More girls are going to a farming school in Scotland. Stephanie is 16 and she is one of 12 girls in her class. Last year, there were only six girls. Now, almost half of the students in farming schools in Scotland are girls. People think this is good because farms need more workers.

Girls like Stephanie like to work outside and some grew up on farms. They saw other students working with animals and wanted to learn too. The school thinks more kids will want to learn about farming. A big group called NFU Scotland is happy about this. They hope more young people will want to work on farms.

Original news source: Record number of girls on Borders College farming course (BBC)

Listen:

Slow

Normal

Fast

Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a slip of paper with a word related to farming written on it (e.g. cow, tractor, harvest). One student from each group will act out the word without speaking, while the other group members try to guess what word it is. The group that guesses correctly first gets a point. Play several rounds, giving each student a chance to act out a word.

– Word Association
Instructions: Write the word “farming” on the board. Ask the students to brainstorm and share any words or phrases that they associate with farming. Write their responses on the board as a mind map, connecting related words. Encourage the students to explain their associations and discuss the connections between the words.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair a set of flashcards with farming-related vocabulary words (e.g. cow, tractor, harvest). One student from each pair will draw a picture of one of the words, while the other student tries to guess what word it is. Switch roles and continue until all the flashcards have been used.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions: Write the main points of the article on the board (e.g. more girls going to farming school in Scotland, Stephanie is one of them, farms need more workers). Divide the class into pairs. One student from each pair will have 30 seconds to summarize the article to their partner using only the main points on the board. Then, they will switch roles and the other student will summarize. Encourage the students to use their own words and not read directly from the board.

– Two Truths and a Lie
Instructions: Have each student think of two true statements and one false statement about farming. They should write them down on a piece of paper. Go around the class and have each student share their statements. The rest of the class must guess which statement is the lie. After guessing, the student can explain the true statements and provide more information about farming if desired.

Comprehension Questions:

1. How many girls are in Stephanie’s farming school class?
2. Were there more or less girls in the class last year?
3. Why do people think it’s good that more girls are going to farming school?
4. Why do girls like Stephanie want to learn about farming?
5. Who is happy about more girls going to farming school?
6. What does NFU Scotland hope will happen because of this?
7. What do farms need more of?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

More girls are going to a farming (1)______ in Scotland. Stephanie is 16 and she is one of 12 girls in her class. Last (2)______, there were only six girls. Now, almost half of the students in farming (3)______ in Scotland are girls. People (4)______ this is good because farms need more workers.

Girls like Stephanie like to work outside and some grew up on farms. They saw other students working with (5)______ and wanted to learn too. The school (6)______ more kids will want to learn about farming. A big (7)______ called NFU (8)______ is happy about this. They hope more young people will want to work on farms.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a farming school?
2. How would you feel if you worked on a farm?
3. Do you like working outside? Why or why not?
4. What do you think about more girls going to farming school?
5. Do you know anyone who grew up on a farm?
6. How do you think the animals feel when they are being taken care of on a farm?
7. Do you think more kids will want to learn about farming in the future? Why or why not?
8. Why do you think it is important for farms to have more workers?
9. What do you think NFU Scotland does?
10. Would you like to work on a farm when you grow up? Why or why not?
11. How do you think the girls in Stephanie’s class feel about going to farming school?
12. What other jobs do you think are important for farms besides working with animals?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. farming
2. workers
3. students
4. outside
5. animals
6. learn
7. school
8. group
9. young
10. people

Meanings:
(A) Kids who go to a place to learn
(B) A place where kids go to learn
(C) To get new knowledge and skills
(D) Growing plants and taking care of animals on a big piece of land
(E) Not inside, but in the fresh air
(F) A bunch of people who work together
(G) Living creatures like cats and dogs
(H) People who do a job
(I) More than one person
(J) Not old, but not a baby either
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. How many girls are in Stephanie’s farming school class?
(a) 6
(b) 16
(c) 10
(d) 12

2. Why do people think it is good that more girls are going to farming school?
(a) Girls don’t like farming
(b) Boys don’t like farming
(c) Farms need more workers
(d) Farms don’t need workers

3. Why do girls like Stephanie want to go to farming school?
(a) They like working outside
(b) They like working inside
(c) They don’t like animals
(d) They don’t like farms

4. What does NFU Scotland hope for?
(a) Less young people will want to work on farms
(b) More young people will want to work on farms
(c) No young people will want to work on farms
(d) Some young people will want to work on farms

5. How many girls were in farming schools in Scotland last year?
(a) 6
(b) 12
(c) 16
(d) 10

6. What is the name of the big group that is happy about more girls going to farming school?
(a) NFU England
(b) NFU Wales
(c) NFU Ireland
(d) NFU Scotland

7. What do girls in farming school like to learn about?
(a) Computers
(b) Animals
(c) Sports
(d) Music

8. What do people think more kids will want to learn about?
(a) Cooking
(b) Painting
(c) Farming
(d) Dancing

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Fewer girls are going to a school in Scotland where they learn about farming.
2. A big group called NFU Scotland is happy about this and hopes more young people will want to work on farms.
3. Last year, there were over six girls in the farming school.
4. Now, almost all of the students in farming schools in Scotland are boys.
5. Stephanie and other girls like to work outside and some of them grew up on farms.
6. Stephanie is 16 years old and she is one of 12 girls in her class.
7. The girls saw other students working with animals and they had no interest in learning.
8. People think it is good that more girls are going to farming school because farms need more workers.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. Who is Stephanie?
2. How many girls are in Stephanie’s class?
3. Did the number of girls in farming schools increase or decrease?
4. Why do people think it’s good that more girls are going to farming school?
5. What is NFU Scotland happy about?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. How many girls are in Stephanie’s farming school class?
There are 12 girls in Stephanie’s farming school class.

2. Were there more or less girls in the class last year?
There were less girls in the class last year.

3. Why do people think it’s good that more girls are going to farming school?
People think it’s good because farms need more workers.

4. Why do girls like Stephanie want to learn about farming?
Girls like Stephanie want to learn about farming because they like to work outside and some grew up on farms.

5. Who is happy about more girls going to farming school?
NFU Scotland is happy about more girls going to farming school.

6. What does NFU Scotland hope will happen because of this?
NFU Scotland hopes that more young people will want to work on farms.

7. What do farms need more of?
Farms need more workers.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) school
(2) year
(3) schools
(4) think
(5) animals
(6) thinks
(7) group
(8) Scotland
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. farming
Answer: (D) Growing plants and taking care of animals on a big piece of land

2. workers
Answer: (H) People who do a job

3. students
Answer: (A) Kids who go to a place to learn

4. outside
Answer: (E) Not inside, but in the fresh air

5. animals
Answer: (G) Living creatures like cats and dogs

6. learn
Answer: (C) To get new knowledge and skills

7. school
Answer: (B) A place where kids go to learn

8. group
Answer: (F) A bunch of people who work together

9. young
Answer: (J) Not old, but not a baby either

10. people
Answer: (I) More than one person
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. How many girls are in Stephanie’s farming school class?
Answer: (d) 12

2. Why do people think it is good that more girls are going to farming school?
Answer: (c) Farms need more workers

3. Why do girls like Stephanie want to go to farming school?
Answer: (a) They like working outside

4. What does NFU Scotland hope for?
Answer: (b) More young people will want to work on farms

5. How many girls were in farming schools in Scotland last year?
Answer: (a) 6

6. What is the name of the big group that is happy about more girls going to farming school?
Answer: (d) NFU Scotland

7. What do girls in farming school like to learn about?
Answer: (b) Animals

8. What do people think more kids will want to learn about?
Answer: (c) Farming
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Fewer girls are going to a school in Scotland where they learn about farming. (Answer: False)
2. A big group called NFU Scotland is happy about this and hopes more young people will want to work on farms. (Answer: True)
3. Last year, there were over six girls in the farming school. (Answer: False)
4. Now, almost all of the students in farming schools in Scotland are boys. (Answer: False)
5. Stephanie and other girls like to work outside and some of them grew up on farms. (Answer: True)
6. Stephanie is 16 years old and she is one of 12 girls in her class. (Answer: True)
7. The girls saw other students working with animals and they had no interest in learning. (Answer: False)
8. People think it is good that more girls are going to farming school because farms need more workers. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧