Unit 2 The Teddy Stoddard Story

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Unit 2 The Teddy Stoddard Story
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Contents

• Pre-reading questions
• Background information
• Structure analysis
  
• Comprehension questions
• Language points of Text I
• Grammatical items
• Exercises
• Comprehension questions of Text II
• Oral activities
• Writing practice

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Text I The Teddy Stoddard Story

• Pre-reading questions

• Have you ever been in a situation where you were
  considered different from others? How did you
  feel?
• Who is your favorite teacher? What do you
  remember him/her for?
• What qualifications do you expect of a good
  teacher?

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Background information (1)

• Supplementary material for the text
• They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard
  whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs.
  Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much
  for making me feel important and showing me that
  I could make a difference."

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Background information (2)

• Supplementary material for the text
• Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered
  back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong.
  You were the one who taught me that I could make
  a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I
  met you."

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Background information (3)

• The origin of the story (1)
• The real story is this Decades ago, a friend of
  Ungar's was filling in as a Sunday school
  teacher. The kids were presenting Christmas
  gifts. A grubby little boy handed her a broken
  rhinestone bracelet and bottle of cheap perfume.
• "She had gotten this gift from a child and it was
  so touching. She didn't know what to do," Ungar
  said. The teacher also didn't know anything about
  the child.

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Background information (4)

• The origin of the story (2)
• It set Ungar to thinking about her own youth,
  when the family didn't have enough money for
  little Elizabeth to give her teacher a Christmas
  gift back at Thompson Elementary in Jacksonville,
  N.C. At her grandmother's suggestion, she picked
  a boxful of pecans from a tree in her yard and
  presented it.

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Background information (5)

• The origin of the story (3)
• "Everybody started laughing," she said. The
  teacher saved the moment by declaring that she
  was making fruitcakes and Elizabeth's gift was
  just the thing she'd wanted.

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Background information (6)

• The origin of the story (4)
• From these two stories, the author combined her
  grandmother's last name, Stanley, and her own
  name at the time, Ballard, and invented Teddy
  Stallard, who was, in short order, kidnapped and
  carried off to any banquet in need of a
  heartwarming anecdote.

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Background information (7)

• Nutshell of the story
• The story, in a nutshell Mrs. Thompson, an
  elementary school teacher, dislikes a grubby,
  ill-kempt little underachiever in her class who,
  one Christmas, presents her with a broken
  rhinestone bracelet and a bottle of cheap
  perfume. She checks his record, finds that his
  mother has died and, after a weepy hour of
  self-reproach, takes him under her wing, where he
  blossoms. There follow three letters after his
  family moves out of town.

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Background information (8)

• Comment on the story
• Heartwarming though it is, the tale of little
  Teddy Stoddard and his inspirational teacher,
  Mrs. Thompson, is a work of fiction. The original
  story, which first appeared in significantly
  different form in the magazine Home Life in 1976,
  was written by Elizabeth Silance Ballard (now
  Elizabeth Ungar) and called "Three Letters from
  Teddy." The main character's name was Teddy
  Stallard, not Teddy Stoddard.

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Background information (9)

• The influence of the story
• heartstrings straight out of their sockets. In
  Colorado three years ago, copies were sent to
  every teacher.
• Warm someone's heart today. . . pass this along.
  I love this story so very much, I cry every time
  I read it. Just try to make a difference in
  someone's life today? tomorrow? Just "do it".
• Random acts of kindness, I think they call it?

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Structure analysis of the text (1)

• The passage can be divided into 5 parts
• Part 1. Paragraph 1-5
• Part 2. Paragraph 6-8
• Part 3. Paragraph 9-12
• Part 4. Paragraph 13-14
• Part 5. Paragraph 15-20

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Structure analysis of the text (2)

• Part 1. Paragraph 1-5
• Paras 1 to 3 describe Mrs. Thompsons initial
  unpleasant impression about Teddy. The next two
  paras 4and 5, Mrs. Thompsons impression is
  confirmed by Teddys school work during the first
  few months.

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Structure analysis of the text (3)

• Part 2. Paragraph 6-8
• These paragraphs tell the readers what Mrs.
  Thompson learned from Teddys records.

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Structure analysis of the text (4)

• Part 3. Paragraph 9-12
• The third part includes Paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and
  12, the most important part of the story, because
  what happened before Christmas prompted Mrs.
  Thompson to do something for Teddy.

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Structure analysis of the text (5)

• Part 4. Paragraph 13-14
• These two paragraphs describe the changes in both
  Mrs. Thompson and Teddy after Christmas.

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Structure analysis of the text (6)

• Part 5. Paragraph 15-20
• tell the readers about the notes Teddy sent to
  his teacher on three important occasions and the
  letters Teddy wrote to his teacher. The last para
  doesnt describe how Teddys wedding takes place,
  but we can imagine the whole scene.

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Structure analysis of the text (7)

• Part 6 paragraph 15-16
• What happened later ever since then the grandson
  became his grandfathers shadow.

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Comprehension questions (1)

• Why does the writer say that Mrs. Thompson told
  a liewhen she said she loved her pupils all the
  same and would treat them all alike?
• Because Mrs. Thompson didnt like Teddy at
  first. She even took delight in marking his
  papers with a broad red pen, making bold Xs and
  then marking the F at the top of the paper
  biggest of all. (paragraph 4) Later she gave her
  particular attention to Teddy. (Paragraphs 13 and
  14.) In both cases Teddy received more attention
  from her.

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Comprehension questions (2)

• What caused Teddy to change from a bright,
  inquisitive boy to a sullen little boy?
• Some family misfortunes ( the death of his
  mother and the indifference of his father) turned
  Teddy from a bright, inquisitive boy to a
  sullen little boy.

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Comprehension questions (3)

• How did Mrs. Thompson react to Teddys Christmas
  present?
• Though Teddys present was not as beautiful as
  those of other kids, Mrs. Thompson showed a
  special interest in it. She put on the old
  bracelet and dabbed some perfume behind her other
  wrist.

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Comprehension questions (4)

• What was the important and consistent message in
  all the notes Teddy sent to his teacher?
• Through these notes Teddy expressed his heartfelt
  gratitude to Mrs. Thompson for her care and
  encouragement and his reassurance to her that she
  was his favorite teacher of all time.

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Comprehension questions (5)

• Why did Teddy ask Mrs. Thompson to attend his
  marriage ceremony?
• Because Teddy thought of Mrs. Thompson as the
  most important person in his life. Perhaps he
  even regarded her as a mother since his own
  mother had died years before.

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Language points of Text I (1)

• . Venture an activity or undertaking involving
  risk or uncertainty.
• Example
• The two companies have embarked on a joint
  venture to produce cars in America.
• Nothing venture, nothing have . (One cannot
  expect to achieve anything if one dare not take
  risks. )

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Language points of Text I (2)

• 2. take a delight in to get great pleasure from
  doing sth.
• He took great delight in sharing his love of
  birds with children.
• be delighted with
• e,g. He said that he was delighted with the
  public response. delightful, delightfully.

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Language points of Text I (3)

•  unkempt
• e.g. His hair was unkempt and filthy the unkempt
  grass an unkempt old man.
• constantly all the time, or very often
• constant drops wear stone

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Language points of Text I (4)

• 1.be in for to be about to have sth unpleasant
• We are in for some trouble if dont finish it
  quickly.
• 2. inquisitive always wanting to find out the
  details about the things and people.
• E,g, Journalists have to be inquisitive, fearless
  and determined.
• Inquisitive box.

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Language points of Text I (5)

• Withdraw
• 7. withdraw to (cause to) not to take part in
• I withdrew from the examination because I havent
  fully prepared.
• Withdrawal

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Language points of Text I (6)

• Take pains
• take pains to make great effort or take great
  care.
• Mary took great pains with her English lesson and
  got high marks.
• NO PAINS, NO GAINS.

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Language points of Text I (7)

• Stifle
• Stifle to prevent from happening
• e.g. stifle a yawn or laugh
• She makes no attempt to stifle a yawn.
• His hands shot to his mouth to stifle a giggle.
• He stifled his temptation to take hold of Ivy and
  shake her.

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Language points of Text I (8)

• Exclaim
• exclaim to cry out or speak suddenly and loudly
• She exclaimed in delight when she saw the
  presents.

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Language points of Text I (9)

• Quit
• quit to stop
• Suddenly she quit talking, turning her face to
  the pillow and went to sleep.
• Id quit taking the pills because they were
  making me overweight.

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Language points of Text I (10)

• Vow
• vow to promise solemnly
• Penny board the plane, vowing she would always
  love me.
• Ben vowed to avenge his mothers death.

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Language points of Text I (11)

• Assure
• assure to declare positively, to tell someone
  that something is definitely true.
• The mother assured her that everything would be
  alright.

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Language points of Text I (12)

• Wonder
• a.  used to introduce a request
• I wondered whether you would be so kind as to
  send me an application form.
• I wonder if you could help me.
• b. think about or ask oneself about something
• He wondered whether he would be able to find the
  hotel again.
• I wonder what she is doing tonight.

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Language points of Text I (13)

• Bet
• bet to state confidently (what will happen)
• The builders want to finish the job by Friday. I
  bet they wont.
• I bet Tom has a hangover this morning--- you
  should have seen how much he was drinking last
  night.

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Language points of Text I (14)

• Sentences for appreciation
• 1. She  stifled  the  children's  laughter
  when  she  exclaimed  how pretty  the  bracelet  w
  as,putting  it  on,
• and  dabbing some of the perfume on her
  wrist.
• ( Para 11)

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Language points of Text I (15)

• Sentences for appreciation
• 2. And guess what, she wore that bracelet, the
  one with several rhinestones missing. And I bet
  on that special day, Jean Thompson smelled just
  likewell, just like the way Teddy remembered his
  mother smelling on their last Christmas together.
  (para 20)

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Grammatical items (1)

• Pay attention to the ways to express past
  future.
• Was/were going to ??? ???????????????,??????????
• Last Sunday we were going to go for a picnic but
  it rained.
• I was going to finish my article last night but
  my friend arrived so I didnt have time.
• ????????????
• I felt that something terrible was about to
  happen.

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Grammatical items (2)

• Pay attention to the ways to express past future.
• Was/were to ???, ?????????????????????
• As I was to leave the next day, I went to bed
  early on Thursday evening.
• I was to leave off the next day.

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Grammatical items (3)

• Pay attention to the ways to express past future.
• Would do ????????,????????????
• He said he would call me at six.
• We hoped they would have got the crops in by the
  end of the week.

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Exercises (1)

• Translation exercises
• ???????????????(lack of )
• 1.  He admitted that his failure was caused by
  his lack of confidence.
• ???????????(require)
• 2.  Visitors are required to sign their names on
  arrival.

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Exercises (2)

• ????????????,???????,?????
• 3. Weve invited them to the party, but well
  have to put it off because the babys sick.
• ???????????????????
• 4. We must take steps to help the families of
  those who were hurt.

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Exercises (3)

• ????????,???? ????????????
• The teacher took great pains to make sure that
  we all understood the text.
• ?????????????????
• Today were going to focus on the issue of the
  homeless people.

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Exercises (4)

• ????????,?????????? ?(wonder)
• We wondered whether you would be so kind as to
  attend our end-of-the-year party.
• ???????????(assure)
• He assured his mother that everything was all
  right.

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Exercises (5)

• ????????
• He  is  a  joy  to  be  around.
• ???,???
• Teddy  is  withdrawn
• she  was  in  for a  surprise.????,???(??)
• She  stifled  the  children's  laughter.(????????
  ??)

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Exercises (6)

• Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or
  phrase taken from the box in its appropriate
  form.

take delight in withdraw wonder tell a
lie pay attention to be in for affect
focus on be assure
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Exercises (7)
was in for

• I felt awful, and realized I __________ an
  attack of malaria.
• After injuring her ankle in training she was
  forced to __________ from the race.
• You must ____________ the teacher. Dont let
  your attention wander.

withdraw
pay attention to
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Exercises (8)
bet

• If there is any hard work to be done, I _______
  you wont come.
• People used to _________________ watching
  the public happening.

take delight in
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Comprehension questions of Text II (1)

• Do you think children in China are now watching
  too much TV?
• Do you like the Mcdonalds or Kentucky Fried
  Chicken? Do you agree that they sell junk food?
• Do you think that some restrictions on TV and
  junk food are too much for children?
• Open to discussion.

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Oral activities

• Discuss with one of your classmates on the
  following topics.
• What should teacher behave when they face very
  naughty , mischievous students, or the low- level
  students?
• If you were Mrs. Thompson, would you act the same
  as she?

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Writing practice (1)

• Instructions
• Some people think that we should encourage
  our students to evaluate and criticize their
  teachers others believe that this would result
  in a loss of respect and discipline in the
  classroom. Write a composition of about 200 words
  to express your views on this issue ENCOURAGE
  THE STUDENTS TO EVALUATE THEIR TEACHERS.

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Writing practice (2)

• Sample writing
• Some people believe that students should be
  encouraged to evaluate or even criticize their
  teachers so as not to improve the quality of
  education, whereas others feel that such a
  practice might give rise to indiscipline and
  disrespect for teachers. I personally agree with
  the former view.

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Writing practice (3)

• Proponents of such a change hold that, by
  encouraging students to form and voice their own
  opinions of their teachers and what the teacher
  teach, the latter would be able to gain a better
  view of how what they teach is received and
  perceived. More importantly, this practice would
  further encourages students to have original
  ideas, gain a deeper understanding of their
  lessons and learn the art of disagreeing. Hence,
  the students and teachers would have better
  communication with each other, and thus the
  quality of education as a whole would be greatly
  raised.

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Writing practice (4)

• As to err is human, so as it is the case with
  teachers. If the students have the chance to
  voice their opinions, not only will there be a
  cozy and liberal atmosphere in class, but both
  parties will benefit from the stimulus and
  response process.

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• Good bye!