LESSON PLAN
Time of Lesson: 45 minutes
Students: Senior Grade One
Teaching Material: How Did Postage Stamps Come Into Use
Teaching Objectives:
1. To train Ss' reading ability(such as guessing the meaning of new words in the context, the speed of reading.)
2. To train Ss' reading comprehension(To get messages from what they read.)
Teaching Points:
1. Ss get used to three reading skills.
2. Ss understand the given passage.
Properties:
Stamps, letters, postcards, work sheets, OHP
Teaching Method:
Communicative Approach
Lesson Type:
Reading
New Words and A Phrase:
postage, put forward, proposal, seal, deliver, system, postal
Procedures:
Step 1. Warm-up(6')
1. Lead-in
Show some stamps, letters and postcards and have free talk to arouse students' motivation.
2. Dealing with some new words
Q: Do you know the postage of a letter?
Explain "postage", and write postage on the Bb.
postage: payment for the carrying of letters
A: Fifty fen for any place in China except Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
Q: What do the postmen do with the letters?
A: They take the letters from the postbox and carry them away to the places on the envelopes and deliver them to the addressed people.
Explain "deliver", and write deliver on the Bb.
deliver: take letters or goods to the addressed people.
Q: Who put forward the proposal to use stamps? Use OHP to project the question onto the screen.
Explain "put forward" and "proposal", and write them on the Bb.
put forward: put an idea before people for thinking over
proposal: sth. proposed, plan or idea, suggestion
Again: Who put forward the proposal to use stamps?
Step 2. Skimming(4'30")
1. Instructions
T: Now I give you a passage to read, and for the first time you should only find the answer to the question. You have only two and a half minutes to read. So don't read word for word. Read quickly. Just try to find the answer.
2. Handing out the reading material and reading
3. Checking
Q: Who put forward the proposal to use stamps.
A: Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster in England.
Step 3. Scanning(6')
1. Instructions
T: This time I give you three minutes to read the passage. When you are reading, find the answers to the two questions.
Use OHP to project the questions:
1. Why was the postage high in the early nineteenth century when people did not use stamps?
2. When was postage stamps first put to use?
2. Reading
3. Checking
1) Pair work
2) Class checking
Ans. to Que.1. Because the post offices had to send many people to collect the postage.
Ans. to Que.2. On May 6, 1840.
Step 4. Full reading(21')
1. Instructions
T: Now I give you ten minutes to read the passage for the third time and you should read it carefully. Before reading, let's go over the questions on the work sheet.
Give Work Sheet 1 to the Ss. Explain the new words in Que. 4.
prevent: stop, not let sb. do sth.
reuse: use again
T: Try to find the answers to the questions. But don't write the answers down, you can put a sign or underline the sentences concerning the questions.
2. Reading
3. Checking
1) Group work: Checking the answers in a group of four Ss.
2) Class work: Checking the answers in class.
Possible Answers:
1. Why were people unhappy to pay postage for letters in the early nineteenth century?
Because they had to pay postage when they received letters, especially when they paid for a letter which they did not wish to receive at all. The postage was high.
2. Why was it much easier for people to use stamps for postage?
Because people could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters.
3. Why was the postage much lower using stamps?
Because in this way, the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage. It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters.
4. How could the post office prevent people from reusing the stamps?
The post office could simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again.
Check the understanding of the word "seal", and write it on the Bb.
seal: 邮戳 5. Did other countries take up the new postal system?
Yes.
Check the understanding of "postal" and "system", and write them on the Bb.
postal: of the post
system: a set of working ways
6. Does every country in the world has its own stamps?
Yes.
Step 5: Rounding-off(7')
1. Answering Ss' questions on the passage if any.
2. Making a guided-dialogue with the information given from the passage.
Hand out Work Sheet 2. Do it in pairs.
3. Asking two or three pairs to read their dailogues.
A possible completed dialogue:
A: Oh, What a beautiful stamp!
B: Yes, it's from the U.S.A..
A: Do you know in the early nineteenth century people did not use stamps?
B: Then how did they pay the postage?
A: They had to pay the postage when they received letters.
B: Was the postage very high then?
A: Yes. Because the post offices had to send many people to collect the postage.
B: Who put forward the proposal to use stamps?
A: Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster in England.
B: Why do post offices put seals on the stamps?
A: They can prevent people from using the stamps again.
B: When did post offices begin to sell stamps?
A: On May 6, 1840.
B: Thank you for telling me so many things about stamps.
Step 6. Assignment(30")
Ask the Ss to shorten the passage within four or five sentences after class, and to write it in their exercise books.
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Reading Material:
How Did Postage Stamps Come Into Use
When you send a letter or a postcard, you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card. When did people first begin to use stamps? Who was the first to think of this idea?
In the early nineteenth century, people did not use stamps. They had to pay postage when they received letters. They were unhappy about this, especially when they paid for a letter which they did not wish to receive at all. The postage was high at that time, because the post offices had to send many people to collect the postage.
Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster in England, was the first to put forward a proposal to use stamps. He thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps to cover postage. They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters. The post office could simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again. In this way, the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage. It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters. That was a good idea and the government finally accepted it.
On May 6, 1840, post offices throughout England began to sell stamps. Soon this new postal system was taken up by other countries. Now each country has its own stamps. And there are many people who collect stamps all over the world.
Work Sheet 1:
Find the answers to the following questions from the passage:
1. Why were people unhappy to pay postage for letters in the early nineteenth century?
2. Why was it much easier for people to use stamps for postage?
3. Why was the postage much lower using stamps?
4. How could the post office prevent people from reusing the stamps?
5. Did other countries take up the new postal system?
6. Does every country in the world has its own stamps now?
Work Sheet 2:
Complete the dialogue with the information you have got:
A: Oh, What a beautiful stamp!
B: Yes, it's from the U.S.A..
A: Do you know ____________________ people did not use stamps?
B: Then how did they pay the postage?
A: ___________________________________________________________.
B: Was the postage very high then?
A: ___________________________________________________________.
B: Who put forward the proposal to use stamps?
A: ___________________________________________________________.
B: Why do post offices put seals on the stamps?
A: ___________________________________________________________.
B: When did post offices begin to sell stamps?
A: ___________________________________________________________.
B: Thank you for telling me so many things about stamps.