ESL Worksheets: Phone Cramming

Good Morning & Happy Monday!

I have a simple article and activities for today, one that is easy on the teacher as well as the student. I crave easy and simple activities this time of year, but still have to keep things very productive. Since I prepare students for academic ESL exams (IELTS & TOEFL), I must keep them reading and writing till the very end!

Today's article is about phone cramming - a method phone companies use to scam customers out of money. Did you know that even large companies do this?! Anyway, ESL students can be easy victims of any kind of fraud because of their language limitations. Recognizing false charges on their phone is a useful skill!

Summer Posting Schedule

Like many teachers, summer is a hectic time for me with vacation, spending extra time with my kids, and catching up on stuff I've put off all year. Yet, I don't want to stop posting worksheets for teachers who visit, so I'll continue with the Monday Morning worksheets all summer. This way, those of you who teach during the summer will still get something new each week. So please check in on Mondays for your worksheet!

As always, I welcome any suggestions or feedback you might have.

Thank you for visiting, and enjoy!

WHAT ARE ALL THOSE FEES?

Imagine this: You are looking at your phone bill and you are confused! You see a fee for web hosting. The problem is that you do not know what web hosting is! Also, your bill lists two international calls, but all your friends and family live in the country! Lastly, there is a charge for a call to a 900 number. Yet, you never dialed this number!

What is going on? Chances are you’ve been crammed!

Cramming happens when a company adds a fee to your phone bill for a service you did not agree to or use. It is hard to pick out cramming charges on your bill. Many of these fees are small. Others have names that look like other items on your bill. What can you do to stop these fees? You can take action!

There are a few steps that you can take. First, know your phone bill! Read your phone bill carefully every month. Do this for three or four months. This takes time, but you will know when your company adds extra fees. Second, look for words that companies use for such charges. Some words to look for are miscellaneous, long-distance, third-party and subscription. Lastly, block extra services from your phone. When you block services, the company cannot charge you for them. You must call your phone company and tell them what services to block. You can start with 900 numbers, long-distance calls and international calls.

Try these ideas and you will see your phone bill go down!

Activity: Use information from the article to complete the graphic organizer below.