The First Period

Warming up &Reading

GOALS:

1. To learn some basic knowledge about inventions in the 20th century which have changed our modern life so much..

2. Get the students to grasp the main idea of the passage and help them to understand the passage better.

3. Help the students to learn to be more creative.

4. Learn some useful words and expressions.

TEACHING PROCEDURES

I. Warming up

1. Lead-in

Show pictures of four great inventions of ancient China.

Say: Talking of inventions, we couldn’t help thinking of four great inventions of ancient China. Can you mention them? What are they?

China has a history of 5000 years. In history, four great inventions stand out in the hall of glory, which we are most proud of. They are the compass, paper, printing and gunpower. It shows that China led the world for centuries in science and technology in ancient times.

2. Brainstorming

Show pictures of inventions in the 20th century which have changed our modern life so much.

Say: What inventions can you think of which are invented in the last century?

In

3.Discussion:

Q1: What are the functions of the inventions?

Q2: Are there any disadvantages of these inventions? If so, what are they?

Q3: Do you like all these inventions? Why or why not?

Q4: Have you ever heard of any inventors? Who are they?

4.Warming-up:

Individual work: Is there anything you would like to invent? If so, what and why?

Practice: Match each picture with the correct description below.

5. Discussion:

1) Which of these “inventions” do you think would be useful? Why?

2) Are there any disadvantages in them? If so, what and why?

3) What can we do to improve them?

4) What can we do after inventing new things?

Reading

Step 1 Lead-in

1) What do you think “high tech” means?

2) What do you think “state of the art” means?

Which one in the three pictures “is state of art”?

3) Can you think of any other “state of art”?

4 ) How did people make them? Did people make them by accident?

Step Two:

Fill the blanks with the same word.Key:

Nothing is better than the god.

Nothing is worse than the evil.

If you eat nothing, you will die.

Step Three:Reading I. Skim the passage and fill the red tables.

2. Try to find key words which can help you define each thinking strategy.

Think outside the box Make connectionsTry new ways to solve a problem. Try to combine new and old ideas in as many different ways as possible.

Take another look at it Keep trying Look at a problem in as many ways as possible. Good ideas are the result of a long process of trial and error

III. Carefully readingPara.1

1. What is creativity according to the text ?Creativity is not about getting high test scores, having a high IQ or being smart. Instead,it is one of the most highly valued skills in society, is a matter of habits

2. How can we become more creative?

By thinking about the way we think and practicing good thinking strategiesPara.2

1.Why should we “think outside the box ” ?

Knowledge and learning are important but what we know and what we have learnt may also limit our thinking.

2. How do inventors think outside the box?Inventors often rephrase a problem to allow for creative solutions and also try "impossible" or "crazy" solutions

3. What’s the author’s opinion about partial solutions and failures?

Partial solutions, and even failures, give us more information and clues that help us move towards a better solution.

Think outside the box

1.A plane crashed. Why was nobody in the plane injured?All the people in the plane died.

2. Who often makes a million dollars a day ?People who work in a mint(造幣工廠).

3. Why can a frog jump higher than a tree?

A tree can’t jump.

Para.3 Take another look at it

1.If we look at problems in as many ways as possible, we may

A. find solutions that would otherwise remain invisible

B. have different attempts and false starts

C. improve our understanding

D. make our ideas visible

Para.4 Make connections 1.Why should thinkers combine new and old ideas in many ways?

It is easy to limit the possibilities of a new idea by connecting it to only one area of our previous knowledge. 2. How do creative thinkers usually think of new applications and solutions?

By comparing and connecting ideas and objects in new ways

Blanket heating wires electric blanket

video phonePara.5 Keep Trying

Why did some great inventors force themselves to develop new ideas even when they were tired or did not feel inspired?

They all knew that good ideas are no accident. For each new invention that works , there are at least ten inventions that do not work.

It took Edison 15 years to invent light bulb. Post-reading 1. Finish exercise 1,2 on Page60

2. Give a brief sum-upSum up and fill the blanksThe text describes _the thinking strategies that _creative thinkers use and explains _how these strategies work As paragraph one notes, great thinkers seem to havelittle in common--- they have different backgrounds, IQ, and education_. What they have in common are the thinking habits outlined in the reading:

Think outside the box; Take another look at it Make connections Keep trying

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