“The Fun They Had”By Isaac Asimov

Read the short story ‘The Fun They Had’ by Isaac Asimov.Use the story to complete the activities below. Aim to complete the reading and Activity 1, 2 & 3 this week.

Activity 1:From the Story what do we learn about the characters of Tommy and Margie?

1.Read the statements about Margie and Tommy. Unfortunately, they are all mixed up.

2.Separate them into two list, one for Margie and one for Tommy.

Mixed Up Statements· Impressed at finding a real book· Thinks printed books should be thrown away once read· Hates school; kept getting bad marks for geography tests· Strong sense of curiosity: finds a book in the attic

· Dislikes mechanical teacher; hopes it will be taken away· Feels superior because knows about old-fashioned school· Prepared to explain things· Admits not knowing about old-fashioned school· Thought a teacher could not be a person· Laughs at wrong idea of old-fashioned school· Knows that learning is adjusted to each child· Felt important now that the book had been found· Imagined school would be fun

Activity 2: Write out the following paragraph, filling in the

appropriate word from the word bank below.Tommy found a book in the attic. He and Margie were __________ that the words stood still rather than moved as ________ the screen of their mechanical teacher. Margie disliked her ______________ teacher especially as she had low scores in geography texts. She wished the mechanical teacher could be taken away. _____________ explained that years ago, children

went to a special _________________ to be taught by a man. Margie was surprised. _____________________ , she imagined the children would have a lot of ___________, laughing and shouting, sitting in class together and going ___________ together. The could help each other with lessons and _______________ about them. She felt that was better than learning _____________ her own.

Word Bankon talk run mechanical howeverbuilding on Tommy tests surprised

Activity 3: Answer these questions in a few words or a

couple of sentences each. 1: How old are Margie and Tommy? 2: What did Margie write in her diary? 3: Had Margie ever seen a book before? 4: What things about the book did she find strange?

5: What do you think a telebook is? 6: Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates? 7: What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Activity 4: Answer each of these questions in a short

paragraph (about 30 words) 1: What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? 2: Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector? 3: What did he do? 4: What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher? 5: Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why? 6: How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?7: How does he describe the old kind of teachers?

Activity 5:

Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words)Question 1: What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?Question 2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Extension Activities 1. Identify two ways in which Margie’s school is:A) Different to yoursB) Similar to yours2. What kind of person is Margie? How do you know?3. Thinking about your attitude towards school, as well as the attitude of others towards it, how does Asimov utilise irony at the end of the story?4. In “The Fun They Had” what kind of warning is Asimov giving about our use of computers?5. Give two reasons why the book seems strange to Tommy and Margie.

6. How is Margie’s teacher different to your teachers?7. How does Tommy act towards Margie?8. Why had Margie been doing poorly in Geography? What does this tell you about the schooling in this world?

Persuasive Writing

How do you feel about a system of education where students learn only by computer? What do you think the advantages and disadvantages would be?Use the following link to help you with ideas.https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyydjxs/videohttps://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyydjxs/revision/3Write your down your answer.