Infonews n°212 du 04/04/2004 

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A la Une this week, a webquest-style activity to show youngsters
how much it costs to live on their own in the US. Then read about the film
"the Cat in the Hat", not a good film in itself, but an opportunity to
introduce EFL students to the typical childhood references of many
Americans, and for advanced students, don't miss the excellent article***
from The Times. Discover also some handicrafts for the youngest: building a
mobile and painting eggs, which can also both be used to teach some
everyday vocabulary to primary school children.
The two resources for secondary school this week are especially interesting:
- one about guided fantasies to make students speak, listen to each other
and develop their self confidence
- and an article about the law regarding unborn children which may be the
first of a series of anti-abortion measures in the USA.
For sports fans, find the official site of the Athens Olympics, and
discover an unusual sport ;)
Finally, read two articles, one about the amount of sleep children have,
and one about the importance of the mind in learning.
Have a nice week!

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Sommaire
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A la Une : Living on Your Own
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Living on Your Own-- Let's Calculate the Cost!
The Level
The features
Worksheets
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Film : Cat in the Hat
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- Making of
- To see it in English
- Dr Seuss: biographies and books
- Clips and trailers
- critics
*** from The Times : An interesting article entitled "Cat fight"
- A mini unit online, with lesson plans and worksheets
- Another site
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Resources for primary School
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Butterfly Mobile
LearnPysanky.com
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Resources for Secondary School
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Oral Activities, guided fantasies ( from Sylvie Abdelgaber on e-teach)
Unborn Victim Act
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Sports
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Athens 2004 Olympic Games
Cheese Racing
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Education and Teaching Practice
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Many Children Sleep Deprived ( from EDNEWS Volume 3, Issue 13)
Teaching with the Brain in Mind (from PBS Teacher Previews: April 4-11)

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A la Une : Living on Your Own
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Living on Your Own-- Let's Calculate the Cost!
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Thirteen Ed Online Bulletin from April 2004 feature this excellent lesson
in which the students are invited to consider the cost of living in "real
life", and on the way they will learn one of the most useful life skill :
managing a budget. If you feel like working with the colleague teaching
maths or economics, it will even be better....
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/lifecost/index.html

The Level
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You can implement the activity at different level:
- primary school : students will consider simple elements, and you will
concentrate on the operations you need for the math lesson.
- secondary school : everyone from beginners to advanced students can take
part. According to their age and abilities, you will stick to the most
basic elements, or go on to more complicated notions like loans.
- for students and adults : this site is a unique opportunity to have an
insight into an American budget, and compare it to their own, or to imagine
they will go and live in the states and figure out how much it will cost.

The features
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Teachers can direct the students to the basic key sites to
- compare car prices (and features!)
- look for an apartment (or a room-mate)
- do the shopping at the local supermarket
- choose and budget outings and entertainments
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/lifecost/b.html
Notes :
the link to the online supermarket doesn't work, here are some other online
grocery stores:
http://www.onlinefoods.net/ (including meat and recipes)
http://coopgrocer.com/ (no meat, but general goods available)
http://www.a-u-l.com/aul/ (no meat)
the link for "entertainment" doesn't work either, choose a city and a show,
and calculate the average prices according to what you want to see,
starting from:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/ (for concerts, shows and plays)

Worksheets
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Ready to use guide lines and questions are available for print at:
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/lifecost/c.html

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Film : Cat in the Hat
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"Le chat chapeauté" has just been released in France. It is a film directed
by Bo Welch ( production designer of Wild Wild West (1999),• Primary Colors
(1998),• Men in Black (1997),• The Birdcage (1996),• Edward Scissorhands
(1990), • Beetlejuice (1988) ) with Mike Myers (Shrek2, Austin Powers), in
the leading role, based on the book "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss which
was first published in 1957 and remains one of the top ten best-selling
hardcover children's books of all time (in the USA).The film makes
reference to many stories which are the basis of the american culture: the
Wizzard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins and of course Dr Seuss,
which is not much known in France.

- Making of
I decided to write a review of the film when I saw the "making of" the
movie on MTV. You can watch it online, read the critics, and decide if the
subject is interesting and how you can use it in class:
http://www.mtv.com/onair/makingvideo/ (chose "making of the cat in the hat"
and watch it in Real Player) There are no subtitles, but some parts are
interesting.

- To see it in English
At the moment, the film seems to be show in its original version in English
only in a few cinemas in Paris. By the way, I found this address to know
what film in English are shown in Paris and in what cinema:
http://www.versionoriginale.com
On line, you can buy the DVD of the animated version of the book "the cat
in the hat" by Dr Seuss, with French subtitles and a sing along version of
the song "Calculatus Eliminatus". This is not the film, but it certainly
will be closer to the original book, and at the moment you will also get
the book with the dvd.
http://www.seussanimated.com/
http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/details.php?childId=34141
you can also buy the film online (more expensive than the animated
version), in English with French subtitles:
http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/title.php?titleId=2448
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JM7T/104-9672014-9528706?v=glance

- Dr Seuss: biographies and books
http://www.chaseart.com/pages/seuss/biography.html (just the facts)
http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/resources1.html (long and commented)
to buy his books online:
http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=55290
On this page from Amazon.com, you can buy new or old books (but don't
forget that you will have to pay a lot for postage and shipping). You can
also view some of the pages of the book if you click on "look inside this book"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/039480001X/104-9672014-9528706?v=glance

- Clips and trailers
http://www.catinthehat.com/
Click on "celebrate the life of Dr Seuss", and get access to trailers and
tv spots of the film ( I just love the one in which he shows his car SLOW),
and also clips and interviews.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/thecatinthehat/

- critics
from Canada : Une critique très négative, en français:
Dr Seuss: Cat in the Hat, The (Dr Seuss: Chat dans le chapeau, Le)
Cacophonique: Surabondance de cris et de gestes. Myers agaçant. Récit
inintéressant.
http://cineguide.showbizz.net/critique.asp?id=1194
from IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312528/
from Rotten Tomatoes (read lots of excerpts from many articles)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JM7T/104-9672014-9528706?v=glance
from Movie.com (very negative critics, mark 0.17/5)
http://movies.go.com/movies/D/drseussthecatinthehat_2003/
from Plugged in, a review with positive and negative points to discuss if
the film is suitable for children (don't miss the "other negative elements"
I found them very funny to read!)
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0001569.cfm

*** from The Times : An interesting article entitled "Cat fight"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7434-1060635_1,00.html
The article may not stay available for free for long, but I saved it (just
ask me). It says that the film may have turned a book, which was many
Americans' favorite bedtime story as a child, into something more
commercial, and certainly very different from their children's dreams.
[ In the article, you will find a reference to the bortsch belt. Here are
the explanations I found for this expression:
bortsch belt
Borscht Belt n :
upstate New York
http://cgi.peak.org/~jeremy/retort.cgi?American=Borscht%20Belt
Noun 1. borscht belt - (informal) a resort area in the Catskill Mountains
of New York that was patronized primarily by Jewish guests; "many comedians
learned their trade playing the borscht circuit"
borscht belt, borscht circuit, borsht belt
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/borscht%20belt
Re: borsht
The OED2 entry is under "borsch." Alternate spellings are given as
"borscht," "borshch," "bortsch."
There is a Cyrillic letter that is transliterated as "shch." That's where
the "ch" comes from.
As to "borscht" being from Yiddish, it may be true. The single citation in
the OED2 with that spelling is a reference to the "borscht belt" of Jewish
resorts in the Catskills. The others are all Russian cultural references.
Although, the sample size here is way too small to be definitive.
( from the forum on http://www.wordorigins.org/ )]

- A mini unit online, with lesson plans and worksheets:
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/1571.html
[ with many useful links at the end. Copy and paste them in your browser.]

- Another site
you may enjoy the atmosphere of Seussville:
http://www.seussville.com/

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Resources for primary School
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Butterfly Mobile
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Follow step by step this illustrated how-to list, and make the children
create lovely butterfly mobiles. They will learn how to give instructions
with imperatives, the basic handicraft vocabulary (color, cut, glue, tape,
etc.) and they will guess what they don't know by using the pictures. The
next step could be to write (and draw) their own guide.
http://www.billybear4kids.com/butterfly/craft/craft1.html
to also study sciences, you can choose this other illustrated guide to make
a butterfly life cycle mobile, where the students must put the different
steps of the transformation in the right order
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/butterfly/lifecyclemobile/
( the guide is ready to print and easy to understand too.)
there is also a guide to the life cycle of the butterfly, with an
illustrated worksheet. The vocabulary used is mostly based on latin words,
easy to understand or guess for French children. So you can even consider
doing the lesson in English!
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/lifecycle/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/activities/printouts/paintedladylifecycle.shtml

LearnPysanky.com
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Formerly known as "How to Make Ukrainian Easter Eggs (Pysanky)," this site
offers basic instruction in this unusual craft. The site includes a designs
page with free step-by-step diagrams, suggested
supply sources, a list of workshops by area, resources, hints and tricks, a
FAQ, coloring pages, links, and a gallery of designs. From an artist of
Ukrainian heritage.
http://www.learnpysanky.com/
[ could be useful to prepare Easter, next week-end! ]

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Resources for Secondary School
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Oral Activities, guided fantasies ( from Sylvie Abdelgaber on e-teach)
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This site suggest activities to make the students speak, but also listen to
each other, remember (without notes) and report what they have heard. These
activities are also different from those we usually do, because they focus
on feelings and encourage the students to show who they really are, share
their feelings and open themselves to others.
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan04/ex.htm
You may also enjoy the activities suggested in "four guided fantasies"
where the students dream and imagine together, and share the pictures they
built, or try and make the others feel what they have felt (colours,
sounds, smells...).
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan04/less2.htm

Unborn Victim Act
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This law is about to pass in the USA. Is it a first step towards making
abortion illegal? Invite the students to read this article and discuss it
in class.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june04/unborn_3-29.html
[ for advanced students]

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Sports
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Athens 2004 Olympic Games
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For all sports fans, go to this site, not so much for the detail of the
venues, but for their precious guide of sports. On the right-hand side, you
have a pull down menu under "sports". It leads you to a list of sports, and
for each sport you can find a glossary, the history, the equipment, the
rules and techniques and the athletes.
http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/
It is exactly the type of site you can use in the computer room with
intermediate students. each student, or group of students, will explore a
sport, take notes, and report what they found important to the class.
Teachers can also use the site to introduce their students to a specific
sport. For Judo, for example, you find David Douillet in the athletes, the
references to Japan in history, and a very good picture with an explanation
of the rules:
http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/page/legacy?lang=en&cid=7c0b470429149f00VgnVCMServer28130b0aRCRD

Cheese Racing
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and you can suggest this new sports for the next Olympics ;)
http://www.cheeseracing.org/
[ note : April fool! (but the site does exist!!!!!!!)]

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Education and Teaching Practice
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Many Children Sleep Deprived ( from EDNEWS Volume 3, Issue 13)
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"Children of all ages are getting less sleep than recommended, according to
a recent study by the National Sleep Foundation, and the adults around them
are not happy about it. Lack of sleep in children can lead to irritability
and problems with attention span. " Source: MSNBC.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4630443/
[ Figures about how much American children sleep and how much they should
sleep, and their effects. This site could be presented to students to
invite them to reflect on the subject and discuss the possible solutions.]

Teaching with the Brain in Mind (from PBS Teacher Previews: April 4-11)
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"Learn more about how the brain is structured and ways educators can
approach learning objectives to best convey information to students in a
brain-friendly manner."
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/prek2/issues/404issue.shtm

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