‘Bike bus’ takes the United States by storm

Many Dutch children cycle to school every day. But in the United States, most children take the bus to school. One dad decided to try to change that.

Words:

• A mission is an important job or goal that someone wants to complete.
• Encouraging means helping someone feel confident or happy to do something.
• A community is a group of people who live, work, or share something together.
• The founder is the person who starts a new organisation, group, or idea.
• Rinse and repeat means to do the same thing again and again to get good results.
• If something is massive, it is very big or very successful.
• To attribute something means to say that it happened because of a person or thing.
• The impact of something is the big effect it has on people or things.
• If you are creative, you have new and interesting ideas.
• Vibes are the feelings or mood you get from a place, person, or event.

Video:

Warming up

1. This video is about how you get to school. How do you get to school? Do you cycle, walk, take the bus or train, or drive?

2. In this video, a dad starts a cycle club to help kids to move more. Do you think people your age get enough exercise (lichamelijke beweging)? Explain how you know this.

Questions about the video

Watch the video from 0:00-2:00.

3. Read the statements. Which ones are true?

A: With a bike bus, parents, children and other community members agree to cycle to school together.

B: Sam Balto is the CEO of the company that organises bike buses in the US.

C: Sam Balto was the first one to come up with the idea of a bike bus.

D: The idea of the bike bus is spreading and becoming more popular.

4. Fill in the missing words in this summary.

together – active – music – community – route – success

The Bike Bus, started by Coach Sam Balto, is a fun way for kids to ride bikes to school ____. Its ____ is to get kids moving and build a happy ____. The idea is simple: choose a ____, pick a day, and ride as a group. Coach Balto tried it with his students, and it became a massive ____ worldwide. People enjoy the ____, and it’s an active way to start to the day.

Now watch the video from 2:00 to the end of the video.

5. Name one celebrity that supported the bike bus.

6. Coach Balto names two ways he chooses the music for the rides. Name one of these ways.

Task

Option 1: What would you do to make young people move more? Write down an idea that will motivate people your age to exercise.

Option 2: Music is an important part of the cycle bus. Make a playlist that would get you excited to cycle to school. Aim to make it 20 minutes long.

Van de makers van All Right!, Of Course! en Taalblokken Engels