Highlights of the Unit
Topic Mysteries
Functions
1 Asking for information to make a survey
When did you join the club?
How much have you spent on books in the last six months?
What topics are you interested in?
2.Asking for opinions
What do you think of Best Book Club?
Vocabulary
tale unexplained puzzled search sighting puzzling witness creature research
frightening possibility case murder convincing evidence outer progress disappointed
treasure t lately website wild similar hairy villager thick fur shoulder national
strength footprint state．support．existence。inch，exist，possibly
step up．due to．show up．according to，rule out。look into．make up．Take charge
of, outer space，run after, on average
Grammar
1 Present perfect tense
Police in America have stepped up their search for a fifteen-year-old boy who
went missing two days ago in Dover,New Hampshire．
2 Present perfect continuous tense
I haven’t been sleeping well since I returned home．
Skills and
Strategies
By the end of this unit，students will be able to：
1 read a newspaper article
2 identify specific information through listening
3 introduce themselves and conduct an interview
4 draw conclusions and make recommendations after analysing statistics
5 write a report
6 expand vocabulary related to space exploration
Culture 1 The Loch Ness Monster, Stonehenge，the Great Pyramid
2 Yetis in different places in the world
Period 1 Welcome to the unit
Teaching aims:
1. Talk about some mysterious or unexplained phenomena, including evidence of UFOs, the possible existence of Yetis and the Loch Ness Monster, reasons for building Stonehenge and the pyramids.
2. Make full use of resources and share their imaginative ideas with each other by participating in all the activities.
Teaching procedures
Step 1 Brainstorming
1 Assign students the following task: surf the net or refer to some reference books (in English or in Chinese) to get some information about UFOs, Yetis, the Loch Ness Monster, Stonehenge and the pyramids in Egypt.
2 Ask students to read the instructions and focus on the five pictures and illustrations first. Arouse their interest by asking them the following questions:
Do the five pictures have something in common? If so, what is it?
(unexplained; no satisfactory answers; mysterious; no evidence ...)
Can scientists explain these phenomena?
How do you feel about them? Are you a bit curious?
3. Ask students to think of as many expressions as possible to answer the questions above. Encourage them to make up sentences and read them to the class. Share the following sentences with students as examples.
4. Report the information they have collected to the class. Students' answers might differ. Vary the activities according to students' responses. Some answers students provide can be used as a prompt for a class discussion. For example,
Teacher: What information have you got about UFOs?
Student A: ...
Teacher: Do you think Student A' s information is interesting?
What about the information you've got? Is there something different?
Student B: ...
This activity is flexible.
5 Ask students to discuss the topics in pairs. Here are some questions.
About UFOs:
Have you ever read some reports about UFOs in China?
Are you interested in UFOs?
Are they really from another planet?
What do the letters UFO stand for?
Why do you think UFOs visit our planet?
About Yetis:
Where are the Himalayas?
What's the weather like there?
Why do some people make great efforts to climb them?
(hobby; dream; challenge themselves; make discoveries; overcome difficulty,..)
A Yeti is reported to be half-man and half-beast. Have you heard of it?
Do you think some climbers' disappearances are connected with Yetis?
About Stonehenge, the pyramids and the Loch Ness Monster:
Stonehenge and the pyramids in Egypt, the most famous of which is the Great Pyramid, are cultural relics.
Where were the pyramids built, on the east coast of the Nile or on the west coast ?
What are the reasons?
Do you think the Great Pyramid is a wonder in human history?
How was the Great Pyramid built?
I haven't heard of Stonehenge or the Loch Ness Monster. They are a bit new to me. What about you?
Would you be interested in discovering more about them?
Step 2: Sharing information
1. Let's dealing with the questions in pairs. For the first question, you may discuss it this way: Do you believe in UFOs? What might be the most acceptable explanation for UFOs?
2. Summarize the answers, and then report to the class.
Homework
1. Read and recite the new words.
2. Workbook Ex. P.92 ABC
Period 2 Reading (1)
Teaching aims
1. Learn the text and catch the main idea.
2. Do some Ex. to train S’ reading ability.
Teaching aids
Tape-recorder, computer,
Teaching procedures
Step 1 Lead-in
1. Some questions about UFO
Do you know what the three letters UFO stand for?
Have you ever heard of the UFOs?
Have you ever had the chance to see one?
Do you believe the usual sayings about the UFOs?
What do you think a UFO is?
Do you think there are any creatures on it?
Where do you think the creatures come from?
Will they become our friends or enemies?
2. Now, look at the pictures on pages 2 and 3. Look at them carefully. And get ready to answer these questions:
Picture 1: Is the first picture one of a UFO?
Are there really UFOs from the outer space?
Picture 2: Who was the missing boy?
Does he like playing football or baseball?
Picture 3: What's the picture about?
Does the bright light outside the window come from a UFO?
Does the bright light have something to do with Justin's missing?
(Use the projector or macromedia to show the situations in the three pictures and ask the students the same questions as given above. Check answers in
pairs. Check the answers with the whole class.)
3. Answer the following questions, focusing on the title of the article, Boy missing, police puzzled.
Does the title arouse your interest when you read it?
Can you complete the title?
What information can you get from the title?
What else do you want to know? For example, 'boy missing' (How/When/Where was the boy missing?) 'police puzzled' (Why are they puzzled?/What are the police going to do about the boy's disappearance and how?)
Are you curious about why the writer uses an incomplete sentence as the title?
Did you know that it is a feature of a news title?
What are some other features of a news title?
Can you guess what details may be covered in the following news story?
Step 2: Fast reading for general ideas
1. Before skimming the passage, please look at the news photographs first and describe what is happening in them. Then find the answers to the three questions above the text:
1) What is the article about? (The article is about a missing boy/UFOs and aliens.)
2) Who is missing? (Justin Foster is missing.)
3) Do the police know what happened to Justin? (No.)
2. Read the first paragraph carefully to get the main idea and the important facts such as:
When and where was the boy missing? What caused the boy's sudden disappearance? How old was the boy? Why did people show interest in his disappearance?
3. Listening and T/F exercises
1.Police in America have stepped up their search for a thirteen-year-old boy.
2. Justin foster, a high school student, went missing last Saturday.
3. Justin’s sister, Kelly, says she saw her brother return home at about 11 p.m.
4. Kelly pulled back the curtains and saw a spaceship flying outside.
5. The police were sure that Justin was taken by aliens.
4.Now scan the article again and locate specific information according to Parts CI and C2. P.4
C 1 1.Where does Justin Foster live? He lives in Dover, New Hampshire.
2.Why did Justin’s mother go to bed early?
She went to bed early because of a headache.
3. What time did the witnesses see Justin? At 10.45 p.m.
4. What color were the aliens? They were white
5. Who else has been taken by the aliens? Mavis Wood has been taken by the aliens.
6. Who was in charge of the case?
Detective Sam Peterson was in charge of the case.
C2 Main points Supporting details
Justin foster went missing Mrs Foster thought he was spending the night with a friend.
Mr Foster was surprisedThe police found that
Justin returned home. Justin’s friends saidWitnesses said
Kelly heard
The boy was taken away by aliens. Kelly saw
Kelly heardMavis Wood said
Step 3: Detailed reading for important information
1. Do Ex. E on P.5
2. Having read the text, please pay attention to the different features of each paragraph.
1) First let's have a discussion about how we usually decide whether a news article is worth reading or not and what methods we use in our reading. As we all know, newspapers play an important part in our daily life. Wherever you are, you can be informed of the latest news by reading a newspaper. From your experience, how do you usually select the news you'd like to read, by taking a look at its title or being attracted by its colorful pictures?
Every one of you can express your own opinions and give the reasons.
2) Compared with the other paragraphs, is the first paragraph the most important one in the article? Please describe the differences between the first paragraph of the article and the paragraphs that follow.
3) Ask Ss to read the Reading strategy 'reading a newspaper article'. Pay attention that both the title and the first paragraph, which is called the lead paragraph, play a key role in understanding of news articles.
Step 4 Interviewing Suppose you are a reporter from China Daily. You are making a face-to-face interview with Justin Foster who has just come back home.
Homework
1. Read the text and try to retell it .
2. Finish Ex.
Period 3 Reading (2) Language Points
Teaching aims
1.Learn some useful words and phrases.
2.Practise using them.
Teaching aids:
computer, multi-media Teaching
Teaching Procedures:
Step 1 Revision
Check the homework exercises.
Step 2 Listen to the tape and read the text after it.
Step 3 Language Points
Ask Ss to watch the Powerpoints and learn the useful Phrases.
<详见学案语言点>
Step 4 Practise
Do some exercises.
Step 5 Homework
Read the text again and try to retell it.
Finish the exercises.
Period 4 Word Power
Teaching aims
Learn some new words and enlarge Ss’ vocabulary.
Teaching procedures
Step 1 Brainstorming Think about the following questions：
1).Whether UFOs really exist has puzzled US for a long time．Have you ever thought about exploring space one day?
2).Are you interested in making discoveries in space?
3).What achievements have humans made so far in space exploration?
4).Who was the first man to travel in space?
5).When did the first man land on the moon? And how?
6).What do you know about him?
While focusing on the questions above，please pay attention to some other new words related to space，such as astronaut，spaceship／space shuttle ,orbit，etc． give SS more information about the history of space exploration and the history of the space shuttle．
Step 2：Vocabulary learning
1． Read the first part of the speech and complete the time line of the main events mentioned．
Time Event Sign
1957 the launch of the 1st artificial satellite
1959 unmanned spaceships launched into space Space exploration began．
1961 1 st human being traveled in space People orbited the Earth。
2。Guess the meanings of the unknown words from the context．Words like launch，artificial，orbit and trace are new to you．Listen to me，please。Space exploration began with the launch of the first artificial satellite．What does‘launch’mean? What word can be used to replace
‘artificial’? What about the word ‘man-made’?
3．Now continue with your discussion by answering the following questions：
How can a space shuttle be sent into space?
Can it fly into space by itself7．
With these‘two questions’ you should focus on reading the poster the scientist is showing to you．By the way，do you know the differences between spaceship and space shuttle?
A spaceship is a vehicle for carrying people through space．
A space shuttle is a vehicle that is designed to carry people into space and back to the Earth several times to do experiments．
Think about other information the scientist may refer to in the following part of his speech．
4．Read the second part of the scientist’s speech and complete Part C individually according to the instructions．We’ll then check the answers．
Keys see Teacher’s book P.11.
To check Ss’ reading comprehension。Ask them some questions：
1).What will happen to the rockets after the shuttle has been sent to space?
2.)Where will the astronauts do their research?
3).Why can’t they remove their spacesuits?
Step 3：Vocabulary extension
1．Right now we’ve got some knowledge about space and space exploration，and learned some relevant words and expressions．Let’s review them。
Finish the Part D and check the answers.
Homework
Finish the Workbook Ex. P.86. A1 A2
Period 5 Grammar and usage
Teaching aims
Learn the grammar ‘Present perfect tense and Present perfect continuous tense.
Teaching aids
Computer, multi-media Teaching
Teaching procedures
Step 1 现在完成时
A. 通常使用现在完成时的几种情况
1 表示过去发生的事对现在仍有影响。
．The disappearance of Justin has made Kelly very unhappy．(Justin在过去失踪，但Kelly至今仍旧为他的失踪感到不高兴)
2 表示过去开始的动作一直延续到现在。
I haven’t seen Justin since last Friday night．(从上周五晚上到现在一直都没有见到过
3 表示动作的确切时间不明确或不重要。
The boy has already come home．(男孩已经回家，但没有指出何时回家)
4 表示刚结束的动作。
The police have just finished searching the area．(警方刚结束对该地区的搜查)
5 表示反复发生的动作。
Some villagers say that they have seen UFOs many times．(村民们曾多次看到UFO)
B. 常与现在完成时连用的时间状语
1 表示过去的事或动作对现在有影响，动作的时间不明确、不重要或动作刚结束，一般可用already(用于肯定句或疑问句)、yet(用于否定句或疑问句)、ever、just、recently、lately never等。除此之外，before也可用于现在完成时。
The boy has already come home．
I haven't heard anything from him yet/ recently／lately.
The police have just finished searching the area．
I've met the old man somewhere before．
2 表示动作从过去开始，并一直延续到现在，一般可用for／since短语或由since引导的时间状语从句。在介词for后一般跟表示一段时间的短语，在since后一般跟表示某个时间的短语，或表示过去时间的状语从句。
We haven't seen him for two years／since 2002．
We haven't seen him since he left Nanjing．
3 表示反复发生的动作，一般可用数词+times、recently和lately等。
Some villagers say that they have seen UFOs many times/ recently／lately．
C. 现在完成时的构成
现在完成时由have／has+过去分词构成。
D. Finish the Ex. on P.8 and then check the answers.
Step 2 现在完成进行时 ．
A. 通常使用现在完成进行时的两种情况
1 表示过去开始的动作一直延续到现在并仍在继续之中。
I have not been sleeping well since I returned home．(“我”回家后一直都没有睡好，现在也没有睡好)
2 表示过去开始的动作刚结束并在某种情况下与现在有关联。
Kelly：Sorry I'm late．Have you been waiting long?(凯利刚到，对方虽然不再等了，但已一直等到现在)
Sally：Yes．I have been waiting for an hour．
B. 现在完成进行时的构成
现在完成进行时由have／has been+动词-ing形式构成。
C. Practise
Fill in the missing words. Pay attention to the verb form in the example given in the firstI picture (all the verb forms here are the present perfect continuous tense, except for the one in Sentence 5). It is a trap and does not require the present perfect continuous tense. Then check the answers.
Step 3现在完成时与现在完成进行时的区别
1 现在完成时和现在完成进行时都表示动作从过去开始，但现在完成时可表示事件或动作刚结束。而现在完成进行时则强调动作仍在继续。
Helen has read a book about Stonehenge．(可表示海伦已经读完了)
Helen has been reading a book about Stonehenge．(表示海伦仍在读)
2 现在完成时可表示反复发生的动作，提问时用how many times。而现在完成进行时则表示持续的、不间断的动作，提问时用how long。
------ How many times have you visited Egypt this month?
------I have visited Egypt twice this month．
(现在完成时在这一组对话当中表示被问者过去往返于埃及和居住地，但现已经回来)
------ How long have you been touring Egypt ?
------ I have been touring Egypt for two months．
(现在完成进行时在这一组对话中表示被问者过去一段时间内一直呆在埃及，没有离开过)
3 现在完成时可以用表示状态的动词或表示动作的动词做谓语。而现在完成进行时则只能用表示动作的动词做谓语。
I have had this camera for five years．(had是表示“拥有”状态的动词)
I have taken photos of UFOs with this camera．(taken是表示动作的动词)
I have been taking photos of UFOs with this camera．(taking是表示动作的动词)
4 现在完成时的句子中可以用像never、yet、already和ever这样的词，而现在完成进行时的句子中则不可以用这样的词。
I’ve never visited Paris．
I've already been to Paris．
Step 4 Practise
1. Finish the Ex. on P.11 Then check the answers.
2. Do Ex. in Lead-learning paper.
Homework
1. Finish the Ex. in Lead-learning paper.
2. Do Ex. in Workbook P.88 C1 C2
Period 6 Task Conducting a survey
Teaching aims
Learn and practise Ss’ language skills of listening，reading speaking and writing．
Learn how to design a questionnaire, conduct an interview, analyze statistics and write a report which includes conclusions and recommendations based on the survey
Teaching procedures:
Skills building l：Completing a questionnaire
This part tells us how to design a questionnaire．Six rules are given to let Ss know the style of the language used in a questionnaire，So the questions and statements do not cause any confusion．Ss ought to know what a questionnaire is，and what the purpose of questionnaire is．Please go over the six points on Page 12 so that Ss will know how to design a questionnaire．Questions or sentences should be accurate and succinct．Finish the exercise about the questionnaire about people’s shopping habits．And give the reasons why you think these statements are not properly constructed．
Answers(Page 12) 3 1 6 2 5 4
Step l：Designing a questionnaire
1．Please work in pairs on the questionnaire for a survey of a book club on page 13．Read over Part A the questionnaire，and identify the three inappropriate questions／statements in it，and correct them according to the rules on page 12．
2． Listen to the first part of the tape and check their corrections of the questionnair
3． Listen to the second part of the tape and finish designing the questionnaire in Part A．
Skills building 2：Greeting others and making introductions
Learn how to greet others in an appropriate manner first and then Ss will know how to introduce themselves and say what they intend to do and why．Practise a dialogue in pairs at the end，using the skills they have learned in this part．
1．How do you greet each other or your teachers on the way to school in the morning?
Please go over Point l on page 14．
2．What do you say when you first meet someone? How do you introduce yourself to others?
Go over Point 2．You will conduct an interview after the introduetion．
4． Work in pairs，one as a member from the school magazine，the other as the student whose article is to be included in the next issue of the school magazine．Talk about the writer’s plan for the article．
Step 2：Conducting an interview
In this part, Ss will conduct an interview about Best Book Club in pairs， using the questionnaire they have revised on page 13．In this way they can practise the speaking skills they have learned in Skills building 2．
1． Read Part A on page 14 to make sure Ss know what to do．Then work in pairs to role play an interview between a club employee and a club member．At the same time，finish the questionnaire on page 13．
2． Work in pairs to go over Part B on page 15．
Skills building 3：analyzing statistics
Ss will learn here how to analyse statistics that are gathered from questionnaires，and how to draw conclusions and make recommendations through the statistics．Try to improve Ss’ abilities of analysing and solving problems in the activities．
1．Go over the two points on page 16．Make sure you know what can be obtained through an alyzing the statistics from questionnaires．Through analysis，you can draw conclusions and make recommendations．Thus，you can discover what people are interested in，what they are doing or they want to do．Try to think of more conclusions and recommendations about the example sentence．
2．Read the pie chart about students’hobbies and interests and analyse the statistics．Draw at least three more conclusions and make another three recommendations．
Step 3：Writing a report
Write a report about the possibility of starting a mystery book club after analysing the statistics．Read the three charts first to get the statistics．Then draw some conclusions and make recommendations．At last write a report to the boss about their findings．
1． Work in groups and discuss the statistics on page 17．Draw conclusions and make recommendations from them by making a list．
2． Write a report according to what they’ve discussed．
Step 4 Homework
Finish the Ex. on Workbook P.89 D1 D2
Period 7 Project: Telling a mysterious story
Teaching aims
Learn and use English by doing a group project．
Try to write a story on one of the five mysteries in the section Welcome to the unit．
Teaching procedures
Step 1 Reading
1. Read the article quickly to find the main idea of each paragraph and the connec
tions between them．
Para.1 Yetis are reported to have been seen all over the world.
Para.2-4 Descriptions of Yetis in different places.
Para.5-6 Scientists’ different opinions about Yetis.
Para.7 Scientists hope to find the truth.
2. Read the article again, and find answers to the following questions .
1).In which years were Yetis seen ?
2).Where have Yetis or similar creatures have seen ?
3).What has been reported about Yetis ?
4).What do scientists think of Yetis ?
3．Try to distinguish the writing features of a mysterious story so that Ss may know how to write such a story．
4．Ss may also consult the story Boy missing, police puzzled，which is a news story, while Searching for the Yeti is an overview about Yetis．Compare the two articles．The former one is a newspaper report．So after reading the first paragraph readers will know what has happened and when and where it happened and more details and information are given in the following paragraphs．The latter one is a magazine article．It is an overview with general information about Yetis． So it tells readers some details about Yetis people have seen in different places
Step 2. Telling a mysterious story
To conduct this project．Ss need to follow the following four steps：planning，preparing，producing and presenting．I’d like to give you some guide for each step：
1．At the step of planning，you should first make clear the dead line is the end of this week．Then work in small groups to discuss first what to write and then the questions in this part．Divide up the work and decide what each group member will do．
2. When preparing，you meet，discuss and choose from the information each group member has collected．0ne of you in the group write the outline according to the result of the discussion．When finished，the outline should be approved by the whole group．
3. The next step is producing. Each of you should write a part of the story. Then put what you have written together. Proofread the story to correct mistakes if there are any. New ideas can be added. Those who are responsible for illustrating the story should draw your picture according to the writing. Then the whole group should approve the story and the illustrations.
4. Then comes your time of presenting. The storyteller of each group is to tell your story to the whole class. Then put up your stories on the walls of the classroom.
Step 3 Do the Self-assessment
Homework
Finish all the Ex in the Workbook.
Finish the Ex. in <同步导学>