Amy Chua Article Discussion:

 Amy Chua Article Discussion:

Part 1: Discuss the following questions with your group members.

1. According to the article, what does Amy Chua feel is the most important aspect of a child's education? How do you know this?

2. What does David Brooks feel is the most important aspect of a child's education?  How do you know this?

3 Why does the author say that Amy Chua is a "wimp?"

4. What are good and bad aspects of the education you received as a child?  Give specific examples of both.

5. Write two topic sentences that support Amy Chua's method.

6. Find sections of the reading to support your topic sentence.

7. Write two topic sentences that support David Brooks' ideas.

8. Find sections in the reading to support your sentences about Brooks.

Part 2: Vocabulary: Use the underlined collocations/patterns to make your own example sentences.

She’s protecting them from intellectual activities:       Protect sb from sth.

...requires focused attention.   focused attention

...groups are efficient at solving problems… sth is efficient at doing sth.

… members are good at reading emotions.  be  good at doing sth.

...formal learning.

I wish she recognized that the cafeteria is….:  sb. recognizes that s + v.

… learn skills to anticipate how they will be…:  anticipate wh- s + v.

She threatened to burn all her stuffed animals.: sb threatens to do sth.

America decided Amy Chua is a menace to society.  Sth is a menace to society.

Part 3: Use an explanation to introduce the general meaning of the following sections of the article. Then use a citation phrase, mention the author and include a signal verb to introduce a paraphrase of two of the following selections.:

a. Practicing a piece of music for four hours requires focused attention, but it is nowhere near as cognitively demanding as a sleepover with 14-year-old girls. Managing status rivalries, negotiating group dynamics, understanding social norms, navigating the distinction between self and group — these and other social tests impose cognitive demands that blow away any intense tutoring session or a class at Yale. 

b. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are good at reading each others’ emotions — when they take turns speaking, when the inputs from each member are managed fluidly, when they detect each others’ inclinations and strengths.

c. Chua would do better to see the classroom as a cognitive break from the truly arduous tests of childhood.