Name

Unit 6 An American high school Class

Date

Start thinking
1 Answer the questions.
1 What do you like most about your school?

2 What don’t you like about it?

3 What’s your favourite subject? Why?

Comprehension check
2 Watch the video. Choose the correct answers.
1 Hawthorne High School is in the …
a state of New Jersey. b state of New York. c city of New York.
2 Hawthorne High School has got … lessons every day.
a four b five c eight
3 Most students at Hawthorne High School eat …
a at home. b in the cafeteria. c outside the school.

3 Watch the video again. Correct the factual errors in the sentences.
1 Hawthorne High School is for students aged nine to eighteen.

2 The school has around 2,000 students.

3 School starts at nine o’clock.

4 Each lesson at Hawthorne High is 40 minutes long.

5 Lunchtime is after the second lesson.

6 The school team is called the Stars and Stripes.

4 Complete the summary. Write a word or a number in each gap.

There are about 1 million school students in the USA. All high school students have to study five
main subjects, including 2 , mathematics, 3 , social science and physical education.
4
They can also other subjects that they are good at. American schools have a strong sense of
5
and most students are 6 of their school. Some schools have a school council that
is responsible for getting 7 for school events.

5 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.

1 How is your school day different from the school day at Hawthorne High School?
2 Where do most school students in your country have lunch? What sort of food do they eat?
3 What type of events do you think a student council can organize?

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 Vocabulary
6 Complete the table with the correct British English or American English words.

American English British English

1 college u
2 g year
3 h s secondary school
4 h registration
5 math m
6 p lesson
7 p dance / disco
8 p .e . P.E.

7 Match a word in A to a word in B. Then complete the sentences.

A core elective local packed student
B council course league lunch subjects
1 Students at high school have to study a of five subjects.
2 Students can also choose depending on their interests.
3 Some students play sport in a of teams from other schools in the area.
4 Students who don’t want to buy food at school can bring a from home.
5 The organizes activities to raise money for the school.

Extension
Work in two groups. You are going to discuss this statement: ‘Private schools are better than public state
schools’. One group will agree with the statement and the other group will disagree with it.
1 Choose one person in your group to write down your ideas. In your group, think of as many arguments
(for or against) as possible and write them down.
2 Now choose your five best arguments. Give real-life examples to support your arguments, if possible.
3 Start the discussion. One person in your group should give a short speech, presenting your arguments.
He / she should talk for about three minutes. Use the expressions in the box to help you. You can also use
the expressions from the Unit 5 worksheet.
4 When both groups have finished their speeches, you can respond to each other’s arguments.
5 At the end of the discussion, each person in the class should vote for or against the statement. You do not
have to agree with the ideas in your group.

Useful expressions: Comparing

… is better / worse than … (because …)
… is more / less … than … (because …)
… is the most / least … kind of education
… have the best / worst …

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 Unit 6 DVD teacher’s notes

Video summary
The video is about the American education system. It talks about Hawthorne High School, which is a typical
American High School in the state of New Jersey with around 700 students. This video links to page 69 of the
Student’s Book.

Background culture notes

The American school system is divided into three levels: elementary school, middle school (sometimes called
junior high school) and high school. In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into
grades.
The youngest children begin with kindergarten and they start elementary school when they are six years old.
Elementary school covers first grade to fifth grade and children go to middle school when they are eleven years
old. Middle school covers sixth to eighth grade and students go to high school when they are fourteen. High
school covers ninth to twelfth grade and most students graduate from high school at the age of eighteen.
Those students who want to go to university have to sit some special tests called SAT exams. Higher education
is often called college education in the USA. Most American schools are managed by the state, but about ten
per cent of all school students go to private schools. Some parents educate their children at home with special
home-schooling programmes too.

Start thinking
1 Read the questions with the class and elicit answers from individual students. Encourage students to give a
personal response and use their suggestions to start a class discussion.
Students’ own answers.

Comprehension check
2 Answer key
1 a  2 c  3 b

3 Answer key
1 Hawthorne High School is for students aged fourteen to eighteen.
2 The school has around 700 students.
3 School starts at eight o’clock.
4 Each lesson at Hawthorne High is 45 minutes long.
5 Lunchtime is after the fourth lesson.
6 The school team is called the Hawthorne High Bears.

4 Answer key
1 56
2 science / English
3 English / science
4 choose
5 community
6 proud
7 money

5 Students’ own answers.

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 Vocabulary
6 Answer key
1 university
2 grade
3 high school
4 homeroom
5 mathematics / maths
6 period
7 prom
8 phys. ed.

7 Answer key
1 core course
2 elective subjects
3 local league
4 packed lunch
5 student council

Extension
Stage 1: Preparation before the class
• Write on the board: ‘Private schools are better than public state schools.’
• Tell students they are going to discuss the statement. Explain that half the class will argue in favour of the
statement and half the class will argue against it.
Stage 2: Procedure in the class
• Divide students into groups of about eight. Ask them to move their desks together, if possible.
• Divide each group into Group A and Group B. Tell students that Group A will argue in favour of the statement
and Group B will argue against it.
• Ask students in their A or B groups to brainstorm arguments to support their opinion. Name one person in each
group as the secretary to make a note of their ideas.
• Ask students to choose their five best arguments. Explain that they need to expand their arguments by thinking
of examples to illustrate the points.
• Tell the A groups to choose one person to make a short speech for the group and ask the B groups to do the
same. Then tell both groups to join together.
• Choose one student to act as the chairperson in each AB group. Explain that the chairperson should start the
discussion by introducing the statement and asking the speaker from Group A to give a short speech.
• After three minutes, the chairperson should thank the first speaker and introduce the speaker from Group B.
• After three minutes, the chairperson should thank the second speaker and ask the students in Group A to ask
Group B some questions about their speech.
• After three minutes, the chairperson should invite the students in Group B to ask Group A some questions about
their speech.
• After three minutes, the chairperson should hold a vote. Tell the students that they don’t have to agree with the
opinion of the group that they were in. Ask the students to hold up their hands if they agree with the statement
and count the number. Then ask the students to hold up their hands if they disagree with the statement and
count the number.
• Ask the chairperson of each AB group for the result of the vote in their group.
Extra ideas
You could ask students to research what other people think about this subject before the debate. Tell each group
to do an internet search for ‘advantages and disadvantages of private schools’ and ‘advantages and disadvantages
of state schools’. Ask them to bring their research to class and encourage them to use their ideas in the discussion.

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 Unit 6 DVD scripts An American high school
This is Hawthorne High School in New Jersey. The school is about 40 km from New York City, on the east coast of
the USA.
The school is for students from ninth to twelfth grade. Students start Hawthorne when they’re fourteen and leave
when they’re eighteen. At the end of twelfth grade, most students will graduate with a high-school diploma and many
will go on to college.
There are about fifty-six million school students in the USA. Some schools have over 2,000 students and according to
statistics, class sizes in the USA are going to get bigger. Hawthorne High is an average-size state school with around
700 students.
At 8 a.m. the bell rings for the start of the first class.
At Hawthorne, there are eight forty-five minute lessons, or periods as they’re called in the USA, every day. There are also
extra periods on Saturday mornings for students that are going to take SATS. Students take SATS at the end of high
school. If they pass them, they will probably go to university.
Between first and second period, the students have a five-minute registration period known as ‘homeroom’.
High school students have to study a core course of subjects, including science, mathematics, known as ‘math’ in the
USA, English, social science, and some physical education known as ‘phys. ed.’.
Students also choose elective subjects. They choose these subjects depending on what job they’re going to do when
they leave school, what subjects they enjoy and what subjects they’re good at.
For example, if you want to be an artist, you might choose art. And if you play an instrument well, you’ll probably
choose music.
After fourth period, it’s lunchtime. Most students buy food in the cafeteria, but others bring in a packed lunch. If the
weather is good, students sit outside to eat. Lunchtime is normally a relaxing time for students.
Creating a strong sense of community is very important in education in the USA. There’s an American flag, the Stars
and Stripes, in nearly every room of Hawthorne High. Students are encouraged to be proud of their country and their
school. The school team, Hawthorne High Bears, are very popular. This year they’re going to compete in the local
league and if they don’t win, everyone will be disappointed!
This is the student council. They are going to organize projects in the school over the next year. They’re all excited
because they predict they’ll raise a lot of money this year. They’re going to give the money to charities and use it to pay
for school events, like the prom.

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