Unit 3: Vocabulary from Reading

Here, however, I'd like to speak as a teacher rather than a parent. I'd like to explain why, in my professional opinion, American kids need homework.

I teach them about the scientific method, lab procedures, and scientific writing, all skills they will need in college.

Schoolwork prepares students for work-related tasks, financial planning, and any project that ends with the feeling of a job well done.

In Japan, senior high school is not required or guaranteed. Instead, students compete for spots at prestigious high schools by scoring high on achievement tests.

The vast majority of teachers I know are careful to only assign work that’s important for student success.

Most teens now say their favorite mode of communication is texting (35%), according to a new survey released Monday from Common Sense, a children's and media advocacy organization. Compared to 2012, much higher proportions selected social media (16%) and video chatting (10%), while less than one third said they prefer chatting with friends face-to-face.

Many young people (72%) also believe that tech companies manipulate users in order to get them to spend more time on their devices, according to the survey.

The report also provides hard numbers to back up the observation that teenagers are pretty over Facebook. Nearly 70% said that platform was their “main social media site” in 2012. Now just 15% do.

Technology continues to be a rapidly evolving landscape, and Rideout says more work needs to be done to understand the net effect technology is having on kids’ well-being.

For now, she recommends encouraging teenagers to use media in “mindful” ways, so that they are capable of putting their devices down when circumstances demand it.

White men penned our people on reservations, then took away the reservations.

White men call Indians treacherous—but no mention is made of broken treaties on the part of the white man.