Unit 2 Working the land

unit 2 working the land
the first period  reading
teaching goals
enable ss to learn more about agriculture, countryside and farming.
help ss learn how to describe dr yuan longping including his personality.
teaching important and difficult points
a. help to comprehend the text and grasp the main idea of the text.
b. grasp the usage of some words and expressions.
c. how to help students learn more about agriculture.
teaching methods
talking, questioning-and-answering activity and reading.
teaching aids
a tape recorder, a projector and a computer.
step ⅰ greeting and leading in
t: hello, everyone.
ss: hello, teacher.
t: in last unit we learnt some great women. today we’ll learn a famous man. who will it be? at first let’s look at the two pictures on page 9. what are the people doing?
ss: they are planting rice.
t: can you tell me something about rice?
s: rice grows in the south.
s: but in some place of the north we can also find rice.
t: yeah. you are right. in fact rice is a cereal grain that has been grown for at least 5,000 years and is eaten by 2.4 billion people everyday throughout the world. in australia, farmers have had to struggle with their harsh environment to grow rice.
ss: really?
step ⅱ warming up
t: have you ever grown any plants? if so, what did you do to grow them? if not, what kind of plant would you like to grow? how will you grow it?
s: i have ever grown corn and potatoes. in autumn, my father and i ploughed the soil deep for the first time, then in the next spring, we ploughed the soil for a second time, this time i put the corn seeds into the tunnel following my father. finally my father covered the corn seeds by ploughing again.
t: very well. have you ever been to the countryside? what did you do there?
s: yes, i went there to see my grandfather. in the village i played with other boys in the little stream and caught little fish. i even helped my grandfather get in the corn by cutting the corn stems, which made me tired.
t: are you from a farmer’s family? what do you know about farming?
s: yes, my father is a farmer. in my view, farming is hard work. people have to plant crops, smooth away weeds and get in the crops at the right time. they have to get up early to work in the field so as to protect themselves from the sunshine.
t: that’s right. in the north, the biggest worry that farmers have is the drought. when it doesn’t rain, and they can’t irrigate the crops, the crops will die and they will have nothing after hard working.
step ⅲ  pre-reading