The United States System of Education
Education in the United States comprises three basic levels: elementary, secondary, adult education. Vocational training, adult education, schools or classes for special types of children, and kindergartens also form part of the program in most states.
Parents may choose whether to send their children to their local free public schools, or to private schools and colleges.
The school year is usually nine months, from early September to mid June.
A child’s introduction to formal education is usually in kindergarten classes operated in most public school systems. Many systems also provide nursery schools. The age group is commonly four and five years. The programs are flexible and are designed to help children grow in self-reliance, learn to get along with others, and form good work and play habits.
The main purpose of the elementary school is the general intellectual and social development of the child from 6 to 12 or 15 years of age. Promotion from one grade to the next is based on the pupil’s achievement of specified skills in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, geography, music and art.
At secondary school most pupils follow a course that includes English, science, social studies, mathematics and physical education. Elective subjects may be chosen in the fields of foreign languages, fine arts, and vocational training. In addition to the basic subjects larger school systems may offer a selection of courses aimed at three or more levels — academic, vocational and general.
The academic program is designed to prepare students for college.
The vocational program may give training in four fields: agricultural education, which prepares the students for farm management and operation; business education, which trains students for the commercial field; home economics, which trains students for home management, child care and care of the sick; and trade and industrial education, which provides training for jobs in mechanical, manufacturing, building and other trades. This program prepares students either for employment or further training.
The third program, a general or comprehensive program, provides features of the academic and vocational types. Its introductory courses give an appreciation of the various trades and industrial arts rather than train students for specific jobs.
Most young Americans graduate from school with a high school diploma upon satisfactory completion of a specified number of courses. Students are usually graded from A (excellent) to F (failing) in each course they take. Students receive a “report card” at least twice a year which indicates the grades they have received in each of the subjects they are studying.
American higher education refers to study beyond the secondary school level and almost always presupposes that a student has undertaken 12 previous years of study.
The terms “college” and “university” are often used interchangeably. An American college typically offers a blend of natural and social sciences and humanistic studies. Students traditionally 18 to 22 years old, attend classes for approximately four years to receive, if they successfully complete all requirements, a bachelor’s degree in arts or science.
II. Where can you work?
1.1) Key:
A — like making things with their hands or with machines.
В — interested in working with plants or animals.
С — interested in caring for others and helping them with their problems.
D — interested in knowing how and why things work.
E — like to be out and about and physically active.
F — like working with figures or solving mathematical problems.
G — like offering a service to other people.
H — like to use creative and artistic abilities.
1.3) Учащиеся работают в парах. Каждый пишет / говорит, что он / она (не) умеет делать, (не) любит делать, какую категорию выбрал(а). Партнер делает вывод, подходит данная категория или нет. Например:
| I agree | that you can work in a scientific or computational field | because | you are good at Maths and you can work on a computer. | |||
| I quite agree | ||||||
| I also think |
| I don’t agree | that you can work in a scientific or computational field | because | you are not very good at Maths. Of course you like to work on a computer but it’s not enough. | |||
| I don’t think you are right | ||||||
| I don’t think |
I think you can work in a practical field. You are good at making things with your own hands.
2. Учащиеся слушают отчет и подбирают по контексту соответствующие профессии, потом записывают в тетради в той последовательности, в какой они должны следовать в отчете. Учащиеся слушают еще раз и уточняют.
5.1) Учащиеся могут написать профессии, подходящие только для женщин, мужчин, а также для женщин и мужчин, и обсуждают их в парах (группах).
6. Класс делится на две группы. Ученики 1-й группы выясняют у учащихся 2-й группы: What did you want to be in your childhood? Ученики 2-й группы задают вопрос What do you want to be now? ученикам 1-й группы. Затем ученики каждой группы объединяются и делают единое сообщение.
7. Сравнить можно по следующей модели: According to the quiz I should choose a profession of a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, a social worker, a psychologist. But I don’t want to choose any of these careers. I’d better work with figures and I want to be an accountant.
Реакция учителя: It’s up to you to decide what you want to be. You can’t rely upon the quiz.
Если результаты теста и желание выбрать профессию совпадут, можно сказать: You are lucky. I hope you will succeed in it.
8.1) Прежде чем учащиеся будут комментировать выбор профессии, необходимо выяснить, понимают ли они значение и смысл, например, таких прилагательных, как ambitious, materialistic, conservative, realistic. Возможна работа в парах.
8.2) Сначала учащиеся в парах высказывают свое мнение о том, что для них важно при выборе профессии, затем каждый сообщает о выборе партнера и оценивает его.
10.3) Необходимо привлечь информацию из Книги для чтения.
Дополнительные упражнения к разделу: см. Рабочую тетрадь, упражнения 8, 9.
III. Having a job interview
1.1) Напомнить учащимся образование и значение слов to interview, interviewee, interviewer.
interviewee — a person who is interviewed
interviewer — a person who interviews
Предложить сравнить со словами:
to employ
employee — a person working for another person or a business firm for pay
employer — a person who employs especially for wages
2.1) Учащиеся по таблице “Grammar in Focus” выводят правило постановки вопросов в косвенной речи. Они также могут воспользоваться пояснениями в справочнике.
3.1) Useful phrases:
| It is a good bit of advice ... It will not help ... It could not work ... It is a misleading piece of advice ... It is silly ... |
Advice — неисчисляемое существительное, употребляется только в единственном числе, без артикля. Для того чтобы передать значение «один совет», можно использовать выражения а bit of advice, a piece of advice, a word of advice.
4. Учащиеся делятся на группы по 4 человека в каждой: А, В, С, D.
I этап — подготовительный, выполняются задания для А и В.
II этап — разыгрывается диалог между В и С, где В дает советы С, как вести себя во время собеседования. При этом присутствует D (репортер). Он записывает советы, которые были даны.
III этап — беседа руководителя А и С. Репортер D присутствует.
IV этап — репортер докладывает, почему С был или не был принят на работу.
Можно выбрать другие профессии по желанию учащихся.
For Fun and Profit
II. 1. Key:
Ronald Reagan — actor — president
Sylvester Stallone — cleaner of cages in the zoo — actor
Tina Turner — cotton picker — pop star
Madonna — waitress — pop star
Neil Tennant — journalist — pop star
Margaret Thatcher — chemist and barrister — prime minister
Dustin Hoffman — waiter — actor
Christopher Lambert — bank clerk — actor
Jon Bon Jovi — shop assistant — pop star
Дополнительное упражнение к III разделу: см. Рабочую тетрадь, упражнение 6.
В качестве дополнительного материала к циклу можно использовать раздел “Are you friends with your computer?” из Рабочей тетради.