Infonews n°321 from 06/01/2008
For 7 -14 year olds
For 14 - 20 year olds
Chat session on January 31st
Worksheets
Websites
Resources
Lessons
Audio/video
Smoking ban in France
100th anniversary of the Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year's Eve Ball
Queen Elisabeth's Christmas message
Benazir Bhutto
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
US presidential elections
Reducing the harms of alcohol in the UK
Interactive Learning (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
Play Crickler and learn
Effect of altitude on physiological performance in football
"It's a free world" by Ken Loach
3 minute motivators (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
Try Yahoo for Teachers (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
Sur le site de l'APLV
The price for oil keeps going up and the raw material comes to an end, so
we must plan our future with new energies. European Schoolnet and PlasticsEurope
(an association of plastic manufacturing companies) organise "a set of
three school competitions that are designed to be integrated in any school
curricula in Europe. The competitions provide teachers and students with the
opportunity to work on energy-related themes that are complemented by a relevant
collection of online resources. "
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/competitions.htm
[ Those competitions provide interesting resources to study the topic, an opportunity
to collaborate with foreign partners in English and chat sessions to discuss
the topic online with professionals. The competition is also a ready-made end
of unit task, corresponding to the new task based approach to languages according
to the Common Framework for languages (CECRL in French). The first contest
can be done by beginners, and the last, with 5 brain challenges, can be done
transcurricular in European sections where another subject (earth sciences,
physics, biology, geography) are taught in English.
For 7 -14 year olds
Profile the future hero
"This competition aims to familiarise students with energy-related topics
and encourages them to experience peer-to-peer discussion on energy efficiency.
Students are expected to incorporate the latest energy saving solutions and
ideas into a visual composition and a text description."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/competitions/profile_hero.htm
The adventures of FuturEnergia hero
"This competition focuses on creating an entry that is based on a set
of five given scenarios. The scenarios aim to raise awareness about energy-related
topics and consolidate knowledge about energy sub-topics such as climate change."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/competitions/adventures.htm
[ note that you can link this competition to a teaching unit about super heroes
in the style of Florinda Fernandes's excellent work. See the lesson plan and
the production of her students:
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-5429310.html
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-15326714.html ]
For 14 - 20 year olds
Wanna be a hero?
"This competition gives the opportunity to study and imagine alternative
ways of living in order to tackle climate change. The competition enables students
to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of sciences through a number of
preparatory activities."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/competitions/hero.htm
Chat session on January 31st
On january 31st at 14:00 CET, two experts, Dr Roger Van der Linden (Group
Manager for Environment, Energy and Product Stewardship - Borealis) and Dr
Joachim Krueger (Executive Director of the Energy, HSE & Logistics Programme
- Cefic) will answer students' questions on the theme : "Petrochemicals
: environment friends or ennemies?" All schools are welcome to take part
in this chat session organised in English by Xperimania. To register, send
a mail to : xperimania@eun.org
And for more information and projects about sciences (physics, chemistry, industrial
sciences, technology) explore this wonderful site:
http://www.xperimania.net
Worksheets
Catherine Serreau has created this worksheet that you can find among the
documents on e-teach website (pictures and sentences to match)
http://teachers.domainepublic.net/shared/Preparations%20de%20cours/Review07photos.doc
and Florinda Fernandes has put online this ready to use worksheet, based on
the previous one (questions)
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-15255615.html
On e-teach, Kimberly Oger recommends Time For Kids review and lesson plan:
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1692596,00.html
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2007F/071214_wr_all.pdf
Websites
Catherine Serreau also recommends those sites with reviews of 2007, timeline
and the top stories
from Yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Year_in_Review_2007
from the US
http://www.infoplease.com/year-review-2007.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/11/28/yir.top.stories/
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/2007/main502483.shtml
from Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/yearinreview.htm
from France
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/archives/news/world/20071229-2007-retrospective-review-world-events
from the UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7116765.stm
[ my favourite among these reviews is the last one, but all those resources
are too vast and varied. My choice for my classes would be the first two documents
: thanks Catherine and Florinda!]
Benazir Bhutto
The most important event at the end of 2007 was the assassination of Benazir
Bhutto. Here are some pages to present her to the students:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/wiwp/dyncon/bhutto.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2228796.stm (obiturary
and links)
http://www.elections.com.pk/candidatedetails.php?id=6877 (
on the site of her party, the PPP in Pakistan)
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/bhu0pro-1
http://www.famousmuslims.com/benazir%20bhutto.htm
Video (with an indian accent, but easy to understand. lots of dates to spot
to build a timeline for students level A2)
http://www.thoughtsofanordinaryman.com/2007/12/about-benazir-bhutto-profile.html
a long article on Wikipedia, which is still disputed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto
another long article, in .pdf, almost a leaflet, from the Washington Post,
presenting her when she returned from exile ( article written before her death).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/discussion/Bhutto.pdf
you can also choose to start a teaching unit about women as peace makers. This
correspond to the "relations of power" in the national curriculum.
the students will present a woman and what she achieved, how she became a useful
tool to bring peace to her country or to the world, and how this affected her
personal life. Some of these icons are Aung San Suu Kyi, Indira Gandhi and
differently, Eva Peron, but also Rosa parks, and discover Amy Biehl.
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/womenpeacemakers.html
or study the women in power, with this site from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/wiwp/index_static.shtml
Resources
History of the tradition
http://www.goalsguy.com/Events/n_facts.html
http://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm
Pictures to introduce the topic
http://jottings.blogspot.com/calvin.jpg (Calvin
and Hobbes)
http://bp1.blogger.com/_b4v8YGnQAuQ/RZ-WYyI9l_I/AAAAAAAAAAM/4yCC8U8kbZA/s1600-h/new-year-resolution.gif (a
couple)
How to keep your resolutions
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/keeping-new-years-resolutions
http://www.mygoals.com/about/NewYearsTips.html
http://www.umm.edu/features/resolutions_guide.htm (a
guide)
and what I gave in Infonews n°320
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/320.htm#ny
Lessons
For beginners A1(visual, PPT): Nathalie Cadot's lesson plan based on Simpson's
comics.
http://cadot.over-blog.net/article-5182500.html
for beginners and lower intermediates A1-A2 (written) : Adrian Moles's resolutions
from our colleague Johanna in e-teach's documents
http://teachers.domainepublic.net/shared/Civi%20Pays%20Anglophones/New%20Year%20resolutions/
For upper intermediates and advanced B1-B2 : Jean Sabiron offers three lesson
plans on the theme
http://sabironlangues.typepad.fr/vigilangues/2008/01/new-years-resol.html
Audio/video
Anne Pinel recommends this You Tube video of some of the US presidential
election candidates' new year resolutions. (For advanced students, unless you
edit it and use only a short extract.) Clinton is the first and Obama is the
last. In between I noted Senator Edward's words (Democrat) who wishes that "somewhere
in America, there isn't a child who goes to bed hungry" (01:10 )
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=1LTHpk2JyGw
Smoking ban in France
BBC Learning English offers an audio file, a lesson plan and a quiz, plus
other articles about the new smoking ban in France.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/01/080102_france.shtml
100th anniversary of the Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year's Eve Ball
Learn everything about the new ball and the New Year's eve tradition in Time
Square New York
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye.html
and see videos describing the tradition and the new ball
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/media/TSA_LEDBall_Oct2007.mov
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/31/new.year.us/?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/31/new.year.us/?iref=mpstoryview# (preparations
and recommendations)
Queen Elisabeth's Christmas message
On e-teach, Mireille Géraud sent us the address of the video of the Queen's
Christmas speech on You Tube and The Royal Channel, and its transcript. Note
that the video starts with an extract of her Christmas speech in 1957 as an
introduction. The speech reminds us that she is a wife and mother (she insists
on family values and mentions her diamond wedding anniversary and we see pictures)
but also the head of state ( she talks about soldiers and we see the dedication
of the National Armed Forces Memorial where she shakes hands with veiled women)
and the head of the Anglican Church ( she describe the nativity, mentions Jesus,
reminds us the help the poor and needy and quotes from the Christmas Carol
service).
Upper intermediate of advanced students interested in the Queen could find
interesting information or study her language or pronunciation (listen to "cut
off" in "people who have been cut off" at 03:15). Students interested
in religion can discuss her position, or draw a parallel with the Pope's speech
and compare their positions as head of churches.
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nmkYGCljE
http://fr.youtube.com/theroyalchannel
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01189.htm (transcript)
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/popes-christmas-speech/3517853716 (news
from The Sun presenting the Pope's Christmas speech, there are links to other
comments or the full version of the speech on this AOL page)
On Vigilangues by Jean Sabiron, you can find other recordings and transcripts
to study "Her Royal Phonemes"
http://sabironlangues.typepad.fr/vigilangues/2007/12/the-queens-xmas.html
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
On e-teach, Michèle Carrougeau recommends this page of lesson plans and flash
cards around the book : "the very hungry caterpillar"
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/Caterpillar_Lesson.pdf
As a complement, I found the book online at
http://web.tiscali.it/scuoleinrete29to/cater/The%20%20very%20hungry%20caterpillar1.htm
and activities and resources around this theme on these pages
http://lilteacher.com/bugs.html
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/theveryhungrycaterpillar.html
http://hop.dartmouth.edu/assets/pdf/caterpillarstudyguide.pdf (
p9 and 10, with diagrams of the metamorphosis)
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/kidpix/cater.html (what
the caterpillar ate)
http://www.tangischools.org/schools/phs/techno/slu/EDUC676/wequests/ladner/The%20Very%20Hungry%20Caterpillar.htm (a
webquest)
US presidential elections
Time For Kids offers a worksheet "Who wants to be President"
and an article about the results in Iowa
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2003F/031003WR1.pdf
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1700355,00.html
PBS kids offers a special website "democracy project" with a game
: "be a president for a day"
http://www.pbs.org/democracy/kids/
[ about the US presidential elections, to discover the candidates, their profiles
and platforms, you can also use the sites recommended in Infonews n°318 (especially
the "parties and candidates" part)
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/318.htm#une
to learn how caucuses and primary work, see:
http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president_how_primary_works.php ]
Reducing the harms of alcohol in the UK
Laure Peskine has found this article from the British Medical Journal
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7633/1271
You can start your unit with a brainstorming around this front page from the
Independent : Britain's deadly cocktail
http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00258/p1-041107_258467a.jpg
and you can also study the corresponding article
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3127405.ece
[ very useful especially for adult students who tend to overlook the effects
of alcohol. And very topical after the New year binges....]
Interactive Learning (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
Looking for interactive web lessons in history, writing and language arts?
Visit this teacher-developed website submitted by one of our Aussie subscribers,
Kieran O'Regan. His student-driven activities cover history topics like Ancient
Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Vikings, Barbarian Invasions, and the
Medieval Church - plus literature, poetry and grammar resources. Poke around
and see what's there!
http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaOfPartInt.html (9th
article)
http://www.interactive-learning.com.au/
[ I especially liked the link to the page about the Civil Rights Movement and
the very comprehensive Tim and Moby flash animation:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/interactive_learning/civil_rights/civil_rights.htm
http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/civilrights/ ]
Play Crickler and learn
Laure Peskine discovered Crickler : a new online game designed by The Times
Online. It is the same type of game as BBC Learning English Crosswords, but
with an intelligent agent adapting it to your level, so that you find the game
challenging enough, but never too hard, and never get stuck. Both games offer
definitions or sentences to fill in with words from news articles, so you go
to the articles to find the word, and get engrossed in the article and read
it through... Try it, it is addictive! And for autonomous adult learners, it
is a way to improve their English and keep up with the news and the latest
trends in the UK.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/games_and_puzzles/crickler/
for beginners and intermediates, prefer BBC learning English Crossword, easier
but the content is also simpler. here is the page of the archives, ordered
by topic.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/crosswords/crosswords_archive.shtml
Effect of altitude on physiological performance in football
For students in sports, Laure Peskine recommends this article from the British
Medical Journal entitled : "Effect of altitude on physiological performance:
a statistical
analysis using results of international football games". The article offers
useful diagrams to analyse.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7633/1278
"It's a free world" by Ken Loach
Laure Peskine has explored the web and found the following addresses about
the last Ken Loach film. The film features a woman who suffered from discrimination
and harassment in her workplace and started her own temporary worker company
where she ends up exploiting people in her turn. Does money corrupt all? Can
the abused become abusers? "In a world where anything is possible, it's
easy to lose everything".
Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsOi9KDEVc
from the Independent : Ken Loach style and filmography
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2993307.ece
from the Socialist review
http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=10087
from the Guardian : "The director and writer of the migrant worker drama
It's a Free World discuss their working relationship"
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2171112,00.html
from Sixteen Films, Ken Loach's film production company : synopsis, cast and
crew notes
http://www.sixteenfilms.co.uk/films/production_notes/its_a_free_world/
from Moving Picture : a review
http://www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/Default.aspx?DN=007d4b7b-c985-4a68-a5db-9ac9d0db1ad7
3 minute motivators (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
"a collection of over 100 simple, fun activities that will help you use "a
little magic" to take a quick break, engage students, and refocus them
on the task at hand. Click below to browse the entire book online!"
http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9088&r=mw071227&REFERER=
[ a stunning collection of unusual activities, from relaxing and feeling the
world (hear the colors, hug a tree) to mirror exercises, phonetic training
and much more.]
http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaResources.html
Try Yahoo for Teachers (from MiddleWeb's "Of Particular Interest" (334))
"We mentioned Yahoo's upcoming social network for teachers in September
- and we've been checking back from time to time to see what progress, if any,
might have been made. We were intrigued, frankly, by the idea of a professionally
supported social network by and for teachers. Yahoo has now posted its "beta" version
(meaning
"we haven't worked out all the kinks but would love for you to try it
out"). So try it! One cool feature - any posted lesson plans or teaching
ideas can be rated by users and you can see the items with the highest ratings
(and the most downloads) easily. There's no cost. To get into the beta edition,
you'll need this info: username - yhallpass / password - g0bbler (that's a
zero, not the letter "oh).
Check out all the features and tell them what you think."
http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaOfPartInt.html (8th
article)
http://beta.teachers.yahoo.com/
Sur le site de l'APLV
Vous continuez à vous posez des questions sur l'approche actionnelle? Lisez
cet article de Christian Puren : "Formes pratiques de combinaison entre
perspective actionnelle et approche communicative : analyse comparative de
trois manuels (de FLE)". Vous trouverez aussi sur la page d'autres articles
pour approfondir le sujet. Vous pouvez aussi réagir et répondre à
l'article, ou prolonger la discussion sur la liste inter-langues de l'académie
d'Orléans-Tours.
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1409
http://weblistes.ac-orleans-tours.fr/wws/info/interlangues
Ceci est un message de la LISTE INFONEWS
réalisé par Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
Les commentaires et réflexions entre [ ] ne reflètent que mon opinion personnelle.
Sites Infonews:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/une1.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/une1.htm
Pour consulter les sources:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/archives/sourcinfonw.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/sourcinfonw.htm
Pour vous inscrire ou vous désinscrire:
http://listes.ac-rouen.fr/wws/info/liste-infonews
