mentions do 3. Why does Laura want an app for getting rich 4. How does the money-saving app work 5. What app does Laura need at last After students answer the questions, the teacher checks the answers one by one, and explains difficult sentences in the listening material. For example, the sentence “I wish there were an app for getting rich.” The teacher explains: “This is a subjunctive mood, used to express a wish that is not possible or unlikely to come true. ‘I wish + past tense’ means ‘I hope...’. For example, I wish I could fly.” Another sentence: “I mean I want to add some money to my savings.” The teacher explains: “‘Add...to...’ means to put something into something else. ‘Savings’ means the money you keep in the bank or at home. So this sentence means ‘I want to put more money into my bank account’.” In addition, the teacher plays the recording for the third time, and asks students to listen and repeat the key sentences in the conversation, such as “I’m trying to get in shape, so I’m looking for an exercise app.” “It keeps track of how much you exercise and what you eat.” “Every time you pay for something with your phone, it puts a little money into a bank account.” This activity helps students improve their pronunciation and intonation, and lay a foundation for the subsequent oral practice. Post-Listening: Consolidate Listening and Transition to Oral Practice The post-listening stage aims to consolidate the listening content, deepen students’ understanding of the theme, and smoothly transition to oral practice. This stage includes two parts: listening consolidation and pre-oral preparation. First, the teacher organizes a “Listening Retelling” activity. The teacher divides students into groups of 4, and asks each group to retell one part of the listening material. For example, one group retells the survey conversation between Sam and his classmates, and another group retells the conversation between Laura and Xiao Bo. When retelling, students need to use the key words and phrases they learned, and ensure the logic of the retelling. After each group finishes retelling, the teacher makes comments, affirms the advantages, and points out the deficiencies. For example, if a group misses some key information, the teacher reminds them: “You did a good job, but you forgot to mention Anna’s reason for using the Internet—she thinks it’s cheap and easy. Let’s add that part together.” Then, the teacher guides students to summarize the listening strategies they used in this lesson: “When we listened to the conversations, we paid attention to key words such as numbers, verbs, and adjectives, which helped us quickly obtain important information. We also listened to the main idea first, then focused on the details. These strategies are very useful for our future listening practice. I hope you can remember and use them in your daily study.” Next, the teacher transitions to oral practice. The teacher says: “We have listened to the conversations about online habits and apps. Now, it’s our turn to talk about our own online habits and the apps we use. First, let’s review the key expressions we learned today: How much time do you spend online every day I spend... hours online every day. What do you usually do online I usually stream videos, chat with friends, write a blog post, or look up information. Do you use any apps Yes, I use... It can help me... / It is used for...” The teacher gives an example first: “I spend about one and a half hours online every day. I usually look up information for my study, stream English songs to improve my listening, and chat with my friends on WeChat. I also use a learning app called ‘DuoLingo’ to learn English words. It is very helpful because it makes learning words fun.” After the example, the teacher asks students to practice in pairs, using the key expressions to talk about their own online habits and apps. The teacher walks around the classroom, listens to students’ conversations, and helps them solve problems in time. For example, if a student doesn’t know how to express “I use an app to keep track of my study,” the teacher guides them: “We can say ‘I use an app to keep track of my study.’ ‘Keep track of’ means to monitor something. Let’s practice this sentence together.” Oral Practice: Deepen Theme Understanding and Improve Speaking Ability The oral practice stage is the key to achieving the speaking teaching goal. It is divided into two parts: pair discussion and group presentation, to help students improve their oral expression ability and cooperative communication ability. First, the pair discussion activity. The teacher gives two discussion topics to the students: Topic 1: What are the advantages and disadvantages of spending too much time online Topic 2: What is your favorite app Why do you like it How does it help you in your life The teacher asks students to discuss these two topics in pairs for 5 minutes, and requires them to use the key words and expressions learned in this lesson, and try to express their views clearly and fluently. During the discussion, the teacher walks around the classroom, provides guidance to students who have difficulty expressing themselves, and encourages shy students to speak actively. After the pair discussion, the teacher invites several pairs to share their discussion results. For example, for Topic 1, a pair may say: “We think spending too much time online has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that we can get a lot of information and relax ourselves. The disadvantage is that it is bad for our eyes and may affect our study.” The teacher responds positively: “Your view is very reasonable. You used ‘advantages and disadvantages’ correctly. We can also add: ‘Spending too much time online may make us addicted to games and reduce our face-to-face communication with friends.’” For Topic 2, a student may say: “My favorite app is ‘WeChat’. I like it because I can chat with my family and friends anytime, anywhere. I can also share my life with them by sending photos and videos. It makes our communication more convenient.” The teacher praises: “Great! Your expression is very fluent. You used ‘because’ to explain the reason, and ‘anytime, anywhere’ to describe the convenience of WeChat. Well done!” Then, the group presentation activity. The teacher divides students into groups of 5, and asks each group to prepare a short presentation with the theme “Our Online Habits and Favorite Apps”. Each group needs to assign roles: one student as the host, two students talk about their own online habits, and two students introduce their favorite apps. The presentation time is 3-4 minutes per group, and students need to use the key words and expressions learned in this lesson, and ensure the logic and fluency of the presentation. The teacher gives students 10 minutes to prepare, and provides help to groups that have difficulty preparing. After the preparation, each group takes turns to present. After each presentation, the teacher makes comments, affirms the advantages (such as fluent expression, correct use of vocabulary and expressions, clear logic), and puts forward suggestions for improvement (such as adding more details, adjusting pronunciation and intonation). For example, if a group’s presentation is too short, the teacher suggests: “You did a good job in expressing your views, but you can add more details, such as how much time you spend online every day, or what specific functions your favorite app has. This will make your presentation more vivid.” In addition, the teacher organizes a “Comment and Score” activity. After each group’s presentation, other students can comment on their performance, and score them from 1 to 10 according to the criteria of “fluent expression”, “correct use of vocabulary and expressions”, and “clear logic”. This activity not only helps students improve their oral expression ability but also cultivates their ability to evaluate others and learn from others. Pronunciation Practice: Improve Pronunciation and Intonation Pronunciation is an important part of oral English. In this stage, the teacher focuses on training students’ stress of content words and function words, helping them improve their pronunciation and intonation, and make their oral expression more natural and fluent. First, the teacher explains the stress rule: “In English sentences, content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals) are usually stressed, while function words (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns) are usually unstressed. Stressing content words can help listeners better understand the key information of the sentence.” The teacher gives examples: “I spend two hours online every day. ” In this sentence, “spend”, “two”, “hours”, “online” are content words and should be stressed; “I”, “every”, “day” are function words and should be unstressed. The teacher reads the sentence aloud, emphasizing the stressed words, and asks students to listen carefully and repeat. Then, the teacher shows some key sentences from the listening materials on the screen, such as: 1. I’d like to ask you some questions about your online habits. 2. It keeps track of how much you exercise and what you eat. 3. I want to add some money to my savings. The teacher asks students to mark the stressed words in these sentences first, then reads the sentences aloud, and lets students follow along. After that, the teacher invites individual students to read the sentences, and corrects their stress and intonation in time. In addition, the teacher plays a short poem about safe Internet use (prepared in advance), and asks students to listen to the recording, mark the stressed words, then read the poem aloud in groups. This activity not only trains students’ pronunciation and intonation but also helps them understand the importance of safe Internet use, integrating the cultivation of cultural awareness into the pronunciation practice. Summary and Homework: Consolidate Learning and Extend Practice The summary and homework stage aims to help students sort out the knowledge and skills learned in this lesson, consolidate the learning effect, and extend the learning content to daily life. First, the teacher summarizes the lesson: “Today, we learned the Listening and Speaking part of Unit 3. We listened to two conversations about online habits and apps, mastered the core vocabulary and expressions related to Internet use, and learned how to obtain key information in listening. We also practiced talking about our own online habits and favorite apps, and improved our oral expression ability. In addition, we learned the stress rule of English sentences and improved our pronunciation and intonation. I hope everyone can review what we learned today and apply it to our daily life.” Then, the teacher assigns homework: 1. Listen to the two listening materials again after class, and retell the content of the conversations in your own words. 2. Write a short passage (about 80 words) about your online habits and favorite apps, using the key words and expressions learned in this lesson. 3. Practice the pronunciation of the key sentences with your partner, and pay attention to the stress of content words. 4. Interview your family members about their online habits and apps they use, and prepare to share the interview results in the next class. Finally, the teacher encourages the students: “Today, everyone performed very well. You actively participated in the activities, and made great progress in listening and speaking. I believe that as long as you keep practicing, your English listening and speaking ability will be improved greatly. See you next class!”