A Teaching Plan for Unit 5 Senior Book2A The British Isles

The first period Warming up and listening

Teaching goals

1. Get the students to talk about pictures.

2. Encourage the students to talk out what they know about the UK and Ireland.

3. Help the students learn to get information by listening.

Teaching Procedures:

Step 1 Warming up

1．Lead-in

(1) What do you think of Jiaojiang? Which place impresses you most?

(2) A. There are not many visiting places in Jiaojiang as it is a newly-developed city. But what about our country? Think what words you’ll need to describe a country and then give a brief description of China.

B. There are many famous places in China. Think out one and describe it, letting others guess which place it is.

2. Show pictures of some famous places of China. Ask: Where are they taken?

3. Show pictures of some places of the British Isles and ask the students where they are taken. Then tell the students to say something they know about these places.

4. (1) Ask the following question: Do you know how many parts the UK is made up of? (Scotland/ England/ Wales-----Britain + Northern Ireland-----the UK + the Republic of Ireland---- the British Isles)

(2) Show the map of the British Isles to help the students to get a clear idea of some important cities in the UK and the names and the locations of different parts and counties and rivers.

(3) Then ask the students to look at some cities in the UK and to name them.

5. Group work:

(1) What is the UK famous for? Think about sport, art, architecture, literature, film, food and life. (Show some famous examples.)

(2) Talk about the geography, history, languages, culture, famous people, buildings and other things in the UK and Ireland.

Step 2 Listening

1. The teacher talks more about the languages in the UK and Ireland. Then ask the students to talk more about the education in the UK.

2. Ask: How are classes arranged in schools in the UK?

3. (1) Listen to the tape and tick the sentences which are true.

(2) Listen to the tape and fill in the timetable below.

(3) Listen to the tape and answer the following questions.

Step 3 Extension

1. Talk about our own timetable.

2. Have a discussion about the similarities of the timetables in our country and the UK and also tell the differences between them.

Step 4 Homework

Find more information in relation to the UK and Ireland on the Internet.

The second period Speaking

Teaching Goals

Train the students’ spoken English

Improve the students’ ability of imagination and debate

Practise expressing agreement and disagreement

Increase participation and learn from each other.

Teaching Procedures

Step 1 Talking about hot topics

1. The students are asked to listen to the 28th Olympic theme song and talk about the host city of Athens

2. Talk about the 28th Olympic Games

3. Talk about their favourite athletes

Step2 Group theme debates

Of the talks about the country and Olympics above, lots of things are talked about like the opening ceremony, island, weather, language, geographic position, medals and so on.. The following three topics will be talked about . The students are divided into three groups and each will choose one of the topic boxes

1. Box 1 Xiangsheng performance by the Chinese and the westerners. Is Chinese easy to learn for the westerners?

2. Box 2 Learning different positions of England by moving different parts. Is it easier to learn geography by going there ?

3. Box 3 Enjoying pictures of island or small countries like Iceland and Japan. Do island nations have advantages over other countries?

Step3 Tips on how to express agreement and disagreement

Don’t you think that…?

I don’t think that’s right…

I don’t think so.

You must be mistaken…

No, you are wrong thinking that…

I’m afraid you’re wrong…

Aren’t you confusing…?

I’m not so sure about that…

Surely it must be….

Yes, you are right, but…

Yes, I agree with you.

I believe that you’ve got it right.

Step4 Class further debate Is it a good chance for the development of China ?

Have a debate among boys and girls. They will express different opinions on the advantages or disadvantages of hosting the Olympics in Beijing. So it’s a good chance to improve their spoken English.

Step5 Homework

Preview the reading passage “The British Isles”

The third period Reading

Teaching goals

Get the students to know more about the British Isles and learn more new words and their usages.

Teaching procedures

Step 1 Presentation

Show the students four pictures and ask them to guess a country name which is related to all of them. ( The answer is the United Kingdom. )

Ask the students: How much do you know about the united kingdom? Tell the students: Today we are going to read a passage about the British Isles.

Step 2 Fast reading

Get the students to skim the passage and match the paragraphs and the topics.

Then let the students take a look at the map of the British Isles and tell me the place names of the different numbers on the map.

Step 3 Careful reading

Ask the students to read the passage carefully and decide whether the following sentences are true or false.

( ) 1. Many people around the world study English, and they know a lot about British culture.

( ) 2. Great Britain is made up of four countries.

( ) 3. The island of Britain is separated from France by the English Channel.

( ) 4. Scotland is colder throughout the year, but receives less rain.

( ) 5. People from different parts of northern Europe settled in England, so the culture of the people of the British Isles was influenced by them.

( ) 6. The southern part of Ireland is now an independent republic.

( ) 7. In modern time, people throughout the British Isles only speak English.

Step 4 Discussion

Show the students some pictures of the three countries of the British Isles and then ask: If you have got the chance to visit one of the three countries of the British Isles, which country will you choose and why?

Imagine that you are going on a four-week trip through the UK. Make a travel plan in which you describe where you go, how long you will stay and why, and what clothes and things you will take.

Step 5 Homework

Write a short passage about the Dachen Isles.

The fourth period Grammar and Language study

Teaching goals

1. Learn about the appositive clause.

2. Identify noun clauses.

3. Enable students to use new words.

Teaching procedures

Step 1 Review the vocabulary and complete the sentences.

a. Students work in pairs first.

b. The teacher check the answers.

Step 2 Brainstorming

a. Review the text and present the appositive clause by asking questions:

1.What impresses you most in the passage ?

The fact that … impresses me most.

2.What have you already known before reading the passage ?

I have known the fact that …

3.Did you hear any news about Britain recently ?

I heard the news that …

b. Collect answers as many as possible ,reminding students

of sentence structure if find errors.

Step 3 Grammar Explanation

a. Get students to identify the clauses .

c. Try to make students tell the differences between appositive clause and attributive clause by comparing the sentences.

1.The news that the plane would take off on time made everybody happy.

2.The news that is spreading around the airport is that a heavy storm is coming.

3.The suggestion that students should learn something practical is worth considering.

4.The suggestion that they are considering is that students should learn something practical.

c. The teacher offers explanation if necessary.

Step 4 Tell the function of the following sentences.

1.The idea that Great Britain is made up of three countries’ Corner ,Big Ben and the Tower of London is past.

2.The fact that Great Britain is made up of three countries is still unknown to many.

3.The result of so much French influence was that the English language ended up with many French words such as table, animal and age.

4.Some people feel that Wales is an ancient fairy land.

5.That most of these are now threatened and may disappear is a serious matter to the people in Britain.

6.They realize that it is of great value to record and teach them to the younger generation.

Step 5 Consolidation

Consolidate what have been learned by doing further exercises.

The Fifth Period Integrative Skills

Teaching Goals:

1. Learn to describe the countryside, the cities, the people and their life by reading the passage.

2. Learn things about the city Salisbury.

3. Know more about Britain.

4. Cultivate the students’ abilities of concluding and reasoning.

Teaching procedures:

Step 1: Lead in

Teacher plays the video clip from “Robinson Crusoe” and asks the students “Have you ever seen this film?”

“Who wrote the story?”

“Do you know something about Daniel Defoe?”

Teacher explains:

(About the author: Daniel Defoe, the son of a butcher, was born in London in 1660 and died in 1731.He attended Morton’s Academy, a school for Dissenters at Newington Green with the intension of becoming a minister, but he changed his mind and became a hosiery merchant instead. He was once a journalist and was employed by a Troy government official as a spy. And was sent to prison several times for his political works. He wrote many books all his life, among which Robinson Crusoe is the most famous one.)

From the passage we read in the previous lesson, we’ve known something about the British Isles, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Now we all know England is a good place to travel to. Today we will read a passage about Daniel Defoe’s visit to Salisbury in southern England. What did he see there? What places did he visit? Let’s read the passage and you will find the answers to the questions above.

Step 2: Reading

Ok, let’s see what Daniel Defoe writes about Salisbury. Read the passage and try to find the main idea of each paragraph.

Para.1: The landscape near the city.

Question: what did he see all round the city of Salisbury?

He saw six hundred thousand sheep fed within six miles of Salisbury.

(Teacher presents a video clip of sheep fed on the grass.)

Para.2: Historical relics around the city.

Question: Here in this paragraph Daniel Defoe gave us one example----the cathedral. What is the cathedral famous for? What does he think of it? The answer is the last sentence of this paragraph.

(Play the video and let the students enjoy it. While playing, the teacher explains it.

About the video: The video clip shows both the exterior and interior of the cathedral. Walking into the cathedral we get the chance to experience the typical scene of western church: music is playing and people praying in the church. )

Para.3 What we can see in the city.

(The teacher presents a picture of the location of Salisbury and illustrates it, especially the two rivers.)

Para.4: The people, their life, work and culture.

Question: What are the two important kinds of produce and trade?

How’s people’s life there?

Para.5: The wider landscape around the city.

(The teacher plays the video about the wider landscape around the city.

About the video: It shows small streets and people in the streets, the everyday life of the British people.)

Step 3 Extension

1. More to know about life in Britain: When talking about life in England, we just can’t miss one thing---pub. Pubs play an important part in people’s lives. It is a good place to meet friends and talk and drink beers. English villages are small and cozy. Lots of pubs can be found

with names like “The Red Lion”, “The Black Horse”, “The Rose and Crown”, “The King and Queen” and “The George and Dragon”. Lots of gorgeous food like pies, steaks, chips, big sandwiches, sausages and mash (potatoes!) and lots of different types of beer: bitter, lager (a light-colored beer), ale (a type of beer made from malt), etc!!!

(A video clip is presented about a pub.)

About football: Football is Britain’s national game. It was invented in Britain as far back as the 12th century, became an organized spectator sport in 19th century, and is now played in vast stadiums watched by tens of thousands of fervent supporters. Football is one of the few things that obsessed the British. And David Beckham is one of the most famous football stars. In the video we can see many college students playing football very early in the morning.

2. Let the students say something about the British Isles as far as they know.

Step 4 Homework:

Now you know how to describe a city’s landscape, the people and their lives after reading this passage. And today’s homework:

1. Choose any place you know or you like and write a short passage about it.

2. With the help of the Internet, try to collect as much information as possible and make a PowerPoint presentation in the next period.