Learning about Language名师课堂实录

A Teaching Design of

Unit 3 Computers

Warming up and Reading

Part I The analysis of the teaching material

This class is the first period of unit 3 in Book 2. The warming up part is an introduction to the topic, which tests the students’ knowledge of the development of computers and inspire them to think what future computer development will be. The reading passage is organized in chronological order and clearly shows the history and development of computers. It also introduces a lot of new and technical words, which only used for computers (such as “artificial” or “network”). By learning the reading passage, the students can practice their reading skills, get more knowledge about computers and also learn to treat computers objectively and correctly.

Part II The analysis of the students

The students are from Class 3, Grade 1in Senior High School. They are very familiar with and interested in the topic—computers, but they are not very clear about the history and development of computers. Besides, they are relatively poor in spoken English, so enough support and guidance should be given to them in discussion part.

Part III Learning objectives

After this class, the students will:

grasp some important words and phrases such as totally, revolution, simplify, calculate etc.;

understand the general idea and the structure of the reading passage;

try to appreciate the writing style of the passage;

improve the reading skills and speaking skills;

treat computers more objectively;

be more interested in science and technology.

Part IV Important and difficult teaching points

to help the students grasp some important words and phrases such as totally, revolution, simplify, calculate etc.;

to lead the students to understand the general idea and the structure of the reading passage;

to help the students appreciate the writing style of the passage;

to improve the students’ reading skills and speaking skills.

Part V Teaching Methods

Task-based teaching and learning; Cooperative learning

Part VI Teaching Aids

Multi-media facilities

Part VII Teaching procedures

I. Lead in

(Show some pictures on the screen.)

T: Have you ever heard such a funny joke? Behind the AIM is a bank clerk who is counting money. Inside the vending machine hides a waiter who is throwing drinks. The sesame seeds are stuck to the strawberries by the boss one by one. Well, this will make the computer embarrassed! Till today, the computer has been closely related to our daily life. When working, learning, traveling, entertaining, etc., we all need the computer. But how much do you know about its story? That’s what we’re going to talk about in this unit—Computers.

II. Warming up

Look at these pictures. Discuss what they have in common. Predict what it is going to be about.

abacus- calculator- huge computer- PC- laptop- PDA – robot – What’s next?

III. Reading

1. Pre-reading

1. Pre-reading

a) Do you know in what ways are computers used today? Work out a list and compare it with your partner.

b) Look at the pictures and title of the reading passage. Predict what it is going to be about.

2. While-reading

Task one Skimming

a) Who is the speaker in this story?

(A computer.)

b) What’s the main idea of the passage?

(The development of the computer.)

Task two Fast reading

Read the passage quickly again and finish the following chart according to the timeline.

1642

1822 The analytical machine was made by Charles Babbage. 1936

1940s

The first family of computers was connected to each other. 1970s

now

Task three Careful reading

Read the passage carefully, find out the topic sentence of each paragraph and list the supporting ideas.

Paragraph 1

Topic sentence:

Supporting details:











l

l

l

l

l

Paragraph 2

Topic sentence:

Supporting details:













l tubes

l

l

l

l

l

Paragraph 3

Topic sentence:

Supporting details:

















l communications

l finances

l

l

l

l

l

l

Task four Find the word or phrases for each of the following meanings from the text.

1

completely 2 3 4 5 6

complete change to make things easier to find the answer using numbers can be moved easily from place to place to work out the answer to a problem 7 8

to travel around an area to find out about it completely

9 10

anyway activity of managing money Task five Question-answer competition.

a) What is PC? Speak the name on the whole.

It means: personal computer.

b) What is IT?

Information Technology.

c) What is CD-ROM?

Compact disc read-only memory.

d) What is PDA?

Personal digital assistant.

e) What is W.W.W?

World wide web.

f) 科学技术。

Science and technology.

g) 人工智能。

Artificial intelligence.

h) 笔记本电脑。

Notebook computer.

i) Who was the first person to devise the first computer?

Charles Babbage invented an Analytical machine in 1822.

j) Who was the computers’ real father?

Alan Turing.

3. Discussion

a) Why is the passage written in the first person? Would it be better if it is written like a piece from an encyclopedia? Give reasons.

b) What are the positive effects and negative effects of computers? How should we use computers correctly?

IV. Homework

1. Compulsory task:

Read the passage “Who Am I” carefully and write a short passage about the development of computers using your own words.

2. Optional task:

According to the discussion in class, write an essay of about 120 words on the topic “How should we use computers correctly”.