The Fun They Had : Theme ;Questions

Good morning students!!

I would like to take a moment to appreciate each and every one of you, for being active participants of our classes. I hope you continue with the same fervour.

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Today's learning outcomes are-

The students will be able to summarize the text,  state the theme and answer the questions that follow

Yesterday we discussed the chapter and comprehensively summarized it.

Summary and recap of the key points:

·         The story opens with Margie writing in her diary about an old book that Tommy had found. Margie was reminded of her grandfather who had once talked about his grandfather who went to an actual school where the students were taught by human teachers.

• However, Margie and Tommy lived in the future world,in the year 2157 where education was completely computerized. The author highlights the drawbacks of a computerised home schooling education system that deprives the students of the benefits of a personal interaction..Margie aged eleven makes a diary entry as her friend Tommy aged thirteen found a paper book in the attic of his house that was very different from the e books they used. They were so used to the electronic books where they could scroll up and down a screen that they found it fascinating to see that the words on the paper book stood still and when they turned back a page it had the same words on it.

• She imagined life in the old schools where the children must have had fun  interacting ,laughing and playing  with other children.All children were taught the same content so they could discuss the assignments and help each other. A human teacher instead of the ugly,black screen seemed a better proposition.She kept thinking about the fun they had in the schools of the past

·         Tommy found such books a complete waste as they had to be thrown away after being read and got old and crinkly. The telebooks on the other hand could store a million books and would not ever be discarded. Margie hated school as it was boring and the Geography sector of her mechanical teacher was giving her tests repeatedly and she was performing miserably

·         She also wondered how much fun it would be studying in a school. Studying in a fun way, with other children and that too from a human teacher.

LOOK AT THIS IMAGE….DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE A TIME WHEN BOOKS WILL BE RENDERED REDUNDANT? PONDER

From the story we conclude that:

ü  Margie and Tommy are unhappy with their current learning environment as there is no social interaction. The narrative deals with the future of education which will become increasingly computerized and estranged from social interactions. The author’s message is one of warning against the dangers of computerized homeschooling which deprives children of the benefits of the personal interactions between students and teachers, which help them develop social skills.

ü  Although technology can often help humans do things better, it cannot be used as a replacement for human intellect. The robotic teacher in the story represents what technology can do to harm a generation.

ü  Margie and Tommy mutually decide that it would have been better to go to an actual school with real people, saying that the children that did this must have had much more fun.

Copy the key themes which can help you develop your answers

Question and Answers (Oral)

1. How old are Margie and Tommy?

A. Margie and Tommy live in the future, in the year 2157. They are neighbours and spend time together. Margie is a girl of eleven years of age while Tommy is a boy of thirteen.

2. What did Margie write in her diary?

A. On 17 May 2157, Margie wrote that that day Tommy had found a real book in the attic of his house. It was an old book with yellow, crinkly pages.

3.What do you think a telebook is?

A. A telebook is an electronic book also known as an e-book. It is stored in a computer and can be read by scrolling up or down the screen.

4. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?

A.Margie’s school was in her house. It was a room next to her bedroom. It was a personal classroom where the computer was adjusted to her level of learning. She studied by herself and had no classmates.

5.What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

A.Margie and Tommy learnt a lot of subjects like Geography, History and Mathematics.

Questions (To be done in the notebook)

1. Had Margie ever seen a book before?

A. No, Margie had not seen a book before the one found by Tommy in his house. She had only heard from her grandfather that his grandfather went to school as a boy and that they read books that were printed on paper.

2.What things about the book did she find strange?

A. As Margie lived in an era where students studied from a mechanical teacher and all the books appeared on the screen, she found it strange that the words on the printed book did not move. It was strange to see the same words appear on the pages as she flipped them over.

Now do the next two on your own:

3. Mention three characteristics of the old schools?
4.Describe Margie's school?

Note:

Work highlighted in yellow has to be done in your Beehive notebooks

Thats all for today!!