Infonews n°272 du 02/04/2006
Article
Audio
Blog
How do they call the CPE?
Translation for casseur?
Vocabulary for the violence during the demonstrations
Ready to use : Learning English from the BBC
What does the world think of the events? ( reactions after M.Chirac's speech)
England Quiz
** Water Alert Interactive game
Easter Eggs (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, March 31st)
The Meatrix II
Free audiobooks online
Working in a cafeteria
*** Everything about Podcasts
Many Books.net (from The Scout Report -- March 24)
Ask.Com (from [LII New This Week] March 9)
I'm Dreaming of a White National Cheese Day (from [LII New This Week] March
9)
Learn about the orchestra
Nasa Bookmarks
Everything about the Cell
Best Performing Cities 2005: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained
( from [LII New This Week] March 30)
Clickable version of the CECRL
Article
Read this article from the NYT about those new homeless people, even families,
living in their car and keeping it secret. Learn about their shame, their fear
for their safety and their struggle to find a shower, try to look 'normal'
and keep their dignity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/us/02cars.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=f5d3dacedaef68af&hp&ex=1144036800&partner=homepage
Audio
Listen to this interview of a British homeless girl (in several parts, no
script, but clear and easy to understand)
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2006/04/02/us/20060402_HOMELESS_AUDIOSS.html
Blog
and read what she writes in her blog, her fears, her feeling. It is not literature,
but it is well written, full of true feelings, real dispair, and a different
way to look at life. See how she describes the swans in the park at the end
of the page (March 19th+20th), or the shooting star on the 20th. Also read
the comments people wrote to her after the article in the NYT. And maybe your
students (or yourself) would like to write something too...
http://www.wanderingscribe.blogspot.com/
How do they call the CPE?
we seem to find mainly the term "job law" in the US and "labor
law" in the UK, and also "youth labor law" or "employment
law". The CPE is translated as "first employment contract", "first
job contract" . They also qualify it as an "open-ended contract"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/24/AR2006032401703.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/international/europe/22france.html?fta=y
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4843874.stm
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=464182006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1739113,00.html
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18674529%255E401,00.html
Translation for casseur?
This article from the Financial Times show that some words can't be translated
: they use
"banlieues" and "casseurs", even if they explain it with "troublemakers"
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a5ad90be-bb66-11da-8f51-0000779e2340.html
In this article from Reuters Canada, we find "rampaging youths"
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-25T135632Z_01_L25701532_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-FRANCE-COL.XML&archived=False
Vocabulary for the violence during the demonstrations
Peaceful student demonstrations "erupted into violence"
cars were "set on fire" or "torched"
shops were "vandalised" and "looted"
young people armed with baseball bats and sticks
"mingled" with peaceful demonstrators.
Protesters were attacked and youths "hurled lumps of concrete and debris" at
riot police.
student demonstrators were "robbed"
a group of youth "smashed the windows and rear-view mirrors of cars"
Officers responded with "baton charges and teargas"
Ready to use : Learning English from the BBC
For intermediate students, here is a text, an audio file and even some vocabulary
and a quiz, all ready to use.
the text: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2006/03/060329_paris.shtml
the audio-file : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/ram_files/wo060329.ram
the lesson plan : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/plans/060329_paris.pdf
What does the world think of the events? ( reactions after M.Chirac's speech)
Upper intermediate students and above may be handed out different articles
and they work in groups to make out the common points, the diffenreces and
the point of view of each article, and see if they can link it to the country
they belong to.
*** UK : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4867588.stm (Papers
unimpressed by Chirac address : an interesting review of the French press from
the BBC)
Euronews : http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&article=351948&lng=1 (plus
video)
US : http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/01/france.jobs.saturday.reut/ (plus
videos without comments)
UK : http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article355174.ece (
Chirac's attempt [...] has failed spectacularly)
UK : http://news.ft.com/cms/s/64932d4a-c11b-11da-9419-0000779e2340.html (Labour
reforms force Chirac into high-risk gamble)
Ireland : http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=177925414&p=y779z6yzx (Chirac
bids to quell French jobs crisis)
Qatar : http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C0548FF5-BAAA-4F53-B75D-6C32AFD5CCA4.htm (Chirac
offer fails to halt protests )
UAE : http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April28.xml§ion=theworld&col=(French leaders
urge dialogue on disputed job law)
China : http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/01/content_4370463.htm (Chirac
to promulgate jobs law)
India : http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14175464 (
PM admits error)
India : http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/02/stories/2006040204251200.htm (Storming
the Bastille)
Canada : http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/01/frenchleft_060501.html (
Opposition rejects Chirac's bid to soften job law)
Australia : http://smh.com.au/news/world/chirac-courts-further-controversy-over-new-law/2006/04/01/1143441379234.html (
Chirac courts further controversy over new law)
Switzerland : http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6590556&cKey=1143893647000 (French
left-wing vows more protests)
England Quiz
Julie Cartal recommends this site on e-teach. It is a short and easy quiz
about England produced by the British Council. It can be a good introduction
to a teaching unit or a scavenger hunt, and it is easy enough for beginners.
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/CET/flashactivities/england_quiz.html
** Water Alert Interactive game
In the Voice of Youth section, Unicef features this excellent interactive
game about water in Africa. The students can do it in French, English or Spanish.
They can hear the characters talk, they can read texts and extra information,
and they have to do things (take the gloves and the guide), read and understand
both the language and the situation. Then they will learn useful information
about pollution and how to help people in Africa to get clean water.
http://www.unicef.org/voy/wes/
Easter Eggs (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, March 31st)
- Several patterns for eggs are included in these printable templates, along
with illustrations offering possibilities for decorating your eggs in numerous
ways.
http://www.aeb.org/kidsandfamily/eastereggs/decorating.asp
http://www.aeb.org/kidsandfamily/eastereggs/decoratingtips.asp
http://www.aeb.org/kidsandfamily/eastereggs/decoratingideas.asp
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=25215
[ you can find interesting ideas in those pages. You can also use just this
picture to invite your students to talk:
http://www.aeb.org/kidsandfamily/eastereggs/images/Customer/aeb/1932.jpg ]
- If you are looking for a diverse selection of activities to explore for Easter,
then try this site for early elementary students.
http://www.kinderhive.net/E.html
- In kindergarten, you can also use this letter matching game, to match lower
and upper case letters.
http://www.kizclub.com/activities/eggmatch.pdf
- for the youngest again, make this 'egg story' book and invent the story
http://www.kizclub.com/Topics/animals/eggs.pdf
- an several Easter Egg-tivities
http://www.meddybemps.com/easter/index.html
The Meatrix II
The meatrix II is now online. It is a captivating Flash animation against
factory farming in the style of Matrix (the film). You can also show your students
the Meatrix one, about porks and hens, with a stress on how cruel and polluting
this type of intensive farming. The second shows the cow. Both contain the
same message, which is developed in the 'inside the meatrix' and 'learn more'
sections, where you can learn a lot about sustainable farming.
Meatrix II : http://www.meatrix2.com/
Meatrix I : http://www.themeatrix.com/
http://www.themeatrix.com/inside/
http://www.themeatrix.com/learnmore/index.html
Our colleague Annie Gwynn has worked a lot around the Meatrix I. You can find
several online or off line exercises, including an audio comprehension and
a ready to use worksheet:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/annie.gwynn/cours/meatrix/Meatrix.PDF
Free audiobooks online
[LII New This Week] March 9 LibriVox recommends Libribox, a "site which "provides
free audiobooks from the public domain." Volunteers record chapters of
books in the public domain and this site publishes them on the Internet in
various audio formats (including MP3). Includes a catalog of books, poems,
and short stories, and information about volunteering. The project was started
by a writer and ex-engineer. RSS feeds available."
http://www.librivox.org
[ this site is a really valuable resource for audio comprehension for advanced
students. You can access the full versions of many classical novels ( by Austen,
Carroll, Defoe, Dickens) and also some poems (Shakespeare, Poe, Whitman, Kipling).]
Working in a cafeteria
our colleagues from e-teach, Rodolphe Maurel and Jean Lemauff have prepared
for you these exercises (gap fillings, mixed words and a crossword) to test
your students comprehension of a video or audio file about what working in
a cafeteria implies.
http://www.soundguideweb.com/
then choose 'various topics' ; 'jobs' ; 'cafeteria'.
*** Everything about Podcasts
Our German colleague Jürgen Wagner has put together an impressive list of
addresses about how to use podcast, how to get started and how to use it in
class, but also many addresses with audio resources for ESL students. A page
to explore and bookmark. Thanks, Jürgen!
http://www.lpm.uni-sb.de/el/podcastlinks.htm
Many Books.net (from The Scout Report -- March 24)
If you have grown weary of newsprint coming off on your hands or just carting
around a number of books, Manybooks.net may prove to be quite a handy application.
From their homepage, visitors can download literally thousands of works for
their PDA’s. The titles range from the colonialist adventures of the “King
of the Khyber Rifles” to “Julius Caesar”. The site also allows visitors to
browse by title, author, or category. These downloads are compatible with all
platforms, but of course, one must also have some type of PDA device or iPod.
[KMG]
http://www.manybooks.net/
Ask.Com (from [LII New This Week] March 9)
(Formerly Ask Jeeves.) Ask.com is a search engine that allows users to enter
questions in plain English. Includes a helpful "narrow your search"
feature. Ask.com has significantly improved and should be high on any information
seeker's list of first places to find answers and websites.
http://www.ask.com/?o=312
[ you can also access it in French.]
I'm Dreaming of a White National Cheese Day (from [LII New This Week] March 9)
Critique of obscure commercial holidays in the U.S. The site notes "that
practically every day, every week, and every month has its own name,"
and that "every one of these holidays has a sponsor." Includes a
list of holidays, such as National Hobby Month, National Bowling Week, and
Cheese Day, all in January. From Stay Free!, a
"magazine that explores the politics and perversions of mass media and
American (consumer) culture."
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/13/holidays.html
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/13/holidays_list.html
[ This site casts a critical look onto all those
"Days" in the US calendar. See also the full list at the second address.
ESL teachers may use it to find a theme for almost every single day or week
of the year!]
Learn about the orchestra
These sites for young American children can appear childish in its presentation,
but when you read further, you find lots of interesting information that could
very well interest even upper intermediate ESL Students.
Play Music presents the instruments, with information about how they are made
and the name of the different parts, the artists who used it, and the history
of the instrument. You can also listen to the instrument playing. You could
use this site to invite music students to present their instrument in English:
http://www.playmusic.org/
The New York Philharmonic Kidzone offers several parts : discover the instruments
and make your own; discover the musicians, directors, soloists and composers,
with their biography; play in the game zone : go on a scavenger hunt for conductors
or musicians, or match the instruments or the composers with the music you
hear. A fascinating site for musicians of all age.
http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml
Nasa Bookmarks
Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Wednesday, March 8th gives those Nasa bookmarks
with this comment :
"NASA has supplied printable bookmarks to download here on numerous space
topics of interest to students and teachers. Several include student classroom
activities;
try downloading the ISS bookmark and then having your students build their
own space station with plastic soda bottles."
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/pictures/bookmarks.html
[ They will be very useful for all students interested in space and sciences,
and those addresses may also be used by students working on personal project
(TPE).]
Everything about the Cell
Biology students and teachers may want to use these interactive sites presenting
the Cell, complete with even a pronunciation page for all the difficult terms
such as mitochondrion or chloroplast :
pronunciation page : http://www.ibiblio.org/virtualcell/tour/cell/sounds/cellmap.html
interactive tour of the cell (with texts) : http://www.ibiblio.org/virtualcell/tour/cell/cell.htm
Plant cell organelles : http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/plntcell.htm
Animal cell organelles : http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/animcell.htm
Here is what Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Thursday, March 9th says :
(about the second address) "Delve deep within a cell and see its workings
with this online tour. Cut through the outer membrane of a mitro
chondrion and learn its functions, animate your cell, or zoom in on the cell
membrane of the nucleus in this interactive learning exploration."
(about the last two) "Do your students fully understand how a plant cell
is organized and how it operates? Let them interact with an online model, learning
about the nucleus, the endoplasm and cytoskeleton, centrosomes and lysosomes,
mitochondrion, chloroplasts, and plant cell anatomy and functions. Key words
can be added to student vocabulary for a comprehension test; be sure to have
them draw and label their own models as well. Use the last URL for a similar
interactive exploration of an animal cell."
Best Performing Cities 2005: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained ( from [LII New This Week] March 30)
This February 2006 report "ranks 379 U.S. metropolitan areas based on
their economic performance and their ability to create, as well as keep, the
greatest number of jobs in the nation." Includes large metropolitan area
and small cities rankings back to 2003 and the full text of the 2005 report
(requires free registration). From the Milken Institute, "an independent
economic think tank."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/21008
[ for advanced students of economics.]
Clickable version of the CECRL
Notre collègue Laurence Bernard de la Martinique nous propose une "version
cliquable" de l'incontournable chapitre 4 du CECR pour découvrir les activités
et descripteurs correspondants aux "activités de communication langagière
et stratégies". Une ressource précieuse pour tous ceux qui ont du mal à
synthétiser le CECRL et l'intégrer dans leur enseignement. (c'est à dire la
grande majorité d'entre nous...);)
http://cms.ac-martinique.fr/anglais/file/cecr_chap4.php
Ceci est un message de la LISTE INFONEWS
réalisé par Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
Les commentaires et réflexions entre [ ] ne reflètent que mon opinion personnelle.
Les archives ne sont pas à jour, mais le site Infonews est en ligne:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/une1.htm
Pour vous inscrire et recevoir Infonews gratuitement chaque dimanche:
http://listes.ac-rouen.fr/wws/info/liste-infonews
ou envoyez un message à
Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
