北师大二附中 董海丽
“写作教学应贴近学生实际，让学生易于动笔，乐于表达，应引导学生关注实际，热爱生活，表达真情实感。”（《新课程标准》语）它道出了写作与现实生活的联系：有生活实际，学生才乐写；有了情感体验，才能表达真情实感；有了真情实感，才能言之有物，避免空洞。学校第九界艺术节刚刚结束，学生们还处于极其兴奋状态之中。依照创造性构造理论的心理学分析，情景是书面表达的外在诱发源，而表达者已有的知识体验则为表达提供背景。艺术节活动为学生提供了一个鲜活的写作情景，他们通过参加艺术节获得了知识体验, 产生了写作的欲望. 本教学案例以此为基础，旨在通过一定的语篇结构，语言形式介绍及训练，充分调动学生的写作激情，从而根据不同的写作目的, 掌握两种描述事件的写作方法。
任务目标：学会组织一篇文章，根据不同的写作目的，掌握两种描述事件的写作方法。
学生年级：高二
任务形式：全班讨论、小组讨论、独立写作
任务时间：45分钟 （1课时）
所需材料：ppt课件 (目的：展示图片、活动照片，激发写作激情)
教学实施过程:
Warming－up (5 min’)
The teacher elicits the topic by asking the class these questions:
What is the date today?
What special day is coming?
How often does it come every year?
What do we call the special days if they come once a year? (annual events)
What are the most important annual events in China?
What other events do we also celebrate?
(The teacher may ask students to name these events while he writes them on the blackboard)
Annual Events Other Events
Spring Festival Art Festival Wedding
Christmas Day Science Festival Birthday Party
National Day Sports Meeting Reunion Party
Valentine’s Day Military Training Family get-together
Mother’s Day Graduation Day
Reading model paragraphs
(I) Learning different ways of writing events for different purposes. (15 min’)
Step 1: Students read the two passages and contrast their differences: （8 min’）
Which describes an annual event and which describes a past event attended by the author?
Which tenses are used in passage A and passage B?
Which has a personal style and which has an impersonal style?
How does each passage end?
A. Graduation Ceremony
Graduation day at Swansea University takes place in July. The Town Hall is used for the ceremony. The occasion is kept formal and traditional in order to properly honour the achievements of the students.
Days before the ceremony, students are given their caps and gowns. A stage is set up and chairs are arranged for those attending. The hall is decorated with beautiful bouquets of flowers, and speeches are prepared by the invited guests of honour.
On the day itself, students and their families attend a cheese and wine party held by the faculty before the actual ceremony. A few hours later, usually around 2:30 in the afternoon, the ceremony begins. Speeches are made, then the students queue up in the order in which they are going to be called. Their names are read out one by one, and students go up onto the stage to receive their degrees from the Dean, who shakes each graduate’s hand. All the graduates look sophisticated in their black caps and gowns as proud parents take photos of them. Afterwards, everyone attends a less formal dinner party where professors have the chance to congratulate the graduates.
Graduation day is a special occasion in a student’s life. It is a time to feel pleased about reaching a very important goal.
B. My Graduation Day
On a sunny July afternoon in 1995 I graduated from Swansea University. It was a day I had been looking forward to for a long time, and the graduation ceremony gave me an absolute sense of fulfillment, as I had dreamt it would.
About a week before the ceremony, caps and gowns were handed out to all the students. The hall was prepared as workers set up a stage and chairs. Flowers were put all around the hall as well.
On graduation day, I arrived at the Town Hall to find the Dean and the lecturers already there along with hundreds of students. Soon the ceremony began and speeches were made. Then we stood up and were called one by one to receive our degrees. The Dean shook our hands and congratulated us as everyone applauded. An informal dinner party followed the ceremony.
A feeling of pride and satisfaction stayed with me throughout the day. I will always remember my graduation because it signified the end of a long period of hard work and the beginning of a new era in my life.
Step 2: The teacher summarizes the differences: (2 min’)
Annual event Past event
Present tense Past tense
Impersonal Personal
Comments Feelings
Step 3: Students match the beginnings & endings and contrast the differences: (5 min’)
Beginnings
A. My 15th birthday party last year was a really memorable occasion. My family had just bought a house by the sea and as it was summer, my parents let me have a barbecue on the beach.
B. America’s most important national holiday, Independence Day, takes place on the 4th of July. Americans celebrate the day in 1776 when the American colonies declared themselves free from British rule.
C. The sight of my friends and family standing in the living room on my arrival made tears come to my eyes. I had felt so lonely all those months away from home and their surprising welcome reminded me of how much I’d missed everyone.
D. Thanksgiving is celebrated every year in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November. On this day, many people sit down to a traditional turkey dinner and give thanks to God for the harvest.
Endings
1. People across the U.S. enjoy this patriotic day and take great pride remembering the history of their young country.
2 It certainly was the best party I have ever had, not only because it was the first time I had ever cut my birthday cake on a beach, but also because of the great pleasure it gave me to see so many of my friends and relative together in the same place.
3 Families all over the country look forward to this autumn holiday. It is a time for everyone to think and appreciate everything they have.
4. At the end of the evening when the last guests had left, I sat by the fireplace to have a cup of tea with my parents before I went to bed. What a relief it was to be.
( Keys: A.. 2 B. 1. C. 4. D. 3)
(II) Learning to structure a paragraph (25 min’)
Step 1: Students read the two passages again to compare their similarities: (2 min’)
Step 2: The teacher explains the structure of passage A and B: （3 min’）
Introduction paragraph Set the scene by providing names, places, time, reasons
Body paragraphs Paragraph 2: preparations for the eventParagraph 3: description of the activities
Concluding paragraph Feelings, comments, final thoughts …
Step 3: Students work in group of 4 and discuss how to write on the Art Festival based on the following structure (5 min’)
I. Introduction: Time: every other year/in April
Place: school/gym/lecture hall
Reasons: Show talents/learn to corporate/enrich school life/have fun…
II. Body: Preparation: begins several weeks before..; items of competition announced; prepare for competitions..
Description: opening ceremony; chorus; dress designing show; drama/short play; Karaoke; Art works exhibition; closing ceremony/performance…
III. Conclusion: feelings or comments
Step 4: Students write the passage individually according to the outline. (10 min’)
(Encourage students to write in different ways of describing events)
Step 5: The teacher reviews some of the students’ versions. (5 min’ class work)
.
Writing assignment: Write the following composition in 100 –120 words:
A travel magazine is running a competition for the best description of a festival in your country. Write a description of it for the competition.
