Science ‘squeezed out of primary schools’

A Science is being squeezed out of English primary schools, with a third not providing the recommended two hours of teaching a week, research suggests. The Confederation of British Industry study also suggests science has become less of a priority in many schools. A third of 260 teachers surveyed said they lacked confidence teaching science.

B The government said the report was “nonsense”, and its new curriculum “rivals the best in the world”. In the report, Tomorrow’s World, 53% of the teachers surveyed for the CBI said science teaching had become less of a priority over the past five years. And 36% of the schools teaching science at Key Stage 2 said they were not providing the minimum recommendation for science education of two hours every week. Some 20% said they committed over three hours, but 7.5% said they taught less than one hour per week.

C CBI director general John Cridland said: “Science education in primary schools is being squeezed out. How can we expect to inspire future generations of scientists and engineers if we don’t deliver high-quality and inspiring science lessons at primary school age? If we are not careful, too many children will have lost interest in science before they hit their teens. A lack of science, technology, engineering and maths skills are already holding back economic growth, and this will only get worse if we don’t energize the next generation. Pupils need innovative, fun lessons with access to the latest science kit and need to break free of the classroom more to visit cutting-edge companies.”

D Prof. Julia Buckingham, vice-chancellor of Brunel University, London, said: “The report’s findings - indicating that Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects have become less of a priority in primary schools in recent years. None of us should be in any doubt of the critical importance of ensuring that the education system inspires interest and enthusiasm for the sciences and provides careers advice and guidance as early as possible for school students.”

E A Department for Education spokesperson dismissed the CBI’s findings as “nonsense”. “Science is a compulsory subject in schools from age 5 to 16,” said the spokesperson. “It is a crucial part of our plan to prepare young people for life in modern Britain, and we have made big strides in recent years. A record number of pupils are now taking science at GCSE and we are seeing more young people taking the crucial STEM subjects at A-level. We have introduced a new primary science curriculum to get encourage more young people to study it.”

Adjusted to (1)

squeeze out – vytlačit

stride – pokrok

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 The government disagrees but the research figures are clear

2 Buckingham’s opinion

3 Science has lost its priority

4 Government says the findings are nonsense

5 Science is important for economics

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What was the research about?

2 What were the results of the experiment?

3 How does the government oppose?

4 Who is John Cridland? What does he say?

5 How does science influence future life of the pupils?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 its new curriculum “rivals the best in the world”

2 science education

3 we don’t deliver high-quality and inspiring science lessons

4 break free of the classroom

5 provide careers advice and guidance

4) Answer the following questions.

What is science? How does science education influence development of children? Do you think our government supports science education and research enough? Why not? How should be science taught?

Video:

https://goo.gl/Wmm9Dk

https://goo.gl/aK3aGc

https://goo.gl/c9AF7W

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/3SwNyU

http://goo.gl/RYBLlA

Source:

(1)

RICHARDSON, Hannah. Science 'squeezed out of primary schools'. BBC News [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-31749900

Three creative ways teachers can explore oceans in the classroom

Three creative ways teachers can explore oceans in the classroom

A Teaching about oceans can help transforming your classroom into a submarine; the vast expanse of the seas can be explored in many ways. Teachers now expected to develop their students’ knowledge of globally significant places “both terrestrial and marine”. The mystery of the deep blue sea is a great opportunity to enliven and engage students. Oceans education isn’t the reserve of enthusiastic geography teachers – it can inspire children in science, literacy, art and much more.

B When Ben Culverhouse, then a year 5 teacher at The Manor Church of England primary school in South Gloucestershire, wanted to get children excited about ocean wonders he turned his classroom into a submarine. The idea came to him after seeing the play Kursk. Culverhouse got in touch with the show’s director who emailed him submarine digital sound effects. “I set up a sub interior control room as my whiteboard screensaver and used a red light bulb for silent operations such as reading,” says Culverhouse. As the eight-week project developed, the children made models of underwater creatures, and hung them around the classroom. “We used the submarine to ‘travel’ to a certain point in the ocean each lesson,” says Culverhouse.

C For geography, Culverhouse explored the locations of the oceans and continents around the world. He also gave a lesson on navigation, plotting a course using marker buoys and compass directions, to introduce maths skills. The class even studied Robert Louis Stevenson’s seafaring classic Treasure Island for their literature unit in the submarine classroom.

D Leah Sharp taught the topic of oceans to her year 6 class at Downsbrook middle school in West Sussex cooperating with a year 10 group at Patcham high school in Brighton. Sharp was teaching her younger pupils physical geography, while David Rogers at Patcham was tackling various types of coastal erosion and flooding with his class. After exchanging tweets about what their students were working on, they decided to team up using Google hangouts. The project lasted six weeks. At the start of every week, each side would send over new resources to be uploaded onto hangouts.

E Alan Parkinson, geography teacher at King’s Ely in Cambridgeshire, taught oceans as part of a year 7 unit. He introduced the “you are what you eat” project to teach about food issues and sustainable resourcing. Students were introduced to the various methods used to catch fish and their effect on the environment. They visualised the impact on the sea floor, and investigated more sustainable alternatives, such as farming fish. The children made fish and chips dishes with messages written on them. Each fish explained why it was threatened; the chips were labelled with ideas for helping the fish to survive. Students were asked to create an eco-friendly menu. They linked up with the food technology department; some groups were allowed to cook their dishes.

Adjusted to (1)

vast – ohromný, obrovský

plot – zosnovat, naplánovat

marker buoy – vytyčovací bóje

sustainable resourcing – dlouhodobé udržování zdrojů

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Culverhouse taught geography, literature and maths during his ocean project

2 Culverhouse turned the classroom into a submarine

3 “You are what you eat” project

4 Sharp’s and Rogers’ classes worked together

5 Teaching about oceans is inspiring

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 Why can learning about oceans be interesting?

2 How did Culverhouse start with his project?

3 How were the topics of oceans presented creatively? Describe all the presented ways.

4 How did two classes cooperate?

5 Why did children make fish and chips dishes?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 knowledge of globally significant places

2 great opportunity to enliven and engage students

3 exchanging tweets

4 upload onto hangouts

5 labelled with ideas

4) Answer the following questions.

What is science? How does science education influence development of children? How is science taught at preschool, primary school and secondary school?

Video:

https://goo.gl/APjiWx

https://goo.gl/YtWtAy

https://goo.gl/H25B8B

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/rYcylW

http://goo.gl/l8qw3v

http://goo.gl/OqYTeC

http://goo.gl/7qGCq6

Source:

(1)

MARSH, Sarah. Three creative ways teachers can explore oceans in the classroom. The Guardian [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/may/20/explore-oceans-classroom-three-creative-ways-teachers

Beat inequality with preschool

Beat inequality with preschool

A Arguably the most important and innovative idea proposed by President Obama in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night was his call for high-quality, universal pre-school education.

B “Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on, by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime,” Obama said. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own.”

C He’s right. Most Americans would be surprised to learn that the United States now does worse in terms of social mobility than many European countries – especially those in Scandinavia – as well as Canada. What does this mean in practice? It means that a poor child born in the United States is much more likely to remain poor than one born in Canada or Denmark.

D The Pew Charitable Trust’s Economic Mobility Project found last year, for example, that “more than 40 percent of Americans raised in the poorest family background remain stuck there as adults, and 70 percent remain below the middle.” OECD research, meanwhile, found that while “at least 40 percent of the economic advantage that high-earnings fathers have over low-earnings fathers is transmitted to their sons,” the comparable figure for Nordic countries, Canada and Australia was less than 20 percent.

E The main reason for this, I believe, is that many of the countries with higher mobility invest a great deal in children of all backgrounds, early in their lives, in terms of daycare, nutrition and education. And what the research increasingly shows is that if a child has missed out in the first few years of life in terms of nutrition, in terms of attention that adults pay to them, in terms of cognitive stimulation, then it is very difficult for them to catch up because they have been so disadvantaged – some of them neurologically. Countries with strong programs for the very young, in contrast, tend to have an advantage.

Adjusted to (1)

arguably – zřejmě

boost – oživení

remain stuck – uvíznout

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Call for equal preschool education

2 Economic research

3 Countries which invest more have an advantage

4 Investment into preschool education is convenient

5 Many poor children remain poor as adults in the US

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is Obama’s opinion?

2 Why is equal preschool education important??

3 What is the situation of poor children in the US like?

4 What did the economic research find out?

5 How can be the situation changed?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 universal pre-school education

2 reducing violent crime

3 high-earnings fathers

4 children of all backgrounds

5 disadvantaged

4) Answer the following questions.

Why is preschool education important? Who are economically disabled children? What is segregation of children? What are problems of economically and socially handicapped? What does Czech government do for equal education?

Video:

https://goo.gl/jZlCff

https://goo.gl/qdxzFG

https://goo.gl/T0yp08

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/EtbKYb

http://goo.gl/lscG4x

Source:

(1)

ZAKARIA, Fareed. Fareed Zakaria: Beat inequality with preschool. CNN News [online]. 2013 [cit. 2015-09-22]. Available at: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/18/fareed-zakaria-beat-inequality-with-preschool/

Minister pushes guaranteed right to preschool

Minister pushes guaranteed right to preschool

A The Czech government is planning a major overhaul of the country’s preschool education system. The final year of preschool should be compulsory, while children at the age of two would be entitled to a place in nursery school. But the country currently lack some 60,000 places in preschool facilities, and officials are not very clear on how to secure funding for these ambitious plans.

B The Czech minister for human rights and equal opportunities, Jiří Dienstbier, announced that besides poverty, social housing, equal access to education and other issues, he would like to grant two-year-old Czech children the right to be placed in preschool. He said other countries had successfully introduced similar arrangements which he sees as crucial for implementing the policy of equal opportunities. If children are entitled to start preschool at the age of two, adults would no longer have to choose between pursuing their careers and starting a family. But the Czech Republic chronically lacks places in preschools and kindergartens; this year, some 60,000 children could not be placed to these facilities due to lack of capacity.

C The government also plans to make the final year of kindergarten compulsory, which would require an increase in the number of preschool facilities. Most of them are run by municipalities which would certainly require additional funding. The human rights minister was not very specific about how the government wants to achieve that.

D The Czech Republic’s Union of Town and Municipalities welcomes these ideas but says that first, a detailed plan needs to be put forward for a debate. The mayor of Chomutov Jan Mareš is deputy head of the union. “We certainly do not oppose the idea. But there are several issues that need to be resolved. Another problem that would need to be addressed is what should be done with the increased capacities once the number of children at preschool age drops again.”

E Minister Dienstbier says his plan should be implemented within the next two or three years. Meanwhile, the government has scrapped a proposal put forth by the previous cabinet which saw the establishment of “childrens groups” as a way addressing insufficient capacities in preschool facilities. But these groups would only provide babysitting, and are not deemed a suitable substitute for regular kindergartens.

Adjusted to (1)

overhaul – revise

pursue – věnovat se

scrap – zrušit

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Children might attend preschools from the age of 2

2 Problems have to be solved first

3 The last year of preschool education might be compulsory

4 Our country does not have enough places in preschools

5 The plan should be implemented soon

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the situation concerning preschool education in the Czech Republic like?

2 What changes are to be made? Why? When?

3 Which problems might be faced? Why?

4 What are the opinions of the government and municipalities concerning the changes?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 be entitled to a place in nursery school

2 equal access to education

3 to lack places in preschools and kindergartens

4 plans to make the final year of kindergarten compulsory

5 the number of children at preschool age drops again

4) Answer the following questions.

What are possibilities of preschool education? What are their pros and cons? What do you think about the situation of preschool system today and changes to be put forward? How would you solve it? What are types of preschool alternative education?

Video:

https://goo.gl/AK8jDs

https://goo.gl/kdc7K0

https://goo.gl/3yprXl

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/Mxbi09

http://goo.gl/dhdHi2

http://goo.gl/NQ40cK

http://goo.gl/Xf7BJQ

Source:

(1)

RICHTER, Jan. Minister pushes guaranteed right to preschool. Český rozhlas [online]. 2014 [cit. 2015-09-22]. Available at: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/minister-pushes-guaranteed-right-to-preschool

Toddlers prepare for their first big interview

A Getting into good schools or universities is tough in many parts of the world, but in Hong Kong the pressure begins earlier. Often parents try to get children into a good kindergarten – and before that, into a good nursery. So there are now classes preparing toddlers for that all-important nursery interview.

B Yoyo Chan is preparing for an important interview that could help her succeed in life. She is one-and-a-half years old. At two she will start nursery, but competition is fierce in Hong Kong, and some of the most prestigious nurseries are selective. Her parents want her to be well-prepared for her first big test in life.

C The best nurseries and kindergartens can receive more than 1,000 applications for just a few dozen places. As a result, enterprising tuition companies are now offering interview training for toddlers. At interview class, Yoyo is asked to greet the tutor and introduce herself. The tutor then asks her to complete a number of tasks, including building a house with bricks, drawing a picture, sticking two felt eyes in the right position on a felt face, and identifying pieces of fruit. At one tuition company, the Hong Kong Young Talents Association, a series of 12 training sessions costs HK$4,480 ($580; £390) – that’s nearly a quarter of the monthly household income. “We try to teach children through musical activities, while adapting the activities to what the interviews will cover,” HKYTA tutor Teresa Fahy says.

D But to make things more complicated different nurseries and kindergartens are looking for different things. It’s common for the interviewers to observe how children play with toys. This gives an idea of their fine motor skills, and how they interact with other children. How they take part in group activities such as singing or moving to music will also be carefully examined. And interviewers will talk to the children to see how well they express themselves, and whether they make eye contact.

E Some, but not all, will also ask children to identify colours or shapes, or to explain scenes in a picture book. “Interview questions are getting harder and harder,” says Fahy. “Kindergartens may ask children complex questions like, ‘What are your eyes for?’ or ‘What type of egg is this?’ They may also test a child’s manners by offering them sweets at the end of the interview. The child has to take one and say, ‘Thank you’. Taking too many sweets is seen as greedy, while declining the sweets is considered impolite.”

Adjusted to (1)

fierce – nelítostný

felt – plsť

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Tuition companies

2 Pressure on toddlers in Hong Kong

3 Knowledge and politeness are necessary

4 Requirements of preschools

5 Yoyo Chan is preparing for interview

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the situation concerning preschools in Hong Kong like?

2 Who is Yoyo Chan? What do we know about her family and life?

3 What are requirements of Hong Kong preschools?

4 How do parents prepare their children?

5 What do the interviewers talk with children about?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 the pressure begins earlier

2 prestigious nurseries

3 tuition companies

4 toddlers

5 fine motor skills

4) Answer the following questions.

What do children learn in preschool institutions? What are types of preschools? What is the role of preschool teacher? What knowledge should children acquire before they start primary school?

Video:

https://goo.gl/guwuHd

https://goo.gl/bM5KQw

https://goo.gl/mVry1J

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/yEqXJx

http://goo.gl/Nff1Cl

http://goo.gl/BMtNzX

http://goo.gl/a8XOPY

Source:

(1)

CHEUNG, Helier. Toddlers prepare for their first big interview. BBC News [online]. 2015 [cit.

Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32040752

Magic unfolds at preschool in retirement home

A Filmmaker Evan Briggs had spent a long time thinking about aging in America, our relationship to the elderly and how dysfunctional it seemed. “What is it about our value system that makes it so these people don’t really have a place here anymore after a certain age? Why are we OK with that?” she thought. “There is so much wisdom and life experience that our elderly members of society have that we're just not availing ourselves of, and that just seems like a huge loss.”

B When she learned there was a preschool in her town set inside a retirement home, where the residents and the children interacted on a daily basis, she knew she wanted to film a documentary there. Briggs spent the 2012-13 school year filming three days a week at the Intergenerational Learning Center for children 6 weeks to 5 years old inside Providence Mount St. Vincent, a retirement home for about 400 adults in West Seattle. Her first feature-length film, “Present Perfect,” explores “the very real experience of aging in America – both growing up and growing old.”

C The five-minute trailer, which was released in early June as part of a crowdfunding campaign, is filled with loving and life-affirming interactions between the little ones and the elderly residents. A little boy named Max patiently repeats his name as a hard-of-hearing resident keeps getting it wrong. A resident reaches down and strokes a toddler’s hair.

D Intergenerational programs exist at approximately 500 long-term care facilities, senior centers and other facilities across the country. The Seattle day-care center, now nearly 25 years old, was developed to enhance the sense of community in the long-term care facility, said director Marie Hoover. “It was clear to the leadership, at the time, that creating the feeling of ‘a village’ was going to require the addition of children along with a robust plan to bring the two age groups together,” Hoover said.

E This week, Briggs set a new stretch goal of $100,000, which she says would allow her to finish the film without seeking additional funding sources. “It’s so exciting to me that the idea is resonating. It’s just the most amazing surprise,” she said. She imagined people are responding to the film’s implicit message of hope. “Look at this simple thing that’s being done, and there’s no reason this can’t be replicated everywhere.” Since the trailer was released, the Seattle school has had a huge response from local families looking to enroll in the program, and inquiries from people around the world who would like to know how to create the intergenerational model in their own community.

Adjusted to (1)

avail – využívat

crowdfunding – společné financování

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Film trailer

2 Evan Briggs’ initial thoughts

3 Impact of the film

4 Intergenerational program

5 Spending a year in Providence Mount St. Vincent

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What were Evan Briggs’ initial thoughts?

2 Where did she start making her film?

3 What was the trailer about?

4 Why are new intergenerational centres opened?

5 What is the impact of the film?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 relationship to the elderly

2 Intergenerational Learning Center for children

3 life-affirming interactions

4 long-term care facilities

5 to enroll in the program

4) Answer the following questions.

What is a care home? What new skills do children get through interaction with seniors? What is social intelligence? How are seniors stimulated by children? Is there a similar program in the Czech Republic?

Video:

http://goo.gl/Nt2Bj9

https://goo.gl/azPJYh

https://goo.gl/2ePS5k

https://goo.gl/sEYpXZ

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/IkmeLQ

http://goo.gl/TjAAHR

Source:

(1)

SASHIN, Daphne. Magic unfolds at preschool in retirement home. CNN News [online]. 2014 [cit. 2015-09-22]. Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/19/living/preschool-nursing-home-seattle/

Preschool Options: Why The Type Of Early Education You Pick Might Not Matter

Preschool Options: Why The Type Of Early Education You Pick Might Not Matter

A One morning, my husband dragged himself out of bed at 5 a.m. and rode his bike to a nearby preschool. The school was empty but a sleepy line started forming outside the school’s doors -- he was the sixth person to join it. Eventually, my husband was invited inside, where he handed a stranger an application and a check for $50 and promptly left. So began our son’s preschool application process for the 2013/2014 academic year, 12 months in advance.

B It wouldn’t be New York if preschool admissions were easy. But upper-middle-class parents keep ranking schools and agonizing over which educational “philosophy” is right for their kid. The kids who truly need early education have parents who can’t afford it. Compared with kids who skip preschool, kids who attend usually have more well-to-do, encouraging parents who read and do puzzles with them at home. Children who don’t go to preschool are usually from more disadvantaged families, which means they watch lots of TV and are yelled at more than they are praised, which some researchers believe can stunt cognitive development.

C Research suggests that preschool only benefits children from these disadvantaged families (families below the poverty line, uneducated mothers, or racial minorities). The preschool acts as a kind of “equalizer,” ensuring that for at least a few hours a day, these kids get the same high-quality interaction with adults as more advantaged children do. In other words, a bad home situation becomes a much smaller problem when your kid goes to preschool; when you have a good home environment, preschool doesn’t really matter.

D So if preschool doesn’t really matter for advantaged kids, then the type of preschool matters even less. Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Catholic school? Some approaches may be a better fit for certain personalities: Waldorf schools, which teach through imitation and imagination and don’t ever give tests, might mesh well with artistic children; the Reggio Emilia approach is a project-based philosophy in which children spend days, weeks, or even months exploring a particular topic, like seashells; and the Montessori method teaches skills through the use of special manipulative materials, perhaps good for an engineer-to-be.

E So if you’re providing your child with a stimulating environment at home don’t stress about preschool. Instead, take to heart the words of social psychologist Richard Nisbett, co-director of the Culture and Cognition program at the University of Michigan. When I asked him how important it is to send your child to the best preschool, he told me that as far as he knows, “It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.”

Adjusted to (1)

drag – dokopat se, přemoci se

mesh – zapadat, hodit se

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Type of preschool isn’t important

2 Children who attend preschools don’t really need it

3 Preschool equalizes knowledge and skills

4 Our son’s application

5 Which preschool to choose?

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 How do upper-middle-class parents from New York apply for preschools?

2 Who really needs to attend a preschool? Why?

3 What does the article say about disadvantaged families and their upbringing?

4 What types of preschools are mentioned? How are they compared?

5 Who is Richard Nisbett? What does he say?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 application

2 preschool admissions

3 families below the poverty line

4 manipulative materials

5 stimulating environment

4) Answer the following questions.

What types of preschools do you know? What is their education philosophy? Describe Czech educational preschool system. What rights do children with special educational needs have? What possibilities do disadvantaged preschoolers in the Czech Republic have?

Video:

https://goo.gl/CwMwiL

https://goo.gl/UDFETs

https://goo.gl/wPTgf9

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/MWQLoj

http://goo.gl/cIE8J3

http://goo.gl/h22RTW

http://goo.gl/AONvfu

Source:

(1)

WENNER MOYER, Melinda. Preschool Options: Why The Type Of Early Education You Pick Might Not Matter. Huffington Post [online]. 2013 [cit. 2015-09-22]. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/20/preschool-options_n_2516420.html