Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on School Punishment

A school in England is using classical music to cut down on students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby runs two-hour detention sessions after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favourite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main aim is to stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying behind are “not the smokers, the truants or the people who are late… It's those who have slowed the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is robbing the rest of opportunities”.

Brian Walker believes the detention reminds students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will enhance their life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn from being kept behind after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and…don't want to have again, so it's both educational and acts as a deterrent." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it reduced crime on London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it helped stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a real killer.”

WARM-UPS

1. SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about school punishments. 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.

school / England / bad behaviour / Mozart / classical music / truants / noisy students / detention / life chances / enhance / an experience / deterrent / subways / elephants

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DETERRENTS: Are these good deterrents to stop students misbehaving? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

	Reasons why ‘yes’	Reasons why ‘no’
2 hours of Mozart
No mobile for a week
Writing 1,000 lines
Being hit
Standing in the corner
No break for a week

4. GOOD STUDENTS: Students A strongly believe that one day, all students will behave well; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. SCHOOL HATES: What are the worst things about school? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = Hate! Hate! Hate!; 1 = No problem. Change partners and share your ratings again.

Noisy students in class
Homework
Boring teachers
School uniform

Canteen food
Rules
English lessons
Starting time

6. STUDENTS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘students’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Mozart was a bad student at school and was punished a lot.	T / F
b.	A teacher forced students to write poetry and listen to classical music.	T / F
c.	Students received detention for smoking and skipping class.	T / F
d.	A head teacher was worried good students were losing studying time.	T / F
e.	The head teacher believes his method helps students value education.	T / F
f.	The teacher said he wanted students to open their ears and eyes.	T / F
g.	Music on London’s subway system cut crime by a quarter in 2004.	T / F
h.	One student said he really liked the music by the band The Killers.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	cut down on	a.	students
2	forces	b.	usually
3.	pupils	c.	detained
4.	spoiling	d.	chances
5.	robbing	e.	reduce
6.	enhance	f.	in other places
7.	opportunities	g.	stealing from
8.	kept behind	h.	makes
9.	normally	i.	improve
10.	elsewhere	j.	ruining

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	cut down	a.	sessions after school
2	two-hour detention	b.	deterrent
3.	stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons	c.	the learning process
4.	those who have slowed	d.	of something bigger
5.	it is robbing the rest	e.	on students’ bad behaviour
6.	education is something	f.	after school
7.	they are part	g.	of opportunities
8.	being kept behind	h.	misbehaving
9.	acts as a	i.	for well-behaved students
10.	it helped stop elephants	j.	to value

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A school in England is using classical music to cut ____________ on students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby ____________ two-hour detention sessions after school on Fridays. He ____________ his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favourite ____________ and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main ____________ is to stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying ____________ are “not the smokers, the truants or the people who are late… It's those who have ____________ the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is robbing the ____________ of opportunities”.

behind
poems
runs
rest
down
slowed
forces
aim

Brian Walker believes the detention ____________ students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will ____________ their life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn from being ____________ behind after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't ____________ have and…don't want to have again, so it's both educational and ____________ as a deterrent." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it reduced ____________ on London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it ____________ stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a real ____________.”

helped
kept
killer
reminds
acts
enhance
crime
normally

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A school in England is using classical music ________________ students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby ________________ detention sessions after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and ________________. He also makes them copy his favourite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says ________________ stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying behind are “not the smokers, ________________ people who are late… It's those who have slowed the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is ________________ opportunities”.

Brian Walker believes the detention __________________ education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that ________________ life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn from ________________ after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and…don't want to have again, so it's both educational and __________________." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it ________________ London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it helped stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music ________________.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘classical’ and ‘music’.

classical

music

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

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:

cut
forces
copy
noisy
late
rest

reminds
bigger
ears
success
crime
killer

STUDENT SCHOOL PUNISHMENT SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about school punishments 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.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘punishment’?
c)	What do you remember about punishment at school?
d)	How often were you punished by teachers?
e)	Do you think the 2-hour Mozart sessions are a good idea?
f)	What’s the most effective punishment for badly behaved students?
g)	Were / Are students in your class well behaved?
h)	What do you think of noisy students spoiling it for the rest of the class?
i)	What was the worst punishment you received?
j)	What would be the worst music for you to listen to for two hours?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think kids believe education is something to value?
c)	How can we get kids to value education more?
d)	What do kids learn from being kept behind after school?
e)	Do you believe in corporal punishment (hitting people)?
f)	Do you think music can stop people behaving badly?
g)	How do elephants behave badly?
h)	How might you punish an elephant for misbehaving?
i)	What punishments wouldn’t you allow teachers to give your children?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Brian Walker?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A school in England is using classical music to cut (1) ____ on students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby (2) ____ two-hour detention sessions after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favourite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main (3) ____ is to stop noisy pupils (4) ____ lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying (5) ____ are “not the smokers, the truants or the people who are late… It's those who have slowed the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is (6) ____ the rest of opportunities”.

Brian Walker believes the detention (7) ____ students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will enhance their life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn (8) ____ being kept behind after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and…don't want to have again, so it's (9) ____ educational and acts as a deterrent." Music has had success (10) ____ in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it reduced crime on London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found (11) ____ helped stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a (12) ____ killer.”

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	up	(b)	across	(c)	down	(d)	in
2.	(a)	jogs	(b)	runs	(c)	strides	(d)	leaps
3.	(a)	aim	(b)	aimed	(c)	aiming	(d)	aims
4.	(a)	spoilt	(b)	spoiler	(c)	spoils	(d)	spoiling
5.	(a)	beneath	(b)	below	(c)	behind	(d)	because
6.	(a)	robber	(b)	robs	(c)	robbing	(d)	robbery
7.	(a)	remains	(b)	reminds	(c)	remainders	(d)	remnants
8.	(a)	from	(b)	for	(c)	far	(d)	of
9.	(a)	all	(b)	both	(c)	whole	(d)	every
10.	(a)	elsewhere	(b)	anywhere	(c)	where	(d)	whereas
11.	(a)	they	(b)	students	(c)	it	(d)	he
12.	(a)	realists	(b)	really	(c)	realize	(d)	real

WRITING

Write about school punishments for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. 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 punishments. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS: Make a poster about school punishments. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. ROBBED: Write a magazine article about a student who failed his/her exams because noisy students in class never gave other students the chance to study. Include imaginary interviews with that student and a noisy student.

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 the head teacher of a school. Ask him/her three questions about school punishments. Give him/her three your three opinions on how to punish students. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	cut down on	a.	reduce
2	forces	b.	makes
3.	pupils	c.	students
4.	spoiling	d.	ruining
5.	robbing	e.	stealing from
6.	enhance	f.	improve
7.	opportunities	g.	chances
8.	kept behind	h.	detained
9.	normally	i.	usually
10.	elsewhere	j.	in other places

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	cut down	a.	on students’ bad behaviour
2	two-hour detention	b.	sessions after school
3.	stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons	c.	for well-behaved students
4.	those who have slowed	d.	the learning process
5.	it is robbing the rest	e.	of opportunities
6.	education is something	f.	to value
7.	they are part	g.	of something bigger
8.	being kept behind	h.	after school
9.	acts as a	i.	deterrent
10.	it helped stop elephants	j.	misbehaving

GAP FILL:

Misbehaving students punished with Mozart

A school in England is using classical music to cut down on students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby runs two-hour detention sessions after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favourite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main aim is to stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying behind are “not the smokers, the truants or the people who are late… It's those who have slowed the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is robbing the rest of opportunities”.

Brian Walker believes the detention reminds students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will enhance their life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn from being kept behind after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and…don't want to have again, so it's both educational and acts as a deterrent." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it reduced crime on London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it helped stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a real killer.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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Breaking News English

January 20, 2010

Misbehaving Students Punished with Mozart