Image credit: thelondonacornschool.co.uk
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This is a reading and conversation lesson plan for high B2+ students, based around an article in the guardian newspaper about the acorn school in London which has a no technology policy for students, both at school and at home.
Download the abbreviated version of the article and the lesson plan here:
Warmer
Describe the classroom in our first school. Did it have a blackboard? Decorations? Computers? What were the desks like? How were they arranged?
How did the teachers present information to you? On the board? With a projector? Flipchart? Powerpoint?
How have new technologies changed education?
Do you think they have changed it for the better?
Article
What technology do schools use nowadays?
In what ways does technology help/hinder learning?
At what ages do you think children should start using the following things?
- the internet
- smartphones
- tablets
- computers
- tv
- watching films
- games consoles
Give out the article and have students read it and underline any vocabulary they have problems with. They should then ask their partner for help with the vocab.
What do you think of this idea?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of this approach?
How do you think children would react to this approach?
Would you consider sending your children to this school?
Debate
Motion for debate:
“Children should not use any technology until the age of 12”
Put the class into 2 teams, try to choose the teams so that students have to argue against their own beliefs.