Infonews n°189 du 08/06/2003
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"A la Une" this week, a list of sites where you can find
statistics and informations about all the countries in the world, maps,
flags and files by countries. You can use those resources to invite your
pupils to explore countries they don't know, discover how people live
there, through the various info they find, and then compare thier findings
and compare the life in those countries to their own. Then discover
'Juneteenth' a day to celebrate the end of slavery, which seems to be about
the become a national holiday in the US. The "resources for primary school"
suggest several crafts, and also ideas of activities and games that can be
practiced in English. The "resources for secondary school" are more for
lower secondary school pupils, since the school year is now finished in
most upper secondary schools in France : discover a site full of amazing
facts about animal, and several other lesson plans, plus a good source for
British news. Finally, in the "teaching practice" section, find articles
and reports to read about Multiple Intelligence.
Have a nice week!
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Sommaire
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A la Une : Statistics and country files
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Ask the brain
Nation Master
CIA World Factbook 2002
Brainyatlas
Fact Monster
Theodora.com
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In the news
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Juneteenth
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Resources for primary school
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Plant this card!
Natural Colors
Games Kids play
Learning activities
End of the year activities
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Resources for secondary school
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Inside the animal mind
Lesson plans from Thirteen.com
Search for a Safe Cigarette (from [LIIWEEK] June 5)
News "hot off the press" ( from Sarah Rapnouil-Dunn on e-teach)
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Teaching practice
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Learning styles and MI theory
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A la Une : Statistics and country files
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You can use world facts and statistics in many ways in class : for some
they are precious info to study geography or economics, for students, they
are ways to learn interesting facts and discover other countries, and for
teachers, it is an opportunity to make learners practice comparison in an
authentic context. I explored some sites for you, choosing the theme of
'phones':
Ask the brain
-------------------
http://www.askthebrain.com
where I found for example this page about 'phones', with short testimonies
of users, statistics and lots of other information.
http://www.askthebrain.com/phone-.html
Nation Master
--------------------
http://www.nationmaster.com
where I found these statistics for having a phone at home : 970 out of 1000
people in Monaco, versus 33 in Albania:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/med_tel_mai_lin_in_use_cap&id=EUR
The site also offers lists of superlatives : the poorest, the richest, the
most murderous, the most educated....and the most square-eyed.....what do
you think it is? ;) see
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/med_tel_cap
the statistics come from the CIA World Factbook 2002
CIA World Factbook 2002
-----------------------
you can access this publication online
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
and even download it in .zip format, and make it available for your
students in school
http://www.cia.gov/cia/download.html
You can also access this site through
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cd.html
Brainyatlas
----------------
this site offers uptodate maps to download, and country profiles with the
dates of the statistics (some date back from 1995, some others are missing....)
http://www.brainyatlas.com/
As for phones, you can compare the systems in the different countries:
http://www.brainyatlas.com/fields/2124.html
you can also find figures, but they are difficult to analyse since they
just give numbers and not ratios, and the numbers have been collected in
different years.....but this can also be an intersting subject to discuss....
http://www.brainyatlas.com/fields/2150.html
Fact Monster
-------------------
from InfoPlease
http://www.factmonster.com/countries.html
free country profiles, with various infos, including numbers and statistics
the site also offers free online
- an atlas with maps
http://www.factmonster.com/atlas/index.html
- an almanach, with a page of world stats and facts
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0770063.html
- a dictionary
http://www.factmonster.com/dictionary.html
- an encyclopedia
http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia.html
as for 'phone', here is the definition the encyclopedia gives, but no
statistics there:
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0848085.html
Theodora.com
--------------------
A world factbook by year, still with the CIA as a source
http://www.theodora.com/wfb/
and also flags, lots of maps, and information about geography and the climate.
See also their chapter 'country rank', with lots of statisctics to compare,
based on the 1999 statistics.
http://www.photius.com/rankings/index.html
No phone there, but you can choose, for example, to compare the use of
nuclear energy in these countries, or discuss their competitiveness ranking....
http://www.photius.com/wfb1999/rankings/competitiveness.html
And if you feel interested in competitiveness, you can access the "World
Competitiveness Yearbook" , all the information about how this rate was
calculated and access other results on the site of the institute in
Switzerland who did the study
http://www01.imd.ch/wcy/
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In the news
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Juneteenth
----------------
LIIWEEK from June 5 says that "Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, is a
holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Browse this
site to find Juneteenth celebrations throughout California, and read
emancipation documents such as the 13th Amendment. The related links
feature online exhibits, reading lists, and other Juneteenth sites.
Provided by California senator Barbara Boxer."
http://boxer.senate.gov/juneteenth/
Read the definition
http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
http://www.frcduluth.org/
See the bill proclaiming the holiday in Wyoming
"The Juneteenth holiday shall be celebrated each year with appropriate
activities on the third Saturday of June."
http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2003/introduced/sf0098.pdf
it is not a national holiday yet, but some sites are suggesting it, and you
can also find the list of the states who have already adopted this day as a
holiday on:
http://www.juneteenth.us/
and here are some other sites about Juneteenth
http://www.19thofjune.com/
http://www.juneteenthamerica.us/
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Resources for primary school
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Plant this card!
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http://www.kidscastle.si.edu/channels/arts/articles/artsarticle4.html
Maybe you have already made paper with your pupils : it is a way to show
them how recycling old paper works. This site suggest something new : in
the making process, add some chosen seeds to the paper, and then the pupils
can send letters that will grow into nice bouquets....
An interesting activity for Spring and the end of the year....
Natural Colors
--------------------
http://www.kinderart.com/painting/plantdye.shtml
this site invites pupils to discover how some plants can provide colors. An
interesting activity, but remember to plan lots of protections for their
clothes!
Games Kids play
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http://www.gameskidsplay.net/
Find there lots of ideas for activities and games, and the rules of some
games you have forgotten. Some can be used as is, other have to be adapted...
Learning activities
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http://atozteacherstuff.com/printables/summer_learningK-3.pdf
This page offers ideas of activities for young homeschoolers : how to
increase their vocabulary, make them learn number by memorising friends'
phone numbers and using the phone, learn shapes while making sandwiches, or
practice reading on cereal boxes and othe familiar objects, encourage
reflexion, guessing ,deducing, and explaining how they proceeded. All these
ides for pre-reading native speakers can easily be transfered to the
language class for older pupils....and make language learning real fun!
and, funnily enough....those pages also appear on the official US National
Education site...under the signature of the Secretary of State....;(
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Recipes/reck-3.html
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Recipes/rec4-5.html
End of the year activities
-----------------------
Ideas for various activities, from making ice-cream without a fridge to
scavenger hunts...
http://mailjust4me.com/play/summer1.htm
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Resources for secondary school
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Inside the animal mind
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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animalmind/index.html
An interesting collection of intriguing facts about animals, presented in
an interactive form of short questions and answers. An excellent activity
either as a class if you have an computer and a video projector (OHP), or
for pupils to browse through individually in the computer room or in the
school library, and then tell the others about their findings, or encourage
them to discover what they learnt: an excellent information gap activity.
From lower secondary school onward.
Lesson plans from Thirteen.com
-----------------------
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons.html
you will find lots of interesting lesson plans in this part classified for
'adult education', with precious links to work from at the end of each
lesson. See:
holidays and observance, nutrition and food, heros and role models
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson24.html
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson22.html
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson21.html
Search for a Safe Cigarette (from [LIIWEEK] June 5)
-----------------------
Companion site to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) NOVA
episode that "chronicles the tobacco industry's decades long
effort to create a 'safer' cigarette." Interactive features
cover cigarette design, attempts to remove toxins from
cigarettes, nicotine and the brain, and combustion basics.
Includes a teacher's guide, related resources, and program
transcript.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/cigarette/
[ to go on with "No Tobacco Day", read this site with your studnets
News "hot off the press" ( from Sarah Rapnouil-Dunn on e-teach)
-----------------------
http://www.newsnow.co.uk
If you like to keep up to date with UK and world news, could be what you're
looking for: it updates
its stories EVERY FIVE MINUTES! You can also choose to be updated on
specific kinds of news, depending on geographic location or topic, using a
simple drop-down menu selection.
[ an interesting source of information, from the British point of view. You
can contrast it with :
http://news.google.com which give an
American view of the news.....(also
updated every three minutes). And of course, don't forget the news from the
BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ]
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Teaching practice
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Learning styles and MI theory
-----------------------
If you haven't heard about Howard Gardner's Multiple intelligence theory,
or if you haven't had time yet to really get into it, here is a site to
start : you will find information about the theory, and also ideas of how
this theory can apply to your teaching.
The address given in the article for "Variations on a Theme: How Teachers
Interpret MI Theory" no longer works, it is now:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/199709/campbell.html
and it offers useful hints of activities designed to fit the pupils's
different learning styles.
And if you want to learn more about MI, go to this excellent site, with
videos from classes, interviews and chats with Howard Gardner and teachers
who use MI in their classes.
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/month1/
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