The First Period: Warming Up
Teaching material: Unit 4 A garden of poems
Lesson type: Warming Up
Teacher: Wang Yu
Teaching Aids: Slides
Teaching Aims:
1. Talking about poems to raise the students’ interests in poems.
2. Help them to get a general idea of rhyme and pattern.
3. Help them to get a general idea that life is full of poems.
4. Making up dialogues to improve the students’ speaking ability.
Teaching Difficult Points:
1. How to grasp the idea of rhyme and pattern.
2. How to improve the students’ speaking ability.
3. How to enjoy English poems.
Teaching Methods:
1. Pair work to make every student join in the class activities.
2. Discussion to make every student express herself freely.
Teaching Procedure:
StepⅠ Daily Greetings And New Words Presentation (2 minutes)
T: Class begins! Good morning, everyone!
S: Good morning, teacher1
T: Sit down, please! First, I’d like to ask you a question. Do you like poetry? Poetry, 诗歌的总称。Do you like poetry?
S: Yes/No. (Why not? Because it is very difficult to understand?)
T: I like poetry very much too, it can give us a kind of beauty. So in this unit, I’ll tell you something about poetry and I hope you will like it. Let’s begin a new unit, unit 4 A Garden of Poems. Poem. You’ve learnt the word poetry. It means诗歌,是个总称。 It is an uncountable noun。而poem这里是指具体的一首诗. It is a countable noun. We can add “s” after “poem”, but we can’t add”s” after “poetry”, clear?
S: Yes.
T: Very good! So how to say “诗人”？
S: Poet.
Step Ⅱ Theories on Poetry (15 minutes)
T: Good, poet. Can you name some famous poets in China?
S: Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Wangwei…………
T: Good job! We have learnt so many poets. I remember when I was a child, my mother taught me a poem: 锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土，谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。This poem tells us not to waste food. Can you recite any other poems?
S：…………
T: Yes. I like this poem very much too. Do you know who wrote those poems?
S: …………
T: Good. Here I’ve also got a poem. It was written by one of them. But it was translated into English. Can you tell me the Chinese version of this poem? Now look at the slide. I’d like someone to read it for us. Who’d like to have a try? Ok,**, please. Read loudly.
S: In the still of the night
In front of my bed the moonlight is very bright,
I wonder if that can be frost on the floor?
I raise my head and watch the bright moon,
I drop my head and think of my hometown.
T: Yes. Very good. Sit down, please. Now can you tell me this poem? It is a very famous poem .
S: 床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡。
T: That’s right! Can you tell me the title of this poem?
S: 静夜思。
T: Yes. Quite right. Who wrote this poem?
S: Li Bai.
T: Good. It was written by the famous poet Li Bai. It is so famous that every Chinese can recite it. Now let’s read this poem together, ok? Jing ye si, one two start!
S:…………
T; Good! Have you notice the pronunciation of the last word in each sentence? (Point out) guang, shuang, xiang. Have you found out?
S: Yes.
T: We call these three words rhyme. Most of the poems have rhymes. e.g. 锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土，谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。Here we mark the 3 sentences that are rhyme”a”. The other groups, “b”. so the pattern of this poem is “aaba”. Now I’ll repeat it again.(omitted) Are you clear? Shall I say it again?
S: No.
T: Ok, good. In the past, most of the Chinese can made poems. So does princess Huan zhu. Now let’s listen to one of her poems: “走进一间房，四面都是墙。抬头见老鼠，低头见蟑螂。” Can you understand this poem? Is it very easy?
S: Yes!
T: So it is called “limerick”. Limerick is one kind of poem, which tells us a story or a person. And it is very interesting, very funny. In our book, there are also 2 limericks. Now will you please turn to page 25 and look at part 3. Look at the first limerick. Now I’ll read it to you. While listening, please pay attention to the rhyme. (Stressed)
(After reading)
T: Ok. Do you know what’s the rhyme of the first poem. Who can tell me?
S: Corfu, Peru, through rhyme and trains, aeroplanes rhyme.
T: Very good, so what’s the pattern of this limerick?
S: aabba
T: Good. You are clever! The pattern is aabba. Now look at the woman, what’s the matter with her?
S: She is so fat that she can’t get through the door.
T: Good. She is too fat to get through the door. Oh my god, it’s so terrible!
Now let’s look at the man. Who’d like to read it for us? Good,**, please!
(After reading)
T: Good. Thank you! Can you tell me the pattern of this poem?
S: aabba.
T: Good job. It’s Aabba too. Now let’s look at the last sentence:”The man was as mad as a door!” Here “mad”means”crazy”. These two limericks tell us two stories about different person.
StepⅢ Moral Education (5 minutes)
T: Limerick is one kind of poetry. Do you often read poetry?
S: No.
T: So nowadays people said poetry is getting away from us. Someone said poetry is dead! There are few people who read poetry in their free time. So someone said it is important to stop poetry disappearing from cultural life. But some people said our life is full of poems. Do you know why? Can you name some kind of poetry that we may see everyday?
S：…………
T: For example, “钻石恒久远，一颗永流传”。 Does it sound like a poem? What’s this?
S: 广告语。
T: Yes. We call it messages. Can you name some messages?
(脑白金：今年过节不收礼，收礼只收脑白金。金日洋参：金日在手中，万事好成功。雪碧：晶晶亮，透心凉。) （stressed）
T: Now let’s turn to page 103. look at the picture. There are also two messages below. What’s the product of the first one?
S: Toothpaste.
T: In this poem, the words”went”and “pepsodent”rhyme. So it is very easy for us to remember this product. “brush teeth”means “刷牙”。Let’s look at the next one. “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.” What’s the product of this message?
S: Chocolate!
T: Good. Can you tell me the rhyme in this poem?
S: “Day”and”play”rhyme.
T: Very good. You have mastered the rhyme and pattern of a poem. So do you still think that poems are getting away from us?
S: No.
T: Of course not. Our life is full of poems and full of color. There exists another kind of poetry, which you may listen to everyday. Look at this word, poetry, 诗歌。Besides poems, what else can we find in this word?
S: Songs!
StepⅣ Discussion (15 minutes)
A Lead-in
T: That’s right! It’s songs. Songs are another kind of poetry. People made poetry and when they were at work, they added some tunes into it. Then the songs came into being. Can you name some songs?
S: Ban Shengyuan.
T: Good! It was sung by Lin Xinru. What’s your feeling when you listen to this song?
S: Sad.
T: Yes. We’ll be sorry and sad. What else? Is it very lyric?
S: Yes.
T: Any other songs?
S: Shuang Jiegun.
T: Yeah. It was sung by Zhou Jielun. Do you like him?
S: Yes.
T: I’m glad to hear that. Because I like him very much. I think most of his songs are very exciting.
But some people don’t think so. They think his songs are too boring. Do you think so?
S: No.
T: Can you name other songs? E.g. Tian Liang le by Han Hong. Have you heard of this song?
S: Yes.
T: So what’s your feeling?
S: Very moving.
T: Good! Very moving. What about Xun Cun’s songs? Is it very humorous?
S: Yes.
T: These are all human feelings when listening to a piece of song. Now I’ll play a piece of song. While listening, please close your eyes and try to find out your feelings about this song using these words. Are you clear?
S: Yes.
(1.5 minutes later)
T: Have you heard of this song?
S: Yes. Take me to your heart.
T: Good! What’s your feeling about this song? Can you tell me using these words?
S: Lyric.
S: Sad.
S: Moving.
T: Very good. This song is very lyric, sad and moving. This song belongs to the pop music. What does pop mean here?
S: popular!
T: Good. So most of the pop songs are all very popular. Besides pop, can you name other kind of music forms? For example, Jazz. And Stangets is famous for Jazz. Anything else?
S: Rock.
T: Good, who is your favorite rock singer?
S: Michael Jackson.
T: Yeah. Michael Jackson. Anything else? Besides rock,
S: Folk.
T: Good. Who’s the most famous folk singer in china?
S: Song Zuyin.
T: Yes. I like her songs very much. I think her voice is so sweet. Do you agree with me?
S: Yes.
T: Now look at the blackboard. There are so many kinds of songs, pop, jazz, rock and so on. For myself, I like pop best . I’m interested in pop. I’m interested to listen to the pop songs. I think it is very lyric. But I’m not very interested in Jazz. It is so boring and sad. So what about you? What kind of songs do you like best? Whose songs do you like best and why ? Now have a discussion with your deskmates and make up a dialogue. But before the discussion, let’s look at the slide and learn some useful expressions.
I’m interested to …… but……
I’m (not) very interested in…… so ……
I think it will be too difficult / boring to ……
I’ve never heard of …… so ……
I don’t know much about ……but ……I’d like to……
Are you all clear about these expressions?
S: Yes.
T: Good. Now I’ll give you 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, I’d like someone to stand up and give us your opinions, ok? Now let’s start.
B practice
(3 minutes later)
T: Have you finished?
S: Yes.
T: Good. Now who’d like to have a try. Yes, **, please.
S: …………
T: Very good. From this conversation, we can see that ** is a very romantic girl, because she likes pop music best, because of the romantic melody. Who’d like to have a try again? Yes. **, please.
S：…………
T: Well done!/ Good job!
Step Ⅴ Writing (10 minutes)
T: You are all familiar with Chinese poems and songs. What about English poems? Have you ever read any English poems before?
S: No.
T: Some people may think English poems are too difficult for us to understand. But I don’t think so. Here I’ve got an English poem. Now let’s have a look.
L(a
l
e
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness.
It is an English poem written by the famous American poet E.E.Cummings. what’s your feeling when you first look at this poem?
S: Strange.
T: Yes, it looks very strange, right? Can you understand this poem?
S: No.
T: Have you ever noticed that the shape of this poem looks like something falling down?
S: Yes.
T: In fact, this poem is very simple. It has only one sentence. Can you find that? (Bb) L( a leaf falls )oneliness. What does “leaf” means?
S: 叶子.
T: And what about “a leaf falls”?
S: 一片叶子飘零
T: Good. So the sentence in the bracket means”一片叶子飘零”.What does the word outside the bracket means? Loneliness.
S: 孤单
T: Good. This is a new word in this unit. It is the noun form of “lonely”.
So the poet break the words by letters and organize this sentence in a shape of column to express the image that loneliness falls down like a leaf. Are you clear?
S: Yes.
T: Well, so we can say this poem is a construction rather than a kind of poem. From here, we can see that some English poems are not very difficult for us to understand. Every piece of poem has its own kind of beauty. So after class, I’d like you to find an English poem or Chinese poem, or you may choose a piece of song. Read what you find carefully and write a review. Look at the slide, in the first paragraph, describe what the poem is about. For example, the topic of this poem is about loneliness. In the second paragraph, describe what you can see in your mind and what feelings the poem gives you. For example, this poem uses an image of falling leaf to describe the feeling of loneliness. In the last paragraph, give your opinions about the poem. Such as ”This poem is very good. I like it very much. ”.Are you clear?
S: Yes.
T: This is your homework. It should be handed in within a week.
So much for today. See you!
S: See you!
★ Blackboard Design
★ Slides
①
In the still of the night
In front of my bed the moonlight is very bright,
I wonder if that can be frost on the floor?
I raise my head and watch the bright moon,
I drop my head and think of my hometown.
静夜思
床前明月光，（guang） a
疑是地上霜。(shuang) a
举头望明月，(yue) b
低头思故乡。(xiang) a
②
I’m interested to …… but……
I’m (not) very interested in…… so ……
I think it will be too difficult / boring to ……
I’ve never heard of …… so ……
I don’t know much about ……but ……I’d like to……
③
Paragraph 1
Describe what the poem is about.
Paragraph 2
Describe what you can see in your mind and what feelings the poem gives you.
Paragraph 3
Give your opinions about the poem.