Unit 1 Know yourself
Comic strip & Welcome to the unit
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. use the right words to describe people’s personalities;
2. talk about their own personalities and the job they like or dislike;
3. learn to cooperate with others and respond to the teacher’s instructions actively.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: eat up, creative, curious, energetic, modest, organized, order, keep … in order, show off, grammar, come up with, neither, nor, accountant
2. New structure: Neither my parents nor I think I can make a good accountant.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To talk about people’s personalities;
2. To talk about jobs and personalities.
IV. Teaching procedures
A Comic strip
Step 1 Lead in
Free talk.
T: Today we’ll learn Unit 1 Know yourself. People often say what matters most is how you see yourself. Do you know yourself well? Are you a(n) friendly/confident/honest person?
Step 2 Presentation
1. Show the pictures of Eddie and Hobo.
T: Do you remember our friend, Eddie? What do you think of him?
S: He is lazy./He loves eating …
T: Let’s watch a video and answer the question:
What does Eddie think of himself?
S: He thinks he is generous.
T: Watch the video again and answer the following questions:
What makes generous people feel good?
What happens to Eddie’s breakfast in the end?
Check the answers.
T: Does Eddie know himself well?
2. Role-play.
T: Now, let’s act out the short play. Please pay attention to the pronunciation and intonation.
B Welcome to the unit
Step 1 Lead in
Show some pictures of cartoon characters.
T: Do you know them? What do you think of them?
Step 2 Presentation
1. Listen to the self-introduction of some cartoon characters, and learn the new words and phrases.
(1) T: First, let’s listen to what Pleasant Sheep say and fill in the blanks.
Pleasant Sheep: I am Pleasant Sheep. I am clever, friendly and humorous. I like playing sports with my friends. I spend a lot of time exercising every day. Yeah, I am full of energy.
(2) T: Listen to what Big Big Wolf say and fill in the blanks.
Big Big Wolf: I am the cleverest wolf in the world. I want to know about everything so that I can think of different new ideas to catch sheep. I’ll eat up all the sheep. Do you think I can?
want to know about everything—curious /'kj??ri?s/
come up with different new ideas—creative /kri'e?t?v/
think of—come up with
(3) T: Let’s listen to the following tape script carefully.
Slow Sheep: I have more inventions than Big Big wolf. But I never tell others about it. I’ll try
my best to beat him and protect my children.
Question 1: Who is he/she? (He is Slow Sheep.)
Question 2: What do you think of him?
(He is clever, creative. And he never tells others about his abilities.)
never tell others about his abilities; never show off—modest /'m?d?st/
(4) T: Finally, let’s listen to Red Wolf’s self-introduction.
Red Wolf: I love my husband and son very much. So, I always keep everything in good order at home.
Question: Is she a good housewife? Why or why not?
(Yes. Because she loves her husband and son and she always keeps everything in good order.)
keep everything in good order—organized
2. T: Read the new words according to the phonetic symbol. If you have questions, you can ask your partners or me for help.
T: We have learned some new words about personalities. And I think some of you are creative, some are modest, and some are careful. Do you know other words about personalities? Who would like to write them down on the blackboard. Be active please.
Step 3 Practice
1. Finish the exercises on Page 7.
2. Talk about people around you with the words of personalities.
Model: My younger brother is very energetic. He often plays basketball for a whole afternoon without a rest.
3. Listen to the conversation of part B and fill in the blanks.
Millie is _______ and she doesn’t get angry easily. She thinks she can be a good _______ or a good _______. Paul is ________ sometimes. His parents don’t think he can be a good _________. Sandy often has ________ ideas. She likes _______ jobs. David is _____ and he loves talking with people.
4. Ask four students to read the conversation.
5. Discussion: What job do you think is suitable for Sandy or David?
6. Talk about jobs and personalities.
Useful words and expressions:
Doctor—careful, friendly, helpful Inventor—creative, clever, hard-working
Policeman—brave, friendly, energetic
7. Group work.
Talk about the personalities and jobs in groups. Use the conversation on Page 7 as a model.
Step 4 Summary
Discussion: What have we learned in this class?
Step 5 Production
Show time.
Make a report about yourself. Try to use as many new words and structures as you can.
Model: I am active, outgoing and energetic. I always play football for hours. My friend Amy is modest and creative, but she is a little careless. Neither she nor I can be a good teacher. I think she can be an artist and I can be a player in the future.
T: You all do a good job in class. We know that it is important to know ourselves. But sometimes it’s difficult. Let’s try together.
V. Homework
1. Remember the new words, phrases and structures.
2. Write a short article about yourself and your ideal jobs.
教学反思：
Unit 1 Know yourself
Reading (I)
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. read the article about jobs and personalities;
2. guess the meanings of the new words from the context;
3. identify the main idea of each paragraph in the passage by skimming;
4. describe the four people’s jobs and personalities by detailed reading;
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: born, impress, sculpture, praise, sales department, general, race, either or, lead, take the lead, fall behind, challenge, chief, high-speed, connect, connect to/with, miss, as good as, attention, pay attention to, standard, pioneer, surgeon, carelessness, extra, devote, respect, suitable, partner
2. New structures: Life is like a race. You either take the lead or fall behind.
A miss is as good as a mile.
As a doctor, you can’t be too careful.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To read the passage in different ways;
2. To describe four people’s jobs and personalities by detailed reading.
IV. Teaching procedures
Step 1 Warming-up
Free talk
T: Today, we’ll meet some outstanding people. They like their jobs very much. Now show me your ideas, what kind of person are they?
Step 2 Pre-reading
1. Watch a video
T: Who is this man? Let’s watch a video first.
T: You know him very well. He is the pioneer of Alibaba. He is devoting most of his time to it.
He says, “If not now, when? If not me, who?” Any time he is ready to take on new challenges. He always works to high standards. Now he is one of the richest in China. So people often say he is a born businessman.
2. Prediction
T: Look at these pictures from Sunshine Town. They are also outstanding in their fields. Would you please guess what their jobs are?
Step 3 While-reading
1. Skimming
T: Now please look through the text quickly and check if you have made the right prediction, also try to find what they think of their jobs.
T: Yes, Wu Wei is an artist, Su Ning is a manager, Liu Tao is an engineer, and Fang Yuan is a doctor. What do they think of their jobs?
T: Yeah, they are happy with their jobs. How can you get the information quickly?
T: Great! Pay attention to the title and the pictures while reading.
2. Scanning
Passage 1:
(1) Read and answer
T: Now let’s read Passage 1 more carefully and answer two questions:
What does Wu Wei’s best friend think of him?
What has won Wu Wei high praise from the art community?
T: Yes, his best friend said, “He is a born artist. He’s quiet and doesn’t like to talk much, but his work shouts.” And his sculptures for Sunshine Town Square have won high praise from the art community.
(2) Read and guess
T: Good job! Let’s do some guessing work. What does “his work shouts” mean here?
T: Yes, that is to say his work is wonderful. Then what about “praise”? What does it mean?
T: Excellent! How can we guess the meaning of new words?
T: I agree. Circle some key words before and after the new word or the sentence. It’s possible to find its meaning.
(3) Read and think
T: Wu Wei said, “I want to share the best art with people, so I’m always searching for something better or different. This in itself is great fun.” What can you infer from it?
T: I love all your ideas. He is so creative and of course he is happy with his job.
Passage 2:
Read and finish
T: Find out some information about Su Ning’s past and present.
five years ago
was an __________
only worked with ______
made me _______
(accountant, numbers, unhappy) now
is a general manager
is active and _________
love working with ________
is ready to take on ________ any time (energetic, people, challenges)
Passage 3:
Read and practice
Passage 4：
An interview between groups
T: Read through Passage 4 and do an interview with Fang Yuan in pairs. Try to ask more questions and give detailed answers. The team which gets the most stars will be the winner.
Further reading
(1) Thinking
T: What do the sentences mean? Choose the right Chinese meaning, and try to find out some supporting sentences.
Life is like a race. You either take the lead or fall behind.
A miss is as good as a mile.
As a doctor, you can’t be too careful.
(2) Listen and circle
T: Now I’ve collected many words about their personalities. Please circle them in your books and try to match the words with the four persons.
T: OK, Wu Wei is quiet and creative. Su Ning is active and energetic. Liu Tao is serious, organized and modest. Fang Yuan is kind, patient and careful. Different people have different personalities, and they also have different jobs. Are the jobs suitable for them? Why? You may use the sentences in the text to support your ideas.
Step 4 Post-reading
Listen and advise
T: The four persons here are all happy with their present jobs, and the jobs are suitable for them. Now let’s listen to a short conversation from Cindy, Stone and Tiantian. Write down their future jobs.
T: Stone would like to be an engineer, Cindy hopes to be an artist, and Tiantian prefers to be a manager. Would you please give them some advice so that their personalities can match the job requirements.
Share and report
T: It’s your turn to talk about yourselves. Think about what job you want to do in the future and if your personality matches the job requirements. You can share your ideas in groups, and then speak in front of the class.
T: I hope you all can have a bright future. In your daily life, you should form good personalities to get ready for the future job. I believe finally you can be the one that you want to be.
V. Homework
1. Search more articles about people who are outstanding in their fields and try to make notes.
2. Finish your own article about jobs and personalities and read it to your friend.
教学反思：
Unit 1 Know yourself
Reading (Ⅱ)
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. talk about what the four people do and their personalities;
2. understand vocabulary about characteristics and other important words;
3. describe people’s jobs and personalities by using what they learn in this period;
4. have a better sense of working hard and being outstanding.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: born, impress, sculpture, praise, sales department, general, race, either or, lead, take the lead, fall behind, challenge, chief, high-speed, connect, connect to/with, miss, as good as, attention, pay attention to, standard, pioneer, surgeon, carelessness, extra, devote, respect, suitable, partner
2. New structures: Life is like a race. You either take the lead or fall behind.
As a doctor, you can’t be too careful.
Carelessness will be a disaster not only to ourselves but also to patients.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1.To recognize and understand the important phrases;
2. To use the new words and phrases to describe people’s personalities and jobs.
IV. Teaching procedures
Step 1 Lead-in
T: Guess who he is. He is the great Greek philosopher—Socrates and he once said, “Know yourself, and then you can understand life.”
Step 2 Reviewing
T: Knowing yourself is very important. Do the four outstanding people know themselves very well? Now you’ll be divided into four groups: Su Ning Group, Wu Wei Group, Liu Hao Group and Fang Yuan Group. Su Ning and Wu Wei Groups will discuss who is suitable for the general manager of a big company. Liu Hao and Fang Yuan Groups will discuss whether you are suitable for your jobs. Give your reasons.
Step 3 Discussion
T: What’s your favourite saying? Why?
Step 4 Language points
Present and practice the important words and expressions mentioned in the discussion.
1. Life is like a race. You either take the lead or fall behind.
T: Look at the picture of Liu Xiang.
Liu Xiang is taking the lead in the race.
The other top players are falling behind in the race.
T: You know the story of the hare and tortoise. Can you say something about it?
S: The hare is taking the lead. The tortoise is falling behind.
T: In this race, either the hare or tortoise will win.
2. either ... or ...
T: If you’re planning a day out, what will you choose to do? Use “either … or …” to make a conversation
3. It’s necessary to pay attention to every detail.
T: When you go on an outing, what should you pay attention to?
S: …
T: pay attention to sth. 注意某事 pay attention to doing sth. 注意做某事
Try to complete the sentences:
Pay attention to protecting the environment.
Successful businessmen always pay attention to details.
4. I’m ready to take on new challenges any time.
Present new structures “take on new challenges”, “connect … to …” by talking about Ma Yun.
T: Ma Yun and Bill Gates are both successful businessmen. Ma Yun likes taking on new challenges. He owns Alibaba, Taobao, China Yahoo, etc. He has connected the Internet to people’s life.
It’s your turn to talk about Bill Gates. 5. He has impressed the whole country with his work.
T: Ma Yun and Bill Gates has impressed us with their creative ideas. Have you heard about a disabled young girl called Liao Zhi, whose legs were hurt during an earthquake? What about Nick Vujicic, a famous speaker with no arms and legs?
(1) Liao Zhi, the young disabled dancer, has impressed the country with her wonderful spirit and dancing skills.
(2) Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs, but he has impressed the whole world with his speeches.
Practice (Open task):
Watch a video about Nick Vujicic and Practice:
Nick ________________ me with ___________________.
6. Carelessness will be a disaster not only to ourselves but also to patients
T: Nick Vujicic can not only choose how to live but also face problems bravely. Now look at these two pictures. Use “not only … but also” to make one sentence.
T: So Not only my husband but also my daughter likes him very much. Some tips for you.
Careless is a humorous film. Not only children but also adults like it.
carelessness
T: Learn to use “care”, “careful”, “careless”, “carelessly” and “carelessness”. After that, try to make a summary about them.
Take _______. The bus is coming.
Be ________ with fire. It can be dangerous.
The less __________, the fewer mistakes.
Pay attention to your safety. Don’t drive ___________.
_________________ will lead to accidents.
8. As a doctor, you can’t be too careful.
T: As a driver, don’t drive carelessly. Carelessness will lead to accidents. That means you can’t be too careful when driving.
T: Would you please talk about your ideas? As a student/teacher/…, you can’t be too _________. In a word, one can’t be too modest.
Step 5 Other words and phrases
T: Read the four passages again. Underline all the new words and phrases and see if you understand them.
Step 6 Practice
1. Use some of the new phrases to complete the sentences
2. Description
Choose at least four phrases to talk about your hero.
(1) a born …
(2) win high praise from
(3) either … or …/not only … but also …
(4) take the lead/fall behind
(5) be ready to/ be willing to …
(6) take on new challenges
(7) connect … to …
(8) pay attention to …
(9) work to high standards
Step 7 My favourite saying
T: The American educator, Samuel Bubler once said, “Every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.” So love what we do.
V. Homework
Write about your hero’s personality and job, and share it in your groups.
教学反思：
Unit 1 Know yourself
Grammar
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. use the conjunctions “and”, “but” , “or” and “so” to join ideas together;
2. use “both … and”, “not only … but also”, “either … or” and “neither … nor” to connect the same part of the two sentences.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: impatient, think twice (about sth.), do the dishes;
2. Structures: Both Kitty and Simon are energetic.
Not only the students but also their teacher knows about the four people.
Either Simon or David is ready to take on new challenges.
Neither Millie nor her friends know about types of personality.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To talk about something with the correct conjunctions;
2. To use the verb form after “not only … but also”, “either … or” and “neither … nor” correctly.
IV. Teaching procedures
A Using and, but, or and so
Step 1 Lead in
Free talk
T: Today, we’ll learn Grammar of Unit 1. We’ve met four outstanding persons. Do you remember them? (Show the pictures of the characters we’ve learned.)
S: They are Wu Wei, Su Ning, Liu Tao and Fang Yuan.
T: Among them, I admire Wu Wei the most because I wanted to be an artist when I was young.
Step 2 Presentation
1. Brainstorming
T: How much do you know about Wu Wei?
works
hobby personality
saying
S: He is quiet and doesn’t like to talk much.
S: He impressed the whole country with his creative work.
S: I want to share the best art with people, so I’m always searching for something better or different.
T: Do you know something about his hobby? Let’s listen together.
(Wu Wei: I like doing something quiet like fishing and watching TV. I don’t like singing or dancing)
S: He likes fishing and watching TV. He doesn’t like singing or dancing.
Step 3 Practice
1. Show the picture of Wu Wei
T: Wu Wei likes reading and watching TV. Guess what TV programmes he likes watching.
S: …
(Play the theme songs of two TV programmes.)
T: He likes watching “the Voice of China” and “Dad, where are we going?” like you and me. Let’s talk about “the Voice of China” first.
2. Show some pictures of the programmes
Ask the students to describe the pictures, and join the sentences together with and, but, or or so.
(1) We can watch the programmes on TV. We can watch the programmes on the Internet.
We can watch the programmes on TV or on the Internet.
(2) The rules of the programmes are special. Many people are interested in it.
The rules of the programmes are special so many people are interested in it.
(3) The coaches sit with their backs to the singers. They listen carefully.
The coaches sit with their backs to the singers, but they listen carefully.
(4) The girl sang very well. Four coaches all turned their chairs.
The girl sang very well, so four coaches all turned their chairs.
(5) She didn’t choose Yang Kun. She didn’t choose Qi Qin. She chose Na Ying.
She didn’t choose Yang Kun or Qi Qin.
She thought twice, and she chose Na Ying finally. (think twice: 三思，再三考虑)
Step 4 Production
1. Discussion
T: We often use and, but, or and so to join ideas together. Let’s have a discussion: When we join ideas together, how should we use these conjunctions?
and join different ideas
but introduce another possibility/join two or more ideas (in negative sentences)
so join similar ideas
or express the results of something
2. Finish the exercises on page 12
3. Game time
T: You are so great. Now, let’s play a game to see which group will be the winner.
Here are the rules: You are divided into 4 groups. Try to make sentences with and, but, or and so. If the first student in Group1 makes a sentence correctly, then he’ll have the chance to ask the first one in Group 2 to make a sentence with any word of the four … If you can’t make a sentence in 5 seconds, your group will lose the game.
B Using both … and …, not only … but (also) …, either … or … and neither … nor …
Step 1 Lead in
Free talk
T: Just now, we talked about “the Voice of China”. You’ve done a good job. What other programme does Wu Wei like?
S: It’s “Dad, where are we going?”
T: This programme is popular this year. I also like watching it.
Step 2 Presentation
1. Talk about “Dad, where are we going?”
(1) The show is popular in China. The show is popular in other countries.
The show is popular not only in China but also in other countries.
The show is popular not only in China but in other countries.
T: Who take part in the show?
(2) Dads take part in the show. Their kids take part in the show.
Not only Dads but also their kids take part in the show.
Both dads and their kids take part in the show.
(3) Feynman is five years old. Joe is five years old too.
Not only Feynman but also Joe is five years old.
Both Feynman and Joe are five years old.
(4) Joe isn’t happy. Grace isn’t happy.
Neither Joe nor Grace is happy.
(5) The boy is so lovely. We call him Yang Yangyang. In fact, his name is Yang Wenchang.
We can call him either Yang Yangyang or Yang Wenchang.
(6) The two boys are wrestling. Either Joe or Feynman does better in wrestling.
2. Discussion
Please read all these sentences by yourselves. Then discuss two questions: How should we use these conjunctions? How should we use the verb form?
We use _________ to emphasize that something is true not just of one person, thing or situation but of another too.
We use __________ to add another fact to something you have mentioned.
We use __________ to mean one or the other, this or that, he or she, etc.
We use __________ to mean not this one and the other, not this and not that, not he and not she etc.
Step 3 Practice
1. Finish B1 on page 14
2. Finish B2 on page 14
3. A competition
Amy made an interview in her class. Look at the form carefully, and try to get the information. Then, let’s have a competition in groups. Try to make as many sentences as possible with conjunctions we have learned. One of your group members should write them down. If your group gets the most sentences, you are the winner. For example: Nancy is both creative and curious.
Step 4 Production
T: All of you have done a good job! Let’s enjoy a poem together to relax.
T: We all know that this poem is about my dream. Now it’s your turn to write about your dream or your school life. You can use this poem as a model.
T: When we write, we can use conjunctions if necessary. Keep trying, and I think you can write something beautiful one day!
V. Homework
1. Interview two of your classmates about their personalities and future jobs;
2. Write a short report about the interview. Try to use conjunctions.
教学反思：
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：
Unit 1 Know yourself
Study skills
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. understand the meaning of skimming as a reading skill;
2. get the main idea of an articles by skimming.
II. Teaching content
A new reading skill—skimming
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To learn how to skim;
2. To use skimming to get the main idea of an article quickly.
IV. Teaching procedures
Step 1 Lead in
1. Free talk
T: Boys and girls, can you tell me what you often do when you are free?
S: …
T: We have a lot of things to do in our spare time. Do you want to know about my hobby? You can find it by finishing the saying: ______ are the stepping stones of human progress.
S: Books.
T: Yes. Books are the stepping stones of human progress. I spend much time reading books every day because I think reading brings us everything. Do you like reading books?
S: Yes, of course.
T: I’d like to tell you a piece of good news. Our school will set up a reading club. If you want to join the club, please answer three questions about the reading skills. Let’s do it together.
Step 2 Presentation
1. Understand the meaning of the skimming
(1) T: Now, the first question is “What is skimming?” If you don’t know the answer, it doesn’t matter. I’ll help you.
(2) Show the picture of “skim stones”, and talk about it.
T: Look at the picture. What’s the young man doing?
T: He is playing a game called “skim stones”. People try to throw a little stone onto the surface of the water, and make it float on the surface as far as possible before it sinks. And here “skim” means “漂过” or “略过”.
(3) Make a choice
T: So, what does skimming mean while reading? Of the two idioms, which is more similar to “skimming”, “字斟句酌” or “浮光掠影”?
T: I agree with you. “浮光掠影” is closer to skimming. What does “浮光掠影” mean in Chinese?
T: So, when skimming, do we read fast or slowly? Do we expect to get the main idea or specific information?
S: …
T: Skimming means reading the text quickly to get the main idea. You can understand the word in this way: “s” stands for the speed of the reading; “m” means the main idea. I hope it will help you understand “skim” better.
2. Learn how to skim when reading
T: Since you have understood the meaning of “skimming”, let’s come to the second question: How to skim when reading? That is to say, how can we read fast and get the main idea at the same time?
(1) Show the reading process of four people. Ask students to tell if they are skimming.
(2) Discussion: In Which part of the text can we find the main idea quickly?
(3) Draw the conclusion: When skimming, read the title, the main headings, the first and last paragraphs, and the first sentence of each paragraph.
3. Find the main idea of the article by skimming
T: You’ve done a good job. The last task is to find the main idea of an article by skimming in one minute. I’ll give you three questions to help you:
(1) What is the article about?
(2) Is it true that some aspects of your personality are formed by nature?
(3) What can change your personality?
T: As you have answered three questions correctly, you have the chance to be the member the reading club.
Step 3 Practice
1. A competition
T: Now, let’s have a competition. We will vote for the best readers in our class. Who can find the main ideas of the following articles in the shortest time will be the best readers in our class.
2. T: We all know that reading is a good habit to all of us. Let’s share a saying about reading: Reading ten thousand books is like travelling ten thousand miles. In Chinese, we say “读万卷书，行万里路”. Actually, we have different ways of reading. Sometimes, skimming is useful. Sometimes, we need to get the specific information. Join the reading club, and more reading activities are waiting for you!
V. Homework
1. Skim one or two articles to get main idea;
2. Search the Internet to know more about reading skills.
教学反思：
Unit 1 Know yourself
Task
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. talk about a person with some examples;
2. write a formal recommendation letter;
3. do self-checking after writing.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: speech, absent, monitor, position, make a speech, be absent from school, agree with sb.
2. New Structures: We are writing to recommend David as our monitor.
We think he has many strong qualities for this position.
We hope that you agree with us
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
1. To describe a person with adjectives and examples;
2. To use the spider gram to organize the ideas when writing.
IV. Teaching procedures
Step1 Lead in
1. A guessing game
T: In this unit, we have learned a lot of words about personality. Let’s play a game to see if you have remembered them. I will give you some phrases or pictures, and tell me which words they describe. I hope you can give me the response quickly.
2. Guess: Who is he/she?
T: She is hard-working. She is willing to work extra hours. She often does operations for about 10 hours a day. She is a character in our book. Who is she?
S: She is Fang Yuan.
T: Now, describe one of your classmates like this, and others guess who he/she is.
Step 2 Presentation
Make a spider gram of Jackie Chan
T: What do you think of Jackie Chan?
S: …
T: Yes. He has many good personal qualities. Can you give me some examples to support your ideas? I’ll give you some pictures to help you. Then, make up a dialogue with your partners like this:
S1: What do you think of Jackie Chan?
S2: He is hard-working.
S1: You mean he works hard, right?
S2: Yes.
S1: Can you give me an example?
S2: Of course. He has played in more than 100 movies.
T: Now, look at the spider gram. It helps us organize the ideas clearly.
Step 3 Practice
1. Finish the recommendation on Page19 according to the spider gram;
2. Check the answers together and read the letter by oneself;
3. Analyze the structure of the recommendation.
T: Like other letters, a recommendation letter includes greetings, main body, closing and signature. Think carefully and tell me how to form the main body of the letter. What is the first paragraph of the letter about?
S: It’s about the purpose of the letter.
T: Right. That is to say, you should tell the receiver who you want to recommend and what position you will recommend him/her as. How about the second part?
S: It’s about the person’s personalities and some examples.
T: Great! And in the last part, we can express our wishes. We call it “conclusion”. Then, find some useful expressions in this article.
S: When we write the purpose of the letter, we often use the expressions: We are writing to recommend … as our new monitor/… He/She has many strong qualities for this position.
When we write the conclusion, we often say: “We think … is the most suitable/right person to be … We hope that you agree with us.”
Step 4 Production
1. Write a recommendation letter
T: Our school English Club needs a new chairperson and the football team needs a leader. Recommend one of your classmates to take one of the positions. Remember to make a spider gram first and pay attention to the structure of the letter.
2. Self-check
T: Now, it’s time for you to check your article. There are five aspects we should pay attention to: structure, content, tenses, word spelling and language.
3. Check in groups
T: After checking your article, read your article aloud in your group. Listen to others’ suggestions, and then improve it.
4. Show time
Show the best articles in front of the class. Make some comments on the article.
T: A good article should have a good structure, useful examples, right word choice and beautiful sentences. All these will help to create pictures in readers’ mind.
V. Homework
1. Improve your recommendation letter;
2. Make a poster of the student you recommend with the letter.
教学反思：
