Unit 8 Natural Disasters
Reading (II)
I. Teaching aims and learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. use the important words and phrases correctly;
2. get further understanding of the text;
3. know how to protect themselves when a natural disaster happens;
4. describe the experience in a natural disaster.
II. Teaching contents
1. New words and phrases: slight, shake, loud, bomb, fear, direction, while, brick, shaking, silent, if, nervous, heart, beat, trapped, mind, calm, since, still, alive, dark, shout, daylight, safe, asleep, after, a loud noise like thunder, start to shake, in fear, run in all directions, come down, not … at all, beat fast, be trapped, say to oneself, pull myself slowly through, calm down, find one’s way out, hear shouts from excited people, move away the bricks, at last.
2. New structures: I was sleeping when the earthquake started.
People were running in all directions while pieces of glass and bricks were falling down.
I felt nervous and my heart was beating fast.
As I was trying to find my way out, I suddenly heard some noise above me.
III. Focus of the lesson and predicted area of difficulty
Use the important words and phrases correctly and fluently.
Describe the experience in an earthquake.
Know what to do during a natural disaster.
IV. Teaching procedures
Step 1 Lead-in
Watch a short video about an earthquake.
T: Remember the first three adjectives the man used in the video? Yes, “sudden”, “unexpected” and “terrified”. The word “sudden” means happening or done quickly and unexpectedly. If something is “unexpected”, it surprises you because you don’t think it will happen. And :“terrified“ means very frightened, very afraid, feeling fear. We are so lucky that we have never been in an earthquake personally, but our friend Timmy happened to be in the 1999 Taiwan earthquake.
【设计意图】通过播放一段有关地震的记录短片，让学生对地震有更直观的认识。
Step 2 Presentation
1. Revise three key words—brick, glass, bomb
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T: And we have already heard about his story. And I think you know these three pictures
very well.
2. Describe the earthquake
T: I have three tasks for you to complete behind each picture. You can group yourselves into
three groups and choose one to do.
(1) Group Brick: say something about the earthquake according to the key words and phrases. And after that think about this question: Why are people afraid?
… happened at … At first, there was … like … Soon … the earth … and people … Outside … glass and bricks … Then the walls … Finally, …
(2) Group Bomb: Make up a dialogue between you and Timmy.
Ask about what he saw and heard during the earthquake. Try to ask as many questions as you can And after that think about this question: What do earthquakes bring us? You can use the following questions for the dialogue and you can think up more.
Where were you when the earthquake started?
Did you shout for help?
Could you see anybody around you?
(3) Group Glass: Describe Timmy’s feelings
Find out how Timmy felt during the earthquake and describe the changes of his feelings.
If you were Timmy, do you know how to show your feelings while telling others the
story? You can use the following words to help you in describing the changes of
feelings.
First …, then …, next …, afterwards …, finally …
【设计意图】通过分组，让学生分别完成以下三个任务：通过设计叙述的任务帮助学生回顾地震的过程，并讨论人们为什么害怕；通过设计对话的任务复习Timmy在震中的所见所闻，由此讨论地震的危害；让学生寻找并描述Timmy的情感变化，并指导学生如何有感情的朗读课文。
Step 3 Language points
1. fear
(1) Explain the word and its usage
T: Earthquakes are terrible and often cause problems. So we are afraid of them and that
means we feel fear. When people are feeling fear, they may look like this. And most of us will scream in fear during an earthquake and we know a moment of fear went through Timmy’s mind. Everyone may 了 have/feel fear, but nobody wants to live in fear. (每个人都会感到恐惧，但是没有人希望生活在恐惧中。) Do you agree?
(2) Fill in the blanks
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Millie and Amy thought there was a ghost in the park, so they ran away _____ quickly. But when they knew it was just a little cat, they were not _____ any more.
2. shake
T: If we have too much fear, our bodies may move quickly from side to side or up and down.
There’s a word beginning with s, can you find it in the text? Yes, that’s “shake”. The earth
started to shake. Look, he is shaking with fear. Why? Is he shaking with fear, too? No, he is shaking with cold. And he’s caught a cold. The doctor gives him some medicine. Before taking medicine, he should read the instruction first. Look. This means you should shake the bottle well before taking. After he gets better, he may shake hands with the doctor to show his thanks. The doctor may shake his head because he thinks it is his duty to help the patients.
3. calm
Explain the word and its usage
T: Now we know when people are in fear, they may shake with fear, they don’t know what to do and they may scream in fear or run in all directions. They just want to find a way out. But do you think it is right to run in all directions during an earthquake? I think we should try to calm down. Making ourselves less afraid or excited will help us find a way out. Do you think it’s important for us to keep calm in danger? Sometimes you can have some milk to calm yourself down, especially when you can’t sleep.
4. if
Explain the word and its usage
T: Timmy tried his best to calm down, but he still felt afraid. You know why? Because he didn’t know if anyone else was near him. Was there anyone near him Maybe there was someone else near him, or maybe not. We are not sure about this. But, if there was somebody else near him, he might not be so afraid. Right? Sometimes when we are alone in the dark, we may feel afraid, just like Timmy. But I think we should be brave. We should know this: if we are not brave enough, nobody can help us.
5. was/were + doing
(1) Explain the usage of past continuous tense.
T: I think Timmy knows this very well. You can see this in Para.4. He did lots of things.
And as he was trying to find his way out, something good happened. What was it?
(2) Make more sentences and work out the rule
T: Can you find some more sentences with the –ing form and words like ‘when’ and ‘while’? Can you work out the rule?
(3) Translate the following sentences.
T: Please translate the following sentences into English.
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【设计意图】通过创设语境，讲解与操练重点语言点。可能的情况下让学生提出他们不懂的，并尝试让学生来解释。
Step 4 Practice
1. Rewrite the following
T: After the earthquake Timmy wrote something down. Let’s try to change the underlined parts.
When something bad happens, most people will shout loudly because they are very afraid. They think there may be no others around them. So they may move their bodies from side to side. Some people may go here and there quickly and wildly. But I think it is good not to be too afraid or nervous.
2. Read and find
T: What did Timmy do after he was trapped?
3. Fill in the blanks
T: Actually Timmy did a lot of things to help himself. Let’s try to find them out.
【设计意图】通过让学生寻找Timmy在地震中、尤其是受困后的所作所为，巩固学生对课文内容的掌握，并为就思考其获救的原因展开讨论做铺垫。
Step 5 Extension
1. Think and discuss
T: Timmy was safe at last. Is it only because he was lucky? T: Timmy has learned a lot from the
earthquake. He wants to tell others what to do during an earthquake. If you were Timmy, what ideas do you want to give us?
2. Think and judge
Is it safe to run fast during an earthquake?
Is it a good idea to jump out of the window if the building starts to shake?
Which part of the house is the best to hide in?
Is it safe to ride bikes or drive cars fast during a snowstorm?
Is it safe to hide under a big tree during a rainstorm with thunder and lightning?
3. Oral work
T: Suppose you survived the earthquake. Please tell us about your story. The following questions may help you.
What happened?
When did it happen?
Where were you and what were you doing at that time?
What did you see/hear/do?
How did you feel?
How were you safe?
【设计意图】：通过讨论注意事项，进一步引导学生懂得如何面对灾难。通过选择场景使学生了解不同的地点自救的方式可能有所不同，增强学生的自我保护意识。让学生想像自己一次自然灾害中的经历，鼓励学生使用本课所学的语言点进行口头讲述，达到学以致用的目的。
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V. Homework
1. Learn the new words and phrases by heart.
2. Try your best to retell the story about Timmy.
3. Write 4 do’s and 4 don’ts during an earthquake in the exercise book.
4. Suppose you survived the earthquake and write down your story.
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