Teaching Aims:
1. Learn the following words and expressions:
change…to; get through, extraordinary; avoid; fall into, stupidity; by the light of
2. Learn the text to know about the relation between poems and songs.
3. Read English poems and know something about them.
4. Train the students to enjoy English poems.
Teaching Important Points:
1. The usages of the useful words and expressions listed above.
2. How to enjoy English poems.
Teaching Difficult Point:
How to enjoy English poems.
Teaching Methods:
1. Analysing method to get the students to further understand what they've learned.
2. Practice method to get the students to master what they've learned.
3. Discussion method to make every student active in the class activities.
Teaching Aids:
1. a computer
2. a tape recorder
3. a projector
Teaching Procedures:
Step I Greetings and Revision
Greet the whole class as usual.
T: In the last period, I told you to join some pairs of sentences, using the past
participle. Now, who'll give us the answers?
(One student, one sentence.)
SA: 1. Shocked at what Jack had said, Mary didn't know what to say at first.
SB: 2. The broken mirror was lying on the ground.
SC: 3. I went into the dark room, followed by my best friend.
SD: 4. The park destroyed by the storm last Sunday is the most beautiful place in the city.
SE: 5. The dog tied to a pole by the door barked at us.
SF: 6. They were sad to see a sea of flowers covered by the heavy snow.
SG: 7. Well known for his knowledge, the scientist is able to help the workers to
get out of their difficulty.
SH: 8. The coins collected by my cousin were made in Tang Dynasty.
(Teacher and students learn the new words of this period together.)
Step II Reading and Comprehension
T: Do you like singing?
Ss: Yes, we do.
T: Do you like poems?
Ss: Yes, we do.
T: Why do you like them? Do you think that poems and songs have anything in common?
Ss:…
T: Now let's read a passage about songs and poems. You'll find the answers to the questions above. Please read it fast and find the answers to the questions on the screen. Please write the answers on a piece of paper and I'll collect the first five pieces.
(Teacher shows the screen.)
Answer the following questions:
1. How does the writer feel when he is listening to music and to the song words?
2. What kind of feeling has he when the writer locks the door and reads poems aloud?
(A few minutes later.)
T: Those who finish your answers, hand them in, please.
(Teacher collects the first five students' answers. Then say the following. )
T: SA, please give us the answer to the first question.
SA : When he is listening to music and to the song words, he feels that it was written for him.
T: The second question?
SB: When he locks the door and reads the poems aloud, he is given a strong feeling at first. When he has some practice later and falls into the rhythm, the rhyme and the sounds of the words, it is a very special experience.
T: Are they right?
Ss: Yes, they are right. T: Very good. Now read the text again, and discuss the questions on the screen.
(Teacher shows the screen.)
Read the text carefully and find the answers to the following questions.
l. Why is the question why read and sometimes even write Poetry not difficult to answer if we change the word poetry to songs?
2. Why are there songs that the writer sings in his head between classes and he wants to sing when the school bell rings by the end of the day?
3. What song words does the writer like?
4. Does the writer like long poems?
5. What does the writer read when he has had a bad day at school?
6. Do you have the same feeling as the writer? Do you agree with him?
(Teacher goes into the class and joins the students in the discussion.)
T: (After the students' discussion.) Now give us your answers, please. One student, one question. Volunteers?
Sa: 1. I'll try the first question. Because the writer thinks that poems and songs are the same and he sings when he feels good.
Sb: 2. The second question: Because between classes and when the school bell rings by the end of the day, he'll have a free time of his own. He can do what he wants to do, so he feels good and wants to sing.
Sc:3. He likes song words about love and friendship and he especially likes to sing his favourite songs in English.
Sd:4. At first, he didn't like poetry. Then an e-pal of his gave him some suggestions about poems. Now he likes long poems very much.
Se:5. When he has had a bad day at school, he reads Keats' poems.
Sf:6. I agree with the author and I have the same feeling as he does, but I like short poems most.
T: Very good. Now can you answer my question Why do you like poems?
Sg: Yes. Because poems can make people happy and forget all the unhappy things.
T: Do you think that poems and songs have anything in common?
Sh: Yes. I think so. They have the same good points.
T: (Show the screen.) Now look at the screen. There are some useful words and expressions on it. Please read them and learn them by heart.
Useful words and expressions:
1. change… to: He changed the date to Sep. 11.
2. get through: I got through the book in one evening .
He got through the final exams.
3. extraordinary: I had an extraordinary dream last night.
4. avoid: The man tried to avoid answering him.
5. fall into: They have fallen into poverty.
6. stupidity: I'm ashamed of my stupidity.
7. by the light of: Sometimes we go on working after dark by the light of our tractors.
Step III Listening and Reading Aloud
(Teacher plays the tape for the students to listen to. Then students read the pas sage loud. )
Step IV Exercise
T: Please turn to Page 31. Here is a poem by Robert Frost. Listen to the tape and
read it aloud. Find the words that rhyme and then discuss with your classmates
what it means.
(Teacher plays the tape and then goes into the students and helps them to correct the mistakes in pronunciation and intonation, and then joins in their discussion.)
T: Have you finished it? Please tell us the words that rhyme.
S1: I'll try. “crow” rhymes with“snow”and“heart”rhymes with“part”.
T: Are there any?
S2: Yes. “me” and“ tree” rhymes “mood”and “rued” rhyme.
T: Are they right?
Ss: Yes, they are right.
T: Who will tell us its meaning?
S3: I think the whole poem is a sentence. It is like this: The way a crow shook the dust of snow from a hemlock tree down on me has given my heart a change of mood and saved some part of a day I had rued. Am I right?
T：Yes, you are right.
S4: It means that a crow in a hemlock tree shook down some snow on me and this gave me a release from my unhappy mood.
T: Quite right.
Step V Checkpoint
T: Open your books at Page 32. Look at Checkpoint 4. Here are three sentences. Please change their adverbial clause in each sentence into a past participle phrase. Have a discussion with your partner and after a while we'll check the answers.
Suggested answers:
1. Translated into Chinese, the book became very popular in China.
2. Given more time, we would he able to do the work much better.
3. Left alone at home, Sam did not feel afraid at all.
(When the students give the answers, teacher writes them on the blackboard.)
Step VI Summary and Homework
T: In this class, we've learned a passage about songs and poems. From it we know that songs and poems can make us feel better. We've also learned some useful words and expressions. They are：change… to…, get through, (Teacher writes them on the
blackboard) Today's homework：Read the poem on Page 32, and try to find its meaning. If you have some difficulty in understanding it, you can follow the advice of the text. If you fall into the rhythm, the ryhme and the sounds of the words, you'll get in a really special experience. Exercise 2 is about writing. Read the instructions and try to write an essay. Besides, tips are a help for you to enjoy poems. Do as it says, and I'm sure you'll become a poemlover. That's all for today. Class is over.
Suggested answers to Ex. 2:
A review of the poem“Twinkle, twinkle little star”. This poem is about the stars in the sky. When I read the poem, it seems that a clear picture is shown before me. In the dark sky of night, there are thousands of little stars that twinkle in the sky. They are far away from me, perhaps thousands of millions of miles away. I want very much to go further and see clearly what they are like. But I can't. I can only see them like diamonds in my story books. When I read the poem, I feel very happy and comfortable. Nature is beautiful and mysterious whether in the day or at night. There are many, many things like stars in the sky waiting for us to discover.
Step VII The Design of the Writing on the Blackboard
Unit 4 A garden of poems
The Fourth Period
Useful words and expressions:
Change…to, get through, extraordinary,
avoid, fall into, stupidity, by the light of
The Past Participle used as Adverbial:
Translated into Chinese (= Aa soon as it was
translated into Chinese), the book became very
popular in China. Given more time (= If we were given
more time), we would be able to do the work much better.
Left alone at home (= Although he was left alone at home),
Sam did not feel afraid at all.
Step VIII Record after Teaching
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