English week 45

Variations on a sentence

We took a sentence and then did everything we could think of to manipulate it:

N. discovered a nice swimming pool in Gnesta.

N. didn't discover a nice swimming pool in Järna.

What did N. discover in Gnesta? A nice swimming pool.

Did N. discover anything nice in Gnesta? 
Yes, a swimming pool!

N. has discovered a nice swimming pool in Gnesta.

N. hasn't discovered a nice swimming pool in Järna.

What has N. discovered in Gnesta? A nice swimming pool!

Where has N. discovered a nice Swimming pool? In Gnesta.

and so on... 

Issues facing young people today

1) What do you think are the biggest issues facing young people today? Make a list.

Here's what the class came up with:

• Playing PC games all night instead of sleeping
• Stressed out due to being online 24/7
• The internet generally 
• Global warming
• Global economic crisis
• School
• Too large groups - hard to concentrate 
• Spoonfeeding information
• Homework - too much, wrong type, leading to disparities
• Burden of having to make important choices when young
• Overloaded with information and activities
• Family life
• Shortage of jobs - unemployment
• High pressure to be "successful"
• Uncertainty about what the future will bring
• Drugs
• Too many choices
• Declining mental and physical health

2) Once we've done our own list of issues, we'll take a look at this short film:


Here are some issues that these North American university students identify:

• Apathy
• Being yourself
• Cars and traffic
• Compassion for others
• Diet and obesity  
• Environmental problems
• Media influence
• Relationship with technology
• Tolerance
• World peace

3) Compare the issues they identified with what you came up with. 

• Is there anything you'd like to add to your list? 
• Anything important they missed out?

4) Now we'll draw up a table with issues and how we should respond to those issues. The responses might be at a personal or social level, depending on the issue and how we think it should be handled.

Youth bulge

Young people are often viewed as a problem in themselves. Take a look at this article: Youth Bulge: A Demographic Dividend or a Demographic Bomb in Developing Countries?

Now look up some population pyramids here: http://populationpyramid.net/

What countries face problems due to a shortage or excess of young people?
How can we solve those problems?