5.　　　 Read the poem ‘Cats’. As you read the poem, try to use gestures and mines to illustrate the different impressions presented in the poem. Learn about the words ‘window-ledge’, ‘edge’, ‘drawer’, ‘lap’, ‘cardboard box’ and ‘frocks’.

4.　　　 For weaker classes, read the poem ‘My Goldfish’ and ask students to follow in their books. Explain the meaning of ‘miaow’ and ‘bubbles’. For stronger classes, ask two students to each read a stanza.

3.　　　 Ask students to find the adjectives in the poem which tell us about its characteristics, e.g., ‘cleverest’. Work through the meaning of ‘wonderful tricks’. Then ask them to identify the verbs which describe the dog’s actions (‘chase’, ‘catch’, ‘hunts’, ‘builds’, ‘bark’, ‘bite’ and ‘fight’).

Ask students some general questions to elicit details about the dog’s actions to generate some of the key verbs, e.g., what does the dog do?

2.　　　 For weaker classes, read ‘My Dog’ one like at a time and have students repeat after you. For stronger classes, choose five students to read two lines each.

1.　　　 Ask students to study the poems and pictures on page 90. Write the title ‘My Dog’ on the board and also the verb that are used in the poem: ‘chase’, ’catch’, ’hunts’, ’hide’, ’builds’, ‘bark’, ‘bite’, ‘fight’ and ‘look after’. Talk about their meanings.

5.　　　 Do some exercises.

(详见课件)

Reading

Objectives

l　　　 To learn about rhyme schemes, stress and intonation of poetry

l　　　 To learn new vocabulary to talk about pets

l　　　 To read about animal behaviour

Background information

This section introduces students to poetry. The three short poems are different not only in the choice of pets, but also in the way they focus on different aspects of animals. The style of each poem is different. ‘My Dog’ focuses on behaviour adjectives. ‘My Goldfish’ expresses the poet’s feelings about the goldfish’s lifestyle. ‘Cats’ describes the different places where cats sleep.

Part A

Teaching procedures

4.　　　 Ask students to prepare a sentence about their favorite pet. Tell them to pretend that they have a pet if they do not own one.

3.　　　 For stronger classes, do Part B as a quiz. Students close their books. You read the sentences a-f and students have to guess the answer. The student who answers first gets a point. Weaker classes follow the instructions as set out. You could do a quiz later on for revision.

2.　　　 Divide the class into pairs. Ask students to compare their answers and discuss any disagreements.

1.　　　 Encourage stronger classes to do the task in Part A without further pre-teaching of keywords. For weaker classes, you may need to review the names of the animals and check whether they know how to pronounce them. Then ask students to de the task as set out.