Children’s modern education

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Document 1 : A virtual classroom

The class continued throughout the morning, with Miss Ellis going from subject to subject. A little math, some English, a bit of art. Tony especially enjoyed the art, as being in a virtual classroom enabled him to create beautiful pictures almost by just thinking of them. He could paint pictures in three dimensions, and he even created a collage using video images that moved and sound effects that came from a classroom library of such things. [...]

A little after eleven o’clock the buzz sounded, announcing the lunch period. Miss Ellis and the students jacked out1 one by one. Tony envied the other students he imagined them in comfortable homes, sitting at tables with steaming hot plates piled up with food.

Tony himself didn’t jack out. He spent the entire forty minutes in the virtual classroom, relishing every minute he was there. He played with his desk computer, using it to create more works of art and to read history textbooks that changed the words they used when Tony punched in that he didn’t understand something. He didn’t mind the stomach rumbles he felt near the end of the period he was used to them.

“Now, class, we’re going to learn a little geography. Who can tell me what this is ” Miss Ellis pushed a button at the top of the blackboard, and a holographic map appeared, floating halfway between her desk and the class. Tony recognized it and raised his hand. [...]“It’s the United States.” Tony thought it was the most beautiful map he had ever seen. It shimmered in the air, floating in and out of insubstantiality. The features – states, cities, mountains, and rivers, just to name a few – were displayed in many different intense colors. There was a vibrancy to this map which made it more real than any flat map Tony had seen in his own classroom.

Michael A. Burstein, Teleabsence (1995) in I remember the future (2008).

1. to jack out: (ici) se débrancher.

Document 2 : Exploring nature isn’t just for summertime

Summertime often means a lot more time to explore outdoors. But schools are realizing that connecting with nature has benefits all year long.

“Amid all the focus on technology, we’ve been missing something quite elemental,” says Richard Louv, author of the bestseller Last Child in the Woods.

Just a walk through an urban park, he says, can help kids’ performance in school. “I can’t tell you how many times teachers who bring their classes into natural settings say that the troublemaker in class is the very one that turns out to have leadership qualities in the woods,” he says.

Sarah Milligan-Toffler, executive director of the Children and Nature Network, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based nonprofit organization, says that getting kids connected to nature doesn’t have to mean a major outing.

“There is something about natural environments that is really stress-reducing,” she says, “even if it’s just 10 minutes a day in a neighborhood park or planting a pollinator garden.” […]

Schools in Mamaroneck, New York, for example, have worked with a local nature preserve in the past few years to get kids from preschool to high school outside for science, says the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum, Annie Ward.

“I know we’re in a time of standards, and so forth, but how do we help kids grow up with a sense of place, of regional identity ” she says. “Especially now, with all these issues being talked about – the rise of technology, of kids being hyper-scheduled – there’s particular power in being outside, in being close, careful observers of the natural world. There’s a sense of calm and a sense of being unplugged.” […]

“It isn’t about going back to nature, but forward,” (Louv) says.

The Washington Post, July 2016.

compréhension 10 points

Document 1

1 The class uses futuristic high-tech: justify with three quotes from the text.

2 Who are Miss Ellis and Tony

3 Explain in your own words how students in this class can create artistic pictures.

4 What are the characteristics of their history textbooks Choose the correct answer and justify with a quote.

a) They don’t use any complicated words.

b) They can adapt their words when a child finds them too difficult.

c) They only tell about what the child needs to know.

5 What are Tony’s main feelings in the text Choose three adjectives in the list below and justify each of them with a quote:

amazed / jealous / bored / angry / delighted / frightened.

6 What does Tony do when the lunch period arrives

Seul(e)s les candidat(e)s de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA traiteront la question 7.

7 Why is a holographic map superior to a flat map according to Tony

Answer in your own words and support your answer with one quote. (50 words)

Document 2

8 What is the main subject of this article Choose the correct answer and justify with a quote.

a) The advantages of connecting schoolchildren with nature outdoors.

b) The advantages of exploring nature during summertime.

c) The advantages of studying nature and science inside the classroom.

9 “Amid all the focus on technology, we’ve been missing something quite elemental” (l. 4-5). Choose the correct meaning of the sentence:

a) technology must remain essential in schools.

b) technology has taken too much importance in schools.

c) technology in school is always beneficial for schoolchildren.

10 Find two quotes that show the influence of nature on schoolchildren’s attitude.

11 Find two examples in the text that show how schoolchildren can discover nature.

12 “There’s a sense of calm and a sense of being unplugged.”(l. 28-29) Explain the sentence in your own words and illustrate with elements from the text. (40 words)

Seul(e)s les candidat(e)s de la série L LVA traiteront la question 13.

13 “It isn’t about going back to nature, but forward” (l. 30).Explain the vision of progress through nature expressed here. (60 words)

Documents 1 and 2

14 Describe and contrast the visions of progress in children’s education presented in each document. (50 words)

expression 10 points

Les candidat(e)s des séries ES-S traiteront le sujet 1 ou le sujet 2. (200 words)

Les candidat(e)s de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA traiteront le sujet 1 ou le sujet 2. (250 words)

Les candidat(e)s de la série L composant au titre de la LVA traiteront le sujet 1 et le sujet 2. (150 words each)

1 After his schoolday, Tony speaks with his mother about his experience in this classroom. Write the dialogue.

2 You are a student in charge of organizing a project to make your classmates more conscious of their natural environment. Write a speech in which you explain your specific project and present your arguments to convince your class.

Les clés du sujet

Document 1

L’auteur

Michael A. Burstein (1970-) est américain. Diplômé de physique de ­Harvard, c’est un écrivain de science-fiction. Teleabsence est sa première œuvre. Pour en savoir plus : https://www.mabfan.com/

Résumé du texte

Tony est un élève de la classe virtuelle de Miss Ellis, où le travail se fait uniquement sur ordinateur, ce qui ravit et fascine Tony.

Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension

To enable (l. 4) : permettre  to relish (l. 13) : savourer  to punch in (l. 16) : saisir (sur un clavier)  rumble (l. 17) : gargouillement  to shimmer (l. 24) : miroiter.

Document 2

La source

Considéré comme un grand journal d’investigation, le Washington Post est un quotidien américain, célèbre en particulier pour avoir révélé l’affaire du Watergate qui a amené le président Nixon à démissionner.

Pour en savoir plus : https://washingtonpost.com

Résumé du texte

L’article développe la théorie appliquée dans certaines écoles selon laquelle il faut apprendre aux enfants à observer quotidiennement la nature. Le calme que leur apporte celle-ci a un impact positif sur leur comportement et leurs résultats.

Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension

Amid (l. 4) : parmi  settings (l. 9) : cadre an outing (l. 15) : une sortie  a curriculum (l. 22) : un programme scolaire  hyper-scheduled (l. 26) : aux emplois du temps surchargés  unplugged (l. 29) : déconnecté.

Les points de convergence

Les deux textes traitent de la manière d’enseigner à l’école. Le premier insiste sur les avantages qu’apportent les nouvelles technologies, tandis que le second met l’accent sur l’intérêt d’apprendre aux élèves à se rapprocher de la nature.

Le sujet d’expression 1

Une direction possible

Tony expliquera combien il apprécie le travail dans la classe virtuelle : il peut créer très simplement des œuvres artistiques, les exercices ressemblent à des jeux, il est facile de progresser avec une machine qui s’adapte à son niveau, etc. Il essaiera de faire comprendre à sa mère ce qu’est l’hologramme d’une carte géographique. Sa mère, bien sûr, s’inquiétera du fait qu’il saute régulièrement le déjeuner…

Key ideas

The computer makes classwork more exciting. The program fits my level. Now I like reading about history. One shouldn’t skip meals. Classwork becomes a pleasure.

Le sujet d’expression 2

Une direction possible

Choisissez d’abord votre projet. Par exemple, cultiver modestement une parcelle de terrain, dans l’enceinte de l’école ou au dehors. Présentez-en ensuite les avantages : s’efforcer de préserver la nature, prendre le temps d’observer, d’apprendre sur notre environnement. Précisez que vous restez modeste, au rythme d’une heure par jour, pour ne pas affoler vos camarades.

Key ideas

Nature around us has to offer a lot. We sorely feel the stress of this way of life. We need to unplug at times. We are all part of nature. A better knowledge of nature is a better knowledge of ourselves. The rhythm of nature is the rhythm of real life.

Correction

compréhension

Document 1

1“Being in a virtual classroom” (l. 3) “He could paint pictures in three dimensions” (l. 5) “Miss Ellis pushed a button at the top of the blackboard, and a holographic map appeared” (l. 20-21).

2Miss Ellis is a school teacher and Tony is one of her pupils.

3 They use a computer program which enables them both to use their imagination and to do 3D painting on the screen or to put together pictures and sounds taken from a digital library to make a moving collage with sound effects.

4 b) They can adapt their words when a child finds them too difficult. “history textbooks that changed the words they used when Tony punched in that he didn’t understand something” (l. 15-16)

5 Amazed: “the most beautiful map he had ever seen” (l. 23-24)

Jealous: “Tony envied the other students” (l. 10)

Delighted: “relishing every minute he was there” (l. 13)

6 He prefers to stay in the classroom and work with his computer instead of going to have his lunch. Despite feeling hungry, he is so engrossed by his environment that he is willing to skip lunch to concentrate on his art projects.

Uniquement pour les candidat(e)s de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA.

7To him the holographic map looks much more beautiful and real, with better colours than the ordinary maps he is used to seeing. It seems to have many more details: geographical features are much easier to see. As well as being extremely realistic, it has a dreamlike quality. “There was a vibrancy to this map which made it more real than any flat map Tony had seen in his own classroom.” (l. 27-28)

Document 2

8 a) The advantages of connecting schoolchildren with nature outdoors. “Just a walk through an urban park, he says, can help kids’ performance in school.” (l. 7-8)

9 b) technology has taken too much importance in schools.

10 “the troublemaker in class is the very one that turns out to have leadership qualities in the woods” (l. 9-11)

“There is something about natural environments that is really stress-reducing” (l. 16-17)

11“10 minutes a day in a neighborhood park” (l. 17-18) “planting a pollinator garden” (l. 18)

12Observing nature, planting a pollinator garden imply time, patience and calm, and while doing so, you are not in your classroom and you feel free from the pressure of class work and tight schedules. Behaviours change even for the worst troublemakers!

Uniquement pour les candidat(e)s de la série L LVA.

13Contrary to popular belief, progress will come from the fact that people are closer to nature which will make them feel better and happier. Time spent in the wild will be devoted to self-discovery too, and society will benefit from it: Less stress will make them more efficient in their jobs and less aggressive in social relationships. Nature will make them more human.

Documents 1 and 2

14The documents present an opposing view of what children need. In the first document, progress in children’s education is closely linked to technology which makes school work more attractive and suited to each child. On the contrary, the second text explains that progress comes from being closer to nature which has a positive effect on their personality and cuts out the stress of modern technological life.

expression

2 Guidelines

My friends,

As you may know I love getting involved in any project about our natural environment. I am sure you can’t imagine what nature around us has to offer. We are all very busy with our classwork, and we spend most of our leisure time on our phones or computers. Like your parents, don’t you sorely feel how stressful our way of life is Don’t you feel the need to unplug at times

Repère
Vocabulaire

to endorse : approuver

Well, my project is simple, and our teachers endorse it: there is a small field not far from the school, which we can use with the owner’s agreement. Why not grow plants and vegetables and study how this works Our biology teacher is ready to help us, as it would teach us lots of things about vegetal and animal life. It would take us no more than an hour a day, after lunch time, and I am sure you’ll find this fascinating. Don’t panic, it won’t be hard farm work! But you won’t believe how much you’ll get from this! We are all part of nature, even if we tend to forget it, but a better knowledge of that nature is a better knowledge of ourselves. The rhythm of nature is the rhythm of life, real life! And to skeptics I’ll say that tests in other schools have shown that getting closer to nature brings better school results. And to those of you who are more skeptical still: What we produce can be sold with the help of the school’s business students!

So why not give it a try