NYC-Feature Story

Lesson 1:
Practice for Regents Exam Listening Section

Story: “Kick Them Out! I say banish the bad kids,” p.5

Objective: Students will improve skills needed to pass the Regents Listening Section.

What the teacher needs to know to use this lesson: The Regents English exam has a listening section. A proctor reads the students an Overview (see below). The proctor then reads a passage to the students, twice, during which time the students can take notes. The students then answer some multiple choice questions.

Step One: Read the Overview

(Note: During the real test the students have a printed version of the Overview in front of them as the proctor reads the story. If you can’t make copies of the overview consider writing it on the board or just reading it to them.)

Read this to your students:

Overview: You will listen to an article written by a teenager about behavior problems at her school. You will then answer some multiple choice questions. You will hear the article twice. You may take notes.

Step Two: Tell your students, “Now I will read the passage aloud to you for the first time.” Read PART OF THE story Kick Them Out! on page 5 of the November issue of New Youth Connections magazine. (NOTE: Stop reading after the sentence “Teachers are there to educate, not serve as disciplinarians.” That sentence is in the third column, right before the subhead “My Right to Learn.”

Step Three: Tell your students “You make take a few minutes to look over your notes. (Pause) Now I will read the story again.”

Step Four: Multiple Choice Questions
After reading the article for the second time give them the questions on the next page.

Here are the answers to the multiple choice questions:

1) d 2) c 3) b 4) c 5) d 6) d 7) a

‘Kick Them Out’ Test

Multiple Choice Questions

Directions: Use your notes to answer the questions about the story read to you.

1) What does the writer do when the class is disrupted?
a) She calls security
b) She tells the troublemakers to keep quiet
c) She leaves the classroom
d) She reads a book

2) According to the writer, how frequently do teachers stop teaching because of student behavior?
a) Almost every day
b) Weekly
c) At least monthly
d) Two or three times a month

3) What adjective best describes the author?
a) Whiny
b) Motivated
c) Quiet
d) Self-satisfied

4) According to the story, why was the school sued?
a) It did not provide a good education
b) It did not provide good security
c) It forced students to leave the school.
d) It didn’t force the most disruptive students to leave the school

5) What does the work “recurring” mean in the sentence, “Class disruptions are recurring events?”
a) unpleasant
b) sporadic
c) unavoidable
d) happening regularly

6) What teachers are mostly likely to face disruptive students?
a) older teachers
b) women teachers
c) white teachers
d) all teachers no matter who they are

7) Which of these titles would best fit this story?
a) My Right to Learn
b) Dropouts and Truants
c) The Brave Principal
d) Security to the Rescue

Lesson 2:
Disruptive Students (reading/summarizing lesson)

Thanks to Roderick Michael at DeWitt Clinton HS for this lesson format.

Story: “Kick Them Out! I say banish the bad kids,” by Chantal Hylton, p. 5

(click here to return to story)

Objective: Students will strengthen skills in reading, summarizing, and answering questions about a text. They will also clarify some of their own feelings about their high school experience.

Before the lesson: Print out the question sheet below and have it ready to give to your students.

The activity: Hand out copies of the November issue of New Youth Connections magazine or a printed version of the story downloaded from the Youth Communication web site (youthcomm.org). Tell your students they are going to read a story about a young woman who thinks her fellow students are ruining her education with their bad behavior in the classroom. They will then answer some questions in writing about the story.

First, ask them to look at the title and then ask them if they have ever felt the same way as the writer. Let the discussion go for 2-3 minutes.

Give them as much time as you think they need to read the story silently. Then hand out the question sheet and a piece of loose-leaf paper. NOTE: The last question asks your group to write letters to the author of this article. We are eager to publish student letters in New Youth Connections magazine. Feel free to send your students’ letters to us.

Question Sheet/Reading Class Work

Directions: Answer the questions below in essay answer format. This means you should use parts of the question to start your answer. Write 2-5 complete sentences for each question. The answer for the first question has been started for you.

1. What is the full title of this story? Who wrote the story?

Answer: The full title of the story is…

2. Many stories and books describe problems that someone tries to solve or a conflict that has to be worked out. What is the main problem or conflict described in this story? Is the problem solved?

3. According to Chantal, what behaviors should not be allowed in a school? Can you think of other behaviors that should not be allowed, for example, cell phone calls and dressing in certain ways?

4. Why does Chantal think misbehaving students should be kicked out of schools?

5. Write a five-sentence letter to Chantal telling her what you think about her ideas about kicking “bad kids” out of school.