1.Teaching content:
The teaching material is a reading passage about music.It talks “How does Sarah learn about country music?” and introduces some information about country music. Students have great interest in the topic. To create students’ interest in English, I’ll help them read by questions and make a summary by the mind-map.
2.Teaching objectives:
(1) Knowledge objectives:
①Students can master the key words in the passage.
②Students can retell the passage with the help of the mind-map.
③Students can write their favorite music and singer.
(2) Ability objective:
①Students’ reading skills will be improved.
②Students can summarize the whole passage in their own words by the mind map.
(3) Emotional objective:
Students’ awareness of cross-cultural communication— to learn about some basic facts of American country music and its cultural symbol will be developed.
3.Teaching key and difficult point:
①Getting the students to understand the passage and master some reading strategies.
②Students can have a positive attitude towards life.
4.Teaching procedures:
Step 1 Warming up and leading in
1.The teacher sings a song while walking into the classroom, asking students “Do you like my song?” and “Do you like music?”
T: Boys and girls! Do you like my song?
S: Yes.
T: Wow! Your school is so beautiful and modern (write the word on the Bb).I like the beauty of the school, so I sing this country music song live (write the word on the Bb).
Do you know beauty (write the word on the Bb)
S: …
T: Do you like music?
S: …
T: I like music because “life would be a mistake without music”. And the music also changed a girl’s life forever.
【Justification: Through music introduction and free talk, the teacher introduces the key words and phrases in this lesson and clears the way for the students to read the passage.】
Step 2 Pre-reading (3 mins)
1.Talk about the picture.
Q1: What is the girl doing?
2. Look at the title and picture to predict.
Q2: What’s country music about?
A: The importance of money and success.
B: The good old days and the best things in life.
【Justification: Students’ interest in learning can be stimulated by using pictures and headlines to make predictions and then guiding them to read the passage with an eagerness to test their guesses.】
Step 2 While-reading (6 mins)
1.Skim the passage and match the main ideas of each paragraph.
Para. 1 A. Sarah’s dream
Para. 2 B. Something about Sarah
Para. 3 C. Country music
【Justification: Let students sort out the context of the article quickly, from the overall grasp of the article.Teaching reading skills before reading to improve students’ reading ability.】
2.Scanning
①Read Para.1 and answer.
1. Who is Sarah?
2. Where is Sarah from?
3. Could she get on well with her family as a teenager?
4. How did country music change her life?
The piece of country music in England made her think about ____________ back in the US and she came to realize_____________.
【Justification: Read the first paragraph to find out more about Sarah and how country music has influenced her.The question guidance can guide the student experience through mind-map comb out the text information.】
②Read Para. 2 and answer.
1. What is country music?
2. What is the home of country music?
3. What is country music about?
【 Justification: Students learn about the type of country music, the home of country music, and how it differs from modern songs by reading the second part of the book.The comparison of two kinds of music can help students to establish a positive attitude towards life. And mind-map will help students understand and grasp the meaning of country music.】
③Read Para. 3 and answer.
1. What is Sarah’s dream?
2. What does Sarah know about Nashville?
3. Who is Gath Brooks?
【Justification: Students learn about Sarah’s dream by reading the third paragraph, and learn more about Nashville,the country Music House, Garth Brooks, and her music,leading students to care for their families.】
3. Careful reading
Read and fill in the blanks
Read the whole passage again and fill in the blanks.
【Justification: The teacher leads the student through the thought map to comb the text line context simply.】
Step 3: Post-reading (5 mins)
1. Read and summarize
Ask students to summarize the whole passage according to the following structure.
This passage mainly tells us about … and Sarah.
Sarah used to … And now she is a fan of…
Country music is … kind of music. It’s from …It reminds us…
Sarah’s dream is … She hopes to …
【Justification: Students can retell the passage with the help of the mind-map through summarizing the main content of this passage】
2. Read, think and report
After the reading activities, let the students work in groups to ask and answer the following questions and then make a report.
1. Why did the country music song change Sarah’s life?
2. How does music change or influence your life or study?
3. What is the most popular song/music in your group?
4. How do you feel when you hear or sing it?
【Justification: Through group discussion about some related topic, students’ speaking ability will be enhanced.Meanwhile, the teacher can get effective feedback about students’ knowledge.】
Step 4: Summary and homework (1min)
Ask students to summarize the main idea that they have learned in this lesson. And listen to a country song and then sing it together.
Write a passage about students’ favorite singer and music.
【Justification: Through the students’ summary and teachers’ supplements, the student initiative and the teaching concept of students centeredness in the classroom can manifest. By writing their favorite singers and music,students can review the relevant knowledge of the textbooks,and achieve the goal of language output.】
