Module 3 My First Ride on a Train

Teaching and learning contents: Reading and vocabulary—reading comprehension and new language items in the reading passage.

Comprehensive teaching and learning objectives:

1. To read and comprehend the reading passage: My First Ride on a Train and complete some reading comprehension exercises.

2. To learn and grasp the usage of the new language items.

3. To broaden the Ss’ view by knowing about Australia and the train travelling.

Main and difficult point: Reading comprehension and new language items.

Teaching and learning procedures:

Step 1 Lead-in

  1. Revise some words and phrases learned in the last period.

2. Introduce the teaching contents.  

Step 2 Pre-reading

  1. Look at the picture and answer the questions on P22 to know some background knowledge about Australia.

  2. Go through the words in the box to make sure that the students know their meanings.

  3. Introduce the background of the passage by reading the tile of the passage and make predictions. 

Step 3 Reading comprehension 

1. Task 1 Read the text quickly and complete the following reading comprehension exercises:

1) What’s the main idea of the passage?

  Travelling to the central part of Australia.

2) What is the literary form (文体) of the reading pasage?

  Narration. (记叙文)

3) Match the main idea with the each paragraph. (RB )

P1   The introduction of Alice’s journey.

P2   The scenery along the rail way.

P3   How I spent the time in the train.

P4   Why is the train called Ghan.

P5   Things about the camels

P6   The fate of the camels nowadays.

2. Task 2  Work in pairs to discuss how to put the passage into three parts.

Part 1  P1     Brief introduction about her journey.

Part 2  P2-P3  Alice’s feeling about her journey. (Alice’s experience and feeling.)

Part 2  P4-P6  The story about Ghan—changes of the means of transport.

(or :The history of the transportation in Australia.)

3. Task 3 Read the text carefully and answer the questions in Activity 4 on P24.

  1) Did Alice travel on the train a long time ago?

    No, she travelled on the train recently.

2) Was her destination on the coast of Australia?

     No, it was Alice Springs in the center of Australia.

3) Was the scenery the same during the whole journey?

     No, at first there were fields, then it was desert.

4) Did she study while she was on the train?

    Yes, she studied Chinese.

5) Did the Australians use horses to travel to the central part of the country?

    Yes, at first, but the horses didn’t like the hot weather.

6) Do they still use camels to deliver goods?

    No, they use the train now.

4. Task 4 Listen to the recording to understand the passage better and then analyse the structure and contents with the help of PPT.

5. Task 5 Summarize the main content of the text by filling in the blanks to complete the short passage. 

Homework1:

1. Read the passage after class to complete the reading comprehension exercises in RB.

2. Discuss the questions in Activity 5 on P24.