Love Is a Thread Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper. One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her. “Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while. “What?” she replied, still doing her work. “Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice. My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt. I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words. “Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.” I listened carefully but I
couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us worried about him. “Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day. “Susan, don’t worry about me.” He said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.
Teaching Plan
Material: Love is a thread
Teaching Aids: Multi-media and blackboard
Language Objectives:
1. To build up students’ vocabulary by reading and analyzing famous writings;
2. To train students to further develop their reading skills.
Emotional Objectives:
1. To cultivate students’ emotional education.
2. To arouse students’ awareness of love
3. To get students to learn to cherish people and things around.
Ability Objectives:
1. To develop students’ ability to guess meanings of words through the context;
2. To cultivate students’ spirit of cooperation with classmates.
Teaching Procedures
I. Presentation: Pre-reading
1. How can we express love to our parents or our beloved ones?
II. Practice: While-reading
1. At first, in the writer’s opinion , is there any love between his parents? why does the writer think so ?
2. On Valentine’s Day, do the writer’s parents send flowers to each other?
3. Is it very easy for the writer’s father to lose his temper after hard work?
4. One day , when the writer asked his mother if there was love between his parents, what did his mother say?
5. At first , did the writer understand his mother’s answer?
6. When the writer’s father was sick seriously, how did his mother help his father ?
7. Do you think there is any love between his parents? Why do you think so?
IV. Discussion
By saying the following words “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but
most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.” what does the writer’s mother really mean?
Questionnaire about You and Your Parents
1. Do you pay attention to your parents’ birthday? ( )
A. Never think about that
B. Remember your parents' birthdays but no congratulations
C. Remember and offer congratulations
D. Congratulations and send birthday gift
2. Do you pay attention to your parents’ health? ( )
A. Never think about that
B. Once in a while
C. Always pay attention to climate change and call home
D. Very concerned about them and buy health care products and medicine
3. Do you understand the pressure in your parents’ work and life? ( )
A. Never think about that
B. Know from the parents’ complaints
C. A basic understanding and know a little
D. Very understand and look for ways to help them
4. Do you think you respect our parents? ( )
A. Ordinary
B. Although loving them in heart, you still always argue with C. A close friend relationship
D. Have respect for your parents in very polite words
5. How often do you communicate with your parents? ( )
A. Never do that
B. Once in a while
them
C. Frequently
D. Every day
Warning:
If you got a low score, you should have a deep rethink of the relationship
between you and your parents.
Task
Can you think of other words to replace the word “a thread” in the title?
Love is __________
“Love is…”
Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.
Ⅳ Homework
1. Collect another short passage, poem or song about love. You can share it with your classmates tomorrow.
2. Practice reading the beautiful writing with emotion after class;
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