1、Unit 1 FriendsLanguage functions and focus1. Use an adjective before a noun or after a linking verb to describe someone/ somethinge.g.: She has short hair. Her hair is short.2. Use comparatives to compare two people /thingse.g.: Sandys hair is longer than Millies hair.3. Use superlatives to compare
2、three or more people thingse.g.: He is the tallest boy in my class.4. Use as+ adjective+ as to compare people / thingse.g.: Millie is as tall as Kitty.5. Use adjectives to describe someones physical features and appearancee.g.: Sandy is tall and has long hair.Language skillsListening 1. Identify mai
3、n ideas to obtain information about a friend2. Interpret information to obtain a general understanding of the people in a conversation3. Identify specific and relevant information to complete letters about teenagers future plansSpeaking1. Use questions and answers to talk about peoples appearance an
4、d personality2. Use everyday expressions to show agreement and confirm informationReading 1. Guess general meaning from keywords and context2. Skim text for overall meaning and scan for details3. Identify specific information about different people from their friends descriptionsWriting1. Collect in
5、formation and organize ideas to describe the appearance and personality of a friend2. Produce a particular text-type for an audience using a given modelStudy skillsLook for main points and keywords to help understand and remember a passage more easilyBackground informationBook 8A continues the story
6、 about the lives and experiences of the six central characters introduced in Book 7A. Here, the characters are Grade 8 students. Your students will be able to identify with the different situations and contexts. Language is presented through real-life experiences, exposing students to real communica
7、tion.Overview of the unitThe main topic of this unit is describing the appearance and the qualities of a good friend. Students learn to talk about their friends and their future plans.Unit openingBackground informationThe opening page arouses students interest in the topic of the unit through the fu
8、nny interactions of two cartoon characters (Eddie and Hobo). This opening page introduces the idea of friendship and sharing.Warm-up activities1. Read the conversation between Eddie and Hobo. Check understanding of kind and share. Ask, e.g.: What does Eddie give Hobo? (He gives him some cake and mil
9、k.)Is there anything else in the fridge? (No, there isnt.)What does Hobo want? (He wants to share Eddies pizza in the bowl.)2. Introduce the idea of sharing and friendship. Ask, e.g.: Are Eddie and Hobo good friends? (Yes, they are. They share things.)Who do you like more? Why? ( I like Eddie becaus
10、e he shares his food with Hobo.)Ask two more able students to role-play the conversation in front of the class.Welcome to the unitObjectives 1. To revise vocabulary and expressions to describe people2. To guess meaning from context3. To generate ideas about peoples appearance and personalities4. To
11、categorize adjectives to describe important qualities of a friend according to personal preferencesBackground informationThis section introduces students to the unit topic about different personalities of friends. Students answer some questions in a magazine about the qualities of a best friend. It
12、also preteaches some useful words and expressions.Teaching procedures1. Ask more able studentse.g.: Do you have a special friend? What makes him/her special?Accept all reasonable answers. (He/She helps me with my homework. I can always talk to him/her about my problems, etc.)2. Ask students to look
13、at Part A and explain that they will be reading an advertisement in “Teenagers magazine. They have to match the qualities with the questions. For weaker classes, go through the words and phrases on the left. Then ask each question at a time and invite students to say the correct word or phrase. Then
14、 ask the class to write the correct letters on their own. 3. Go around the class to check that students have written the correct letters. 4. Ask more able students to think of other qualities of a good friend, e.g., generous, clever, kind, understands my problems, makes me laugh. Write the words and
15、 phrases on the board.5. Read the list of words in Part B and chick that students understand their meanings. Check also understanding of quite important and very important.6. On the board, write What qualities of a good friend are important to you?. Ask the class to think carefully about what qualit
16、ies they appreciate in friends and put ticks under the correct headings in the table. Encourage students to work on their own. Then ask them to compare their answers with a partner. Ask individual students to tell the rest of the class about their own choice and their partners choice of qualities. W
17、rite some structures on the board to enable students to focus on the choice of adjectives and to maintain a fluent oral performance.Extension activityYou can copy the table. More able students can add more adjectives describing qualities of a good friend. Students can also interview several classmat
18、es using this table. They should write tally marks instead of ticks in the table. Then they can compare their results with a partner or in class to find out which qualities are the most popular.Game Ask each student to write three adjectives or phrases to describe a classmate on a piece of paper. Re
19、mind students to write his or her name as well. Encourage them to work on their own and not to show their choice of words to other students. Then collect the pieces of paper and put them together. Draw one at a time and read each description. Invite the class to guess whom it describes.Reading Objec
20、tives1. To guess general meanings from keywords and context2. To skim text for overall meanings and scan for details3. To identify specific information about different people form their friends descriptions4. To use adjectives to describe peoples appearance and characteristics5. To recognize the use
21、 of comparatives and superlativesPart ABackground informationThis section presents three letters about best friends for a writing competition held by Teenagers magazine. The context invites students to think about qualities in their friends.Teaching procedures1. Review key vocabulary according to th
22、e general ability of the class. Tell the class about a friend or relative. If possible, show his/her photo. Say, e.g.: My best friend is small and thin with long hair. She is very smart and helpful. Then ask questions to check understanding. (Is my friend tall? Is her hair short or long? Is she will
23、ing to help?)2. Divide the class into three groups and allocate one article to each group. While students skim the text on their own, ask them to underline the words they do not know. Then go through the words students have underlined.3. On the board, write the headings Appearance and Personality. A
24、sk each group to go through their letter again and find words or expressions to match each heading. Invite students from each group to come forward and write their words and expressions under the correct heading. 4. Write the following questions on the board for students to copy in their books.What
25、does he/she look like? (For appearance)What kind of person is he/she? (For personality)What does he/she do or want to do in the future? (For future plan)Invite students from each group to ask and answer these questions and describe the teenager in each article.Part BTeaching procedure1.Explain the c
26、ontext and check that students understand what an editor of magazine or newspaper does. Then review the adjectives and nouns in the box in Part B1. Ask students to find the words in the articles on page4.2. Ask students to do Part B1 on their own. Tell them that they need to look for specific detail
27、s, which fit each of the persons described in the articles. Encourage students to check their answers with a partner. Then ask students to read out the completed captions one at a time.3. Explain the context of Part B2 and ask students to find each description in the corresponding letter. Point to t
28、he photos in Part B2 and ask more able students to briefly describe each person. For weaker classes, read the sentences to the students and ask them to match them with the correct photos. Students could work individually or in pairs.Game1. Cut out some pictures of people of different height and appe
29、arance. Number the pictures or give familiar names to each person in the pictures (Mary, Tom, Peter, ect.). Stick the pictures on the board. Describe one of the people without pointing or even liking at his/her photo. Invite students to guess the person you have described. (Thats picture number five
30、./ Thats Mary.) Then ask individual students to do the same while the rest of the class guess the person.2. Alternatively, you can divide the class into three or four competing teams. Each team can work out description for the other teams to guess. Give a score only for the first correct guess.Part
31、CTeaching procedures1. Explain the context of Part C1 and read the six sentences for weaker classes. Depending on students abilities, set this activity either as an individual activity or as a quiz.2. If you use it as a quiz, divide the class into teams of 4-5 students. Set a time limit. The team wh
32、o gets all the correct answers first is the winner.3. Alternatively, you can ask students to close their books while you are reading each sentence. Give a score to the team who gives the first correct answer.4. Ask students to correct the false sentences.5. Ask more able students to do the extra sen
33、tences in Part C1. You can also ask them to correct the false sentences.6. Explain the context of Part C2 and check that students understand the idea of voting for somebody or something. If time allows, organize a class vote. Name a job, e.g., a class monitor, a student representative, etc. ask stro
34、nger classes to make a list of qualities required for the job. Write all the qualities suggested by the students on the board. For weaker classes, provide this table with the adjectives.Then ask the students to vote for each quality. Before each vote, invite more able students to explain why they wi
35、ll vote or not vote for that particular quality. Accept all reasonable answers, e.g.: I will vote for clever because its important that a class monitor learns and understands things quickly. 7. For weaker classes, read the sentences in the speech bubbles before you ask the students to find out who e
36、ach of the characters will vote for and fill in the blanks. Then ask Who will Amy/ Simon/ Sandy vote for? to check the answers.8. Divide students into pairs and ask them to vote for one of the best friends described in the articles on page4. Write down the number of votes for each person on the boar
37、d.Extension activityOrganize a class vote for a best friend. On a piece of paper, ask students to write a brief description about a person they consider to be a best friend. Invite 6-7 students to put up their descriptions on the board. Then read the descriptions one at a time and ask the class to v
38、ote for one of them. Ask individual students why they have voted for that particular person.VocabularyObjectives1. To use adjectives to describe peoples physical features2. To use adjectives to describe general appearance of people3. To select and use adjectives that are appropriate to describe the
39、appearance of boys and girlsBackground informationThis section develops the use of adjectives to describe peoples appearance. Students should be encouraged to develop their range of adjectives as much as possible using the tasks on the page as a starting point.As students become more and more able t
40、o understand the subtle meanings of words, they will be able to develop ways of accessing imaginative and creative texts to foster genuine interest and pleasure in what they read. In turn, they will gradually be able to use adjectives to write more interesting and creative texts themselves.Teaching
41、procedures1. Explain the context of the tasks. Ask students to study the pictures and words. For weaker classes, go through the words and preteach unknown words. Ask students to do Part A on their own first and then compare answers with a partner. Ask several students to read their answers to check
42、correct use of adjectives.2. Go through the words in the box in Part B. less able students are not likely to know the adjectives which are only suitable to describe males or females. You may need to give them some hints. Ask students to use the words in sentences to check that they understand the me
43、anings and use of words. Then ask students to complete the lists in groups of 4-5. Check answers orally with the class.Extension activities1. Ask students to find more adjectives for each category of the adjectives used in Part A. draw this table on the board and brainstorm as many words as possible
44、. Go through the adjectives and ask students to draw simple illustrations of the adjectives on pieces of paper. Invite some students to show their illustrations to the rest of the class.Provide pictures of people either pinned up on the board or cut out of magazines to groups of four students. Fay a
45、n adjective and ask students to find a picture illustrating it.2. Ask students to select and write suitable adjectives to describe themselves on a piece of paper. Invite some students to come forward and read the adjectives. Make sure that the atmosphere is supportive and that the rest of the class
46、do not make any unpleasant comments.3. Ask students to describe their friends, classmates, relatives or pop/sports stars using the adjectives they have learned. For stronger classes, encourage them to use any adjectives.Game 1. Bring some pictures of people into the classroom or ask students to bein
47、g pictures. These can be magazine or newspaper cuttings or photos. Divide students into groups of five. Give a picture to only one student in each group and ask him/her not to show it to the other students. Give blank pieces of paper to the other students. The student with the picture describes the
48、features of the person in the picture while the other students draw the person. On the board, display the drawings together with the original picture. For stronger classes, invite students to find out the mistakes. For weaker classes, ask students to vote for the best drawing which resembles the pic
49、ture. 2. Alternatively, tell students who are drawing the pictures to ask as many questions as possible to get information about the person they are drawing, e.g., Is your person a boy/ a man/ a woman/ tall /small /fat /thin? Is his/ her face square/ round? The student looking at the picture is only allowed to say Yes. or No.Grammar Objectives1. To use an adjective before a noun or after a linking verb to describe someone/ something2. To use comparatives to compare two people/ things3. To use superlatives to compare three or more people/
