A garden of poems（The First Period）

unit 4    a garden of poems
i. brief statements based on the unit
     do you like poetry? have you read a limerick? the whole contents of unit 4 are about poetry. four separate parts consist of this unit. first, the simple questions bring the students back to the poems, songs and rhymes they have learned. by reciting them, the students will be struck by the words and colorful meaning of some poems. then they are arranged to read and enjoy a special, funny poem-a limerick, listen to a passage about poems and talk about all kinds of poems written by some great masters. this will greatly raise the students' interests about poems. they will be sure to want further information about english poems. the text“english poetry”describes the advantages of reading poems. plenty of detailed information about the history and development of english poems is also given in the text. the comparison of english and chinese poems shows us a clear picture of the similarity and difference between the poems of the two countries. the text sings high praise for the two great translators --lu xun and guo moruo. however, at the end of the text, the writer tells us that something of the spirit of the original works is lost in translated works. this means that we should read original works instead of translated ones as many as possible. plenty of exercises before and after the text get the students to understand the whole text and grasp its detailed information. the third part is mainly about past participle used as attribute and adverbial. through different kinds of exercises the students can master this part well. at the end of this unit,
a simple but interesting passage tells us a lot and gives us a perfect answer to the question why people read and sometimes even write poetry. a simple and practical way to enjoy the poems is shown to us. this will encourage more students to join in the learning and appreciating poetry. the students will improve their ability to listen, speak, read and write as well as learning plenty of useful words and expressions after they learn the unit.
ii. teaching goals
1. talk about english poetry.
2. practice expressing intention and decision.3. learn about the past participle (3) used as adverbial.
4. write about a poem.
iii. teaching time: five periods
iv. background information
1. shakespeare
     for any englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist. only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: that of william shakespeare. every englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the work of our greatest writer. all of us use words, phrases and   quotations from shakespeare's writings that have become part of the common property of english-speaking people. most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we use. rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of hamlet and complained that it was full of well-know proverbs and quotations!