Students go beyond the textbook to study complex topics based on real-world issues, such as the water quality in their communities or the history of their town, analyzing information from multiple sources, including the Internet and interviews with experts. Project-based class work is more demanding than traditional book-based instruction, where students may just memorize facts from a single source. Instead, students utilize original documents and data, mastering principles covered in traditional courses but learning them in more meaningful ways. Projects can last weeks; multiple projects can cover entire courses. Student work is presented to audiences beyond the teacher, including parents and community groups.

　　Reality Check: At the Clear View Charter School, in Chula Vista, California, fourth- and fifth-grade students collected insect specimens, studied them under an electron microscope via a fiber-optic link to a nearby university, used Internet resources for their reports, and discussed their findings with university entomologists.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　go beyond the textbook :超越课本

　　real-world issues ：现实世界的问题

　　presented s/th to the audiences  ：向观众展示

　　traditional book-based instruction :传统书本教学

　　is more demanding than  ：比另外一件事情更费力

　　memorize facts from a single source ：从单一的源头记忆事实

　　细节罗列：

　　the history of their town ：他们家乡的历史

　　water quality in their communities  ：他们社区的水质量

　　analyzing information from multiple sources ：分析不同源头的信息

　　discussed their findings ：讨论他们的发现

　　collected insect specimens, studied them  ：收集昆虫样本、研究他们

　　适用题目：

　　2011.7.23 ML

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: it is more effective for students to work in groups than by themselves.

　　The best way to improve the quality of education is to increase teacher's salaries.

　　2. Connect: Integrated Studies

　　Studies should enable students to reach across traditional disciplines and explore their relationships, like James Burke described in his book Connections. History, literature, and art can be interwoven and studied together. Integrated studies enable subjects to be investigated using many forms of knowledge and expression, as literacy skills are expanded beyond the traditional focus on words and numbers to include graphics, color, music, and motion.

　　Reality Check: Through a national project called Nature Mapping, fourth-grade students in rural Washington learn reading, writing, mathematics, science, and technology use while searching for rare lizards.

　　重点搭配摘抄：

　　reach across traditional disciplines  ：连接不同的学科

　　using many forms of knowledge and expression ：使用多种形式的知识和表达

　　graphics, color, music, and motion： 图标、颜色、音乐和手势

　　learn reading, writing, mathematics, science, and technology use ：

　　学习阅读、写作、数学、科学和科技的使用

　　适用题目：

　　Should university students take classes in many subjects or specialize in one subject?

　　3. Share: Cooperative Learning

　　Working together on project teams and guided by trained teachers, students learn the skills of collaborating, managing emotions, and resolving conflicts in groups. Each member of the team is responsible for learning the subject matter as well as helping teammates to learn. Cooperative learning develops social and emotional skills, providing a valuable foundation for their lives as workers, family members, and citizens.

　　Reality Check: In Eeva Reeder's tenth-grade geometry class at Mountlake Terrace High School, near Seattle, student teams design "schools of the future" while mentoring with local architects. They manage deadlines and resolve differences to produce models, budgets, and reports far beyond what an individual student could accomplish.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　learn the skills of collaborating, managing emotions, and resolving conflicts ：

　　学习合作、控制情绪、解决分歧等技能

　　is responsible for ：对xx负责

　　learning the subject matter  ：学习主题；

　　helping teammates to learn ：帮助同伴学习

　　develops social and emotional skills ：朋友社交和控制情绪技能

　　providing a valuable foundation for their lives as workers, family members, and citizens：

　　为将来做员工、家庭成员和市民提供有价值的基础；

　　manage deadlines and resolve differences ：

　　掌控截止日期和解决分歧

　　far beyond what an individual student could accomplish：远远超越单个学生所有能成就的；

　　适用题目：

　　2011.7.23 ML

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: it is more effective for students to work in groups than by themselves.

　　Some people think that it is an important part of a child's education to go on a field trip (for example, museums) while other people think a child's time is better spent learning in a classroom at school. What is your opinion?

　　4. Expand: Comprehensive Assessment

　　Assessment should be expanded beyond simple test scores to instead provide a detailed, continuous profile of student strengths and weaknesses. Teachers, parents, and individual students can closely monitor academic progress and use the assessment to focus on areas that need improvement. Tests should be an opportunity for students to learn from their mistakes, retake the test, and improve their scores.

　　Reality Check: At the Key Learning Community, in Indianapolis, teachers employ written rubrics to assess students' strengths and weaknesses using categories based on Howard Gardner's concept of multiple intelligences, including spatial, musical, and interpersonal skills.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　student strengths and weaknesses ：学生的优缺点

　　monitor academic progress  ：监控成绩进展

　　be an opportunity for students ：对学生来是是个好机会

　　learn from their mistakes, retake the test, and improve their scores ：从犯下的错误中学习、重新考试同时提高成绩

　　适用题目：

　　Some people prefer to write many short assignments for a semester, other prefer to write one or two long assignments for a semester. Which do you prefer? Explain why.

　　Teachers

　　5. Coach: Intellectual and Emotional Guide

　　The most important role for teachers is to coach and guide students through the learning process, giving special attention to nurturing a student's interests and self-confidence. As technology provides more curricula, teachers can spend less time lecturing entire classes and more time mentoring students as individuals and tutoring them in areas in which they need help or seek additional challenges.

　　Reality Check: Brooklyn fifth-grade teacher Sarah Button uses exercises and simulations from the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program with her students, helping them learn empathy, cooperation, positive expression of feelings, and appreciation of diversity.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　coach and guide students ：培训引导学生

　　giving special attention to ：对xx给予特别的关照；

　　nurturing a student's interests and self-confidence：培养学生兴趣和自信

　　seek additional challenges：寻求额外的挑战

　　learn empathy, cooperation, positive expression of feelings, and appreciation of diversity ：学习同理心、合作、正向情感表达和感激多元化；

　　适用题目：

　　2012-05-26  ML ? 2012-05-26  NA? 2012.8.4NA

　　In the past, teachers have a greater impact on students than nowadays.

　　6. Learn: Teaching as Apprenticeship

　　Preparation for a teaching career should follow the model of apprenticeships, in which novices learn from experienced masters. Student teachers should spend less time in lecture halls learning educational theory and more time in classrooms, working directly with students and master teachers. Teaching skills should be continually sharpened, with time to take courses, attend conferences, and share lessons and tips with other teachers, online and in person.

　　Reality Check: Online communities such as Middle Web, the Teacher Leaders Network, and the Teachers Network bring novice and expert educators together in a Web-based professional community. The online mentorship gives novice teachers access to accomplished practitioners eager to strengthen the profession at its roots.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　learn from experienced masters：像有经验的老师学习

　　learning educational theory ：学习教育理论

　　working directly with students ：直接（面对）学生

　　sharpened teaching skills ：打磨教学技能

　　attend conferences, and share lessons and tips with other teachers ：参加会议、跟其他老师分享课程和技巧

　　accomplished practitioners ：有成就的从业者

　　eager to strengthen the profession at its roots：急切从根本上加强专业技能

　　适用题目：

　　It has been said, "Not everything that is learned is contained in books." Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

　　Schools

　　7. Adopt: Technology

　　The intelligent use of technology can transform and improve almost every aspect of school, modernizing the nature of curriculum, student assignments, parental connections, and administration. Online curricula now include lesson plans, simulations, and demonstrations for classroom use and review. With online connections, students can share their work and communicate more productively and creatively. Teachers can maintain records and assessments using software tools and stay in close touch with students and families via email and voicemail. Schools can reduce administrative costs by using technology tools, as other fields have done, and provide more funds for the classroom.

　　Reality Check: Students in Geoff Ruth's high school chemistry class at Leadership High School, in San Francisco, have abandoned their textbooks. Instead, they plan, research, and implement their experiments using material gathered online from reliable chemistry resources.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　transform and improve ： 改革、改善

　　modernizing the nature of curriculum, student assignments, parental connections, and administration：

　　使课程、学生作业、父母联系、管理的性质现代化

　　maintain records and assessments ：保持记录、评估

　　stay in close touch with  ：保持紧密的联系

　　reduce administrative costs ：减少管理成本

　　适用题目：

　　2011-04-15

　　Which it more important: having more facilities or hiring more teacher? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　The best way to improve the quality of education is to increase teacher's salaries.

　　8. Reorganize: Resources

　　Resources of time, money, and facilities must be restructured. The school day should allow for more in-depth project work beyond the 45-minute period, including block scheduling of classes two hours or longer. Schools should not close for a three-month summer vacation, but should remain open for student activities, teacher development, and community use. Through the practice of looping, elementary school teachers stay with a class for two or more years, deepening their relationships with students. More money in school districts should be directed to the classroom rather than the bureaucracy.

　　New school construction and renovation should emphasize school design that supports students and teachers collaborating in teams, with pervasive access to technology. Schools can be redesigned to also serve as community centers that provide health and social services for families, as well as counseling and parenting classes.

　　Reality Check: The school year at the Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center, in Fort Worth, Texas, consists of four blocks of about nine weeks each. Intersession workshops allow its K-5 students time for hands-on arts, science, and computer projects or sports in addition to language arts and math enrichment.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　deepening their relationships with students ： 加深跟学生的关系

　　be directed to ：转向到

　　construction and renovation：建设和修缮

　　适用题目：

　　A strong ability to be cooperative and work with others is more valuable than a strong ability to lead others.

　　We should require our young children (5-10) to learn music and art in addition to math, science history and language.

　　The benefits that students can get from student organization or club activities are as many as that they can get from the academic studies.

　　Communities

　　9. Involve: Parents

　　When schoolwork involves parents, students learn more. Parents and other caregivers are a child's first teachers and can instill values that encourage school learning. Schools should build strong alliances with parents and welcome their active participation in the classroom. Educators should inform parents of the school's educational goals, the importance of high expectations for each child, and ways of assisting with homework and classroom lessons.

　　Reality Check: In the Sacramento Unified School District, teachers make home visits to students' families. Teachers gain a better understanding of their students' home environment, and parents see that teachers are committed to forging closer home-school bonds. If English is not spoken in the home, translators accompany the teachers.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　build strong alliances with parents ： 跟不父母简历深厚的联系

　　welcome their active participation  ：欢迎他们积极的参与

　　inform parents of ：通知父母关于xx

　　assisting with ：帮助

　　gain a better understanding of ：对xxx有更好的理解

　　are committed to：致力于

　　make home visits： 家访

　　are committed to forging closer home-school bonds：致力于达成更深去学校-家庭纽带

　　适用题目：

　　2010 /11 /6

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

　　It is easier for parents to raise their children than 50 years ago.

　　2012-05-26  ML , 2012-05-26  NA,  2012.8.4NA

　　In the past, teachers have a greater impact on students than nowadays.

　　10. Include: Community Partners

　　Partnerships with a wide range of community organizations, including business, higher education, museums, and government agencies, provide critically needed materials, technology, and experiences for students and teachers. These groups expose students and teachers to the world of work through school-to-career programs and internships. Schools should enlist professionals to act as instructors and mentors for students.

　　Reality Check: At the Minnesota Business Academy, in St. Paul, businesses ranging from a newspaper to a stock brokerage to an engineering firm provide internships for three to four hours per day, twice each week. BestPrep, a philanthropic state business group, spearheaded an effort that renovated an old science building for school use.

　　重点搭配摘抄:

　　a wide range of community organizations, including business, higher education, museums, and government agencies ：

　　很多的社区组织比如企业、高等教育、博物馆和政府机构

　　expose students and teachers to ：让学生和老师接触

　　spearheaded an effort：带头努力做某事

　　重点句子：

　　Schools should enlist professionals to act as instructors and mentors for students.

　　学校应该招收一下职业人士作为学生的指导者和导师。

　　适用题目；

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

　　A university education should include an internship or some type of work experience.

　　Citation：

　　http://www.edutopia.org/big-ideas-better-schools