Using LanguageⅡ全国优秀课堂实录

NSEFC BOOK 8 UNIT 5 USING LANGUAGE:

READING - THE TEAST: 18,000 BC ZHENG Lu TOPIC：Humanity and Society —Archaeology and Human Life in Prehistoric Periods Text Analysis The topic of this unit is “Archaeology and Human Life in Prehistoric Periods”, which reveals the progress of humankind from its earliest beginnings. Three texts are included in this unit: in Reading Comprehension Section, the conversation between English students and an archaeologist focuses on the excavation findings of Peking Man who lived in the Zhoukoudian caves; in Using Language Section, the text of Listening introduces the two main ways archaeologists use to date objects found in the ground, and the text of Reading tells a fictional story about early people in 18,000BC preparing for a feast. The two reading texts are both related to human life in the Paleolithic period, which will contribute to students’ constructing their knowledge on early people and the primitive societies. However, it can be argued that gaining more systematic knowledge of the topic requires students to explore extensively.

The story, “The Feast: 18,000BC”, is told in third-person point of view, mainly showing Lala’s experience of making preparations for the annual feast for her friends and neighbors. There are four paragraphs: the first paragraph deals with Lala’s anxiety on her way home. By describing Lala’s thoughts, the background information, such as the significance of the feast, the relationship between Lala and Dahu, is conveyed. In the second paragraph, Lala, who returned home, relieved seeing families working and smelling food boiling. In the third and fourth paragraphs, Dahu, who brought back fish and wood, accomplished sharpening the scrapers before guests’ arrival. Various techniques of characterization are used, like describing the appearance, actions, thoughts and emotions. Thus, the writer not only shows the audience a vivid scene of early life, but provides information of prehistoric culture, especially work division in primitive societies.

Students Analysis Showing proficiency in English to some extent, the students are open minded, active, and

willing to learn. Familiar with narrative writing, they are equipped to gain basic information of the plot, characters and setting, and are likely to be able to analysis writing techniques. However, having slight acquaintance with the topic, these science students are lacking in the cultural knowledge of archaeology, primitive societies and human life in prehistoric periods. Thus, it can be challenging for them to construct a system of related knowledge without scaffolds provided. Additionally, some students can express their viewpoints confidently, but they have limited capability of processing information deeply, especially analyzing, inferring, explaining or evaluating different views.

Considering the cultural and historic significance of Shaanxi Province, the students growing up here have easy access to visiting excavation sites or attending relevant exhibitions. They are highly motivated to conduct a research project on early people in their hometown, which is bound to enable them to learn by doing, develop both cultural awareness and thinking abilities by expanding the circumstance into their life. Teaching Objectives By the end of the class, students will be able to: 1.

understand the plot and the change of Lala’s feelings; 2.

analyze the characters in depth and writing techniques of characterization; 3.

classify different tasks of men and women in the story and add “work division”

branch to the mind maps; 4.

study autonomously and cooperatively to gain a deep comprehension of the story and further develop the habits of reading through reading circles; 5.

introduce the early life back to 18,000BC to museum visitors in role-playing exercise, based on the story and the illustrations; 6.

gain inspiration for their research project, such as the perspective from which to research on the primitive societies or cultural features, and voice their feelings of the development of human civilization. Teaching Emphases

Students read to understand the plot, characters and setting, gain the information on the work division in primitive societies, and share their notes in reading circles, which combine, in a natural way, the skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and thus fulfill the

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expectations of becoming proficient language users as well as independent thinkers. Possible Difficulties Students interact with the text and other students in reading circles. They need to write carefully in order to be prepared for their group discussions; to speak in English almost all of the time while in their groups; to eagerly point to passages within a text in order to support their arguments; and to question each other in order to establish what the text really means. Thus, they must try to adapt various cognition and meta cognition strategies and train their thinking abilities in respect of analysis, inference, explanation, evaluation and so on. Learning Resources

The textbook, media, handouts, work sheets, and blackboard. Teaching Procedures Steps Pre-reading

Step 1 (CW) 1.

T leads Ss to review the remained objects mentioned in the article “A Visit to The Zhoukoudian Caves”.

2.

T presents three pictures related to human life in the past, and invites Ss to describe what is shown in each picture and Step 2 (CW&IW) put the three pictures in To lead Ss into the topic and 3’

stimulate their background knowledge.

By observing the pictures, a photo in twentieth century, a painting of Tang Dynasty and a cave art dating back to 20, 000BC, students gain information of human life in the past. Activities Intentions Time chronological order.

1.

T asks Ss to imagine what a feast would To arouse their reading expectation 2’

be like in the 18,000BC.

by asking questions based on the

pictures. 2.

Ss predict what the article is about To train Ss’

ability to make a according to the title and two prediction with clues. illustrations. (IW) To draw Ss’ awareness of the type of 3.

Ss predict and check the genre of the writing, and stimulate their relevant writing. (IW) knowledge. 3

While-reading

Step 3 (IW&CW) 1.

Ss read through the text and answer the questions about the major characters.

2.

Ss read the original sentences and analyze how the author tell audience what a character is like. To check Ss’ understanding of details 7’

of plot.

To analysis writing techniques. Step 4 (IW&CW) Step 5 (IW&GW) 1.

Ss read the story to look for men’s and To check Ss’

ability of classifying, 3’

women’s tasks in primitive societies and summering and integrating. complete their mind maps.

2.

Ss explain the mind maps. 1.

Ss work in group of six, read the story and each undertakes one of the following tasks. T gives demos for each tasks, offers help and monitors the class. To motivate Ss to gain a deeper 13’

understanding of the story from different perspectives. To practice Ss’

language skills in group discussion. To train Ss’ thinking abilities such as analyzing, inferring, evaluating, and viewing the world from different perspectives, etc. To develop Ss’

several learning strategies: learning autonomously and cooperatively.

To compare and contrast the culture of modern societies and primitive societies.

(1)

Discussion Leader a.

Raise two questions based on the text and write down your answers. You may ask questions about the details, the events, the characters, etc.

b.

Share the questions in your group and invite group members to answer them. c.

Call on each member to present their prepared role information. d.

Guide your group discussion and keep it going. (2)

Summarizer a.

read the story and make notes about the characters, events, and ideas. b.

find the key points that everyone must know to understand and remember the story. c.

rewrite the story in a short summary in your own words. d.

talk about your summary to the group. (3)

Connector a.

read the story twice, and look for connections (or similarities and differences) between the story and the world outside. b.

make notes about at least two possible connections.

c.

tell the group about the connections and ask for their comments or questions.

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d.

ask the group if they can think of any connections themselves. (4)

Word Master a.

read the story, and look for words or short phrases that are new or difficult to understand, or that are important in the story. b.

choose three words (only three) that you think are important for this story. c.

explain the meanings of these three words in simple English to the group.

d.

tell the group why these words are important for understanding this story. (5)

Passage Person a.

read the story, and find important, interesting, or difficult passages (or sentences). b.

make notes about two passages that are important for the plot, or that explain the characters, or that have very interesting or powerful language. c.

read each passage to the group, and explain why you have chosen it. d.

ask the group one or two questions about each passage.

(6)

New Narrator a.

read the story carefully, especially the ending, and imagine what would happen after the friends and neighbors arrived. b.

write one more paragraph to the story, and check it carefully. c.

read your ending to the group ask for their comments. d.

polish and improve your ending according to suggestions from your group. 2.

T invites Ss from different groups to present their work to the class and gives feedback. Post-reading

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Step 6 (GW&CW) Ss role-play an international volunteer in the To apply the information gained from 4’

museum with young visitors to introduce the the story to the role-play. life of ancestors back to 18,000BC To check Ss’

ability to use proper language

pragmatically in response to the circumstance. 1.

T guides Ss to rethink how to conduct the unit survey: “Approaching Our Ancestors—Early People in My Hometown”

in terms of selecting what to research on and methods of data collecting. 2.

Ss listening to two groups’ presentations and take notes. 3.

Ss share their feelings and thoughts on the development of human civilization, associating the story, the Banpo culture and today. To discuss and plan for their research 7’

project.

To gain further information on the topic.

To integrate the information on the topic and voice their views. 1’

Step 7 (CW&GW) Homework Assignment Ss choose one question they are interested in and post their opinions on the webpage:

In which period of history would you like to have lived? Why?

What do you think future historians will say about the way we live now? Ss are encouraged to make comments on others’ opinions. Learning Assessment

Ss are encouraged to assess their own performance in the end of the class by considering the following questions: •

Can I remember some new information about the primitive societies? •

Can I explain why Lala’s feelings changed?

•

Can I analyze the characters in depth? •

Can I appreciate the language used by the author? •

Can I conduct a project to explore my ancestors? •

Can I willingly and confidently express my new point of view in my group? 备注：Ss: Students T: Teacher IW: Individual work

GW: Group work

CW: Class work Blackboard Design The Feast: 18,000BC Characterization Lala emotions

actions thoughts Dahu appearance actions

Work Division Evolution of Human Societies

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附：学生阅读圈活动的部分课堂生成

Discussion Leader:

Summarizer:

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Connector:

Word Master:

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Passage Person:

New Narrator:

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