Group work:Ask the students to talk about Marco Polo and his travel around China.Then work in groups.Ask and answer questions with the help of a map of the world.

After a while, ask some groups to give a report in front of the class.

Group 1:Marco Polo came to China when he was 17 years old.He was from Italy.He took many things to Italy.They were coal, paper, a lot of silk, tea and other goods.He travelled on boats, horses and camels.His journey lasted about twenty years.He was a very great man.He wrote a famous book about his travels to China.

1.Show the new words:Lead the students to learn the new words and expressions.Ask them to make sentences with the new words and expressions.

T:What’s your age?

S10:I’m twelve years old.

T:Now read after me “age”.

S:age.

…

2.Work in pairs.Try to make dialogues with the new words, expressions and patterns:age, Europe, Asia, journey, king, coal, discover, invent, other, at the age of…, between…and…, work for, be new to.Then ask some pairs to act them out.

S11:Did you go to Europe?

S12:Yes.I went to Europe at the age of ten.

S11:What did you think of the journey?

S12:It was wonderful.

S11:Who discovered coal first in the world?

S12:The Chinese.

S11:Who discovered paper first in the world?

…

1.Listen to the text and finish Exercise 1 in Let’s Do It.

(1)At the age of 　　　　, Marco Polo went to China. 

twenty　 seventeen　 sixteen

(2)Marco Polo and his father moved goods between 　　　　on the Silk Road. 

America and Asia　Europe and Asia　Europe and America

(3)Marco Polo learned about 　　　　in China. 

tea and paper　 coal and silk　coal and paper

【Keys】　(1)seventeen　(2)Europe and Asia　(3)coal and paper

2.Listen and imitate after it.Ask the students to pay attention to the pronunciation and intonation.

1.Read the lesson and finish Exercise 2 in Let’s Do It.

(1)What country did Marco Polo come from?

(2)How did he and his brother travel?

(3)How long did his journey last?

(4)When did he travel to Beijing?

(5)What did he bring back to his home country?

【Keys】　(1)Italy.

(2)They travelled on boats, horses and camels.

(3)His journey lasted about twenty years.

(4)In 1275.

(5)He brought back some coal, paper, silk, tea and other things.

2.Read the text and fill in the blanks.

Jenny’s project is about Marco Polo and 　　　　.He travelled along the Silk Road with his 　　　　and 　　　　.Later, he travelled with his 　　　　.They travelled on 　　　　, horses and camels.The journey lasted about 　　　　years.In 　　　　, he travelled to Beijing.He met the 　　　　and worked for him for 　　　　years.Marco Polo learned about 　　　　and 　　　　in China.He brought back a lot of 　　　　, 　　　　and other goods. 

【Keys】　the Silk Road, father, uncle, brother, boats, twenty, 1275, king, 17, coal, paper, silk, tea

3.Group work:Read the text; ask and answer the questions.

Read the text first, then ask at least 3 questions.After a while, you can ask anyone in your class to answer your questions.

Group 1:

(1)What is Jenny’s project about?

(2)How long did Marco Polo work for the king of China?

(3)What was Marco Polo’s book about?

【Keys】　(1)It’s about Marco Polo and the Silk Road.

(2)For 17 years.

(3)It was about his travels to China.

1.Retell the story.Work in groups.Show a map of Li Ming and his friends’ travel route.Ask the students to point at the map and retell the text.

Choose the best groups and praise them.

2.Practise the Simple Past Tense.Show some verbs on the screen.The verbs include regular verbs and irregular verbs.Ask the students to write the answers down in English.For example:

Irregular Verbs

am/is—was　buy—bought　begin—began

cut—cut    drink—drank    eat—ate

fall—fell  feel—felt  forget—forgot

give—gave  go—went    hear—heard

keep—kept  make—made  pay—paid

ride—rode

3.Work in groups.Talk about one of their favourite trips.After a few minutes, ask some groups to give a report in front of the class.

4.Work in groups:Ask the students to make sentences with the language points.Teacher knows whether the students understand the language points from their sentences.

1.Review and recite the important points of Lesson 8.

2.Find and write down interesting facts about a famous character.