Unit 4 SharingPeriod 1 A sample lesson plan for reading(ALETTER HOME)IntroductionIn this period, after the warming up, students will first be guided to pre-read the text by getting to know about a place called Papua New Guinea. Then they shall read the text for forms and copy expressions. Writing a letter of your own comes before reading the text once again for the type of writing and summary of A LETTER HOME. The class shall end by students reading more on voluntary work.ObjectivesTo help students understand the text’s forms and contents and learn about sharingTo help students communicate on the topic in focus with the words, expressions and structures learned in this unitFocusWords bubble，adjust，grill，toast，comb，purchase，sewCollocations hear from， come across， stick out，dry out， in needPatterns 1. It was wonderful to hear from you.2. I know you’re dying to hear all about my life here.3. I’m still trying to adapt to these conditions.4. The boys had never come across anything like this.5. The hut was dark inside so it took time for our eyes toadjust.6. They believe that any leftovers attract evil spirits inthe night so the food is dried up in the can and the canis then thrown out of the hut.8. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombe’sfamily.AidsMultimedia facilities, tape-recorder, photos, diagramsProcedures1. Warming up by defining volunteerHello, class. Have you ever taken part in any volunteer work? No? Then welcome to our school volunteer work group. But first what is a volunteer? A volunteer is:* One who enters into, or offers for, any service of his own free will.* (Mil.) One who enters into service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army.2. Pre-reading by getting to know about a place called Papua New GuineaHave you ever heard of a place called Papua New Guinea? Now read the fact sheet and the map. Facts of Papua New GuineaCapital: Port MoresbyGovernment: constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracyCurrency: kina (PGK)Area total: 462,840 sq kmLand: 452,860 sq kmWater: 9,980 sq kmPopulation: 5,172,033 (July 2002 est.)Language: English spoken by 1%-2%, pidgin English widespread, Motu spoken in Papua region Note: 715 indigenous languagesReligion: Roman Catholic 22%, Lutheran 16%, Presbyterian/Methodist/London Missionary Society8%, Anglican 5%, Evangelical Alliance 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1%, other Protestant 10%, indigenous beliefs 34%3. Reading for formsIt is unlikely that you will understand 100 percent of the vocabulary in the text, especially at a first reading. Use first the context and then your own knowledge of the subject to help you guess the meaning of unknown words.Read the text to: cut/ the sentence into thought groups, blacken the predicates, darken the connectives and underline all the useful collocations.4. Copying collocationsA collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time.While going over the text, try to recognize the collocations, treat them as single blocks of language and copy them out into your Collocation Book.Collocations from A Letter Homethanks for…因……感谢, be dying to do…急于做……, hear all about…了解所有关于……, include some photos附有几我照片, picture the places图象化这儿的地方, a bush school丛林学校, sometimes up to two hours有时长达两小时, adapt to…使适应……, one thing is for sure有一点是肯定的, become a lot more imaginative in…变得对……更富有想象力, a most challenging subject最富有挑战性的学科, show… a chemistry experiment向……演示……化学实验, bubble over everywhere到处冒气泡, come across…碰到……/见过……, make any difference对……有所改变, speak much Pidgin English说几句洋泾浜英语, the home of ………的家, have fantastic views看到奇妙的景色, down a steep slope to…走下一个通向……的陡坡, work in the garden在花园劳作, shake hands with…与……握手, a low bamboo hut with grass sticking out of the roof 一个低矮的竹屋，屋顶上伸出一簇茅草, get through…进入……, lay… on…放置……在……上, a newly made platform一个新搭架的平台, share…with…与……共用……, sleep on small beds睡在小床上, near the doorway靠近门房, the only possessions仅有的家当, a couple of pots两个罐子, build a fire 生火, place…in a empty oil drum把……放在一个空邮筒里, cover…with…用……覆盖……, inside the hut在竹屋里面, listen to…softly talking to each other听他们轻声细语地交谈, stand upside down on the grill over the fire倒放在火炉的烤架上, attract evil spirits引来邪灵, after many goodbyes and shaking of hands经过一番握手道别之后, fall happily into bed很开心的倒头就睡, get late变的晚了, prepare tomorrow’s lessons 准备明天的课5. Writing a letter of your own.Now you are to write a similar letter based on the topic, the words and the structures of the letter on page 29.A Letter to my teacherDear Ms Xu Fang,Thanks for your letter. It was wonderful to hear from you. I know you’re dying to hear all about my life here in the United States. I’ve included some photos that will help you picture the life I talk about.You asked about my university. Well, it’s a nice one – the classrooms are big and clean and the computers are available to everyone. It takes me only a few minutes to drive to my university. When I reach the university campus there are lots of “Nihaos” for me from my schoolmates, many of whom have lived in China.There’s enough electricity and water and we have lots of books to read and read. I have already adapted to the conditions here. And one thing is for sure. I’ve become a lot more independent in my studies. English is my most challenging subject as there is no Chinese in the classroom and if I need help I have to ask for it in English! The other day I was attending my chemistry lesson a professor with Russian accent came to me – before I knew it, asking why I got the test tubes upside down! I had never come across any strange-sounding teachers like this and started getting more and more nervous. Sometimes I wonder how understandable my English is to the teachers and native classmates, most of whom speak so fast to me and to each other. In fact, I wo nder whether I’m making any progress in my English.You asked whether I am getting to know any local people. Well, that’s actually quite difficult, as I don’t speak much local English yet. But last weekend another foreign student, Halanin, and I did made friends with a native schoolmate who is the chairperson of the Helping Club. He is Rubby, by name. It was my first friendship with a native schoolmate. We talked for two and a half hours about lives in China and America. When we departed at the supper time, Rubby, who had been learning Chinese in his spare time, started shouting “Huijian”. We shook hands with him. Everyone seemed to be happy and excited….6. Reading the text once again for the type of writing and the structure of A LETTER HOME Most articles and their paragraphs have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this structure in our texts whether they are narrating, describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the article or paragraph plays an important role in communicating our meaning to our reader.Now read the text once again for the type of writing and the structure of A LETTER HOME7. Closing down by reading more on voluntary workMy Experience as a Volunteer Teacher"Susan, I'll miss you, don't forget me," a girl wrote to me on the first page of a notebook. The notebook was a collection of the lyrics of her favorite songs. It was a present given by one of my students when I attended the 'Go-to-the-countryside' program last summer holiday. Every time I open the notebook, it brings back fond memories.Last summer vacation, for the purpose of serving society and meeting other social communities, nine of my classmates, including me, formed a group as a service team heading for GaoTan Middle School, which is in the remote mountain area of Guangdong Province.We spent one week there, mainly teaching the students English, as planned. We had known ahead of time that their English was inferior to their counterparts' in the city. And what was worse, they didn't like learning English. So we came up with a logo and carefully chose four topics for our students. The logo was: I'm not shy, I can speak English loudly." The four topics were: my dream, my family, my hometown and what a wonderful world. We intended to inspire their interest of learning English and help them build the confidence of speaking English out loudly. We exerted ourselves to create a very active and relaxed atmosphere while teaching. In addition, the topics were suitable for us to communicate with them and build up a good relationship.At the beginning of each class, our students were asked to shout out the logo. And it was clear that they were very happy to shout in English. The content of our lessons was closely related to the four topics. We also covered moral education while teaching. In class, we showed great happiness for any progress made, such as a correct pronunciation, a right spelling, a brave answer, etc.Although the time we spent together was short, we and our students became good friends. When we had to leave them, they gave us lots of little gifts expressing their appreciation of our teaching. The lyrics notebook was the one I liked best.The 'Go-to-the-countryside' program has been very hot among university students in recent years. Our team was just one in hundreds of teams across the country, and I myself am just one in thousands of volunteer teachers. There is a standard of judging teachers: the mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacherinspires. I am wondering what category of teachers I belong to. Maybe my future students will have the answer to that question.。
