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Parents Face Fines In New School RulesBritish parents could soon face a fine and prison if their children misbehave at school. Britain’s government wants to introduce tough new laws to improve discipline in schools. They want to make parents more responsible for their sons and daughters. Some of the new measures include making parents attend parenting courses, paying a $1,700 fine or going to prison. The Schools Secretary Ed Balls said current policies on unruly behaviour are not strict enough. Many British schools suffer from high levels of bullying, truancy and low academic achievement. He wants parents to play their part in making sure their children achieve. "Every parent has a responsibility to back our teachers and make sure the rules are [followed]," he said.
The measures are part of a new focus on the relationship between schools and parents. Mr. Balls also has plans to help parents and students. He proposes to give pupils private tutors if they are doing badly in reading and maths. He also wants doctors, health workers and social workers in schools to provide better community services. Under Mr. Balls’ plans, parents will have a bigger voice in how schools operate. They will complete satisfaction surveys on how their children’s school performs. Critics say the plans are unlikely to be popular with parents. There are also fears about poorer parents not having enough money to pay the fines and whether they should go to prison for their children’s actions.
WARM-UPS1. SCHOOL RULES: Walk around the class and talk to other students about school rules. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. PUNISHMENTS: What punishments should schools give? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share your ideas. Change partners and share again.
4. FINES: Students A strongly believe parents should get a fine if their children misbehave; Students B strongly believe parents are not responsible for their children’s actions at school. Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 5. SATISFACTION: How satisfied are/were you with school rules? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = excellent; 1 = really bad. Change partners and share your ratings again.
6. FINE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘fine’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
LISTENING: Listen and fill in the gaps.British parents _________________ fine and prison if their children misbehave at school. Britain’s government wants _________________ new laws to improve discipline in schools. They want to make parents more responsible for their sons and daughters. Some of the __________________ making parents attend parenting courses, paying a $1,700 fine or going to prison. The Schools Secretary Ed Balls said current _________________ behaviour are not strict enough. Many British schools suffer from high levels of bullying, truancy and low academic achievement. He wants parents to _________________ in making sure their children achieve. "Every parent has a responsibility _________________ teachers and make sure the rules are [followed]," he said. The measures are part _________________ the relationship between schools and parents. Mr. Balls also has plans to help parents and students. He proposes to _________________ tutors if they are _________________ reading and maths. He also wants doctors, health workers and social workers in schools to provide better community services. Under Mr. Balls’ plans, parents will have a _________________ how schools operate. They will complete satisfaction surveys on how their children’s school performs. Critics say the plans _________________ be popular with parents. There are also fears about poorer parents not having enough money _________________ and whether they should go to prison for their children’s actions. AFTER READING / LISTENING1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘school’ and ‘rule’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…? 4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings. 5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:
STUDENT SCHOOL RULES SURVEYWrite five GOOD questions about school rules in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.
SCHOOL RULES DISCUSSIONSTUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
LANGUAGEBritish parents could soon (1) ____ a fine and prison if their children misbehave at school. Britain’s government wants to introduce (2) ____ new laws to improve discipline in schools. They want to make parents more responsible for their sons and daughters. Some of the new (3) ____ include making parents attend parenting courses, paying a $1,700 fine or going to prison. The Schools Secretary Ed Balls said current policies on (4) ____ behaviour are not strict enough. Many British schools (5) ____ from high levels of bullying, truancy and low academic achievement. He wants parents to play their part in making sure their children achieve. "Every parent has a responsibility to (6) ____ our teachers and make sure the rules are [followed]," he said. The measures are (7) ____ of a new focus on the relationship between schools and parents. Mr. Balls also has plans to help parents and students. He (8) ____ to give pupils private tutors if they are (9) ____ badly in reading and maths. He also wants doctors, health workers and social workers in schools to provide better community services. Under Mr. Balls’ plans, parents will have a bigger (10) ____ in how schools operate. They will complete satisfaction surveys on how their children’s school performs. (11) ____ say the plans are unlikely to be popular with parents. There are also fears about (12) ____ parents not having enough money to pay the fines and whether they should go to prison for their children’s actions. Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
WRITING:Write about school rules for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word. 2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about school rules. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson. 3. SCHOOL RULES: Make a poster about the perfect school rules in the perfect school. Include the punishments for breaking these rules. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things? 4. FOLLOW THE RULES: Write a magazine article about school rules. Include imaginary interviews with a student who loves rules and wants to study, and another student who hates rules and school. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s). 5. LETTER: Write a letter to Britain’s Schools Secretary Ed Balls. Ask him three questions about his plans for Britain’s schools. Give him three ideas on how he can improve discipline. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. ANSWERSTRUE / FALSE:
SYNONYM MATCH:
PHRASE MATCH:
GAP FILL: Parents face fines in new school rulesBritish parents could soon face a fine and prison if their children misbehave at school. Britain’s government wants to introduce tough new laws to improve discipline in schools. They want to make parents more responsible for their sons and daughters. Some of the new measures include making parents attend parenting courses, paying a $1,700 fine or going to prison. The Schools Secretary Ed Balls said current policies on unruly behaviour are not strict enough. Many British schools suffer from high levels of bullying, truancy and low academic achievement. He wants parents to play their part in making sure their children achieve. "Every parent has a responsibility to back our teachers and make sure the rules are [followed]," he said. The measures are part of a new focus on the relationship between schools and parents. Mr. Balls also has plans to help parents and students. He proposes to give pupils private tutors if they are doing badly in reading and maths. He also wants doctors, health workers and social workers in schools to provide better community services. Under Mr. Balls’ plans, parents will have a bigger voice in how schools operate. They will complete satisfaction surveys on how their children’s school performs. Critics say the plans are unlikely to be popular with parents. There are also fears about poorer parents not having enough money to pay the fines and whether they should go to prison for their children’s actions. LANGUAGE WORK
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