Unit 5 Working the Land
Reading and Thinking: A Pioneer for All People教案
文本简析
本单元阅读文本话题是袁隆平和他的创新性农业研究成果。通过介绍袁隆平的成就与梦想,特别是他从事农业研究的初衷,引导学生认识农业创新对缓解世界饥饿问题的重要意义,与此同时,启发学生树立崇高的理想,执着地追求梦想。
本文是一篇人物介绍。全文六个段落呈现了人物介绍类文本常见的内容结构:身份简介(第一段)——核心事件(第二、三段)——影响力(第四段)——人物评价(第五、六段)。本文以标题“A Pioneer for All People”为统领,以袁隆平研发杂交水稻这个事件为核心,描述了他从事农业研究的初衷、为消除饥饿问题所做的努力、贡献及影响,赞扬了这位“全人类的先驱”的悲悯之心、使命感、创新能力、淳朴品质和追梦精神。
设计教学活动时,应帮助学生整理人物介绍和杂交水稻的话题类语言。值得关注的是,文本多处运用了对比的写作手法来突显袁隆平的品格和特质。在强调杂交水稻的影响力时,则主要运用了列数据的手法。让学生分析文本的写作手法,能提高学生运用写作技巧表达意图的意识和能力。此外,可引导学生关注第五段首句在内容上的承上启下作用,以及第六段首句作为段落主题句的作用。让学生对句子的作用进行分析,能增强学生对段落架构技巧的感知。
第1课时
一、教学内容
理解全文,明确文本的内容结构;细读前三段,以“pioneer”和“pioneering work”为主线梳理文本,完成关于杂交水稻研发的“袁隆平自述”。
二、课时目标
1. 速读全文,归纳段落大意,提取文本的内容框架。
2. 通过细读前三段,了解袁隆平的身份和研发杂交水稻的相关信息,并学习相关语言,如:be known as, consider…as…, boost yields, attain a higher yield, expand their output, a cross between two or more varieties of a species, characteristic, conventional crops, self-pollinating plants。
3. 通过分析对比这一写作手法的作用,提升学生运用写作技巧表达意图的意识和能力。
4. 通过角色代入式复述,巩固内容和语言。
三、教学过程
Activity 1: Introducing the topic
本活动为落实所有课时目标做铺垫。
1. Discuss the hunger problem and what Yuan Longping has done to tackle this crisis.
Ask the students to read Yuan Longping’s quote “My lifelong pursuit is to keep all the people away from hunger” on the opening page of the unit.
Q1: What information can you get from the quote?
Q2: What do you know about the hunger problem in China and the world today? (Provide Hunger Map 2019 and ask the students to read the map to find relevant information.)
Q3: Do you know what Yuan Longping has done to relieve (alleviate) the hunger problem?
【设计意图】该单元首页的引言为袁隆平的名言“我毕生的梦想就是让所有人都远离饥饿”,这句话是对袁隆平一生探求的总结,也恰巧可用于启动阅读课的话题。问题1让学生练习获取句子中的重要信息,可分字面的(literal)和隐含的(implied)两种。问题2则利用名言导入“饥饿”话题。在PPT上呈现世界饥饿问题图片,让学生读图找相关信息。问题3用于激活学生的内容图式,即关于袁隆平的杂交水稻背景知识,同时使学生在之后的阅读中更具主动性。问题2和问题3在逻辑上构成problem—solution结构。
Activity 2. Making predictions
本活动旨在为课时目标1作铺垫。
1. Understand the title.
Q1: What is a pioneer?
Q2: How do you understand the title “a pioneer for all people”?
2. Predict the contents of the text.
Ask the students to predict the contents of the text based on Yuan Longping’s quote and the title of the text.
【设计意图】本文的标题是全文的统领,对标题的解读有助于学生把握全文的内容要点。再则,本课时以“pioneer”和“pioneering work”为主线梳理文本,因此有必要理解标题中关键词的内涵。让学生依据标题和袁隆平的名言推断文本内容,能激活学生对于人物介绍类文本的背景图式,促使学生主动获取文本信息。
Activity 3: Getting the content structure of the text
本活动旨在落实课时目标1。
1. Skim the text and check their predictions.
2. pide the passage into several meaningful parts and pair-check the pision (based on the main idea of each paragraph and the aspects they discuss about Yuan Longping).
Suggested pision:
【设计意图】根据段意归纳文本的内容框架,有助于学生把握全局,实现整体性阅读,同时促成之后学生对文本更高层次的理解,由此培养学生归纳、总结文本重点内容,并解构文本框架的能力。同时,本文为典型的人物介绍类语篇,提取其内容框架难度不高,适合中等及以上英语水平的学生。
Activity 4: Analyzing the key information in Paragraphs 1—3.
本活动旨在落实课时目标2。
1. Read Paragraph 1 carefully and try to find out the link between Paragraph 1 and the title.
Q: What does Paragraph 1 tell us about Yuan Longping as a “pioneer for all people” directly and indirectly (at least 3 points)?
Possible answers: 1. Yuan is known as “father of hybrid rice”. Father means the first person to do something, or a pioneer. 2. His method of doing the pioneering work is mainly field research. 3. Yuan has devoted all his life to pioneering agricultural research.
2. Read Paragraphs 2—3 and draw a mind-map in pairs about Yuan Longping’s pioneering work. Then make a presentation of the mind-map. The mind-map should include a title, the key information and the logic between the information.
The following can be an example of the mind-map:
【设计意图】以上两项任务围绕标题设置,让学生主动阅读、提取文本的关键信息,分析其逻辑结构。任务1让学生从直接和间接两个角度去解读第一段落,既有浅层的信息获取,又有推断层面的设计。任务2提供了mind-map的要素,让学生在自主分析文本时有章可循,同时,该任务开放度较高,学生可以真正从自己的视角去表达解读到的信息。由此培养学生综合分析信息的能力。另外,在完成任务2的过程中,可增加中国“三年饥荒”的背景知识。
Activity 5. Commenting on Yuan’s qualities and evaluating the writing technique
本活动旨在落实课时目标3。
Talk about what special qualities of Yuan Longping are exhibited in Paragraphs 1—3 and how the writer manages to make these qualities stand out.
Q1: What special qualities of Yuan Longping are exhibited in Paragraphs 1—3? Use three adjectives to describe him and give supporting evidence.
Q2: What technique does the writer use to make these qualities stand out? Find out all the examples in these paragraphs.
The following examples are for reference:
【设计意图】该活动旨在突出袁隆平作为农业先驱的品格,如:compassionate, devoted, innovative等,让学生用三个关键词来形容袁隆平,能让学生聚焦人物最突出的品质;让学生提供证据,能培养其求证思维。同时,该活动要求学生在分析人物品格时把内容与写作技巧结合在一起考虑,能提升其运用写作技巧描述与表达的意识和能力。
Activity 6. Consolidating the content and language
本活动旨在落实课时目标4。
Suppose you were Yuan Longping—talk about your pioneering work concerning hybrid rice. You can include the motivation, process, challenges, results, etc.
【设计意图】该任务是巩固文本内容和语言的活动,代入角色的活动设计能让学生深入人物内心,在叙述时更具情感色彩,引起听众共鸣。
Assignment:
Produce a language bank related to Yuan Longping’s status and his research into hybrid rice.
【设计意图】学生通过自己动手整理话题相关词汇,能巩固所学,促进主动学习的意识和能力。可鼓励学生使用图表或word-web。
第2课时
一、教学内容
以袁隆平的“毕生追求”为主线梳理文本信息;完成关于“梦想”的演讲。
二、课时目标
1. 通过细读、分析文本,理解作者称袁隆平为“梦想家”的事实依据,培养举证思维,同时学习特别是与“梦想”有关的词汇,如:fulfill one’s dream, envision…as, vision, become a reality, dream up
2. 通过分析、评价写作手法,探讨文本的优缺点,培养评判性阅读能力。
3. 通过深入理解袁隆平的梦想与成就,探讨缓解世界饥饿问题的途径。
4. 通过运用文本的语言和内容进行创意表达,受到人物德行的启发。
三、教学过程
Activity 1: Checking homework and reviewing the contents
本活动为课时目标1作铺垫。
1. Present students’ own “Language Bank”. Talk about words and expressions that impressed them most.
【设计意图】通过分享个性化的“Language Bank”,学生之间可以相互学习,取长补短,同时再一次复习、巩固语言。
2. Review the contents of the text students learned in the previous lesson.
Q1: Do you still remember the content structure of the whole text and which aspects of Yuan Longping we discussed in the previous lesson?
Q2: Can you recall Yuan Longping’s quote on the opening pag