整体设计
从容说课
This is the fifth teaching period of this unit. As usual, the teacher should check the students’ homework and offer chances for the students to go over what they learned in the last period at the beginning of the class.
In this period, the teaching emphasis will be put on developing the students’ reading ability by reading extensively and getting them learning to use some reading strategies such as skimming, scanning, and so on. As to new words and phrases, the teacher can just find those the students feel most difficult and help them to understand. That’s enough here.
We will deal with two parts: Reading and discussing on Pages 38-39 and Reading Task on Pages 73-74. The purpose of Reading and discussing on Pages 38-39 is to finish the story of Elias and explain what happened to him after he was sent to Robben Island. This proved to be a very hard time in his life and he never worked again until Nelson Mandela and his government came into power. At that point ANC supporters who had suffered like Elias were given jobs and pensions by the government to make up for the years of suffering. In order to lead in the topic of this passage, the teacher can first talk about and discuss something mentioned in Elias’ Story. Then ask the students to find the answers by skimming and to locate particular information by scanning. While checking their answers with the whole class, deal with language problems the students can’t work out by themselves. For Reading Task on Pages 73-74, it provides an opportunity for the students to think about a person or a situation in different respects. This is very important as a lot of university work and research needs students who can look at different points of view and come to a good conclusion. In addition, it means that they must also give reasons for their choice and possibly argue that one side or the other is wrong. Students are asked to give their views of Bill Gates before reading. This is to see what viewpoints they have already. Most will probably think Bill Gates is a good man because they have only heard good things about him. In the two passages they will read both good and bad things about Bill Gates. Do these readings change their minds or do students remain unmoved by them? After reading, ask the students for their reactions again. They should give a reason for any change of mind or for staying with the same opinion. This is one of the most important exercises in this unit and it should be treated seriously.
As to Speaking Task on Page 74, its purpose is for the students to re-examine what qualities they think makes a great person. It is an informal assessment of whether they have understood the point of the unit. It also provides them with the opportunity to consider what priorities they think are important in a person. Remind the students to use the expressions set out in Talking. In order to finish this part, have a debate on whether Bill Gates is a great man or not.
