English translation, no machine needed

On June 5, 9 a.m. to 10 PM.

In the school hall.

Do a report first, then talk with teachers freely.

Please inform whether come.

Positive comments: In addition to studying compulsory subjects such as mathematics, science, writing, literature, and physical education, American middle school students can also take elective subjects such as music, painting, and photography. Develop your own talents and hobbies.

The United States is one of the countries with the most developed education in the world. Among the current rankings of the world's 100 authoritative universities, the United States accounts for two-thirds. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, after more than 200 years of development and gradual improvement, the United States has formed today's three-level system of primary education, secondary education and higher education. American university presidents generally believe that to fundamentally improve the quality of undergraduate education, we must start from basic education, especially secondary education. American secondary education, with its unique teaching methods, emphasizes equal emphasis on arts and science when imparting book knowledge, and focuses on developing students' personality development, originality and innovative abilities, and has supplied a large number of outstanding talents to American universities.

The United States does not have a national school system. With the exception of military academies, the federal government does not operate any schools. The government only provides guidance and funding for relevant education plans. The Ministry of Education supervises the implementation of these plans. States and local governments are responsible for local education. About 40% of state government tax revenue is used for primary and secondary education.

Every state in the United States stipulates that children of school age must attend school regardless of their gender, race, religion, physical disability, English proficiency, nationality, or immigration status (illegal immigration). Most states require that they attend school until they are at least 16 years old, and some states require that they attend school until they are 18 years old. It can be seen that every child living in the United States has received at least 11 years of school education, making the penetration rate of secondary education in the United States nearly 100%. The division of junior and senior high schools varies from state to state. In some states, junior high school has two years and high school has four years. In some states, junior high school and high school have three years each. Schools are divided into public and private categories. Public schools are funded by the government, and students are exempted from paying tuition fees. Students from poor families are also exempted from paying textbooks, lunch and other expenses. In private schools, all expenses are borne by the students' families. According to statistics, about 90% of students study in public middle schools.

The purpose of American middle school curriculum is to enable the educated to develop in an all-round way. Throughout the middle school stage, there is no distinction between liberal arts and science classes. The middle school curriculum has a reasonable structure and a wide range of knowledge. Full attention is paid to unleashing students' potential, mobilizing their enthusiasm and initiative for learning, cultivating students' specialties, and encouraging personality development. Most schools offer more than a hundred courses for students to choose from, and the courses are divided into compulsory courses and elective courses. Compulsory courses are the knowledge structure of liberal arts and sciences that students are required to master in order to adapt to the basic requirements of society. Required courses include Chinese (literature, language, history, philosophy, etc.), mathematics (including statistics and computers), science (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, earth science), social science (American history, world history, economics, current affairs, Geography, psychology, sociology, etc.), art, health and safety and sports. Elective courses fully satisfy students' interests and aspirations, cultivate students' professional skills, and promote the development of their personality and expertise. Popular electives for students include performing arts, car driving education, cooking and manual labor (tool use, carpentry and mechanical repair), etc.

The two most important subjects in American middle schools are language and mathematics. The school requires students to have strong reading skills. If they cannot keep up with reading, it will be difficult to pass the language test. In language classes, teachers generally do not talk about grammar and language theory, but focus on allowing students to fully understand the essence of the article. At the same time, students are required to analyze and comment on the articles they have learned, summarize and retell them. Letting students read a lot is a unique feature of American secondary education. New York State stipulates that elementary school students must read 25 books each year. Lower grade students can read novels. As the grade increases, the number of books read will also increase. Teachers ask students to connect reading and writing. Generally speaking, students must write a reading report every time they finish reading a book. American students read a wide range of books. Although they mostly read literature books, they also dabble in books on politics, society, culture, history, science and technology.

Through extensive reading, students' abilities are cultivated in at least three aspects: one is to increase vocabulary; the other is to improve understanding and generalization abilities; and the third is to improve writing ability. This will be very helpful for their future work. Americans are generally good at speaking, writing articles, and have strong public relations skills, all of which are related to a lot of reading.

There are no unified teaching materials for each subject in American middle schools. The teaching materials are selected by the schools and teachers. American textbooks are very rich in content, detailed in description, and easy for self-study. It is up to students to learn more or less, as long as they master the basic knowledge. In the classroom, teachers basically focus on students and conduct discussion-based teaching activities. Teachers and students can ask each other questions and discuss together. As for extracurricular homework and examination content, in addition to general exercises, the school requires students to write essays. The main purpose of this teaching method is to encourage students to think independently, encourage students to have the courage to put forward personal opinions, and allow students to question and criticize. The school also encourages students to participate in various social or community activities.

American secondary education implements a "credit system." The minimum credits required for graduation of middle school students in each state are determined by the state education department, and each school can further formulate its own subject and credit requirements accordingly. The school requires students to complete the prescribed credits during high school and take at least 6 to 7 courses each semester. Students can take courses in the upper grade only after completing the credits of the previous grade. Graduation is allowed if students complete the credits. If students complete the credits early, they can graduate early, apply for college or take college courses during high school.

The credit system and course selection system in the United States fully reflect the student-centered direction of American secondary education. The school only stipulates the minimum graduation credits for students, and has no unified requirements for course types and difficulty. Students enjoy the greatest degree of autonomy and initiative in their studies, and can fully develop their potential and hobbies according to their own conditions.

Generally speaking, the American education system focuses on students’ “quality education.” College admissions not only look at students' test scores, but also their overall quality. Students' outstanding achievements or deeds in social activities, literature, art, and sports are also an important basis for schools to evaluate students' quality. Among the standards for admitting students to universities in the United States, test scores, daily grades, social activities, applications, recommendations, and interviews each account for one-quarter.

Negative comment: In the United States, if a child wants to enter college, he needs to prepare no less than Chinese children.

High schools in the United States last for four years, from grades 9 to 12. From the day he enters high school, every child preparing to go to college must carefully plan his four-year high school life. The first step is to choose courses. Especially for students who want to go to first- or second-rate universities, course selection is even more important. Universities in the United States attach great importance to candidates' four-year high school courses. These universities use the difficulty and challenge of the students' four-year high school courses to infer the candidates' learning foundation and potential for future university study. Moreover, those courses with high difficulty also have high credits. Therefore, students aiming at first- and second-rate universities will choose as many courses with high difficulty as possible.

In addition, students’ extracurricular and extracurricular performance are also important reference indicators for universities. David is a Chinese child born in the United States. He came to China this summer to volunteer at an international NGO that specializes in helping people with disabilities. “From the time they enter middle school, American children have to regularly participate in such activities. These activities It counts for credits and is a valuable reference for going to college." David said that in addition to this international organization that specializes in helping people with disabilities, he also often volunteers at nursing homes in the community.

“Many American high school students go to summer school to take a course in advance during the summer vacation. Some also participate in various summer camps organized by American universities, or study courses, and some attend SAT cram schools (SAT is the American A standardized test for college admissions, similar to China’s college entrance examination), or working part-time, participating in various volunteer activities, etc.,” Teacher Wang Wen said, “No child would let the summer life on their college application form be Blank".

English learning suggestions:

1. Pay attention to daily accumulation, be serious in class, and review hard after class;

2. Make more use of multimedia and listen to the Voice of America (VOA), British BBC, watch bilingual movies;

3. English drama performances can be carried out, English corners can be opened, etc. to train students' oral proficiency;

4. Dare to speak and exercise courage.