Design Proper Classroom Activities in Different Teaching Steps.doc

design proper classroom activities in different teaching steps摘要：本文主要阐述了如何设计不同的教学步骤中的课堂活动。在英语课堂教学中，课堂活动对教学目标的实现有重要作用。选用和创造课堂活动方法要遵循一定的教学原则和教材的特点，还要结合课堂教学的具体内容，特别是与不同的课堂教学步骤相一致。教学步骤和教学内容不同，方法就会有不同。教学步骤的进行是一个动态的过程，因此，课堂教学活动也必须随着教学步骤的推进而变化，这样才能实现课堂活动为教学目标的实现服务的目的。在本文中主要以“三p”理论为主要参考模式，该模式十分清楚地将课堂步骤分为导入，练习和应用三个阶段。本文先从分析不同的教学步骤中不同的目标和教学内容开始；然后指出这些不同的教学步骤中要遵循的共同的指导原则；最后在这些指导原则下，举出一些实例来阐述原则的具体实施。关键词：英语课堂教学, 课堂活动，教学步骤， abstract: this article mainly describes how to design the classroom activities in different teaching steps. in the english language teaching, classroom activities are very important to attain the teaching aim in the different teaching steps. the proper types of classroom activities must follow the scientific teaching rules and theories, especially corresponding to the different teaching steps. considering the different characteristics of the different teaching steps and contents, different classroom activities should be designed correctly. here, we adopt the current “3p”theory as a model, which divides the teaching steps into “presentation, practice, production” three stages. whats more, the process of teaching is a mobile process, so we should design the classroom activities according to the different teaching steps. firstly, the article will analyze the different teaching aims and contents in different teaching steps. secondly, the same guiding rules and theories will be introduced in the different classroom activities. lastly, under the guiding rules, there will be some apparent and practical examples to explain the performance of the classroom activities.key words: elt, classroom activities, teaching stepsi. the different aspects in eltthe new english teaching outline of senior school points out: “the english lesson, like a tool, is full of the practicality. so, in english teaching, the students elementary knowledge should be transformed into speech competence, and finally into the communicative competence. “as we known, speech competence only can be acquired in practical language activities, similarly, it is that through the practical activities in english teaching, the communicative competence can be gained. additionally, with the development of the teaching methods and teaching ideas, more and more teachers tend to finish the teaching task through the effective and interesting activities. therefore, it is very critical and necessary for a qualified teacher to design and carry on effective and correct classroom activities, which can increase the classroom teaching efficiency and cultivate the students practical competence. when we want to design the proper classroom activities in the different teaching steps, the first thing we must know clearly is how they connect together. as every teacher knows, there many different aspects in english teaching, such as different teaching steps, different teaching aims, different teaching contents and different types of classroom activities, ect. elt is a mobile process, understanding the relationship between the different aspects is also a key step to carry on a teaching procedure logically and reasonably. we must know the relative factors, which influence the classroom activities in different teaching steps. considering the complexity of teaching process, we need a clear and scientific theory to guide us. here, we adopt the “3p” theory as a model, which divided the teaching process into three levels: presentation, practice and production. ii. the analysis of “3p” theory2.1 the features of the different levels in “3p”the students can learn the language forms, language meanings and language functions by the plentiful classroom activities. the teacher can introduce the new language terms or points for students through it. it is a process of grading improvement according to the different teaching steps, teaching contents and teaching aims. the different levels of language study must be proceed step by step. at the same time, the classroom activities arrangement should be from swallow into deep, from easy to difficult. the three levels “presentation, practice and production” are independent oppositely and unified mutually.2.1.1 the first levelpresentationpresentation includes mainly the mechanical practice, which is controlled by teacher totally. the purpose is to help students understand the new language terms written forms and spoken forms. at the same time, the students can form the new language habits. the classroom activities in this level had better be designed simple and available. the students can answer the questions without excessive consideration. but the practice density should be intense and the practice frequency should be fast as much as possible. thus, the students can be absorbed by the interesting classroom activities in a tense and energetic atmosphere.2.1.2 the second level-practiceit includes mainly the meaningful practice, which is controlled by teacher partly. the teacher can give the students wider comprehension and thinking space. each student will show his specials skills and have their own fruits. the familiarity for language form will be connected with the grasp for the language meaning. through the methods, the students have a deeper understanding for the new language terms. the new language terms is consolidated by the practices. the teaching rhythm should be slowed down and the teaching frequency should become lower. but the classroom activities should be finished with great passion and active atmosphere.2.1.3 the third level-productionit is attained by the free and communicative classroom activities. free form means the teacher need not control students action so strictly, compared with the above two levels. students might be just under the guiding or supervise of the teachers. and the students can finish the activities according to their understanding. the fluent communicative skills will be improved in the process. the teacher can transform the forms of language practices, which centered as the text content into the practical practices, which centered as the expressing and using. thus, in the help of various simulating communicative situations, the students can use their language knowledge to solve the problems in reality.through the analysis, the three levels are related together closely. the teacher cannot overcome, delete or converse their sequence. the two thinking way is the basement of the reasonable teaching steps. so when the classroom activities and the teaching steps are designed, we must make careful choices according to the different features of the three levels and under the certain requirements. 2.2 the forms of the classroom activities in the “3p” 2.2.1 the general forms of classroom activities in the “3p”according to the different features in the different three levels and under the different requirements of the teaching outline and teaching materials, we can design various classroom activities. some of the following activities come from teachers experiences level training timethe forms of classroom activities presentation6-8 minuteslisten and discern the wordlisten to the tape and answer the questionsread after the tape or the teacher read by themselvesrecite the passage chaining questiontransform the sentencechange the vocabulary gendercompete to spell the wordgap-filling practice10-12 minutesimitate dialogueask question by the studentstranslate sentencesmake sentenceretell passagechange the storylook at the picture and speak expand the sentence (sentence tree)bingo activitiesproduction8-10 minutesrole-playrole-conferencediscuss in groupsstimulate situation guess the word meaningrewrite the story in the textwrite in imitating way word associationcriticize the famous persondiscuss the pictureshorten the text in the table, the classroom activity arrangements have certain sequence and levels. the forms in the different levels can substitute each other because the practical situation of the lesson is changing continuously. generally speaking, the first level and the second levels activities are based on the text contents, while the third level is based on the communicating skills. in the three levels ,the most important is to train the students communicative competence. 2.2.2 a concrete example in “3p”now, we will take lesson 90,unit 23, junior english for china as a typical example, in which we will introduce the concrete teaching methods and steps. for example: step 1. presentation (12minutes)(1) class begins. greeting.(2) ask a student to find two chairs for the teacher, using “could you help me, please?”(3) when we need help, we can say this, “could you help me, please?” write the sentence on the blackboard. stress: “dont forget to say please?”(4) watch the video and answer some questions.(5) listen to the tape and read after it.(6) moral improvement: it is good to help others. it is good to be helpful.step 2.practice(1) write “put it on the small table, please. ”on the blackboard. explain the positive and the negative forms of imperative sentences.(2) play game1: “i say, you do.” and then “you say, i do.”(3) tell the students to do the right things both inside and outside the school.(4) review the nouns about clothes. (showing projector picture no.1)(5) review the adjectives about colors. (using the same picture).the game, which is popular with the students, is an effective form of classroom activities. when the teacher designs the classroom activity (game1), the students age is a key point to considerate necessarily. after presenting the dull grammar term, the interesting classroom activities promote the students interest. game 1 is about the revision of imperative sentence. firstly, the teacher demonstrates to the students, “please put left hand on your right eye. put your hand on the books, please.” she stresses the polite word “please”. it is an apparent example of the accuracy in practice level. after the student grasp the fundamental knowledge, the students can practice repeatedly according to the teachers directive order. “please come here. please jump. sing a song, please.” the two-step illustrates the classroom activities features in the practice level. the students finish the activities under the guides from the teachers. meanwhile, the teachers should do every motion companying with the students. dont just look at or supervise them because the interacting effect will be evident and important.step 3. production(1) ask special questions and show projector no.2 step by step.(2) play game 2: “guess the correct answers to the questions.”(3) write “who, what, how, whose-“on the blackboard.(4) play game 3: “find out who is my friend.” (a contest between boys and girls)(5) fill in the blanks with the right words. (showing projector picture no. 3)(6) check the answers and ask the students to tell the differences between general questions and special questions.(7) sum up the lesson.in this level, the second activity is consolidating practice about special questions. the teacher designs the classroom activity according to the common rules, which we had mentioned above: the ladder from easy to difficult. at the same time, the teacher combines the listening, speaking, and writing together closely in a clear and reasonable logic sequence step by step. firstly, the teacher shows a general introduction about the special questions to the students. the students can listen to every question and understand it. whats more, the separated picture offer informationgap for students to stir up their interests.game 3 is the development of the game 2. after the teacher giving the students a model, the student can design the content of the question according to the present situation in the classroom. and then they have a spoken practice also. the activities make a full use of an effective teaching methodimitating situation. the method promotes every students interest and warmth to communicate and participate the classroom activities. they long for participating the activities greatly. they can say “i have a friend in this class, she is wearing a red coat- now, you can guess who is she/he?” the teacher designs a contest between the boys and girls. the classroom activity gains the good effect and reaches the climax of the lesson. iii. the general guiding theories in the developing process of “3p”3.1 the deductive method and inductive methodall the teaching activities in the teaching process are a kind of thinking process, which must contain certain logic sequence. so, every levels and stages in teaching steps must obtain a reasonable logic. the logic rationalization in the teaching process reflects in the following aspects: the process of the classroom activities conforms to the general rules of thought. the inductive method and the deductive method are the two main ways to think in mans mind. whats more, they can give a scientific theory guiding to the “3p” model“presentation, practice and production”. among the methods for teaching, the deductive method and inductive method have been discussed and used most frequently. they will offer a clear clue for the teaching steps. in fact, the nature of the “3p” method is similar with the logic process of thinking.in the inductive method, the teachers introduce the learner to realize the grammar rules without any form of explicit explanation. it is believed that the rues will become evident if the students are given enough appropriate examples. after several similar examples, the students will understand the content of new language points, the students can apply the newly learned structure to produce sentences with given visual aids or verbal prompt. the teacher tries to say nothing except to correct when necessary. finally, but optionally, the teacher may elicit the language rules from the students it is believed the inductive method is more effective in that the students can discover the rules, especially the grammar rules while engaged in language use. this is especially true with grammatical regularities, which are easily perceived, understood and applied.the deductive method relies on reasoning, analyzing and comparing. first, the teacher writes an example on the blackboard or draws attention to an example in the teacher. then teacher explains the underlying rules regarding the forms and positions o certain structural words. the explanations are grammatical terms. but the deductive method is often criticized because. it teaches grammar in isolated way. little attention is paid to meaning. the practice is often mechanical. however, this method has its own merits: firstly, it could be very successful with selected and students. second, it could save time when students are confronted with a grammar rule which is complex but which has to be learned. third, it may help to increase students confidence, which are written with accuracy.in practice, the distinction between the deductive method and the inductive method is not always apparent; perhaps a blend of the two is indeed more appropriate. finally, learners variables and instructional variables need to be considered when teachers decide to use a deductive method or an inductive method or a combination of both.so from the above description for the theories , we can know, the students can learn english through a various classroom activities. no one form of classroom activities is subject to no change, because it must meet the needs of the varied teaching aims and situations. they have their own principle and fitful forms gradually in the teaching process development. on the other hand, different forms share some generalities. under the guiding of this generalities, the teacher can design the more perfect and effective classroom activities. 3.2 from the structural to functional methodgenerally speaking, the gradation of the classroom activities should be performed on the basis of fundamental language points and skills in some flexible forms. in history, all methodology schools, which were in favor of structures, stress accurate practice. they viewed that language was a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning. the aims of language learning were seen as the mastery of elements of this system, which are generally defined in terms of grammatical units, grammatical operations and lexical items. maintain language was a set of symbol system with emphasis on pattern practices and activities. lack of practical performance and practice, students is insufficient to gain language competence. based the functional language, another school take function and communicative as a key factors of teaching task, emphasizing doing things in language. they think language is a vehicle to express its fundamental meaning. the theory emphasizes the communicative dimension rather than grammatical characteristics of english. the classroom activities do a lot of practice in various forms. it is general classified as following: cloze test, fillin blank, correct errors, structure-transformation exercises including substitution practice, transformation practice. the activities have the apparent characteristics of the presentation and practice level. you can not converse their level arrangements. it corresponds to the rules: from structure to function. here you must take a notice for their sequence. before arranging the practices, the teacher should know clearly how to make choices between the structural and functional practice.the structural view sees language system made up of various subsystems: from morphological, lexical to sentences. each language has a finite number of such structural items. to learn a language means to learn these structural terms, so as to understand language points.the functional view sees language as a linguistic system but also a means for d