Reading Unit 1

Self-reflection: Think of the most recent fight with your friend. What caused it?

Group discussion: The reasons leading to a broken friendship · Not trusting each other · Misunderstanding · Lacking communication · There being conflicts in interest · Not caring each other enough ……

Group work: What puzzle do you have in getting along with you friends? Write down the puzzles on a piece of Paper and then exchange the piece with another group.

Brainstorming: Who can we turn to for help when we have problems with our friends? parents teachers …… magazine advice columnists

Secrets and lies Read the title of the passage and the first sentence of the first paragraph, and try to predict the main idea of the letter.

Secrets and lies Fast reading: Secret:______________________ Lie:_________________________ Sarah got a D in a surprise Maths test. Hannah denied having let out the secret.

Secrets and lies Careful reading: Questions: 1.Why do you think Sarah and Hannah could be good friends before ? 2. Why did Sarah tell Hannah that they weren’t going to be friends any more? 3. What might have caused their friendship to break?

1.Why do you think Sarah and Hannah could be good friends before ? They were like each other and had much in common.

2. Why did Sarah tell Hannah that they weren’t going to be friends any more? Because she thought Hannah had told everyone how badly she had done in the Maths test.

3. What might have caused their friendship to break? Sarah didn’t trust her friend. Hannah may have betrayed her friend. Sarah and Hannah lacked communication.

Secrets and lies Reading strategy: understanding feelings A letter to a magazine advice columnist usually includes: 1)Descriptions of problems 2)Descriptions of feelings While reading such a letter, it’s important to identify the writer’s feelings towards a certain problem and then think about what advice to give him/her.

Let’s take Sarah’s letter for example:

betrayed upsetangry ashamed How Sarah felt:Why? She thought her best friend Hannah didn’t keep her secret. She scored the lowest mark in her class. She found a piece of paper on her desk that said “stupid Sarah got a D”. She thought Sarah didn’t keep her word.

Game: Can you express different emotions without actually mentioning the words?

Andrew felt:Why? ___________ They lost the game because of Matthew’s bad performance. ___________ Matthew hasn’t spoken to him though they sit next to each other in class. ___________ Practice of Reading Strategy: Read A friendship in trouble, and try to find out Andrew’s problem and how he feels about it by filling in the blanks: angry guilty awkward in a dilemma He made some cruel remarks. His best friend Matthew has stopped talking to him.

Pair work: In your own words, tell each other what Andrew’s problem is and what caused his friendship with Matthew in trouble. Andrew blamed the losing of the match on Matthew’s bad performance and they had a bitter quarrel with each other. Now they aren’t talking to each other any more and Matthew seems to want to make friends with another boy. Andrew really shouldn’t have blamed Matthew without thinking twice.

Group work: Problem solving (1) Suppose you are the advice columnist, what advice will you give Sarah and what to Andrew? Choose one of the topics and try to think of as much advice as possible.

Finish Exercise E on page 5 and get to know what advice it is that the advice columnist actually gives to Sarah and Matthew.

Group work: Problem solving (2) Go through the puzzles your classmates have about getting on with friends and give useful advice to them by writing it down on the back of the paper. Then exchange the piece again.

Conclusion: My advice to all of you on how to mend a friendship: 1. You have to talk to your friend. When there is no one around, have an honest talk. 2. If your friend doesn’t want to talk, you could write a letter. 3. Always remember there are three steps to being friends again:

Tell your friend how you’re feeling; Say what your friend has done wrong, and explain why you did this or that; Remember that friendship is the most important thing in your life.