The Fun they had

Recap: The story is set in the future, in the year 2157, where books and traditional schools no longer exist. Margie, an eleven-year-old girl, finds a “real” book with Tommy, who is thirteen. This book describes schools of centuries past, which were much different from their virtual classrooms and mechanical teachers. Margie initially dislikes her school because her mechanical teacher has been giving her continuous geography tests, causing her performance to decline. The County Inspector adjusts the mechanical teacher to her level. As she reflects, Margie begins to imagine the fun students must have had in old schools, learning together from human teachers.

• Introduction to the Future of Schools
  • The story takes place in the future, where computers are expected to play a major role in education.
  • Schools of the future might not have physical books or human teachers as we know them today.
  • Concepts like “virtual reality” (reality created by computer software) and “virtual classroom” (learning through computer software or the Internet) are relevant to this future setting.
  • Robotic teachers are also a part of this imagined future.
• Margie’s Discovery of a Real Book
  • On May 17, 2157, Margie wrote in her diary about Tommy finding a real, very old book.
  • Margie’s grandfather had mentioned a time when all stories were printed on paper.
  • The pages of the book were yellow and crinkly, and the words stood still instead of moving like they did on a screen.
  • Tommy found the book in the attic of his house.
• Contrasting Old Schools with Future Schools
  • Tommy considers physical books a “waste” because once read, they are discarded, unlike telebooks which can hold a million books.
  • Margie initially expressed hatred for school, especially her mechanical teacher, due to poor performance in geography tests.
  • The County Inspector, a round little man with a red face, fixed Margie’s mechanical teacher by slowing down the geography sector to an average ten-year level.
  • Margie disliked the slot where she had to submit homework and test papers in punch code.
  • Tommy explains that the book describes “the old kind of school” from hundreds of years ago, which had human teachers who taught in special buildings where all kids of the same age learned together.
  • Margie’s mother believed a teacher needs to be adjusted to fit the mind of each student, implying a personalized learning experience.
• Margie’s Reflection on Old Schools
  • Margie’s schoolroom was next to her bedroom, and her mechanical teacher was on at regular hours, except Saturdays and Sundays, as her mother believed in consistent learning times.
  • The mechanical teacher flashed arithmetic lessons on proper fractions on the screen, requiring her to insert homework.
  • Margie sighed and began thinking about the old schools where kids from the entire neighborhood came together, laughed, shouted in the schoolyard, sat together in the schoolroom, and went home together.
  • She imagined how they learned the same things, helping each other with homework and discussing it, and that the teachers were people.
  • Margie concluded that the kids in the old days must have loved it and had “the fun they had”.

Important Vocabulary:

• crinkly: with many folds or lines
• attic: a space just below the roof, used as a storeroom
• scornful: contemptuous; showing you think something is worthless
• slot: a given space, time or position
• geared (to): adjusted to a particular standard or level
• loftily: in a superior way
• regular (here): normal; of the usual kind
• betcha (informal): (I) bet you (in fast speech): I’m sure
• dispute: disagree with
• nonchalantly: not showing much interest or enthusiasm; carelessly
• diverged: separated and took a different direction
• undergrowth: dense growth of plants and bushes
• wanted wear: had not been used
• hence: here, in the future

Grammar Focus:

• Adverbs: An adverb describes an action. Adverbs can be formed by adding ‘-ly’ to adjectives. If an adjective ends in ‘-y’, the ‘y’ changes to ‘i’ when ‘-ly’ is added (e.g., angry -> angrily). The chapter provides exercises to identify adverbs in sentences and use them to fill in blanks.
• If Not and Unless: These are used in negative conditional sentences, which have two parts.
  • The part with “if not” or “unless” states the condition and uses a verb in the present tense.
  • The other part of the sentence tells a possible result, and its verb is in the future tense.
  • “Unless” means “if not”.

Phrases/Idioms:

• blanked out completely: (referring to the history sector of Tommy’s teacher) implies it stopped working entirely, showing a complete malfunction.
• looked at her with very superior eyes: (Tommy’s reaction to Margie) suggests he looked down on her, implying he felt intellectually superior.
• geared a little too quick: (referring to the geography sector of Margie’s teacher) implies it was set at a difficulty level that was too advanced for her.
• flow freely: (referring to ideas and language) means to express thoughts and words without inhibition or difficulty.