【一】
Step I.Revision
Check the homework with the whole class.
Step II. Warming up
Ask the students to read the instructions and make sure they know what to do, and then have a discussion about the two pictures.
T: Today, before we begin our reading, I’d like to ask you a question, “What is the biggest sound you have heard in your life?”
S1: The sound of wind that blew in a winter night when I was very young. It sounded like a ghost who was howling. I was very frightened at that time.
S2: The biggest noise was the one that I heard when my neighbor was quarrelling with his wife. Perhaps, they broke their TV set.
T: That’s too terrible.
S3: The noise when planes take off.
S4: The sound of trains.
T: Good! I agree that all of them are big sound. But did you once heard the sound that the heaven falls and the earth cracks, in Chinese it is 天崩地裂?
Ss: No, we have no chance to hear that.
T: If there is a sound like this, what is it?
S5: When someone hears something unexpected and terrible. For example, when one of his loved families dies, he will feel this sound.
T: Terrific! You are using a literary way to express the sound.
S6: When an earthquake happens.
T: Great! I have waited for this answer for a long time. Today we’ll learn something about earthquakes. I think most of us have heard of earthquakes. Can you imagine how terrible it is ?
S7: The earth is shaking . All the buildings will fall down.
S8: Many people will die. And perhaps many children will lose their parents.
T: Yeah, earthquakes are disasters to everybody. Now look at the two pictures of Tangshan and San Francisco. Can you describe what you see in the pictures?
S1: Tangshan is a beautiful city. It has beautiful gardens, broad roads and some tall buildings.
S2: From the picture of San Francisco,I can see that it is a very big city. There are many tall buildings thickly standing on the earth. I think the population of the city is very large.
T: Good! What will happen if there has been a big earthquake in these two cities? Work in pairs and discuss it. Then I’ll ask so me of you to show your opinion.
Step III.Pre-reading
There are two questions in this part. Both are very interesting. The first one c
an more or less reveal the students’ values; while the second one can enlarge their imagination. No matter what their answers are, as long as they have given careful thoughts to the situations, their answers should be good.
T: Now, let’s look at the pictures. What are the predictions of an earthquake?
S1: Before an earthquake animals will become nervous. Cows, pigs, horses and dogs will be upset. And people can see mice running about. If the earthquake happens during winter, people can even see snakes.
T: Terrific! Where did you get this knowledge?
S1: From geography. I like it.
T: good. Sit down please.
S2: Madam, I don’t know the meaning of the picture with two women.
T: It doesn’t matter. You will know it soon after reading our text. OK. Imagine there is an earthquake now, and your home is shaking, at this moment you have no time to take any other things but one, what will it be?
S3: I’ll take all my money. People can’t live without money.
S4: I will take as much water as possible. Because it is said that people can keep alive for nearly 7 days by drinking without any food
S5: In that case, I’d rather take some apples, so that besides drinking, I can also eat.
S6: I will carry my grandma. She is my most loved person in this world. She brought me up.
T: What a dutiful child you are! I’m very glad to hear that. Sit down please! It seems that all of you know what you should do during an earthquake. OK. Let’s read our text, and see what it tells us.
Step IV.Reading
In this part, teacher should ask the students to read the passage quickly for the first time to get the general idea of the passage. Ask them to pay attention to the first sentence of each paragraph. This can help them finish exercise3 in Comprehention. It is about the main idea of each paragraph. Then ask them to read the text again carefully to obtain some details. Before reading for the second time, show some questions on the screen, and let the students read the questions first. These questions can guide them to have a good understanding about the text. They can also make preparations for Exs1-2,which are about details.
Skimming
T: At first I’d like to read the text quickly to get the general idea of the article. While reading, you should pay attention to the sentence of each paragraph.
T: Have you got the general idea of the text?
Ss: Yes.
T: What is it?
S1: There is no quick answer to this question . Are you suggesting us that the general idea is the mixture of the first sentences of each paragraph?
T: Sure.
S1:OK. That’s easy. The main idea of the passage is some signs of the earthquake, and what would happen during the quake.
T: Good, sit down please. In fact, while we are answering the questions, we have involved the sequence, the functional item for this unit. (Teacher writes the word on the blackboard ) Do you understand the meaning of the word?
Ss: No.
T: Sequence means the order of the events. It can tell us which event happens first, and which happens later. Do you know the sequence that is used in our text?
S3: Yes. At first, the text tells us something that happened before the quake, then it tells us the things that happened during the quake and at last it tells us the things that happened after the earthquake.
T: Quite right! Now please look at the screen, these are the first sentences of each paragraph. Read them and think if they are the main idea of the text. If necessary, you may make some changes to make more exact.
Teacher shows the screen and gives a little time to think it over.
1.Strange things were happening in the countryside in the northeast Hebei.
2.The disaster happened and caused a lot of loss.
3. All hope was not lost.
Careful reading
T: Now, it’s time for us to read the text carefully. But before reading, you should read some questions first. These questions may help you get some information quickly and easily. Now look at the screen, and read the questions.
Show on the screen
1.What natural signs of a coming disaster were there?
2.Can you think of some reasons why these signs weren’t noticed?
3.What events probably made the disaster worse?
4.What situations probably made the disaster worse?
5.How were the survivors held?
Step V. Extension
Show the questions on the screen.
1.From whose point of view are events described? How do you know?
2.What is the mood of this passage? How is it created?
3.Why do you think the writer chooses to express his feelings about the quake rather than simply reporting what had happened?
4.Why is the title A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN’T SLEEP?
5.What does the sentence “Slowly, the city began to breathe again.” mean?
Answers:
1. He uses third-person to describe the quake. His description is very objective. For example, the second sentence in the third paragraph. The writer says: “Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed.” The writer uses they instead of we.
2.The mood is serious and a bit sad. It is created by giving details of how many people and animals were killed or injured, and how many buildings were destroyed.
3.Although the writer was not there, he felt sad for the people of Tangshan. He knows that some personal feelings will make the reading more interesting.
4.I think the reason is that, as usual, night is the time to sleep, and night should be safe and quiet. But that night everything changed. The writer uses A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN’T SLEEP as a title to show how terrible and how unusual the night was.
5.Here we can see that the writer compared the city to a person who suffered a lot in the disaster. He felt her pain, and he worried about her. So when he said that people came to help her, we can feel his feelings to the city. The city will not die, she has hope and she can recover from the pain.
Step VI Comprehending
Answers to Exx1-3
1.1. C 2. E 3.B 4.D 5.A
2.1. The walls of the villages wells had cracks in them.
2 .Roads got huge cracks
3. Brick buildings were destroyed.
4. The army helped the survivors.
5. Shelters were put up for those with no homes.
3.1. Strange things were happening in the countryside in northeast Hebei..
1.The disaster happened and caused a lot of loss.
2.All hope was not lost.
Step VII Homework
課后反思：總體感覺上，本節(jié)課上得比較成功，心情愉快�；旧贤瓿闪私虒W任務。學生們不但對地震有了一定的了解，而且能用英語進行簡單的描述。但是同學們在討論、匯報、回答問題時詞匯單一，句式多是中國方的英語。在今后的教學中要加強語句表達方面的訓練。
【二】
一、教學內(nèi)容 Pre-reading; Reading; Comprehending
二、教學目標
在本節(jié)課結(jié)束時，學生能夠
l 認識節(jié)日的分類以及節(jié)日對人們生活的影響，從更深入的層面理解各國節(jié)日的意義。
l 運用略讀(skimming)、找讀(scanning)、細讀(careful reading)等閱讀技巧來掌握篇章中心內(nèi)容，獲取閱讀文章中的關鍵信息。
l 根據(jù)上下文，理解本課的生詞、詞組，如feast, gather, belief, dress up, play a trick on, admire, poet, look forward, day and night。
三、教學步驟
步驟一 略讀（skimming）
1．學生看Reading中的圖片和標題，兩人一組討論閱讀材料中將介紹什么信息，完成Pre-reading的練習2。鼓勵學生在班內(nèi)發(fā)表個人的見解。
2．老師指導學生快速瀏覽文章中的小標題和每個自然段的首句，了解文章大意，即不同的節(jié)日或慶典類型代表著不同的含義，有些是紀念死者的，有些是紀念著名人士的，有些是慶祝冬天的結(jié)束春天的播種、秋天的豐收、以及獵人獵到獵物等等。
教學意圖：快速瀏覽圖片、標題信息、文章中的小標題和每個自然段的首句進行略讀，可以使學生在較短時間內(nèi)準確地找到文章的基本信息。
步驟二 找讀（scanning）
1．老師先讓學生看“理解”中的練習1，了解節(jié)日的分類，老師可做必要的解釋。
教學意圖：學生在把握了節(jié)日的分類后，他們在完成下列各環(huán)節(jié)時更有針對性。
2．讓學生帶著練習1中的任務通讀一遍課文，重點閱讀和練習有關的內(nèi)容，快速找出練習所要求的基本信息。
教學意圖：通過找讀，學生帶著任務就可以快速獲得練習1所要求的關鍵信息。
3． 在老師的指導下，全班合作填寫練習1表格中的第一行。然后，老師要求學生獨立完成余下的三行表格的填寫。學生完成表格的填寫后，老師作點評。
教學意圖：學生在第一環(huán)節(jié)中完成了節(jié)日的分類、第二環(huán)節(jié)中找到了練習1中的關鍵信息后，學生在本環(huán)節(jié)進一步整合信息，完成練習1表格的填寫。
步驟三 細讀（careful reading）
1． 學生仔細閱讀課文，獨立完成Comprehending中練習2的問題1~3，然后請幾個學生回答，后全班核對答案。
教學意圖：練習2中的問題1~3較4~5簡單，通過細讀全文，學生能夠獨立作答。
問題1~3的參考答案：
1） Festivals of the dead are for hornouring or satisfying dead ancestors or others, who some people believe might return to help or harm living people.
2） Autumn festivals are happy events because people are thankful that food is ready for winter and the hard farm work is finished.
3） At spring festivals, people usually have dances, carnivals and other activities to celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring.
2． 學生4人一組討論問題4~5，然后每組選出一名代表，匯報討論結(jié)果，后老師給予指導并得出盡可能一致的意見。
教學意圖：問題4~5是開放性的問題，通過討論，學生可以根據(jù)文章的線索進行推理，根據(jù)已有的知識和經(jīng)驗得出問題的答案。在匯報中，學生就能夠分享彼此的成果。
問題4~5參考答案：
1） It is important to have festivals and celebrations so we can enjoy life / be proud of our customs / forget our work for a little while.
2) The Chinese, Japanese and Mexican festivals of the dead all have customs to honour the dead. The Chinese and Japanese go to clean their ancestors’ tombs.
步驟四 歸納內(nèi)容、對比
完成練習3~4的深層次的閱讀理解任務：
老師要求學生探討課文的整體結(jié)構(gòu)和細節(jié)，從每個自然段中找出練習所需的具體的例證。然后老師指導學生完成表格的第一行。學生仿照第一行的填寫方法，完成表格其它行的填寫。在老師幫助下全班同學一起核對答案，力爭取得較一致的意見。
教學意圖：通過本環(huán)節(jié)的學習，學生能夠體驗歸納、總結(jié)、對比的學習過程，同時，為完成后續(xù)的寫作任務做鋪墊。
步驟五 解決閱讀中學生遇到的困難
老師要求學生朗讀課文。然后4人一組根據(jù)上下文討論在閱讀中遇到的難以理解的單詞和詞組，如feast, gather, belief, dress up, play a trick on, admire, poet, look forward, day and night等，先是組內(nèi)探討解決，組內(nèi)解決不了的，老師給予幫助。
教學意圖：解決閱讀中的障礙，培養(yǎng)學生根據(jù)上下文進行猜詞的能力。
步驟六 歸納整理、復述課文
1． 老師事先用投影呈現(xiàn)出本課信息圖，學生在老師的引導下，共同完成信息圖中的信息填寫，選一名學生填寫投影中的信息圖（可用詞或短語）。然后學生根據(jù)“信息圖”用自己的話復述課文：
教學意圖：教學生如何處理和加工信息，檢查學生對課文中的主要信息、事實、情節(jié)要點等是否清楚，訓練學生靈活運用所學語言表達自己的思想。
步驟七 作業(yè)
讓學生把復述的內(nèi)容寫成短文。
教學意圖：進一步加強學生對課文中主要內(nèi)容的掌握，培養(yǎng)學生寫summary的技巧。
