ДЕБАТИ НА ТЕМУ: “ШАХРАЙСТВО В ШКОЛІ”(“CHEATING AT SCHOOL”) для учнів 7 класу

I. Motivation

T.: Dear boys and girls! Today you’ll have an unusual lesson. We should prepare and conduct debate on the theme “Cheating at School”. I hope that you have already known much enough about debate. When you try to convince parents to allow you taking a walk in the street a little more than always, you have debate. When you argue with a comrade, convincing him, that film which you have looked together is interesting, not boring, you have debate. Indeed, whatever question two or more people would have contradictory thoughts on – there always will be debate. Debate, which takes place in our daily life, is an unofficial debate. But today you’ll have official or formal debate. Our debate will have a specific structure, rules and certain limitations. For example, in your daily life your parents and you can argue till the morning, but today you’ll have only some minutes to expound your arguments.

So, would you like to have the debate on above-mentioned topic?

Concerning the theme of debate I want to say that the problem of cheating is very actual for nowadays school. We may say that cheating is a global problem for schooling both in this country and abroad. That’s why we should examine the existing problem from the contradictory points of view and try to decide it by joint efforts.

By the end of our lesson you’ll be able:

– to practice your language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) in English, to express your point of view on the question under discussion; – to increase the level of your knowledge on the giving problem in the process of debate and to define your final position;

– to master your skills of finding and expressing arguments and counterarguments in democratic and tolerant way using your abilities of critical thinking;

– to up bring features of character that are necessary for a citizen of the modern democratic society.

II. Warming-up

1) “Brainstorming”

T.: a) Before we’ll start our ‘brainstorming’ let’s work with the definitions of the words cheating, a cheat, to cheat, etc.

– Work in pairs and

1. Study and translate the following dictionary definitions:(From Compact English Learner’s Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers 2004)

1. VERB & N-C If someone cheats, or if they are a cheat, they do not obey a set of rules which they should be obeying, for example in a game or exam. Students may be tempted to cheat…. His wife knew him to be a cheat and a liar. cheating N-U He was accused of cheating.

2. VERB If someone cheats you out of something, they get it from you by behaving dishonestly. …a deliberate efforts to cheat them out of their pensions.

3. PHRASE If you feel cheated, you feel that you have been let down or treated unfairly. They may feel cheated when the actual holiday doesn’t match their fantasies. 2. Find synonyms to the words cheating, a cheat, to cheat. Answers:Cheating – swindle, deception A cheat – a swindler, a deceiver, a fraud, a trickster; swindle, deceptionTo cheat – to swindle, to deceive, to trick3. Read the English proverbs and try to memorize them.- Honesty is the best policy. – Чесність – найкраща політика.- Cunning is the fool’s substitute for wisdom. – Хитрощі – розум дурня.- A bad custom is like a good cake, better broken than kept. – Бійся поганої звички, як ворога.- The race is got by running. – Успіх досягається працею; без труда нема плода. – It is never too late to mend. – Виправитися ніколи не пізно. – A clean hand wants no washing. – Чесній людині не треба виправдовуватись.- A clear conscience is a coat of mail. – У кого совість чиста, тому боятись нічого. c) ‘Brainstorming’: Say, which are your associations when you hear the phrase “Cheating at school”? Make up a mind map.

2) Critical thinking questions

1. What is cheating at school?

2. Is there cheating in your class?

3. Has anyone ever asked to copy your homework?

4. Do your teachers watch carefully to catch students cheating?

5. What happens to students at your school who are caught cheating?

7. What do you think when you see (or hear about) kids’ cheating?

8. Are there times when it’s okay to cheat at school?

III. Reading for debates

T.: To receive more clear imagination about the problem we are going to debate, let’s read the text “Cheating at School”.

Pre-reading activities:

A) For better understanding of what we’ll read, make the acquaintance with the following words:.

A cheat – обманщик, шахрай; шахрайство

To cheat – обманювати, шахраювати

To cheat on smb. – поводитися нечесно по відношенню до кого-небудь

High-tech – високі технології

To retrieve stored information – відновлювати збережену інформацію

A vicious circle – порочне коло

Devices – засоби

To keep up – утримувати, справлятися

A fuzzy idea – визначена іде

To emphasize – робити наголос, підкреслювати

Hazy standards – нечіткі стандарти

A harsh place – жорстоке місце

Seeking an edge – шукаючи краю

Personal digital assistants (PDAs)- особисті цифрові помічники

To blur the line – стирати грань

S ubtle – витончений

B) Give your honest answers on the next questions:

1. Can you cheat by yourself sometimes?

2. Are there any reasons for such your behaviour?

3. Would you like to change this feature in yourself?

While-reading activity:

1. Work in pairs. Read attentively the text and find in it the arguments

A) in favour of Cheating at School (“YES”)

B) against Cheating at School (“NO”)

2. Fill in the following table:

Cheating at School: YES” Cheating at School: “NO”

Cheating at School

Doing your best and working for a good grade – such is a nostalgic view of how school ought to be. Yet the reality of school often is quite different. Stealing answers or copying someone else’s work – some students probably have cheated since schools started handing out grades. While cheating may be nothing new, it has become more common and often uses new technology. Parents and school officials face the hard question of what to do about dishonesty and the shortcuts that many students take. Most students cheat. In nationwide survey on college campuses, about 7 in 10 students admitted to some cheating. Three in five high school students admitted that they had cheated on an exam, and more than four in five admitted copying another student’s homework in the past 12 months. Many students see the world as a harsh place where people do whatever it takes to get ahead. If young people believe that cheating can make the difference between winning and losing in life, they may see little reason not to take the “easy route”. New Methods The old ways of cheating – using crib notes, whispering answers, and copying homework – are alive and well. Some students don’t bother cheating at their desks – instead, they make sure to be absent on test day so they can get the questions from friends before taking a makeup exam. These simple schemes still account for a large share of today’s cheating. However, cheating also has gone high-tech. Students seeking an edge in their schoolwork are taking cheating to new levels using computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and powerful calculators. At home or in computer labs, students can find conclusions, well-written texts, and even whole term papers to drop into their assignments without showing where the work came from. In class, students can use phones and PDAs to retrieve stored information, get it from the Internet, or send it to a friend. During an exam, one student can send a friend the answers while they both take the test. High-tech cheating creates a vicious circle. As technology advances and students get better at using the latest devices, teachers and school officials find it harder to keep up with cheaters. The more that cheating goes uncaught, the freer students feel to do it. Many Reasons Why do so many students cheat? Is it because they are lazy or the subject matter is hard to grasp? While these motives surely fuel much of the cheating among students, the problem is not confined to low-achieving and unmotivated students. Boys, girls, athletes, smart kids, student leaders, and those with “strong religious beliefs” – cheating is common among most types of students. A need to succeed. Pressure for grades – to win parents’ approval and gain admission to colleges – leads many students to cheat. While many students are pushed to succeed by parents and grade-based system that starts naming winners at an early age, students also feel pulled by a desire to get on a path to top colleges and high-paying jobs. Hazy standards. You may think that cheating is a clear matter of right and wrong – a student’s work should be his own. Yet, for many students, cheating is a fuzzy idea. Some think it is okay to work together on assignment. Confusion rises as schools and teachers emphasize teamwork. The ease of finding information on the Internet and pasting it into one’s homework also blurs the line between research and lifting someone else’s words. On study found that 3 in 10 college students saw nothing wrong with this practice. Lack of time. Getting up early to get to school, staying late with teams and clubs, having a job, and doing homework at night means a full schedule for many teens. As a result, they may be tempted to cheat to give themselves more time for a social life or to sleep. Lack of interest. Some students may cheat because they simply don’t like schoolwork, but for many, the decision to cut corners may be more subtle. A student who is interested in math may not care much about history. Another – attracted to art, literature, or languages – may not be inclined to put much effort into a science class. As a result, a student who is bored by a subject or thinks it has no bearing on his/her life may view cheating as a harmless way to save time and avoid a headache while getting a better grade. In sum, cheating in school is widespread, aided by technology, and often seen by students as normal or even necessary.

(From Internet Resources)

Post-reading activities:

1. Work in groups of 4. Discuss your arguments ‘for’ and ‘against’ cheating at school.

2. Exercise “Define Your Position”

T.: Before we’ll start our debates I would like to know personal opinion on the question under discussion of each of you. Have a look at the wall. You can see two slogans here. The first slogan says: “CHEATING AT SCHOOL IS BAD”.The second slogan states: “IT’S OKAY TO CHEAT AT SCHOOL”.Take your place under the slogan that suites you more. (Students take their places near the slogans. In such a way they divide into two teams. These teams will participate in debates.)

3. Now work in teams. Every team must:- prepare a speech for representing its position;In this speech every team must prove that only its position is correct. The teams have to find and consistently to expound own arguments, at the same time critically analyzing the arguments of their opponents. – find and lay out counterarguments which it is going to put down before their opponents, compare own position with the position of the opponents, and convincing judges, that exactly its point of view takes advantage;- define a speaker and his assistants.

IV. Game “Debates”

T.: Now we are going to start our debate on the theme “Cheating at School: views “for” and “against”. I want to remind you that debate is a game. The debate is planned to increase the level of your knowledge in the process of this game and to help you to define your final point of view. It is necessary to take part in debate in order to study. In other words, in debate the process of learning is more important than the end-point – a victory. As the game, debate develops one of major traits of man’s character – the curiosity. We are always interested in the search of truth, that’s why debate is a competition of ideas. In the process of the fight of ideas win the best ones. In this fight the only possible weapon is a well considered argument. If this or that idea is vicious, prove the danger of its consequences, please. But remember here about respect to your opponents. Criticize ideas, not personalities who express these ideas. Play honestly and tell the truth. I wish you good luck. (The game starts. The speakers of the teams represent their positions. Their opponents put the questions. The assistants and the other members of teams help their speaker to answer the questions. The main judge (a teacher) sums up the results of the game).

E. g.:

Speaker 1

Dear participants of debates and our respectful judge! Everybody knows about cheating at school because it is widespread nowadays. You might know someone who has cheated, you might know about someone who has cheated or you might think about cheating or cheat sometimes yourself. So what does it mean? It means that someone copies from others work, someone pretends that it is his or her own work. Others make answers correct when they are wrong or change scores, etc. The representatives of our team consider it is quite normal. More ever, cheating at school is aided by technology. Nowadays we can use computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants and powerful calculators to make our home tasks more perfect without working hard. This saves our time and efforts for other things more important or interesting for us. Then we can take more active part in social life of school and in various clubs and circles. It is not a secret that we should learn many subjects at school and we have a lot of home tasks. It is impossible to do them all well. That’s why we think it is okay to work together on an assignment. We consider that it is right when teachers emphasize teamwork and don’t pay much attention when we copy tests or control papers. Besides we should help each other. It’s normal to help your close friend or a classmate during a Control Paper or a Test or on an Exam. The famous English proverb says: “Roll my log and I’ll roll yours”. If you know English well and your friend is bad in it, help him or her. Then your friend will help you when you need it. If you are interested in Physics and Mathematics, you may not care much about Ukrainian or History. Save time and avoid a headache while getting a better grade. You may say that “Honesty is the best policy” but cheating at school is not the case. We consider it is normal to cheat. It seems to us that it’s better to spend more time on fresh air or going in for sports than to grind away at your lessons. Don’t undermine your health. Mind the famous English proverb: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

To grind away (at) – старанно працювати над

To undermine one’s health – руйнувати здоров’я

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” – Треба не тільки працювати, а й розважатися. Рос. Мешай дело с бездельем, проживешь с весельем.

Questions of opponents:

1. Will you tell us more about the reasons which make you to cheat?

Answer: Among the main reasons of cheating are:- The need to succeed by getting a higher grade.- The desire to win parents’ approval thanks to high points. – To get out of trouble or don’t get into trouble.- The wish you do not look “dump”.- Lack of time and desire to save it and avoid a headache while getting a better grade. – Lack of interest because the subjects, we study, are not equally interesting and important for us.

2. Do you know what plagiarism is? What is your attitude to it?

Answer:This is when a person copies someone else’s words without putting quote marks and writing at the end where he got the quote from.

3. Are you willing to play the cheating game in your future life? No, we are not. The fact that we sometimes cheat at school doesn’t mean that we are willing to play the cheating game all our life.

Speaker 2

The respectful judge and opponents! We can’t agree with such a position. Cheating can’t be normal. Though we have understood the main reasons of cheating we consider it is not good to cheat. And we try to prove it to you. For example, copying a friend’s work is never a good idea because you won’t know what it is about and you won’t remember it either. Your friend may fulfill the work incorrect besides it. If even no one finds out that you’ve been cheating, you will know. You’ll feel bad about it and you won’t know what to do next time when you have to do such kind of work. We would like to cite some advice from Jacob here: “The only way to learn things is to try for yourself”. Changing marks or making answers right when they are wrong is a bad idea too. The teacher will probably find out when your work is checked. Or the teacher may not find out right away and will not realize that you need extra help. And you’ll have problems later when you don’t know the material. We guess that nobody feels good about cheating and most of us do it because we are really worried about failing or getting into a trouble. The problem is that cheating can soon become a habit. You should remember a proverb: “A bad custom is like a good cake, better broken than kept”.

So, if you cheat sometimes, stop it. Otherwise you will never know how good it is to win or to do well all by yourself. Mind the proverb: “It is never too late to mend”.

Questions of opponents:

1. Do you mean that you won’t help your classmate when he or she doesn’t learn some school material and needs a help?

Answer: No, we don’t mean this. But we think that the real help is to explain your classmate the material he or she has not understood or learnt. Of course, it demands more time and efforts but it is better than to cheat together.

2. Does everybody who has cheated is dishonest and bad person?

Answer: Everybody, who has cheated, can’t already say that he is honest person because he has done an unfair action. He has nothing to be proud of even if it was only once. There is an old saying that cheaters never win and winners never cheat. This may sound confusing because sometimes it seems like cheaters do win – at least for the moment. But those who don’t cheat are true winners because, when they win, they do it fair. And cheaters cheat themselves because they don’t make am honest attempt to learn as much as they can.

3. What must one do if he or she was ill or upset about something and couldn’t study?

Answer: There are at least some ways out from such a situation. The first and the best is to talk with your teacher about it. If you are afraid that this teacher won’t understand you, ask your class manager to explain it to her or bring a note from one of your parents.

V. Summing-up and evaluation

T.: Today you have been working very hard. You have considered the theme under discussion from two opposite points of view. To sum up and evaluate the results of our debates, let’s fulfill again the exercise “Define Your Position”. Now those, who have changed the position, should explain the reasons. To finish our debates I’d like to recite the poem “Cheating” by Craig

Cheating is really bad

It usually makes people mad.

Like when copying a sum

So you don’t look dumb.

Or when the ball hits the ground

And you still scream and shout and jump around.

Or when you’re going to get caught

And you make excuses of every sort.

So what are saying?

It’s real bad To cheat, and it sure gets people mad!

VI. Home Assignment Write about you attitude to cheating at school.

Pupils’ essays:

Svitlana Kozin, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad

I am negative to cheating at school because school is a place where we can and must get good knowledge. The impolite behaviour is another bad occurrence at school because pupils of different ages study there. If a pupil who is older conducts himself badly the smaller ones may see it and imitate him. As for me I appreciate honesty and politeness. I rely on my own efforts rather than on a detour in studying. In my life I try to follow the famous English proverb “Honesty is the best policy”. Honesty is one of my main life values. I fully agree that “Cunning is the fool’s substitute for wisdom”. That’s why I say: “No” to cheating at school.

Olha Shkiperova, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad Cheating at school is not nice. It happens when you skip your lessons, or deceive, or change scores. You behave dishonestly in such cases. Those who do it show themselves from a bad side. Others do not respect such people. But some children find cheating funny and interesting. They consider that to use cribs and to copy from a friend or straight from a text-book is normal. Such pupils don’t understand that “Race is got by running”.

Serhii Nenya, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad

Doing your best working for a good grade – such is nostalgic view of how school ought to be. Yet the reality of school often is quite different. Stealing answers or copying someone else’s work – some pupils have cheated probably since schools started handing out grades. While cheating may be nothing new, it has become more common and often uses new technology. Today school faces the hard question of what to do about dishonesty and shortcuts that many pupils take. As for my personal attitude towards cheating and to pupils who cheat it is neutral. It seems for me that sometimes cribs can be a help for schoolchildren, because when we are copying the material some part of it remains in our memory.

Olha Protsenko, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad

Now cheating at school is a very widespread phenomenon. Pupils use summaries and essay from Internet resources. On the Control Papers they copy from a friend or straight from a text-bookand then pretend that they do the work themselves. They make cribs and try to use them during exams, Control Papers and Tests. Some pupils are waiting for prompts when they reply at the blackboard. Of course, such deeds are not honest. I think that it is necessary to rely on own efforts more than on classmates’ mind. Some pupils miss lessons and school. It is also very bad. Don’t do such things! Remember that “A clear conscience is a coat of mail”.

Nastia Sosnovs’ka, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad

I think that cheating at school is bad. There are many kinds of cheating at school. For instance, cribs, copying someone else’s home tasks and copying straight from text-books, promptings and cell-phones, computers and calculators. All of them have negative influence on schoolchildren. At the same time I agree that sometimes we can use cribs when we learn subject which will be never useful for us in our life. In such a case I can use a crib or copy the work of my friend to avoid a bad mark. Some teachers don’t mind their pupils copying the material. But if the teacher wants to give knowledge to the pupils he or she will never give a chance for them to copy. Vlad Kaprytsia, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad There is no such a pupil in the world who has not copied at least sometimes or who has not whispered the correct answer to his friend. And each person has his own attitude towards this problem. But it is very unpleasant when you had been learning the subject till a deep night and your friend was playing football and then he asks you: “Give me to copy!” I have negative attitude to such copying. Besides, those, who cheat at school, don’t have good knowledge. Volodia Grabov, a pupil of the7-th form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad I don’t mention that cheating at school is a noble act, but it is not some terrible thing either. Not everybody who cheats at school is a dishonest and bad person. Some of us cheat because weare very busy or were ill, we go in for different clubs and circles, have smaller brothers and sisters about whom we must take care of. The others might feel like they can’t pass test without cheating. They are not self-confident and do not believe in themselves. It seems for me that there are many reasons to cheat at school. And there is nobody who has not cheated at all.

Vitalii Danchul, a pupil of the 4-th B form, secondary school # 31, Kirovohrad

I think that it is wrong to copy out and to cheat. The man must work independently and have the own opinion. It is a big sin to cheat. No coincidence that people say “Better bitter truth than sweet cheating”. Recently two schoolboys of our school ran up and said that there was a bomb at school. They didn’t want to write a Control Work. But later their parents might pay a big fine. I consider that pupils mustn’t use cribs. Children must study diligently. We must get knowledge at school because knowledge is a power. Cheating at school doesn’t make anything good. I don’t like when pupils look into books while answering the questions. They think they cheat the teacher, but they cheat themselves. They will not have knowledge. Pupils must learn their lessons and train their memory. Cheating is a bad helper.

Вы читаете: ДЕБАТИ НА ТЕМУ: “ШАХРАЙСТВО В ШКОЛІ”(“CHEATING AT SCHOOL”) для учнів 7 класу