Infonews n°340 from 21/09/2008
Taking Off
Paper Craft
US Economy / Credit Crunch
Train crash in Los Angeles
Flag Coloring Pages
Alphabet and classroom English Song
Text
Comics
Video
Audio
worksheets
Urban legend
How to analyse a short story
World Fact Book
Video game addiction
Virgin Galactic
Nasa Images
Aviation News
Car history and comparison
The Duchess
Suppression de la compréhension audio au Bac STG 2009
Taking Off
On eTeachNet, Muriel Hostaléry recommends this funny video about Ryan Air
cheap flights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3so6AJe4UQ
To create a thematic unit around this document, Sylvie Brod recommends this
video presenting the regular safety instructions on a plane (in English with
Japanese subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vot1hlJG7_4
I also found this video which write the English subtitles as the Japanese is
said, which allow a slow students to have read the subtitles when the English
is spoken. There is also a sign language version, in Japanese I think....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R2GNIC2bfU
This can complement the pages created by our colleague Rodolphe Maurel on his
site "Sound Guide", where you find a video about what to take in
your hand luggage (carry on). The text is level A2 with several exercises to
help students understand the video, learn the vocabulary and practice some
grammar.
http://www.soundguideweb.com/soundguide/spip.php?article206
Paper Craft
On e-teach, Sophie Maurin sends us the address of this site that was recommended
by a technology teacher in her school. Go and have a look, it's really amazing!
Of course, it isn't for young children, but for very meticulous people who
can print the models on special paper, read the instructions in English and
carry them out without mistake. If you are ready to invest a lot of time, you
can fold a very realistic motorbike or a fish in a fishbowl and many other
models. The instructions are in English and very detailed, level A2+
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/
For example, here are the pages and the instruction manual for the "Japan
seasonal scene", with "a fish leisurely swimming in a bowl" where
there is also a flower:
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/tableau-japan/kingyo/index.html
[ If you manage to do one of those, take a picture and send it to me! ;) ]
US Economy / Credit Crunch
The present economic problems are worldwide and rather complex, but BBC learning
English offers a short text and audio file that gives the basic vocabulary
and some facts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/09/080919_us_economy.shtml
If you want to go deeper into the topic, you can use these graphics
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7302341.stm
and the articles in those special reports:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/smallbusiness/credit_crunch_hits_smallbiz.smb/index.htm?cnn=yes (with
videos)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7624482.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/09/useconomy.subprimecrisis
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-20-the-great-depression-of-2008-not-quite
for C1 students in economics, read this article from Time magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1841908,00.html
Train crash in Los Angeles
The Librarian's Internet Index of this week features a "compilation
of news stories and related material about the September 12, 2008, collision
between a Metrolink commuter train and Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles.
Includes photos and several graphics depicting the collision, and a link to
articles about previous Metrolink accidents and other news involving Metrolink.
From the Los Angeles Times."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26901
Flag Coloring Pages
Some of you have problems with Enchanted Learning which is now a paying site.To
teach colors or to deal with countries, here are pages of free templates of
flags ready to color:
http://flagspot.net/flags/cbk.html
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/flags_of_the_world.htm
http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pictures-pages-photo-national-flags-i9822.html
http://www.alfy.com/Arts_Crafts/coloring_pages/?CategoryID=15&CategoryName=Flags (full
of adds, but printable in the end)
and if you're looking for more coloring pages, here is a page of links, including
the flags of all the US states.
http://www.nvo.com/ecnewletter/coloringpages/
Alphabet and classroom English Song
On e-teach, Marine Freslon recommends those two interactive pages from the
British council.
One presents an alphabet song, with subtitles.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-songs-alphabet-popup.htm
The other presents simple classroom English in a song : pencil, glue, "can
I have...", "turn to page...", "stand up, sit down",
etc. "quiet please", "can I have some more?"
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-songs-quiet-please.htm
[ For my part, I find the tunes rather boring, but some students may like them,
and the fact that they are slow helps them concentrate on the words. and for "can
I have some more?" I prefer an extract from Oliver Twist! ;) ]
This story is a classic, surprising, well written and easy to understand for students level A2. You can find it in several text books, but if you don't have it, here is the text online and in Word format.
Text
http://www.maskelynemagic.com/hitchhiker.html
http://www.daltonvoorburg.nl/file/5150/1068724107/The+Hitchhiker.doc
Comics
On eteachNet, Sylvie Verdon recommends a comics version of the story
http://www.open-your-mind.net/articles/RoaldDahlsTheHitchhiker.asp
and a different version ,with the text and interactive questions online
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/410/reading/hiker.htm
Picture show
Laure Peskine has just finished a picture show for her students level A2, that
you will find tomorrow added to Michelle Henry's pages on this topic
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/dahl.htm#hiker
Video
I found the video of the original story on AOL
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-hitchhiker/2711214577
Audio
and the audio from the Hitchcock's ghost stories (different version, the
hitch hiker is a ghost)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIvOouE6Ig
http://www.deezer.com/track/1261674
worksheets
I also found several pages of activities and worksheets around the reading
of the short story
http://www.roalddahlfans.com/teachers/hitc2.php
http://www.teachitcalifornia.com/attachments/9035.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/frankie_meehan/Hitchhiker.html
Urban legend
This story has become a classic for campfires, and has become an urban legend,
with several version. Here is another version from Snopes, the site where you
can read everything about urban legends and classic hoaxes.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/pigeons/twohitch.asp
How to analyse a short story
To discuss the plot and reflect on how the short story is built, here is
the plot diagram that our students know because they use it in their classes
of literature in their native language:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/course/course1/unit/shortstory.shtml
here are some lists of literary terms : exposition, conflict, complication,
crisis, climax, resolution, etc. and more about style and character analysis.
http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/ElementsLit.html
http://www.wvup.edu/elamb/Emily%27sPDFfiles/102%20ADS/Unit%202%20-%20Literary%20Analysis%20-Basic%20Elements.pdf
http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks3/genre/shortstory.html
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/short_story/analysing.html
Interactive exercises for the European Day of Languages
Our colleague Yvan Baptiste has designed those exercises to invites students
to identify a language, learn about the 27 countries, and find out where those
different English speakers come from.
http://www.franglish.fr/Europe/europa08.htm
http://www.franglish.fr/Europe/index.htm
http://www.franglish.fr/accents/index.htm
and you can still find the ideas in Infonews n°339, on Michelle Henry's site
and in le café Pédagogique
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/339.htm#day
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/civieurope.htm
World Fact Book
If you start a teaching unit about countries (English speaking countries,
European countries) or to teach students how to use comparative and superlative,
those files about all the countries in the world are a precious resource (but
sometimes too complex, you have to choose what items you want them to use,
and skip the economics part if they don't know anything about it, or simplify
the history part). The reference there is the CIA World Fact Book, started
in 1996 and updated regularly since:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
http://www.worldfactbook.org/
But you can also find the same resources in a different way (you can choose
only one item, compare items, etc.) in Theodora, Bartleby, Yahoo for kids,
http://www.theodora.com/wfb/
http://www.bartleby.com/151/
http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/world-factbook
and you can use the country profiles, less exhaustive but more friendly, sometimes
with photos, from the BBC, Infoplease, Country Reports, Atlalpedia, World Press
(with links to news and newspapers).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html
http://www.countryreports.org/
http://www.atlapedia.com/online/country_index.htm
http://www.worldpress.org/map.cfm
For more specific purposes, here are the Country Studies of the Library of
Congress for advanced students (it is research work for a book they plan to
publish) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) files, health oriented. Students
in economics will find information in those country files from The Economist,
or in the Index Mundi, with graphs and statistics, including ranking of the
countries according to their resources or the evolution of the prices.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/list.html
http://www.who.int/countries/en/
http://www.economist.com/countries/
http://indexmundi.com/
Video game addiction
A video from a news report about video game addiction being recognized as
a real psychiatric disorder which could then be taken in charge by health insurance.
It also invites parents to set rules before it gets out of hands : "keeping
the genie in the bottle is better then trying to put it back into the bottle."
http://www.mediafamily.org/video_clips/kare11_vg_addiction_6_07.shtml?utm_source=video_clips&utm_medium=video_clips&utm_campaign=cbs_early_show_5_07
And another which is really and audio document.
"It starts taking over his life","identify the red flags"
http://www.mediafamily.org/video_clips/videogame_addiction_6_14_07.shtml?utm_source=video_clips&utm_medium=video_clips&utm_campaign=cbs_early_show_5_07
and here are some facts
http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_gameaddiction.shtml
and tips to tame the video game tiger
http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/tips_tamevideogames.shtml
and these interesting "test yourself"
questionnaire, followed by the "I'd rather" test: why not try it
on your students? (you can also download the .pdf version of these questionnaires.
http://www.mediafamily.org/resources/video_game_addiction.shtml
http://www.mediafamily.org/resources/video_game_addiction_life_prioritys.shtml
You can also find some more resources in Infonews n°311 and on Michelle Henry's
excellent page of resources:
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/311.htm#vid
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/vgames.htm
Virgin Galactic
6 minute English is a new podcast programme from the BBC.If you want your
students to get used to listening to English, you can invite them to download
these podcast. They are level B1 minimum, and there is a question that the
students must be able to answer if he/she listens carefully to the program.
Before starting, they also present some of the vocabulary. You can read the
vocabulary on the page, and download the full script if you need it. All this
helps the students get used to the voice of the presenter and feel more comfortable
when the real topic starts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/144_6minute/
This week, it is about a new spacecraft being built to take passengers into
space. You can read more about the Virgin Galactic project, see a graphic representation
of the plane and a video. All science and engineering students will like it!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7205445.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7205445.stm#graphic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7530127.stm
Nasa Images
The Scout reports this week recommends those images on the NASA website.
You can browse through photos and diagrams of spacecrafts, inventions, tests
and people, and each photo is described in details, with the project it goes
with, and a link to the corresponding pages.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080919-re.php#7
For example, I liked the lifeboat for spaceships
http://www.nasaimages.org/luna/servlet/detail/nasaNAS~8~8~62957~166856:The-X-38-is-seen-here-just-before-b
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-38/HTML/EC96-43737-20.html
Aviation News
The Scout reports this week recommends this special site from Aviation News,
which provides a full scope of the present airline industry. "The Flight
Global group's motto is "serious about aviation", and it shows on
their homepage, where visitors can find over thirteen sections dedicated to
air transport, helicopters, training, and spaceflight."
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080919-geninterest.php#3
Car history and comparison
The Librarian's internet index of this week features two site about the Ford
T and the US automotive history
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26690
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26689
And don't forget that the Paris Motor Show (Mondial de l'auto) will take place
between October 4th and 19th. Here is the official website, but there isn't
much to see there.
http://www.mondialautomobile.com/
Yet you can start your thematic unit with this visual (the poster announcing
the show)
http://www.mondialautomobile.com/Portals/2/Telechargement/MA_2008_visuel_.zip
and then work with the resources from Howstuffworks in this Buyer's Guide
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/
*** and use this site to compare two different types of cars (and use comparative
and superlative)
http://www.autobytel.com/content/research/comparison/index.cfm
Your students can also comment on this table presenting the different ages
to take the driving licence in the US and in the world (14 in South Dakota!)
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr090908.html
The Duchess
BBC Learning English features this week a text, an audio file and an teacher's
activity sheet to download about the film "Duchess", which presents
a striking parallel with Lady Diana's story, even if the main actress rejects
the reference.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/080916_duchess.shtml
there is also an online quiz:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1331_duchess
You can learn more about this film (directed by Saul Dibb, starring Keira Knightley
and Charlotte Rampling ) on its official website:
http://www.theduchessmovie.com/
and in the "discover" section, find out about fashion at the time
: coiffure, plumage, restraints and also gaming and debts.
Suppression de la compréhension audio au Bac STG 2009
C'est paru officiellement au B.O. n°35 du 18 septembre 2008: "l'épreuve
obligatoire de langue vivante étrangère 1 des séries S.T.G. et S.T.2.S. comporte
trois parties : une évaluation de l'expression écrite, une évaluation de la
compréhension écrite et une évaluation de l'expression orale. L'évaluation
de l'expression
écrite et l'évaluation de la compréhension écrite sont regroupées dans la partie écrite
de l'épreuve. Chaque partie est prise en compte pour un tiers de la note finale
de l'épreuve. "
http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid22411/mene0816750a.html
L'APLV réagit en lançant une pétition:
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1892
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.
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