Don't be a couch potato!

Too much TV?

Nowadays it is possible to watch your favourite programmes, series or films not only on TV, but also on your computer or smartphone. Does this mean that you spend too long in front of a screen? Do you choose what to watch in a critical and selective way? In this section, we want you to reflect on your own and your classmates' viewing habits.

At the end of this section, you will have...

Read about unhealthy lifestyles.
Revised and learnt vocabulary related to free time activities.
Listened to a conversation.
Revised and learnt adjectives to describe TV programmes.
Prepared and asked a questionnaire on people's viewing habits.

Enter the elllo.org site and listen to several people talking about how much TV they watch. With a partner, speak about how long you both spend in front of a TV set.

mojzagrebinfo. Television (CC0)

A person who spends too much time watching TV while sitting on a sofa is called a couch potato. Read the tips to avoid being a couch potato on the Writing Wizard web site. With your partner, comment on activities that you both do in your free time and give them a score. Enter the free time activity worksheet and get some ideas. For example, sleeping is zero and running, 10. After checking the score based on the activities that your partner and you have chosen, do you think you are 'couch potatoes'?

A couch potato is the opposite of someone who is energetic and physically healthy. Enter the worksheet entitled A generation of couch potatoes and take a quiz on how active you are..Then, read the text in the worksheet and develop your reading comprehension by answering to the questions provided.

Discuss with your class-group about your lifestyles.

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?
What activities do you usually do to be fit?

At home, ask some members in your family and calculate the total amount of hours that they spend watching TV. Who in your family spends the most time in front of the TV set?

Sign in at Canva and draw two columns with the headings I could.... and My relatives could...Write under each heading activities that you and your relatives could take up to be physically fit.

Share the link to your chart with your classmates on Pinterest . Do not forget to accompany a picture to illustrate your post. Publish the chart on the page entitled 'My digital Resources' in your Weebly site.

A TV questionnaire

TV programming caters for people of all kinds who want to get informed or entertained as well as to learn about interesting things. Listen to a conversation at the esl-lab site. Comment with a partner on the types of programmes that you both identify in the conversation.

ADMC. TV (CC0)

With your classmate, exchange turns to ask and answer which programmes you both prefer and the reason why you like them. On the TV guia site, you will find popular TV shows and channels that you will probably know about. You can find useful expressions to talk about TV programmes on the englishlife.ef site and on the ESOL courses site. Also, we recommend that you have a look at a list of adjectives to describe TV shows on the Second of ESO English site and at some useful expressions on the Native Speaker Online web site. All this vocabulary will help you prepare and answer the questionnaire, which is the mission you are about to carry out.

In the previous section, you have already taken a quiz which was mainly focused on the time that you spend in front of the TV set. Now, we want you and three other students in the class to prepare your own questionnaire to find out about your class-group viewing habits and interests.

Please, follow the guidelines to perform the mission successfully.

Get together in groups of four students.
Prepare general questions that enable you and the members in your group to know about your classmates' viewing habits. You can get some help at the iteslj.org site.
Think of different TV programmes and prepare some more specific questions to know what your classmates' opinion is about them. Have a look at the TV Guia site if necessary. For some questions, give three options (click on 'An example' below to see an example and to go on reading the instructions).

Your work on your questionnaire will be assessed according to the criteria included in the 'Rubric for assessing a questionnaire' (download in editable odt format, download in pdf). The presentation in front of the class-group will be evaluated according to the 'Rubric for assessing a presentation'. (download in editable odt format, download in pdf)

Feedback

What talent show do you prefer, cooking, singing or dancing?

Base some of your questions on these topics: favourite programmes (make your classmates choose three TV shows and ask them to describe their characteristics: what happens in the shows, how often each programme is on and, finally, whether they are for entertaining, informing or learning).
You can revise the form of interrogative sentences at the English Language Guide site and practise them on the K12 reader worksheet.
After finishing your questionnaire, go around the classroom and ask some of your classmates about their viewing habits and likes. You will also have to answer to other group's questions. Remember that you wll be asked to describe some of your favourite TV shows so prepare your information beforehand.
Also, include a few questions for you teacher, parents or other adults around you. Ask them if television is better or worse than ten years ago and whether they think it is more violent or interesting than it used to be.
Get together with the members of your group and comment on the answers that you have got from your classmates and the other people interviewed.
Organize the information that you have collected.
Publish your questionnaire on a page that you will entitle 'My Writing guide' in your Weebly site. You can share the questionnaire with the rest of classmates on Pinterest. To do this, remember to accompany the questionnaire with an image. Read other groups' questionnaire and suggest any questions that you consider as important so that they can improve it.
On a fixed day, your group will present in front of the class-group the data about your classmates' viewing habits and likes. Accompany your presentation with an infographic or PPT file.

Learning Diary

As you did in the previous section, reflect on how you have performed this mission in your Learning Diary (download in editable odt format, download in pdf).

Peter O'Shea. Writing tools (CC BY)

Create a new post on your blog with the title 'Don't be a couch potato!' and answer the following questions:

What are the most difficult aspects?
What tool was the most difficult for you to work with?
What do you think is the most important aspect you have learned?
Are there any aspects you didn't understand?

Do not forget it would be great if you shared these feelings and thoughts with your classmates. You will have 10 or 15 minutes to complete this part.

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