LISTENING. US STUDENTS SPEAK ABOUT RETURNING TO SCHOOL

LISTENING

US STUDENTS SPEAK ABOUT RETURNING TO SCHOOL

 I Lead-in.

A)  When does school year start in your school?

B)   Will students go to school to have face-to-face classes? Will they study online?

  

II Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use three words in your sentences.

1.	high school	A.	an activity that someone does for enjoyment, a hobby
2.	junior high school	B.	a typically competitive exhibition of science projects
3.	extracurricular activity	C.	a favorite person
4.	science fair	D.	a school especially in the U.S. usually including grades 9-12 or 10-12
5.	fave	E.	a first-year student at high school in the U.S.
6.	pastime	F.	activity that students do outside of class, for example,  arts, athletics, clubs
7.	freshman	G.	a school especially in the U.S. usually including grades 7-9

  

III U.S. high school students share their ideas about going back to school. Restore the word order in the sentences that express their thoughts.

1.    / wants / as / feel / go / I / to / everybody / school. / though / to

2.    return / / school. / I / to / back / personally / to / want / do / not

3.    I / school / like / safer. / feel / is / online

4.    feel / we / how / we / / don't / school, / to / feel / not / if / they / us / about / to / safe. / going / school / ask / Usually / going / or

5.    to / Everybody / school / go / school. / wants / high / be / into / / in / and

6.    friends / my / the / I / / extracurricular / and / seeing / activities. / miss

7.    the / our / to / At / want / the / do / to / do / the / we / parents, / virus / back / end / grandparents, / / day / not / can / that. / bring / of / we / and / our

IV Watch the video and check your answers. Which of the ideas do you agree with?

V Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

pastimes; young; self-employed; home; lives; teachers; projects; unhealthy; virtually; selfies; health; students; normal; high; voices

This whole going back to school thing has become a lot for 1) ______, parents, and honestly even for administrators making those decisions.  Well, one group who we haven't heard a whole lot from are the 2) ______. How do they feel about this upcoming school year? I spoke with three young ladies who say they just want their 3) ______to be considered. Three northeast Texas students.

-        I  feel as though everybody wants to go to school.

Two 4) ______schoolers and one in junior high.

-        I personally do not want to return back to school. I feel like online school is safer.

Sitting at 5) ______on a Zoom call.

-        Usually they don't ask us how we feel about not going to school or going to school, if we feel safe.

Virtual interactions have become a 6) ______, but not so welcome site this year.

 - Everybody wants to go into high school and be in school. And now that we're not able to do that it definitely is. It's not ideal.

 Covid- 19 has changed a lot in our 7) ______and some of the youngest voices really, they just want to make sure they are included in that conversation.

-        I miss seeing my friends and the extracurricular activities.

Even the things some of us  might not think about missing: the yearly science fair 8) ______and even those 9) ______with some of their faves. While they will miss a lot and possibly find new ways to enjoy some old 10) ______, they too recognize the importance of the decisions that have been made thus far about returning to school.

-         I do miss my friends, but I can wait to see them until the virus is over.

For Jordan Henderson, a soon-to-be freshman at Mansfield Legacy high school, she'll be attending school 11) ______. That's at least until September 8^th. It's a big year, she's been looking forward to for a while now, but even bigger are the 12) ______and safety of those around her.

-        At the end of the day we can bring the virus back to our parents, our grandparents, and we do not want to do that. So the best thing at this moment is to go online until we can regulate and keep the virus controlled.

All right, she said, what she meant and she meant what she said. Thank you to Jordan,  Zora,  Marissa, their parents for sharing their thoughts with us this morning. It’s always good to hear from the 13) ______folks in regards to what's happening with this whole going back to school.

VI  Watch the video and mark the sentences as True (T) or False (F). Correct the false statements.

1. Going back to school is important only for teachers and students.
2. The students in the video are two  high schoolers and one in junior high student.
3. All students in the video don’t like school and don’t want to return to school.
4. Students in the video answer the questions from their homes on a Zoom call.
5. Students miss seeing friends and the extracurricular activities.
6. Students don’t miss he yearly science fair  projects and even selfies with some of their faves.
7. Students say they don’t want to see their friends until the virus is over.
8. Jordan Henderson, a soon-to-be freshman at Mansfield Legacy high school will be attending school  virtually.
9. She's been looking forward to this school year.
10. Jordan Henderson thinks that the best thing at this moment is to go to face-to-face classes.   

 VII OVER TO YOU. What are your ideas about the new school year? What activities can be adapted for online and virtual studies? What will be the new normal for school in your opinion?