The First Period Reading

Teaching goals  教學目標

1. Target language  目標語言

a. 重點詞匯和短語

realistic, abstract, religion, religious, sculpture, gallery, belief, consequent, consequently, aim, symbol, value, focus, possession, convince, impressionism, impressionist, shadow, ridiculous, nowadays, attempt, predict, the Renaissance, focus on, a great deal, scores of

b. 重點句式

There are so many ... that it would be impossible to ... P1

People became focused more on ... and less on ... P2

If the rules of perspective had not been discovered, people would not have been able to paint ... P2

2. Ability goals 能力目標

Enable the students to talk about the short history of Western painting.

3. Learning ability goals 學能目標

Help the students learn how to talk about the short history of Western painting.

Teaching important & difficult points 教學重難點

Enable the students to talk about their opinions about different styles of Western art.

Teaching methods 教學方法

Skimming and scanning; individual, pair or group work; discussion.

Teaching aids 教具準備

A recorder, a computer, a projector and some famous paintings.

Teaching procedures & ways  教學過程與方式

Step ⅠLead-in

T: Good morning, class. Another week begins. Have you found any changes in our school?

S: The walls were painted white.

S: Some figure sculptures stand along the two sides of the school yard near the school gate.

S: There are many world famous paintings hanging on the walls of the corridors of the school building.

T: Wonderful! You are very good at observing. These things like sculptures and paintings can make our school more beautiful. What do we usually call them in general?

S: Generally, we call the things which can bring us beauty the works of art.

T: Exactly.

Step ⅡWarming Up

At first, ask the students to match some new words with the correct English meanings. Then ask them to look at the paintings in this unit and discuss the questions in Warming Up in groups of 4. Next, get them to answer the other questions in pairs. At last, check the answers with the whole class.

T: First, please match some new words in Column A with the correct English meanings in Column B.

Show them on the screen.

      A                   B

a. realistic 1. accurate, minute

b. abstract         2. state or fact of existing

c. existence    3. being in thought but having a physical or practical existence

d. detailed         4. lifelike, true to life

e. religious         5. classical, of old beliefs

f. traditional     6. sincere to believe in a god or gods

Key: a-4, b-3, c-2, d-1, e-6, f-5

T: I’d like you to look at the paintings in this unit, and then work in groups of 4 to discuss the questions in Warming Up. I will give you six minutes.

Six minutes later.

T: Which would you choose to put up on the walls of our classroom? And why? Volunteers?

S: Let me have a try. I like the painting on page 3. Because it gives us a special feeling.

S: I prefer to choose the painting on the top of page 2. The painter painted it in a more realistic style to show respect and love for God.

S: I’d rather choose the painting on the bottom of page 2. It gives us an abstract impression and appears very lively and vivid.

T: Excellent job! Then would you rather have Chinese or Western paintings in your home? Give your reasons.

S: I’d rather have Chinese paintings in my home, because traditional Chinese painting is a combination of the arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal engraving.

S: I agree with her. I also like Chinese paintings because they have an air of living in nature, harmony and peace, which is not always found in the art of other civilizations.

T: Quite right. The Chinese strive to maintain a delicate, harmonious balance between tradition and innovation. Any other ideas?

S: I prefer to have Western paintings. I like the abstract paintings of the modern art using color, line and shape to show the objects. I think they can make people create limitless imagination.

S: I’d rather like the western styles. And I prefer to choose the paintings of realistic style.

T: Well done! If you were an artist, what kind of pictures would you paint?

S: If I were an artist, I’d like to paint the romantic pictures which deal with the destinies and passions of mankind. Romanticism’s aim was to unify the mind within the finite world with the infinite.

S: I’d rather choose to paint the Chinese paintings. I like the bird-and-flower paintings. It has been a popular theme among modern artists.

S: I enjoy painting landscape very much. You know, Yin and Yang are opposite forces, which are expressed almost completely in this type of art. Shan shui or

mountain-water is in itself symbol of yin-yang. Mountains are believed to be associated with yang while water is associated with yin.

T: OK! You have done a good job. The last question?

S: I’d rather paint pictures. I think it’s very interesting. I can express my own feelings by painting an object or landscape.

S: In my spare time, I enjoy painting pictures with a pen, a pencil or crayon. I like many styles of drawings, such as sketch, diagrams and graphs.

S: I prefer to make sculptures. I made some simple sculptures by hand before. I think it is very interesting.

S: I enjoy designing buildings. The famous architect Gaudi designed his buildings like dreams, full of fantastic colors and shapes. The Opera House in Sydney makes people think of seashells. The 2008 Olympic Stadium in Beijing looks like a bird’s nest made of tree branches. Although the stadium will be made of concrete and steel, the flowing lines and round shapes make the building look warm and friendly. I dream some day I can design a building that would draw the attention of people all over the world.

Step Ⅲ Pre-reading

Get the students to discuss the questions in Pre-reading in pairs. Then check the answers with the whole class.

T: Do you ever visit art galleries? What kind of paintings have your ever seen?

S: Yes, I have ever visited an art gallery with my parents. There were many famous paintings in it. What impressed me most was the horses drawn by Xu Beihong.

S: Till now I haven’t a chance to visit an art gallery. But I saw many paintings by Picasso on the Internet. Though I cannot understand them completely, I think they are fairly beautiful and can make me have a special feeling.

T: Quite good! From what you said, I can see that you know about many artists at home and abroad. Can you speak out the names of some famous Western artists and tell me in which century they lived?

S: Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist. His thickly painted canvases with their kinetic, swirling brushstrokes have come to symbolize Expressionism. He was a famous artist in 19th century.

S: Henri Matisse was a French painter considered to be one of the great formative figures in 20th-century art.

...

T: I’m proud of you for your great jobs. Do you want to know more about the Western painting? Now let’s begin to learn a passage introducing the short history of Western painting.

Step Ⅳ Reading

Task 1 Scanning

T: Please read the passage as quickly as you can to find out the answers to the questions on the screen.

Show some questions on the screen.

1. What were the artists interested in from 5th to 15th century AD?

2. How did Masaccio paint his paintings?

3. Why did the impressionists have to paint quickly?

After the students finish reading the passage, check the answers.

T: Now who would like to answer Question 1?

S: They were interested in creating respect and love for God.

S: They painted many religious scenes.

T: Good! Who’d like to answer Question 2?

S: He drew things in perspective, which makes pictures very realistic.

T: Who can tell us the reasons why the impressionists had to paint quickly?

S: Because natural light changes quickly, they had to paint quickly.

T: Well done.

Task 2 Skimming

Let the students read the passage again and get the main idea of it. Then complete the following chart on their own. And check the answers with the whole class.

T: Now please read the text again to get the main idea of it. And fill in the following chart.

Show the chart with blanks on the screen. A few minutes later, check the answers.

Sample answers:

Task 3 Explanation

T: Now I’ll deal with some language points about the text. Please turn to the reading passage. Let’s explain some sentences.

1. There are so many ... that it would be impossible to...

This sentence means that there are too many different styles of Western art to introduce in a short passage.

2. People became focused more on humans and less on religion.

It tells us that people began to pay more attention to humans than religion.

3. If the rules of perspective had not been discovered, people would not have been able to paint...

This sentence means that people discovered the rules of perspective, so that they painted such realistic pictures.

4. During the Renaissance oil paints were also developed, which made colors look ...

That is to say, during the Renaissance oil paintings were so advanced that colors looked richer and deeper.

5. At the time they were created, the impressionists’ paintings were controversial but today they are accepted as the beginning of what we now call “modern art”.

When the impressionists started to paint in their own way, some people did not accept their paintings. However, nowadays people consider them as the beginning of the Modern Art.

Step Ⅴ Comprehending

Let the students read the passage again and deal with the Exercises 1 ＆ 2 in Comprehending.

T: Now please read the passage again and then do the Exercises 1 ＆ 2 in Comprehending. I will give you five minutes. Then I will ask some of you to answer them.

Five minutes later, check the answers.

T: Quite right! Now that we have learned the passage, I have a question: What is the writing style of the passage?

S: The passage is a historical narrative article. It briefly introduces the main features of different Western painting styles during the main periods of times. It also analyzes why and how the styles changed. The short history of Western painting styles is described clearly and vividly, which gives the readers deep impression.

T: Good. How about its writing characteristic?

S: The writing characteristic of it is: Arranged well in the order of time; Catch the features of people and things and use adjectives very exactly; Lay the stress on the main subjects and purpose, writing details and briefs properly; Insert the typical paintings to make the passage more vivid and lively.

Step Ⅵ   Homework

1. Underline the time expressions in the reading passage.

2. Retell the passage with the help of the chart about the text.

3. Discuss the question in Exercise 3 on page 3.