Unit 5 British Isles
Teaching Aims
1. Teaching Aims: Talk about the famous people of UK and four main parts of British Isles: Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.
2. Practice expressing agreement and disagreement.
Teaching Important points:
1. Master the expressions for agreement and disagreement.
Teaching difficult points:
1. How to express agreement and disagreement.
Teaching methods:
1. Lead-in method to get the Ss to focus in the Europe and be ready to talk about the UK
2. Free-talk to arise the Ss’s desire to learn more about the UK and British Isles.
3. Warming up make the Ss know the geography of the British Isles and the feature of four main parts of the British Isles.
4. Speaking activity to make the Ss review what they have talked about and improve their speaking ability.
Teaching aids:
1. A computer and a courseware
Teaching procedures:
Step I Greetings
T: Good morning class
S: Good morning teacher
T: I am glad to give you the classes in the following days and I hope we can enjoy them together
Step II Lead-in (4 minutes)
T: With the development of economy and growing living standard, more and more people like to travel around. And some richer one choose to go abroad, especially to go to Europe. A travel agent tells me that if you have 20.000Yuan,you can pay a visit to Europe for about half a month. Now suppose you have enough money and time to go to Europe, which country do you prefer to travel?
S: Greece, Italy, Spain, Holland, France, Norway, Germany and England
T: I hear someone says England, do you mean “英国”
S: Yes
T: I am afraid you are mistaken! England is not the right name of “英国”. The right and official name of “英国” is UK. UK is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (Write the meaning of UK on the blackboard).
Step III Free-talk (4 minutes)
T: To travel some place I think you should know something about it. Do you know some famous people in UK, such as pop stars, sportsmen and poets who we have learnt in the last unit? I will give you 1 minute to discuss with your partners, and then show me your answers as many as possible.
(Show some pictures of David Backam, three bands respectively named Backstreet Boy, Westlife and The Beatles, and Shakespeare. When showing the pictures, I will explain them: David Backham is famous for his right foot. The Beatles, the band of 60s, is the most successful and famous band in the history. Shakespeare until now, is the most famous play write and poet)
Step IV Warming up (20 minutes)
Activity I: introduce the geography of the British Isles (5 minutes)
T: All the people, we have talked about just now, are all from the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom locates in the British Isles. Do you know where is The British Isles in the Europe? Here is a map of Europe, please tell me where the British Isles is. (Show a map of Europe)
T: Well, let’s have a closer look at the British Isles (show a picture of British Isles) British Isles mainly consists of two islands: Ireland and Great Britain. The Great Britain is made up of three countries: Scotland in the north, England in the southeast and Wales in the west. And there’re two parts in the Ireland. One is the Northern Ireland; the other is the Republic of Ireland. The two countries in the British Isles respectively are the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Geographically, there’re mainly four parts in the British Isles. They are Scotland, England and Wales. (Write this information on the blackboard) Do you want to know more about these four parts?
S: Yes
Activity II: introduce four main parts of British Isles (15 minutes)
T: Ok, let’s open the book and turn to page 33. The four pictures on the page 33 are all taken from these four parts of British Isles. Look at the pictures and discuss with your partners where each picture is taken from. You can use the information you have already known to judge. I will give you 2 minutes.
T: Have you got the answers? Ok I will ask some Ss to tell me their answers. 笑笑could you tell me your idea?
S: I think the picture one is taken from Scotland, picture two is from Ireland, picture three is from Wales and picture four is from England.
T: Do you all agree with her?
S: No, I think picture one is taken from Scotland, picture two is taken from England, picture three is taken from Ireland and picture four is taken from Wales.
T: Do you have the same idea?
S: No.
T: Well, I think it is a little difficult for you to get the right answers. Never mind, let’s do it together.
T: Look at the picture one. What can you see in the picture one?
S: A stone
T: Yes, a stone. What does this cross look like?
S: Cross
T: Yes a cross. (Show a picture of a cross) This is an ancient stone cross, which can be only found in Ireland. Now could you tell me where is this picture taken from?
S: Ireland.
T: Right. Just now we have learnt that the Ireland consists of two parts, do you still remember?
S: Yes, Ireland consists of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
T: Very good. And what can you see behind this ancient stone cross?
S: Grass
T: Yes, green grass. Ireland has a mild climate, so green grass can be seen everywhere.
T: Before talking about picture two, please answer me one question. Do you like to read fairy tales? What fairy characters do you know?
S: Yes I like fairy tales. I know Snow White, Cinderella, Sleep Beauty and so on.
T: Do you like to be one of them?
S: Yes.
T: If you were one of them, you were a princess. And where do you choose to live with your prince?
S:Castle.
T: Yes, Castle. (Show a picture of castle) Some place with a lot of castles, can be called Land of Castles and also can be named Fairy Land. Do you think there is a real Fairy Land in the world?
S1: No
S2: May be
T: I can tell you there is a true place called Fairy Land. Do you know where it is? That is Wales. So could you tell me where is the picture two taken from?
S: Wales
T: Yes, you are clever.
T: Look at the picture three, there’re two people in the picture, are they men or women?
S: They are women
T: Why?
S: Because they dress in skirt.
T: But, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong. They are men dressed in traditional kilts and playing a traditional instrument called bagpipe. (Show a picture of kilts and bagpipe). It is a typical scene seen in Scotland. So this picture is taken from Scotland.
T: Besides these two men, what else can you see in the picture three?
S: Mountains
T: Yes. In Scotland, there are a lot of hills and mountains, so Scotland is famous for its beautiful countryside.
T: Now let’s move into the last picture. What can you see in this picture?
S: A bridge.
T: What’s the name of this bridge?
S: London Bridge (show a picture of London Bridge)
T: Where is London?
S: In England.
T: Yes, so the last picture is taken from England.
T: What other famous architecture do you know in England?
S1: Big Ben (show the picture of Big Ben)
T: Big Ben is a clock acting as the symbol of London, even the United Kingdom
S2: London Tower (Show the picture of London Tower)
T: Is London Tower a real tower?
S: Maybe.
T:In fact, London Tower is not a tower, but a prison.
T: And in England there is a mysterious place called Stonehenge which is a place where ancient people did sacrifice (show a picture of Stonehenge)
T: We know England is also famous for its good education. There’re two world-known universities in England. Do you know what they are?
S: Oxford and Cambridge (show the pictures of them)
T: Until now we have talked something about these four parts of British Isles. Here is the information about what we have mentioned. (Show the table of the information of these four parts)
Step V speaking (17 minutes)
T: Now, if you have a chance to have a four-day trip to go to British Isles, which part would you like to travel and why? Make a dialogue in the group of four, and you can use the information showed on the screen. Before making the dialogue, please look at the screen. Here are some useful expressions of agreement and disagreement. If you agree with other’s opinion, you can use the sentences such as: 1.Surely it must be…2.Yes I agree with you. 3.I believe you’ve got it. If you don’t agree with other’s opinion, you could use the sentences like these: 1. I don’t think that’s right. 2.I don’t think so. 3.Yes, you are right, but…Are you clear?
S: Yes
T: Well I will give you 5 minutes to make the dialogue, and then I need some groups to perform.
T: Are you ready?
S: Yes
T: Any volunteers? Ok, you four please!
S1:I would like to go to Scotland, because I like nature and want to have a quiet country life.
S2: I agree with you.
S3: I think you are right, but I would like to go to Wales. Because I can find a lot of castles there.
T: Yes, girls dream to live in the castles with their prince, right?
S4: But for me the most-wanted place is England, in England I can visit some famous architecture like Big Ben, London Tower and London Bridge
T: Well, you’ve done a good job. Thank you. Anyone else?
S1: I would like to go to Ireland; because in the Ireland there are two countries and the green grass is everywhere
S2: but I think the most attractive place is Scotland, because there I can see exotic scenes and play the traditional instrument called bagpipe.
S3: I believe you’ve got it right
S4: I don’t agree with you. I think the most attractive place is Wales. There I can image myself being a princess and maybe I will meet my prince there.
T: Yes, everyone has her favorite place.
Step VI Homework
T: Today, we have learnt a skeleton of the British Isles; do you want to learn more about it?
S: Yes
T: Ok, tomorrow I will take you to travel the British Isle; do you like to go with me?
S: Yes
T: So today’s homework is to preview the reading part: British Isles.
Step VII Blackboard design
Scotland
UK the Great Britain England
The United Kingdom of Wales
British Isles Northern Ireland
Ireland
The Republic of Ireland
(Here is the table of the information of the four main parts of the British Isles)
Ireland northern Ireland & republic of Ireland;
Green grass, mild climate
Prince
Wales fairy tales
Princess
Land of castles, fairy land
Scotland kilt, bagpipe; hills and mountains, beautiful countryside
England Oxford university，Cambridge university; Stonehenge（巨石阵）
Big Ben , London tower， London Bridge