17-18学年第30-31期总第706期高二教案
Teach yourself to live happily (PII) (April special)
江苏省南菁高级中学  李现宝
I. Warming up  
1. What is happiness to you?
1) being able to do what I’m interested in;
2) being surrounded with true friends;
3) going on a holiday with my parents;
4) making progress in my studies;
5) living in a family full of love;
…
2. What do you usually do to live happily?
II. Reading
1. Why are some many students signing up for the Psychology and the Good life course?
They are not happy, and agree that being happy is an ability and they need to learn how to do it.
2. Why are students unhappy, according to Laurie Santos and Alannah Maynez ?
Laurie Santos:
1.Students had a difficult time in high school.
2.They had to surround themselves with endless tests, competitions, and “hobbies”.
Alannah Maynez:
A lot of us are anxious, stressed and numb.
They need to stay focused and they are tired of numbing their emotions.
3. There are more than 100 universities starting such courses and these courses are so popular with students, what does the author think of this phenomenon?
·It is sad, because so many students are unhappy and they need to learn to  “self-help” to find happiness.
·It is good, because students are willing to admit a problem,  instead of pretending that everything is fine.
4. Fill in the blanks based on the article.

Answers:
1.If only
2.ability   
3.set a record  
4.signed up for 
5.difficult/hard/tough
6.surrounded with
7.stressed  
8.focus/concentrate on 
9.example 
10. self-help 
11.admit 
12.never too early
5. What are the writing skills used in the article? 
1) Quotation (引用).
2) Examples.
3) The beginning echoes with the end (首尾呼应)
III. Post-reading
1. Further thinking:
Albert Schweitzer, the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner, once said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.”
Do you agree with what he said? Why or why not?
2. What do you think can help people to live happily?
1) Lower your expectations. 
2) Do some sports in your spare time.
3) Start your day with hopes.
4) Be thankful about what you have.
5) Stop comparing, which kills your trust and confidence.
… 
IV. Writing
1.   用约30个单词写出上文概要；
2.   每个人对幸福的理解都不同，请谈谈你对幸福的看法以及怎样才能获得幸福。
Outline:
Para.1: Write a summary
___________________________________________________
Para.2: Your understanding of happiness and how to stay happy.
_________________________________________________
Writing requirements:
Well organized structure (topic sentence)
Use transitions to reach coherence
No grammatical mistakes (better safe than sorry)
Diversified vocabulary and varied sentence structures 
Transitions and topic sentences for reference:
Transitions:
when it comes to …; for one thing ..., for another …; take  .. for instance; for example; on one hand…,
on the other hand …; on the contrary; however;
in contrast;
in conclusion; in a word; to sum up;
as a result of …;   therefore; as a consequence of …
as far as I’m concerned; in my opinion;
from my point of view;
Sample:
    Yale’s positive psychology course set a record of being the most popular in the Ivy League school’s history. Its popularity shows how unhappy students are and being happy is an ability.
    But what exactly is happiness? Well, it means different things to different people. For some, happiness can be something as simple as having enough cash to buy a movie ticket. For another, it’s about achieving success in something, such meeting a goal. In my opinion, happiness is being satisfied with what we have and always being able to find beauty in our daily life.
   So to stay happy, all we need to do is adjust our attitude toward life. First, we should always be thankful for what we have. A thankful heart will stop us from complaining about what we don’t have and those who concentrate on what they don’t have will never be happy. Second, it’s a good idea to lower our expectations and avoid comparing ourselves with others. In this way, we’ll feel less disappointed, anxious and stressed. Another way to feel good is to stay optimistic. Keeping a diary in which we write about the best possible future for ourselves will keep our happiness alive.
    A small change in our attitude could make a big difference to our happiness. I believe if we stay thankful, satisfied and optimistic, we have no reason not to be happy.
V. Appreciation
·Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money ; it lies in the joy of achievement , in the thrill of creative effort. 
                                           -------Franklin Roosevelt       
·Happiness is a butterfly, which ,when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
                            ------N. Hawthorn, American writer