No girls, no boys!

Level 3 Advanced
1 WARMER
Complete the sentences using your own words. Use a dictionary to help you.
Girls are _____________________________________________________________________________________.
Boys are _____________________________________________________________________________________.

2 WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Skim-read the article to find the important words that fit in the gaps. These words will help you
understand the article better. The paragraph numbers and section titles are given to help you.
1. a verb meaning to get someone’s attention and prevent them from concentrating on something
___________________ (para 1)
2. an adjective to describe someone who believes in their own abilities and so does not feel nervous or frightened
___________________ (para 1)
3. a type of school that is only for girls or only for boys ___________________ (para 3)
4. a two-word phrase meaning to listen to, watch or consider something or someone very carefully
___________________ (Teacher talks: Boys)
5. a type of school where both girls and boys go ___________________ (para 5)
6. a verb meaning to try to be better and more successful than someone else ___________________ (para 7)
7. a noun that means the policy of keeping people from different groups (e.g. boys and girls) separate
___________________ (para 7)
8. A two-word phrase meaning to need someone to help you do something ___________________
(Teacher talks: Girls)
9. an adjective that describes something that makes you feel slightly angry or impatient ___________________
(para 9)
10. an adjective to describe someone who behaves in the sensible way that you would expect an adult to behave
___________________ (para 9)

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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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 No girls, no boys!

Level 3 Advanced
NO GIRLS, NO BOYS!
by Talitha Linehan
The
Boys boys like numbers and most girls like letters. older.
1 Girls can’t do maths and boys can’t sit still. differences become less importa nt as kids get
stop eac h other
and girls distract each other and tly,
from learning. And in the classroo m stud ents Alexander: There’s not much difference. Mos .
hers
aren’t confident enough to just be themselv and
es. boys and girls like the same subjects and teac
is true
Talitha Linehan found out whether this
whether boys and girls learn better when they
are in What’s the best and worst thing about an
different schools. all-boys school? 5
to worry
Tim: The best thing is that you don’t have
Alexander McGuigan has never been in a going about what other people think of you.You
can just
2 n
classroom with a girl. Alexander, 16, has bee be yourself. But the social life is better in a
Aus tralia, called
to an all-boys school in Melbourne, rs mixed school.
four yea
Brighton Grammar School since he was
thin
old. He says he wouldn’t change it for any f.”
g. Alexander: Teachers know how to keep our
g
“With no girls in your class, you can be you
rsel attention. That’s cool. But you do miss bein
around girls
nd
Alexander is one of thousands of teens arou
3
the world who go to single-s ex scho ols. Som e Do you see girls outside of school?
are bett er than mixed a
people say single-sex schools rently Tim: Yes, lots of my friends are girls. I’ve had
schools. They believe girls and boy s lear n diffe
girlfriend for ten months. 6
and should be taught differently. som etim es mee t the girls from
Alexan der : We
s. We
Teacher talks: Boys our sister school for workshops and seminar
a
hing can also invite girls to our school dance. I had ’t
John Philips has more than 20 years of teac girlfriend for a while but it didn’t work out.
I didn
Sch ool. He thinks ide of
experience at Brighton Grammar really understand her. If you’re not social outs
boys learn more in single-sex schools bec ause
. school, you don’t meet many girls
teachers know the best way to teach them
Was it
“Studies show that girls hear better than boy
s and Tim, you’ve been to a mixed school too.
n they thin k different?
that boys can be noisy – even whe 7
girls . The
they’re being quiet. That can distract Tim: Yes. In mixed schools, boys compete
to be
ress
studies also say that boys find it hard to exp n liked by girls. Here, they com pete to get the best
their feelings, that stress can help boys to lear abo ut love, we can
ding marks. When we read books
and that they learn more when they are stan s say something clever or compassionate with e
out
gs sou nd true to me. Boy e’s mor
up. Many of these thin
s find it anyone laughing at us. I also think ther
seem more competitive than girls – but boy ’re segregation in mixed schools – firstly betw
een
a long time and they and
harder to pay attention for boys and girls, and then between cultures
ons
not as good at communicating. Making less boys religions too.
s ofte n help
competitive and changing activitie
to pay attention.”
s to
Alexander and Tim Biggin, 18, who also goe k
Brighton Grammar, talk about what they thin
.
about learning in a classroom with no girls
tly?
Do you think boys and girls learn differen
t
4 Tim: Everyone learns differently – but mos
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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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 No girls, no boys!

Level
Level1 3Elementary
No boys allowed
ols in
Since 2002, more and more mixed public scho

Advanced
8
to learn
the US have been offering pupils the chance
in single-sex classrooms.

Teacher talks: Girls

Lori Krohn teaches maths and science at New
:
Washington Middle-High School. She says
ago. One
“We started single-sex classes three years
bus and
day, we went on a trip with the girls in one 9
well
the boys in another. We cou ldn’ t beli eve how
Aly ssa Brewer, 14, is a pupil at New Washington
same ana.
behaved all the kids were. So we tried the Middle-High School, in the US state of Indi
boy s and in some
thing in the classrooms. Since then, our on New Washington offers single-sex classes
mor e
girls have behaved a lot better. They focus . subjects to pupils in sixth, seventh and eigh
th
on who else is in the room this opp ortunity , she
their lessons and less n grades. When Alyssa took
When boys and girls are toge ther , the boy s ofte ring prob lem and it
k. got better marks. “I have a hea
with thei r wor clas ses. Boys
depend on the girls to help them
the was hard to hear the teacher in mixed
I call
When we do group work in girls’ classes, make noise for no reason. It’s annoying,” she
y wor king 11,
groups ‘families ’ – bec ause girls enjo
ms’ says. “All-girls classes are a good idea. At age
ses, I call the grou ps ‘tea boy s. The y take thei r
together. In boys’ clas r. girls are more mature than
peti ng with eac h othe n. Boy s just play
– because boys enjoy com k seriously and want to lear
n, but boy s like to wor er
Girls like to sit dow n, read and lear around and have fun. But girls see the bigg
be active and competitive.” picture and want to be successful.”
w.spoton.de
© Spot on, September 2008, ww

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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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 No girls, no boys!

Level
Level1 3Elementary
3 FIND THE INFORMATION: GIRLS AND BOYS
1. Fill in the table with information from the article.

Advanced
All about Harry

School

Girls … I agree Boys … I agree

... can't do maths; ... can’t sit still;

2. Which statements do you agree with? Which do you disagree with? Put a tick (P) in the
‘I agree’ column if you think a statement is true. Then compare and talk about your answers in
small groups.
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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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 No girls, no boys!

Level 3 Advanced
4 DISCUSSION: WHAT WE THINK
Read what the pupils say and then write what you think.

• Would you go to a single-sex school?

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t have to worry about how I look and dress.
I could focus on school more and hang out more with girls.
(Isaura, 14)

No, I wouldn’t. At an all-girls school, you would get in more fights

because there are no boys to separate you. Girls fight more than
boys do. (Jasmine, 14)

No, I wouldn’t go to an all-boys school. Girls are a distraction that

needs to be there. (Rainer, 16)

No, I wouldn’t. I’m friends with a lot of girls. If you want a

girlfriend, it’s harder to be with her if you’re at a different
school. (John, 16)

Cross out the words that are not true for you and complete the sentence below.

I would / wouldn’t like to go to an all-boys / all-girls school because …

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Read out your sentence.

How many people in your class would like to like to go to a single-sex school and how
many wouldn’t?
Do you think your school marks would be better or worse in a single-sex school?

5 WEBQUEST
Are there any single-sex schools where you live? What can you find out about them?
• How many pupils attend the school?
• How old are the pupils?
• Do you have to pay to go to thes school?
• Do the pupils at the school pass more exams?
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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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•P
 No girls, no boys!

Level 3 Advanced
KEY

1. Students’ own answers

Teaching idea
To make this more fun, hand out slips of paper with the
two sentence beginnings on them and ask the students
to complete the sentences in secret. Then collect
the slips of paper and redistribute them amongst the
students. The students should read what is on their new
piece of paper out loud and everyone in the class should
guess who wrote it.

1. distract
2. confident
3. single-sex school
4. pay attention
5. mixed school
6. compete
7. segregation
8. depend on
9. annoying
10. mature

Girls … Boys …
… can't do maths; … can't sit still;

… like letters; … like numbers;

… are more mature; … make noise for no reason;

… take their work seriously and want to learn; … are noisy but don't realize it;

… see the bigger picture; … play around and have fun;

… hear better; … learn more in single-sex schools;

… get distracted by boys' noise; … learn better when they are under stress;

… are less competitive; … find it hard to express their feelings;

… are better at communicating; … are more competitive;

… find it easier to pay attention for a long time; … find it harder to pay attention for a long time;

… like to sit down to read and learn; … are not as good at communicating;

… enjoy working together. … depend on girls to help them with their work;

… learn better standing up.

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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Advanced

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