American School systems Lesson

Objectives:
SWBAT describe American school systems
SWBAT differentiate between American school systems and their home countrys school system
SWBAT discuss their own school systems in their home country

Materials:
Handout 1 (Chart)
Handout 2 (Matching)
Handout 3 (Pictures)

Introduction: Teacher will introduce themselves to the students. Students will introduce themselves as well.

Activity 1 (15 minutes)

1. Teacher will hand out chart for students to fill in
2. Teacher will model how to ask a question for interviewing purposes(1 minute)
3. Teacher debriefs students on instructions for activity (1 minute)
4. Students walk around the room and interview each other with six questions they are given (Teacher
walk around observing, may ask questions or assist) (Teacher will set up projector during interviews) (6
minutes)
5. Teacher will call on students to fill in the chart (5 minutes)
6. Debrief: Now that we have learned about some other countries and their school systems, lets now
focus on the American school system!

Activity 2 (15 minutes)

1. Teacher will introduce topic of American school systems by asking the class what they noticed about
American school systems (3 minutes)
2. Teacher will hand out Matching handout. Teacher will explain instructions(1 minutes) Instructions:
a. Students will work in pairs to complete this assignment.
b. Match the first half of the sentence with the other half that makes the sentence complete and a
full thought.
3. Students will get into pairs
4. Teacher will use projector to show the handout. Teacher will call on students to answer each of the
questions.
5. Debrief: Now that we know about the American school systems, lets compare American school
systems to some of your school systems by looking at some photos.

Activity 3: (15 minutes) (Yi)

1. Teacher will explain activity: (2 minutes)
a. Instructions: Students will look at three different pictures. Teacher will explain that we are
looking at these photos and comparing them to what schools in the students home country.
2. Students will look at these photos in pairs or groups (3 or more to each group) (Teachers will walk
around and ask questions i.e. do they have middle school? Are students expected to ask questions
during class) (1 Teacher will set up projector) (6 minutes)
3. Teacher will call on individual students to note the differences between the pictures and their home
countrys schools. (5 minutes)
4. Teacher asks each student (if less than 6) or several students (if more than 6) about what they learned
today about American School systems. (3 minutes)
 In the first activity, students are filling in a chart about each others school systems to engage their schema

about school systems. Students are also being forced to negotiate meaning by interviewing each other for

answers, engaging their speaking skills. Students are given the questions to ask so that they are focused on

those few things, do not need to generate their own questions, and are consistent in their questioning. Teacher

models the activity so that students will understand how to complete it once left on their own.

In the second activity, the teacher asks what they know about American school systems to generate ideas

about what they know already about American school systems. I chose a matching activity for this portion of

the lesson because I felt it would be easier for students to complete. Also, having learned from previous

experience, cutting out tiny pieces of paper was not very efficient and it was time consuming. This activity still

reaches the objective in a more efficient manner.

In the third activity, students are looking at pictures to further discuss American school systems and be

able to point out any differences or oddities that they notice. Students are in pairs again to give them more of

an opportunity to use the language and discuss with their peers (hopefully from different countries). These

pictures were chosen because these were the most likely to be different in different countries.

After teaching this lesson, I learned a lot about myself as a teacher and about designing lesson plans. I

was able to learn and experience that even though you may plan for some things, other occurences may

happen and you must adapt. For example, the number of students that attended the class was slightly

anticipated, but ultimately we had to adapt our lesson plan at the last minute to accommodate them. I learned

that instruction giving is very integral to the outcome of the class. If the instructions are not clear it may cause

students to do the wrong thing or become more confused. Overall the lesson plan went pretty well, and there

were only a few things that had I had the opportunity to re-teach this lesson that I would change.
Name:_______________________________________ Date:_________________
Different Countries School Systems Chart
Instructions: You will be interviewing your class mate on his or her school system in their native country. You
Will ask the following questions to each classmate from a different country and fill in the chart with their
answer.
Home country

What grade
does
Elementary/Pr
imary school
begin?

Where/what
do students
eat for lunch?

How do
students get
to school?

What do
students do
after school?

What grade
does Jr
High/High
school begin?

What do they
study?
 American School Systems Sentence Matching.
You will learn about American school systems. In order to learn about them, you must match the
following parts of the sentences together. Write the letter of the first half of the sentence to match the second
half. For example:

Z. Students do not have school on __Z.____Holidays

A.In America, students between the ages of 3-5 ________5 or 6 years old

B. In America, students start school at ________do extracurricular activities and part-time

jobs

C.In America, students have summer vacation ________from about June-August

D.In American school systems, Elementary school ________in a cafeteria

E. In American school systems, Middle school ________goes from 6th grade to 8th grade

F. In American school systems, High school ________goes from 9th grade to 12th grade

G. In American school systems, students eat lunch ________goes from Kindergarten- 5th grade

H. In American school systems, students get to school by ________switch classrooms

I. In America, students ________attend Preschool

J. In American school systems students study ________the bus

K.In high school, students ________dual enrolled with a university/vocational

school

L. In American school systems, students can be ________math, science, history, art, language arts
and physical education
Name:_________________________________________ Date:_____________________

American School Systems

Instructions: Looking at the following photos, compare and contrast between these photos and your home
country's schools.