人教版高中英语选修8 Unit 1 A land of diversity教学设计与反思

人教版高中英语选修8 Unit 1 A land of diversity教学设计与反思
Unit 1 A land of diversity
I．教学内容分析
本单元的中心话题是美国第三大州——加利福尼亚。

本单元的两篇文章分别采用两种写作手法来让读者了解加利福尼亚的具体情况。

Warming Up部分以填图的形式让学生对美国的地理有一个初步的认识，同时也让他们了解加利福尼亚州的位置，为学习阅读文章做准备。

这部分可以以小组活动的形式进行，努力调动学生讨论的积极性，以达到热身的效果。

Pre-reading部分让学生观看加州的土著人、金矿工和中国城的图片，并多针对这些图片进行讨论，激发学生对加利福尼亚的兴趣。

Reading部分是详细介绍加州居民和移民的历史，更加形象地使学生认识到“美国是民族的熔炉”。

Learning about Language部分突出了词汇和语法的学习与训练。

本单元的语法是名词性从句的具体用法。

Using Language部分中包括了听、读、写三个部分的内容，是本单元主要篇章的有力补充和辅助。

学生可从乔治的旅游过程中了解加州的旅游景点，以及其文化、习俗和人们的生活状况。

该部分提出的一些问题有利于培养学生独立思考的能力和人文精神。

其中写作部分是训练学生选取和组织材料的能力——通过思考，写出叙述合理且思路清晰的电子邮件或者明信片。

Learning Tip指导学生掌握和别人交谈时的技巧，以及鼓励别人说话的方法。

II．教学重点和难点
1. 教学重点
(1) 本单元教学目的和要求中的生词和短语；
(2) 掌握运用名词性从句的具体用法；
(3) 了解加利福尼亚移民的特点以及加州的人文、历史等。

2. 教学难点
(1) 了解美国文化的多元化特征，培养学生跨文化交际的意识，提高他们自
身的素质；
(2) 学会使用“方向和位置”来介绍一个地方或描述一个事件，以及鼓励别人
说话的方法；
(3) 学写有关介绍国家或城市等的说明文。

Pre-reading, Reading & Comprehending Teaching Goals:
1. To review what Ss have already known about California?
2. To develop Ss’ some basic reading skills.
3. To arouse Ss’ inter est in learning about the history of people
in California.
4. To help Ss learn the huge diversity of races and cultures in
America, especially in California.
Teaching Procedures:
Step 1. Pre-reading
Purpose: To arouse Ss’ interest in learning about America n inhabitants.
1. Show some pictures, and encourage Ss to give as much information as possible.
2. Ask Ss to illustrate something about California. Then let them discuss in groups what each picture means.
Suggested Answers:
Picture 1: Life of Native Californian Indians
Picture 2: A Californian gold miner around 1849
Picture 3: A traditional Chinese building in San Francisco’s
Chinatown
Picture 4: Native American
Picture 5: A Spanish monk
Picture 6: African Americans
3. Get Ss to talk freely with their partners about what each picture is about and how each one relates to California. After talking, ask the students to present their own opinions in class.
Suggested Answers:
Picture 1: A native American Indian — one of the first people to live in California.
Picture 2: A gold miner — the discovery of gold in California created
a gold rush which brought people from all over the world to
California.
Picture 3: A building in Chinatown, San Francisco — many Chinese have settled in California and many of them live in
Chinatown in San Francisco.
Picture 5: It shows us a Catholic religious man who came to California to teach the natives. In the early 16th century,
Spanish fought against the native people, took their land and
settled in California.
Picture 6: So many African Americans were having classes in the school. In 1924, the United States Congress gave Native
Americans the same rights as other citizens for the first time.
School segregation and discrimination in housing were
banned, but African Americans still encountered prejudice
and hostility.
Step 2. Reading
Purpose: To get Ss to know how to skim for the gist.
To get Ss to know the brief history focusing on the
settlement of the state of California.
To let Ss learn how to organize an expository writing.
1. Leading-in
Purpose: To arouse students’ interest in the text and encourage Ss to imagine the content of the text.
Ask Ss to look at the pictures and answer the questions.
(1) How many beautiful scenes do you know in California?
(2) What information about California have you learned till now?
2. Fast reading
Purpose: To get a brief understanding of the text.
Team work:
(1) Ask Ss to read the first paragraph and the headings in the rest of the text. Then ask them to find out the relative time about the settlement of the people. Tell Ss to pay more attention to the first and the last sentence of each paragraph. Then let them fill in the form according to the text.
(2) Ask Ss to read the text quickly and work in pairs and try to tell which of the following statements are true and which are false and why.
①California is the largest state in the USA but has the third
largest population.
②Many Californians speak Spanish because they think the
Spanish language is beautiful.
③ South Americans and people from the United States were the
first to arrive in California to rush for gold.
④ During the Gold Rush Period many Chinese immigrant arrived
in California only to find gold.
⑤ Indians and Pakistanis are good at making computers. Suggested Answers:
① F ② F ③ T ④ F ⑤ T
3. Intensive reading
(1) Ask Ss to take the quiz below and according to the questions; see whether Ss can grasp the details of the text.
① What does the text mainly talk about?
A. The history of California.
B. The large population of California.
C. The people of California.
D. The climate and lifestyle of California.
② How did California become a state of America?
A. Mexico gained independence from Spain.
B. Mexico lost the America-Mexico war and then gave it to the USA.
C. Spain lost the Spain-America war.
D. Spain gave it to the USA as a gift.
③ Which of the following statements is not true?
A. A lot of people became rich in the gold rush.
B. Most people died in the gold rush.
C. After the gold rush, most people settled in California although did not find gold.
D. The first to arrive in California for gold were Europeans.
④What’s the main reason that Chinese immigrants came to California?
A. For gold.
B. For the building of the railway.
C. To open restaurants.
D. To live in the Chinatown.
⑤ Why has California attracted so many people?
A. Gold was discovered here.
B. It has attractive climate and lifestyle.
C. Many people came here to make a fortune.
D. All of the above.
Suggested Answers:
① A ② B ③ C ④ B ⑤ D
(2) Ask Ss to read the text carefully and try to get more details from the text and then finish Ex2 on P3.
(3) Ask Ss to make a summary according the following tips.
(4) Ask Ss to use their own word to conclude why California in the 21st century is such a multicultural community.
Suggested Answers:
The state of California is a multicultural community because European, African and Asian people have been immigrating to the state for the last 200 years. Before their arrival, Native American people had lived there for thousands of years. People from all over
the world are still coming to settle in California because of its good climate and the lifestyle it offers.
4. Language point
Purpose: To train Ss’ listening ability and language capacity.
(1) Ss are divided into four groups. Each group is supposed to read through each part, and then find the following phrases.
(2) Explain some important sentences for Ss.
①This is not surprising when you know the history of California,
which, at various times, has attracted people from nearly every
country in the world.
②Exactly when the first people arrived in what we now know as
California, no one really knows.
③However, it is likely that Native Americans were living in
California at least fifteen thousand years ago.
④ It was the building of the railway from the west to the east coast
that brought even larger numbers to California in the 1860s.
⑤In 1911 immigrants from Denmark established a town of their
own, which today still keeps up its Danish culture.
⑥It is believed that before long the mix of nationalities will be so
great that there will be no major racial or cultural groups, but simply a mixture of many races and cultures.
Step 3. Homework
1. Ask Ss to recite the new words, useful expressions and important sentences in the text.
2. Have Ss surf the internet to learn more about California.
3. Ask Ss to finish Ex1 and Ex2 of Learning about language on P
4.
4. Ask Ss to try to finish the exercises of Using Words And Expressions on P48.
教学实践与思考
经过教学实践，我体会到要精心设计一堂阅读课，教师要在课前必须花大量的时间和精力对课的类型、主题、结构等诸因素作充分的考虑和研究。

要精心设计输入材料的长度、信息的密度、低频率词汇出现的数量等；
要把阅读的重心放在发展学生综合语言运用能力的基础上，着重提高学生用英语获取信息、分析问题和解决问题的能力，特别要注重提高学生用英语进行思维和表达的能力。

同时还要考虑学生对背景知识的理解程度、自信心、学习动力以及已有的知识经验等。

在设计阅读活动任务时要考虑任务的难度等级。

通过多媒体课件制作等激发学生的学习热情，使材料由抽象转化为具体、形象，降低学生的难度。

虽然利用多媒体上课，课堂容量大，密度高，且具体直观，活动的
事物容易引起学生的兴趣，增强学生的参与意识，从而提高课堂效果。

但由于课件是事先准备好的，教师的课堂组织教学以及教学活动只能受限于课件，所以课堂上显得比较呆板，缺乏激情，无法发挥，也不好拓展。