Meet the digital natives: a text and its main idea
A generation is all the people who were born within a few years of each other, for example children, parents and grandparents. People often give generations popular labels. One label is digital native: a person who grew up with technology all around. These labels are not exact, and they do not describe every person. Some grandparents are very good with technology, and some young people prefer books. To find the main idea of a text, read the title, then the first sentence and the last sentence, and ask: what is the whole text about? Details are small facts that support the main idea. Our words today: a trend is something many people enjoy for a while; an emoji is a small face or picture, like a smiling face, that shows a feeling; screen time is time spent looking at a screen; balance means a healthy mix, for example some screen time and some outdoor play.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| generation | people born within a few years of each other | My grandparents are an older generation. |
| digital native | grew up with technology | Many children are called digital natives. |
| trend | something popular for a while | Short videos are a trend. |
| emoji | a small picture that shows a feeling | She sent a smiling emoji. |
| screen time | time looking at a screen | His screen time is one hour a day. |
| balance | a healthy mix | Sport gives my day balance. |
My grandfather Maged is a retired teacher, and last month he asked me to show him how to send voice messages. I was surprised, because he had never used one. First he practised pressing the button and speaking slowly. After a week he was sending messages to his sister in Alexandria every evening. He says it is like talking across the street. My little cousin laughs and says, “That is easy!” Grandfather smiles and answers, “It is easy for you, because you grew up with it.” Some people call children like her digital natives, because technology is part of their lives from the start. Learning together makes everyone proud.
Word wall. Write the six words on small cards. Put a card in your hand without looking, then give your own example sentence about your family. Ask a grown-up which words they used when they were young.