Unit 1 Animal protection B Reading and critical thinking 教学设计 2025-2026学年沪外教版（2024）七年级英语上册

Unit 1 Animal protection-B Reading and critical thinking 1. Content Overview This unit in the 2024 Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press English textbook for Grade 8 focuses on "Animal protection". The "Reading and critical thinking" part presents texts related to various endangered animals, their current situations, the reasons for their endangerment, and the corresponding protection measures. Through these texts, students will be exposed to real - life cases and data about animal protection, which not only enriches their knowledge of the animal world but also deepens their understanding of the importance of environmental protection. 教学目标 2.1 Knowledge Objectives Students will be able to master key vocabulary related to animal protection, such as "endangered species", "habitat", "poaching", "conservation", etc. They can understand complex sentence structures used in the texts to describe animal protection issues, such as passive voice to emphasize the situation of animals being affected. Students will learn specific expressions and phrases for discussing animal protection, like "take measures to protect", "be in danger of extinction", etc. 2.2 Ability Objectives Improve students' reading skills, including skimming to get the main idea, scanning for specific details, and inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. Develop students' critical thinking ability, enabling them to analyze the causes and effects of animal endangerment, and evaluate the effectiveness of different protection measures. Cultivate students' language output ability, allowing them to express their opinions on animal protection clearly and coherently in oral and written forms. 2.3 Emotional Objectives Foster students' awareness of animal protection and a sense of responsibility for environmental protection. Encourage students to respect and cherish all living beings and actively participate in animal protection activities in their daily lives. 教学重难点 3.1 Teaching Key Points Key vocabulary and phrases related to animal protection, ensuring students can correctly understand and use them in context. Comprehending the main ideas and important details in the reading texts about animal protection, such as the current status of endangered animals and the main threats they face. Mastering sentence patterns and grammar used to describe animal protection issues, especially the proper use of passive voice and expressions of cause - and - effect. 3.2 Teaching Difficult Points Helping students understand complex ecological concepts and the interrelationships between animals and their habitats in the context of animal protection. Guiding students to think critically about animal protection issues, for example, analyzing the pros and cons of different protection strategies and predicting the possible consequences of human activities on animals. Improving students' ability to express their in - depth views on animal protection in English, both orally and in writing, with logical organization and accurate language. 4.1 Vocabulary Endangered species: Species that are at risk of extinction. Example: Pandas are one of the most well - known endangered species. Habitat: The natural environment in which an animal or plant lives. For instance, The rainforest is the habitat of many rare animals. Poaching: The illegal hunting, killing, or capturing of wild animals. Poaching has led to a sharp decline in the number of elephants. Conservation: The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of wildlife and natural resources. Conservation efforts are crucial for saving endangered animals. Extinction: The complete disappearance of a species from the earth. Many species are on the verge of extinction due to human activities. 4.2 Grammar Passive voice: Often used to describe the situation of animals. For example, “Many forests are being destroyed, so animals are losing their habitats.” (The focus is on the action being done to the forests and its impact on animals.) Expressions of cause - and - effect: Such as “because of”, “due to”, “as a result of” for stating reasons, and “lead to”, “result in” for showing consequences. For example, “Due to habitat loss, many animals are in danger of extinction.” or “Poaching leads to a decrease in the population of wild animals.” 4.3 Useful Expressions Take measures to protect: We should take measures to protect endangered animals. Be in danger of extinction: Some species are in danger of extinction if we don't act now. Raise awareness of: We need to raise awareness of animal protection among the public. Make contributions to: Everyone can make contributions to animal conservation. 教学过程 5.1 Warming - up (5 minutes) Show students some pictures of cute and popular animals, such as pandas, lions, and dolphins, on the PPT. Then ask students: “Do you like these animals? Why?” Encourage students to share their feelings about these animals. After that, show some pictures of the same animals in a poor or endangered situation, like a panda with a sick look in a shrinking bamboo forest. Pose the question: “What has happened to these animals? Why are they in such a situation?” Lead students to think about the topic of animal protection. 5.2 Pre - reading (10 minutes) Present new vocabulary related to animal protection on the PPT, one by one. For each word, show a vivid picture related to it. For example, when teaching “habitat”, show a picture of a beautiful coral reef as the habitat of many marine animals. Explain the meaning and pronunciation of the word briefly. Divide students into small groups of 4 - 5. Give each group a set of cards with words related to animal protection (some are new words just taught, and some are familiar words like “animal”, “protect”). Let them discuss and categorize the words, such as words about animals, words about problems animals face, and words about solutions. This activity helps students better understand the relationships between different vocabulary items related to the topic. 5.3 While - reading (15 minutes) Skimming: Distribute the reading materials about animal protection to students. Instruct them to skim the text quickly within 2 - 3 minutes and answer the question: “What is the main idea of the text? Which animals are mainly talked about?” After that, invite several students to share their answers. Scanning: Ask students to read the text again, this time scanning for specific details. Present a series of detailed questions on the PPT, such as “What are the main reasons for the endangerment of [a certain animal mentioned in the text]?”, “What protection measures have been taken?”. Give students 5 - 6 minutes to read and find the answers. Then check the answers together as a class. In - depth reading: Select some difficult sentences or paragraphs from the text, write them on the blackboard or show them on the PPT. Analyze the sentence structures, new vocabulary usage, and the implied meanings with students. For example, for a sentence like “The illegal trade of wild animals, which is driven by huge profits, has become a serious threat to their survival.”, explain the function of the non - restrictive relative clause “which is driven by huge profits” and how it further elaborates on the cause of the illegal trade. 5.4 Post - reading (10 minutes) Divide students into pairs. Ask them to discuss the question: “In your opinion, which protection measure is the most effective? And why?” Give them 3 - 4 minutes to have a discussion. Then invite several pairs to share their opinions in front of the class. Arrange a small writing task. Ask students to write a short paragraph (about 80 - 100 words) to summarize what they have learned from the reading text, including the current situation of endangered animals, the main reasons for their endangerment, and at least one protection measure they think is important. Walk around the classroom to offer guidance and help while students are writing. After they finish, ask some students to read out their paragraphs. 5.5 Summary and Homework (5 minutes) Summarize the key points of this class, including important vocabulary, main ideas of the reading text, and the significance of animal protection, with the whole class. Assign homework: Ask students to search for more information about an endangered animal they are interested in online or in books. They need to write a short report (about 150 - 200 words) introducing the animal, its current situation, the reasons for its endangerment, and some possible protection suggestions. 教学反思 After this 45 - minute class, overall, students showed a high level of interest in the topic of animal protection. The use of vivid pictures in the warming - up and pre - reading stages effectively attracted students' attention and motivated their enthusiasm for learning. The group activities, such as vocabulary categorization, promoted students' cooperation and communication skills. However, there were also some areas that need improvement. During the in - depth reading stage, some students still had difficulties understanding complex sentence structures, especially when there were multiple clauses. In future classes, more time should be allocated to grammar analysis and practice related to the reading texts. Also, during the pair discussion and writing tasks, some students' expressions were a bit limited. This indicates that more language input and model - based training are needed to improve students' language output ability. In conclusion, based on this teaching reflection, adjustments will be made to the teaching design and methods in the following classes to better meet the learning needs of students and improve the teaching effectiveness. 2 / 37 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $