Unit 1     School life

Teaching aims of the whole unit:

1． Develop students’ ability of reading comprehension by reading an article about school life in the UK and two other articles about school clubs.

2． Develop students’ ability of listening comprehension by listening to two talks about school activities.

3． Develop students’ speaking ability by discussing daily school life and reporting school activities.

4． Develop students’ writing ability by writing a notice about school activities.

5． Develop students’ integrated skills of using English by making a poster for a school club.

6． Enlarge students’ vocabulary about school facilities.

7 Help students understand what an attributive clause is and what relative words function as in attributive clauses; teach students how to use relative pronouns that, which, who, whom and whose.

Period arrangement:

The whole unit: 12 periods

Welcome to the unit: 1 period

Reading: 2 periods

Word power: 1 period

Grammar and usage: 2 periods

Task: 2 periods

Project: 2 periods

Self-assessment: 1 period

Revision and exercises: 1 period

 

Period 1           Welcome to the unit

 

I. Teaching aims:

1 Get students to know the different high school loves between the UK and China.

2 Develop students’ English speaking skills.

II. Teaching Procedures:

Step 1. Warming up

Let some students make a self-introduction.

   1. Introduce themselves.

   2. Say something about their junior high school life.

   3. Pair work: brain storm:
       When we are talking about our school life, what will we probably think of?

What words or phrases will we use to describe our school life?

Step 2 Presentation

1.      Say the following to students:

It’s the beginning of the new term. You’ve just finished your junior high and are about to enter a new period in your studies. I am happy to give your lessons and I hope we can be friends.

 

I can see that some of your are eager to know what studying at senior high will be like. Will it be differ4ent from junior high? Well, there are certainly many differences between junior high and senior high, but there are also some things that are the same in every school in China.

 

What about schools in other countries? Do you have different experiences? Are schools all over the world the same? This is the subject of our first unit.

 2. Ask students to read the instruction and tell them:

Here are three pictures that show some aspects of school life in the UK. Please read the instructions, look at the pictures: what's the difference between schools in China and the UK?

Step 3 Discussion

1 Ask students the following questions to talk about the words in the four pictures:

Huge campus and low-rise buildings

What  does huge mean?

What does low-rise mean?

What about campus and school buildings in China?

(Schools in China usually have a large enough campus to make sure students have enough space to study and play. But most school buildings have at least 3 storeys.)

Lockers for every student

Do you know what a locker is?

(There are rows of lockers by the classrooms for students to put their bookd, exercise-books and other belongings.)

What do you think about locker for students?

Do you think that we should have such locker in our school? Why or Why not?

Fewer students in each class

How many students are there in our class?
Do you know the number of students in a class in the UK?

At ease with our teacher

What can we know from this picture?

What does the word ease mean? What do you think the phrase at ease mean?

Were you getting on well with the teacher when you were in junior high?

What relationship do you want to have with your teachers in senior high?

2 Ask students to work in groups to talk about the four pictures and the differences between schools in the UK and China. Then ask several students to report their discussion to the whole class.

 

 

   3. Ask students to discuss the three questions in pairs, and them ask some of them to report their answers to the questions to the whole class.

What is your dream school life like?

What kind of school activities do you enjoy?

What do you think of your life here in the new school?

  Step 4 Summary and Homework

 Today we’ve mainly talked about the differences between the high school lives in the UK and in China. After class you should:

1) Recall all the new words and expressions that we learn in this lesson.

2) Find more about any other differences between the high school lives in the UK and in China, either by surf the Internet or by reading some articles in newspapers or magazines.

3) Preview the following part: reading (page 2 to page 4).

 

 Period 2    Reading (1)     School life in the UK

 

Teaching aims:

   1. Get students to know what school life is like in a high school in the UK.

   2. Develop students’ ability of reading comprehension through:

1)      skimming and scanning.

2)      Guessing the meanings of some new words from the context

   3. To learn some expressions about school life.

Teaching procedures:

Step 1 Lead-in and Presentation

Say the following to the students:

Yesterday we’ve talked about the differences between the high school lives in the UK and in China. We know well about the high school lives in China, because we are Chinese. But we know a little about the high school lives in the UK. Yeah? Today we  are going to read a magazine article which is written by an exchanging student. She has been studying in the UK for one year. Now she gives a clear brief introduction about her school life there.(Bb: School life in the UK)

 

Before we read the article, we are going to learn the reading strategy: skimming and scanning. Please look at page 3: Reading strategy.

(Bb the following while learning the reading strategy. )

Skimming: to get a general idea of the article, without studying it in detail.

Focus on the titles, headings, the first and last sentences or paragraphs, charts and pictures …

scanning: to find certain information in an article quickly.

Look for key words and phrases, dates and numbers, etc.

Step 2. Reading

   1. Skimming:
      Question: How does Wei Hua feel about her life in the UK?

   2. Scanning:

1)      Ask students to go through the three questions in part A and make sure that each of them know the meaning of each question.(A Woodwork class is a class in which students make something from wood.)

Ask students to read the passage as quickly as possible and try to find answers to the three questions. Remind students only to focus on and identify the most important information.

2)      Ask student to reread the passage and complete Part C1 individually. Then ask some of them to give the answers to the questions in Part C1

3)      Ask students to finish Part C2 individually. Then get some students to share their answers with the whole class. Ask them to say the true sentences to correct the false ones.

3 Guessing

Ask students to finish Part D individually. Tell them not to look up the meanings of the words from the wordlists in the textbook. Let them guess the meanings from the context. Then check the answers with the whole class.

Step 3 New Words in this Unit

Study the new words appears from page2 to page 5 (from attend to immediately) at page 68.

Step 4. Homework.

1. Complete part E on page 5.

2. Read the two articles in reading on pages 82 and 83 in wb and answers the questions below them.

3. Learn all the new words we learned today by heart.

 

Period 3      Reading (2)     School life in the UK

 

Teaching aims:

1 Help students become more familiar with the article.

2 Develop students’ ability of reading comprehension by finding out what topics are covered in the article.

3 Develop students’ ability of speaking by discussing the subjects they like in school.

Teaching Procedures:

Step 1. Revision:

Check the homework:

1)      Have a dictation to go over the words learned last period.

2)      Check the answers in reading on pages 82 and 83 in wb.

3)      Ask some students to read the article in Part E to check whether they have used the suitable word in each blank.

Step 2 Reading

1) Ask some students to read the article aloud paragraph by paragraph. Ask other students to find out what topics are covered in it.

School hours

School assembly

Teachers

Class size

    Different classes in different classrooms

    Homework

    Subjects and favourite subjects

    What to do at lunchtime

British food

3)      Ask students to point out the different high school lives in the UK and in China in these topics.

Step 3 Discussion

Let students look at Part F together and discuss the questions in Part F in Pairs. Then get some pairs to act out their discussion in class.

Step 4 Language focus

1 Ask students to find out the following words, phrases and sentences in the article. Then give some explanations.

Words:

a)      as (since, because, for)

b)      attend (join, join in, take part in)

c)      prepare

d)     experience

e)      respect

f)       exciting, excited

g)      drop

Phrases:

a)      for free

b)      be happy with

c)      used to do sth.; be/get used to do sth.; be/get used to doing sth.

d)     the way to do; the way of doing; the way + Attributive Clause

e)      at the end of; in the end; by the end of

f)       as … as

Sentences:

a)      Going to a British school for one year has been a very enjoyable and exciting experience for me.

b)      I do like eating.

c)      We also had different students in some class, so it was difficult to remember all the faces and names.

2 Ask students to put the following sentences into English in their exercise-books.

1) Jim 加入了我们的讨论之列。

  Jim joined us in the discussion.

2) Jane 正忙着预习功课。

  Jane is busy preparing for her lessons.

3) 经验是最好的老师。

Experience is the best teacher.

4) 他确实告诉了我这个故事。它听起来好象是一个真实的故事。

He did tell me the story. It sounds like a true one.

Step 5. Homework  

1. Ask students to read the article again and again.

2. Ask students to finish Parts A1 and A2 on page 86.

3. Ask students to translate the first five sentences in Part D2 on page 89 and write down in their excise-books.

Period 4     Word power

 

Teaching aims:

1 Help students be familiar with the names of school facilities

2 Help students revise to express how to get some where.

Teaching procedures:

Step 1 Presentation

1 Please read Wei Hua’s article and answer my questions:

  Where did she went when she was in the high school in Manchester?

  What did she do in these places?

(different classrooms—to have different classes

the library—to read English books

the computer club—to e-mail her family and friends back home for free)

2 Ask students:

Do you know in which place Wei Hua and her schoolmates had school assembly? ( Wei Hua and her schoolmates had school assembly in the lecture hall.)

Where did Wei Hua and other students have their lunch at school there? (They had their lunch in the canteen.)

Where do you think they had their PE?(In the gym.)

What id the place for students to live in when they study in a high school? (The dormitories.)

Step 2 Vocabulary learning

1. Ask students to read the passage and the map in Part A.

2. Ask students to read the guidelines of Part B, and finish the writing description of the quickest way to get from the dormitories to Classroom 4. Then get each of them to read their passage to their partner. And then ask some of them to read their passage to the whole class.

Sample answers:

(B) If you are standing at the door of the dormitories, first turn right and go past the medical centre and the gym, then turn left and walk until the end of the road. Classroom is on your left.

2. If possible, design some more samples for the students to practice. For example, ask students to mark the shortest way from the science laboratory to classrooms 16-25. This exercise encourages students to familiarize the phrases of finding the way. (If time doesn’t permit, this step can be left out.)

3.Ask students to finish Part C individually, and then check the answers with the whole class.

Answers:

(C)  1 car park   2 classrooms   3 library   4 labs   5 gym   6 swimming pool    7 dormitories   8 medical centre   9 canteen

Step 3 Vocabulary extension

1 Ask students to read the guidelines of Part D. Then get them to look at the words under the picture and guess the meaning of each word. They can first write down the number of the words of which they know the meanings before these words. Then guide students to guess the meanings of the words they don’t know.

Answers:

(D)  4 beam   7 barbell   1 climbing bars   6 basketball court   2 rings   8 mat   3 dumb-bell    5 skipping rope

2 Ask students to read the words that appear in this part and try to learn them by heart.

Step 4 Homework

1. Let the students to remember all the useful words and expressions in Part A, B, and D .

2. Do Part A and B in writing on Page 93.

3. Ask students to preview the two parts about attributive clauses on page 8. They should look up in the dictionary the words whose meanings they don’t know.

 

 

Period 5      Grammar and usage (1)

 

Teaching aims:

1 Teach students what an attributive clause is.

2 Teach students the functions of relative pronouns and relative adverbs in attributive clauses.

 Teaching procedures:

Step 1 Revision

Check students’ homework in writing on page 93. Ask some students to read their note of Part B on page 93.

Step 2 Presentation

1. Ask students to put the following phrases into English and write down on the blackboard:

一段开心的经历(an enjoyable experience)

好朋友(good friends)

这篇关于他在英国经历的文章(the article about his experiences in the UK)

Let students read these phrases and point out the noun, the adjective or the prepositional phrase in each of them to help students review what a noun is, what an adjective is and what a prepositional phrase is.

Let students tell what the function of an adjective or prepositional phrase is in these phrases.

2.      Ask students to read Point 1 on page 8 to know that what an attributive clause is and what an antecedent is.

Then say the following:

Now we know that nouns can be modified by adjectives, prepositional phrases or attributive clause. Please pay special attention to the different positions of the adjective, the prepositional phrase or the attributive clause. We can know that adjectives are usually used before nouns, while prepositional phrases and attributive clauses after nouns.

3. Write down (Bb: the team who were wearing green) on the blackboard, and tell students that team here is called antecedent and who were wearing green is an attributive clause. Ask students what who refers to here. They will know who refers to team and is used as the subject in the clause. Students should also know the noun which an attributive clause modifies is called antecedent. Tell students that the antecedent is a part in the attributive clause, but it won’t appear in the clause. Instead, we use a relative pronoun or a relative adverb.

Step 3 Identifying the attributive clause

1 Let students to read the guidelines in Point 2 on page 8.

2 Ask students to read the example sentences in Point 2 and let them say what function of the bold part in each sentence is. Then ask them to point out the attributive clause in sentence and put the whole sentence into Chinese, so they can compare the different ways in which the attributive clause is expressed in English and in Chinese.

Step 4 Practising

1 Ask students to read the article on page 9. Make sure they can identify attributive clauses in it . Let them point out the antecedent, the relative pronoun or the relative adverb and its function in each sentence with an attributive clause. They can also be asked to put the sentences into Chinese so as to compare the difference.

2 Learn the new words from page 9 to page 11.

Ask students to turn to page 68 and study the new words (former—please).

Step 5 Homework

1 Ask students to read the article on page 9 again and again.

2 Ask students to finish C1 on page 88. Get them to point out the antecedent, the relative pronoun or relative adverb in the sentence with an attributive clause.

 

Period 6            Grammar and usage(2)

 

Teaching aims:

1 Teach students how to use relative pronouns: that, which, who, whom and whose.

2 Teach students in which situation who, whom, which or that can be left out.

Teaching procedures:

Step 1 Revision

1 Check the homework with the students. Make sure that students know what an attributive clause is and the function of each relative word.

2 Have a dictation to go over the words we learnt last period.

Step 2 Presentation

Question: What does a noun usually refer to?

(Students should know a person/people or a thing/things. For example, story, cake, and book are things, while friend, teacher and monitor are persons.)

Step 3 Using relative pronouns

1 Ask students to read Point 1 on page 10 and point out the antecedent and the attributive clause in each sentence. Then ask: What does that/which function in each clause?

Ask students to read the tip box, so the student will know the difference between that and which.

2 Ask students to read Point 2 and point out the antecedent and the attributive clause in each sentence. Then ask: What does who function in each clause?

Ask students to read the tip box, so the students will know that can also be used to refer to a person/people.

3 Ask students to read Point 3 and Point 4, and point out the antecedent in each sentence.

4 Ask students to read the following sentences:

Bb: She has a bother. I can’t remember his name.

Question: What does his refer to?(His refers to a brother’s.)

Bb: She has a brother whose name I can’t remember.

Questions: Which part is the antecedent here?(a brother)

         What is it used as in the attributive clause?(attribute)

Ask students to read Point 5 and point out the antecedent in each sentence. Then ask: What does the relative pronoun whose refer to in the two sentences.

5 Draw the following table on the blackboard and ask students to fill in.

Antecedent	Subject	Object	Attribute	Note
For persons	who/that	whom/who /that	whose	A relative pronoun can be omitted when it is used as the object in an attributive clause.
For things	which/that	which/that	whose/of which

Step 4 Supplementation

注意that \which在代物时常常可以通用,但有时只宜于用that ,不用which.
(1) 先行词是形容词最高级或者它的前面有形容词最高级修饰时
This is the best that has been used against air pollution(反对空气污染) in cities.
English is the most difficult subject that you will learn during these years.
(2) 先行词是序数词,或它的前面有一个序数词时
He is the last person that I want to see.
(3) 主句中已有疑问词时
Which is the bike that you lost?
(4) 先行词既有人又有物时
The bike and its rider that had run over (撞倒了)an old man were taken to the police station.
(5) 先行词是all, much, little, something, everything, anything, nothing, none, the one等代词时
You should hand in all that you have.
We haven’t got much that we can offer you.
I mean the one that you talked about just now.
(6) 先行词前面有only, any, few, little, no, all, one of, the same, the very等词修饰时
The only thing that we can do is to give you some money.
Li Ming is the only one that got full marks (满分)in our class.
Li Ming is one of the students that want to be teachers in our class.
(7) 有两个定语从句,其中一个关系代词已用which,另外一个宜用that
Edison built up a factory(办了一个工厂) which produced things that had never been seen before.
(Ask students to take notes, read the seven points again and again, and translate all the sentences above.)
Step 5 Practising

 Ask students to complete the conversation on page 11 individually. Then read it in groups of three of check their answers. Make sure that they understand the meaning of each sentence in the dialogue. (Say the following to the students: Can you understand the meaning of each sentence in the dialogue? If you have questions, please raise your hand and give the sentences you couldn’t understand to the whole class. Let the whole class help you)

Step 6 Homework

1 Ask students to make five sentences, each with an attributive clause.

2 Ask students to read the dialogue on page 11 again and again.

3 Ask students to do Part C2 on page 88 and do the first five exercises in their exercise-books.