ESL WORKSHEET - Education, Teaching and Learning

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM*

LinguaHouse
Nov. 2, 2023

Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2-C1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: British Vs. American English; Education, Teaching, and Learning; British Culture; American Culture; People and Places; Society and Change; Education and Learning; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Vocabulary Lesson
Publication date: 11/02/2023

* This lesson has been updated.

In this updated lesson plan, students identify school facilities and then listen to American and British friends talking about education in their countries. Students differentiate vocabulary related to these two school systems and other educational topics, as well as identify useful phrases for learning new things. There is a brainstorming / discussion activity with exam relevance to conclude, and an optional extension explores some common education idioms (by Stephanie Hirschman).

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audios (Am/Br English).

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS

Listening (Part I)
Molly: What’s in that box?
Jake: Oh, just some old photos I found at my parent’s house from when I was little.
Molly: Let me see! Oh, is this you?
Jake: Yeah, that’s me at nursery school. I was all dressed up for World Book Day. I must have been around three years old.
Molly: We used to have dress-up days at my preschool in America. I was usually a cat or a dog.
Jake: And this one shows me on my first day of primary school. In fact, my mum wrote on the back, Jake starts reception. That’s the first year of school.
Molly: How old were you?
Jake: I was four, that’s when we start primary school here. You do three years in the Infants, and then when you’re seven, you move up to the Junior School.
Molly: Oh, I see. It’s similar in the US, but we start elementary school at five, and go to kindergarten for a year. Then we stay in elementary school until we finish sixth grade, when we’re eleven or twelve.
Jake: Yes, we start secondary school at eleven as well. Here’s a picture of me on the first day of Year 7, in my uniform. Not my best look.
Molly: No, it’s an awkward age. I felt the same way when I went to junior high. But by the time I left when I was fourteen to go to high school, things were looking up.
Jake: Maybe it’s good to keep those difficult early teen years separate. In the UK, we stay at secondary school until we’re sixteen and take our GCSE exams. Then we go on to college.
Molly: College? Really? At sixteen?
Jake: Yeah, we call it college, or sometimes the sixth form, and we stay there until we’re eighteen and finish our A levels. Here’s a picture of me at college, with my mates, in the Art Club.
Molly: So cool! What did you do next?
Jake: Well, like lots of people, I went on to university.
Molly: OK, I understand. We use the word college in the States too, but it means the same as university – a place where you go for four years to get a degree.
Jake: Four years? It usually only takes three years to get a degree in England.
Molly: Well, I guess that’s cheaper.

Listening (Part II)
Jake: So, Molly, what kind of high school did you go to?
Molly: Just an ordinary public school, nothing special.
Jake: I think public school means something different to you. For me it means an expensive independent school, not run by the government.
Molly: Oh. Well, in America, public schools don’t cost anything. The kind of school you have to pay for is called a private school. Sometimes they’re religious. I could have gone to our local Catholic school, but I didn’t want to wear a uniform.
Jake: In the UK, we nearly always wear uniforms until we’re sixteen. The uniform at my secondary school wasn’t too bad. But my cousin went to a grammar school, and he had to wear a suit and tie every day!
Molly: What’s a grammar school? Is that where you just learn grammar?
Jake: No. It’s a selective school – you have to sit a special exam if you want to go there. It’s very competitive and very academic. Not many people go there.
Molly: So, let me get this straight. Grammar schools are private schools? Or what I call private schools?
Jake: Not really. Sometimes it’s free and sometimes you pay. They actually don’t exist in too many places anymore and most people go to their local comprehensive. That’s what I did, so I could stay with my mates.
Molly: I get it. Did you say you have to SIT a special exam to get into grammar school?
Jake: Yeah. Don’t you say that? It just means to take an exam.
Molly: OK, that’s a new one for me. Does that mean you have to spend a lot of time studying for the entrance test?
Jake: Oh, yes. But we usually call it revising. It’s a lot of pressure for ten- and eleven-year-olds.
Molly: I’m really learning a lot today! So, did you like your ... what’s it called ... compre-something?
Jake: My comprehensive? Yeah, it wasn’t too bad! The headmaster was a good guy. He really helped me out a couple of times.
Molly: Who’s the headmaster?
Jake: He’s the guy who runs the school.
Molly: Oh, we call it the principal. And where did you go to school after you were eighteen?
Jake: Well, I told you, I was at college and then I went to university. I’d left school by then...
Molly: No, sorry, I mean university. We say go to school, even when we’re talking about university. I want to know if you studied in the same town where you grew up?
Jake: No, I didn’t. I went to Brighton to do an art degree. And you?
Molly: I stayed in the same town, and I majored in History. Let’s see some more pictures of you when you were little...

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/the-education-system. Accessed on November 3, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.