SCHOOL RULES!

Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7

7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC
ON SCHOOL LIFE
Step 1: Plan
THE PROJECT

In groups, you are going to create an infographic for your classmates to show them what school life is like
in another country. You will include key information such as school rules, subjects and lunches, and any
other interesting facts about school life in your chosen country. You will then display your infographic in the
classroom and talk about school life in different countries, comparing the schools around the world that you
have learned about with your own school.

1 Read the project description and answer these questions with a partner.
1 What is the project about?
2 What will you produce in this project?
3 What kind of information will you need to research?
4 What will you discuss with your classmates at the end?

2 Discuss these questions about the topic with your classmates.

1 Why do schools have rules? Do you think school rules are the
same everywhere?
2 What do you think the school rule is in the photo?
3 Do secondary schools around the world teach the same subjects?
Why? Why not?
4 What do you usually have for lunch at school? Do you think schools
in other countries have similar school lunches?

PREPARATION

3 Read and circle the correct adverbs of manner in sentences 1–5.

1 If you study hard, you will do easily / well at school.
2 You must talk quietly / quickly in the school library.
3 You should greet your teacher politely / slowly when he or she enters the classroom.
4 If you do carefully / badly in your exams, you must take them again.
5 You shouldn’t do the exercise too safely / quickly or you might make a mistake.

4 Read the infographic on page 2 and match headings A–C with sections 1–3.
A School Rules B  School Lunches C  School Subjects

5 Look at section 1 on the infographic and complete A–E with the correct school subjects.

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6 Read the infographic again to learn more about school life in Japan. Then choose and write the most
suitable verbs in section 3.

SCHOOL LIFE IN JAPAN

1

A B C D

E F Japanese G P.E. H homemaking

2 Lunchtime
Students don’t eat in a canteen, they
eat in the classroom with their teacher.
A lunch lady delivers the meal,
and students take turns to share
out the food.
The meal is usually soup, fish or meat,
rice and milk.

3 1 Students
2 Students
wear a school uniform.
wear makeup or colour
shouldn’t must mustn’t

can mustn’t should

their hair.
3 Students know how to protect
should shouldn’t can
themselves in an earthquake emergency.
4 Students help to clean their
must can’t shouldn’t
classroom at the end of the day.
5 Students sometimes learn a club
activity after school, like tea ceremony or the mustn’t must can
sport, kendo.

4 More school facts

Junior high school is for 12 – 15-year olds.
Students can write about 1,006 Japanese kanji
characters when they finish primary school.
The school year starts in April, with six weeks holiday
in summer and two weeks each in winter and spring.
The school day is usually from 8.30 to 5pm, and
this includes after-school clubs.
Lessons are 50 minutes long with a five-minute
break between each one.

7 Discuss with a partner. What did you find surprising about school life in Japan? What is similar and different
to your own school life?

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SCHOOL RULES!
Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7
7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC
ON SCHOOL LIFE
STEP 2: Develop

1 In groups, decide which country you would like to learn more about school life in. If you are unsure, discuss
different parts of the world, e.g. America or Europe, and do some research into school life there.

2 Try to find out the answers to these questions about the country you chose in Exercise 1. Use the Online
Research to help you with your search.
1 How can we find out about school subjects, school lunches Online Research:
Developing connections
and school rules in our chosen country? using social media networks
2 What other useful information should we try to find out?
3 Is there enough information about the topic online? Social media can be a useful tool to
4 Are there websites where we can connect with students to help you with your online research.
You probably use some social
learn more about the topic?
networks already, like Facebook or
Instagram, but there are also other
websites that can connect you with
students around the world. These sites
let you share ideas and information
with students in other countries so that
you can learn about their way of life.
It’s like having an online pen friend!

3 You are going to do the research for your infographic. Use

the Useful Language to give each other advice about the best Useful Language:
Giving advice
way to find the information you need. This can be done using
different websites on the topic, or by connecting directly with I think we should …
students online in your chosen country to ask them about their
It’s usually a good idea to …
school life.
My suggestion / advice is to …
We could try …
Why don’t we … ?
One thing we should / must do is …

4 Create your infographic using the information you have collected. Don’t forget to:
• decide on the best way to present the information in your infographic
• use the model infographic as an example
• use vocabulary and grammar from Unit 7
• use photos and artwork to make your infographic more attractive

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SCHOOL RULES!
Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7
7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC
ON SCHOOL LIFE
STEP 3: Present
PRESENTATION

1 When your infographic is ready, present it to the class. Display it on the wall or on the digital whiteboard
and tell the other groups what you learned about school life in your chosen country.
2 Listen to the other groups present their infographics. Then answer these questions with the members of
your own group:
1 Did anybody find out about school life in the same part of the world as you? Is the school life there similar
or different?
2 What did you learn about school life around the world? Did anything surprise you?
3 How does school life in other countries compare to your own school life. What is similar and what is different?
4 Is there a country where you really wouldn’t like to go to school? Why?

SELF-EVALUATION

1 With the members of your group, answer these questions together. 1 = not very well, 6= very well

COLLABORATION
1 How well did we work together to create an infographic?

1 2 3 4 5 6

DIGITAL LITERACY
2 How well did we use social media networks to do our research?

1 2 3 4 5 6

COMMUNICATION
3 How well did we communicate with other students using social media?

1 2 3 4 5 6

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
4 How well did we make comparisons between our own school life and school life in other countries?

1 2 3 4 5 6

2 Answer these questions about yourself. 1 = not very much, 6= a lot

1 How well did I contribute to the project?

1 2 3 4 5 6

2 How much English did I use to plan and research the project?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Thinking about your answers above, how could you improve the next time you do a project?

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TEACHER’S NOTES

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In this project, students work in groups to create an infographic showing what school life is like in another
country. They will include key information such as school rules, subjects and lunches, and any other interesting
facts about school life in their chosen country. They will then display their infographic in the classroom and talk
about school life in different countries, comparing the schools around the world that they have learned about
with their own school.
The project helps students to develop the following life competencies, which form part of the
Cambridge Framework for Life Competencies:
COLLABORATION
Listening respectfully and responding constructively to others’ contributions

DIGITAL LITERACY
Developing connections using social media networks

COMMUNICATION
Participating with appropriate confidence and clarity

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Understanding and describing own and others’ cultures

SCHOOL RULES!
Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7
7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC ON SCHOOL LIFE
Step 1: Plan

Estimated time: 45 minutes

1 Following on from page 46 of the Student’s Book, ask students some general questions about their school life, for
example: What do you like about your school? What do you enjoy studying? Which school subject do you dislike? Which
school rule do you dislike? Do you do any after-school clubs?, etc. Explain that the project is about learning about
school life in another country. Get students to read the project description and then answer the questions in pairs.
[AK: 1 school life in another country; 2 an infographic; 3 school rules, subjects, mealtimes and other interesting facts
about school life; 4 what school life is like in other countries, and we will also compare school life around the world
with our own school life]
2 Discuss the questions about the topic as a class to find out what students think schools are like in other
countries. The photo shows a secondary school in the UK, and the school rule is that students should walk
downstairs in one direction only and walk upstairs in the other direction.
[AK: Students’ answers]
3 Ask students to complete the exercise.
[AK: 1 well; 2 quietly; 3 politely; 4 badly; 5 quickly]
4 Draw students’ attention to the infographic on page 2. Read the title and ask students what they think school
life might be like in Japan. Tell them they are going to prepare a similar infographic on school life in another
country later in the project. Then ask them to read the infographic quickly and complete the exercise, ignoring
the gaps for the time being.
[AK: 1 C; 2 B; 3 A]
5 Students look at the section on School Subjects and complete the list with the correct subjects for A–E. After
they have done the exercise, ask students to compare the school subjects in Japan with the subjects they learn.
[AK: A maths; B geography; C science; D music; E art]

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6 Ask students to read through the infographic more thoroughly this time, choosing and writing the verbs in
the sentences for the section on School Rules. They should choose the most suitable verb in each case, based
on what they think are the Dos and Don’ts of school life in Japan. Check answers together. Then ask students
to compare the school lunches with their own, for example, and talk about anything they might find unusual
about some of the school rules in Japan and how they differ with rules in your own school.
[AK: 1 must; 2 mustn’t; 3 should; 4 must; 5 can]
7 Students discuss the things they find surprising about school life in Japan, and compare it to their own
school life.
[AK: Students’ answers]

Note: This is the end of Stage 1 of the project: Plan. You can continue now or in a future lesson. If you decide to
continue in a future lesson, you could ask the students to prepare for the next stage by thinking about which
country they would like to learn more about the school life in.

SCHOOL RULES!
Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7
7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC ON SCHOOL LIFE
Step 2: Develop

Estimated time: 90 minutes (this can be split into two sections, between Exercises 3 and 4)
Exercises 1–3: 45 minutes
Exercise 4: 45 minutes

1 In groups, students choose the country that they would like to do their project on. Be sure that each group
chooses a different country, and encourage them to choose countries on different continents around the world
so that there is an interesting mix. This will encourage more discussion in the final stage of the project when
students get to compare school life around the world with their own school life.
2 Students should use these questions as guidelines to help them find the information they need to create an
infographic similar to the one on school life in Japan. Focus their attention on the Online Research box. Explain
that they can use social media sites to connect directly with students around the world to ask questions about
school life in their chosen country. If you choose to use this method of research, be sure that students are
using authentic websites such as https://www.penpalschools.com/ to find out the information they need.
Guide students as much as necessary in setting up a connection with students and teachers in other countries.
Interacting with students around the world online is also an excellent way for your students to further practise
their English skills.
3 Students start doing the research for their infographic by discussing and advising each other on the best way
to find out the information they need. This can be done by using websites on school life in different countries
or by connecting directly with students online to ask them about their school life, as detailed in Exercise 2
above. Encourage students to use the language in the Useful Language box to help them with this planning
and research stage.

Note: If you wish to stop here and continue in a future lesson, this stage of the project can be split at this point.

4 Students create their infographic in their groups. They should decide on the best way to present the
information and design their infographic accordingly. This can be done digitally if preferred using an authentic
website that creates infographics, such as Piktochart of Venngage. They prepare the text and include photos
and artwork to illustrate their infographic. When their infographic is ready, students should have some time
to practise presenting it. They should decide in their groups who will present the information. Ideally, all the
group members should take a turn in presenting different sections of information.

Note: This is the end of Stage 2 of the project: Develop. You can continue now or in a future lesson.

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SCHOOL RULES!
Compact A2 Key for Schools Unit 7
7
CLASS PROJECT: AN INFOGRAPHIC ON SCHOOL LIFE
Step 3: Present

Estimated time: 30 minutes

PRESENTATION

1 Have each group show their infographics to the other students in the class. If the groups have prepared digital
infographics, link them to a digital whiteboard or similar if your classroom has access to one of these.
2 Allow students enough time to listen to the presentations and look at each infographic. Then ask students to
work in their original groups to answer the questions. Take feedback on Questions 3 and 4 from the class, and
discuss as a class school life around the world and how it compares to school life in your own country.

SELF-EVALUATION

1 Explain that students are going to think about how well they did the project as a group, as this will help
them to understand their strengths and their areas for improvement in future projects. Students discuss
the questions together and give their group a score from 1–6 for each question. Ask for some examples as
feedback for the entire class.
2 Explain that students are going to reflect on their own personal contribution, as this will help them to
understand their strengths and their areas for improvement in future projects. Students consider the questions
individually and give themselves a score from 1–6 for each question. Ensure that students understand that this
is self-reflection and is not in any way a formal mark.
3 Students reflect on their answers in Exercises 1 and 2 and discuss as a group how they feel they could improve
for the next project.

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