HVG3 - 2223 - The Fun They Had - Isaac Asimov

• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Lesson Aims:

describe situations in the stories in your own words;

- introduce characters from the stories to other people;

- identify elements from the stories that contribute to setting;

- organize elements of a plot in a story;

- analyze a scene to help you understand the characters in a story;

- you can rewrite parts of a story from a different point of view;

- explain to a classmate how your characters are built up throughout a story;

- compare setting, characters, and theme from different stories;

- choose stories that you find interesting;

- visualize situations from the story;

- predict how stories will develop;

- discuss your writing with a classmate;

- rephrase short paragraphs in your own words;

- name the stages of a plot diagram.

Instructions:

There will first a listening and reading exercise, then you will answer both multiple choice and open questions. The open questions will be written in English. 

Synopsis:

In the year 2157 Tommy finds a real book. It is about how school was in the old days. He and Margie talk about how different school used to be with human teachers.

Open question: What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? Did they like them?

What did Margie write in her diary?

Open question:

What was strange about the old book?

1. It was a computer.
2. It was very long.
3. The words didn't move
4. It was white.

What was the book about?

1. family
2. televisions
3. school
4. her grandfather's diary

How does Asimov describe the County Inspector?

1. Round, little man, red face
2. Round, little woman, red hair
3. Strong, tall man, with a mustache
4. Strong, tall woman, with purple clothes

What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?

1. He went on sick leave
2. He was taken away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely
3. He left to go on vacation
4. He found another teaching position

Margie wanted to go back in time to be a student when they all learned the same things at the same age and sat in one room together with other students and one human teacher.

1. True
2. False

In "The Fun They Had," in what way is Margie's education MORE personal than the education of students her age in most schools today?

1. Her teacher is a caring human being who focuses on only one student.
2. Her school work is programmed to suit her own specific learning abilities.
3. She is able to decide when to take tests and how difficult those tests should be.
4. She is able to connect with other students who are studying the same subjects at a similar pace.

At the end of "The Fun They Had," what does Margie think of the schools she has learned about from Tommy's book?

1. Those schools must have been very enjoyable.
2. Those schools must have been very unpleasant.
3. Those schools seem like a complete waste of time.
4. Those schools seem very similar to her own schooling.

Answer this question in at least 50 words.
What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?