Oyster MVER middle school

The middle school children are passing through a unique phase of life. The curriculum for these students should be carefully tailored to the specific needs of the age level and yet maintain continuity* from elementary school to high school. The academic program, which includes English, mathematics, reading or foreign language, science and social studies is designed to continue the development of basic concepts, skills and attitudes started in the elementary grades. New objectives are introduced that will also be useful in high school, college and life. The Middle School curriculum centers around the learning processes; factual matter is the base for the development of those processes.

The so-called "non-academic" or special area subjects such as art, home economics, industrial arts and music help to expand concepts, skills and attitudes but place greater emphasis on developing sensitivity to** and interest in the arts.

Physical education and afterschool sports enable middle school Students to develop athletically, and provide physical activity.

Informal activities such as student councils, yearbook committee, dances and other afterschool events also contributetothe social development of the middle school child.

Assignments:

1. Look through the text and say what new objectives are introduced in the middle school curriculum.

2. Read the text again writing out all the subjects that are taught at Oyster River Middle School.

3. Speak on the differences between the elementary and middle school grades.

19. CO-EDUCATION: A HIGH PRICE TO PAY

Research carried out in the Eighties strongly indicated that co-education was generally better for boys than for girls. The dangers of single-sex education for boys have often been stated, and there has long been an assumption that girls benefit from coeducation in the same way. Recent research tells us that this assumption is wrong. Girls studying in coeducational schools can, it seems, pay a high price in diminished career ambitions, poor self-confidence and under-achievement in academically rigorous subjects such as science and mathematics.

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* to maintain continuity – обеспечить преемственность

** sensitivityto – восприимчивость к чему-л.

Girls' schools are working hard to compete with the independent boys' schools that are currently increasing their intake. MarIborough, the pioneer, has increased its number of girls and begun admitting them at 13. The battle for girl pupils is growing fiercer all the time. Averil Burgess, headteacher of South Hampstead High School, believes parents needs to consider the effect of mixed classroom learning on reinforcing gender "stereotypes." She believes that in the halfway house type of co-education favoured by independent boys' schools, men become "macho" and girls are forced to be inarticulate and passive. This is inevitable, she says, when the school is still run by the male-dominated senior teachers with little insight into gender education issues. She points to a study by Professor Hoyle of London University showing how boys were allowed to jump the queue to gain access to limited computer facilities. As a result girls' choice of career of computing suffers.

The recent introduction of co-education by Oxbridge colleges seems to have had the same harmful effect on girls' academic performance as identified in schools. In 1958, 8.1 per cent of men and 7.9 of women won firsts. In 1973, the corresponding figures were 12 and 12.1 per cent. Since the mid-eighties, when both men and women's colleges have admitted members of the opposite sex, 16.1 per cent of men have gained firsts, but only 9.8 per cent of women. As Averil Burgess argues: "Maybe the girls fall too readily into the sock-washing and meal-providing mode for the benefit of male colleagues and to the detriment of their work. At least a single sex institution offers the freedom not to behave as a woman."

No one is suggesting that boys should be restricted to single-sex education; co-education is here to stay. But boys' schools with a minority of girls should take care to protect the latter from social domination by the boys. Parents should consider a single-sex school as a first option for their daughters, even if they choose co-education for their son. Maybe the implicit contradiction in that statement will only be resolved when girls' schools admit boys on gender-aware terms.

Assignments:

1. Read the text and make notes about how this type of education affects girls and boys under as many of the following headings as you can. An example has been done for you.

a) academic record– under-achievementin science and maths

b) self-confidence –

c) behaviour inside and outside the classroom –

d) attitude of teachers–

e) job prospects –

2. Speak on the main advantages anddisadvantages of co-educational schools for girls/for boys.

20. VIDEO SCREENS: ARE THEY CHANGING THE WAY CHILDREN LEARN?

(by Patricia Marks Greenfield)

The video screen has become omnipresent in our society. Along with television, action video games are now a mass medium. In a recent survey of children in southern California, conducted by Sarah Rushbrook, 94 per cent said they had played video games either at home or in an arcade*.

When parents and educators worry about the amount of time children spend in front of video screens, they usually focus on the content of particular programs or games.

Traditionally the term "literacy" has been defined as the ability to read and write. Formal education itself grew up around the technology of print. The video screen is helping children develop a new kind of literacy – visual literacy – that they will need to thrive in a technological world.

In television or film, the viewer must mentally integrate diverse camera shots of a screen to construct an image of the whole. This is an element of visual literacy: an understanding of the code by which to interpret links between shots or views.

In an experiment at the University of Rome I compared children's responses to stories presented on television and on radio. The major advantage of television was that the combination of image and word led to better overall memory for information than did word alone. In addition, television led to better memory for action information in particular. On the negative side, television – with its visual images – was less stimulating to the imagination. After watching an incomplete story on TV, children were less likely to add new or original material than after listening to a similar story on the radio. We found that children exerted less mental effort after watching TV than after listening to the radio.

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* an arcade– (зд.) магазин

In sum, the dynamic imagery shared by film and all of the video media produces a number of cognitive benefits: 1) an array of visual literacy skills, 2) better acquisition of information in general and 3) better acquisition of action information in particular. On the negative side, dynamic visual imagery leads to: 1) decreased stimulation of imagination, 2) a decrease in mental effort and 3) a decrease in attention to purely verbal information.

Among educators today, the general philosophy is that we should compensate for the large quantities of television and video games children are exposed to outside school by relying exclusively on other media – notably print – in school.

Each media has its strengths and weaknesses. No medium – not even print – is perfect for education. The implication for education is that each medium should be used to do what it does best. Schools need to learn how to use each medium to its best educational advantage.

Assignments:

1. Translate the text using a dictionary.

2. Give a short summary of the text in English.

21. CURING VIDEO ADDICTS*

( From "Newsweek")

Kids used to come home from school, throw their books on the floor and dash out for a few hours of fun. Now they rush home and plop down** in front of the Nintendo home-entertainment system, there to spend time with the Super Mario Bros and other Nintendo characters. Some parents and educators think that time might be better spent in front of an algebra problem. They cite studies*** showing that video-game addicts do less well in school than other students.

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* curing video addicts – лечение видеонаркоманов

** plop down – плюхаться

*** they cite studies– они цитируют исследования

Hopingto capitalize on* growing concern about video-game addiction, an entrepreneur in Dundee, Illinois, had devised a lock that prevents kids from using a Nintendo machine. The product, called Homework First, consists of a simple J-bolt attached to a four-digit combination lock. The lock, which screws into the bottom of the control deck, blocks the chamber into which game cartridges are inserted. Tom Lowe, the inventor of the device, says it requires no tools, takes only seconds to install and does not harm the machine. "Parents need an effective way to control when and how much time their children play video games," says Lowe.

Assignments:

1. Read the article and answer the following questions:

1) What did kids do when they came home from school?

2) How do they spend their leisure now?

3) What do some parents and educators thinkis better?

4) What major reason do they give speaking against video games?

5) What for has Tom Lowe devised a new device?

2. Speak of the advantages and disadvantagesof video games.