Infonews n°258 du 13/11/2005

In the News this week, the riots in Paris : find the vocabulary, the facts, some in depth reports from the papers all over the world, some audio and video reports, a text and the audio file from the BBC (easy) and in Time Magazine (Europe), the view point of Médine, a French Muslim Rapper from Le Havre, which will lead you to hip-hop and rap ( you can also link it to Krumping, Infonews n°253).
The resources for primary school this week are about discovering art through the work of several artists of very different styles. Then find new sites about Rosa Parks, including a complete teaching unit from Josiane Laval : and remember that on December the 1st, it will be the fifties anniversary of her act of courage. In the resources for secondary school, find sites about catastrophes (the flu, katrina, and how to get ready); some more sites about Dickens for those who are still working on child labour, the Victorian period and Oliver Twist; the interview of a teenage novelist and several documents (audio and script) about visiting and working in London, plus some audio documents on Arte Radio. Then an article about the reliability of Wikipedia, and a must read : un livre qui explique comment se servir du Cadre Européen Commun de Référence en Langues (CECRL) et du Portfolio, avec des exemples concrets!!!!!
Next week, we'll deal with Thanksgiving, using songs in primary school, videogames and school shootings, home safety and many more subjects.
Have a nice week!
Christine Reymond

Sommaire

In the News : Riots in Paris

Vocabulary and Facts
From all over the World
Who are those youth?

Resources for Primary School

Discovering Art ( from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, November 11th)
- Drawing Trees with Emily Carr
- Perspective with Georgia O'Keefe
- Themes with Kandinsky
- Experimenting with Picasso
- Discovering installation art with Kabakov

More about Rosa Parks

The Rosa Parks Bus at the Henry Ford Museum (from [LII New This Week] November 3)
A teaching unit from Josiane Laval

Resources for Secondary School

PandemicFlu.gov (from [LII New This Week] November 3)
Getting Ready (from [LII New This Week] November 3)
Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath (from [LII New This Week] November 10)
More about Dickens
Teenage novelist (from the BBC Learning English Newsletter)
Welcome to London
Arte Radio

Internet Tools

Can You Trust Wikipedia?

Teaching Practice

A lire absolument : "Les Outils du Conseil de L'Europe en classe de langue"


In the News : Riots in Paris

You may choose to deal with the subject or to avoid it. It came up unexpectedly as I asked my students what was in the news during the holidays, expecting to hear them mention the death or Rosa Parks. So we talked about what they had heard in the news, and learnt some vocabulary.... (by the way, what is the etymology of banlieue? a place for people rejected from the town, from social life?).
Then I found the viewpoint from Medine in Time Magazine, and my terminales came to see me at the end of the lesson and offer to bring his cds (unfortunately, they are all in French!). So it is a topic about which they have something to say...and this is what communication is about... Here are some voc and site that can help you:

Vocabulary and Facts

if your students want to talk about it, here are some basic sites presenting the facts where they can find the vocabulary to talk about it. The 'banlieues' are called 'poor', 'impoverished', 'working class', 'immigrant-concentrated', 'restive poor' ,'poorer high-rise' suburbs, 'impoverished housing projects'(US), 'poor neighborhoods', 'bleak urban housing estates' , 'high-rise housing estates' (UK), troubled housing estates (BBC), 'outskirts' sometimes 'banlieues' or 'cités' (when French people speak) and even 'largely Muslim ghettos' (the Times); the two young boys in the accident which triggered the riots were electrocuted as they hid in a 'power substation' (US) or 'electricity relay station' (UK) while apparently 'fleeing' police; the cars were 'torched' , there were 'rampages' and 'arson attacks hopscotched around the country'. In an attempt to 'guarantee public order', the government announced emergency measures including 'curfews' and permission to 'conduct searches for weapons without a warrant, ban public meetings and order house arrests' and then it 'enforced a ban on gatherings' 'that could threaten trouble' in Paris 'because of tip-offs from internet'. 'Fire bombs' or 'Molotov cocktails' were thrown at a 'mosque' in Carpentras. The ' demonstrators who have thronged the streets' are called'youngsters', 'youth', 'rioters', 'attackers' 'troublemakers', 'arsonists' or 'vandals'.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-12T095137Z_01_YUE042397_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FRANCE-RIOTS.xml
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1305782
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101787.html
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2231482005
a timeline : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4413964.stm

From all over the World

VOA (sound and text) : http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-10-voa54.cfm (focus on problems facing schools)
CNN ( with a video) : http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/03/france.riots/
*** BBC ( sound and script +voc) : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2005/11/051109_frenchriots.shtml
( short and excellent to start a debate with allusions to Le Pen)
UK The Times : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1857801,00.html (with several related articles, more geared towards politics)
UK BBC : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4419430.stm (an article stressing police aggressiveness and how M.Sarkozy called the demonstrators 'rabble' )
South Africa : http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1833158,00.html (with links to other articles)
Canada : http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/paris_riots/ (good analysis in the 'in depth' report)
India : http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1543421,00050003.htm
Middle East : http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/153CC963-9001-4B26-B2EA-3F187B8FA4AB.htm ( rather neutral, except for : "Those responsible are groups of young Muslim men") plus an interesting timeline (they call the riots : the unrest):
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B00B2316-D62D-4974-BD71-59A6C431E502.htm
China : http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/12/content_3771252.htm ("Today's young people don't have role models to look up to")
Switzerland : http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6229138&cKey=1131726915000
USA Time magazine : http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1127429,00.html ( compares it to the Watts riots)
USA New York Times : http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/weekinreview/06smith.html?fta=y (interesting article stressing how inappropriately France deals with its 'underclass' : "the French model has so far relied largely on expensive measures to keep poor Muslims fed, housed and educated [... but] affirmative action, a cornerstone of the American approach, has been a taboo here.")
South Africa : http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/534364.htm (read this article which relates the violence in France to possible consequences in other countries of Europe, going as far as mentioning an 'Eurabian civil war' or an 'Euro-intifida'
http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/534364.htm

Who are those youth?

the Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0%2C16518%2C1637465%2C00.html (rude language, rap style)
the Daily Telegraph : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/09/wfran309.xml
NPR : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5004897 (criticizing the "one France" republican point of view)
** Time magazine : http://www.time.com/time/europe/html/051114/viewpoint.html interesting view point from a French rapper from Le Havre, Médine (membre du collectif La Boussole).
Qui est Médine? Le commentaire le plus intéressant que j'ai trouvé est sur ce site où vous pouvez aussi écouter des extraits de son dernier album : "Jihad, le plus grand combat est contre toi-même" :
"Nous croyons au départ à un album promouvant la culture musulmane, mais c’est de ce tromper que de comprendre cet album dans ce sens.Au contraire cet album pose un regard objectif sur le monde actuel.Certes la culture musulmane de Médine est perceptible sur ses textes mais il ne s’en sert que pour éclairer (et bien) notre savoir franco-français.Les textes sont d’une rare qualité narrative."
http://www.stylehiphop.com/article-a-1251-type-dossier.html
Le site de son label annonce son site perso pour le 22 novembre http://www.dinrecords.fr/. Vous aussi pouvez trouver des infos sur lui sur ce site (artistes, Médine). Voyez aussi ces infos sur leur clip à propos de comment monter un label indépendant : http://www.rap2k.com/albums-rap-11562-le-prix-de-l-independance.html
In the same line, read this article from iAfrica : "French rap tells story behind riots"
http://entertainment.iafrica.com/features/544762.htm
and if you want to learn more about French hip hop and rap, see:
this short article from wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_rap
or this thesis paper about "

On the recontextualization of hip-hop in European speech communities: a contrastive analysis of rap lyrics"
http://web.fu-berlin.de/phin/phin19/p19t1.htm

Resources for Primary School

Discovering Art ( from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, November 11th)

Drawing Trees with Emily Carr
Emily Carr was a famous Canadian artist, and elementary students can examine her works online and discuss her use of line and imagery. They will also create their own trees using bold, thin, thick, wavy, or straight lines, understanding how line can add to interpretation.
the lesson : http://www.kinderart.com/arthistory/emilycarr.shtml
her works : http://www.emilycarr.com/artcard.html and http://www.emilycarr.com/posters.html

Perspective with Georgia O'Keefe
Discussion questions will guide upper elementary students through a critique of Georgia O'Keefe's "Sky Above Clouds IV", a painting with immense dimensions and overhead perspective. Students will create their own bird's eye view sketches, paying attention to pattern, shapes, lines, and repeated color.
http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_FamAct3.shtml#

Themes with Kandinsky
Students will be invited to carefully explore the themes and objectives in the Kandinsky Composition 8. Paying particular attention to color, students will discuss the "inner character" of things as compared to outer appearances, with mention of non-objective composition, emotion, essence, shape, and line. They will then create their own non-objective paintings, given the criteria they have discussed in class.
http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_FamAct3.shtml#

Experimenting with Picasso
Pablo Picasso was certainly one of the most inventive artists of all time. Students will study Picasso's work, in particular his "Woman with the Yellow Hair", and create their own continuous line profile drawing of a class member. They will then create a cut-up collage after exploring Picasso's cubism techniques.
http://www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/collections_picasso.php

Discovering installation art with Kabakov
When Kabakov was creating art in Moscow during the 1970's, only government-approved art was allowed. Because of these restrictions, Kabakov began an alternative art scene which developed in his apartment studio. His work evolved into installations, where he would create a habitat based upon a character, then add music, theater, poetry, sculpture, etc. Introduce your students to Kabakov's art and stories
with the viewing discussion guide here, and then use the "Art Explorations" to help your students create their own environmental model installations, incorporating literature (characters), art, and social sciences.
http://www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/russian_enl.php?dispvar=9
http://www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/russian_L9.php

More about Rosa Parks

The Rosa Parks Bus at the Henry Ford Museum (from [LII New This Week] November 3)

"On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American woman who worked as a seamstress, boarded ... [a] Montgomery City bus to go home from work. On this bus on that day, Rosa Parks initiated a new era in the American quest for freedom and equality." This site provides information about the restoration of this historic bus and images of the bus. Also includes a chronology, a bibliography, and links to additional information.From the Henry Ford Museum.
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/default.asp
[ with a detailled and interesting timeline of her life, where we discovered that in 1943 she had already been denied the right to vote and been put off a bus for refusing to enter through the back door:
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/chronology.asp

A teaching unit from Josiane Laval

Josiane Laval has prepared for her students ( teenagers, intermediate level or lower) a complete teaching unit packed with photos and cartoons, to make them aware of what segregation was. There is also an illustrated life of Rosa Parks, and how to use the Breaking News. It is really an excellent document. To get it, write to Josiane:
josianelaval@yahoo.fr

Resources for Secondary School

PandemicFlu.gov (from [LII New This Week] November 3)

The "official U.S. government Web site for information on pandemic flu and avian influenza" provides links to U.S. government information and material from other sources on vaccines, travel and workplace safety, planning and response, research, and related topics. Includes a link to the November 2005 "National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza," outlining the federal government's strategy for handling the possibility of an influenza pandemic.
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
and to see the last figures from the WHO : http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/en/

Getting Ready (from [LII New This Week] November 3)

"This handy guide is meant to encourage you to take the steps necessary to be ready" for a natural disaster, such as stocking up on water and food, having an evacuation plan, and what to carry in your car. Also includes considerations for disaster preparedness at work and for school emergencies. From the office of Senator Barbara Boxer.
http://api-ec.api.org/about/index.cfm?bitmask=001002006000000000

Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath (from [LII New This Week] November 10)

Collection of articles on issues relating to rebuilding the areas of the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina. Also includes background information about the hurricane, photos, graphics, reading suggestions, and related links. From the website for New Scientist magazine.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/hurricane
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast
News stories and other features about the process of rebuilding the areas damaged in 2005 by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Topics include economic impact, environmental effects, insurance claims, levee repair, and local and federal efforts towards rebuilding damaged rural and urban areas. Includes a lesson plan and links to related news reports. From the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Online NewsHour and Louisiana Public Broadcasting. (including a lesson plan)
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/local/gulfcoast/

More about Dickens

You found lots of documents about Dickens in the past Infonews. They are all on this page:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/themes/olivertwist.html
Since then, here are some new sites recommended by colleagues:
- Catherine Serreau
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/bleakhouse/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/bleakhouse/animation.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/multimedia/dickens/
- Béatrice Firobind
http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/dickens.php
- Laurence Jeanjean
http://www.ac-amiens.fr/pedagogie/anglais/multimedia/theme/olivertwist.htm
- Jürgen Wagner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/victorians/flash/start_flash.shtml
http://www.victorians.org.uk/
http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/cyberhunts/vichunt/vichunt.htm

Teenage novelist (from the BBC Learning English Newsletter)

Listen to this audio file from the BBC. What is said is explained and commented as it goes, so that the difficult words and notions are repeated several times. There is a script and a few words are explained and there is also a quiz afterwards. Here is the summary : "In the programme today we meet a young British writer. Catherine Banner is only 16 years old and her first novel 'The Eyes of a King' is due to be published in 2007. We find out more about the writer and her novel."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1446_entertainment/ (script at the end of the page)
audio : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1446_entertainment/ram_files/novelist.ram
script : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1446_entertainment/scripts/teenage_novelist.pdf

Welcome to London

Our colleague Laure Peskine recommanded this site from the BBC where you can find listening activities about London. Here is the introduction to the course: "'Welcome to London' is an intermediate English language course allowing users to practise their reading, listening and pronunciation skills. It follows two characters, John and Fiona, through a series of situations as they arrive and settle down in the city.
So, if you are coming to visit, or live, in London or you want to find out more about what the city has to offer - then this course may be for
you."
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/index.shtml>http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/index.shtml
Note also in this course the part about working in London, with audio files about work conditions and reading material about job applications.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit5/>http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit5/
here are some British CV examples
<http://www.musicalenglishlessons.org/cv-examples.htm>http://www.musicalenglishlessons.org/cv-examples.htm

Arte Radio

Laure Peskine also informs us that you can download audio files of radio programs and interviews from Arte Radio site (but without scripts). Go to:
<http://www.arteradio.com/tuner.html>http://www.arteradio.com/tuner.html
and choose "recherche par thème" then "English" and you get to the 19 audio files in English in the archives .

Dictionary ( from Elisabeth Buffard on eTeach)

here is a site to replace the Webster which is now a paying resource. There is a definition in english, and you can hear the word's pronunciation:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/dictionaryhome.aspx

Internet Tools

Can You Trust Wikipedia?

In this October 2005 article, subject experts were asked for opinions about sections of the popular online, open access encyclopedia Wikipedia, in the wake of "the founder of the online encyclopedia ... admitt[ing] some of its entries are 'a horrific embarrassment.'" Includes ratings and comments on specific entries. From the Guardian Unlimited, the online companion to the British newspaper The Guardian.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/opinion/story/0,16541,1599325,00.html
[ One of my readers wondered because I made regularly reference to wikipedia. As this article shows, it is not fully reliable (an average of 5/10, but for the articles I recommended so far, I found the information globally correct and I liked the links. ]

Teaching Practice

A lire absolument : Les Outils du Conseil de L'Europe en classe de langue

La dernière Lettre Flash du ministère
ftp://trf.education.gouv.fr/pub/edutel/flash/201005_langues_etrangeres.pdf
nous annonce les nouveautés pour les deux rentrées à venir:
- une bonne nouvelle que l'on attendait : l'allègement des groupes de langue en terminale mis en place (théoriquement) en 2005 dans les classes des séries générales sera élargi à la rentrée 2006 aux séries technologiques et professionnelles. Cependant, bien que le nombre soit théoriquement fixé à 20, il n'en est pas fait mention explicitement dans la Lettre Flash.
- en 2006-2007, les nouveaux programmes de collège basés sur le Cadre Européen Commun de Référence en Langues (CECRL) entreront en vigueur, ainsi que l'évaluation des compétences orales des élèves de STG (série technologique tertiaire)en cours de formation. Cette évaluation reposera aussi sur le CECRL.
- À compter de la rentrée 2007, une possibilité de certification en langues vivantes étrangères, gratuite et reconnue, calée sur le cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (CECRL) sera offerte aux élèves au cours de leur scolarité. La certification sera conçue en étroite relation avec un organisme international reconnu, choisi à cet effet pour chaque langue. Dans chaque école ou établissement, la certification relèvera de la responsabilité
des enseignants.
Vous pourrez retrouver les informations sur le plan de rénovation des langues et des liens vers les divers documents mentionnés sur Eduscol:
http://eduscol.education.fr/D0067/prl.htm
Voyez aussi cette page sur le CECRL qui propose un lien vers le texte ( 190 pages à lire petit à petit) mais met surtout en relief la redéfinition de la compétence de communication en relation avec les activités de communication langagière et la notion de tâche (approche actionnelle)
http://eduscol.education.fr/D0067/default.htm
Cependant, pour la majorité d'entre nous, ces documents semblent trop compliqués et surtout trop théoriques. Francis Goullier, IG représentant national auprès de la Division des Politiques Linguistiques du Conseil de l'Europe, qui présente le CECRL lors de conférences partout en France depuis plusieurs années et a contribué à la mise en place du plan de rénovation, a compris notre soucis et publie un livre qui va enfin nous aider à comprendre ce que l'on attend de nous et comment le CECRL peut se mettre en place simplement et normalement dans nos classes. Ce document doit rejoindre au CDI de votre établissement la version papier du CECRL, qu'il complète très efficacement.
http://www.editionsdidier.com/publications/138413.html

Les Outils du Conseil de L'Europe en classe de langue
par Francis Goullier (128 pages)
Paru le 26/10/2005 aux Editions Didier
Prix : 9,5 € (prix de lancement)
Référence : 4729109
Code ISBN : 2278058452
Code EAN : 9782278058457
http://www.editionsdidier.com/publications/234071.html

Ce ouvrage vise à clarifier le rapport entre le CECRL et du PEL (Portfolio Européen des Langues), à définir les contributions du CECRL et du PEL à une rénovation de l'enseignement des langues vivantes, à illustrer le plus concrètement possible comment un enseignant de langue peut exploiter les ressources de ces outils, et enfin à montrer que ces deux outils ne représentent pas une orientation fondamentalement différente dans la dynamique de l'enseignement des langues depuis plusieurs années, mais qu'ils sont des leviers essentiels pour atteindre les objectifs qui sont déjà les notres.
Il montre comment utiliser ces outils pour décrire et analyser les matériaux et démarches pédagogiques, avec des exemples concrets tirés de manuels en FLE,anglais,allemand et espagnol. Il montre des exemples de tâches communicatives dans divers manuels de langues vivantes, explique comment l'analyser, l'intégrer à une séquence pédagogique et en évaluer les composantes selon l'échelle des niveaux de compétence en langues.
Il propose aussi des pistes concrètes pour utiliser le CECRL et le PEL pour conduire la classe, développer l'autonomie des élèves et l'auto-évaluation, et évaluer les performances des élèves lors de tests ou d'évaluations.
C'est l'outil indispensable pour mettre en place les "nouveautés" annoncées dans la lettre Flash!


Ceci est un message de la LISTE INFONEWS
réalisé par Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
Les commentaires et réflexions entre [ ] ne reflètent que mon opinion personnelle.
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