西安市八十九中 蔡曉燕

培養(yǎng)青少年一代擁有迎接各種時代變化、時代挑戰(zhàn)必備的心理能力，是現(xiàn)代教育要面對的基本問題。讓學(xué)生在學(xué)校學(xué)會生存、關(guān)心、學(xué)習(xí)、創(chuàng)造和自我教育，讓他們擁有良好學(xué)習(xí)品質(zhì)以及和諧人格，是現(xiàn)代教育的重要任務(wù)。但是，隨著社會文明程度的提高，社會影響的增多，教育方式的不當(dāng)，都無形地給學(xué)生施加種種壓力，增加了學(xué)生厭學(xué)、問題行為、早戀等等現(xiàn)象的出現(xiàn)。教育目標(biāo)與實(shí)際的差距性，常令人有一種"教育無能"的感覺，師生之間有一種莫名的隔閡，融不到一塊去。

怎樣消除師生差距，讓學(xué)生"親其師，信其道"，較好地完成現(xiàn)代教育的任務(wù)？我認(rèn)為應(yīng)該從心理層面去思考問題，努力挖掘?qū)W生優(yōu)點(diǎn)，以平等的身份與他們進(jìn)行情感交流，做他們的良師益友，逐漸走進(jìn)學(xué)生內(nèi)心深處。慢慢地，我發(fā)覺班里的風(fēng)氣一天比一天好轉(zhuǎn)，學(xué)生也都愿意接近我，并樂意聽我的建議和教育了。我把自己的做法大致歸納為以下兩點(diǎn)。

　一、學(xué)會賞識優(yōu)點(diǎn)，找回學(xué)生自信。

　　由于一些家庭教育和學(xué)校教育方式的不當(dāng)，不知不覺為一些學(xué)生設(shè)置了自卑的心理障礙，使他們懷疑自己的能力，這就從根本上束縛著他們的聰明才智，如果說自信是成功的基石，那自卑就是絆腳石。我們知道，自信心對一個人一生的發(fā)展所起的作用，無論在智力上，體力上還是其他能力上，都有特別重要的作用。在許多成功人士身上，我們都可以看到這種超凡的自信心，正是在這種自信的驅(qū)動下，他們敢于對自己提出高要求，并在失敗中看到成功的希望，鼓勵自己不斷努力，獲得最好的成功。是自信，為他們鋪就了一條通向成功的階梯。正如中國足球等待了44年，沖刺了7次，終于沖出了亞洲，這其中無不得益于米盧對隊員自信心的培養(yǎng)。可見，保護(hù)及培養(yǎng)自信心對人的發(fā)展是何其重要。因此，挖掘?qū)W生的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，讓學(xué)生充分展現(xiàn)自己，是培養(yǎng)學(xué)生自信心的基礎(chǔ)。通過留心地觀察，我發(fā)現(xiàn)班里一些平時被視為"后進(jìn)生"的學(xué)生身上也有很多優(yōu)點(diǎn)。如有一個學(xué)生，身強(qiáng)力壯，精力充沛，平常喜歡跟人打鬧，回家不做作業(yè)，上課經(jīng)常打磕睡。但他接受能力很強(qiáng)，記憶能力也好。通過與他交流談心，了解到在初一時他是一個好學(xué)生，后來表現(xiàn)不佳，常被老師批評，使他越來越對自己失去了信心。問他為什么不爭取機(jī)會表現(xiàn)自己，他的回答;“怕自己做不好”。我根據(jù)這個學(xué)生的特點(diǎn)，決定尋找機(jī)會讓他好好表現(xiàn)自己，找回自信。在校運(yùn)會上，我讓他參加跳遠(yuǎn)比賽。開始時他說他不敢，怕跳不好同學(xué)們會笑話他。我就鼓勵他說：“你能行，你們上體育課的時候，我看你就跳得挺棒的，相信你能跳好，說不定還能拿個第一名呢！”他在我的激勵、鼓舞下，開始有了信心，答應(yīng)我試試看。此后，只見他放學(xué)后經(jīng)常到操場練習(xí)，沙坑上不時飛躍著他的身影。后來在比賽中他果真取得了好成績，為班級奪得了一個冠軍。他從勝利的喜悅中體驗到了自身的價值，找回自信。我再抓住他記憶力強(qiáng)的特點(diǎn)，經(jīng)常在課堂上請他背誦課文中有關(guān)文段。他熟練的背誦，獲得了同學(xué)們的一片片掌聲。這樣，他對自己的信心更足了，以前一些不良的行為也慢慢地、無聲無息地消失了。現(xiàn)在，他正以一種嶄新的面貌展示自己，前后判若兩人。從這個學(xué)生身上，我總結(jié)了這么一句話：欣賞學(xué)生，鼓勵學(xué)生，學(xué)生終會如你一般自信。

　二、注重情感溝通，做學(xué)生的知心朋友

　　情感是人與人之間相互影響、相互溝通的一種重要方式。情感對人的認(rèn)識過程和行為活動具有啟動、支配、維持的作用。在人際互動過程中，情感還具有強(qiáng)烈的感染作用。我充分利用情感的這種作用，注重與學(xué)生進(jìn)行心靈的溝通，逐步培養(yǎng)師生的感情，使學(xué)生對老師產(chǎn)生親近感和依賴感，促進(jìn)學(xué)生對學(xué)習(xí)的熱愛，對知識的渴求。

　　在實(shí)踐中，我除了利用班主任的管理便利對成績好或某方面取得進(jìn)步的學(xué)生進(jìn)行肯定之外，還利用教語文的方便通過寫作文和日記的評語跟學(xué)生進(jìn)行交流。如有一次寫作文，題目是《假如我是……》，有一位學(xué)生寫了一篇《假如我是老師》，她在文中寫了許多假想，很有創(chuàng)意。我給她的評語：誰能成為你的學(xué)生，將是他最大的幸福。她看后在她的日記中寫道："我最喜歡這樣的老師，她寫的評語讓人看了心里甜滋滋的，而不是那“語句通順……”之類的話，枯燥無味。在評語的作用下，不少學(xué)生開始愿意接近我，有事無事的跟我搭上幾句話。我再利用班會課，經(jīng)常以平等的身份和他們討論問題，共同活動。如在一次"挖掘自身優(yōu)點(diǎn)"的活動課上，我讓學(xué)生先分小組互找優(yōu)點(diǎn)，然后再面向全班，由別的同學(xué)來補(bǔ)充。為了表示平等，我參加到其中一個小組跟他們共同討論。沒想到面向全班，讓他們幫我補(bǔ)充優(yōu)點(diǎn)時，他們鄭重地加上一點(diǎn)：老師平易近人，是我們的好朋友。當(dāng)時我真是感動至極。他們從遠(yuǎn)離我，到接近我，到后來開始依賴我，把我當(dāng)成是知心朋友傾訴心事。有的同學(xué)把心事通過日記告訴了我，有的怕日記說不明白，干脆跑來向我訴說。有一天，一個女同學(xué)哭喪著臉來到我跟前向我說：“老師，我好心煩，我覺得自己好倒霉，很多人都不喜歡我，連我好朋友的爸媽都看不起我�！遍_始我莫名其妙，后來經(jīng)了解，才知道原來她是剛從外地到本校不久，很多話音和習(xí)慣跟同學(xué)不相同，好多人就笑話她，瞧不起她。我先安定她的情緒，然后跟她解釋說：你不要太在乎這些人的看法，他們只是沒能欣賞你的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，你要知道，很多人還是知道怎樣去尊重他人的。既然他們不懂得欣賞你，他們的看法就不值得我們?nèi)プ⒁�。一個人的價值要靠自己以實(shí)力主動去證明，而不是被動地任由別人來界定�！拔疫�跟她說明我自己也是從農(nóng)村來的，我就根本不在乎那些人的看法，而是主動去尋找那些值得我尊敬的人去交往。關(guān)鍵的問題在于我們要先看得起自己，自強(qiáng)不息地追求進(jìn)步。這樣，我的周圍依然朋友成群，生活照樣充滿陽光。我的設(shè)身處地，現(xiàn)身說法，使她破涕為笑，跟我說：“老師，聽了你的話，我的心情好多了，我會努力提高自身素質(zhì)，增加自身的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，讓周圍的人喜歡我，那樣我也就不會心煩。我還要努力學(xué)習(xí)，爭取進(jìn)步，讓那些瞧不起我的人知道我比他們更棒�！毕襁@樣的例子真是舉不勝舉。我利用一切可利用的途徑，跟學(xué)生進(jìn)行交流，爭做學(xué)生的知心人。

　　學(xué)生的心靈是純潔的，感情是真摯的，只要你細(xì)心觀察，采用適當(dāng)?shù)姆椒ㄗ呓鼘W(xué)生，走進(jìn)學(xué)生的內(nèi)心深處。跟學(xué)生同體驗，共感悟，最終一定能達(dá)到我們的教育目的

如何提高課堂教學(xué)效率

西安市八十九中學(xué) 蔡曉燕

１．明確教學(xué)點(diǎn)。任何一堂課必須有明確的教學(xué)點(diǎn)，并且每個教學(xué)點(diǎn)必須有具體清楚、可操作的教學(xué)目標(biāo)。教學(xué)點(diǎn)缺漏或者模糊，會嚴(yán)重影響課堂教學(xué)效率。教學(xué)點(diǎn)的確定，必須根據(jù)教學(xué)大綱和學(xué)生的基礎(chǔ)精心設(shè)什。教學(xué)點(diǎn)一是知識點(diǎn)，是課堂教學(xué)的根本點(diǎn)，教學(xué)中應(yīng)突出重點(diǎn)，解決難點(diǎn)，圍繞知能的結(jié)合點(diǎn)。二是能力點(diǎn)，主要指掌握知識能力、應(yīng)用知識能力、思維能力、動手操作能力。三是非智力因素點(diǎn)。以上各點(diǎn)必須明確、到位。

２．把握好教學(xué)容量。課堂教學(xué)容量是一個相對穩(wěn)定的常數(shù)，量過大，學(xué)生受不了；量過小，學(xué)生吃不飽。因此，在保證完成教材規(guī)定教學(xué)任務(wù)的前提下，必須從學(xué)生的實(shí)際接受能力出發(fā)，隨時調(diào)控教學(xué)容量。課堂應(yīng)著重調(diào)控以下三量：一是授出量，即教師輸出的信息量應(yīng)圍繞重點(diǎn)加以取舍，以保證重點(diǎn)信息有足夠的教學(xué)時間。二是訓(xùn)練量，即學(xué)生接受訓(xùn)練的量，必須圍繞重點(diǎn)設(shè)計訓(xùn)練的內(nèi)容和形式，注意典型性、類型性，避免重復(fù)。三是活動量，即學(xué)生的腦、手、口、眼、腳等各部位的活動量，包括師生雙邊活動和學(xué)生多邊活動。

３．處理好教學(xué)的度。課堂教學(xué)必須注意以下三度：一是程度，包括難易度、深廣度、靈活度，要體現(xiàn)大綱、教材習(xí)題反映的程度，考慮學(xué)生可能接受的程度。二是密度，容量大則密度大，反之則小，必須做到疏密有致。三是速度，教學(xué)點(diǎn)難而學(xué)生不易接受，速度應(yīng)該放慢；反之，則應(yīng)加快。教學(xué)過程應(yīng)該快慢相間，要作“變速運(yùn)動”。

４．運(yùn)用好教學(xué)方法。教學(xué)方法包括教和學(xué)兩個方面的方法。教學(xué)方法著重在教師方面。從教學(xué)過程說，主要有三類方法，一是進(jìn)行認(rèn)知活動的方法，二是進(jìn)行技能活動的方法，三是進(jìn)行情感活動的方法。這三類方法都包括了教與學(xué)兩個方面的方法。教法主要是教師教授、訓(xùn)練、調(diào)動、檢測等方面，學(xué)法主要是教師對學(xué)生的學(xué)法進(jìn)行暗示、引導(dǎo)等方法。

５．重視教學(xué)中的情。情可分解成三點(diǎn)：一是情境，即課堂氛圍，是教學(xué)內(nèi)容所要求的教學(xué)情境。二是情感，即心理反應(yīng)，是特定教學(xué)內(nèi)容的情境所引發(fā)的喜、怒、哀、樂的情感反應(yīng)。三是情緒，即心理狀態(tài)，是師生參與整個課堂活動的心理保證。

６．分配好教學(xué)時間。課堂教學(xué)時間是固定的，而教學(xué)效果是不定的。提高課堂教學(xué)時間的利用率從三點(diǎn)入手：一是時間的分配，開課階段重點(diǎn)啟發(fā)５分鐘，結(jié)課階段畫龍點(diǎn)睛５分鐘，講課階段３５分鐘，其中講解１５分鐘，訓(xùn)練１５分鐘，鞏固５分鐘。兩個１５分鐘最為關(guān)鍵。二是時段聯(lián)系，各個時段不能機(jī)械地割裂，要處理好各時段之間的銜接。三是時段的效率，要減少無謂的消耗。

Unit 14 Festivals

Teaching objective:

I. Learning ability（ Knowledge）

1. Can remember the following words and expressions (by pronunciation, spelling and writing):

theme, parade, holy, Easter, symbol, fighting, conflict, argument, opinion, destruction, major, probably, honour /honor(Am.E), ancestor, principle, nation, purpose, creativity, faith, commercial, joy, light (v.), similar, generation, salute, kiss, cheek, nod, celebration, respect, gift, cycle, fool, invitation, self-determination, reminder

dress up, in one’s opinion, play a trick on /play tricks on, take in, in common

2. Can use the following structures in different situations:

1) Useful expressions in the text

in my opinion, play a trick on /play tricks on, take in, in common, have something/nothing in common with …,as well as, get together.

2) Expressions on expressing and supporting an opinion

In my opinion, we should… I believe we should…

I don’t think it is necessary to… We must decide…

I hope we can make a decision. If we do this, we can…

3) Modal verbs (2): must, have to, have got to.

3. Can be familiar with the following world festivals and talk about them:

Chinese festivals: the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao), Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), National Day, New Year’s Day, Chinese Youth Day, Party’s Day, Army’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Tree-planting Day…

Foreign festivals: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Ramadan, Day of the Dead (from Mexico), Bon Odori Festival/ Ghost Festival (from Japan) (盂蘭盆節(jié)), Mardi Gras, Kwanzaa…

4. Can read the reading materials correctly, including pronunciation, intonation, pause and fluency. And recite five to eight beautiful or important sentences.

5. Can understand the teaching material well, and retell the text and have a discussion according to the text after class.

6. Can get further information about festivals through classes, magazines, newspapers, related books, Internet and so on.

II ( Affect )

1. To get Ss to enjoy festivals and customs from different countries, and enlighten Ss to enjoy the beauty and the importance of festivals and customs.

2. To encourage Ss to show positive and healthy attitude towards festivals and customs from different countries.

3. To get Ss to know how to hold effective and successful festivals.

4. To get Ss to further understand the differences between Chinese and foreign cultures by comparing Chinese and foreign festivals and customs.

III ( Skills )

1. To train Ss’ four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in different periods.

2. To make Ss’ knothtyw how to write an invitation in English.

3. To help Ss to develop the ability of learning English through different ways, such as reading newspapers, magazines and books, surf the Internet, etc.

Period 1: Warming up & Listening

Before having this period, the Students (Ss) are asked to collect information about the three festivals: Halloween, Bon Odori Festival, Day of the Dead.

Step 1 Lead-in

1. First, greet Ss with the questions “How are you feeling today?” “ Do you feel happy today?”

Then, Teacher (T) can lead in the topic festival/ holiday by asking some questions such as:

When do you usually feel happy? (Ss can give different answers)

Do you feel happy when there is a festival and you have holidays?

Then which festival or holiday do you like best? And why?

2. Chinese have many festivals. How many Chinese festivals do you know? And what are they?

( the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao), Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), National Day, New Year’s Day, Chinese Youth Day, Party’s Day, Army’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Tree-planting Day…)

Which is the greatest and the most important festival to our Chinese people? When do Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival? How long does the Spring Festival last? Why do Chinese people celebrate it? What is the theme of the Spring Festival? How is it celebrated?

3.Different cultures have different kinds of customs and festivals. How many foreign festivals do you know? And what are they?

( Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Ramadan, Day of the Dead (from Mexico), Bon Odori Festival/ Ghost Festival (from Japan) (盂蘭盆節(jié)), Mardi Gras, Kwanzaa…)

Step 2 Warming up

1. Show the Ss three pictures and ask them to discuss in pairs according to the following guiding questions:

Q1: Do you know the names of the festivals? (Halloween, Bon Odori, Day of the Dead)

Q2: Do you know which countries the festivals come from?

Q3: What are the people in the pictures doing? Why are they doing this?

2. Ask individual students to talk about the three festivals. The information of the festivals should include the name of the festival, when, where and how to celebrate it.

3. Which Chinese festival is similar to the three festivals? (Tomb Sweeping Festival)

Then get Ss to compare the Chinese Tomb Sweeping Festival with one of the three festivals. (Differences: time, people, place, the way of celebrating, etc. Similarity: ghost festival)

Step 3 Dialogue

Get Ss to work in pairs to make up a dialogue. One describes his/her favorite Chinese festival and the other describes his/her favorite foreign festival. Trying to compare them.

(The following form is presented for Ss to prepare.)

Festival

When is the festival celebrated?

Who celebrates the festival?

How do people celebrate it?

Why do people celebrate it?

What are some important themes, e.g.“family” and “peace”?

How old is the festival?

Step 4 Listening

1. Pre-listening: Present three pictures about Mardi Gras, Ramadan and Easter and let Ss to guess out the names of the festivals from what they can see from the pictures.

2. While-listening: Do the three festivals one by one. For each one, Ss can listen to it twice. The first time, Ss’ task is to find correct answers to the choices in the book. The second time, Ss’ task is to check their answers and T check the correct answers with the whole class.

3. Post-listening: Get Ss to listen to each festival again. While listening, try to take notes and get more information about the festival. Then ask Ss to describe the three festivals in their own words.

Step 5 Summary

Help Ss to have a revision of the festivals learnt in this class.

T: Different histories and cultures have different kinds of festivals and customs. We should get to know they all play important parts in learning a country’s language. We should respect and show positive attitudes towards foreign festivals and customs as well as Chinese ones.

Step 6 Homework

1. Listening work: Listen to the listening material about Christmas in workbook on page 77.

2. Written work: Write a description of your favorite festival. The description should include 1) the name 2) the time 3) characteristics 4) activities, etc.

Period 2: Reading

Step 1 Revision

Get Ss to work in pairs to match the festivals in Column A with the information in Column B.

ColumnA Column B

1.Ramada A. celebrated on the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month

2.the Lantern Festival B. chocolate, bunnies, colored eggs for its symbols

3.Mardi Gras C. Muslims fast during the daylight day

4.Dragon Boat Festival D. catching “beads, doubloons and cups” thrown by parades

5.Valentine’s Day E. honoring love and lovers

6.Halloween F. eating Zongzi to honor Qu Yuan

7.Double Ninth Festival G. the time of ghosts, spirits, gravestones

8.Thanksgiving Day H. meaning clear and bright, mourning the dead

9.Easter I. offering thanks, family gatherings and meals

10.Tomb Sweeping Festival J. on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month as Senior citizen’s Day

Step 2 Pre-reading

1. Make a comparison of Chinese Spring Festival and Christian

Christmas.

T: Which is the greatest and the most important festival to Chinese people? (the Spring Festival) And which is the greatest and the most important festival to Christian people in western countries? (Christmas)

Both of them are quite popular in the world. What are the differences between them?

Festival Different aspects

Chinese Spring Festival

Christmas

Time From the 1st day to the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month

On Dec. 25

Preparation Do spring cleaning, do Spring Festival shopping (new clothes, delicious food, fireworks, New Year paintings, etc.), decorate the houses with Spring Festival couplets, paper cuts, Chinese knots… Do cleaning, do Christmas shopping (gifts, cards, sweet, cookies, etc.), decorate the houses with Christmas tree and colored lights…

Special Food New Year’s cake, dumpling ( jiaozi) , sweet dumpling (tangyuan)…

Candies, cookies, pudding…

Gifts

Anything (foods, fruits, clothes, drinks…)

Anything (foods, fruits, drinks, desserts, Christmas decorations)

Major Activities Have family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, pay New Year’s visits, recreational activities (dragon dance, lion dance, stilt-walking…)

Family reunion, have a big dinner on Christmas Eve…

purpose Bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year, hoping for the best and the good future.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ

Note: The italicized words in the form above are suggested answers.

Step 3 Reading

T: Do you know there is another festival which follows Christmas Day in America. It is an important festival to African Americans. Is there any one who knows the name of the festival? (Kwanzaa)

1. Fast reading: Read the text on page 10 fast and try to get a general idea of Kwanzaa from the text. T can present a diagram of the information about Kwanzaa to help Ss to finish this task.

(Questionnaire: When is Kwanzaa celebrated?

How long does it last?

Who created the festival of Kwanzaa?

(Dr Maulana Karenga) Who usually celebrates Kwanzaa?

Why is it celebrated?

What are the characteristics of Kwanzaa?)

2. Careful reading: Get Ss to read the text carefully to get more details. After reading, Ss are asked to do True or False exercises.

1) African Americans have a long history and a rich culture, so Kwanzaa is an old festival. ( F ) (a young festival)

2) People created Kwanzaa to celebrate American culture. ( F ) ( to celebrate African culture)

3) The word Kwanzaa means first fruit in Swahili, one of the largest languages in Africa. ( T )

4) The African first-fruit festivals are completely different from each other. ( F ) ( to have many things in common )

5) Kwanzaa is celebrated on Christmas Day. ( F ) ( from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 )

6) Kwanzaa is based on old African festivals. ( T )

7) People who celebrate Kwanzaa light a candle for each of the seven principles. ( T )

3. Dialogue.

Suppose you are the reporter of Overseas Wind Programme of Huipu Students’ Broadcasting. Now you are chosen to interview the foreign teacher John about the festival of Kwanzaa. Make up a dialogue with your partner. One acts the role of the reporter, and the other acts the role of John. The dialogue can begin like this:

Reporter (R): Good afternoon, everyone. Here is our Overseas Wind Programme. Today, we have a foreign guest in our progamme. He is our foreign teacher John. Hello, John.

John (J): Hello.

R: Welcome to our Overseas Wind Programme. Today we have a topic about the festival of Kwanzaa. So would you like to introduce Kwanzaa to us? …

J: …

Step 4 Discussion

Topic1: Do you agree festivals can help us understand our history and culture? How do they help us understand our history and culture?

Topic2: Nowadays more and more festivals have been created in my cities for various purposes, such as developing local economy, making the city well-known, etc. Our city Linhai created the Festival of the Great Wall in the South. It has been celebrated for three years. However, some Linhainese think holding such a festival causes some problems to the city. What effects does the Festival of the Great Wall in the South bring to us? Make a list

Good Effects Bad Effects

Step 5 Homework

1. Oral Work: Read and recite the new words learnt in this class.

Read and recite some beautiful and useful sentences in the text.

2. Written Work: Suppose you are the journalist of Huipu Sunshine Magazine. You are going to write a passage about Kwanzaa.

Period 3 Language Study & Grammar

Step 1 Revision

Get Ss to have revision of the text The Birth of Kwanzaa. Ss are required to answer the following questions about Kwanzaa.

Q1: Who created Kwanzaa?

Q2: Is it a young or an old festival? When was it born?

Q3: When is Kwanzaa celebrated?

Q4: Who celebrate the festival of Kwanzaa?

Q5: Why is it celebrated?

Q6: What are the characteristics of Kwanzaa?

Then T can ask individual Ss to give a short talk about Kwanzaa according to the questions above.

Step 2 Language points (in the text The Birth of Kwanzaa)

T: Now we have a good knowledge of Kwanzaa by reading the text. And there are some useful and important words and expressions in the text as well. It is necessary for us to learn and master them well. What useful words and expressions have you found from the text?

1. Let Ss do a word matching exercise to check whether Ss master the new words well.

1. nation A. a strong wish to succeed in doing something

2. faith B. large community of people; country

3. determination C. belief in something or someone

4. purpose D. an action meant to deceive (欺騙) someone

5. generation E. a reason for doing something

6. ancestor F. the people born at a certain time

7. peace G. a person in your family who lived a long time ago

8. trick H. quietness and calm

(suggested answers:1-B 2-C 3-A 4-E 5-F 6-G 7-H 8-D )

Then check answers to the exercises in Word Study on Page 13.

(suggested answers: theme, faith, purpose, nations, determination, joy, ancestors, birth, peace, treated)

2. Deal with the language points in the text. Get Ss to enjoy the text by listening to the tape. Ask Ss to read after the tape in low voice, and pay attention to the pronunciation, intonation and pause while listening.

1) Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival celebrating the culture and history of African Americans.（現(xiàn)在分詞作后置定語，表示名詞中心詞與分詞是主動關(guān)系。）

Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival created to celebrate the culture and history of African Americans.（過去分詞作后置定語，表示名詞中心詞與分詞是被動關(guān)系。）

e.g.那只跟著王老師進(jìn)來的狗是我家的狗。

The dog following Mr. Wang into the room is my dog.

被一群學(xué)生跟在后面的那個男人是我們的王老師。

The man followed by a group of students is our teacher, Mr. Wang.

2) The week following Christmas Day, many African-American families get together to greet the new year and think about the past.

get together: 聚會

e.g. On New Year’s Eve we Chinese get together for a family reunion dinner

get somebody together:把…聚集起來

e.g. Every Monday morning, our school leaders get all the students together to have a meeting.

get-together n.聚集

e.g. Every year my classmates in junior middle school have a get-together.

3)…so that… 表示目的

e.g. He works hard so that he can get high marks in the exam.

…so+adj.+that 從句

e.g. He works so hard that he gets high marks in the exam.

4) in common 共同

e.g. Mr. and Mrs. Li own the store in common.

have something/nothing in common (with sth.) （與…）有共同點(diǎn)

e.g. I have nothing in common with my sister.

5) honour (=honor Am.E) n./v.

n. [ C ] “ 榮幸，使感到光榮的人或事”, 一般用單數(shù)形式。

e.g. To host the 29th Olympic Games is a great honour for China.

v. Every year we honour our past relatives and ancestors before a memorial in Tomb Sweeping Festival.

I felt highly honoured when the teacher spoke highly of me before classmates.

in one’s honour; in honour of something/somebody.為了紀(jì)念、尊敬某人/某事

e.g. Dragon Boat Festival is created in honour of the famous poet Quyuan.

6) as well as 與…一樣好， 不僅…而且

e.g. She cooks as well as her mother.

Christine can speak Japanese as well as English

His children as well as his well were invited to the party.

（A as well as B …謂語動詞單復(fù)詞由A決定）

7）nation, country, state 三者的區(qū)別

三個都有“國家”的意思，但側(cè)重點(diǎn)不同。

nation著重指人民、民族、國民。

e.g. The whole nation was in deep sorrow at this bad news.

country著重指疆土、國土、家園，也可指一個人的祖國或國籍所在， 還可指鄉(xiāng)村。e.g. The soldier fought bravely for their country.

state著重指政策、政權(quán)、政府和國家機(jī)器， 還可指組成國家的州，特別是美國。e.g. Highways in China belong to the state./ How many states are there in the United States of America.

8) purpose: with/ for the purpose of (doing) something 表目的

e.g. He went to the supermarket for the purpose of buying something to eat.

on purpose 故意地，特意地

e.g. I came here on purpose to see you .

9) faith: have/ lose faith in…對…有/失去信心

e.g. I have faith in you, you will do it well.

Keep/break faith with somebody 對…某人守/不守信用

e.g. We will not treat him as our friend as he breaks faith with us.

10) believe in … 信仰，信任，贊成

e.g. We believe in his good character.

11) light v. (lighted/ lighted; lit/ lit)

Step 4 Grammar

1. Presentation : Present a sign “No Rubbish”

Ask Ss “What can you see in the sign?”

“What does the sign tell us?”

“Can we throw rubbish in this place?”

“Where must we throw the rubbish?”

“What should we do if we cannot find a dustbin at once?”

T presents the following two sentences on the screen.

①We mustn’t throw the rubbish in the place with a sign“No Rubbish”, and we must throw the rubbish into the dustbin.

②We have to keep the rubbish in hand or in a plastic bag until we find a dustbin, if we cannot find a dustbin at once.

2. Get Ss to compare the two sentences above and explain how to use the modal verbs“must” & “have to”.

must is often used when you think that it is necessary to do something. have to is often used when someone else thinks it is necessary or there seems to be no other choice.

must is used to talk about an obligation that depends on the person speaking or listening, while have to is generally used to talk about obligations that come from “outside”.

must--subjective have to --objective

e.g. I must be back by ten every night.

( I think it is necessary for me to be back by ten every night.)

I have to be back by ten every night.

( I don’t want to be back by ten every night, maybe my mother thinks it’s necessary.)

3. Tell Ss in informal English, “have got to” can be used instead of “have to”. e.g. It is getting late, I’m afraid I have got to (=have to) go.

4. Forms in tense & Negative form

forms in tense: must, must have to, had to

negative form:

must--must not(mustn’t)(=not be allowed=be forbidden)

have to -- do not have to (don’t have to)(=needn’t)

e.g. It is a secret, you mustn’t tell others.

It is none of your business, I don't have to tell you about this.

Step 5 Practice

1. Look at the following table of greeting manners. Decide which are necessary and which are not. Make sentences using must, have to or negative forms.

Greeting manners

get off the bike when you greet someone salute

bow kiss on the cheek

nod hug

smile look into the eyes

take off your hat shake hands

Example: When you greet a friend who you know very well, you don’t have to shake hands.

If you want to make friends with someone, you have to smile more often.

2. Suppose you are spending the Spring Festival at your grandparents’ house. Complete the sentences with have got to.

1) Your school starts tomorrow, so you have got to go back today.

2) You broke your grandma’s favourite vase, so

3) Your parents went back to work three days ago, so

4) Your grandparents have give you quite a lot of money, so

5) You have done your homework all wrong, so

6) You do not know when you should go to school tomorrow, so

7) _______________________, so ______________________

8) ______________________, so________________________

Step 6 Discussion

Ask Ss to have a discussion of Dos and Don'ts at school, using the modal verbs: must & have to

Dos Don’ts

We must keep the classroom clean. We mustn’t jump the queue in the dining hall.

We have to wear school uniforms We don’t have to use credit card in the every

day. school store.

Step 7 Homework

1. Make sentences with the following expressions: get together, in common, honour (v./n.), as well as, with/for the purpose of (doing) sth., have/lose faith in …

2. Finish off the grammar exercises in Workbook

3. Collect information about Earth Day, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, Day of the Dead, and April Fool’s Day.

Period 4 Speaking & Integrating Skills

Step 1 Lead in

In this unit, we have learnt a variety of festivals in the world, and as we know all of them celebrate different things, so their themes are quite different. What themes of the festivals do you know? ( peace, family, environment, nature, memory of great men, etc.)

Step 2 Reading (Integrating skills)

1. Get Ss to read the four festivals Earth Day, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, Day of the Dead, and April Fool’s Day, and try to get information about each one as much as possible.

2. Ask Ss following questions about each festival.

(Earth Day): When is Earth Day celebrated? What does it celebrate?

What does it tell us? What could we do to celebrate Earth Day?

(Martin Luther King, Jr Day): When is Martin Luther King, Jr Day celebrated? When did it become a national holiday? What is the theme of the 2002 holiday? What do you think “A Day On, Not A Day Off!” means? Martin Luther King, Jr Day is created in honour of Martin Luther King, are there any other great men or women whose memory should be celebrated? How would you celebrate the memory of them?

(Day of the Dead):Is it an old festival? What does it come from? What’s the theme of Day of the Dead? What do people do on that day? Why do so many festivals honour our ancestor?

(April Fool’s Day): What do people do on April Fool’s Day? Have you ever heard of an April Fool’s trick? What happened? What do we call the person who is taken in?

Step 3 Speaking

Suppose our country is going to create a new holiday, and there are four choices. They are Peace Day, Happiness Day, Friendship Day, and Nature Day. What Day of the four days do you think is the best one?

Fist, get Ss to discuss in pairs.

Then, ask individual Ss to report their decision using the following structures:

I think that the new holiday should be________. On this day, ________are allowed. People will __________. The holiday will be celebrated on _________and people will celebrate by______________. I think this is the best idea because___________.

Step 4 Tasks

Task 1: Design your new favourite holiday or festival and give reasons.

Report your new holiday or festival, using the following expressions:

In my opinion, we should… I believe we should…

I don’t think it is necessary to… We must decide…

I hope we can make a decision. If we do this, we can…

Task 2: Create your own festival. Get Ss to write a short description of their created festival according to the form below.

Name of the festival: ____________________________

Date: __________________________________________

Meaning: _________________________________________

Principles: __________________________________________

How is the festival celebrated? ___________________________

What is the symbol of the festival? _______________________

Step 5 Writing

T: Now you have created your new festival, you may want your friends to join the celebration of your new festival. So you should invite your friends to attend your celebration activity. Then how will you invite your friends? Here an invitation is needed.

T can present a sample of invitation and tell Ss how to write an invitation. Information needed in an invitation should include: what, when, who, why, and where? (see tips on page14)

(Sample:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Silver,

We are having a small At-home party with a few close friends at our house on Tuesday, February 3rd, at 7:00 o’clock.

We should be very pleased if you could honour us with your company.

Sincerely yours,

John Brown)

Step 6 Homework

1. Writing: Use the information about the festival you have created to write an invitation. Your invitation letter should explain your festival and tell the guest how it will be celebrated.

2. Finish off all the exercises in Workbook.

Period 5 Exercise

Exercising and assessing.

Part 4 Post-unit Activities: Extended Tasks

Task 1: Collect information about festivals learnt in this unit and make notes if necessary.

Task 2: Reflection

T’s reflection: Have all the teaching aims been reached?

Have all the Ss learnt a lot in the lessons?

What can be improved? …

Ss’ reflection:

Self Assessment

Unit 14 Festivals

Class ________Name _________No _________Date __________

In this unit, you learnt about festivals and customs. How comfortable do you feel doing each of the skills below?

1=Not comfortable 2=Need more practice

3=comfortable 4=very comfortable

Skills comfortable level

Talk about festivals and customs 1 2 3 4

Practice expressing and supporting an opinion 1 2 3 4

Use the new words and expressions 1 2 3 4

Use modal verbs: must, have to and have got to 1 2 3 4

Create new festivals or holidays 1 2 3 4

Write an invitation 1 2 3 4

Reflection

How many festivals have been learnt in this unit?

What impressed me most in this unit?

What points haven’t I understood yet?

In what aspect do I need improvement?