Infonews n°341 from 28/09/2008

A la Une this week, discover Many Things, a site full of interesting audio resources. Then, if you missed the European Day of Languages or want to go on with the theme, here are some more sites for the week of Europe October 20-24. Primary school teachers need simple and visual resources like flash cards and sites to learn how to tell the time : here are some for you. Maybe you sometimes want to talk about the last world news : those four sites can provide simple documents easy to use. Then find some more sites about the US presidential elections, mainly videos. In the resources for secondary school, find the result of a collaborative search on e-teach around the trailer of film Freedom Writers, and sites presenting jobs for career orientation. Finally, read everything about the Chinese in space, discover tools to write phonetics or find correspondents, and don't miss the evaluation sheet for debates, the last "langues Modernes" and a call for contribution.

I wish you a nice week!

Christine Reymond

Sommaire

A la Une : Many Things dot com

In the calendar

European Week : October 20-24
What you can do

Resources for Primary School

Mes-English (A1)
Telling the Time

In the News

Easy English News ( level A1+ to A2)
Breaking News English (level A2 to B1)
Words in the News from BBC Learning English (level B1 to B2)
New Zealand's ESL news (level B1+)

US Presidential Election

1st presidential debate
Reactions and analysis
Directly from Kenya!
Cartoons
Biographies
Obama and MLK
Song : Madonna

Resources for secondary school

Freedom Writers
One-minute videos of advice on job search

Science and Technology

Chinese astronauts in Space

Internet Tools

Phonetics
ePals

Teaching Practice

Evaluation sheets
A lire : "Plein feu sur la motivation"
Appel à contribution


A la Une : Many Things dot com

I just discovered this site full of interesting resources. It is the complement to an ESL textbook for Japanese people, but most of the resources can be used independently. I especially liked :
- the audio concentration memory game where you have to discriminate sounds and find the identical pair (bit, bait, bite, but, bet, etc. for example). I find it really useful to train students' ears!
http://www.manythings.org/ac/ac.html
- the "learn a song" podcast. The song is sung slowly, line by line, and then you sing along. You can see the lyrics, and even read a comment on the lyrics and the history of the song. and you can syndicate to the site ( RSS) and get regularly the last song.
http://www.manythings.org/songs/
- the listen and repeat podcasts. You students will learn their irregular verbs like the last rap song!
http://www.manythings.org/repeat/
http://www.manythings.org/repeat/ck-irregular_verbs_4.mp3
- the minimal pair practice and quizzes : students can hear 2 sentences each containing a different element, and then they have to discriminate. Very quick, easy and efficient for students who want to improve their listening skills.
http://www.manythings.org/pp/
- listen and read along : students can listen to audio recording of various length (from 2 to over 14mn), and they can read the text, sentence by sentence. And there are dozens of texts to choose from, with a great variety of topics : the story of the Sudoku, Benjamin Franklin, a story by Jack London, how to stop smoking, etc.
http://www.manythings.org/listen/
- *** the jokes in English : your students can read them and listen to them... and learn them by heart to tell them to their friends in the pub! What a success!!!!!
http://www.manythings.org/jokes/

In the calendar

European Week : October 20-24

présentation de la semaine de l'europe dans le B.O. de rentrée 2008
http://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2008/7/MENE0800128C.htm

What you can do

You can advertise your Comenius project, invite an Erasmus student to tell about his experience, or you can choose to present Europe through one of the webquests designed by our colleagues and available on Michelle Henry's website, and especially the one created by Brigitte Rempenault
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/unioneur.htm#wq
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/europewq.htm
or do some interactive exercises:
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/unioneur.htm#interex
What I started on the European Day of Languages is preparing my students (level A2) for the quiz "let's explore" by having them read and take notes from the pages of information which are available in French and in English. The documents are available online, or in a .pdf booklet that you can download
http://ec.europa.eu/publications/young/letsexplore2008/en.pdf
http://europa.eu/europago/explore/chapters.jsp
and here is the quiz (with questions corresponding to the different chapters of the booklet)
http://europa.eu/europago/explore/quiz.jsp
and here is another quiz, more difficult and very fast, on different topics. The questionas are not difficult to understand, but it requires a good knowledge of the European countries.
http://europa.eu/europago/games/quiz/quiz.jsp

Resources for Primary School

Mes-English (A1)

On the site you can read : "Free resources for teachers of young learners. All of the resources are designed to be versatile and useful in many K-6 classrooms. I have free flashcards, worksheets and handouts to match, free phonics cards, free ESL games, an international project exchange library, printable certificates, printable stickers and activities all ready for printing." Mark created resources for his students and put them online so that you can use them with yours. He teaches American students in K6, the last year of primary school, but his site offers flash cards, certificates and other resources that can be used for ESL students in primary school or the first years of secondary school.
http://www.mes-english.com/
Many of you know the site for the Flashcards, but did you know that now you can also find lesson plans and teaching units? last week, Mathilde Serhan recommended it on e-teach for the section about super heroes. You can also see the productions of children from all over the world : and why not choose those documents to teach from?
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/supers.php
You can see some other projects on this page:
http://www.mes-english.com/vkeypals.php

Telling the Time

Here are some site recommanded by e-teachers:
Laure Peskine says that she has used this one in class and it was efficient
http://www.time-for-time.com/swf/myclox.swf
and also this one, with less animation but more text:
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/503/clock.swf
Jean-Marc Cadio recommends those pages:
http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/

In the News

Easy English News ( level A1+ to A2)

On e-teach, Dominique Dental-Luciani points at this resource created and maintained by Sam Margolis, an American teacher and journalist who lives in Hungary. The site is full of advertisement, but the texts are simple and clear. You can read the text and hear the audio file, and some words are explained. There are several texts ordered by topic. It is ideal for adult beginners, but you could also use it regularly in class, to trains your students to understand the news. Note that there are also some recipes.
http://www.simpleenglishnews.com

Breaking News English (level A2 to B1)

For longer news , with audio, transcript and a ready to use lessons, go to Sean Banville's Breaking News English
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
And I discovered that he started a new section about famous people. See the list and discover the last lesson about Sarah Palin.
http://www.famouspeoplelessons.com
http://www.famouspeoplelessons.com/s/sarah_palin.html

Words in the News from BBC Learning English (level B1 to B2)

Word in the News offers also audio, transcript and vocabulary, but with a more specific and richer vocabulary. See for example this lesson about the crisis in the US.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/09/080919_us_economy.shtml

New Zealand's ESL news (level B1+)

The government of New Zealand has created this site where new migrants can improve their listening skills in English by reading news and listening to them at the same time.
http://www.eslnews.org.nz/

US Presidential Election

1st presidential debate

On eTeachNet Florinda Fernandes recommends this video on the site of the New York Times : you can see the whole debate and read the script of the words as they are said.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/first-presidential-debate.html
You can find the script there
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/transcripts/first-presidential-debate.html
and you can download the video from YouTube with Mozilla Downloadhelper (in two parts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjmiF5uoYe8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY_ekro6xio
This document can be given to the students (level B1+ or above) to study at home, and then you can organise a debate in class to discuss the issues that were raised or which candidate was the most efficient.

Reactions and analysis

On e-teach, Marie Milesi recommends this video of viewer's reactions on the BBC, showing two viewers of opposite opinion explaining why they think their candidate was the best. It is short and can provide the students with the needed vocabulary to comment on the debate. (level B1+ minimum)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7639087.stm
You can also find interesting information in this analysis of the debate by a journalist from Associated Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtY--jcHWGs

Directly from Kenya!

Seb Malagnoux is a teacher in Kenya who is also a member of e-teach. He sent those documents directly from Nairobi to share them with us. Here is what he says : ""Here is a sheet that was sent to me by the Kenyan ministry of education. It was for a local contest to raise awareness of the importance of the American elections in Africa and in Kenya especially since Obama has some Kenyan relatives. It is well made and could represent a good final task for a sequence on the American elections. "
You can find them in the document part of e-teach under the name : "docuselection.zip" .
http://teachers.domainepublic.net/shared/Civi%20Pays%20Anglophones/American%20History/
Florinda Fernandes, another memeber of e-teach, discovered that the documents are available online, and she gives this address:
http://www.write2johnmccain.co.ke/images/entryform.pdf
And I discovered that there are two sites, both neutral and with exactly the same content : "write2barackobama" and "write2johnmccain" !
http://www.write2barackobama.com/
http://www.write2johnmccain.co.ke/
From the site, you can also download the Teacher's guide, containing a list of questions about the US elections. It can be used with ESL students level A2+. The site says that the guide "will help [kenyan teachers] in the classroom to teach students about the history of the United States, the political process and the election of the president in the United States of America, and as the basis for Kenya/US comparative studies."
http://www.write2barackobama.com/images/Teacher%20Letter%20&%20Notes.pdf
The contest and the sites come from the Mbegu Trust funded by two Kenyan oil companies and Air Kenya. You can also access the documetns from this site:
http://www.mbegutrust.com/

Cartoons

Valérie, who teaches in Vienna, recommends this page of cartoons about Obama and MLK
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/ig/Barack-Obama-Cartoons/

Biographies

On the [liste-anglais] of Rouen, Hanne Poisson recommends those videos from biography.com presenting the biographies of both candidates. They are level B1 and can be the starting point of a discussion and a good complement to the written biographies from Time For Kids and other sites.
http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=barackobama
http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=johnmccain
[ Note that I couldn't find how to download those videos, and they start with an advert, so you can't go directly to the video.]

Obama and MLK

You can add this video of Obama answering the question : "would MLK endorse you?" with a presentation of what MLK did, including this sentence : "change doesn't happen from the top down but from the bottom up"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5vxOkyLig

Song : Madonna

You can also use this video of a clip that Madonna presented. It raised a lot of controversies because it is so much against Mc Cain...So if yo ushow this one, you must find another one against Obama to balance the presentation, or use it only as an example to show how a song can try to change the people's mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc3JpEHfSag
pro Mac Cain clips
Man in the Arena : never give in! "we can, we must, and when I'm present we will"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_A53PAxeR8
Courageous service : starting with a picture of Mac Cain injured in hospital, giving his name and number... "you must have the heart never to surender"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_A53PAxeR8

Resources for secondary school

Freedom Writers

The lists are a marvellous place to discover, exchange and build together! here is a new example : on e-teach, Fatima Zahra Elkad discovered a video with this rap song by Commons, showing images of MLK during his "I have a dream" speech. Here are two different videos of the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBa55sDTIiA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2cwhJndKY
Then Brigitte Baudet found the lyrics of the song,
http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-have-a-dream-lyrics-common.html
and found out that the song was the sound track of a film called "freedom writers". She sent us the link to the trailer of the film (wheer we can see that the woman appearing in the clip is the teacher of the class):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVjKAKRpDw
The film was released in France in 2007 and wasn't something memorable.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/
Fatima Zahra Elkad note que "le film s'appelle "Ecrire pour exister" en français (Freedom writers) avec Hilary Swank,Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, c'est un film de Richard Lagravanese."
But it comes from the book "The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them") . I found this article about the book on wikipedia : it seems that a teacher was suspended for a year on half pay for using it in class! This would fit with the protest and revolt themes for our "classes de première"!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Freedom_Writers_Diary
There is also a foundation to "promote acceptance and innovative teaching methods in classrooms across the country (USA)"
http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2259975/k.BF19/Home.htm

One-minute videos of advice on job search

On e-teach, Alain Gayer recommends this fantastic page of one-minute videos about how to write a resume or succeed in an interview. The images just show the person who speaks, but the content is interesting, short and to the point, and the audio is very good...even if the speaker has a slight lisp!
http://www.collegegrad.com/job-search-videos/

Laure Peskine has found this site with over 500 vidéos presenting jobs, that you can download with or without subtitles.
http://web1.dol.state.nj.us/coei/CareerVideos/careervideos_list.html

Milly Morel recommends these career videos
<http://jobs.collegegrad.com/JS/CareerResources/CareerVideos/>http://jobs.collegegrad.com/JS/CareerResources/CareerVideos/
and the job videos on Elllo (with 3 ls)
http://www.elllo.org/

Science and Technology

Chinese astronauts in Space

On e-teach, J-Marc Brauer our colleague who teaches physics in English, has posted some addresses about this space event : "China will send its third human space mission into orbit Thursday on a flight that is slated to include the emergent space program's first spacewalk this weekend"
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0809/24shenzhou7/
You can watch the pictures on the Chinese TV website (in english)
http://english.cctv.com/index.shtml
and he recommends those cartoons to invite our students to open their mind to other worlds...
http://i10.servimg.com/u/f10/13/00/35/75/aliens10.jpg
http://i10.servimg.com/u/f10/13/00/35/75/ammoni10.jpg

On the BBC, you can find an article, a video and a history of the Chinese base for spaceflights built at Jiuquan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7637818.stm
and also on Space.com, with lots of videos
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080927-shenzhou-landing.html

Internet Tools

Phonetics

You wonder how to include phonetics in your documents? we all do! here are some advice from colleagues:
- Laure Peskine recommends this page on the APLV website
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article916
- Caroline Yaich has tested Phonetics
http://pointecole.free.fr/phonetik.html
- Fabienne Guérin recommends Script Typewriter
http://www.e-lang.co.uk/mackichan/call/pron/type.html

ePals

Looking for partner classes? If you're looking for European partners, eTwinning is the site you're looking for.
http://www.etwinning.fr/
If you are looking for partners from Australia, New Zealand, South America or the USA, ePals is the answer. Have a look at the partners available, the various projects and the many features:
http://www.epals.com/index.tpl

Teaching Practice

Evaluation sheets

Corinne Bourgeois has put an interesting sheet in the shared documents of e-teach : it is a grid to evaluate the students in a debate.
http://teachers.domainepublic.net/shared/Oral/
and if you need some other grids to evaluate the oral, you will find them there also!

A lire : "Plein feu sur la motivation"

L’équipe de rédaction de la revue Les Langues Modernes a le plaisir de vous annoncer la parution du n°3/2008 : "Pleins feux sur la motivation" coordonné par Françoise Raby.
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1874

Appel à contribution

Laure Peskine a envoyé ce message : "La coordonnatrice du numéro des /Langues Modernes/ sur « La presse en classe de langues » n'a reçu que 2 propositions d'anglicistes et est fort étonnée. Je fais donc appel à vous qui utilisez la presse en classe de langues, sous toutes ses formes, pour vous lancer dans l'écriture !
Il suffit dans un premier temps de faire un résumé/plan et la coordonnatrice dit à partir de là si l'idée est bonne et peut aussi guider. Je sais que vous êtes nombreux à utiliser la presse et ne peux croire que les anglicistes resteront en retrait !"
Voyez l'appel à contribution :
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1643


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