Unit 4 Earthquakes
Warming Up, Pre-reading and Reading
Teaching goals:
Knowledge aims:
Ss will be able to master the following useful new words and expressions.
well,smelly,pond,burst,canal,steam,dirt,injure,brick,dam,useless,steel,shock,rescue,quake,electricity,army,shelter,
fresh, organize, bury, at an end, dig out, coal mine, in ruins
2. Ss will be able to know the basic knowledge about Earthquake
Ability aims:
Develop Ss’ reading ability.
Emotional aims:
Ss will be able to know damages earthquake bring about and the ways to reduce losses of an earthquake.
Ss will be able to know how to protect oneself and help others in earthquakes
Ss will be able to be aware of terrible disasters, meanwhile get them to face it, treat it in a proper way, and never get discouraged.
Teaching important points:
1. Master the usages of the useful words and expressions above.
2. Improve the students’ reading ability.
Teaching difficult points:
1. The usages of some words and expressions.
2. How to train the students’ reading ability in learning the text.
Teaching methods:
1. Explanation to get the students to have a clear idea.
2. Discussion to get the students to understand the text easier.
Teaching Aids:
A computer and a tape recorder
Teaching procedures:
I. Warming up
Warming up by looking
Good morning class. Have you ever experienced any natural disasters? Look at the pictures, can you name all the disasters?
volcano fire sandstorm
typhoon hailstone thunderstorm
flood hurricane earthquake
Have you ever experienced an earthquake? Can you describe how terrible an earthquake is?
(The earth is shaking; all the buildings will fall down; many people will die; many children will become orphans.)
Warming up by discussing
Now, look at the pictures of Tangshan and San Francisco in warming up and describe what you see in the pictures. (beautiful cities; broad roads; tall building; large population.)
What will happen if there has been a big earthquake in these two cities?
As we all know, earthquakes are disasters to everyone. But can we avoid or at least reduce the loss caused by earthquakes? Can we foretell earthquakes? Now let’s come to Pre-reading and decide what may happen before an earthquake comes.
Step 1. Lead-in
1. enjoy a part of film of earthquake.
(1)what other disasters does it have?(flood/ drought/earthquake/fire/typhoon/disease and so on)show some pictures
(2).which disaster may cause the worst damage? ( earthquake)
2.Have ever heard a story of an earthquake?(show video of Tangshan and San Francisco earthquake)
3.Have you experienced an earthquake? If you have, tell me your experience. If no, just imagine what will happen before an earthquake?
4.The earthquake is coming, if you’re trapped in the earthquake , how will you feel? What will you do? Will you leave right away? If you have time to take only one thing , what will you take, why?
5.What kind of damage can an earthquake cause?
( buildings are destroyed; people are killed; families are broken…)
Step2. Fast reading
Today, we’ll learn a text “A Night the Earth didn’t sleep” First, let’s look at the title again, why the earth didn’t sleep for a night? What happened? What does the passage mainly talk about?
Exchange your understanding of the passage with group members and work together to find the main idea of each part.
Main idea of each part:
Part 1 (para.1):
Strange things were happening before the earthquake.
Part 2 (para.2-3):
The disaster happened and caused a lot of loss.
Part 3 (para.4): All hope was not lost.
Step 3 careful reading
Read carefully and try to get more information to fill in the blanks.
Part 1:
Strange things
the water in the village wells rose and fell
the well walls had deep cracks and a smelly
gas came out
the chickens and pigs were too nervous to eat
mice ran out of the fields, looking for places to hide
fish jumped out of the bowls and ponds
Individual work.
Part 2:
a). Get the students to find some details of this part.
Details:
1. At 3:42 am, the greatest earthquake of the 20th century began.
2. Steam burst from holes in the ground.
3. Hard hills of the rock became rivers of dirt.
4. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves.
5. Two dams and most of the bridges fell.
6. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel.
7. Sand now filled the wells instead of water.
8. Water, food, and electricity were hard to get.
b). Fill in the blanks with the data
1/3 of the nation felt the earthquake .
A huge crack that was 8 kilometres long and
30 metres wide cut across houses.
In 15 terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins.
2/3 of the people died or were injured during the earthquake.
The number of people who were killed or injured reached more than 400,000 .
All of the city’s hospitals, 75% of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone.
Group work
Part 3:
How were the people helped by the army?
*The army organized teams to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead.
*Miners were rescued from the coal mines.
*Shelters were built for survivors whose homes had been destroyed.
*Fresh water was taken to the city.
Let the groups have a discussion with their partners about more ways to help the people in the earthquake.
Step 4. Post-reading
True or False
1. There were one million people in Tangshan at that time. T
2. The earthquake began 10 kilometres directly below the city. F
3. Not only the people but also the animals were shocked greatly. T
4. There was only one quake at that time. F
5. Before the earthquake there wasn’t anything strange happening. F
6. Workers rescued most of the 10,000 coal miners to the south of the city. F
7.Almost everything in Tangshan was destroyed. T
Step 5 Discussions.
What shall we do or not do if an earthquake happens?
Dos Don’ts
1. Stay in a small room, such 1. Be close to the outside wall
as kitchen or bathroom
2. Hide under the table or 2. Stay on the balcony
bed, if you haven’t time
to escape , you may stand 3. Jump out of the tall buildings
close to the inside wall with
some things covering on the 4. Use the lift
head.
3. If you stay in the open air ,keep off the tall building,
and go to the fields without trees .
Step 6 Summary
Several days before July 28, 1976, many strange things happened in Tangshan. They were signs for the earthquake. At 3:42 am that day, the earth began to shake, which destroyed the city. Later that afternoon, another big earthquake struck Tangshan. More people were killed or injured and more buildings fell down. Soldiers were called in to help the rescue workers. Teams were organized to dig out the trapped and bury the dead
Step 7 homework
1.Surf the internet to find more information about earthquakes.
2.Finish the “learning about language” part on page 27.
Step 8 reflection