Unit 1 Festivals around the worldI．教学内容分析本单元的中心话题是“节日”，主要讲述了不同地区不同种类的节日。
Warming Up部分设计了小组活动，通过图表填写让学生区分中国的传统节日与别国节日的异同，目的在于激活学生已有的节日背景知识，引出主题，为以后几堂课学习热身。
Pre-readin g 通过几个问题,调动学生已有的知识和经验，激发学生想了解更多节日的好奇心，让他们主动参与到主题教学活动中，为下面学习阅读文章作铺垫。
Reading 部分先简要介绍了一下早期各种节日的起源以及存在的原因，然后又分别介绍了几种世界各地的节日，依次的顺序是亡灵节、纪念名人的节日、丰收节、春天的节日等。
Comprehending由四个部分组成。
第一、三、四部分通过表格形式，第二部分通过让学生回答问题的方式，鼓励学生积极思考，加深对课文的理解。
Learning about Language 部分主要突出了本单元的语法项目——情态动词的用法。
这些情态动词主要有：can，could，may，might，will，would，shall，should，must，can’t 等的用法。
Using Language 部分中包括了听、说、读、写几个部分的内容。
学生可通过对Trinidad Carnival、情人节等一些节日的学习，分析问题，锻炼自己的思维能力。
阅读后的习题及讨论不仅帮助学生理解文章的主旨大意，更重要的是让学生寻找解决问题的方法。
Learning Tip部分主要建议学生搜集各种资料，查询与世界各地节日有关的信息，了解各种节日的来源与内涵。
II．教学重点和难点1. 教学重点(1) 本单元的生词和短语；(2) 掌握一些情态动词的基本用法；(3) 了解有关节日和民俗，掌握有关词汇，如custom,religious等。
2. 教学难点(1) 增进学生对中国节日的理解，了解和感悟外国的节日；(2) 提高学生的社会文化素质，加强跨国文化素质；(3) 培养学生运用资源策略。
本单元建议分七课时：第一、二课时：Warming up, Pre-reading, Reading & Comprehending第三、四课时：Learning about Language第五课时：Listening (Using Language) Speaking (Using Language), Listening (Workbook)& Listening task (Workbook)第六课时：Reading (Using Language) & Reading task (Workbook)第七课时：Speaking task (Workbook), Writing (Using Language) & Summing UpIV．教学步骤：Period 1&2 Warming up, Pre-reading, R eading & ComprehendingTeaching Goals:1. To arouse Ss’ interest in learning about the festivals around the world.2. To improve S s’ listening ability.3. To train S s’ speaking ability.Teaching Procedures:Step 1. Leading-inPurpose: To activate Ss and arouse them to express their opinions about a festival.Lead Ss to the content of this unit. Teacher may say, “Do you know what is called the Christmas of China? The Spring Festival. Yes. The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival. Each country and each nation has its own festivals. Today we are going to learn something about the different festivals.”Step 2. Warming Up1. Ask Ss to turn to P1 and work in groups to complete the form on P1.2. Ask Ss to discuss festivals they have filled in the form and their importance to the society. After that, ask Ss to present their opinions to all classmates.Step 3. Pre-listeningPurpose: To help Ss learn about the context of the Listening text.Ask Ss to talk about the following questions to get them prepared to listen to the reading text.1. How many ancient festivals do you know?2. Are foreign festivals different from Chinese festivals? In what part?Step 4. ListeningPurpose: To get the main information in the listening part.To develop Ss’ listening abilityTo learn some information about the festivals around the world.Ask Ss to listen to the tape, focus on the subjects mentioned in the passage and then answer the following question.1.How many kinds of festivals were mentioned in the text?Suggested Answer:Five.2.What are they?Suggested Answer:Ancient FestivalsFestivals of the DeadFestivals to Honor PeopleHarvest FestivalsSpring FestivalsStep 5. Pre- readingDivide Ss into groups of four and ask them to discuss the following questions.1. Wh at’s your favorite holiday of the year? Why?2. What festivals or celebrations do you enjoy in your city or town? Do you like spending festivals with your family or with friends? What part of a festival do you like best---the music, the things to see, the visits or the food?Step 6. Fast readingAsk Ss to read the text quickly and answer the following questions.1. What are festivals of the dead usually for?2. What make autumn festivals happy events?3. What do people usually do at spring festivals?4. What is one important reason to have festivals and celebrations?5. Compare the festivals of the dead in Mexico, Japan and China. What things aresimilar? What things are different?Suggested Answers:1. Festivals of the dead are for honoring or satisfying dead ancestors or others, whosome people believe might return to help or harm living people.2. Autumn festivals are happy events because people are thankful that food is ready forwinter and the hard farm work is finished.3. At spring festivals, people usually have dances, carnivals and other activities tocelebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring.4. It is important to have festivals and celebrations so we can enjoy life / be proud of ourcustoms / forget our work for a little while.5. The Chinese, Japanese and Mexican festivals of the dead all have customs to honourthe dead. The Chinese and Japanese go to clean their ancestors’graves, and theMexican offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. However, there are somedifferences. The Mexicans eat special food that looks like bones, something theChinese and Japanese do not do.Step 7. Intensive reading1. Ask Ss to read the text carefully and sum up the main idea of each part.2. Discuss in pairs which festivals you think are the most important and which are the most fun.Suggested Answer:Various answers are acceptable.3. Ask Ss the following question and encourage Ss to give some similarities that they think festivals have, and give their reasons. Then invites Ss to tell the similarities and then ask them to present them before the class.What similarities can you find among these festivals?Suggested Answer:They most include food, music or entertainment, like dances, light or fire.They are most together with family and friends.Festivals exist everywhere.Many of them celebrate similar ideas and important cultural events or remember event of people. Human beings need to have things in life to celebrate and have a break from daily struggles and demands.Step 8. HomeworkPurpose: To get a further understanding of the text.1. Ask Ss to continue discussing their opinions about festivals with their partners.2. Ask Ss to read the text once again and try to retell the text.3. Ask Ss to discover useful words and expressions in the text.Period 3&4 Learning about LanguageTeaching Goals: 1. To check what has been learned yesterday.2. To enable Ss to master some new words and expressions.3. To get Ss to have knowledge of the grammar point: the model verb Teaching Procedures:Step 1. Revision1. Ask Some Ss to retell the reading text.2. Ask Ss to answer the following question to see whether they did their homework or not.How many festivals are mentioned in our text?Step 2. Word studyPurpose: To consolidate the words and phrases in the text.Finish Ex1Purpose: To enable Ss to master some new words and expressions.Ex2 Many people think that Christmas is a western __________, but in fact it is really a worldwide holiday. Christmas actually as a _______ festival celebrated by _________ around the world. Its ______ is around the 3rd or 4th century AD, when the _______ of remembering Jesus’ birth on December 25th first started. Today, of course, many people celebrate Christmas __________ it were just a holiday to ______________ family, rather than a holiday about a _______.Suggested Answers:celebration, religious, Christians, origin, custom, as though, have a fun with, beliefStep 3. Grammar point1. Explain for Ss the grammar point: the modal verb(1) can/could 可以表示能力、许诺、请求或某种可能性，could还可用于：①提出委婉的请求，（注意在回答中不可用could）。