Lesson Study Of Cultivating Thinking Quality In English Reading Teaching With The Concept Of Activity-Based English Learning

It is necessary to pay more attention to the educational value of English subject and the development of students' thinking.According to the new English curriculum standard,this paper,taking the concept of activity-based English learning as the specific method,combines the English extracurricular reading with the cultivation of students' thinking quality.The subjects of this lesson study which lasted two months involved students of one class in Grade Two in a junior high school.In this process,the author used the instruments of observation,interview and reflection journals to get and record the students' learning feedback and the tutor' s suggestions in time.Then,based on this,the author continued making improvements for the three cycles of teaching design and practice.The results showed that the teacher could stimulate and cultivate some thinking skills of students through three different levels of activities: learning and understanding,application and practice,and transfer and innovation.Although transfer and innovation activities are in the highest level in the concept of activitybased English learning,they are not necessarily the most difficult for students.Instead,some high-level thinking activities,like creation or imagination,are the easiest for students.Sometimes,due to the limitation of language competence,learning and understanding activities in the lowest level are more difficult.Therefore,in learning and understanding activities,teachers should put forward specific questions to guide students to get the main idea of the story by answering these questions;at the same time,it is necessary to make full use of the illustrations and mind map to present the story line.What's more,in the level of application and practice,transfer and innovation,teachers ought to give full play to the advantages of cooperative learning,make students participate actively,and better complete the learning activities with the help of their peers.