2. Wear warm clothes.

　Wear warm clothes because it might be cool in the evening.

Ask students to report their work.

Game

Ask students to do activity 4 by playing a game “Look for your friends”.

T: When we give our friends advice, we should use because or so to say our reasons. Let’s come to activity 4. Please read the sentences first, and then we’ll play a game.

Divide students into two groups and ask each group to write these sentences down on small pieces of paper. One group writes down the first part numbered 1, 2, 3 … and the other the part with a, b, c…. Then begin the game as follows: S1 group draws one piece from Sa group and read the sentence, the other group must respond quickly by matching the two parts of the sentence and read out loudly.

One sample:

S1: You can come any time you like, but…

Sa: But the best time to visit England is in spring.

Step IV Writing

In this procedure, students will try to write some advice and give the reasons using so, but, because.

T: We’ve learned the best time to visit the USA from the passage. What’s the best time to visit your town? Write your advice and don’t forget to give your reasons.

Give students a few minutes to write and ask some students to read what they write before the class.

Sample version:

The best time to visit my town is in summer because the famous cypresses all become green. The mountains and rivers are very clear and cool. And don’t forget to bring your umbrellas because there might be rains any time there. Guess where my town is!

Step V Homework

Ask students to

1. Bring an umbrella.

　Bring an umbrella because it might rain.

2. Key sentences重点句子

The USA is a very big country to visit, so choose carefully the places to see and the time to go.

Bring a good map because you may want to travel around.

It’s a good idea to bring your camera because you may want to take photos of the autumn leaves.

It’s pleasant to visit Alaska in July and August but it might be cool in the evening.

So remember to wear some warm clothes.

Any time you like!

Ability goals 能力目标

Enable students to talk about the weather in the USA.

Teaching important/difficult points 教学重难点

How to talk about the weather in the USA.

Teaching methods教学方法

Reading and writing.

Teaching aids教具准备

A projector or some pictures and some small pieces of paper, a tape recorder

Teaching procedures and ways教学过程与方式

Step I Revision

In this procedure, students will revise some new words and do pair work to practice the sentence: What will the weather be like tomorrow?

Show some pictures to the class and ask some students to write the following words on the blackboard.

sunny, cloudy, snow, freezing, temperature, cool, dry, shower, wet, snowy

Then ask them to work in pairs, and talk about the weather today and tomorrow.

Sample dialogue:

S1: What’s the weather like today?

S2: It’s cloudy.

S1: What will the weather be like tomorrow?

S2: It may be rainy./It will probably be rainy.

Ask some pairs to act in front of the class.

After this, present the Reading by practice When’s the best time to… in pairs.

T: It’s sunny/cloudy/rainy…today. But when is the best time to visit our town/city? Why? (Write the question on the blackboard) Let’s have a discussion in pairs.

Sample dialogue:

S1: When is the best time to visit our town/city?

S2: I think September is the best time.

S1: Why?

S2: Because it’s not too hot or cold at that time.

Ask some pairs to act in front of the class.

Step II Reading

In this procedure, ask students to listen and read the passage. Make sure they can describe the photos according to the passage.

T: Like China, there are many beautiful places in the USA. The weather is different in these places. Now listen to a passage introducing the weather in the USA. Books closed! Listen to the tape and decide what you can see in the photos.

Ask the students to listen to the tape. After listening, ask the students to have a discussion about the photos in groups.

Ask some students to have a report.

Sample reports:

S: It might be autumn in Picture 1 because the trees start to change colour. A white house stands behind the trees. It may be pleasant to live in the house.

S: It might be hot summer in Picture 2 because there are many people swimming in the sea. And I can see a balloon.

S: It is winter now in Picture 3. There are a lot of snow in the street.

Then ask students to read the passage and check their answers.

T: You should choose time to visit some good places in the USA. Read the passage carefully and fill in the table below.

Ask students to work in pairs to complete the table and report their answers. Then go through the answers with the students.

Sample answers:

Step III Careful reading

In this procedure, students will read the passage more carefully and slowly. Then they will do activities 2 and 3.

Check the answers with the class.

T: If you want to give your friends advice, you’d better give your reasons at the same time. Now read the passage again and find out the sentences of this type.

Sample sentences:

1. Words & phrases生词和短语

camera, umbrella, pleasant, from time to time, fall, swimsuit, northwest, southeast, compared　

2. Ask the students to finish activities 1-3 on page 152.

Period 2 Reading and writing

Target language 目标语言

1. Ask the students to learn and remember the new words and expressions of this unit.

2. Key sentences重点句子

It’s freezing, isn’t it?

It may not even be cold, just wet. And it might be windy.

What will the weather be like?

It may be quite cool, so it’ll probably be hot and sunny.

Come on, better get going!

Ability goals 能力目标

Enable students to listen to and talk about weather.

Teaching important/difficult points 教学重难点

The usage of may, might and probably.

Teaching methods教学方法

Task-based learning.

Teaching aids教具准备

A projector, some pictures and a tape recorder

Teaching procedures and ways教学过程与方式

Step I Lead-in

Show some pictures to help students learn some new words about weather.

The Sun 　　　Clouds　　　　 　Rain　　 Severe Weather

T: Weather has an important effect on our lives. If we are planning a trip or just getting dressed in the morning, we always have to know what the weather will be like. Weather changes with different seasons and times. Look at the picture above. What’s the weather like?

S: It’s sunny.

S: It’s cloudy.

S: It’s raining.

S: It’s flashing.

Show the words about the weather.

cloud, rain, showers, snow, storm, sun, wind

Ask students to read the new words. Make sure they know the meaning of each word. Then ask them to do activity 1.

Help students match the words with the symbols.

Step II Listening

In this procedure, ask students to listen to the tape and check the correct information in the table. If the information is wrong, correct it.

T: If we want to know weather information, we may listen to weather forecast. Please listen to a forecast and check the correct information in the table.

Play the tape. Then check the answers with students.

Ask students to listen to the dialogue in activity 4.

T: Spring Festival is coming. Do you want to see friends at Spring Festival? Of course we do. So it is very important to listen to the weather forecast during the Spring Festival. Tony is going to England during the Spring festival. What will be the weather like? Now listen and find out.

Ask students to listen to the tape and then fill in the blanks in activity 5.

Check the answers.

Step III Reading

In this procedure, ask students to read the dialogue and do activity 6 as a competition to see if the sentences are true or false.

T: Read the dialogue again and do activity 6. Check if they are true or false. Let’s have a competition between boys and girls. If you stand up and correct the question correctly first, you will get a star. Those who get more stars will be the winner.

Sample:

S1: It’s always cold and wet in February in England.

S2: True.

S1: It’s often freezing in February in England.

S2: False. It may not be cold, just wet. And it might be windy in England.

…

Step IV Pronunciation and speaking

In this procedure, ask students to listen to the tape and help students find out the different connotation of different of intonation.

After listening, ask students to read these sentences loudly and then decide if the speaker is asking a question or showing surprise.

Check the answers.

Speaking

Ask students to work in pairs and give a forecast for China according to activity 2.

T: In this lesson, we have learnt many different types of weather. We can use some words to describe the weather. Let’s report a weather forecast for China according to activity 2. Now work in pairs and make a weather forecast. We can use may, might, probably to describe something we are not very certain of.

Ask some pairs to show their report before the class.

One sample version:

Tomorrow may be sunny. It may be rainy next week. It might be very cold next month.

Step V Homework

Period 1 Listening and speaking

Target language 目标语言

1. Words & phrases生词和短语

cloud, shower, degree, temperature, joke, wet, might, windy, probably, sunny, cool, dry, cloudy, centigrade, freezing, snowy

Period 1 Listening and speaking　　 (Unit 1)

Period 2 Reading and writing 　　　 (Unit 2)

Period 3 Language in use　 　　　　 　(Unit 3)