No girls, no boys!

Level 2 Intermediate
1 WARMER
Complete the sentences using your own words. Use a dictionary to help you.
Girls are _____________________________________________________________________________________.
Boys are _____________________________________________________________________________________.

2 WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Write the words next to their meanings. These words will help you understand the article better. The
paragraph numbers and the section titles are given to help you.

distract pay attention depend on mature compete

single-sex school segregation annoying confident mixed school

1. a verb meaning to get someones 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! / Intermediate

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 No girls, no boys!

Level 2 Intermediate
NO GIRLS, NO BOYS!
by Talitha Linehan

Boys like numbers and most girls like letters.

1 Girls cant do maths and boys cant sit still. tly,
and girls distract each other and stop eac h other Alexander: Theres not much difference. Mos .
hers
from learning. And in the classroom stud ents boys and girls like the same subjects and teac
es.
arent confident enough to just be themselv
Talitha Linehan found out whether this is
true and Whats the best and worst thing about an
n better whe n they are in all-boys school?
whether boys and girls lear 5
to worry
different schools. Tim: The best thing is that you dont have
you . You can
about what other people think of
2 Alexander McGuigan has never been in a just be yourself. But the social life is better in a
n going
classroom with a girl. Alexander, 16, has bee mixed school.
a, called
to an all-boys school in Melbourne, Australi
Brighton Grammar School since he was four years Alexander: Teachers know how to keep our
g
old. He says, With no girls in your class, you can attention. Thats cool. But you do miss bein
be yourself. around girls.

Alexander is one of thousands of teens arou

nd Do you see girls outside of school? 6
3 Som e
the world who go to single-sex schools. my friends are girls. Ive had a
er than mixed Tim:Yes, lots of
people say single-sex schools are bett girlfriend for ten months.
rently
schools. They believe girls and boys learn diffe
and should be taught differently. Alexander: We sometimes meet the girls from
s. We
our sister school for workshops and seminar
a
Teacher talks: Boys can also invite girls to our school dance. I had t
t wor k out. I didn
hing girlfriend for a while but it didn
John Philips has more than 20 years of teac really understand her. If youre not social outs
ide of
mm ar Sch ool. He thinks
experience at Brighton Gra school, you dont meet many girls.
boys learn more in single-sex scho ols bec ause
.
teachers know the best way to teach them Tim, youve been to a mixed school too.
Was
s and
Studies show that girls hear better than boy it different? 7
n they thin k to be
that boys can be noisy even whe Tim: Yes. In mixed schools, boys compete
girls . The best
theyre being quiet. That can distract liked by girls. Here, they compete to get the
that stress can help boy s to lear n about love, we can
studies also say
ding marks. When we read books
and that they learn more when they are stan s say something clever without anyone laug
hing at
nd true to me. Boy in mixed
up. Many of these things sou it us. I also think theres more segregation
but boy s find then
seem more competitive than girls re schools firstly between boys and girls, and
and they
harder to pay attention for a long time between cultures and religions too.
com mun icating. Mak ing less ons
not as good at
help boys
competitive and changing activities often
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 boys
4 Tim: Everyone learns differently but mos
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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Intermediate

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 No girls, no boys!

Level
Level1 2Elementary
No boys allowed

Intermediate
ols in
8 Since 2002, more and more mixed public scho
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
in one bus and
day, we went on a trip with the girls l , 14, is a pupil at New Washington
9
ano ther. We couldn t believe how wel Alyssa Bre wer
the boys in ana.
behaved all the kids were. So we tried the
same Middle-High School, in the US state of Indi
in some
thing in the classrooms. Since then, our boy
s and New Washington offers single-sex classes
th
girls have behaved a lot better. They focus
more on subjects to pupils in sixth, seventh and eigh
this opp ortunity , she
their lessons and less on who else is in the
room. grades. When Alyssa took
prob lem , and it
When boys and girls are together, the boy
s often got better marks. I have a hearing
clas ses. Boys
depend on the girls to help them with thei
r work. was hard to hear the teacher in mixed .
says
When we do group work in girls classes, I call
the make noise for no reason. Its annoying, she
girls
groups families because girls enjoy working All-girls classes are a good idea. At age 11,
s. They take thei r work
together. In boys classes, I call the groups
teams are more mature than boy
s just play arou nd
because boys enjoy competing with each
other. seriously and want to learn. Boy
s like to and have fun. But girls want to be succ essf ul.
Girls like to sit down, read and learn, but boy
be active and competitive. Spo t on, September 2008, www.spot
on.de

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

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 No girls, no boys!

Level
Level1 2Elementary
3 FIND THE INFORMATION: GIRLS AND BOYS
1. Complete the table with information from the article.

Intermediate
All about Harry

School

Girls I agree Boys I agree

can't do _________; can't sit _________;

like _________; like _________;

make _________ for no

are more _________;
reason;

take their work

_________ _________
_________ and want to
and have fun;
_________;

learn more in _________-

hear _________;
_________ _________;

get _________ by boys' learn better when they

_________; are under _________;

are better at _________; are more _________;

find it _________to pay find it harder to

_________ for a long time; _________ _________ for
a long time;

like to _________ depend on girls to

_________ to read and _________ _________
learn; _________ _________
_________;

enjoy working learn _________standing

_________. _________.

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! / Intermediate

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 No girls, no boys!

Level 2 Intermediate
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 wouldnt 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 wouldnt. 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 wouldnt go to an all-boys school. Girls are a distraction that

needs to be there. (Rainer, 16)

No, I wouldnt. Im friends with a lot of girls. If you want a

girlfriend, its harder to be with her if youre at a different
school. (John, 16)

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

I would / wouldnt 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 wouldnt?
Do you think your school marks would be better or worse in a single-sex school?

5 WEBQUEST
What are little boys made of made of? is the first line of a traditional British rhyme. Write the line
into a search engine. Find out how the rhyme goes on and what little girls [are] made of.
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SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / No girls, no boys! / Intermediate

CA HO
P
 No girls, no boys!

Level 2 Intermediate
KEY

1 5

1. Students own answers Teachers notes

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.
2 Thats what little girls are made of!
If you dont have internet access, either set this task as
homework or write the complete rhyme on the board and
discuss it in class. Ask the students to copy the rhyme
and illustrate it.
What are little boys made of?
Slugs and snails and puppy dogs tails;
Thats what little boys are made of!
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice and all things nice;

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; 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 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; depend on girls to help them with their work;

enjoy working together. learn better standing up.

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

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