Infonews n°336 from 08/06/2008
What is this crisis? Some explanations
Analysis, Reactions and Consequences
From the UK
From the US
From India
June 14th is Trooping the Colours
June 20th is Refugees Day
June 23rd is United Nation Public Services Day
June 26th is International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
End of the year activities
Money
Downloads
Environment
Links to explore
Practice your English while you learn about football
Interior design videos online
Free podcasts from National Geographic
Fashion design and YSL
Bac 2008 Amérique du Nord
" Les Langues Modernes" : appel à contribution
What is this crisis? Some explanations
From Oxfam (a British Charity) : a text level A2+
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/issues/global_food_crisis.html
From BBC News : few images, interview and
commentary fairly easy to understand (level B1+, no transcript)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVF_pXwAbxo
From the World Bank, see "understanding the
crisis" : a short animation with facts and figures
http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/foodprices/
From The International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), read the article : "Soaring
food prices and the rural poor" with key facts.
http://www.ifad.org/operations/food/
From the BBC the video of a debate : "On 29
March 2008 six international panellists
considered some of the most important issues
effecting the future of global food production in
the BBC World debate “Food – Who Pays the
Price?”. " [ You can also download it : very
informative for teachers and advanced students level C1.]
http://www.ifad.org/media/video/food/
on ABC News : "A silent tsunami" : an article and
a video presenting several aspects of the problem :
- food is not missing but it's access to it that is denied
- the demand for biofuel has put several agricultural plans out of balance
- those hungry and angry populations might revolt
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4691282&page=1
Read also this article from BBC Asia : "how to solve the global food crisis"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7365798.stm
and an article in the Economist View by the Nobel
Price winner Muhammad Yunus (micro credit)
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/05/solving-the-foo.html
[ about Muhammad Yunus, see Infonews n°284 and the Scout Report.
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/284.htm#une
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2006/scout-061215-inthenews.php#1 ]
Analysis, Reactions and Consequences
From the UK
- On this page, the BBC features an article " UN
plans to increase food supply" and several links
to videos, a page of food facts, personal stories
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7439015.stm
- In The Independent read those two short
articles level B1 for students interested in
economics and who know enough about this issue:
" From Spam sales to rice riots - the food crisis bites"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/from-spam-sales-to-rice-riots-ndash-the-food-crisis-bites-842428.html
"IMF (International Money Fund) warns rising food
prices may spark more riots like Haiti "
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/imf-warns-rising-food-prices-may-spark-more-riots-like-haiti-808649.html
From the US
- see this video " Crisis is in our backyard"
from Newsweek presenting Cape Ann food pantry in
Manhattan with facts about the shortage of food for the poor in the US.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136068
[ Here is the difference between a foodbank and a food pantry,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_bank
and a link to Cape Ann food pantry's website.
http://www.foodpantry.org/01_About_Us/index.html ]
- and read this long article:" it's the Stupid
Politics : The world's poor are paying the price
for years of bad government policy in
agriculture." Here is an extract : "By all
accounts, a period we might call the Era of Cheap
Food, which ran from 1980 to 2003, is overmost
likely for good. The new context is food
scarcity, soaring grain prices, market panic and
well-founded fears of widespread hunger in
<http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx?subject=Africa>Africa
and South Asia. The crisis is driven by the
inexorable rise of a new middle class in emerging
markets that is consuming more and better food,
but also by stupid and reversible policy mistakes. "
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136355
- see this special report from Voice Of America
(VOA), with several videos and transcripts
http://www.voanews.com/english/Food-Crisis.cfm
- read " the Food Crisis in South Africa : a
challenge to Sustainability." : an interview of
Mr. Andrew Natsios, who is the administrator of
the United States Agency for International
Development., on the site of the US government Foreign Press Center.
http://fpc.state.gov/12853.htm
- listen to this report from NPR (with
transcript) " balancing Biofuel, Food Crops a challenge for Britain"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89676007
- see this video from ABC news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zsAOB5XOUA
- and here is a link to articles and video on CNN
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/food_and_agriculture_organization_of_the_united_nations
and a site of eco-solutions with lots of new
ideas, suggestions and inventions to avoid pollution.
http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/eco.solutions/
From India
- In a traditional newspaper, the Hindu Business
news : read "Food Crisis : the blame game " an
article with a chart, declaring that "The world
food crisis, despite all efforts to shift the
blame, has been born out of life-style imbalances
in the US and like-minded nations, characterised
by an excess of nutrition and locomotion"
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/05/21/stories/2008052150370800.htm
- and in MeriNews, an Indian "citizen newspaper",
Dhananjay Tripathi writes "Dump American junk,
solve world food crisis ", an article to advise
Indians to go back to traditional way of eating
(including fasting) rather then eating American junk food.
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=133493
June 14th is Trooping the Colours
A1+ : easy information on the site of Woodlands Junior School
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/trooping.html
A2 : short text with a photo, with numbers and "fly past"
http://www.thelondontraveler.com/coming-up-trooping-the-colour/
A2 : the official site
http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/
B1 : information sheet from the British Army
website, more difficult to understand, with lots of passive forms
http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/1074.aspx
On this site I also found this page about the
Changing of the Guard with everything about the
Queen's Guards (on foot) and the Queen's Life
Guard (mounted) and the times of the parades. On
this page you can also download a .pdf document
with the times of all the parades in Whitehall
and at Buckingham and Windsor castles, with the names of the regiments on duty.
http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/1068.aspx
http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/cerem_guard_change_jun08.pdf
B2 : for very detailed information especially
about the regiments, their musics and traditions and several links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trooping_the_Colour
For more information, see Infonews n° 274 about
last year's Trooping the colours and the Queen's 80th birthday
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/274.htm
and read these pages about the Queen on the
official website of the Royal Family, which also
explains her two birthdays (A2)
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4820.asp
June 20th is Refugees Day
In its June newsletter, The British Council
LearnEnglishCentral has created pages of resources for those special days
http://www.britishcouncil.org/lec-news-june-2008-1.htm
- a page with a story, a cartoon and some links
at the end, like Refugees International.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-refugees.htm
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/
June 23rd is United Nation Public Services Day
- a poem, a cartoon and a story about robot nurses.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-public-services.htm
June 26th is International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
- a page to raise students awareness of the
problem and there are a history of drugs,
description of different types of substance and the story of an addict.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-drugs.htm
End of the year activities
Find games and activities for the end of the year
in these page from le Café Pédagogique, Michelle Henry's page and infonews:
http://www.cafepedagogique.net/lemensuel/lenseignant/languesvivantes/anglais/Pages/2006/73_Activitespourlafindelannee.aspx
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/jeux.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/277.htm#endofy
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/219.htm
Money
The British Council LearnEnglishKids newsletter
recommends this page of games and activities
around money : children will learn to count
British money and spell foreign currencies, there
is also an interactive story that students can
read and hear, and then an activity where they
must put the sequences in the right order, and a
song that they can read and hear, with an
activity through which they can learn the words and practice adding sums.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-money.htm
Downloads
In the section of The British Council
LearnEnglishKids, you can download traditional
songs, pronunciation exercises and flashcards.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/parents-downloads.htm
Environment
The British Environment Agency has designed a
site with interactive activities and games for
children. They can watch short films with the
sound and the words and play games through which
they will learn facts and figures about British
Environment in the fields of air, water and land
pollution, threats to wildlife, alternative
energies, climate change, the 3Rs (reduce, recycle, reuse).
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fun/?lang=_e
They even have a limited number of free cdroms
(the K World) which can allow you to access the
activities off line. I got a copy three days
after I send them a mail of request!
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fun/595875/?version=1&lang=_e
Links to explore
Explore this page of links to sites where you can
find suggestions of activities, both in
"measurable" and in "social and emotional"
skills. Just in time before the holidays to help
you prepare new activities for the next school year!
http://www.dittydoodle.com/teachingToolbox/links/links.html
Practice your English while you learn about football
The British Council LearnEnglishCentral has
created a page around football, that will appeal
to students now, when they watch the Euro 2008
football tournament...and be very useful for
teachers who don't know anything about football...;)
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-football.htm
Interior design videos online
The newsletter Thirteen Ed Online recommends this
site presenting several episodes of a program
called "Moments of Luxury" : you find videos and
comments about lots of different styles, ranging
from Paris, Texas or Palm Beach classics, to
western style or old England. Excellent for
teachers and students interested in creativity,
interior design and architecture.
http://www.wliw.org/productions/mol.html
[ for some other sites and activities around
design and architecture, see Infonews n°190
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/190.htm ]
Free podcasts from National Geographic
there you can download videos about various
topics, such as the World's Most Unusual Foods
and register to get a new podcast each Friday. ( Level B1+)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/
Fashion design and YSL
Specialists in fashion and clothes will find
three sites about Fashion Design and Yves Saint
Laurent in the newsletter Librarian's Internet Index of June 5th 2008.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/print/news/152
Bac 2008 Amérique du Nord
Sur e-teach, Alain gayet signale la mise en ligne
des sujets d'anglais LV1 et LV2 pour les sections
L, ES et S d'Amérique du nord sur le site du Lycée Rochambeau de Washington DC.
http://www.rochambeau.org/informations/examens/bac/bac2008/bac2008.html
" Les Langues Modernes" : appel à contribution
Laure Peskine nous informe que le numéro 1-2009
des Langues Modernes (la revue de l'Association
des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes) portera sur
le lexique. Voici un extrait de l'appel à
contribution qui pourra inciter certains d'entre
vous à partager leur expérience :
" Ce numéro, articulant recherches et pratiques, portera sur :
- la façon dont on enseigne le lexique
aujourd’hui, c’est-à-dire les différentes
méthodes et moyens utilisés pour que les
apprenants intègrent et retiennent les mots
nouveaux : exercices pratiques, jeux de mots,
productions d’élèves, apprentissage systématique
des mots nouveaux (pourquoi, pourquoi pas ?),
procédés mnémotechniques, dialogues, chansons…
Comment les TICE peuvent-ils contribuer à
améliorer la maîtrise lexicale des apprenants ?
- l’utilisation des autres langues, y compris la
langue maternelle, pour faciliter la
compréhension (langues voisines,
intercompréhension) ; les problèmes que les
apprenants rencontrent et les moyens que l’on
peut mettre en place pour les aider à les
surmonter : statut de l’erreur, erreurs
récurrentes, faux-amis, exploitation d’exercices
avec erreur, exercices pratiques, confusions
lexicales, polysémie des termes, étymologie, etc. "
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1641
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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