Unit 9 Learning
Lesson 3 The Secrets of Your Memory
【教学目标】
Students will be able to
1. read a text about memory
2. read for detail and correct false statements
3. understand the main theme of each paragraph in an extended text
4. correct mistakes in a summary of the reading text
5. study and understand the subject–verb agreement rules in sentences
6. discuss tips on memory improvement
【教学重难点】
1. reading for detail and understanding the main themes
2. Talking about ways to improve memory
【教学过程】
1. Talk about memory by identifying things that are easy to
remember.
1) In small groups, volunteer students discuss their first memory.
2) Volunteers can share their answers with the class.
3) Explain to students that the human brain remembers information
roughly categorised into broader groups.
4) Read the bulleted list.
5) Conduct a survey to find out which things are the easiest and the
hardest to remember. Each student shares the category they remember best
and the one they struggle to remember.
2. What do you want to know about memory?
1) Give an example of one or two questions you would like to ask a
memory expert, e.g., Does age play a role in the human’s brain ability to
store and recall information? Is there any special food that helps memory?
2) In pairs, students note down 4–5 questions that they would like to
ask a memory expert.
3) If possible, students can find the answers online.
4) Each student shares at least one question they would like to ask.
3. Read the text and find out.
1) Ask students to quickly skim through the text and find out if any of
the questions they noted down in Activity 2 are answered by the memory
expert.
2) Students share the questions and answers that were addressed.
4. Read again, write T or F, and correct false statements.
1) Read the statements. Ask volunteer students to read the text.
Explain any difficult words.
2) Read each statement again. Students answer if they are true or false
from memory. Do not confirm their answers at this point.
3) Independently, students read through the text to check their answers
and correct the false statements.
4) To help struggling students, give them the paragraph number where
the information for each statement is included.
5) Read out loud each statement and pause after each one for students
to call out “true” or “false” in chorus. If the answer is “false”, invite a
volunteer to come to the board and write the corrected statement.
5. Pair Work: Offer suggestions.
1) In pairs, students read each paragraph in the text and discuss further
advice that they would suggest. Revise empathy with the students. What do
you do when you can’t remember something? What memory tricks do you
suggest?
2) If possible, students can research online some advice for each
question.
3) Review the answers as a class. Write the useful advice on the board.
6. Match suggestions and questions.
1) Read through each suggestion. Explain any difficult words.
2) Students need to connect each comment to one of the four
paragraphs in the reading text on pages 58 and 59. Then, students write the
suggestions on the lines provided in the text.
3) Review the answers as a class.
4) Compare the suggestions students gave in Activity 5 with the
suggestions in Activity 6.Which suggestions are more helpful? Which
suggestion works best for you? Why? Which suggestion was surprising?
7. Find out truths and advice.
1) Point out to students that each of Jemima Gryaznov’s answers can
be divided into two sections: the truth and the advice section. Go through
the first answer with the class and have volunteers identify the two parts to
illustrate what students need to do.
2) Students note the four truths and advice that Jemima Gryaznov
gives in the text.
3) Review the answers as a class. Which truth is the most significant to
you? Why?
8. Group Work: Think and share.
1) Students underline the most and least convincing words in the text
that Jemima Gryaznov puts forward using two different colours.
2) Students discuss what methods she uses to convince others and
share their answers in small groups.
3) Challenge students in each group to convince one another of each
answer that is being questioned.
Conduct a class survey to find the most and least convincing answer
shared by the majority of students.
4) Assign groups of students to search online for additional
information that could beer support or deny this answer.
9. Find words and phrases to replace underlined words.
1) Revise synonyms with students. In pairs, students replace the
underlined words and phrase with the words from the text. Remind students
that the meaning must be similar.
2) Help students who are struggling by giving the first letter of the
word or the paragraph number where the word can be found.
3) Read aloud the sentences and pause before each item for students to
call out the answer in chorus.
4) Encourage students to provide their own words or expressions for
the underlined part in the sentences.
10. Find subjects and use the correct verbs to complete sentences.
1) Write this example on the board: “We remembers things that have
strong connections in our mind.” Ask students to think whether there’s
anything wrong with the sentence (the verb “remembers” should be plural
to match the subject “we”.) Ask students to correct the mistake, i.e., change
the verb to “remember”.
2) Explain to students that in English the verb always needs to match
the subject in terms of singular/plural form and that this is called
“subject–verb agreement”. Find out whether this is the case in the students’
first language.
3) Point out that the -ing form of verbs, when used as a subject, is
considered as singular.
4) Revise subjects of the sentence with students; the subject of a
sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being
something.
5) Read the sentence frames in the Sentence Builder. Independently,
students complete the task. Remind students to first circle the subject in
each sentence.
6) In pairs, students read their answers and listen if they sound correct.
7) Review the answers as a class.
11. Group Work: Read the tips and discuss the most/least useful
ones.
1) In small groups, students read and discuss the tips.
2) Each student explains, with reasoning, which is the most and least
useful tips for learning English.
3) Conduct a class survey to find out the most and least popular tips of
all.