Using LanguageⅠ全国优秀课堂实录

Unit 4 Exploring Plants The Third Period

USING LANGUAGE Teaching goals 教学目标

1. Target language 目标语言

a. 重点词汇和短语

Rafflesia, pitcher, rotting, pollinate 2. Ability goals 能力目标

Enable the students to talk about plants about their name, smell, shape, size and so on.

Enable the students to express wonder and disgust with the target language. 3. Learning ability goals 学能目标

By listening to the tape, the students will learn how to describe plants.

Help the students learn how to express wonder and disgust with the target language. Teaching important and difficult points 教学重难点

How to describe plants with detailed information. Teaching methods 教学方法

Listening, speaking and writing. Teaching aids 教具准备

Pictures of unusual plants. Teaching procedures && ways 教学过程与方式

Step Ⅰ

Revision and lead-in Check the homework: exercises in USING STRUCTURES. 【版权所有：21教育】

T: There are a large number of plants in the world, flowers, trees, bushes, crops, ferns, mosses and so on. Some plants are those that you have ever seen or heard about, can you name some that are unusual?

S: I read about a kind of tree that can walk. The Walking Tree of the Amazon Jungle has the unusual ability to “walk” on aerial roots, which serve as “legs”. Inspired by a need for more light, the tree lets roots on one side die off and grows new ones in the direction it wants to go. In this manner, the Walking Tree moves up to seven feet a year.

S: I heard about carnivorous plants (肉食植物). A carnivorous plant is very different from other plants because they eat insects, rather than making its own food. The way it attracts them is by bright colors or sweet smell and tasty nectar. The glands of the plant make this nectar. The nectar lures the insect in. Once the insect is lured into the plant, it is unable to escape and is gradually eaten by the plant. T: That’s amazing. These plants are really unusual. Besides what you mentioned, there are some other unusual plants. You will see more of them on Page 36.

The teacher may also find some pictures of unusual plants and show them to the students. （1.

Medusa’s Snake Tree 2. Lucky Ribbon Plant 3. Queen of the Night 4. Air Plant 5. Octopus Plant 6. Venus Flytraps）

More information about these plants is provided in the appendix （附件）.

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3 4 Step Ⅱ

Listening 5 6 T: Look at the three photos on Page 36. How would you describe each plant? What do you think is unusual about each plant?

Pick up three students to describe each of the three plants.

S: The first plant looks like stones in the river. It is unusual because of its shape and color.

S: The second plant is red in color, and it has a big pot in the middle. It is unusual because we can’t see any leaves or stems.

S: The third plant has long narrow hollow stalks which look like pig’s ears. T: So according to your descriptions, which plant is named “living stones”?

S: The first one. T: And which is named pitcher plants? (write the word pitcher on the Bb) Pitcher means large container for liquids.

S: The third one.

T: And then the one in the middle is Rafflesia. (write the word on the Bb) Help the students with the pronunciation of this word “Rafflesia”.

T: Do you want to know more about these unusual plants? ... Now Mark, Gordon and Andrea are telling their class about these plants. Listen and judge which student talks about which plant. Then complete in the chart in Exercise 2.

Play the tape. The students will have a general idea of the listening material. T: Now Gordon, Andrea and Mark have given us detailed information about these plants. On which aspects do they describe the plants? Ss: The name, reason for its name, smell, shape, size, food, leaves, where they live ... T: Good! Look at the chart in Exercise 3. Go through the first column. I’d like you to pay attention to the word “pollinate”

(write it on the Bb).

pollinate: v. to give a flower or plant pollen so that it can produce seeds n. pollination

pollinator: A pollinator is an animal that causes plants to make fruit or seeds. They do this by moving pollen from one part of the flower of a plant to another part. This pollen then fertilizes the plant. Only fertilized plants can make fruit and / or seeds, and without them, the plants cannot reproduce. Then play the tape again and let the students finish the chart. Play the tape more times if necessary. Check the answers.

Step Ⅲ

Speaking

In this step, the students will learn to expressions of wonder and disgust, and then use them to describe

some unusual things provided.

T: Just now, we listened to Gordon, Mark and Andrea telling about the three plants.

How did you feel after you listened to their descriptions? Ss: Unbelievable, amazing, distrusting, wonderful ...

The students may not be able to use these words, it doesn’t matter. Encourage them to express their feelings with their own words.

T: Now let’s listen to other students’

reactions to Mark, Andrea and Gordon’s descriptions of the plants. Write down the expressions they use.

Play the tape. Then let some students write the expressions they have written on the Bb. Then let the students divide the expressions into two groups as follows.

Expressions of wonder: Expressions of disgust:

T: After students complete the above tasks, ask them to list stuations in which they can use the expressions of disgust and wonder. Then let the students practise using these expressions to talk about the things in Exercise 5.

Step Ⅳ

Writing

T: From the listening material, we have learned a little about Rafflesia. Turn to Page 37. Here are some notes about Rafflesia arnoldii. From what aspects does this diagram tell about Rafflesia arnoldii?

Ss: Flower, pollinators, where it grows, and how it gets food.

T: Yes. I’d like you to write a paragraph about Rafflesia arnoldii according to the notes. Include all the information in your paragraph.

A sample writing:

Rafflesia arnoldii has the largest flower in the world. The flower is one metre wide and it smells like rotting meat. Rafflesia arnoldii grows in the forests of Southeast Asia. Now it becomes rare because of forest destruction. The pollinators of Rafflesia arnoldii are flies and other insects that are attracted to rotting meat. Rafflesia arnoldii is a parasite that lives on other plants. It has no leaves, stems and roots.

Step Ⅴ

Homework

1. Search for information about Rafflesia arnoldii and see how it is described by others.

2. Preview the reading passage on Page 38.