UPPER-INTERMEDIATE High School ESL Lesson Plan: Warm-up (Pair Work)

Meme: 11 Things Kids Will Not Learn in School

(Background: A list has recently spread around the Internet entitled 11 Things Kids
Will Not Learn in School. The list has been incorrectly attributed to Bill Gates, who
supposedly read it at a lecture to high school students. Online sources reveal that the
list is a hoax: it originated in 1996 from a different author. Nevertheless, the list
provides some interesting food for thought. It is given below in its entirety.)

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a high school about 11 things they did not and
will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings
created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept sets
them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to
accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice
president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different
word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault; so don't whine about your
mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They
got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk
about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the
parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In
some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES
as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to
ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few
employers are interested in helping you "FIND YOURSELF". Do that on your own time.

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Rule 10: Television and video games are NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. (420 words)

[Sources: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/bill-gates-speech.shtml]

High School ESL Lesson Plan: Follow-Up Questions

1) Read the list again to yourself. Mark which rules you agree or disagree with. When
finished, discuss your opinion of each piece of advice with your class.
2) The list describes todays youth as kids with no concept of reality. What do you
think of this?
3) True or False: The list was actually written in 1996.
4) Idiom: What does it mean if something is beneath your dignity?

Match the words with their meaning as used in the article.

1) meme a) complain in an annoying voice

2) attribute (verb) b) an image or video that is shared online among
3) hoax many users
4) politically correct c) look similar
5) self-esteem d) a person who lacks social skills and studies too
6) dignity much
7) whine (verb) e) a funny or harmful trick or joke
8) parasite f) an organism that lives off another organism
9) delouse (verb) g) worded in a way that does not harm the
10) bear a resemblance audience
(phr.verb) h) confidence in ones own abilities
11) nerd i) regard sth as being caused by sb or sth
j) a sense of pride in ones self
k) clean a person or animal of lice or other insects
living on it

Master the language: Connect the below ideas to make a sentence. (good for
homework)

government / crush / uprising e.g. The government plans to crush the uprising.

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 favorite / meme
attribute / success
hoax / bomb
whine / politically correct
self-esteem / children
beneath / dignity
delouse / parasite
bear resemblance / reality
nerd / future

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High School ESL Lesson Plan: Debate: The Case of Lynden Dorval
Ross Sheppard High School in Edmonton, Canada, has a no zero policy. If a student
does not do an assignment, the teacher must try to arrange with the student for the
assignment to be completed later. If that method fails, the student gets a code of not
completed on his/her school record instead of a zero.

In early June, physics teacher Lynden Dorval was fired from the school for giving
zeros to students who did not complete assignments.
(source: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/20zeros/6709514/story.html)

Student A: You agree with the decision to fire Lynden Dorval. Think of reasons to
support your position. (One reason given by the school: just giving
students a zero does not help them learn anything.) Think of other
reasons. You will start the debate when ready.

Student B: You disagree with the decision to fire Lynden Dorval. Think of reasons
to support your argument. Your partner will start the debate when
ready.

High School ESL Lesson Plan: Your Speech

Prepare a speech for a high school graduating class. Give them advice that will help
them in the future.

Option1: Write the speech as homework and then present it in your next class.
Option2: Take 3-5 minutes to prepare your speech in point form and then present it to
your class today.

High School ESL Lesson Plan: Discussion Questions

1) What is a chain letter? Do you send or receive them?

2) Do you feel that high school adequately prepares people for real life? Why or
why not?
3) What is the purpose of high school?
4) Is real life as hard as the author of the list suggests?
5) Idiom: Life is what you make it. What do you think of this idea?

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High School Lesson plan copyright Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

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