Unit 2 Language and Mind-Reading A-Digging in 教案-2025-2026学年高中英语沪外版选择性必修第二册

Unit 2 Language and Mind-Reading A-Digging in 教学目标和重难点 教学目标 Language Ability: Master key vocabulary and sentence patterns to understand and express the relationship between language and mind. Cultural Awareness: Understand cross-cultural differences in language thinking. Thinking Quality: Develop critical thinking by analyzing the text’s logic. Learning Ability: Cultivate autonomous and cooperative learning skills. 教学重难点 Key Points: Grasp the text’s main idea and supporting details about language’s impact on mind; master key words and complex sentences. Difficult Points: Analyze the text’s logical structure and the causal relationship between language and thinking. 教学过程 Pre-reading: Lead-in and Preparation Activity 1: Warm-up Discussion The teacher starts the class with an open question: “Do you think the language we speak affects the way we think? For example, if you speak two languages, do you feel your way of thinking changes when you switch between them?” Then, invite 3-4 students to share their opinions freely. After their sharing, the teacher makes a brief comment: “Your ideas are very interesting. Today, we will explore the close connection between language and mind through the text Digging in, and find out how language shapes our thinking and brain.” Design Intention: This warm-up discussion is closely related to students’ daily life experience, especially for those who learn a second language. It can quickly arouse students’ interest in the topic, activate their prior knowledge about language and thinking, and lay a good foundation for the subsequent reading. Meanwhile, it helps students practice their oral expression skills in English, which is in line with the requirements of language ability in core literacy. Activity 2: Vocabulary and Background Preview First, the teacher presents 8-10 key vocabulary words in the text on the screen, including “cognitive”, “neuroscience”, “wiring”, “perspective”, “filter out”, “stimulate”, “boost” and “sustain”. For each word, the teacher provides simple English definitions and example sentences related to the text theme, instead of direct Chinese translations. For example, for “cognitive”, the definition is “relating to the process of knowing, understanding and learning things”, and the example sentence is “Language has a great impact on our cognitive development.” Then, the teacher introduces the background of the text briefly: “This text is a popular science article, which introduces the latest research findings in neuroscience about how language influences our brain and thinking. It is easy to understand but full of scientific sense, and we can learn a lot of useful knowledge from it.” Design Intention: Previewing key vocabulary helps students remove language barriers in reading, so that they can focus more on understanding the text content instead of struggling with new words. Using English definitions and theme-related example sentences helps students master the usage of vocabulary in context, which is more effective than mechanical memorization. Introducing the text background helps students understand the genre and core content of the text in advance, improving their reading efficiency and laying a foundation for grasping the text’s logical structure. While-reading: In-depth Comprehension and Analysis Activity 1: Skimming for Main Idea The teacher asks students to read the text quickly (skimming) and answer two questions: 1. What is the main topic of the text? 2. What is the author’s main point about the relationship between language and mind? After students finish reading, the teacher organizes a class discussion, invites several students to answer the questions, and then summarizes: “The main topic of the text is the impact of language on our brain and thinking. The author’s main point is that learning and using language can shape our brain structure, improve our cognitive abilities and change our way of looking at the world.” Design Intention: Skimming is an important fast reading skill. This activity aims to train students’ ability to grasp the main idea of the text quickly, which is one of the key requirements of reading ability. By answering simple questions, students can quickly sort out the core content of the text, form a preliminary understanding of the text, and lay a foundation for in-depth reading. At the same time, it helps students develop the habit of reading with goals, improving their reading efficiency. Activity 2: Scanning for Key Details The teacher asks students to read the text again (scanning) and complete a table about the key details of the text. The table includes three columns: “Research Findings”, “Supporting Evidence” and “Impact on Brain/Thinking”. Students need to find relevant information from the text and fill in the table independently. After that, students work in pairs to check their answers with each other, and the teacher walks around the classroom to provide guidance for students who have difficulties. Finally, the teacher invites a group of students to present their table on the blackboard, and corrects and supplements the content together with the whole class. The key information to be filled in the table includes: 1. Language learning makes the brain grow bigger; supporting evidence: a study on bilingual people shows that their hippocampus and cerebral cortex are thicker than those of monolingual people; impact: enhances the brain’s ability to process information. 2. Learning a new language helps improve focus; supporting evidence: an experiment where participants need to listen to a word and select the corresponding image, and bilingual people perform better in filtering out distractions; impact: improves the brain’s executive function. 3. Language learning has long-term health benefits; supporting evidence: studies show that bilingual people have a lower risk of developing dementia; impact: slows down the aging process of the brain. Design Intention: Scanning is another important reading skill that focuses on finding specific details. Completing the table can help students sort out the key information of the text systematically, understand the logical relationship between the author’s viewpoints and supporting evidence, and deepen their understanding of the text content. Pair work can promote students’ cooperative learning, let them learn from each other, and improve their ability to communicate and cooperate in English. The teacher’s guidance can help students solve problems in time, ensuring that all students can grasp the key details. Activity 3: Text Structure Analysis The teacher divides the text into three parts according to its content and asks students to discuss in groups: 1. What is the function of the first paragraph? 2. What is the main content of the middle paragraphs (Paragraph 2 to Paragraph 4)? 3. What is the purpose of the last paragraph? After group discussion, each group sends a representative to share their opinions. The teacher summarizes and combs the text structure: “The first paragraph is the introduction, which puts forward the thesis that language has a magical effect on the brain. The middle paragraphs are the body part, which uses three scientific research findings to support the thesis. The last paragraph is the conclusion, which summarizes the main points and calls on readers to learn a new language to exercise their brain.” Then, the teacher guides students to analyze the logical connection between paragraphs. For example, the first paragraph leads to the topic by asking a question, and each middle paragraph starts with a topic sentence to put forward a research finding, followed by supporting evidence. The last paragraph connects with the beginning and emphasizes the significance of language learning. The teacher also reminds students to pay attention to the transition words in the text, such as “firstly”, “besides”, “finally”, which help to connect the paragraphs and make the text structure more coherent. Design Intention: Analyzing the text structure helps students understand the overall framework of the text, grasp the logical relationship between the author’s viewpoints and arguments, and cultivate their logical thinking ability, which is in line with the requirements of thinking quality in core literacy. Group discussion can stimulate students’ thinking, let them express their opinions freely, and improve their ability to analyze and solve problems together. Paying attention to transition words helps students master the writing skills of coherent expression, which is beneficial to their own writing. Activity 4: Key Sentence Analysis The teacher selects 3-4 complex sentences from the text that are important for understanding the text and difficult to understand, and guides students to analyze them. For example: 1. “But the effect this studying has on our brain is nothing short of magical.” The teacher guides students to identify the attributive clause “this studying has on our brain” modifying “the effect”, and explains the phrase “nothing short of” (meaning “exactly” or “completely”). 2. “Individuals speaking two languages were better at filtering out the distracting words and focusing on the task at hand.” The teacher guides students to identify the present participle phrase “speaking two languages” as an attributive modifying “individuals”, and explains the phrasal verb “filter out” (meaning “remove” or “separate”). 3. “This suggests that learning a new language is not just a way to communicate, but also a powerful tool to boost our brain’s ability.” The teacher guides students to identify the object clause “that learning a new language... our brain’s ability” after “suggests”, and explains the structure “not just... but also...”. For each sentence, the teacher first asks students to analyze it independently, then invites students to share their analysis results, and finally makes a summary and explanation. After analyzing all the sentences, the teacher asks students to read the sentences aloud twice to familiarize themselves with the sentence structure and improve their sense of language. Design Intention: Complex sentences are one of the difficult points in reading. Analyzing key complex sentences helps students remove language barriers, deepen their understanding of the text content, and master the usage of complex sentence structures. By guiding students to analyze independently and share, it can cultivate their ability to analyze and solve problems independently, and improve their language analysis ability. Reading aloud helps students consolidate the sentence structures they have learned and improve their oral expression and sense of language. Post-reading: Consolidation, Application and Expansion Activity 1: Text Retelling The teacher asks students to retell the text according to the text structure and key details they have learned. The requirements are: 1. Use the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in the text. 2. Keep the main idea and key details complete. 3. Express themselves clearly and fluently. Students first prepare for 5 minutes independently, then work in groups of 3 to retell the text to each other. Each student in the group takes turns to retell a part of the text (introduction, body, conclusion). After group retelling, the teacher invites 2-3 groups to present their retelling in front of the class, and makes comments on their performance, affirming their strengths and putting forward suggestions for improvement (such as using more transition words, improving the fluency of expression, etc.). Design Intention: Text retelling is an effective way to consolidate the text content. It can help students review the key information, key vocabulary and sentence patterns of the text, and improve their ability to organize language and express themselves in English. Group retelling can let students help each other, make up for their deficiencies, and improve their cooperative learning ability. The teacher’s comments can help students find their own problems and improve their oral expression ability. Activity 2: Group Discussion and Debate The teacher puts forward a discussion topic: “Do you think learning a new language can really change our way of thinking? Why or why not?结合 your own experience of learning English, share your opinions.” Then, divide the students into two groups: Group A holds the view that “learning a new language can change our way of thinking”, and Group B holds the view that “learning a new language cannot change our way of thinking”. Each group discusses for 10 minutes, collects supporting evidence for their own views (combined with the text content and their own experience), and prepares for the debate. After the discussion, the debate begins. Each group sends 3 representatives to speak: the first representative states the group’s view, the second representative puts forward supporting evidence, and the third representative refutes the opposite group’s view. The teacher acts as the host and judge, and makes a summary after the debate, affirming the rationality of both groups’ views and guiding students to realize that learning a new language can indeed have a certain impact on our thinking, but the degree of impact varies from person to person. Design Intention: Group discussion and debate can stimulate students’ critical thinking, let them think deeply about the topic of the text, and express their own views in English. It can not only consolidate the text content, but also improve students’ oral expression ability, logical thinking ability and cooperative learning ability. Combining the text content with their own experience makes the discussion and debate more realistic and meaningful, and helps students deepen their understanding of the relationship between language and thinking. The teacher’s summary can help students form a more comprehensive and objective understanding of the topic. Activity 3: Vocabulary and Sentence Pattern Application The teacher designs two exercises to help students consolidate and apply the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in the text. Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with the key vocabulary learned (cognitive, stimulate, boost, filter out, sustain). The teacher provides 5 sentences, and students need to choose the appropriate word and change its form if necessary. For example: 1. Learning a new language can ______ our brain’s activity. 2. We need to ______ the unnecessary information to focus on the key points. Exercise 2: Rewrite the sentences using the key sentence patterns (nothing short of, not just... but also...). For example: 1. Learning English is very useful. (Rewrite with “nothing short of”) → Learning English is nothing short of useful. 2. English is a tool for communication. It is also a tool for improving our cognitive ability. (Rewrite with “not just... but also...”) → English is not just a tool for communication, but also a tool for improving our cognitive ability. Students complete the exercises independently, then check the answers with their deskmates. The teacher walks around the classroom to provide guidance, and then explains the key points and common mistakes in the exercises. For example, remind students of the part of speech of the words and the correct form of the verbs, and the usage of the sentence patterns. Design Intention: This activity aims to help students consolidate the key vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in the text, and improve their ability to apply them in practice. Independent completion and pair checking can let students find their own mistakes in time and deepen their memory of the knowledge. The teacher’s guidance and explanation can help students master the usage of vocabulary and sentence patterns more accurately, laying a foundation for their future reading and writing. Activity 4: Extended Reading and Writing The teacher provides a short extended reading material related to the text theme. The material is a short passage about how different languages affect people’s perception of time and space, which is simple and easy to understand. Students read the material independently and answer two questions: 1. What is the main idea of the extended material? 2. How does the material support the view that language affects thinking? After reading and answering the questions, the teacher asks students to write a short passage (about 100 words) with the title “My View on the Relationship Between Language and Mind”. The requirements are: 1. Express their own views clearly. 2. Use at least 3 key vocabulary words and 1 key sentence pattern learned in the text. 3. Combine their own experience of learning English if possible. Students write the passage independently, and the teacher walks around the classroom to provide guidance for students who have difficulties in writing (such as how to organize the content, how to use the vocabulary and sentence patterns correctly). After students finish writing, the teacher collects some representative passages, reads them aloud in class, and makes comments, affirming the strengths and putting forward suggestions for improvement (such as improving the logicality of the passage, using more accurate vocabulary, etc.). Design Intention: Extended reading can expand students’ horizons, let them understand more knowledge about the relationship between language and thinking, and deepen their understanding of the text theme. Writing can help students consolidate the knowledge learned, improve their writing ability, and express their own views in English. The teacher’s guidance and comments can help students improve their writing level and cultivate their ability to use language comprehensively. Summary and Homework Activity 1: Class Summary The teacher invites students to summarize what they have learned in this class. First, ask 2-3 students to share their gains (such as key vocabulary, text structure, the relationship between language and mind, etc.), then the teacher makes a comprehensive summary: “In this class, we have learned the text Digging in, which introduces the impact of language on our brain and thinking. We have mastered the key vocabulary and sentence patterns, understood the text structure and key details, and discussed the relationship between language and thinking. We have also practiced our reading, speaking and writing skills. I hope you can apply what you have learned to your daily English learning and pay more attention to the connection between language and thinking.” Design Intention: Letting students summarize the class content can help them sort out the knowledge they have learned, deepen their memory, and improve their ability to summarize and organize language. The teacher’s comprehensive summary can help students form a systematic understanding of the class content and consolidate the knowledge learned. Activity 2: Homework Arrangement The teacher assigns three types of homework: 1. Basic Homework: Recite the key vocabulary and key sentences of the text, and read the text aloud for 15 minutes every day. 2. Consolidation Homework: Complete the exercises in the textbook related to Reading A, and review the text structure and key details. 3. Extended Homework: Find an English article about the relationship between language and mind, read it, and write a short reading report (about 150 words) to introduce the main idea of the article and your own feelings. The teacher reminds students to complete the homework on time and pay attention to the correct use of vocabulary and sentence patterns in the writing. Design Intention: The basic homework aims to help students consolidate the basic knowledge learned in class, such as vocabulary and sentences. The consolidation homework aims to let students review the text content and deepen their understanding. The extended homework aims to expand students’ reading scope, improve their reading and writing ability, and cultivate their autonomous learning ability. The combination of the three types of homework can meet the needs of different students and help them improve their English ability in an all-round way. 1 / 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $