Hello, everybody. Do you ever have a moment when you've read a passage or a book and you're eager to write something, but unfortunately, you don't know how?
This class, we're going to learn Unit 9 Writing Workshop, a Learning Reflection. It'll teach you how to read and write a learning reflection. Let's get started and enjoy it.
First, let's look at the learning objectives. I'd like you to read them together to clearly understand your tasks. Great. Have you found the main tasks of this class? You need to identify the structure, content, and language of the text, summarize the writing tips, and write an outline.
Now, let's begin our lesson. I want you to guess what a reflection is. Look at the two pictures and think about it. A reflection can be an image in a mirror. Can you see the cute cat's image in the mirror? It can also mean a careful thought about something. Then, what is a learning reflection? Look at the picture, talk to each other, and think about it. You learn something, perhaps you don't succeed at something, you think about it, and you hope to make some changes.
Now, are you clear about what a reflection is? In the last three classes, we finished Learning Lesson 3, The Secrets of Your Memory. Today, we're going to read a learning reflection on the text, which was your homework. Most of you did a great job drawing a mind map of Lesson 3. Look at this one. Don't you think it's very beautiful, clear, and well - organized? It has four questions raised by students, the truth provided by the expert, and some advice. Your mind map shows that you've mastered the content of the text quite well. Then, if you were the writer, what would you reflect on after reading the text? And do you still remember the process we just went through? Learn, fail, think, and make changes. Now, first, let's read the text as a whole. I'll give you 5 minutes to read it. You need to figure out what each paragraph is about and match the paragraphs with the main ideas. Paragraph 1, c, reflections on my past knowledge about memory. Paragraph 2, b, reflections on what I've learned from the lesson. Paragraph 3, a, what I can do to improve my memory. The structure of the text is very clear. Can you make the main ideas even shorter? Yes, good. Past knowledge about memory and a new idea, present understanding, and future plans. Do you have the structure of a learning reflection in your mind now? Just now, we identified the structure of the text. Next, we'll read the text paragraph by paragraph to understand the contents. Carefully read the first paragraph, take out your handout, and complete the table. There are only two sentences, so it should be easy to finish. Let's check the answers together. Who am I? So we can say the passage is written in the first person. What did I do? I read the passage The Secrets of Your Memory. What is the influence of the learning? The learning has helped me better understand how my memory works. Now I know there are so many interesting things about our memory. From the words "helped" and "interesting", we can say the result of the learning is that what I've learned is useful and interesting. That is to say, the writer enjoys the learning. Now, can you get Writing Tip 1: a short but very clear beginning. Everybody, when you're writing, remember to start with a short and clear beginning. Now, let's read the second paragraph. You need to read and answer three questions. The first question, what did I learn? Read and underline the answers. Knowing the truth is important. But what do they mean to me? Most of us will make an effort to make the best use of our memory. Everyone, can you get something deeper from these sentences? You're right. Nobody can succeed easily. You should make full use of your valuable time and opportunities. Here, we can get Writing Tip 2: we should write not only the truth we've learned, but also the influence of the learning on you. Because the purpose of learning is to find useful ways to solve problems. Can you guess what will be written in the third paragraph? Let's look at the first sentence. How do you understand it? The sentence tells us that knowing the facts about the secrets of our memory is not enough. We should also know the ways to improve our memory. "Not only... but also" plays the role of pushing the meaning of the sentence forward. This is called a Progressive Relationship. Question 2, what will I do then? Please find the answers and mark them out. You can just pick out the keywords and their objects. I'd like someone to come here and write your answers on the blackboard. Follow the advice and strengthen my memory. Learn to do spaced - review and make plans for the work. So, when you're writing, if you don't know what to say, you can refer back to the reading passage you're reflecting on and find some information. Now, let's look at question 3. What is my attitude after the learning? It is positive. Where can you find my attitude? From the last sentence in the text, "I'm sure these methods will help me improve my learning." So, from this paragraph, we know the author believes that the learning is useful and he wants to do something to change his approach. Here, we get Writing Tip 3: positively plan to make some changes after understanding the content of the three paragraphs. Next, we're going to talk about the language of the passage. As we all know, if you want to write well, the language is very important. Take out your handout, read the paragraph before and after filling in the blanks using the words given in the box. The important thing is to compare the differences. Now, I'd like to ask two students to read the passage before and after filling in the blanks. Can you feel the differences? Can you feel the relationship among the three sentences? The meaning is pushed forward progressively. Everybody, the meanings of the sentences are related to each other. Don't you think it's amazing and necessary? Let's continue and find more. This is the first paragraph. Read the red words "I didn't know" and the words in the circle "Now I understand". It's very clear that these two sentences are also related. And because they're in two different paragraphs, the two paragraphs are fluently connected because of these two sentences. This is called cohesion, which can occur between sentences or paragraphs. Let's move on to the third paragraph. Fill in the blanks in your handout. Can you find more cohesion? Work in groups, compare your answers, and give your reasons. "Not only... but also", "I will follow", "I will try", "Moreover, I must also learn", "In addition, it is important to make plans". I'm sure you can figure out the function of the words you've just filled in from the sentences. Everybody, what is the first sentence? It's a topic sentence. And the following sentences are the supporting details. They make the idea in the first sentence clearer. Do you want to give it a try in your writing? Let's have a look at the relationship between the second and the last paragraph. Look at the last sentence of the second paragraph and think about the content of the third paragraph. Again, the meanings of the two sentences are closely related. Cohesion occurs between the two paragraphs. The sentences and paragraphs are related to each other. How does this happen? Addition linkers play a very important role. "Also", "What's more", "Moreover", "Not only... but also" can show a progressive relationship. "In addition" has a coordinating relationship. There are more linkers in the passage, like "For me, it is good to know", "That is to say", "This means", "Especially", "For example". They can show reflection, connection, explanation, emphasis, or exemplification. Can you find them in the text after class and discuss their meanings and usage with each other? Now, we get Writing Tip 4: use cohesion between sentences and paragraphs. Okay, now let's summarize what a good learning reflection should have. Work in groups and discuss. What elements should a good learning reflection include? Think about what we've learned just now and write down your answers. You can compare your summaries among different groups. A good learning reflection should have a clear structure, with three paragraphs discussing past knowledge, present understanding, and future plans. Second, you need to have well - thought - out content. Third, you need to have well - written language, including using addition linkers and paying attention to cohesion among sentences and between paragraphs. Is it clear now? We've talked a lot about how to read a learning reflection. And you've done a great job summarizing the writing tips. Now, it's time for you to write something. Most of you have problems learning English, which is a language. Lesson 2 in this unit gives us some learning tips on how to make progress, how to learn words and grammar. You can read the listening script on page 108 and write a reflection. You only need to finish writing the outline in class because time is limited. Okay, here's an outline. Do you think it's well - written? Work in groups and talk about it. Now, let's say it together. You should remember past knowledge, present understanding, and future plan. You should include all three. And the topic is language learning tips. You should focus on the topic. Don't change it to something else. Also, you need to be clear and specific. Don't be too general. And here we have another one. Read it and compare the differences. Let's read it together. Paragraph 1, my past knowledge about English learning tips. Paragraph 2, reflections on what I've learned. Paragraph 3, what I can do to improve my English learning and my expectations. It's written in the same way we've learned. If you follow this outline, it'll be quite possible for you to write a good learning reflection. Now, let's watch a short video and listen to the song Reflection. Try to understand Mulan's reflections on herself and think about your own life. "Look at me. I will never pass for a perfect bride or a perfect daughter. Can it be? I'm not meant to play this part. Now I see that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart. With that girl I see staring straight back at me. Why is my reflection someone I don't know? I cannot hide who I am, though I've tried. When will my reflection show who I am inside? When will my reflection show who I am inside?"