unit 4 astronomy: the science of the stars
period 5 using language: extensive reading
整体设计
教材分析
this is the fifth teaching period of this unit. as usual, the teacher should check students’ homework and offer chances for them to go over what they learned in the last period at the beginning of the class. then lead in the new lesson.
in this period, the teaching emphasis will be put on developing students’ reading ability by reading extensively. we will deal with two parts: a visit to the moon in using language on pages 30-31 and caught by a black hole in reading task on page 66. while reading, get students learning to use some reading strategies such as skimming, scanning, and so on. as to new words and phrases, the teacher can first find those students feel most difficult and help them to understand. that’s enough here. the reading passage a visit to the moon is a science fiction story which imagines what it might be like if an astronaut visited the moon. the purpose of science fiction writing is to combine facts with a story to make students interested and excited about travel in space. it is also to stimulate awe and wonder into the vastness of space. as this reading uses the information students have gained from the listening, the teacher can first ask some students to retell the listening text to lead in the topic and then ask students to read the passage and do some comprehending exercises. while checking their answers with the whole class, deal with language problems students can’t work out by themselves. this is an extensive reading lesson, so the teaching steps should be simple. as to the passage caught by a black hole, it is to continue the above story. the astronomers in the story visit a place in space, which seems impossible for people to reach, the “black hole”. it is to help students imagine what it is like near a “black hole”. ask students to read through the passage and try to know more about astronomy and gravity.
at the end of the class, ask students to retell the two passages. in order to arouse students’ interest, the teacher can hold a competition among them.
教学重点
1. develop students’ reading skills by extensive reading.
2. let students read and understand the two passages.
教学难点
1. enable students to learn to use reading strategies such as skimming, scanning, and so on.
2. get students to understand the science fiction stories in this unit.
三维目标
知识目标
1. get students to learn some useful new words and expressions in this part: spaceship, pull, float, mass, cheer up, now that, break out
教学过程
→step 1 revision
1. check the homework exercises.
2. ask some pairs of students to come to the front and act out their dialogue to review the expressions of giving instructions.
3. have some students talk about isaac newton, albert einstein and stephen hawking as well as their ideas on gravity.
→step 2 warming up
let students to brainstorm the following questions:
what country first sent people into space?
how many countries have succeeded in sending people into space so far?
who first landed on the moon?
who is the first chinese astronaut to go into space?
do you want to visit the moon?
→step 3 reading
1. ask students to read the passage and then describe the three ways in which gravity changed for li yanping and how his weight changed.
1) write down the three ways in which gravity changed for li yanping.
the way gravity changed
left the earth
in space
on the moon
suggested answers:
the way gravity changed
left the earth the gravity became very strong.
in space the gravity disappeared.
on the moon the gravity became very light.
2) his weight changed three times, too. now write them down.
how his weight changed
left the earth
in space
on the moon
suggested answers:
how his weight changed
left the earth he became very heavy.
in space he had no weight and could float around like a feather.
on the moon he was about one-sixth of his weight on the earth.
2. ask students to read the passage aloud to the tape and underline all the useful expressions or collocations in the passage. let students read them aloud and copy them down in their exercise book after class as homework. try to keep them in mind.
collocations: be lucky enough to do, have a chance, make a trip into space, explain sth. to sb. , the force of gravity, be off, the pull of the earth’s gravity, fall back to the earth, fall to the ground, too far from the earth, as if, at all, get close to, cheer up, come on, less than, down the steps, step forward, twice as far as, fall over, a bit of, now that, after a while, get the hang of, break out, on the outside of, be pushed into
old ideas about “black holes” was this what we found? new ideas about “black holes”
1. black holes cannot be seen. yes
2. gravity pulls objects towards them. yes
3. objects go round outside the edge of the “black hole”. yes
4. all objects must go into the “black hole” when they are caught by its gravity. yes they can be thrown far from the “black hole” by the energy in the “black hole”.
→step 6 consolidation
ask students to go back to the two passages. give them several minutes to be prepared to retell the whole story in their own words. then ask as many students as possible to come to the front to tell the story.
the way gravity changed
left the earth the gravity became very strong.
in space the gravity disappeared.
on the moon the gravity became very light.
2) his weight changed three times, too. now write them down.
how his weight changed
left the earth he became very heavy.
in space he had no weight and could float around like a feather.
on the moon he was about one-sixth of his weight on the earth.
活动与探究
go to the library and surf the internet to find as much information as you can about space and the moon. and you are expected to present it to your teacher and classmates in the next class.