Unit 7 Films     Reading I & Study skills

Teaching objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Learn about Audrey Hepburn’s acting career and achievements during her life.

2. Learn how to describe a person’s life in the order of time.

3. Develop their abilities of reading, like guessing the word meanings from the context.

4. Be engaged in class activities and realize that beauty is based not only on one’s face but also in the heart.

5. Know about the basic structure of a script and read a simple play in pairs;

6. Act out a short play and enjoy the fun of reading and acting;

Teaching content

1. Getting information about Hepburn’s life and improving the reading abilities.

2. The strategies of reading a script.

Teaching difficult and important points

1. Understand Hepburn’s acting career and achievements beyond the film industry during her life.

2. How to guess the word meanings from the context.

3. Learn to cooperate with others and respond to the teacher’s instructions actively.

Teaching methods

Communicative teaching method

Teaching procedures

Step 1  Pre-reading

1. Free talk

T: Do you like watching films? What’s your favourite film? Who’s your favourite actor/ actress?

S: …

T: My favourite film is called “Roman Holiday”. Look at the poster. It’s a romantic film about a

young princess and a reporter. Look at this beautiful lady. Do you know who played the role of the

princess? Audrey Hepburn is one of my favourite actresses.

T: What do you think of her when you first see her?

S: She’s very beautiful/ sweet/ lovely…

T: Yes, she’s a great beauty. (板书)

  Do you know anything about Audrey Hepburn?

  Does she only have beauty on her face?

（激活学生的背景知识，为导入奥黛丽·赫本的介绍做好铺垫。）

2. Predicting

T: This class we’re going to learn an article about her. Let’s look at the title—“Hollywood’s

all-time best—Audrey Hepburn”. What does it want to tell us?

T: What do you want to know about her?

S1: Where was she born?

S2: When was she born?

S3: When did she die?

S4: What films did she act in?

S5: What achievements did she get?

S6: How did she succeed?

S7: Who helped her succeed?

S8: Why did so many people love her? …

Let’s look at the first paragragh of the text.

“Audrey Hepburn is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest actresses. When she died in 1993, the world felt very sad about the loss of a great beauty, a great actress and a great humanitarian.”

T: From this, you may know why people loved Hepburn so much. Hepburn was a great beauty. You can feel her beauty and charm from these pictures, right? Then why do people think she is a great actress and one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest actresses? Why is she called “a great humanitarian” ? You may get what you want to know by reading.

（紧扣课题及课文第一段的内容，引导学生对文本内容进行预测和思考，读前有效的预测能使学生成为积极的阅读者。）

Step 2  While-reading

1. Task One: Skim the text and circle the words or phrases about time.

T: Let’s follow the order of time and try to know about Hepburn’s life. Please circle the words about time in the text first.

S: 4 May, 1929→as a child →after World War Ⅱ→ in 1951→ two years later

in the 1950s →in 1989 →in 1991→in 1993

（引导学生快速浏览课文，圈画出时间短语，把握文本的时间线索，从而为理解赫本的一生做好铺垫。）

2. Task Two: Read the text quickly and try to divide the text into parts.

  T: Can you help me to divide the text into parts according to the main ideas here?

Part 1(_Paragraph 1-Paragraph 2_): Before Hepburn entered the film industry

 Part 2(_Paragraph 3-Paragraph 5): Hepburn’s acting career

 Part 3(_Paragraph 6-Paragraph 7 ): Hepburn’s achievements beyond the film industry and her death

（事先给出段落大意，再让学生划分段落，从而降低了难度。）

3. Task Three: Please read the text quickly and try to answer these questions.

1) When and where was Audrey Hepburn born?

2) What did Hepburn dream of when she was a child?

3) What event marked the beginning of her successful career?

4) What film won her the Oscar for Best Actress?

5) What charity did Hepburn work closely with in the last few years of her life?

6) When did Hepburn pass away?

（让学生遵循赫本的人生轨迹，快速阅读并获取信息。）

4. Task Four: Read Paragraph 3-5 and try to put these magazine titles in the correct order.

1 a. Hepburn met Colette in France

5 b. Hepburn had four more Oscar nominations

3 c. Roman Holiday was a big success

4 d. Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress

6 e. Always－Audrey Hepburn’s last appearance in a film 

2 f. Hepburn played the lead role in the play Gigi

T: Well done! Now let’s read them in the correct order.

Hepburn met Colette in France

Hepburn played the lead role in the play Gigi

Roman Holiday was a big success

Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress

Hepburn had four more Oscar nominations

Always－Audrey Hepburn’s last appearance in a film 

T: The events above are very important in Hepburn’s acting career.

（此部分是课本B2部分,训练学生迅速把握文本信息并进行简单处理的能力。这些句子是赫本演艺生涯的核心内容，是理解3-5段的线索，应充分利用它, 作为学生开展深入阅读的过渡环节。）

5. Task Five: Read the text more carefully and try to answer more questions.

Q1: What made Colette notice Hepburn?

S: …

T: Yes, Hepburn’s beauty and charm caught the writer’s attention.

Let’s try to guess the meanings of the new words from the context. Keep trying and you’ll be good at it.

 “Someone of great charm___________________.

a. has lots of money    b. has an attractive quality   c. wears beautiful clothes

“catch one’s attention” means “make someone notice sb.”

Q2: What did Colette insist?

S: …

T: Let’s look at these sentences. “Colette insisted that Hepburn was the perfect girl for the lead role in Gigi, a play based upon her novel, although Hepburn had never played any major roles before. That event marked the beginning of her successful career.” Can you guess the meanings of the underlined words?

(1)If someone insists on something, he or she ____________.

a. speaks loudly  b. cannot make a decision  c. is sure to say that something is true

(2)If someone plays the lead role in a film or a play, he or she is _____________.

a. the director   b. the main character       c. the leader of a group

(3) “major” means “main or important”

(4) “mark” means “to be a sign of; to show”

Q3: What awards did Hepburn get in her acting career?

T: Hepburn had great achievements in her acting career. For what film did she win an Oscar for Best Actress?

S: …

T: What other awards did she get?

S: …

T: Right. She also had four more Oscar nominations during her lifetime.

What does “nomination” mean?

If someone gets an Oscar nomination, he or she _____________.

a. will have the chance to win an Oscar  b. will travel around the world  c. should be a singer

（呈现4部奥斯卡提名的影片）

Q4: In what film did Hepburn make her final appearance?

S: …

T: Yes, Hepburn made her final appearance in the film Always.

It means she finally appeared in …

T: What role did she play in the film?

S: …

T: Many people think Hepburn was playing herself because to them, she herself was an angel.

（本部分是本节课的重要环节，这四个问题的答案正好包含了Reading中较多的生词和词组，希望能由问题导出文本，引导学生结合上下文去理解生词和词组的含义，努力培养学生在真正的阅读中猜词悟义的能力。）

6. Task Six: Help Kitty fill in the missing words. (Page 97)

7. Task Seven: Read about Hepburn’s achievements in charity and answer some questions.

T: Boys and girls, did Hepburn only have achievements in the film industry?

S: …

T: She also had great achievements in charity work, so we can say that Hepburn’s achievements went beyond the film industry. What does “beyond” mean? Yes, it means “more or greater than …” She is called “a great humanitarian” by people. What does “humanitarian” mean?

If someone is a humanitarian, he or she ________.

A. loves animals     B. protects the environment    C. cares a lot about people

T: Why is she called a great humanitarian? Can you find any supporting details to show this?

S: …

Supporting details: “She began to work for UNICEF in the 1950s. She spent her last few years working closely with UNICEF so that she could help poor children in different parts of the world.”

T: Did she get any awards for her role as a great humanitarian?

S: …

T: Yes, she won many awards for her efforts in this area.

What does “her efforts” refer to in this paragraph?

S: …

（该部分内容介绍了赫本在慈善事业做出的卓越贡献，结合上下文语境处理生词。为了培养学生的思维能力，设计深层次思考的问题，引导学生立足文本、深入阅读，从而理解句子之间的逻辑关系,让学生成为阅读的积极思考者。）

Step 3 Post-reading

1. T: Try to retell Hepburn’s life with the help of the key words and pictures.

In 1929-born in Belgium

As a child-dream of becoming a successful ballet dancer

In 1951-meet Colette, play the lead role in Gigi

In 1953-play the lead role in Roman Holiday, win the Oscar for Best Actress

In 1989-make her final appearance in Always

In 1950s-begin to work for UNICEF, win many awards for…

In 1993-pass away peacefully

(给出赫本各个时期的照片，直观呈现她一生的轨迹，让学生们在内心绘制赫本的人生足迹，并能够根据关键词复述赫本的一生，从而进一步帮助学生抓住课文的核心内容。赫本的人生给孩子们留下的是美好的回忆和深深的感动。)

2. Discussion

T: After reading the text, what do you think of Audrey Hepburn?

 （进一步理解课文的主题词：“a great beauty, a great actress and a great humanitarian”）    

What can we learn from Hepburn? （学生们可畅所欲言，自由表达。）

3. Conclusion: The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows.

(赫本的一生很好地诠释了美的内涵，她是美丽和善良的天使，她的美貌和才华、她的仁慈和博爱必将永留在后人心中。通过讨论，学生既能内化所学的内容，又能升华追求真、善、美的情感。)

The strategies of reading a script.

Step 1 Warm-up activities

T: Do you like watching plays?   S: …

T: Guess what play I like best!    S: …

T: The Sound of Music. It’s a wonderful musical with beautiful songs and a moving story between a governess, a captain and seven lovely children.

(开门见山地导入新课，师生谈论喜欢的戏剧，教师引出自己喜欢的音乐剧——《音乐之声》，简单介绍剧情，迅速进入本课话题。)

Step 2 Brainstorming

T: Have you ever seen a play in a theatre?

What do you know about a play?

(激活学生的背景知识，激发学生对戏剧的兴趣，为接下来的戏剧阅读做好铺垫。)

Step 3 Presentation

T: A play has several parts not found in other kinds of literature. This is how an excerpt of a play looks.

Most plays have three to five acts.

Each act is divided into “scenes”.

The setting shows when and where each scene happens.

The characters in a scene will be introduced first.

Words in brackets tell what the characters are doing, and how the characters are acting or speaking.

This is what the characters are saying to each other.

(通过简明的介绍，帮助学生初步了解戏剧的基本结构。)

Step 4 Practice

1. Read the excerpt of a play. Answer the questions.

1) Where does this scene take place?

  It takes place in a garden behind a house.

2) Which month is it?

   In July.

3) What is Miss Prism sitting under?

  Miss Prism is sitting under a large tree.

4) What is Cecily doing?

  Cecily is watering flowers.

5) Why does Miss Prism call Cecily?

  Because Miss Prism is going to give Cecily a German lesson.

2. Read another play called The Cop and the Anthem in groups.

3. Act out the play.

(通过阅读简单的剧本，了解剧本的构成及特点，培养学生的阅读能力。在展示环节，让学生阅读欧·亨利的小说——《警察与赞美诗》的剧本，小组交流并对其中的部分章节进行表演。进一步增强学生对文学作品的感受能力，培养学生的合作意识和创新能力。)

Step 5 Summary

T: A good script makes a good play or a film! Let’s read more literature works to enrich our life! Let’s enjoy the pleasure of reading!

V. Homework

1. Read the text fluently and try to retell the text according to the key phrases.

2. Finish the exercises in the workbooks. 

3. Read more excerpts about The Cop and the Anthem after class.

4. Search for more information about scripts on the Internet and share your findings in the class.

Exercises

一、词汇。

1. She’d like to be a film_______(女演员) , but at present she’s modeling.

2. I think she’ll be a famous __________(舞蹈者) in years to come.

3. She played a main ____________(角色) in the opera.

4. That event __________ (标志着) the beginning of her successful career.

5. She devoted her ___________(终身) to the study of zoology.

6. His acting has reached an _____________(空前的) high.

7. He lived ____________(peace) with his neighbours in the street.

8. He felt sad because of the        (lose) of his pet dog.

9. In           (appear), he was a little like his father.

10. She played the role of an            (天使) in the film.

二、缺词填空。

As a child, Audrey Hepburn loved dancing and dreamt of becoming a ballet d          . She had also been a model before she entered the film i          . In 1951, while acting in France, Audrey met the famous w         Collete. Audrey’s beauty and charm caught the writer’s a          . Collete insisted that Audrey was the perfect girl for the lead r           in Gigi, a play based upon her novel. That event marked the b          of Audrey’s successful career. Audrey became world-famous for her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film was a big s        and she won an Oscar. Audrey’s achievements went b          the film industry. She spent her last few years on charity work. Audrey passed away p          in Switzerland in 1993. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. She is always thought as one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest a           .

Keys: actress, dancer, role, marked, lifetime, all-time, peacefully, loss, appearance, angel

dancer, industry, writer, attention, role, beginning, success, beyond, peacefully, actresses

Teaching reflection