Freedom for students

Hello, Steve!

Maybe getting them involved in creating their own questionnaires, reports - some results t take bak home (show their parents, scoolfriends) ... even photo albums, but must be with tags and captions, telling a story, or their own novelettes (photo stories - fantasy...).  Somethying memorable (good for them, and good "propaganda" for the school in Florida)

Just without thinking or doing any preparation / research:

To what degree do you think you parents are / were right or wrong? (about what?)

Fashion - how much to spend? Are parents' opinions important? Could they design their own fashions?  (Tattoos  - in or out?   Short skirts? T-shirts or Hawaiian? etc..)

Do you ever listen to Billy Joel, the Beatles, Nirvana? Why / not?  How involved are they in music (listening, creating)?

How do you see yourself in five / ten years from now?

Can you imagine a lifetime farming / working in a a factory? / doing wat your parents did?

How important are charities in today's world? (link w/ charity events etc. esp at Christmas time)   Are you interested in helping other people? What do you do?

What are the best jobs in today's world?

Have your elder brothers and sisters been successful? Do you envy them?

have you ever heard of speed-dating? Do you think there are many lonely teenagers (in the USA, in your own country)?  Why? Good or bad?

You could ask them to design surveys, questions, etc.. Even introduce them to Likert scales and all the jazz about empirical research, getting results, analysis, discussion...

Can you arrange for them to visit a recording studio?/ meet a stuntman or three-fingered Mickey Mouse (Orlando??) (What do they expect? Who works there? Good / interesting / well-paid? What notes can they take? Write a report for the "Young Floridian" newspaper... 

Are they healthy? How? Why? How do they compare to their host families in FL?

Is "God" an important concept? Do they go to church? Why? Just lip service? Family tradition? Their own salvation?

They are going to inherit this earth. What can they do to make it: safe, clean, peaceful?

Cheers,

Cary

English language teaching expert (academic, specific and general), examinations trainer (TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, EIKEN), theses and dissertations editor and proofreader, business text writer. E-mail me for details.

From: Free English Lessons <jkmccrea@gmail.com>

To: 

Cc: JK 33301 McCrea comcast <jk33301@comcast.net> 

Sent: Thursday, 22 December 2011, 3:17

Subject: US moves to ban billboards in space - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tony, Will, Jeff, Cary, Dennis and Nick Love...

I'm hunting for topics for students to use in class.    14 year olds, 5 weeks in florida, then they return to Hungary or Ecuador.   Privileged kids, girls want to go shopping every afternoon, boys are in soccer camp or other noctural activities... 

I searched "Appropriate topics for teenagers to discuss in classroom" and I got eslgold.com's list

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/talking_topics_main.html

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http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/topic_billboards_space.html

============

Here's the problem with Topics for ESL, as shown on   English Study and Learning  ESLGOLD

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/topic_billboards_space.html

with some hunting, I found the story...   and it was BLAH.    I'm supposed to get kids interested in discussion about this topic

ugh.

I like Jeff Hutt's idea of separating boys and girls and asking each of them to write down or describe "the perfect date" amnd "Turn offs"

with the informatoin NOT to be spread around the classroom.

of course, this gets sticky because there might be a gay guy there... so he can go over to talk with the girls...  (an option)

but then there is the "faux gay" problem, a straight guy who pretends to be gay so that he can spend time talking with girls and learning what their preferences are... 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-05-20/us-moves-to-ban-billboards-in-space/1574444

ah, the problems of finding an authentic reading that engages the class... and individuals.   ... especially the kid who says, "You are the teacher, tell me what I should be learning."   

Steve:  Whatever you want to learn.

"But what should I be learning?"  =  Tell me what I should be interested in.

oh, well.

===== 

here is the lesson plan for ESLGOLD

Title: Billboards in Space

Source: ABC News Online, Reuters

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2005

Level: Intermediate

Click for article.

Vocabulary

Try to guess what these words mean from reading the article.

If you need help, check out OneLook Dictionary Search.

New words you will see in this article:

advertise(ment)

amend

astronomer(s)

authority

aviation

billboard(s)

deploy(ed)

enforce

ensure

hinder

obstrusive

outsized

prohibit

propose(d)

regulation(s)

regulator(s)

telescope

Interesting Expressions

zero gravity

Talking Points

With your tutor, conversation partners, or classmates, you may wish to discuss the following:

Do you agree with the idea of prohibiting billboards in outer space? 

Why or why not?

What would be the benefits and disadvantages of allowing advertisements in space?

Does the U.S. (or any country) control what can or cannot be done in space?

Who has the authority to enforce space laws?

What will happen if no regulations are put on space advertising?

What do you think about the commercialization of outer space?

If you were a millionaire, would you spend money on a trip into space?

to be safe, to get through the day, this will do.    25 mildly interested kids,  (yawn, well, 10 bored, 15 interested in talking with the two cute girls from Hungary)

to avoid the problem of 24 happy kids, one unhappy kid, I will avoid the 4seasonsc__nd___m FAQ page.

This might make an interesting point of discussion for teens.   Oh, no -- the principal or director of the school will object.

======================  

Of course, now I just read this unfortunate observation...  

So I am shifting a bit...

More materials

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