Grade Level: Grade 11 (Grade 2, Senior Middle School)

Session: 45 minutes

Objectives:

(1) To have the students do extensive reading

(2) To develop students’ analytical skills, organizing skills and “googling skills” in preparation for a presentation

(3) To develop students’ public speaking skills in a presentation

Lesson Description:

The lesson consists of two stages: preparation and presentation. Before the session, students in each group have to pick a topic from the newspaper, do research on the internet, make Power Point visual aid, rehearse, and most importantly, cooperate with each other. In the session, each group has 6-7 minutes to give a presentation. In this model, the teacher is not supposed to be dominant. His/her workload, the guidance and instruction, is mostly done before class. In the session, he/she will monitor the students’ performance and give them instant feedback.

Materials: 21st Century Teens Senior 2 Edition (October 26, 2009), computer, OHP, speakers, microphones

Teaching Procedure:

Step 1. Reading assignment (homework)

The students are required to read the following articles in the newspaper. After that, each group has to pick one article as the topic of its presentation.

“Sorting out Cities” (Front page)

“Battle over Scripts” (Page 2)

“Equal Access to Education” (Page 2)

“Doing Their Part” (Page 3)

“Do These Prizes Really Matter?” (Page 3)

“Comedy not such a Joke in the UK” (Pages 4-5)

“The French are Angry” (Page 5)

“Paying the Price” (Page 6)

“You’re not Experts yet” (Page 8)

Step 2. Tutoring for presentation (before the session)

Group 1 “Sorting out Cities”

Presentation Procedure:

(1) A brief report on “model World Expo” in Nanjing

(2) The history of World Expo

(3) Shanghai’s successful bid

(4) Shanghai’s preparation for World Expo

(5) The meaning of Shanghai Expo

Discovery Activities:

http://www.expo2010.cn/expo/expoenglish/

http://www.chinadaily. com.cn/china/china_06 shanghai_page.html

http://en.expo2010.cn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_(exhibition)

Group 2 “Battle over Scripts”

Presentation Procedures:

(1) To report the dispute on the use of simplified and traditional Chinese

(2) To introduce countries and regions using Chinese characters

(3) Analysis of pros and cons of simplified and traditional Chinese

(4) How to balance the two forms of Chinese Characters?

Discovery Activities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Simplified_Chinese_characters

http:// roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/ chinese-language-ever-evolving /?apage=12

Group 3 “Equal Access to Education”

Presentation Procedures:

(1) News report on the VIP class in Hubei Province

(2) Short play: Interviews with students and parents in Huangshi Primary School

(3) Conclusion

Discovery Activities:

http://news.jongo.com/ articles/09/1017/194379/ MTk0Mzc5EleUutQR.html

http://www.china.org.cn/ english/GS-e/182567.htm

http://www.chinadaily. com.cn/china/2009-10/17/ content_8806478.htm

http://www.en8848. com.cn/yingyu/82/n-95182.html

Group 4 “Paying the Price”

Presentation Procedures:

(1) A report on the global climate change

(2) The effects and cause of climate change

(3) The global warming

(4) What if we don’t take actions now?

(5) The solutions to global warming

Discovery Activities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

http://www.china dialogue.net/article/show/single/en/ 143-Thoughts-on- global-warming

http://www.worldviewof globalwarming.org/

Group 5 “The French are Angry”

Presentation Procedures:

(1) A report on the opening of a McDonald’s outlet in Paris

(2) An analysis of the popularity of fast food restaurant

(3) A case study of Starbucks in Beijing

(4) The cultural invasion

(5) The protection of local culture and tradition

Discovery Activities:

http://www.nowpublic. com/world/mcdonalds-outlet-open-louvre-museum -causes-outrage

http://www. presstv.ir/detail. aspx?id=108082§ionid =351020603

http://paper.sznews.com /szdaily/20070124/ ca2566135.htm

http://bjtoday.ynet.com/ article.jsp?oid=22318525

Step 3. Presentation (session: 45 minutes)

Students’ presentation

Teacher’s instant feedback

Step 4. Assignments

(1) Copy good sentences in the newspaper

(2) Prepare for a word-quiz contest. Each group has to make at least 5 questions from different pages on PPT. In the quiz, animated clues would appear to help the contestants, if necessary.

专家点评

二十一世纪英文报系教研中心主任编辑 孟庆涛

郑正华老师的教案展示了一种极富创意的基于报刊的教学模式。该教案的主要优点是:以学生为中心、鼓励自主探究、强化合作意识、注重学习策略的培养，认真贯彻了新课程标准的基本原则。

在课前阅读环节，郑老师要求学生在大量阅读的基础上，选择其中一篇作为阅读汇报展示的主题文章。这种做法既能督促学生广泛阅读，保证足够的信息输入，又注意了读报的选择性，充分尊重学生不同的阅读兴趣，使报刊英语教学尽量接近现实生活中的读报体验，很好地体现了报刊阅读的特点。

郑老师对读报展示准备环节的课前辅导完美诠释了如何培养学生的资源使用策略。以第一组的汇报主题为例:教师以南京“模拟世博会”为出发点，引导学生对世博会的历史、上海世博会的意义等话题进行深入探讨。在准备相关材料、分工演练汇报内容的过程中，学生不但掌握了有关世博会的丰富知识，而且大大提高了自主探究、合作学习和当众演讲的能力。另外，这种组织形式也是任务型教学的一个优秀案例。

总之，这篇教案教学目标描述清晰、师生角色定位准确、教学环节设计流畅，展现了郑老师扎实的教学理论水平和对新课程标准的深刻理解。建议进一步研究基于报刊内容本身的教学模式，以便更加充分地利用报刊提供的丰富教学资源。