Unit 6 When disaster strikes-Starting out 教学设计- 2024-2025学年外研版英语八年级上册

Unit 6 When disaster strikes-Starting out This unit, “When disaster strikes”, belongs to the category of “Man and Nature” in the English curriculum for Grade 8, aiming to explore natural disasters and relevant precautions. The unit consists of 11 main discourse materials, which can be divided into three sub - topics: understanding of natural disasters, influence of natural disasters, and response to natural disasters. The teaching starts with multi - modal discourses like pictures of ancient tales (such as Nüwa mending the sky, Dayu controlling the flood, and Houyi shooting the sun), guiding students to think about the relationship between these legends and natural disasters, and activating their prior knowledge of natural disasters. Another multi - modal discourse introduces the evolution of human understanding of natural disasters, emphasizing the importance of scientific understanding and effective early warnings. 教学目标 Students will be able to master the key vocabulary related to natural disasters, such as “flood”, “hurricane”, “tsunami”, “volcano”, “erupt”, “thick”, “smoke”, “ash” etc. Students can correctly use key phrases like “rush into”, “wake sb. up”, “go straight ahead”, “spread over”, “break out” etc. Students are able to understand and use the past continuous tense correctly, especially when combined with time - adverbial clauses led by “when” and “while”. 教学重难点 1 Key Points Key vocabulary and phrases related to natural disasters. The usage of the past continuous tense, especially its combination with time - adverbial clauses led by “when” and “while”. Understanding the impact of natural disasters on human life and the importance of disaster prevention and response measures described in the text. 2 Difficult Points Distinguishing the usage of “when” and “while” in time - adverbial clauses when combined with the past continuous tense. Helping students to deeply understand the emotional changes and resilience of people in the face of disasters, and being able to express their own views on this. Guiding students to write a well - organized and touching story about natural disasters using the learned language. 1 Core Vocabulary lost adj. 丢失的，遗失的 (e.g. a lost city) scared adj. 害怕的，恐惧的 (e.g. be scared of) shut v. (使) 关 (合) 上，(使) 关闭 (e.g. shut the door) coach n. 公共马车，四轮大马车 (e.g. take a coach) shocking adj. 惊人的，骇人的，令人难以置信的 (e.g. shocking news) straight adv. 笔直地，成直线地 (e.g. go straight ahead) flood n. 洪水，水灾 v. 淹没 (e.g. flood disaster) thick adj. 浓密的；混浊的 (e.g. thick smoke) smoke n. (燃烧产生的) 烟 (e.g. give up smoking) ash n. 灰，灰烬 (e.g. volcanic ash) shower n. 一大批，一阵 (在空中洒落或出现的小而轻的东西) (e.g. a shower of ash) erupt v. (火山) 爆发，喷发 (e.g. volcano erupt) volcano n. 火山 (e.g. active volcano) historical adj. (有关) 历史的 (e.g. historical event) hurricane n. 飓风 (e.g. hurricane warning) rainstorm n. 暴风雨 (e.g. heavy rainstorm) motherland n. 祖国 (e.g. love motherland) tsunami n. 海啸 (e.g. tsunami warning) 2 Key Phrases rush into 冲进 wake me up 把我叫醒 go straight ahead 向前直走 on the sand 在沙滩上 spread over the land 遍布大地 fall in heavy showers 下大雨 between hope and fear 在希望和恐惧之间 break out 突然发生 a heavy rainstorm 一场暴雨 disaster warning systems 灾害预警系统 3 Key Sentence Patterns When the earthquake happened, people were running out of the buildings. While the rescuers were searching for survivors, it started to rain. China is one of many countries with disaster warning systems. 4 Grammar: Past Continuous Tense Structure: was/were + verb - ing Usage: To describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. For example, I was doing my homework at 8 o'clock last night. In storytelling, to set the background. For example, The sun was shining brightly, and the birds were singing when the disaster suddenly struck. When combined with time - adverbial clauses led by “when” and “while”: “when” can be followed by a non - continuous verb (in simple past tense) to show that one action was in progress (in past continuous tense) when another action suddenly occurred. For example, I was walking in the street when it suddenly rained. “while” is usually followed by a continuous verb (in past continuous tense) to emphasize that two actions were happening simultaneously. For example, While my mother was cooking, my father was reading the newspaper. 教学过程 1 Lead - in (5 minutes) Show students some pictures of ancient tales such as Nüwa mending the sky, Dayu controlling the flood, and Houyi shooting the sun. Ask students: “What natural disasters do you think these legends are related to? Have you ever experienced any natural disasters? Can you briefly describe your feelings?” Encourage students to share their thoughts and experiences, and write down the related words they mention on the blackboard. 2 Pre - reading (8 minutes) Present the title “A lost city” and some pictures related to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. Let students predict what the story might be about. Ask questions like: “Where is Pompeii? What do you know about Mount Vesuvius? Why is the city ‘lost’?” Guide students to skim the first and last paragraphs of the text quickly to check their predictions. 3 While - reading (18 minutes) Fast Reading Ask students to read the text quickly and answer the following questions: When did the story happen? Who are the main characters? What was the disaster? Check the answers with the whole class. Careful Reading Divide the text into several parts. Let students read each part carefully and complete the following tasks: For the part describing the beginning of the disaster: Find out what the protagonist and his mother were doing when the ground began to shake. (Teach the usage of the past continuous tense here) Analyze the description of the disaster, such as “The air was thick with smoke and ash began to fall in heavy showers.” Explain the phrases “be thick with” and “in heavy showers”. For the part about their escape: What actions did they take to escape? Teach key phrases like “rush into”, “go straight ahead”. How did they feel during the escape? For the part after the disaster: What was the situation of the city after the disaster? How did the protagonist and his mother feel? Analyze the sentence “After a night of living between hope and fear, we had no thoughts of things to come.” Ask students to work in pairs to summarize the main idea of each part, and then invite some pairs to share their summaries with the class. 4 Post - reading (10 minutes) Group Discussion Divide students into groups of 4 - Give each group a topic related to the text, such as “What would you do if you were in the same situation as the protagonist?”, “How can we better prepare for natural disasters in our daily lives?” Let the groups discuss for 5 minutes and then each group selects a representative to report their discussion results to the class. Language Practice Present some sentences with blanks, asking students to fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs using the past continuous tense. For example: I ________ (watch) TV when my mother came back. They ________ (play) football at this time yesterday. Also, give some situations and ask students to make sentences using “when” and “while” combined with the past continuous tense. For example, describe two actions happening at the same time in the past and ask students to make sentences with “while”. 5 Summary and Homework (4 minutes) Summary Review the key vocabulary, phrases, sentence patterns, and the usage of the past continuous tense with the students. Summarize the main idea of the text and the importance of being aware of natural disasters and taking preventive measures. Homework Ask students to write a short passage about a natural disaster they know, using at least 5 new words and phrases learned in this class and the past continuous tense. Let students collect more information about natural disasters and their prevention measures, and be ready to share in the next class. 教学反思 After this class, students have shown a certain degree of interest in the topic of natural disasters. Through various teaching methods such as pictures, reading, and discussion, most students have mastered the key vocabulary and the usage of the past continuous tense. However, there are still some areas that need improvement. In terms of grammar teaching, although students have understood the basic usage of the past continuous tense, some students still have difficulties in distinguishing the usage of “when” and “while” in time - adverbial clauses. In future teaching, more exercises and real - life examples can be provided to help students better master this grammar point. During the group discussion, some students were not very active in participating. In the future, more guidance and encouragement can be given to these students to improve their participation and communication skills. In addition, when it comes to emotional education, although students have expressed their feelings about natural disasters, more in - depth guidance can be carried out to let them better understand the positive spirit of people in the face of disasters and how to apply this spirit to their own lives. Overall, this teaching plan has achieved certain teaching goals, but continuous improvement and adjustment are needed to better meet the learning needs of students. 2 / 37 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$