Unit 6 Fantastic friends - Starting out教学设计2026-2027学年外研版七年级英语上册

6.1 Fantastic friends - Starting out 【Teaching Objectives (aligned with core competencies)】 1. Language competence: Students can name amazing animals, talk about what animals can do, and use "Which animal...?" and "It can..." to describe amazing animals. 2. Cultural awareness: Students learn about amazing animals in The Classic of Mountains and Seas and feel wonder for the animals that share the earth with us. 3. Thinking quality: Students guess animal facts from a quiz, compare amazing animals, and predict the unit task of making a picture book about an animal. 4. Learning capacity: Students learn to activate prior knowledge about animals, work in groups to share amazing facts, and express opinions with reasons. 【Key and Difficult Points】 Key Points: ① Use animal words and the patterns "Which animal has...?" "It can..." to talk about amazing animals. ② Know fun animal facts: the giraffe has the longest neck, the eagle sees the farthest, the mouse remembers well, a bee has five eyes. ③ Use the present continuous lightly to say what animals are doing in pictures. Difficult Points: ① Describing what animals can do with "can" and body-part words (neck, eyes, wings). ② Giving reasons when saying why an animal is amazing. ③ Talking confidently about favourite animals without depending on Chinese. Trial Lecture Verbatim Script： Welcome Remarks Hello, class! Look at the cover picture of our new unit. We see a photographer in a snowy forest, and look — a cute little golden monkey is sitting right on his camera, as if it is helping him take the photo! We share the earth with all kinds of amazing animals. This whole unit is called "Fantastic friends". Today we will start with a fun animal quiz and a famous old Chinese book about amazing animals. By the end of this unit, you will even make your very own picture book about an animal. I can already feel how curious you are. Are you ready to meet our fantastic friends? Great energy! Let us go! Ⅰ. Lead-in First, look at this colourful book cover. It is called "Amazing animals in The Classic of Mountains and Seas". Do you know The Classic of Mountains and Seas? It is a very old Chinese book full of strange, magical animals, like birds with three heads and fish that can fly. My question: what amazing animals do you know from it or from your own life? Yes, the girl in the front, please!" Students: "I know the peacock! It has beautiful long feathers and it can dance." Teacher: "What a beautiful animal! The peacock's feathers are amazing, like a big colourful fan. Who else wants to share an animal you love?" Students: "I know the panda! It is black and white, so cute, and it loves bamboo." Teacher: "Wonderful! Pandas are China's lovely ambassadors to the world. And look at our unit cover again: the little monkey sitting on the camera, watching the photographer. What is the monkey doing right now? Yes, please!" Students: "It is sitting on the camera and looking at the man." Teacher: "Exactly! It is sitting, it is watching — we use -ing words to say what is happening right now. We will learn that super soon. Today we will meet even more amazing animals. Let us start our quiz!" Students: "I love animals!" Teacher: "Me too! And by the end of this unit, you will love them even more, and learn how to protect them." Ⅱ. Animal quiz Now it is time for our Animal Quiz! I will read a question, and you choose the answer A, B or C. Ready? Question one: which animal has the longest neck? A monkey, B horse, C giraffe. Shout it out as loud as you can! Students: "C, the giraffe!" Teacher: "Correct! The giraffe's neck can be almost two metres long — that is taller than your dad! Question two: which animal can see things from the farthest away? A eagle, B rabbit, C dog." Students: "A, the eagle!" Teacher: "Yes! Eagles have super eyes, they can spot a tiny rabbit from high in the sky. Question three: which animal can remember lots of information? A cow, B mouse, C cat." Students: "B, the mouse!" Teacher: "Great! Mice have amazing memories, which is why they always find their way home. Question four: how many eyes does a bee have? Two, five, or twelve?" Students: "Five!" Teacher: "Amazing, you got it! A bee has five eyes, two big ones and three small ones. And the last fun fact: a tiny hummingbird can eat more than five times its own weight in a single day! These animals are truly fantastic, and we still have so much to learn about them." Teacher: "Wow, the hummingbird eats five times its own weight in one day!" Teacher: "Yes, it has a very fast heart and it is always hungry. The animal world is full of surprises, and now let us share our own favourite amazing animals in our groups." Ⅲ. Group discussion Now, work in groups of four. Here is your task: discuss "Which animal do you think is the most fantastic, and why?" Use the frame: "I think the... is fantastic because it can..." Try to give two reasons. You have three minutes. Listen to each other and take turns. Go!" (The teacher walks around and listens to each group.) Teacher: "Time is up! Group One, please share your ideas with the whole class!" Group One: "We think the eagle is fantastic because it can see very far and fly high in the sky." Teacher: "What a great choice! The eagle sees the world from above, like a king of the sky. Group Two, your turn!" Group Two: "We think the dolphin is fantastic because it can swim very fast and it can even help lost people at sea." Teacher: "Excellent! Dolphins are our clever animal helpers. Group Three, tell us what you think!" Group Three: "We think the dog is fantastic because it can help blind people cross the road, and it is our best friend at home." Teacher: "Bravo! Dogs really are fantastic friends, loyal and kind. Group Four, you are the last!" Group Four: "We think the elephant is fantastic because it has a long nose and it never forgets its friends." Teacher: "What a lovely group of answers! Every group gave such good reasons. I am so impressed with your English and your love for animals today." Ⅳ. Thinking and sharing Let us think ahead to our big unit task. At the end of this unit, we are going to make a picture book about an animal. What animal would you choose for your picture book, and what special skill does it have? Close your eyes for a moment and imagine your book cover. Think about it. Yes, please, your hand has been up for a while!" Students: "I would choose the polar bear. It can live in the cold ice and swim very far in the cold sea." Teacher: "What an amazing choice! Polar bears are tough, strong and beautiful. Who else has a different idea?" Students: "I would choose the elephant. It has a long nose, big ears, and it never forgets." Teacher: "Lovely! Elephants are so smart and kind to each other. And what about you, the boy in the back?" Students: "I would choose the bat. It can fly in the dark and find its way without seeing." Teacher: "Wow, the bat! That is such a clever and surprising choice. Keep all these wonderful ideas, because soon we will learn how amazing our animal friends are, and how important it is to protect them." Closing Remarks Today we started Unit 6 "Fantastic friends"! We met amazing animals from The Classic of Mountains and Seas and finished a fun quiz about giraffes, eagles, mice and bees. We all agreed that animals are fantastic friends, and we started thinking about our own picture books. What a lively way to begin a new unit, and I loved hearing so many creative ideas from you all. I can already tell this unit is going to be wonderful. Homework: first, write three sentences about your favourite animal and what it can do, for example "The dolphin can swim very fast." Second, draw a small picture of it. Third, find one amazing animal fact online or in a book to share next class. You were so lively today, everyone! I really cannot wait to learn more about amazing animals together. See you next lesson. 【Blackboard Design】 Unit 6 Fantastic friends — Starting out Quiz: longest neck = giraffe; farthest sight = eagle; good memory = mouse; bee has 5 eyes Key patterns: Which animal...? It can... / I think... is fantastic because it can... Unit task: make a picture book about an animal. Present continuous: Look! The monkey is sitting on the camera. 【Defense Questions】 Q1: What is the aim of the Starting out lesson? Answer: The aim is to activate students' knowledge of animals and build interest in the unit theme of our relationship with animals, through a quiz and discussion that leads to the final picture-book task. Q2: Why use an animal quiz? Answer: A quiz is lively and competitive, which wakes the class up. The fun facts also give weaker students easy, concrete content to talk about, lowering speaking pressure. Q3: How do you connect the lesson to Chinese culture? Answer: I introduce The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a famous Chinese book of fantastic animals, so students feel proud of their own culture while learning English. Q4: How do you lead into the present continuous grammar? Answer: I lightly use present continuous when describing the cover picture, "the monkey is sitting on the camera", so the grammar feels natural before we study it formally. Q5: How do you keep weaker students involved? Answer: I provide sentence frames like "It can..." and praise short correct answers. In groups, every student shares one animal, and I ask follow-up questions that are easy to answer. 【Post-class reflection】 ① The quiz excited the whole class, and most students could name at least three amazing animals by the end. ② The group discussion was lively; a few students struggled to give reasons, so I will model one example more clearly next time. ③ The picture-book task already gave students ideas; I will keep an "animal ideas" corner for them to collect facts. 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $