Day 1
Part 1: School
Go to the following website (30 min) :
www.yahooligans.com/around_the_world/u_s__states/california/education/Middle_Schools/
-Take a look at two or more different schools (Black Pine,
Palm, Prospect Sierra and Rancho School are very helpful)
-Try to find out some information about the topics you chose
at the beginning (you can split up your group and share
the work).
Possible topics are:
Timetables
Activities after school
Rules
Clothes
Subjects
-Try to write down some general information, too (size of
school, age of students,…) (It will be important for
your presentation on Thursday.)
-Finally, discuss what differences you can see to your
German school. What
(10 min) surprised you most and what seems to be the way
you expected it?
Part 2: Daily life of teenagers
Go to the following website (10 min):
www.drivehomesafe.com/teen_driving_sample_graduated_driver_license_california.htm
When can California teenagers begin driving? When can you
drive?
Discuss: Why do you think California teenagers can drive
sooner?
Go to the following website (20 min):
www.cde.ca.gov/cyfsbranch/lsp/health/yrbs.htm
-Scroll down to "graphs"
-Take a look at the graphs.
Discuss: Are these facts hard to believe? How would you
feel if you were asked these questions? Is a survey a good
way to find out what teenagers are doing?
-Choose some graphs you would like to show your class during
your presentation
Take a look at another website (20 min):
http://teenink.com/Opinion/
What seems to be the most important teen issues and how
do these compare to Germany?
Discuss: What surprised or inrterested you most? Does reading
the teen opinions help you understand California teenagers?
If you have time, you can read on:
http://diaries.studentcenter.org/#
click on "diaries" on the left hand side
Day 2
Students think of some additional questions they could
ask to each graph
(15 min) (reasons for risk behaviour, comparison to Germany…)
Preparation of general facts (poster? roleplay?) (20 min)
BREAK
Rehearsal (make sure that the quiz
questions are presented) (10 min)
1.) How old are the pupils in California Middle school?
2.) When can California teenagers begin to drive?
