Unit 12 Reading for pleasure

Transcription

1 Unit 12 Reading for pleasure About this unit This unit relates to the previous unit, Our literate world (Unit 11), as it explores the importance of reading for entertainment and leisure. The pupils talk about their reading preferences and listen to and dramatise a dialogue on reading for pleasure. They read a passage from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and learn to use literary terms, such as characters, plot, drama, non-fiction and playwright. The pupils also write a narrative composition about a famous character, and they practise using different past tense verbs. Lesson 1 (PB p ) Reading: Talk about texts they read for pleasure. Reading: Read, discuss and dramatise a dialogue on reading for pleasure. Pupil s Book; a variety of reading materials, pictures, posters and newspaper or magazine articles related to the topic of reading for pleasure Starting off 1. Ask the pupils to work with a partner and to look at the pictures on page 64of the PB with the following questions in mind (write them on the board): What do you see in each picture? Why is reading important? 2. The pupils must discuss the pictures with their partner. While they are doing this, walk around and listen to their conversations. After a few minutes, ask a few individuals to share their responses to the questions with the whole class. Listening and speaking (PB p ) 1. Still working in pairs, ask the pupils to tell their partner what books they like reading and why. They should also talk about what books their family members like to read. After a few minutes, invite a few individuals to describe their reading preferences to the class. Encourage them to give reasons for their preferences. 2. Explain to the class that the dialogue (or conversation) is about different types of texts (books) and people's preferences. Read aloud the dialogue on s of the PB, while the pupils follow along silently. Model how to read aloud the dialogue with the appropriate fluency, expression, intonation and pronunciation. Draw attention to the new words in coloured text and refer to the New words boxes on pages64 and Give the pupils a few minutes to read aloud the dialogue to themselves. Ask them to think of at least four questions about the dialogue, which they could ask their partner. (You may wish to give one or two examples of possible questions; alternatively, write the following question words on the board and ask the pupils to make up a question using four of the words: What? Who? Which? Why? How? Where?) 4. Now give the pupils a few minutes to work in pairs to ask and answer each other's questions from Activity 3 above. Also let them share their reading preferences (if they have-not already done so in Activity 1). 5. Still working in pairs, ask the pupils to identify people they know who do not read for pleasure, and to discuss possible reasons why these people may not read for pleasure. Have a brief class discussion afterwards. 6. Ask each pupil pair to join up with another pair. The pupils can then discuss the questions in Activity 6 on page 66of the PB in their groups. Go through the answers together as a class afterwards. 53

2 7. Give the pupils a few minutes to work on their own and write a list of all the different genres (text types) mentioned in the dialogue. Afterwards, check the answers as a class. 8. Ask the pupils to choose a partner from their group and to practise dramatising the dialogue in pairs. While they are doing this, walk around the classroom and listen to their fluency, expression, intonation and pronunciation. After a few minutes, ask the pupils to reform their groups and let each pair dramatise the dialogue for the other pair in the group. You may wish to choose one or two pairs to dramatise the dialogue in front of the whole class. 6. a) Mary likes to read novels, because she enjoys getting to know interesting characters and she likes following the plot. b) Jimmy does not like to read novels, because there are no pictures. c) Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart. 7. novels, picture stories, newspapers, magazines, electronic texts, plays, adventure stories, folktales Have a class discussion about different text types or genres of books. If possible, show the pupils examples of each genre. Make sure that they understand the different genres and discuss why people might read each type for pleasure. Ask the pupils to help you to find and collect different kinds of texts, pictures and posters to create a Reading for pleasure display in your classroom for the duration of this unit. Lesson 2 (PB p.66 68) Listening and speaking:practise pronouncing words with diphthong sounds correctly. Reading: Read a passage from a book by Chinua Achebe and answer questions about it. Pupil s Book; a copy of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (if available) Pronunciation (PB p. 66) 1. Go through the note, About diphthongs, on page 66 with the class. Demonstrate how to pronounce each diphthong sound correctly and elicit or give further examples of words with each sound. Write these on the board. 2. Read aloud the list of words in the box on page 66, making sure that you pronounce each one correctly. Ask the pupils to repeat each word after you. Do this several times, if necessary. 3. Give the pupils a few minutes to practise pronouncing each word in the box. Ask them to identify the diphthong in each as they pronounce them. 4. Let the pupils draw a table in their notebook and write the words on page 66 of the PB in the correct column. The pupils should complete this activity on their own. Check the answers afterwards with the whole class. 6. If there is time, ask the pupils to add more words to each column. They can practise spelling the words by closing their books and asking a partner to read aloud words while they write them down. words with /ai/ hide, like, mind, time, playwright words with /au/ how words with /ei/ pain, make, display, playwright words with /IE/ here words with /oi/ joy Reading (PB p ) 1. If possible, show the class a copy of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Ask the pupils if they have ever seen this novel before and what they know about it. 2. Before they read, ask the pupils to look at the first picture on page 67. Ask them to identify 54

3 the novelist in the picture (Chinua Achebe). Elicit from the class what they know about this famous writer. 3. Discuss the book cover in the second picture on page 67. Ask the pupils why they think there is an upside-down head on the cover. Explain that the front cover of a book is designed to catch the reader's attention and to make you wonder what the story is about. The picture on the front cover often reflects the title or theme of the book. 4. With the class, talk about what they would expect to find out about in the first chapter of the book. Encourage them to give reasons for their responses. Point out that we are often introduced to the main character or characters (who the story is about) and the setting (where or when the story takes place) in the first chapter. We may also get an idea of the plot (what is going to happen in the story) at the beginning too. 5. Read the passage from the first chapter of Things fall apart on pages to the class, while they follow in their books. Read it more than once. Then ask the class a few general questions about the passage. For example: Who is the main character in the story? Why was he well known? What did he look like? How did he behave? 6. With the class, find the words in coloured text and ask the pupils if they can work out from the context what the words mean. The words are explained on pages67 and ) Comprehension (PB p. Ask the pupils to work on their own for the Comprehension activity on page 68. They must write the answers in their notebooks. Try to get them to use their own words as much as possible, rather than copying sentences from the passage. Go through the answers with the whole class. 1. a) The hero in the story is called Okonkwo. b) He threw the great, unbeaten wrestler Amalinze the Cat in a fierce fight. c) Amalinze was called the Cat, because he would never fall on his back during a fight. d) The founder of Okonkwo's town fought fiercely with a wild spirit for seven days and seven nights. e) He tended to fight with people when he was angry. Workbook (WB p. 29) For further practice on the key vocabulary in the reading text, ask the pupils to do Exercises 1 2. They can do this for homework or for extension at the end of the lesson. Go through the answers afterwards. 1. a) characters people playing roles in a play, novel or movie b) plot the main events in a play, novel or movie c) drama a play that can be acted d) playwright a writer of plays that can be acted in a theatre e) non-fiction factual texts; not made up stories f) electronic text text that can be stored and displayed on a computer 2. Pupils' own answers. Encourage them to write sentences that show the meaning of each word. Ask the class to find out more about Chinua Achebe and his writing. This can be done at the end of the lesson, for homework or as part of another lesson. The pupils can research the novelist and his work in the library or on the Internet. Ask the pupils to bring and share their findings with the rest of the class. Lesson 3 (PB p. 83; WB p ) Grammar: Practise using past tense verbs 55

4 Pupil s Book; Workbook Grammar (PB p. 69) 1. With the class, look at the box More about the past tense on page 69. Go through the examples of the simple past, past continuous and past perfect tenses. Elicit or give more examples of sentences with each of these forms of the past tense, and write them on the board. Also refer the pupils back to Unit 5 where they learnt about the simple past tense and to Unit 6 where they learnt about the spelling of past tense verbs. 2. Read the instruction for Activity 1. Explain to the pupils that they must copy the sentences into their notebooks and then underline the past tense verbs. Go through the answers together afterwards. 3. Ask the pupils to do Activity 2 on their own. They can read their sentences aloud to a partner. Ask a few individuals to read aloud their sentences to the whole class too. 1. a) Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. b) He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. c) Okonkwo threw Amalinze in a fight. d) His bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. e) He had a slight stammer. 2. Pupils' own answers. Make sure that they use each form of the past tense correctly. Workbook (WB p ) For further practice on past tense verbs, ask the pupils to complete Exercises 3 and 4. They can do this individually and then check answers in pairs. 3. a) They acted in a play. b) She enjoyed the novel. c) You got to know the characters in the story. d) How many books did you read? 4. a) heard was hearing had heard b) read was reading had read c) listened was listening had listened d) looked was looking had looked e) wrote was writing had written Ask the pupils to make up more of their own sentences with the following verbs (write them on the board): take, draw, fight, throw, pounce. They should use the three past tense forms for each verb. They can say these orally to a partner, or write them down in their notebook and read them aloud to a partner. Lesson 4 (PB p. 69; WB p. 30) Writing: Write a narrative composition about a famous person Writing: Write a dialogue about reading for pleasure Pupil s Book; Workbook Writing (PB p. 69) Tell the pupils that today they will write a story about a famous person. 1. Ask the pupils to re-read the passage from Things fall Apart on pages of the PB. Explain to the pupils that they should use this passage as a guide to writing their own story on a similar topic. Let the pupils brainstorm and discuss the questions in Activity 1 on page 69 in small groups or pairs to help them think about what to write in their story. 2. Remind the pupils to work in rough first, then edit their work before copying it neatly into their notebooks. Remind them to check that they have used different past tense verb forms, and that they have written the title in capital letters. 56

5 Assessment suggestion Collect the compositions for marking. You can use the assessment criteria from Rubric 5: Writing transactional texts on the website to mark the pupils' work. You may wish to choose some of the best stories to be read aloud and/or displayed on the classroom wall or notice board. Workbook Ask the pupils to complete Exercise 5 on page 30 of the Workbook. They can do this for homework or as an extension or support activity. The pupils must use the dialogue on page 78 of the PB as a guide for writing their own conversation between two people about reading for pleasure. Lesson 5 (Reader p ) Reading:Read a story and answer questions about it. Reading:Match sentence halves in a table. Reader Reading (Reader p ) 1. In this lesson, the pupils will read a short story. Read the introduction to the story to the class and ask if anyone knows what a maiden is (an unmarried girl). 2. Now ask the class to read the story, The naïve Ishibe maidens, on pages of the Reader on their own, as silent reading. Afterwards, to make sure they got their pronunciation right, you can read the story to the class while the pupils follow the text in their books. 3. Answer the comprehension questions together in class before asking the pupils to write down the answers to the questions. 1. It made them think night was still a long way off. 2. You should go home. 3. If you are new to a place and you don't know the ways of the place, watch the people from there to see what they do; you may learn some valuable information. 4. Pupils' own answers, e.g. The deceiving sunset, The lost maidens. 57