Infonews n°324 from 27/01/2008
Quick, easy version
How he did it
Who he is
For advanced students and specialists
Special dates in February
Groundhog Day : February 2nd
Chinese New year : February 7th
Talking cartoons
British currency
An Imperfect Revolution: Voices From the Desegregation Era
Banished: American Ethnic Cleansings
Compulsory cooking classes
Students Voices
True Tube
Dams
Chemistry : Material and lessons
Business Studies : Statical Understanding Made Simple
Geography : list of sites commented
Agriculture, Cooking : research and fact sheets
Music : Ragtime
Sports : Harlem Globe Trotters
Aural Comprehension
Enquête de l'APLV sur le DNB
Quick, easy version
This week, you could hear it in all the news reports in France. English in
the News from BBC Learning English features a short and easy article (B1) to
deal with this topic superficially for people who don't know anything about
banking and trading.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/01/080125_france_fraud.shtml
How he did it
An interesting B2 document for students who know a bit about the trade :
how to do the same. "
FIVE THINGS: ROGUE TRADING
Do you dream of writing your memoirs from a white-collar prison cell? David
Parkinson offers tips on how to join the banking villains - a group whose number
appears to have grown by one this week."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080126.RFIVETHINGS26/TPStory/Business
Another article with for the same students : "
Bank's billions burnt in 10 days :
Jérôme Kerviel has been portrayed as the sole culprit in the ‘rogue trading’ scandal
that almost brought down a leading French bank. But could the unassuming young
man have been stopped before the damage was done?
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article3257468.ece
Who he is
Who was Jerome Kerviel? (less technical, more about the man)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article3254619.ece
For advanced students and specialists
Jean Sabiron has prepared these exercises level A2-C1,
http://sabironlangues.typepad.fr/vigilangues/2008/01/fraude-la-socit.html
and V éronique Laffargue on e-teach recommends them to study this interactive
diagram explaining how subprimes are backed and sold.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash07.html?project=normaSubprime0712&h=530&w=980&hasAd=1&settings=normaSubprime0712
Remember the article explaining the subprimes in Infonews n°317
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/317.htm#sub
Special dates in February
There are several sites presenting lists of special days, but I like Michelle
Henry's most efficient for us:
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/rescol.htm
Groundhog Day : February 2nd
See this page on Infonews,
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/groundhogday.htm
and Michelle Henry's page.
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/ground.htm
Chinese New year : February 7th
Chinese New year is on February 7th:
http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
We're going from the year of the pig (boar) to the year of the rat. You can
find lots of activities and documents about it on Michelle Henry's site:
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/chineseny.htm
[LII New This Week] January 24 recommends Kaboose, a site with lots of handicrafts
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25291
You can also find resources in Infonews n° 296 from last year, with sites for
Chinese New year and valentine's Day
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/296.htm
Talking cartoons
On e-teach, Yoann Panier recommends this fun site for beginners level A1,
with short cartoons that you can also hear, with jokes, play on words and funny
situations. Children will enjoy learning those short jokes and telling them
to their friends and parents!
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-cartoons-animal-archive-01.htm
British currency
On e-teach, Monique Cren recommends this site to help A1 students (primary
school or special needs) recognize British coins. This could be useful to make
them count in English, adding and giving back change, and of course to prepare
a trip to the UK. You can also print flash cards from the site or make your
own worksheets.
http://www.senteacher.org/wk/colourcoins.php
And this other page with photos and a quiz on Woodland Junior School website,
our favourite!
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/money.html
An Imperfect Revolution: Voices From the Desegregation Era
"The public radio series American RadioWorks
"traveled to Louisville, KY and Charlotte, NC to talk with people about
their memories of [racial] integration" in schools. This website features
some of the stories, the full audio program and transcript, essays on school
desegregation, and links to related websites. From American Public Media." (from
[LII New This Week] January 24)
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25147
[ February is Black history month, so you can go on with the suggestions given
for MLK Day on Infonews
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/martinlutherking.htm
and this worksheet about Melba Patillo and desegregation of schools
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/martinlutherkingeleves.htm
Banished: American Ethnic Cleansings
"Companion website to a documentary that investigates U.S. communities
where blacks where forcibly expelled during the 1860s to the 1920s, and where "even
a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white." Read about
some of these communities, some of the families who were affected, opinions
about reparations and race relations, and other topics explored in the film.
Includes a map, video clips, behind-the-scenes material, and related website
links. From Independent Lens." (from [LII New This Week] January 24)
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25275
Compulsory cooking classes
BBC Learning English presents in Word in the News an article about cooking
classes "to encourage healthy eating to combat the country's spiralling
obesity rate." You find there a useful sound file, plus the script, vocabulary,
a quiz and a lesson plan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/01/080123_cooking.shtml
The lesson plan is very interesting, with colour worksheets, but the websites
it refers to offer online recipes but not videos since only people from the
UK can get them. However, you can use some other sites with videos of recipes,
like:
Food Network "thirty minute meals" (American Accent)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tm
Epicurious (American accent, but not as strong)
http://video.epicurious.com/
or the "Food" section in Infonews n° 219 (scroll down to "food" and
find conversion tables, kitchen safety rules, various recipes and videos, although
some of the links no longer work, sorry)
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/219.htm
Also on cookery lessons in school, you can work from this lesson plan created
by Jean Sabiron from 4 slightly different reports about the same topic:
http://sabironlangues.typepad.fr/vigilangues/2008/01/vigilangues-e-1.html
Students Voices
The Scout Report from January 25 presents this website: "Started in
1999 by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania,
Student Voices is designed "to improve the dialogue of democracy among
our nation's young people and encourage their civic engagement." Through
this website, educators and young people can take
advantage of resources designed especially for both groups. In the "Teachers
Resources" area, visitors can download curriculum and lesson plans, learn
about group project ideas, and take a look at videos produced by students across
the United States. The "Student Resources" area contains links to
high-quality sites that provide a basic overview of the federal government,
state government, senators, and the president. Everyone who visits the site
should chime in with a response to the "Speak Out" area, which asks
visitors to comment on important questions of the day. Finally, visitors can
also find out who their local and federal officials are as well as peruse the
glossary, which covers everything from accountability to zoning. [KMG]" (from
the Scout Report)
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-re.php#2
True Tube
On e-teach, Ronan Goarzin recommends this website of short and moderated
videos for and by young people. The site also includes documents for teachers
with lists of activities and selections of films. there are no scripts since
it is aimed at native English speakers aged 12-25, but the suggested activities
are interesting since they deal with citizenship, PSHE (Personal, Social and
Health Education) and RE (Religious Education, with films showing youngsters
talking about their religion (Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.)
http://www.truetube.co.uk/teachers2a.html
[ by the way, have a look at the objectives of PSHE and note how they are close
in their form to the European Framework (CECRL)
http://www.nc.uk.net/webdav/harmonise?Page/@id=6004&Subject/@id=4212
Dams
The Scout Report's special report this month is about dams : "The Dutch
adopt a seemingly contrarian strategy for dealing with rising sea levels",
with links to an American and a Chinese dam. Read the report and visit the
sites:
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-inthenews.php#1
[ for all those interested in building and engineering sciences.]
List of instruction for an exam
Many students will find very useful this page created by N.Jullien for his
bac students to review all the words and idioms they can meet in the instructions
of the various tasks. The first link is to discover the possible instructions,
and the second address is an interactive matching exercise to check what they
know. Well designed and useful. Even the most reluctant students will enjoy "playing".
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/englishisfun/FICHE%20COUP%20DE%20POUCE%20consigne.htm
Chemistry : Material and lessons
the Scout reports recommends this sites: Chemistry Power Point lessons and
instructional material
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-re.php#4
Business Studies : Statical Understanding Made Simple
The Scout Report recommends this site with
"tutorials designed to help students understand basic statistics".
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-re.php#7
Geography : list of sites commented
The Scout Report recommends this site which offers a list of sites useful
to teachers of geography with comments for each site to help you gain time.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-re.php#8
Agriculture, Cooking : research and fact sheets
The Scout Report recommends this site which offers useful fact sheets about
how to grow sustainable food and organise environmentally-friendly agricultural
systems.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-re.php#5
Music : Ragtime
The Scout Report recommends this site with a history of ragtime, profile
of the authors, digitalized music sheets and much more.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080125-geninterest.php#5
Sports : Harlem Globe Trotters
[LII New This Week] from January 24 recommends this site presenting the history
of the basketball team, a timeline and biographies of some famous players.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25258
Aural Comprehension
Using portable audio devices to train students to aural comprehension is
something Annie Gwynn has already done it for several year : find here a Power
Point describing the project and several audio recording with worksheets
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/annie.gwynn/ear.htm
On e-teach, Stéphane Busuttil presents (in French) "un petit compte rendu
d'une
"expérimentation" avec des baladeurs enregistreurs sur l'expression
orale.
Une expérience à reproduire dans votre établissement?
http://stephane.busuttil.free.fr/b10g/index.php/2008/01/22/43-des-baladeurs-pour-l-expression-orale
You can also reflect on how you make tests for aural comprehension and you
can evaluate them with this document from Toulouse:
http://pedagogie.ac-toulouse.fr/anglais/oral3.html
Enquête de l'APLV sur le DNB
Appel urgent à participation (date limite de renvoi du questionnaire 3 février
2008) : Enquête de l'APLV auprès des enseignants au sujet de la validation
de la langue vivante étrangère au Diplôme National du Brevet 2008.
L'APLV lance aujourd'hui 22 janvier une enquête au sujet de la validation de
la langue au Diplôme National du Brevet 2008, sous forme d'un questionnaire à remplir
et à renvoyer avant le 4 février prochain.
Ce questionnaire est à télécharger à l'adresse suivante:
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1477
L'APLV a constaté ces dernières semaines une inquiétude et une exaspération
croissantes, chez beaucoup de collègues enseignant au collège, sur la question
de la validation de la langue vivante
étrangère au DNB. Il apparaît en effet qu'il règne actuellement une grande
confusion entre les textes ministériels, les notes de service de certains Rectorats,
les consignes de certains inspecteurs et celles de certains chefs d'établissement,
en particulier en ce qui concerne la répartition des responsabilités quant
à l'élaboration des épreuves, les exigences attendues, les types d'épreuves
organisées et de grilles proposées, ainsi que l'articulation entre cette validation
de la langue, le contrôle continu en langue et la validation du diplôme du
Brevet.
L'APLV estime que la situation actuelle faite aux enseignants est anormale,
et qu'elle ne peut durer plus longtemps sans compromettre gravement la qualité de
la prochaine validation de la langue au DNB, et du coup la crédibilité des
enseignants et de l'enseignement scolaire des langues, tant en France qu'au
niveau européen.
C'est pourquoi l'APLV a décidé de lancer ce mardi 22 janvier 2008 une enquête
urgente auprès des enseignants concernés au moyen de questionnaires dont la
synthèse des réponses lui servira de base pour lancer dans les prochaines semaines
une action vigoureuse auprès du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, si possible
en coordination avec d'autres associations de professeurs de langue, les syndicats
et les associations de parents d'élèves.
Pour un recueil et un traitement les plus rapides et efficaces possible de
cette enquête, nous vous demandons de bien vouloir renvoyer le formulaire d'enquête
joint, une fois rempli, à l'adresse
électronique du Directeur éditorial du site de l'APLV, christian.puren@gmail.com.
Merci de bien vouloir diffuser très vite et le plus largement possible l'information
sur cette mise en ligne, ou directement le fichier de ce questionnaire: le
poids des interventions de l'APLV sur cette affaire sera en partie dépendant
du nombre de questionnaires collectés!
Christian Puren
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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