Infonews n°148 du 10/03/2002 

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Sommaire
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A la Une this week, a unit around biographies that I tried with
success in two of my classes : discover how to do it step by step. Then
three interesting resources : a "learn English in ten days" site from
BBC***, as efficient as a cdrom...and for free!, a website** from a
Japanese colleague with lots of links to pronunciation and listening
exercises, and another about webquest. Upon a request on e-teach, find
links about death penalty and shockvertising* around Benetton's advertising
campaign two years ago. For primary schools this week, a nice site about
cows, and you'll find also talk about cows from indignant Indian customers
who discovered beef flavoring in their Mac Donald vegetarian fries, and won
their lawsuit! March is Nutrition month in the States, and March the 20th
is Meat Out Day : see the links about food and nutrition, and also links
for St Patrick's Day on March 27th, video programs to tape on BBC World and
Prime, and a website to help you build projects and find contacts. Et à la
fin, des infos sur les concours et le bilan des Défis Scolaires.
Have a nice week!

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Sommaire
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A Unit on Biographies
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the classes
First step : discover somebody's biography
Second step : study a biography
Third step : show that you've understood
Fourth step : recycle what you have learnt
Conclusion
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Resources for secondary school
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***Learning English on BBC (from J.M.Dumont)
**The English WebLab
Webquests
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Death Penalty and shockvertising
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A webquest on Death penalty (from Michèle Henry)
Benetton's "We on the Death Row" campaign
other sites about death penalty
*Shockvertising
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Resources for primary school
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Cows
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Nutrition and food
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March : Nutrition Month
Are School meals safe?
the food pyramid (Julien Martin)
Mac Donald's condemned! (from Jean Sahaï)
Meat Out (from Jean Sahaï)
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St Patrick's Day
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Celebrating St. Patrick's Day: Who Was St. Patrick?
St Patrick's Day, march 17th
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day: Irish Geography
more resources
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On TV this week
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on BBC World
On BBC Prime
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Concours
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Last news
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Projects
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Défis Internet Langues / Palmarès en ligne
NickNacks Telecollaborate! (from Eduhound)

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A Unit on Biographies
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This is a Unit around biographies. It alternates class situations : class
work, group work and individual work on computers, and skills : written
comprehension, note taking, summarizing, written expression, oral
expression, comprehension and communication. As for grammar, it is centered
around understanding and producing sentences in the past.

the classes
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I tried it with a low set of secondes (1st year of upper secondary school)
and a good set of premières ( 2nd year of upper secondary school), and
adapted the activities according to their number and abilities. But you can
do with all classes, except beginners of course.

First step : discover somebody's biography
------------------------------
you can ask the pupils to read a biography and take notes.
- Either you tell them whose bio they have to work on :
I chose Melba Patillo's bio ( 9 pages online!) in relation with Black
history month for my lower set. They have worked two hours in the computer
room, taking notes and using dictionaries to understand.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/barrier/hwyf/mpbstory/index.htm
- or you let them free to select whoever they fancy, choosing from the page:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/infonews/themes/biographies.htm
(for a low set, the biographies in "my hero" site are the best to chose from :
http://myhero.com/home.asp )

Second step : study a biography
------------------------------
With the class as a whole group, study a biography, as you would with any
text (who, where, when, how, why...). It is important to make the students
conscious of the structure of a biography, the type of elements it contains
(dates, anecdotes), the tenses used ( past, plus perfect, would+V = future
in the past), how only relevant elements are given, which contribute to
making the person famous, and so on.

Third step : show that you've understood
------------------------------
there are several ways to assess this activity:
- the most traditional is a written task. I had asked the pupils to
summarize the 9 pages into 200 words, at home, on their copy book. In
class, they had to write a summary of the summary, of only 100/120 words.
They could use their notes and the text they had written in their copy
book. Since it was a low set I assessed basic things : that they had worked
in class and at home, that they had brought their copy book, that they
could take notes and write something using them. them. And they found that
100 words wasn't enough, and that they all wanted to write more!
- a better way to assess this is oral. They have read the words, they must
use a dictionary or an online help (or the assistant) to find the right
pronunciation for the new words, and then present the biography of the
person they chose orally. I let them free to either present it in front of
the class ( 4 of them chose to do it, one with a video, and the other two
with a surprising mastery of their notes, the board, and even the group! )
or face to face with me, while the rest of the group was working on the
computers. I had surprising results there too : I discovered that pupils I
had never heard in class had an excellent accent, and could speak for 5 to
10 minutes without reading. The class was only of 25 pupils (on 15
computers) but they were so happy to have their individual oral assessment
that they worked very quietly while I was interrogating. (their task was to
study another biography and write a report comparing the lives of those two
people and what made them famous.).

Fourth step : recycle what you have learnt
------------------------------
- my low set did a written work. They had then to use elements from the
biographies they had studied to write a news report dated from 2050 about
somebody famous : themselves! They had to keep the beginning of their life
as it is up to now, stress the event in their family or daily life which
announced something special, and then describe how they became famous. It
was excellent for their image of themselves, and helped them build their
self confidence. They wrote it in class, with dictionaries, their documents
and my help, and it gave stunning results. I had footballer, inventors,
film directors, firemen who saved people, people who travelled in space or
time and discovered places....
- my top set did it orally : they held a debate about "what makes somebody
famous". They had to take notes and write a report about the compared
values of celebrities and how they contribute to the new image of our society.

Conclusion
----------------
From a linguistic point of view, they have learnt a lot, but the
reflection behind it and what it triggered in their mind is also very
important. It helped them build their self-confidence, and realise that
they would have a role to play in tomorrow's world.

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Resources for secondary school
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Learning English on BBC (from J.M.Dumont)
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for secondary school :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/index.shtml
friends, health, living....discover vocabulary and new expressions through
these themes.
*** Business English :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/work/tendays/index.shtml
a full interactive course online, with sounds, videos, exercices...just
like on a cdrom. It's online and it's free. Don't miss it!!!

**The English WebLab
------------------------------
http://pweb.sophia.ac.jp/~britto/weblab-e.html
[ Michael A. Riccioli has discovered this precious website created by
Francis Britto in Japan. It is packed with useful links about
pronunciation, listening exercices and grammar sites, with handouts and
quizzes. A site to keep in your bookmarks!]

Webquests
----------------
for those of you who still hesitate to start a webquest, here are some
useful tips from The Virtual Teacher's Newletter. (Scroll down to about the
middle of the message)
http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/Vt44.html

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Death Penalty and shockvertising
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A webquest on Death penalty (from Michèle Henry)
------------------------------
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/webquests/Death%20Penalty/deathpenwq.htm
Here is a webquest crafted by Michèle Henry for secondary school students
(3ème, 2nde). She will work on the subject with the history and literature
teachers. The questions will make the pupils able to realise what death
penalty is, and why some people are for or against it. Thought awakening...
En lycée, ce travail pourra se faire en coopération avec l'ECJS.

Benetton's "We on the Death Row" campaign
------------------------------
Joelle Liger asked on e-teach where she could find images from this
advertising campaign. The website no longer exists, and even the magazine
Talk (a national magazine with a circulation of about 600,000 which
supported the campaign) seems to have disappeared. There only remains
articles and news reports dealing with this controversial campaign from
Benetton. I have found for you some images, and many articles depicting the
campaign and the law suit which followed.
Here are some images, you'll find some more illustrating the various articles:
http://www.koelman.com/brandbrieven/archief/benetton.gif
http://www.courttv.com/graphics/national/contentphotos/bene_topimage.jpg

some other photos and comments from the campaign:
http://www.bunkmag.com/benetton/

the Benetton website, where only a short article remains:
http://www.benetton.com/wws/index.html

articles about the campaign, the reactions, the lawsuits and the outcomes :
http://www.cnn.com/2000/STYLE/fashion/01/18/benetton.ads/
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2000/0001/29/000129ben.html
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/04/17/benetton/
http://www.theconnection.org/archive/2000/01/0113a.shtml
http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/newab014/benetton.html
http://www.apbnews.com/cjsystem/justicenews/2000/02/16/benetton0216_01.html
http://www.apbnews.com/cjsystem/justicenews/2000/01/10/ads0110_01.html?s
http://www.courttv.com/national/2000/0107/benetton_ctv.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/17/world/world6.html

other sites about death penalty
------------------------------
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/tech/650697
and use the seach engine at the bottom of the archives page in Infonews to
find a lot more resources....
Warning : many websites go into gory details....!

*Shockvertising
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/newsid_611000/611979.stm
this article from e-cyclopedia reflect on those new, shocking, gory
advertising campaigns. For upper secondary school.
http://archive.cln.com/charlotte/newsstand/c021900/anews.htm
read this article : "clothes to die for..."

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Resources for primary school
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Cows
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http://www.geocities.com/thelearningleapthemes/makeminemilk.html
A unit about cows, with facts, vocabulary and poems. Suited for lower
secondary school or good pupils in primary school.

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Nutrition and food
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March : Nutrition Month
------------------------------
http://www.eatright.org
on this website, you'll find interesting infos and fact sheets. I
especially liked "ten things for kids to do instead of watching TV" that
you can use in lower primary school...and above.

Are School meals safe?
------------------------------
http://www.ac-clermont.fr/pedago/anglaislp/pedagogie/school_dinners/are_school_dinner_safe.htm
Annie SIROPT nous propose un schéma de cours autour de l'article et de la
photo. Le cours est prévu pour des LP, mais peut aussi convenir à des
élèves de seconde ou de troisième.

the food pyramid (Julien Martin)
------------------------------
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/pyramid.html
[ short infos about the different food groups. Can be used un lower
secondary school.]

Mac Donald's condemned! (from Jean Sahaï)
------------------------------
http://www1.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=3142960
[ this article, for upper secondary pupils, show the results of a lawsuit
that vegetarians won against Mac Donald's for using animal fat and beef
flavoring in their potatoes chips and hash browns.

Meat Out (from Jean Sahaï)
------------------------------
http://www.meatout.org/resources.html
don't miss this page of links from the Meat Out site. You can find
interesting information for intermediate learners. You can also download
free kits and discover everything you want to know about healthy food,
vegetarian and vegan nutrition and animal protection (and mistreatement!):
http://www.meatout.org
[ a site for teachers to find resources, and for upper secondary pupils to
work autonomously. And don't forget that Meat Out (meet out, eat out...)
Day is on March the 20th, on the last day of winter.]

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St Patrick's Day
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Celebrating St. Patrick's Day: Who Was St. Patrick?
------------------------------
There are several excellent resources on the web concerning the history of
St. Patrick, the man. Here is a short synopsis of several biographies.
There are several links at the bottom of the article that are helpful as well.
http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2098.html
[ interesting for advanced students.]

St Patrick's Day, march 17th
------------------------------
http://www.ac-versailles.fr/pedagogi/anglais/civi/stpatrick.html
[ on this page created by the Académie de Versailles' team, you'll find
useful links for all levels.]

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day: Irish Geography
------------------------------
http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2089.html>http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2089.html

Add some fun and education to your celebration of St. Patrick’s day by
studying some Irish geography. There are some general activities and
questions, as well as links to interesting websites to take this a little
further.
[ maps and geography lessons]

more resources
-----------------------
and to find more resources, go to the archives of Infonews and enter "St
Patrick" in the search engine....

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On TV this week
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on BBC World
--------------------
http://www.bbcworld.com/Content/schedules/schedules.asp
At this address, you can get the complete schedules, according to your
local time, hour per hour, day by day, over a week.
for example, the program 'Clic On Line' featuring ICT latest trends and
devices is on:
monday 11/03 18.30
tuesday 12/03 02.30; 09.30;
wednesday 13/03 14.30
thursday 14/03 21.30
you may also like "the car's the star" about prestigious vintage cars, or
"talking movies" about films just released in the UK. All those programmes
are schedules at different times, several times a week.
Note : the times may sometimes be changed without notice, because
information comes first...

On BBC Prime
----------------------
http://www.bbcprime.com/ clic on "schedules" and you get this week's day by
day detailed programs.
for primary school and young beginners : Muzzy, Noddy
a serie for intermediate learners : Bergerac (detective story)
for business orientated students :
13/03/2002 05:00 "GET ME THE MANAGER" : the complaints desk at a car
customers service.
13/03/2002 06:30 "STARTING BUSINESS ENGLISH" episode 20 to learn English
for use in a commercial environment.

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Concours
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Last news
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Les résultats d'admissibilité à l'agreg interne sont prévus sur Edutel Plus
pour le 28 mars ou avant, oral à Toulouse pendant les vacances de Pâques.
Pour les écrits des CAPES et agreg externe, c'est la dernière ligne droite.
Page d'agreg : http://agreg.fr.fm
Actualisé en permanence, le site de Jean-Samuel Sahaï depuis la Guadeloupe
est tout à fait à jour pour "les dernières promenades incantatoires avant
la bataille" ( dixit JS l'Apache - qui a sans doute trop lu John Donne, au
programme de l'agreg 2002 ....;)
Son site a reçu plus de 6000 visites depuis décembre 2001 ! On y trouve,
entre autres, les liens vers les sujets donnés à l'écrit de l'agreg interne."

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Projects
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Défis Internet Langues / Palmarès en ligne
--------------------
http://www.ac-versailles.fr/pedagogi/defi
Les Défis Internet Langues de l'année 2001-2002 ont réuni 1672 classes
toutes langues confondues. De nombreux collègues ont fait part de leur
expérience. Vous pouvez lire (ou télécharger) leur témoignage sur le site.
Vous y trouverez également le reportage aux Journées Enseignement et
Multimédia. Le palmarès complet de chaque défi est désormais en ligne.
Pour la prochaine édition, l'équipe des Défis Internet Langues a le plaisir
d'accueillir également l'italien.
L'équipe des Défis Internet Langues
Groupe Expérimentation Pédagogique Langues et Multimédia CRDP Versailles

NickNacks Telecollaborate! (from Eduhound)
------------------------------
http://telecollaborate.net
Educator Nancy Schubert's site, NickNacks, is a great resource for
anyone who wants to create collaborative projects for the World Wide Web. This
comprehensive site includes project how-to's, samples, a project
template, a project planner, some technical support, and much more!
[ in these pages, you'll find how to analyse what you can do, reflect on
what you want to do, and contact teachers and classes to start an efficient
collaborative project. Dont miss the internet project registry:
http://www.gsn.org/pr/ ]

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Une compilation réalisée par :
Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
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