Lesson 65

Teaching purposes:

Have the students read the text “My teacher” and understand it well. Introduce the writer Helen Keller---a famous American writer and lecturer so that the students can learn the spirit of self-support from her. Have the students learn some language points: a born teacher; …many times she tried to spell words…(attributive clause); took me by the hand…; bring…into touch with; look back upon/on; ect.

Teaching processes:

Step 1 Introduction

Ask: Do you know by whom the text was written?

Show a picture of Helen Keller and tell the students that Helen Keller (1880-1968), American author and lecturer, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When 19 months old, she was stricken with an acute illness that left her deaf and blind. With her teacher Annie Sullivan’s help, she quickly learned to read by the Braille System and to write by means of a specially constructed typewriter. In 1890 Keller learned to speak after only one month of study. Ten years later, she was able to enter Redciffe College, from which she graduated with honors in 1904. Keller then served in the Massachusetts Commission for the blind. Throughout her life she traveled and lectured in many countries, including England, France, Italy, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.

Step 2 Presentation

I. Ask a few questions on the topic of disabilities.

1. If a person cannot hear anything al all, that person is said to be (deaf).

2. Do you know people who cannot see well or cannot hear well.

3. People who are blind can learn to read books that are printed in a special way. What is the name of this writing system? (Braille)

4. How do people read Braille books? (By touching raised dots on the paper with their fingers.)

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II. Ask question in Part 1.

1. What was the writer’s problem?

--She was deaf and blind and couldn’t speak.

2. What did the writer learn during this period of her life?

--She learnt the meaning of words, she learnt to play and to laugh.

Step 3 Reading

I. Allow the students enough time to read the text and discuss their answers in pairs, the check the answers with the class.

II. Wb Ex.1 Questions:

1. Why did Helen Keller seem simple-minded before her teacher Annie Sullivan

came?

--When Sullivan came to her house, Keller was seven years old. She became deaf and blind at the age of 19 months. Because she was deaf, she could not learn to speak. Struggling in a world of silence and darkness, she seemed simple-minded.

2. What kind of person was Annie Sullivan?

--She was a lively young woman with patience and imagination.

3. Why was Annie considered to be a born teacher?

--She could turn a deaf-blind person into a useful human being.

4. Was it difficult for Annie to teach Helen at the beginning? Why?

--Yes. Because Keller could not see or hear or speak.

5. Why was April 5^th, 1887 an important day for Helen Keller?

--Because on that day Annie reached Helen’ understanding. Helen began to understand the meaning of Annie’s finger movements.

6. What was the first word taught to Helen? How was it taught her?

--The first word taught to Helen was WATER. It happened at the well where Helen was holding a jar while Annie pumped. As the water flowed onto her hand, she kept spelling w-a-t-e-r into her other hand with her fingers. Suddenly she understood.

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7. Why did Helen reach out to Annie’s hand?

--She reached out to Annie’s hand for new words, for the names of the things she touched. The words---so full of meaning—flew from her hand to hers. Those first words were to change her world.

8. How did Helen feel when the word became meaningful to her?

--It was the first joy she had know for years.

9. What was one of the first things Annie did to Helen after teaching her some new words?

--That was to teach her how to play.

10. How did Annie teach Helen the words “laugh” and “jump”?

--One day Annie came into Helen’s room laughing happily. Putting Helen’s hand on Annie’s face, she spelled l-a-u-g-h. The she touched Helen lightly on her arm and made her burst into laughter. Annie took Helen by the hand and taught her how to jump. Annie then immediately spelled the work j-u-m-p for her.

11. How was Helen made to be able to hear the noises of animals?

--Through Helen’s hands and fingers, she “heard” the sounds that one hears on a farm, the noises made by cows horses, chickens and pigs.

III. Tape

Step 4 Comprehension

Answers:

1. not clever, not intelligent, not bright

2. The writer could not hear or see anything, so lived in a silent, dark world. This felt very hard for her, and was struggle.

3. She had a natural ability as a teacher.

4. The writer understood what the teacher was doing.

5. I notice how extremely wise Annie was.

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6. quickly she used her finger to spell out many new works in the writer’s hand.

7. She made the writer laugh suddenly.

8. When the writer remembers and thinks about that period of several years.

Step 5 Prepositions

Step 6 Word study

Homework:

1. Review the lesson.

2. Recite the lesson

3. Workbook Exx. 2-4

4. Preview Lesson 66

Language points for L65

born adj. 天生的、生来的

No one is a born slave.

George was a born leader.

He was a born scientist.

No one is born a slave.

George was born a leader.

He was born a scientist.

Remember the many times she tried to spell words

into my small hand.

Who could count the times Annie tried, failed, and

then succeeded?

time

Next time you come to school, please remember to bring

your dictionaries with you.

This is the first time that Mary has ever been in China.

The last time I traveled there was in the spring of 1998.

…she reached my understanding.

=…she made me understand what her finger movements meant.

understanding 理解、理解为；同情心、同感；协议、谅解

The sentence is beyond my understanding.

There is deep understanding between them.

We have come to an understanding.

adj. 了解他人情绪或观点的，有理解力的，聪颖的

The woman was with an understanding smile.

Please be understanding. Don’t punish the child.

reach out

I reached out (my hand) to Annie’s hand.

The blind man reached out to the bottle on the table.

He reached out for the dictionary.

I reached out my hand and touched the dress with

tips of my fingers.

Next Annie took me by the hand and taught me how to jump.

He took the blind man by the right arm and crossed the street.

Suddenly somebody took her by the hair from behind.

She held him by the hand, not knowing what to say.

He seized me by the sleeve and wouldn’t let me go.

They had to drag Lucy back by dress to keep her running

off into the street.

bring…into / in touch with 使…触摸，使…接触

He brought the blind man into touch with the new toy.

Her love of music brought her in touch with pop star.

While on the expedition he was brought into touch

with many wonders of the world.

In his early childhood he was fortunate enough to be

brought in touch with some great works of music.

She also brought me into touch with everything that could be

felt – soil, wood, silk

They wanted to learn everything that interested them.

Everything (that) he said has been proved untrue.

You can take anything (that) you like.

In his talk I found something that seemed very important.

It seems that there’s nothing (that) you want?

look back upon / on 回顾，回想过去

The aged people like to book back upon the old days.

It is pleasant to look back on our childhood.

Looking back on the war years, he talked about a terrible

event he experienced in his student days.

Look forward. Don’t look back.

strike (struck, struck) give the impression of

给留下深刻的印象

I am struck by Annie’s wisdom.

We were struck by the professor’s speech.

The audience were struck by the performance of the singers.

Many readers are struck by the rich imagination of the

science-fiction writer Asimov.

hear from

I haven’t heard from her since I saw her last year.

We cannot give you a definite answer until we hear from our

head from our head office.

She left in early December and has not been heard from since.

get back 恢复、回复到 （return to a former condition）

She has got her strength back after her illness.

I woke early, but couldn’t get back to sleep.

New, let’s get back to the second part of the story.

get back 回来 (come back)

后退 (move backwards or away) 收回 (regain)

When will you get back? ---About 7 o’clock.

Get back! The roof is falling!

He decided to get back the watch (to get the watch back).

demanding adj. 苛刻的，要求极高的，劳神费力的

This was demanding work, but she didn’t refuse it.

She had to look after the demanding child.

never…until

Don’t start the work until we get more information.

Never leave the office until I come back.

He never know the importance of English until he took

a job in a coastal city.

One can never go abroad until he / she gets the visa.

Helen could never understand the meaning of a word until

You do it by yourself.

…what I did was as good as that of the best of a normal

person.=…what I did was as good as the best of a

normal person.

The production cost this year is as low as that of last year.

The quality of this type of machine is as high as that of the

machine made in Japan.

What is explained in this dictionary is as good as that in

advanced dictionaries.

What is explained in this dictionary is better than that in

ordinary dictionaries.

The election result this time is worse than that of last time.

The production cost is 10% lower than that of the same period

last year.

Those machines are better than those we produced last year.

ill-mannered ill-fated

ill-tempered ill-timed

ill-gotten

Your remark is ill-timed.

He would rather live in poverty than seek ill-gotten wealth.

To Annie I owe thanks for this priceless gift of speech.

=I owe thanks to Annie for this priceless gift of speech.

He owed thanks to his father for his knowledge of music.

owe vt. 欠钱、欠债 （欠情、感恩、感激、归功于）

owe sth. to sb.

I owed 50 yuan to him (I owed him 50 yuan.)

We still owe 12,000 yuan to the building company.

We owe thanks to our teacher for the experiments.

My teacher’s gifted instruction lived on after her death.

He was gifted with rare talents.

I think he is a gifted pianist.

No matter what he says, I won’t believe him.

No matter what you do, do it well.

You’ll always be welcome, no matter when you come.

No matter where we went, we found people friendly.

Keeping on beginning.

Although it started raining, we kept on working.

Don’t give up, keep on trying.

The teacher kept on asking the students questions until the bell rang.

He caught such a bad cold that he kept coughing all morning.

He kept on phoning me, but I really didn’t want to talk to him.

We can say: He kept on talking/working/writing.

Don’t say: He kept on sitting/sleeping/standing.

I gave her some money on the understanding that she should

spend it on books.

on the understanding that = on condition that

You can go home on the understanding that you should

finish your homework.

We would call in the police on the understanding that you

should not stop making so much noise.