The First Period Listening & speaking

Teaching goals 教學(xué)目標(biāo)

1. Target language 目標(biāo)語言

a. 重點詞匯和知識

archaeology, accurate, radioactivity, chronological, excavation, identify, alternative, household, date back to

b. 交際用語

Practice giving opinions and describing objects

I think that we should... because...

I suggest we...

If..., then maybe we ought to...

Perhaps we should / could...

We must ask for help from...

What if...?

It seems likely / unlikely that...

It looks like...

It could be... because...

How large do you think it is?

Is there any... on the...?

It may / might have been used as / for...

2. Ability goals 能力目標(biāo)

Enable the students to talk about archaeological evidence and knowledge and learn to describe people and practice giving opinions.

3. Learning ability goals 學(xué)能目標(biāo)

Help the students learn how to give opinions and describe objects.

Teaching important & difficult points 教學(xué)重難點

Learn to describe objects and give opinions.

Teaching methods 教學(xué)方法

Listening and cooperative learning.

Teaching aids 教具準備

A tape reorder, a projector and a computer.

Teaching procedures & ways 教學(xué)過程與方式

Step Ⅰ Lead-in

Lead-in by talking about the ancient civilizations.

T: Good morning, boys and girls! You must have learned history in the past years, haven’t you?

S: Yes.

T: Have you ever heard “Four Great Ancient Civilizations”?

S: Yes, they are Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ancient India.

T: What do you know about them?

S1: In Ancient China, we have “Four Great Inventions”. They are the compass, printing, gunpowder and papermaking, of which we are proud, and which, in the words of Roger Bacon, “changed the whole appearance and status of things in the world.”

S2: China was the first country in the world to make paper. Paper made during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-16 AD) has been found in Gansu Province, Xi’an and Shaanxi Province as well as Xinjiang. A further development of paper was credited to Cai Lun of the Eastern Han (25-220). He used plant fiber such as tree bark, bits of rope, rags and worn-out fishing nets as raw materials. In 105, Cai presented the first batch of paper made under his supervision to the Han emperor, who was so delighted that he named the material “Marquis Cai’s paper”.

S3: Before paper was invented, the ancient Chinese carved characters on pottery, animal bones and stones, cast them on bronzes, or wrote them on bamboo or wooden strips and silk fabric. These materials, however, were either too heavy or too expensive for widespread use. The invention and use of paper brought about a revolution in writing materials, paving the way for the invention of printing technology in the years to come.

S4: The invention of gunpowder was no doubt one of the most significant achievements of the Middle Ages in China. The correct prescription for making gunpowder with nitre, sulphur and carbon was probably discovered in the ninth century.

S5: Bi’s printing consisted of four processes: making the types, composing the text, printing and retrieving the movable types. According to Dream Stream Essays, Bi Sheng carved individual characters on squares of sticky clay, and then baked them to make clay type pieces. When composing a text, he put a large iron frame on a piece of iron board and arranged the words within the frame. While one plate was being printed, another plate could be composed. After printing, the movable types were taken away and stored for future use. Movable type printing had a very important position in the history of printing, for all later printing methods such as wooden type, copper type and lead type printing invariably developed on the basis of movable clay types. Bi Sheng created movable type printing more than four hundred years earlier than it was invented in Europe.

S6: According to ancient records, natural magnets were employed in China as direction-finding devices. This led to the first compass, called a sinan (south-pointing ladle) during the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty compasses consisted of a bronze on which 24 directions were carved and a rod made from a natural magnet. Such devices were in use until the eighth century. In the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo described the floating compass, suspended in water, a technique that minimized the effect of motion on the instrument. This enabled the compass to be used for sea navigation for the first time. The invention of the compass promoted maritime undertakings, and its use soon spread to the Arab world, and thence to Europe.

S7: China’s four great ancient inventions made tremendous contributions to the world’s economy and the culture of mankind. They were also important symbols of China’s role as a great world civilization.

S8: Ancient Egypt is famous for pyramids and mummy.

S9: Olympic games grew out of Ancient Greece. Besides, Ancient Greece is well known for its art, architecture and myth.

S10: Ancient India is known for its culture of Buddha.

T: Excellent! I’m very happy that you’ve known so much about Four Great Ancient Civilizations. Today, we will talk about some other cultural heritage.

Step Ⅱ Warming up

Deal with the Warming Up part.

T: Now turn to page 37 and look at the pictures. What can you see in the pictures?

S: Some cultural relics from Ancient Greece, China and Egypt.

T: Good. Now try to identify these pictures. Discuss what they may have been made of and explain their use. Can you think of the alternatives we would use today?

The students are given 3 minutes to discuss. 3 minutes later, let the students give their opinions.

S1: The first picture is an oil lamp. I think it might have been made of bronze. It was used to get light. But now we get light by using electricity.

S2: It is called “Bianzhong”. I guess it was made of bronze, too. It was used to play music. Today we use other musical instruments, such as violin, piano and guitar.

S3: The third one is Stone Axe, which is certainly made of stone. It might have used to scrape and cut up things. Today we can use steel axe.

S4: The last one is a burial mask of Pharaoh. It was made of gold and used to protect the face of Pharaoh; and the mask enabled the spirit to recognize the body. I think we never use masks when a person dies. But now we use masks to play or give performance.

…

T: Now I can give you some suggested answers. Look at the screen.

Show the following.

Its name	What it was made of	Its use	Today’s alternatives
1. Oil lamp	Bronze	Get light	electricity, wind
2. Bianzhong	Bronze	Play music	Piano, violin and guitar
3. Stone axe	Stone	Scrape and cut up things	Axe made of other materials, for example, steel
4. Pharaoh mask	Gold	Preserve the face or enable the spirit to realize the body	Nothing

Step Ⅲ Speaking

Talk about Sanxingdui Ruins with the students.

T: We have looked at some cultural relics of Ancient Greece, China and Egypt above. Do you want to know more about Chinese cultural relics?

S: Yes.

Then show the pictures on page 44. Tell the students they were found during an excavation in the Sanxingdui Ruins.

T: What do you know about Sanxingdui Ruins?

S1: I know that Sanxingdui Ruins are found in Sichuan Province.

S2: They are famous for gold masks, bronze wares, jade tablets and sacred trees.

S3: And half human and half-animal masks. There is Sanxingdui International Mask Festival at the start of the May Day holiday.

S4: It is believed that Sanxingdui was the capital of the ancient “Shu culture” of the Sichuan area, previously believed to be 3,000 years old. A metropolis of its time, covering about three square kilometers, Sanxingdui had highly developed agriculture, including wine-making ability, ceramic technology and sacrificial tools and mining.

T: Good, Sanxingdui Ruins are very important cultural relics for us Chinese and even the whole world. Some 100 years ago, Sanxingdui in today’s Sichuan Province was nothing more than a typical rural area, and just 20 years ago its significance was not fully known. But in 1929 when a farmer found some jade, he unwittingly opened the door of an unknown culture between 3,000 to 5,000 years old.  But what no one could have expected was that this particular discovery would rewrite Chinese history. The area whose name means “three-star mounds” in English is not a place foreigners who aren’t archeologists would know to visit. And little is left for the common person to see but some ancient objects and many reproductions. Many objects at first seem somewhat commonplace for old cultures until you realize that the people making these objects were those living at the beginning of Chinese civilization. Now suppose you work in a museum, your job is to describe the objects as they are brought to the museum. Look at the pictures and discuss about these objects.

Show the following on the screen. Give the students three minutes to discuss.

1. Guess what they are.

2. Discuss what these objects were possibly used for.

3. Describe these objects. You should include:

a. The name of the site where the four objects were found and their possible dates;

b. A description of each including appearance, shape and a guess about the material it was made of;

c. What we can learn from these objects about the people who lived then.

After a few minutes.

T: OK, so much for discussion. First look at the questions on the screen again. What are the answers?

S1: In my opinion, the first one looks like a tree. It might be made of bronze. Also, it might be used to offer sacrifices to gods or ancestors.

S2: I think the second picture is an animal-face image. It might also be made of bronze. It might stand for authority.

S3: It looks like a bird. I think it could be made of bronze and it might be an ornament.

S4: It may be a pottery pot, which is used to contain boiled water or wine.

T: Well done. Your guesses sound reasonable. Look at the screen. These are what I have found about these things.

Show the following.

1. bronze sacred tree  442×802- 52kb.

2. bronze animal-face image  520×364-55kb.   

3. bird-shaped ornament 1s500×815-50kb t1.

4. pottery pot  579×924-170kb.

Deal with the SPEAKING TASK.

T: Above are objects in ancient China. Now let’s turn to a picture of ancient Egypt. Turn to page 84. Read the instructions and discuss the painting and then fill in the chart in Part 1.  

A sample dialogue:

S1: What can you find in the painting?

S2: I can find some people are sitting on low stools, served by someone.

S1: Yes. In the lower part of the picture, someone is holding a plate with meat of poultry. And on the table there are other kinds of food.

S2: Look. There hang some clothes on the wall. They had to take off clothes when having dinner.

S1: I agree. And we can see that their meals are arranged well. Maybe the soup must be first served, and then comes the meat.

S2: Do you find someone dancing?         

S1: Yes. Maybe they are watching the dancing while eating.

…

Ask the students to read their answers.

	Evidence from the wall painting
Food   Arrangements for the meal   Clothes Hygiene   Entertainment People	Someone is holding a plate with goose meat in it Something like soup are served first, then another one presents the meat ... Clothes are hanging on the wall The room is clean and they took off clothes when eating. Someone is dancing Some are sitting on the tools and served by others who dress differently.

Then go on with Part 2. Ask the students to show their conclusion after discussion.

A description of ancient Egyptian life:

The few furnishings in the ancient Egyptian home were simple in design. The most common piece of furniture was a low stool, used by all Egyptians including the pharaoh. And someone was dancing for them while they are eating. Perhaps there was music too. It is reasonable to assume that the people sitting on the stools in the painting were of higher social positions.

As we can see from the painting, there hung some clothes on the wall. It seems that they should take off clothes when having dinner. We think they were doing well in hygiene.

Our evidence suggests that the ancient Egyptian people were very particular to their food and clothes, and paid great attention to hygiene.

Step Ⅳ Listening

Give the students one minute to scan the questions first.

T: Now, tell me what you have learnt from the tape?

S1: I’ve known the methods that archaeologists use to date bones. They’re layers in the ground and radiocarbon dating.

S2: Besides, each layer looks different as they are uncovered, so we can tell where one layer starts and another finishes.

S3: All living things have carbon in their bodies. When they die, the carbon will relive at a certain rate. Archaeologists can use radioactivity to tell how old the remains are.

T: Good. Now please listen to the recording and fill in the diagram and the chart.

Check the answers with the class. Then ask the students to do Part 3.

Sample answers:

I think the chronological order is B-C-A. I reached the conclusion by looking at the layers on the ground. From the picture, we can see B has no layers, which suggests it is built primitively; C has thin layers of ash, which suggests the building is built a bit later than B. A has the thickest layers, which suggests that the ground has been developing for many years and building A is built later than C. So my chronological order is B-C-A.

Listening task

T: After we learned some archaeological knowledge, let’s look at something about ancient Egypt. Now turn to page 81, you are given three minutes to discuss the first question: what did the ancient Egyptians believe?

Three minutes later, let the students show their discussion.

S1: According to the picture, I think the ancient Egyptians believed that the physical body had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to dwell in the afterlife. Because of this, mummification was performed to preserve the body.

S2: Egyptians believed that the body was the link to a spiritual existence in the afterlife. The body was mummified so the spirit could get needed food and drink in the afterlife. In case the body was destroyed or damaged, magical spells were placed on a statue of the deceased so the spirit could continue to have their needs met.

…

Sample answers:

The Egyptians believed that death was simply a temporary interruption, rather than complete cessation, of life, and that eternal life could be ensured by means of like piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form, and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. The Name and Shadow were also living entities. To enjoy the afterlife, all these elements had to be sustained and protected from harm.

Then play the tape and ask them to finish the rest exercises. Give the students several minutes to finish the listening exercises on page 78. Several minutes later, check the answers with the students.

T: After listening, we know that the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang is a magnificent archaeological site. Then as an individual, what can you do to help preserve important cultural sites like this?

S1: As individuals, we should learn first something about these cultural sites and then how to protect them. With these knowledge, we can do something useful.

S2: As an individual, I think we can do nothing but study hard. And when we travel, we can help preserve these cultural sites. For example, not throwing away rubbish, or not writing or cutting the statues.

…

T: OK, well done. We know that all kinds of cultural relics are important to us. They provide us precious historical information and real objects, which tell us the life of ancient people. Thanks to our ancestors, we can enjoy their great creativity and valuable gifts left to us. As a young generation, you should study hard and make up your mind to do something to help preserve these cultural sites.

Step Ⅴ Homework

Ask the students to find some information about Zhoukoudian Caves.