Lesson 1 American features

Assignment 2
What comes to your mind when thinking of the United states of America.
A Make a mind map in groups of four.

Possible elements Coca Cola, Hollywood, MTV, Mc Donalds etc.

B Subsequently, mark the things that you haven't picked up from watching fims or TV.

The expectations is that most mentioned elements are derived from watching
film or TV. Those are our major sources of input.

Assignment 3
A Write down how many genres you can distinguish and
11

B which ones you prefer.
Personal choice

Assignment 4
Write down which genres and typical American features you recognise in the following
fragments.

saving the world, America as a uniting super power
highschool elements
superheroes
Halloween and trick or treating

Assignment 5

What's typical American?
A Visit the following website. Which eight things that might surprise visitors.
1. Uber-Friendliness
2. Extra-Large Food Portions
3. Tipping
4. Prescription Drug Commercials
5. Places Are Really Far Apart
6. The Non-Metric System
7. Patriotism
8. Many, Many Food Items

B Give your reaction to the mentioned eight things.
(Did you know about them / Can you relate to them / Possible positive and negative sides)
These answers are personal.






Lesson 2 The American Dream
Assignment 1

Watch the following fragment and write down elements that may refer to 'the American
Dream'.
dreams can come true

Assignment 2
A Write down the main idea of each paragraph.
Anyone in the US can succeed through hard work and has the potential to lead a happy,
successful life

The idea dates to the 1600s, when people began to have all sorts of hopes and aspirations for
what was a new and largely unexplored continent to European immigrants. When During the
Great Depression of the 1930s, authors wrote about is it became entrenched in American
Society .

The American dream represents the desire to live a better life than the previous generation
did.

To some people, the American dream might be more about personal fulfillment than about
economic success or owning property.

B Combine these ideas to one general defenition. What does the American Dream stand
for?
The American dream is the dream of a land where life is better and richer for everybody, with
numerous prospects for each individual according to their ability or accomplishment.
Watch the YouTube fragment on the right.
What does the American Dream mean to these people?

C Which idea appeals to you most? Explain.
Personal answer.

Assignment 3

Watch the YouTube fragment on the right.
What does the American Dream mean to these people?
-living in a nice house with a nice family and be happy
-be a millionaire
-be able work hard and achieve greatness
-chance to achieve a better live than when growing
-be able to choose what to become , live where you want
-opportunities, freedom to prosper , to go to school, education pursue dreams, have hope , be
-able to worship without persecution , equal change , support family , change
- to create your dreams if you work hard for it,
- freedom





Assignment 4

Read the text from the following web site and write down the gist (main idea) of the text.

Imprtant sentences :
The American Dream was once a promise to shape a prospering nation. Now The American
Dream is all about fame and fortune
The American Dream use to consist of people who worked hard to succeed for the dream. In
the 20thcentury, this idea changed drastically. The traditional American Dream eroded away
and was replaced by the idea of getting rich quick.
As decades go by, The American Dream has faded.

Barack Obama not only embodies The American Dream, but also has a future plan for
America to start living it.
As all the facts and figures are added up, the American dream might just be too costly (Blaz).

Hope is what gets Americans by each day. Most people have given up on their American
dream and have settled for much less than they deserved.

Main idea: The American Dream has faded.

Lesson 3 High school


Assignment 1
A Make a list of typical high school features. Work in groups of four.
B Watch the following fragments and write down the typical features you recognise.
-High school cafeteria jocks and cheerleaders and nerds sitting separately
- ordering lunch at a cart outside school
-Driving themselves to school
- Prom, being asked to the prom, the prom dress and hair are a big deal
- autoshop (reparing motor/cars), school band, sport facilities
- graduation ceremony with special robes

Assignment 2
Watch the following fragment on the right and write down
A What is meant by 'extra curricular activities'? buitenschoolse activiteiten
B Give some examples.
Schoolband, playing football, basketball, voluntary work
C What are the possible benefits?
Increase social skills , involved student perform better at school, less likely to drop out form
school, preparing for the future.

D What activity would you choose? Why?
Personal answer


Assignment 3

Watch the following fragment and write down
A Which stereotypes categories are mentioned?
B Which stereotypes do you have at school? Make a scheme, list or drawing in groups of
four.

Assignment 4
Watch the following fragment and write down
A Which stereotypes categories are mentioned?
Jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, freshman, preps Asian nerds /cool Asians, hotties, girls who eat a
lot , girls who dont, wanna bes plastics )
B Which stereotypes do you have at school? Make a scheme, list or drawing in groups of
four.

Lesson 4 Reflection

The assignments consists of signing up to the WEB applications.
The students chare their links so that the teacher can monitor the process.