Page 67 - Think 4. Teacher's Book B2

Unit 5
Too much tech? Reading
Warmer
Ask: How much do older people that
you know understand technology?
What technology do they use? Divide
the class into pairs for students to
discuss these questions.
1 Put a copy of the photo up on the
board and do the exercise as a
class before students open their
books.
2 Set a two-minute time limit to
encourage students to read
quickly and to focus on gist rather
than specific information.
1 an elderly lady and a teenage IT
teacher – possibly grandmother and
granddaughter
2 The teenager is teaching the elderly
lady how to use a computer and how
to use the internet.
3 5.05 Check/clarify: witnessing,
proficient, enthusiastic, silver
surfers, emigrated, newly
acquired.
Skype, Facebook, email, get ideas for
travelling, music lessons, recipes,
YouTube cooking tutorial, making
videos, reuniting with friends and
family members
4 Ask students to underline the
language in the text that helped
them answer.
1 It’s a documentary. 2 It shows
the story of teenagers teaching
elderly people to use the internet.
3 Poppy and Amy Raynes
4 witnessing how the internet had
changed their grandparents’ lives
5 friends 6 in a local home for
elderly people 7 using Facebook,
getting ideas for travelling, learning
how to play an instrument or cooking
8 making a YouTube cooking tutorial,
making a rap video and reconnecting
with people
5 Give students three minutes
to read the questions and
make notes to refer to in their
discussions.
more
Workbook
Reading p50, Ex.1–4
T52 Too much tech? | Unit 5
Great success for
teenage teachers – when silver surfers get connected
A new documentary called Silver Surfers shows the inspiring story of a group of teens helping elderly
people to improve the quality of their lives by teaching them how to make use of the internet. The people
were aged between 76 and 93.
Rosemary Raynes, the director of the documentary, got the idea for the film while talking to her sisters Poppy and Amy
about a project the two of them had started several years before in Kingston, Canada. The two teenagers and a group of
friends had a clear goal: they wanted to help elderly people to feel more connected to other people, through the use of
the internet.
They started the project after witnessing how the internet had changed their own grandparents’ lives. Their grandparents
could use the internet at a basic level, but wanted to become more proficient. After the two girls had given them a few basic
IT lessons, they were able to use the computer confidently, and became enthusiastic users of Skype, Facebook and email.
The two students were so motivated by that success that they got several of their friends to join them. Together, they started
to visit a local home for elderly people. Many of the people there couldn’t even switch on a computer without help. But the
young people were amazed by how much they had learned after only a few lessons.
It’s fascinating to see how the silver surfers featured in the film all had very different interests. Some of them wanted to use
Facebook to stay in touch with family members who had emigrated to countries as far away as Australia. Others were keen
to get ideas for travelling, learning how to play an instrument or cooking.
The outcomes of the project were amazing: 89-year-old Sheila,
together with a friend, managed to create a YouTube cooking
tutorial; 93-year-old Marilyn succeeded in making a rap video;
Albert, 89, initially wanted to learn how to use the web to
find old friends, and in doing so he was struck by how easy
it was to reconnect online with people he hadn’t seen in
decades. He even managed to use his newly acquired skills
to reunite with his daughter, who he had lost touch with.
The documentary has been met with great enthusiasm in
several countries, and a number of follow-up projects have
been launched. They are all aimed at helping elderly
people to explore the
benefits of technology,
have fun and stay in
touch with others – thanks
to a wonderful initiative by
two teenage girls.
REAdING 4 Read the article again and answer the questions.
1 What is Silver Surfers?
SPEAKING Work in pairs. Look at the
SPEAKING
1 photo and answer the questions. 2 What does it show?
3 Who started the project?
1 What do you think the relationship
between the people is? 4 What inspired them to start the project?
5 Who did they get to join them?
2 What do you think they are doing? 6 Where did they start giving lessons?
2 Read the article quickly to check 7 What were some of the elderly people’s interests?
your ideas. 8 What were some of their achievements?
3 5.05 Read and listen to the 5 SPEAKING Work in pairs and discuss the questions.
SPEAKING
article again. Find examples in 1 What do you think of the Silver Surfers project?
the article of how elderly people
2 Would you be interested in joining such a project? Why (not)?
learned to use technology. 3 Which example of the seniors’ achievements do you find most impressive?
4 Have you ever tried to help someone you know with technology?
52 Did you manage to teach them successfully?