Infonews n°163 du 06/10/2002
~~~~~~~~ Sommaire ~~~~~~~~
Another film for you this week : the last Spielberg, based on a
science fiction short story from Philip K Dick. And don't forget that this
week is coming out "Bowling for Columbine" (see infonews n°162). Then you
will find two sites for Space week (next week), two sites to find resources
for oral comprehension (if you need more, use the search engine in Infonews
archives), a few sites for secondary school, two for primary school, two
super projects to bring real life and cooperation in your classroom (one
from Barbara Dieu, our colleague from Sao Paolo, and the other from Phil
Benz), and two internet tools.
have a nice week!
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Sommaire
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A la une
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Minority Report
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Space week
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Mars Express: Europe Takes the Lead (SPACE> SPACE.com news 07.01)
Revolutionary Robots Gear Up for Mars (SPACE> SPACE.com news 07.01)
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Oral Comprehension
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HistoricalVoices.org (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
Phonetics and Linguistics: Educational Resources (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resources for secondary school teachers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The War on Terrorism: Saddam Hussein and Iraq (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
Edgate (from Jean Sahai)
Utah Shakespearian Festival: Educational Resources
PLANETPALS EARTHZONE
Building the Windy City (from Cool Web Sightings - Issue 69)
The Declaration of Independence (from Cool Web Sightings - Issue 69)
Nutrition Encyclopedia
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Resources for primary school
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EleMentor (from BUSY> July Busy Educator's Newsletter)
Words and pictures
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Projects
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Time Classroom Twinning 2002 (from Barbara Dieu)
Viva News 2 (from Phil Benz)
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Internet Tools
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WORDDRAGON.ORG (from BUSY> July Busy Educator's Newsletter)
free anti-virus (from Clau Hepburn on e-teach)
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A la Une
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Minority Report
-------------------------
This is the last Spielberg, and it has excellent reviews, far better than
AI. It is based on a Philip K. Dick short story. It also deal with
violence, but seems more of an action film than "Bowling for Columbine"
which comes out on the 9th (see Infonews n°
Here are some sites to learn more about the film:
Allo-Ciné :
several trailers and extracts to see in French and in english, interviews
ofSpielberg and the actors in both languages, and links to several review
sites and other Spielberg sites....
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=34917.html
Counting Down:
8 extracts online, under several recordable formats!
http://www.countingdown.com/theater/trailers_clips/detail/783704
The official site:
http://www.minorityreport.com/
a bit long to download, but a beautiful website. In "about the film", you
can see an extract, in "Futurists" you can see different machines, with
explanations and videos. In "precrime" you can see the precrime campaign,
for a murder free America....you can even take a test to become a member of
the team!
A page of links to Spielberg sites:
http://www.alameda.k12.ca.us/alameda/projects/telecom/listproject2K/directors/stevenspielberg/spielberg.html
on the Philip K Dick site:
http://www.philipkdick.com/
biography, interviews, and about the film:
http://www.philipkdick.com/hollywood/minority/minority.htm#story
The text of the story is not online, but you can read several reviews of
the book and a list of other short stories (but no texts!)
http://www.philipkdick.com/pkdweb/Biblio%20PKD%20Shorts.htm
another comprehensive site about Philip K Dick:
http://www.themodernword.com/scriptorium/dick.html
E online:
http://msn.eonline.com/Features/Features/MinorityReport/Dick/index.html
"Interactive ads play a big role in Minority Report":
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1369861
BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/06/24/minority_report_2002_review.shtml
another very comprehensive site.
USA today links:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/2002/06/21/hotsites.htm
~~~~~~~~~
Space week
~~~~~~~~~
Space week is next week. here are some sites for the occasion:
Mars Express: Europe Takes the Lead (SPACE> SPACE.com news 07.01)
-------------------------
A $200 million European mission just three years from launch may well take
the next giant step in the hunt for water on Mars.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/esa_mars_express_000628.html
Revolutionary Robots Gear Up for Mars (SPACE> SPACE.com news 07.01)
-------------------------
Getting a leg up on Mars requires muscle power. But if you are a robot,
using muscle wire will put spring into your step.
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/birod_muscle_space_000629.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oral Comprehension
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HistoricalVoices.org (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
-------------------------
Historical Voices is creating "a significant...online
database of spoken word collections spanning the 20th
century." Galleries lists their eclectic collection of
databases and links. Following another goal of the
project, there is also research on "sound digitization,
system architecture, federated searching, metadata
implementations, online delivery, and multimedia
education."
http://www.historicalvoices.org/
Phonetics and Linguistics: Educational Resources (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
-------------------------
This is a helpful site for anyone interested in phonetics
and linguistics. There are resources for both the amateur
and the expert. Resources include links to information on
word grammar, the Internet Institute for Speech and
Hearing, a tutorial on pronunciation, English pronunciation
tips for foreign students of English, and downloads for
International Phonetic Association fonts.
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/toc/set_eresource.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resources for secondary school teachers
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The War on Terrorism: Saddam Hussein and Iraq (LII> [LIIWEEK] October 3)
-------------------------
A select list of links to Web resources on the United
States-Iraq confrontation. Links are presented in the
following categories: News and Commentary, Government
Documents, Political Background and Analysis, Military and
Strategic Issues, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and The
Impact of Sanctions. From the Joyner Library at East
Carolina University.
http://www.lib.ecu.edu/govdoc/iraq.html
[ parfait pour des TPE ou tout enseignement de l'histoire en anglais.]
Edgate (from Jean Sahai)
-------------------------
http://www.edgate.com/teachers.html#classroom
you will find there lessons, templates for lessons, and tutorials for
software you can use for and with your students.
Utah Shakespearian Festival: Educational Resources
-------------------------
This site has synopses, lists of characters, articles, links,
and other teaching aids for the plays and lives of
Shakespeare and other playwrights (Barrie, Chekhov,
Gilbert and Sullivan, Miller, Molière, and several others).
There are also general theater resources. Material is from
the archives of Insights, Midsummer Magazine, study
guides, souvenir programs, and other publications of the
Utah Shakespearian Festival. An excellent "starting point
for research and study, for teaching, and for general
information."
http://www.bard.org/SectionEducate/EdResources.html
PLANETPALS EARTHZONE
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http://www.planetpals.com
Planetpals Earthzone teaches us to love the planet and everything in it.
Planetpals' adorable characters help kids learn and care in a fun way
through activities, games, and crafts. It is also a valuable source of
earth science and earthday information with recycle kits, facts, lists and
teacher/parent pages. Learn to do your part and be a pal. Like the
Planetpals say..."a friend for
earth is a friend for life!".
Explore this site and you explore the universe! Planetpals: Free, fun,
interactive, educational and informative .
[ a website you can use from lower secondary school upwards.]
Building the Windy City (from Cool Web Sightings - Issue 69)
-------------------------
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002846/
Building the Windy City is a ThinkQuest 2000 Platinum Award winning
website. At this site you will be able to learn about the buildings that
make Chicago a unique center of architecture. You'll find out many
interesting facts and see pictures of each building; information on the
great Chicago architects; Find out some basics of buildings here. learn a
few architectural terms and see the steps to build a house and view a
timeline of Chicago's architecture and much more. [Note: while watching TV
this morning, I found out that the windiest city in the US is not Chicago
but Great Falls, Montana!]
[ for future architects and all students interested in buildings and
architecture.]
The Declaration of Independence (from Cool Web Sightings - Issue 69)
-------------------------
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/declaration/bios.html
The History Channel brings this great resource about the Declaration of
Independence. The site allows you to learn about how the declaration came
to be, its efforts on preserving the document, biographies of the signers
and much more.
Nutrition Encyclopedia
-------------------------
Nutrition advices, diets, tips to improve your diet, and an expert to write
to...
http://my.webmd.com/nutrition
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Resources for primary school
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EleMentor (from BUSY> July Busy Educator's Newsletter)
-------------------------
http://www.elementor.com/flash.html
useful teaching and classroom management tips from an expert upper primary
school teacher.
Words and pictures
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/wordsandpictures/phonics/
on these pages from BBC, you'll find phonic games and lots od online
activities for the youngest.
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Projects
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Time Classroom Twinning 2002 (from Barbara Dieu)
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http://www.timeproject.org
In 2002, classroom twinning starts in early October. Time teachers
representing some 15 different schools and countries have developed
classroom twinning into an e-mail project.
The idea of this new version of classroom twinning is to enable students to
get to know each other on a more personal level and communicate in small
twinning groups of about 3-5 students. During 6 weeks, early October until
8 November 2002, each twinning group communicates in its own 'e-mail room'
on the website of "This is our Time". They work on the "Respecting
diversity" topic of their choice: exchange information and ideas, discuss
questions and answers and create
a short presentation of their topic.
On 8 November all groups can meet each other in the online discussion forum
"This is our Time"
"Groups are created by language and level: lower English,upper English,
lower French, upper French. Out of these groups the smaller twinning groups
will be created, consisting of 3-5 students from different schools and
countries. Students have all chosen the same language and are of the same
age. Every twinning group represents a variety of countries, continents and
time zones.
"Classes and names of students are registered online; access is only
available for teachers/coordinators invited by Time Headquarters.
Please enroll at:
http://www.timeproject.org/information/application_form.htm
and then send a letter giving me the list of the participants (names, age,
gender, language of communication, level of proficiency)so that I can send
you the copy of the first activity for the forum and an invitation to join
the teachers'community.
Viva News 2 (from Phil Benz)
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G'day!
The group dynamics working in Viva project continue to surprise me!
Many messages arriving lately, and many e-mails from colleagues
interested in participating but not really nowing how to get started.
We need to help them, by posting a few ideas in the "Teachers Corner",
which you may notice has a new look, thanks to the hard work of
benjamin Friess, our graphic artist and Jérémie Royannez our web
engineer. A big thanks to Benjamin and Jérémie!
A few things to remember:
1) I have had to erase a lot of very short messages, for example a
whole string of messages from "Jo" in LP Neufchatel. His messages were
interesting, but far too short, scarcely 1-2 lines long. I pasted some
of them together, erased others. All of us need to remind our students
to write much more than 1-2 lines at a time, because really short
messages really lack interest and are unlikely to draw the attention of
other participants. I do'nt want to discourage "Jo", who seems very
enthusiastic, but we need to better channel the energy of students like
that.
2) There are more messages in French, but not enough yet. Let me remind
you that if we want our students to find anglophone partners, we also
need to have a certain "mass" of messages for those studying French, to
make them want to use their target language in Viva; The same goes, of
course, for other languages.
3) So let me repeat my method from last year: Always plan your hour on
Viva in two parts, one part in the target language, with a specific
task imposed on students, and a second part for "free expression" where
students can choose where to speak and what language to use, while at
the same time we are encouraging them to interact with the other
partners already present in the project.
4) Don't forget the principle of respecting the language chosen by the
other partners. If we are answering a message begun in Spanish (or
French, or English, or whatever), we should answer *in that language*.
If we do not wish or are not able to answer in that language, it would
be better to begin a new message with a similar title, rather than
answering in a different language than the one chosen.
A few initiatives:
1) The "Squatt" has blazed the trail and given us some excellent
examples of the sort of interactions we want to encourage. From Lycée
Giraudoux in Chateauroux, students wrote little gems about the problems
of homeless people, and from the Lycée Français de Saõ Paolo many
students have taken up the torch and answered these messages. Students
in Angola High School in Indiana, in Tulle and in Lycée Astier have
followed with messages about tolerance in the same vein. It is
precisely this sort of shared development over a broad base of schools
that make the strength of the Viva project.
2) Teachers working in "European sections" working in DNL
("non-linguistic subject areas") are beginning to get organized.
Jean-Philippe Raud Dugal will present this project Sunday 6 October on
Tapped In (www.tappedin.org). You will find more details soon on both
E-Teach and FLTeach.
3) My colleague Bruno Boddaert at Lycée Astier had his students write
in the "Ecole" space on the theme "Why I hate English!" This may
appear
surprising at first, but after looking at a few of these very well
organized and argued messages, I find them full of useful elements.
What's more, this topic allowed him to motivate his students on a topic
that they obviously felt strongly about, and I can hardly wait for
responses (agreeing or disagreeing!) start pouring in. Topics like this
that really get kids' blood boiling are just what we need.
Lastly, I should tell you that I'm trying to cobble together a list of
everyone receiving this newsletter, with their name, school, e-mail
addy, student profile (middle school, technical school, high school,
etc) and the number of times they've visited Viva with their students
(or just that they haven't yet begun). This will help us work together
in collaborative projects. I will contact you individually over the
next couple of weeks. See you soon on Viva!
Viva, the Virtual Interactive Village in the Ardeche, at:
http://www.ardecol.ac-grenoble.fr/viva/
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Internet Tools
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WORDDRAGON.ORG (from BUSY> July Busy Educator's Newsletter)
-------------------------
http://www.worddragon.org
On Worddragon.org, you will find lots of puzzles: word scramble, sentence
scramble, and matching. All have a fun, colorful, drag'n'drop interface.
You can try the puzzles in the collection or create your own puzzles for
your students. Creating a puzzle is as simple as filling in a form. These
puzzles are great for practicing spelling, learning new vocabulary, and
many other learning activities. List your puzzles on the Worddragon
server for others to use, or purchase a copy of the applets for your own
computer.
free anti-virus (from Clau Hepburn on e-teach)
-------------------------
http://www.grisoft.com/
at the moment when Bugbear keep coming into our mail boxes, you do need a
good protection. Norton is one of the most famous, but you have to buy it.
Clau has found for you a free anti-virus.
Remember also that your mail server can also filter your messages for you.
Most national education servers do it (ac-XXX.fr) , some providers do it
for free, others for a fee. Contact your provider and get information.
A propos des alertes à virus, vous trouverez toutes les infos sur les vrais
et faux virus sur Hoaxbuster:
http://www.hoaxbuster.com/
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E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
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