Teaching aids 教具准备 A projector and a computer
Teaching procedures& ways 教学过程与方式 Step 1 Revision
(Check the students’ dialogue. Choose several groups to present their dialogues.) Step 2 Pre-reading
(Tell the students what they’ll learn in this period.)
T: In the first period we talked about some disasters. Today we’ll learn more about tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes by reading passages. Step 3 Reading (Ⅰ)
(Ask the students to turn to page 23 to search the first paragraphs of the first two passages for the definitions of a tornado and a hurricane.)
T: Turn to page 23. Here are passages about hurricanes and tornadoes. Please read the first paragraphs of the first two passages to find out the definitions.
(Allow the students some time to do the Task and let them read the sentences aloud together.) Keys for Task 1:
A tornado is a rotating column of air from a thunderstorm to the ground.
Hurricanes are strong tropical storms, and they usually occur in the southern Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
(Second reading for the students to find out the specific information about the questions on page 22 by scanning the passages.)
T: This time, please scan the passages to answer the questions on page 22. You can discuss with your partners.
(A few minutes for the students to do the task. Then ask the volunteers to show their answers orally and check them with the whole class. At the same time, help the students to understand some difficult sentences.) T: Are you done? Ss: Yes.
T: The first four questions are about the first passage “What is a tornado?” Look at the
first question. How strong are tornado winds?
S: The most violent have winds of more than 400 kilometres per hour.
T: Wonderful! The most violent tornado winds can reach over 400 kilometres per hour. What about the second one?
S: They can destroy houses, but leave the furniture inside exactly where it was. T: That’s right. They can destroy houses or put them down in the next street or even in the nest town without destroying the furniture inside. And Question3? S: There are 800 tornadoes in the US each year.
T: Ok. On average, there are 800 tornadoes in the US each year, causing about 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries.
(Analyze the structure of the sentence above.) T: What is the function of the word “causing”? S: The Present Participle is used as Adverbial of Result. T: Well done.
(Let the students read out the sentence.)
T: Let’s come to the next question. How many people died in the worst tornado of all time?
S: More than 700 people died.
T: Good. By the time it ended, more than 700 people had been killed and 2,700 had been injured. The rest of four questions deal with the last two passages about “hurricane”. Question1: What happens at sea during a hurricane? S: Huge waves, heavy rain and floods happen.
T: Right. Hurricanes often occur near the ocean. When a hurricane comes, there are violent winds of 120 kilometres per hour or more, which cause huge waves, heavy rain and floods. When was the worst hurricane of all time?
S: The worst hurricane disaster of all time occurred on the 8th September 1900 in Galveston, Texas.
T: Very good. Was the actor Charles Coghlan killed in it? S: No, he wasn’t. He died a year before the hurricane struck. T: Good. What happened to him after the hurricane?
S: His coffin was flown to the sea near his home.
T: Right. The cemetery where he was buried was destroyed by the hurricane and his coffin ended up in the sea (It was flown to the sea.). And it was found in the sea near his home in the east of Canada 8 years later.
(Show the suggested answers on the screen one by one when the students answer the questions.)
Suggested answers for Task 2:
1. The most violent have winds of more than 400 kilometres per hour. 2. They can destroy houses, but leave the furniture inside exactly where it was. 3. On average, there are 800 tornadoes in the US each year, causing about 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries.
(Analyze the structure of the sentence.) T: What is the function of the word “causing”? S: The Present Participle is used as attribute.
T: Well done. So we can rewrite the sentence with the Attributive Clause like this: There are 800 tornadoes in the US each year which cause about 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries.
(Let the students read it out.)
4. More than 700 people died. (By the time it ended, more than 700 people had been killed and 2,700 had been injured.)
5. When a hurricane comes, there are violent winds of 120 kilometres per hour or more, which cause /causing huge waves, heavy rain and floods.
6. The worst hurricane disaster of all time occurred on the 8th September 1900 in Galveston, Texas.
7. No, he didn’t. He died a year before the hurricane struck.
The cemetery where he was buried was destroyed by the hurricane and his coffin ended up in the sea. (It was flown to the sea.) And it was found in the sea near his home in the east of Canada 8 years later.
(The third reading to let the students focus on the verbs used when talking about disasters’ happening.)
T: Now, you please scan the passages once again to find out verbs that are used when we talk about a disaster happens. (After a while, check the answers.) T: Who have found out the verbs? S: Occur, hit and strike. T: Good. Any other word? S: Take place.
T: You’re right. Thank you. Step 4 Reading (Ⅱ)
(Come to the passage on page 29: Cultural Corner.)
(First reading to let the students work out which earthquakes are talked about by skimming the passage.)
T: Let’s come to page 29 “Earthquakes Around the Pacific”. Please read through the passage to find out which earthquakes are mentioned. (After a while, check the answer.) Suggested answer for Task 3:
The Chinese earthquake of the 1556 in Hua County in Shaanxi province. The California Earthquake of the 18th of April 1906 in the United States.
(Second reading to deal with the questions shown on the screen and deal with language points meanwhile.)
T: This time, you read the passage aloud to answer the questions on the screen. Questions for Task 4:
1. What is the situation of earthquakes in China? 2. What was the damage of Hua County Earthquake?
3. What was the most dangerous thing about the California Earthquake of 1906? 4. Is it possible that there could be another earthquake there? Suggested answers for Task 4:
1. China is situated in (is located in, lies) one of the most active earthquake regions in the world and there have been many terrible earthquakes.
The earthquake affected 8 provinces in Central China. It covered an area of 800
square kilometers. In some communities, 60 percent of the population were killed. In all, 830,000 people lost their lives.
2. The most dangerous thing about the California Earthquake of 1906 was fires caused by it, which did the most damage. The fires burned for 3 days, destroying a total of 25,000 buildings. About 500 people were killed in San Francisco and 250,000 were made homeless. In all of California, the earthquake and fires caused about 3,000 deaths.
3. Yes, it is. There is the San Andreas Fault there moving from time to time. One hundred years later, movements on the Fault continue to cause problems for the whole of California. Step 5 Post-reading
(Let the students discuss the second question in activity2.)
T: Now, let’s have a discussion. If you were in Hua County in 1556 and were in the earthquake, what would you do? How would you stay safe? Please discuss it in groups of 4.)
(After a while， the students present their thoughts. And then show a passage about dealing with an earthquake on the screen for the students to read.) Step 6 Homework
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Read the passages to be familiar with the good sentences and useful expressions.
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Listen to the radio for important information and instructions. Remember that aftershocks, sometimes large enough to cause damage in their own right, generally follow large quakes.
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If you leave home, leave a message telling friends and family your location.
The Fourth Period Grammar
Teaching goals 教学目标 1． Target language 目标语言