Sit With Us is a social networking app designed to promote kindness and inclusion in schools.
Kids can use the app’s features to coordinate lunches with their friends.
They can also volunteer to be Ambassadors for their schools and post open lunch events on campus where everyone will be included.
No one needs to eat alone!
This lesson contains 4 steps and an evaluation.
Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
Introduction
Read the introduction.
Step 1
Reading
Read the text and tick the best summary sentence. Read the text again. Fill in the first sentence in each paragraph of the text.
Step 2
Words
Find the correct word according to the definition. Complete sentences with these specific words.
Step 3
Speaking
Discuss questions about the text with your classmate.
Step 4
Task
Describe in 200 words a way to encourage students to come and sit with you.
Reading
Read the text quickly.
Choose the best summary sentence.
It’s about a girl who is using her phone at lunch time.
It’s about a girl who was bullied at school.
The first sentence from each paragraph has been removed.
Look at the sentences in random order.
The app allows students to designate themselves as “ambassadors,”
Hampton, now a junior, is attending a different school and is thriving socially
Hampton might be on to something even more,
A new app makes finding friends in the school cafeteria a piece of cake
Now read the text.
‘Sit With Us’ also aims to help reduce bullying.
[1]
“Sit With Us” helps students who have difficulty finding a place to sit locate a welcoming group in the lunchroom.
[2] thereby inviting others to join them. Ambassadors can then post “open lunch” events, which signal to anyone seeking company that they’re invited to join the ambassadors’ table. Natalie Hampton, a 16-year-old from Sherman Oaks, California, is the designer of Sit With Us, which launched on September 9. She was inspired to create it after she ate alone her entire seventh grade year, she told LA Daily News. The situation left Hampton feeling vulnerable and made her a target for bullying.
[3] Yet, the memory of sitting alone and being bullied still haunts her, especially since she knows her experience isn’t an isolated one. Hampton told Audie Cornish on NPR’s “All Things Considered” that the reason why she felt an app like this was necessary is because it prevents kids from being publicly rejected and being considered social outcasts by their peers. “This way it’s very private. It’s through the phone. No one else has to know,” she explained to Cornish. “And you know that you’re not going to be rejected once you get to the table.”
[4] especially since she’s asking fellow students to take the stand against bullying. When students ― especially the “cool kids” ― stand up to bullying, it has a significant impact, according to a study conducted by Princeton, Rutgers and Yale University. During a 2012-2013 school year, over 50 New Jersey middle schools provided their most socially competent students with social media tools and encouragement to combat bullying, and saw a reduction in student conflict reports by 30 percent. Hampton told All Things Considered that since she launched the app last week, she’s already getting positive feedback from her peers. “People are already posting open lunches at my school,” she told the program. “So I’m very excited that things are already kicking off with a great start.”
Grammar
Let’s look at ... modals of deduction and speculation (past tense).
When we want to talk about something but we aren’t sure, we can use modals.
Also if we are making conclusions, we can use modals.
Must have = we are sure about something and there is clear evidence. You must have been born before 2000 – I know you are at least 30 years old!
Might have = we aren’t 100% sure about something but we think it might be possible. Janice might have stopped to visit her mum on the way here but I’m not sure.
Could have = this is when we want to say that someone had the ability or the chance to do something but they decided not to do it. You could have spent your gap year in Australia but you went to the US instead.
Should have = this is when you express regret, in other words, you wish you had done something but you didn’t. I should have spent my summer holidays reading books from the booklist for this year.
Speaking
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
Is bullying a big problem at your school?
Do you think bullying will disappear one day, or is it getting worse?
Do you think this 'Sit with Us' app is a good idea? Why/Why not?
Would you use it?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this app?
When you first read about it, did you think it was an app to help combat bullying?
Consider other ways of combatting bullying and their effectiveness in your context.
Step 4 - Task
Task: Writing
It’s not always easy to make friends at school.
Your English teacher has asked you to suggest other ways to encourage students to come and sit with you. It could be an app, or it could be something different.
Write your article explaining your idea, and how it works. Indicate how it could be implemented in your school (is it self-explanatory? Would teachers have to be involved?).
Write no more than 200 words.
Evaluation
Fill in the schedule and answer the questions below.
Activity
Needs improvement
Satisfactory, good
Excellent
Step 1 reading
I can read a text and tick the best summary sentence.
Step 2 words
I can understand and use the words.
Step 3 speaking
I can discuss about the social network app Sit with us.
Step 4 task
I can write an article about how to encourage students.
What have you learned in this lesson?
Answer the following questions:
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding en publicatie onder dezelfde licentie vrij bent om:
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Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Heroes'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Sit with us. Deze les gaat over sociale netwerkingsapp 'Sit with us' tegen pesten en uitsluiten. Het gaat over het maken van vrienden op school. Hierbij is er aandacht voor de voor- en nadelen.
Leerniveau
VWO 6;
VWO 4;
VWO 5;
Leerinhoud en doelen
Engels;
Eindgebruiker
leerling/student
Moeilijkheidsgraad
gemiddeld
Studiebelasting
3 uur en 0 minuten
Trefwoorden
arrangeerbaar, engels, school, sit with us, social networking app, stercollectie, tegen pesten en uitsluiten, v456, vrienden maken
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Heroes'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Sit with us. Deze les gaat over sociale netwerkingsapp 'Sit with us' tegen pesten en uitsluiten. Het gaat over het maken van vrienden op school. Hierbij is er aandacht voor de voor- en nadelen.