Unit 3 A taste of English humourPart One: Teaching Design1. A sample lesson plan for reading(NONVERBAL HUMOUR)AimsTo help students develop their reading ability.To help students learn about English humour.ProceduresI. Warming upWarming up by definin g “Humour〞What is “Humour〞? Does any one of you know anything about humour? Look at the sreen and read the definition of Humour from the Internet.•temper: a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; "whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time"; "he was in a bad humor"•wit: a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter•humor: (Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state; "the humors are blood and phlegm and yellow and black bile"•liquid body substance: the liquid parts of the body•humor: the quality of being funny; "I fail to see the humor in it"•humor: the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor"•humor: put into a good moodWarming up watching and listeningHi, everyone! We are going to learn about A taste of English humour today. Now watch the slides/ pictures and listen to the English humour poems.Why worry?There are only two things to worry about:Either you are well or you are sick.If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about.If you are sick, there are two things to worry about:Either you will get well or you will die.If you get well, then there is nothing to worry about.If you die, there are only two things to worry about:Either you will go to Heaven or Hell.If you go to Heaven, there is nothing to worry about.But if you go to Hell, you will be so damn busyShaking hands with friends, you won´t have time to worry. Whose job ...?This is the story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.There was an important job to be done,and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.Somebody got angry about thatbecause it was Everybody´s job.Everybody thought Anybody could do it,but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn´t do it.It ended up that Everybody blamed SomebodyWhen Nobody did what Anybody could have doneII. Pre-readingTelling the truth —Why do you like to laugh at?I like to laugh at cartoons,for they’re lovely and fun.I like to laugh at fairy tales. They are amusing and interesting.Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so exceedingly fond of fine new clothes that he spent vast sums of money on dress. To him clothes meant more than anything else in the world. He took no interest in his army, nor did he care to go to the theatre, or to drive about in his state coach, unless it was to display his new clothes. He had different robes for every single hour of the day.III. Reading1. Reading aloud to the recordingNow please listen and read aloud to the recording of the text NONVERBAL HUMOUR. Pay attention to the pronunciation of each word and the pauses between the thought groups. I will play the tape twice and you shall read aloud twice, too.2. Reading and underliningNext you are to read and underline all the useful expressions or collocations in the passage. Copy them to your notebook after class as homework.Collocations from NONVERBAL HUMOURSlide on…, bump into…, round a corner, fall down…, in the road, see otherpeople’s bad luck, at times, feel content with…, be worse off, astonish…with…, inspire…in sb., play a character, be born in poverty, become famous,3. Reading to identify the topic sentence of each paragrapSkim the text and identify the topic sentence of each paragraph. You may find it either at the beginning, the middle or the end of the paragraph.4. Reading and transferring informationRead the text again to complete the table.Facts about OscarA brief life history of Charlie Chaplin5. Reading and understanding difficult sentencesAs you have read the text times, you can surely tell which sentences are difficult to understand. Now put your questions concerning the difficult points to me the teacher.IV. Closing downClosing down by doing exercisesTo end the lesson you are to do the comprehending exercises No. 1and 2 on pages 18 and 19.Closing down by watching a silent movie by Charlie ChaplinDo you like watching movies? Do you like humourous movies? Now let’s watch a silent humourous movie by Charlie Chaplin. It’s Charlie Chaplin's first film: Making a LivingClosing down by reading about Charlie ChaplinTo end the period we shall read an article about Charlie Chaplin. Now look at the screen and read it aloud with me.2．A sample lesson plan for Learning about Language(The –ing form as the Predicative, Attributive & Object)AimsTo help students learn about The –ing form as the Predicative, Attributive & Object)To help students discover and learn to use some useful words and expressions.To help students discover and learn to use some useful structures.ProceduresI. Warming upWarming up by discovering useful words and expressionsTurn to page 19 and do exercises No. 1, 2 , 3, 4 and 5. Check your answers against your classmates’.II. Learning about The –ing form as the AttributiveWhat is attributive? It is something placed before the nouns to be modified: “red〞is an attributive adjective in “a red apple〞. “walking 〞is also an attributive adjecti ve in “a walking stick〞.III. Ready used materials for The –ing form as the Predicative, Attributive & Object Which verbs can be followed by the -ing form?One of the most important simple principles that grammarians tend tomiss is the one that explains what verbs take the -ing form. Themethod of almost all books on English grammar is to give a list ofsuch verbs. This implies that it is completely arbitrary whether a verbtakes the -ing form or not, that God has closed his eyes and prickedoff verbs here and there at random with a pin. Students are thus cutoff from insight into a basic pattern of meaning, and confronted with alifeless series of unconnected words which they have to learn byheart. They are pushed into a purely mechanical process that missesthe essential truth that learning languages is learning about meaningsand their logical connections to other meanings. It is significant of theimpractical arbitrariness of these lists that there are almost no two ofthem that are the same, even where the most common of the verbsused with -ing are concerned.When contrasting the -ing form with the infinitive, the basic point toremember is that-ing can always mean, among other things, a verb-noun, an'action-thing'.The fact that -ing can always mean a 'thing' gives us the following practical principle:If you can say I (etc.) - verb - it (e.g. I like it), you can use I - verb -ing (e.g. I like eating).Avoid it. Avoid stepping on the grass if you can.Do you mind it? Do you mind shutting the window?He couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk hurting the children.This is a principle virtually without exceptions. But naturally there are many verbs that in practice are never used with -ing simply because nobody ever wants to express that 'action' meaning of -ing with them. The process is always self-regulating, so to speak - one says whatever makes sense. We can look at some examples of the use of -ing with verbs that appear on few, if any, of most grammarians' lists.They have added mistreating prisoners to the list ofcharges.I can't really afford living like this.The council no longer allows smoking in public buildings.aim - (It is hard to think of a sensible example of -ing beingused with this verb. Can you?)The club arranges dancing for the pensioners.The chairman claimed breaking the strike as a greattriumph.I don't count making money as a virtue.The investigators discovered cheating on a huge scale.We must encourage planting earlier in the season.I thank travelling for teaching me much about the humancondition.The principle applies equally to phrasal verbs, both the 'prepositional' type and the 'adverbial particle' type.She insisted on helping me.Bill's putting off writing till tomorrow. (Or: ...putting writingoff..)The managing director picked out idling on the job as themain cause of the declining profits.turn up - (Another example of a verb I am unable to think ofany sensible use for with -ing.)(Notice that in the second and third sentences above, an it used instead of the -ing form would come between putting and off and between picked and out.)There are uses of -ing which appear to contradict the it-substitution principle. Two examples of them involve expressions that both have the sense of continue: carry on and go on. One can say Carry on talking, but not *Carry on it. That, however, is merely becauseunemphasized pronouns are never used at the end of phrasal verbphrases (e.g. in a dictionary one looks it up, not *looks up it). With goon one cannot even say *go it on. This again can be explained simply.One does not *go a thing, while with the sense of continue one doesnot say *go on it for the same reason that one does not say *Carry onit.IV. Closing downClosing down by discoveringTo end the period you are going to skim the text and the previous texts to find out all the examples containing –ing forms used as the predicative, attributive and object.Closing down by exercisesIn the last few minutes you are to do exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4 on page 21. Check your answers against those of your groupmates’3．A sample lesson plan for Using Language(Jokes about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson)AimsTo help students read the paragraph of Jokes about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson To help students to use the language by reading, listening, speaking and writing.ProceduresI. Warming upWarming up by reading school jokesThere are lots of jokes in English about school life. Read these two to see whether you will laugh or not.II. Guided reading1．Reading and translatingRead the paragraph on page 22 and translate it into Chinese sentence by sentence.2. Reading and underliningNext you are to read the paragph and underline all the useful expressions or collocations in it. Copy them to your notebook after class as homework.3. Doing the exerciseNow you are going to do the exercise No. 1 on page 22.III.Guided SpeakingThink of funny stories in English and telll them to your group mates.IV.Guided Writing—Learn to write jokesThere are two main parts to the structure of a joke. The first prepares you for the laugh by telling a story which creates a sense of expectation. The second part of the joke, the punch line, provokes laughter by telling an unexpected and different story, yet one which is still compatible with the first, as in this example: "My wife just ran off with my best friend. Boy, do I miss him." and "I had a mud pack facial done, and for three days my face looked much better. Then the mud fell off." Notice the assumption that is made in both these examples. In the first, you assume the person telling the story is angry with his wife, so the punch line surprises you because he's feeling something different and unexpected. Again, in the second example, you'd most likely assume the mud had been removed, leaving the face looking better, so the punch line takes you by surprise.So, to write jokes you need to practice reading statements and writing down the asumptions you make about them. You must be able to interpret the statement (first story line) in at least two different ways in order to provide the second, different story i.e. the punch line. And what to write about? Anything that interests you. Anything you have strong opinions about.Now write down your own jokes, in English.IV. Closing down by actingTo end this period, we are going to act the film by Charlie Chaplin The Great Dictator.Part Two: Teaching Resources1．A text structure analysis of NONVERBAL HUMOUR I. Type of writing and summary of the ideaII. A tree diagram of the text THEME PARKS —FUN AND MORE THAN FUNA possible version:Sliding on a banana skin. Bumping into someone. Falling down a hole. These are some of the funny things we like to see other people doing. We feel content with ourselves because thes e other people are worse off than we are. And this feeling is so called “humour〞. Charlie Chaplin is a humourous actor. He astonishes us with humourous feelings he inspired in us. Born in poverty, he became famous by using a particular form of acting in entertaining silent movies. He was a charming character, being well known throughout the world. He played a poor and homeless person, wearing large trousers, carrying a walking stick. Be a social failure, he was, in the movies, loved by all the people. By overcoming difficulties, by being kind to people unkind to him, by making a sad situation entertaining, by eating a boiled shoe, Charlie Chaplin make us happy and excited. His use of nonverbalhumour excellent in the film The Gold Runed in the middle of the nineteenth century in ,California where gold was dicovered. In search of gold people rushed there, panning for gold, washing gold from water in a pan of water, hoping to ipick up gold.Such is Charlie Chaplin who produced, directed, and wrote movies that he starred in. He was given a special Oscar in 1972 for his lifetime outstanding work of bringing humour to us all.2．Background information on theme parksI. Six ways to improve your nonverbal communications1. Eye contact:Eye contact, an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of communication. And it signals interest in others. Furthermore, eye contact with audiences increases the speaker's credibility. Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility.2. Facial expressions:Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:•Happiness•Friendliness•Warmth•Liking•AffiliationThus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and students will react favorably and learn more.3. Gestures:If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. A lively and animated teaching style captures students' attention, makes the material more interesting, facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment. Head nods, a form of gestures, communicate positive reinforcement to students and indicate that you are listening.4. Posture and body orientation:You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit. Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to students that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Furthermore, interpersonal closeness results when you and your students face each other. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided; it communicates disinterest to your class.5. Proximity:Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with students. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading students' space. Some of these are: •Rocking•Leg swinging•Tapping•Gaze aversionTypically, in large college classes space invasion is not a problem. In fact, there is usually too much distance. To counteract this, move around the classroom to increase interaction with your students. Increasing proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for students to speak.6. Paralinguistics:This facet of nonverbal communication includes such vocal elements as: •Tone•Pitch•Rhythm•Timbre•Loudness•InflectionFor maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary these six elements of your voice.One of the major criticisms is of instructors who speak in a monotone. Listeners perceive these instructors as boring and dull. Students report that they learn less and lose interest more quickly when listening to teachers who have not learned to modulate their voices.7. Humor:Humor is often overlooked as a teaching tool, and it is too often not encouraged in college classrooms. Laughter releases stress and tension for both instructor and student. You should develop the ability to laugh at yourself and encourage students to do the same. It fosters a friendly classroom environment that facilitates learning. (Lou Holtz wrote that when his players felt successful he always observed the presence of good humor in the locker room.)Obviously, adequate knowledge of the subject matter is crucial to your success; however, it's not the only crucial element. Creating a climate that facilitates learning and retention demands good nonverbal and verbal skills. To improve your nonverbal skills, record your speaking on video tape. Then ask a colleague in communications to suggest refinements.II. Biography of Charlie ChaplinCharlie Chaplin was born Charles Spencer Chaplin in London, England on 16 April 1889. His parents, Charles Chaplin, Sr and Hannah Hill were music hall entertainersbut separated shortly after Charlie was born, leaving Hannah to provide for her children. In 1896 when Hannah was no longer able to care for her children, Charlie and his brother Sydney were admitted to Lambeth Workhouse and later, Hanwell School for Orphans and Destitute Children.Charlie had already debuted in the music hall in 1894, when he had sung a song after his mother was taken hoarse.1903-1906Performs in Sherlock Holmes, as the newspaper boy Billy1906-1907The Casey Circus1907-1910Works with the Karno Pantomime Troupe1910-1912First tour of USA/Canada with Karno Troupe1912-1913Second tour of USA/Canada with Karno TroupeMay 1913Accepts offer from Adam Kessel (who has interests in the Keystone Film Company) for $125/week29 December 1913Signs contract with KeystoneJan/Feb 1914Charlie Chaplin's first film: Making a Living1914Keystone filmsNov 1914Signs with Essanay for $1,250/week to make 14 films during 19151915Essanay films27 Feb 1916Signs with Mutual Film Corporation for $10,000/week plus $150,000 bonus1916-1917Mutual films17 June 1917Signs with First National Exhibitor's Circuit for $1,075,000/year2．Words and expressions from Unit 3 A taste of English humourverbal a. verbal skill 运用语言的能力I wrote a memorandum to confirm our verbal agreement. 我写了份备忘录以确认我们的口头协议。
