Unit 1 Half a Day

Unit 1 Half a Day

Part I Speaking Activities

I. Teaching objectives:

1. Get students to have a discussion about the text.

2. Develop students’ oral English ability.

II. Important point:

Encourage students to open their mouth and speak out what they know.

III. Teaching Method: Classroom presentation and Classroom discussion, raising questions, group work

IV. Allotted Time: 2 periods

V. Type of Class: discussion

VI: Teaching Steps:

Step I. Warm-up questions

Get students to answer the following questions about their first day at Hengyang Normal University.

(1) Who saw you off at the railway station / airport? Who came to school with you? What did he/she/ they say to you on the way?

(2) Was it hard for you to leave home for the first time in your life? Are you homesick now?

(3) Did you feel you were a stranger the first time you arrived here?

(4) Did you find the university just as you had imagined? In what way was it as you imagined, and in what way was it not? Were you disappointed when you found it wasn’t as good as you had expected?

(5) What do you think is the business of university? What do you expect to learn here?

(6) Do you find life at college rich and colorful or tedious and boring?

(7) Do you have trouble adjusting to life here?

(8) What do you think you should do to get most out of college?

Step II. Questions to check on pre-class work

Get students to answer the following questions and make sure that they have read through the text.

(1) Why does the boy feel so reluctant to go to school? What are his chief misgivings?

(2) What’s the purpose of school according to the boy’s father? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

(3) What does the boy see along the street on the way to school? What purpose do these descriptions serve?

(4) What is the boy’s first impression about the school? Is he favorably impressed by the high walls and huge buildings?

(5) How does the boy like the teachers at the school?

(6) How does the boy find school life? Do his misgivings turn out to be true?

(7) Do you consider the boy a good student? Does he find school life beneficial?

(8) Why does the boy say that they have to be observant and patient? Observant and patient about what?

(9) What are some of the unhappy experiences the children have?

(10) Why is it that the boy cannot find his way home?

(11) How does he like the changes in the street?

(12) What do you think of the changes that had taken place in the outside world during his half day inside the school? Do you think the outside world had changed for the better or for the worse?

(13) Do you agree with the lady in the story that a school is a home to the children? Why or why not?

(14) Which sentence in the text do you think can be used as a motto for your college years? Please explain.

Step III. Group discussion: divide students into groups and get them to discuss the following questions.

(1) Why does the author use “Half a Day” as the title of the story? Why is the story told in the first person? How old do you think the narrator is when he recalls his school days?

(2) What is the writer’s purpose in writing this story? To show that time flies and life is short? Or to show that education is important? Or to show that the world around us can change dramatically? Or what else?

1. Further discussion

Get students to comment on the following statements:

(1) Life begins at school. School is a place that makes useful citizens out of boys and girls.

(2) School is usually a complete waste of time and money.

(3) There is nothing permanent in life but change.

Step IV.Homework

(1) Find some information about the author on the Internet.

(2) Retell the story in your own words.

(3) Keep in mind the new words in the text.

Unit 1 Half a Day

Part II Reading Comprehension

I.Teaching objectives:

1. Get students to know how the text is structured.

2. Get students to understand what the writer wants to get across.

II.Important point:

Get students to decode what the writer wants to say according to how he organizes his ideas and what words, structures and details are used in the text.

III.Teaching Method: explanation

IV. Allotted Time: 2 periods

V.Type of Class: comprehension

VI. Teaching Steps:

Step I. Brief introduction to the Genre

A short story

Plot: a little boy’s first time to go to school (on the way to school, at school, on the way home)

Setting: not clear

Protagonist: “I” – the boy in the story

Theme: education, life, change, time. What do you think?

Step II.Textual structure and main ideas

In writing this story, the writer organizes his idea in time order. However, we cannot find time signals as easily in this story as in many other ones. The text can be roughly divided into three parts, which can be further divided into several sections.

(1) The narrator’s unwillingness to go to school (paras. 1-7)

A. He was unwilling to go to school. (paras. 1-3)

B. His father told him the purpose and importance of school. (paras. 4-7)

(2) The narrator’s experience at school (paras. 8-16)

A. He began to like school: friends, sweethearts and activities. (paras. 8-14)

B. He found unpleasant things, too: work, rivalries, fighting, and punishment. (para. 15)

C. He realized what lay ahead of him: exertion, struggle and perseverance. (para. 16)

(3) The changes the narrator found after school (paras. 17-20)

A. He didn’t find his father waiting for him and the street had changed. (para. 17)

B. He couldn’t find his way home. (para. 18)

C. He found himself an old man. (paras. 19-20)

1. Part I: Main Idea

(1) How did the boy feel about going to school? Find textual evidence.

(2) Why was he feeling so?

(3) List the father’s comments on school. What do you think of them?

(4) Key:

A. School is a place that makes useful men out of boys.

B. Don’t you want to be useful like your brothers?

C. Put a smile on your face and be a good example to others.

D. Be a man.

E. Today you truly begin life.

2. Part II: Main Idea

(1) What happened on the first day at school?

(2) How did the boy like school life?

(3) Can you describe the different stages of his day at school? Does this change carry any symbolic meaning for you?

(4) How do you understand “there are fathers and mothers here” (para. 12) and “I made many friends and fell in love with many girls” (para. 13)?

3. Part III: Main Idea

(1) What did “I” see when he stepped out of school? Summarize the changes.

(2) How did he feel?

(3) Why did he stand still?

(4) How do you understand the unexpectedness of the changes?

(5) Why do you think the boy was suddenly a “grandpa”?

Step III.Homework

According to the text, the boy’s idea of school changed on his first day of school. Write a paragraph of about 200 words on how the boy changed his idea. Use the answers to the following questions as an outline.

(1) Why was the boy unwilling to go to school?

(2) What pleasures did he find in school?

(3) What else did he learn at school that was not so pleasant?

(4) How did these lessons affect his understanding of life?

Unit 1 Half a Day

Part III Language Activities

I. Teaching objectives:

1. Get students to learn some useful words and phrases.

2. Get students to learn some sentence patterns.

3. Get students to review some grammatical knowledge they have learned.

II. Important point:

Master the usage of some useful words, phrases, sentence patterns and grammatical points.

III.Teaching Method: explanation and exercise

IV.Allotted Time: 2 periods

V.Type of Class: presentation

VI.Teaching Steps:

Step I.Useful sentence structures

(1) Present / past participle used as an adverbial

A. I walked alongside my father, clutching his right hand. (para. 1)

B. …I turned towards her from time to time, hoping she would help. (para. 2)

C. …he said, laughing. (para. 4)

D. A lady came along, followed by a group of men. (para. 11)

E. The bell rang, announcing the passing of the day… (para. 17)

F. Extremely irritated, I wondered when I would be able to cross.

(2) Noun phrase used as an adverbial

A. They did not make me happy, however, as this was the day I was to be thrown into school for the first time. (para. 1)

B. I stood there a long time…

(3) Present participle used as a subject complement

A. My mother stood at the window watching our progress. (para. 2)

(4) Present / past participle used as a post modifier

A. We walked along a street lined with gardens… (para. 2)

B. …in the great courtyard surrounded by high buildings; …by a long balcony roofed in wood. (para. 11)

C. Here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets. (para. 17)

(5) Elliptical question

A. “Why school?” I asked my father. “What have I done?” (para. 3)

(6) Rhetorical question

A. “Why school?” I asked my father. “What have I done?” (para. 3)

B. Where was the street lined with gardens? (para. 17)

C. … (para. 17)

(7) There-be structure

A. I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home and throwing me into the huge, high-walled building. (para. 5)

B. In addition, the time for changing one’s mind was over and gone and there was no question of ever returning to the paradise of home. (para. 16)

(8) Non-restrictive attributive clause

A. We saw a globe of the Earth, which revolved and showed… (para. 14)

B. The children rushed towards the gate, which was opened again. (para. 17)

C. I looked around but found no trace of my father, who had promised to be there. (para. 17)

(9) A noun with two or more post-modifiers

A. Those who were able took advantage of the opportunities for success and happiness that presented themselves. (para. 16)

(10) Inversion

A. Here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets. (para. 17)

(11) With + N. + V-ing / V-ed

A. Then there was a band announcing the opening of a circus, with clowns and weight lifters walking in front. (para. 17)

Step II. Useful expressions

(1) Verb patterns

A. make (see, hear, let, help, watch, feel, have) sb/sth do sth

B. make (find, keep, feel, think, consider) sb/sth + adj.

C. find (see, hear, watch, keep, feel, notice) sb/sth doing sth

(2) Idioms and expressions

A. a matter of

B. ahead of

C. at home

D. be convinced

E. be full of

F. by oneself

G. be irritated

H. (street) be lined with

I. be over and gone

J. between morning and sunset

K. for the first time

L. from time and time

M. here and there

N. in a daze

O. in addition

P. in front of

Q. in half a day

R. in vain

S. in curiosity

T. nothing but

U. on one’s own

V. on the corner

W. on the surface

(3) Verb phrases

A. bring about

B. burst into tears/laughter/song/applause/flame(s)

C. cling to

D. come along

E. come into view

F. come over

G. come to a halt

H. come up to sb

I. fall in love with

J. fool around

K. form people into

L. give rise to

M. glance at

N. arrive at

O. go on with

P. hurry/rush towards

Q. let up

R. look around

S. make a man out of sb

T. reach/stretch out one’s arm

U. resort to

V. show off

W. smile at

X. sort people into ranks

Y. step aside

ZZ. take advantage of

AA. take over

BB. tear sb away from

CC. throw into

DD. walk alongside

EE. yell at

FF. present itself / themselves

(4) Verb-noun collocations

A. announce an event

B. begin life

C. border the place

D. change one’s mind

E. clutch one’s hand

F. cover a place

G. cross a street

H. dry one’s tears

I. eat delicious food

J. employ workers

K. face life

L. find no trace of

M. find one’s way home

N. invade a place

O. lift weights

P. lose one’s way

Q. play games

R. punish a person

S. reach the house

T. say goodbye

U. scold the child

V. shake the air

W. sing a song

X. take a nap

Y. take a walk

ZZ. take a step

AA. watch our progress

Step III. In-class exercises

(1) Put the following sentences into English, using the words in the brackets.

A. 这个苍白安静的小女孩紧紧地靠在母亲胸前。(clutch)

B. 世界战争爆发的消息让全国陷入恐慌。(throw)

C. 他手艺高超，能把最普通的材料做成美丽的艺术品。(make)

D. 多年来的艰苦生活养成了他坚韧的性格。(make)

E. 我出生在中国开始改革开放的那一年。(the year)

Reference:

A. Silent and pale, the girl clutched (to/onto) her mother’s chest.

B. The news of an international war threw the whole nation into panic.

C. He is such an adept craftsman that he can make art out of the most common material.

D. Years of hardship has made a tough man out of him.

E. I was born in the year China began its open and reform policy.

(2) Fill in the blanks.

A. burst into _____, ______, ______, ...

B. burst with _____, ______, ______, …

C. burst out _____, _______, ______, …

D. resort to _____, ______, ______, …

E. It is only a matter of ______ before he is forced to resign.

F. Safety precautions are observed as a matter of ______.

G. It is not a matter of __________ to have failed the exam.

H. It is a matter of ________ that Paris is a romantic city.

I. How can we _________ a change in attitudes?

J. A huge amount of environmental damage has ___________ by the destruction of the rain forests.

K. His speech _____________a bitter argument.

L. The President's absence has _____________ speculation about his health.

Reference:

A. laughter / guffaw / tears / applause / cheers /song flame / fume /a rage / bloom / blossom

B. ioy / anger / happiness / grief, etc.

C. laughing / crying, etc.

D. violence / force / law / legal measures / terrorist actions, etc.

E. time

F. course (sth done as a routine, nothing special)

G. life and death (a very serious matter)

H. record (sth generally believed to be true)

I. bring

J. been brought about (bring about: make sth. happen)

K. gave rise to

L. given rise to (give rise to: fml to be the reason that sth happens, esp. sth unpleasant and bad)

Step IV. Homework

Write an article of your first day at school, using the words and expressions you have learned in this text.

Unit 1 Half a Day

Part IV More Work on the Text

I.Teaching objectives:

1. Get students to know rules of forming English nouns with such suffixes as –(a)tion/sion, -ment, -ing, -ness, -er/or.

2. Get students to know rules of forming English adjectives with such suffixes as –ful, -less, -ed.

3. Get students to know rules of forming English adverbs with the suffix -ly.

4. Get students to do exercises, so that they can reinforce what have learned in the text.

II.Important points:

1. Get students to form words by using rules of word formation.

2. Get students to use what they have learned in their own English performance.

III.Teaching Method: explanation and exercise

IV.Allotted Time: 2 periods

V.Type of Class: practice

VI.Teaching Steps:

Step I.Word formation exercise

(1) Word formation rules:

A. Noun suffixes: -ation, t-ion, -sion, -ing, -ment, -ness, -er, -or

B. Adjective suffixes: -ful, -less, -ed

C. Adverb suffix: -ly

(2) Get students to do vocabulary exercise 1 on pages 10-11, so that they can have an understanding about how English words can be formed by using word formation rules.

Step II.Exercises about expressions and structures

(1) Get students to do vocabulary exercises 2, 3, 5 on pages 12-14, so that they can use the expressions in their own English performance

(2) Get students to do vocabulary exercise 6 on page 14 and grammar exercise 1 on page 16, so that they can become more familiar with the structures and use them well in their own English performance

Step III. Grammar exercises

(1) Get students to do grammar exercise 2 on page 17 so that they can review the usage of simple past tense and past perfect tense.

(2) Get students to do grammar exercise 5 on page 18 so that they can avoid making mistakes in their own English performance.

Step IV.Homework

(1) Finish the rest of the exercises in the textbook.

(2) Read text B in unit 1.

(3) Listen to and read through text A in unit 2

本文来源：https://www.2haoxitong.net/k/doc/2639a16d0a4e767f5acfa1c7aa00b52acfc79ca1.html