Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the use of electronic gadgets in our world. How does your family deal with all the gadgets? What are the rules for using the gadgets in your home? Do you agree with the rules? Why or why not?

Create a list of guidelines for gadgets and their uses (including times allotted per day) that you think is reasonable. Compare your ideas with those of your classmates.

Write a blog entry describing the electronic gadget you like the most and why.

Discuss the electronic gadgets in our world. Make a vocabulary chart to identify this equipment in English. What are the rules in your home? Do you agree with the rules? Why or why not?

Examine how much time you spend using electronic gadgets in your everyday life. Compare this with other activities you do such as spending time with your family, going to school, doing homework, socializing with friends, sleeping or playing sports.

Prepare questions for a survey of gadgets you have at home. Interview your family. Compare the results with your classmates. Make a bar graph to present your results. 

Blackout, Dot.

Mots-clés

Humour , Picture book , Goodnight Moon , Margaret Wise Brown , parody , rabbits , stories in rhyme , technology

Commentaire descriptif

In this spoof of Margaret Wise Brown’s beloved 1947 classic, Goodnight Moon, an old rabbit woman, trying to sleep, is fed up with her family of rabbit kids, who are hopelessly addicted to the “bings, bongs and beeps” of tablets, smart phones (that play hip hop songs), social media and movie streaming. Beginning with the author’s pen name (Ann Droyd), an opening dedication to “everyone who is as hopelessly plugged in as I am,” and a business page presented humorously as a “license agreement,” this book makes serious fun of the way noisy, digital media has overtaken nearly every aspect of our lives, including bedtime. It includes vivid cartoon illustrations of rabbits mesmerized by electronic gadgets, and a simple but hip text that echoes the cadence and rhyme of Brown’s original. This is a lighthearted book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, as well as adults who will appreciate the parody. It can also be effectively employed to spark discussion on the positive – and negative – impact of technology on our daily lives.