Infonews n°168 du 17/11/2002 

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Sommaire
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" In the News", two articles about the terrorist threat in the UK, and some
articles about a lawsuit following the shooting of a teacher in the US.
November 18-24 is Children’s Book Week : here are some addresses for online
books and short stories, and some ideas of activities for this week. Then a
special report on the influence of video games on teenagers' violence. At
the end of the letter, you will find ideas of activities for Thanksgiving :
handicraft for the youngest, and sites to explore for the oldest.
Have a nice week!


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Sommaire
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In the News ( from Google News)
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Terrorism in the UK
firearms and violence in schools Barry Grunow's case
- Schools the wrong target in lawsuits
- You can't put a price on gun violence
- FIRST-PERSON: Litigat-a-phobia
- On lawyers, guns, money, refugees and audits
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online books and stories
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Children’s Book Week November 18-24
Online books
The Works of Edgar Allen Poe (from The Scout Report -- November 15)
Sleepy Hollow (from Chantal Capet)
The Hoover Institute (from The Scout Report -- November 15)
- Teaching practice
- Current issues
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Video games and Crime
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Teen Car Thief Blames Video Game
Video Game Violence and Public Policy
Research papers
Links to information about video games
Entertainment Software Rating Board
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Special Report: Violence and Video games
Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission
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Resources for primary school
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How to make an origami crane
Thanksgiving crafts
Tree of Thanksfulness
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Thanksgiving
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A page of links and an assignment
Interactive Thanksgiving poetry
Thanksgiving celebrations from CNN

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In the News ( from Google News)
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Terrorism in the UK
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UK: Three charged over terror plot
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/17/tube.terror/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2198228.stm
[ articles to go on with the terrorism theme....]

firearms and violence in schools Barry Grunow's case
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This teacher was shot by a 13 year old student. Now his widow is going to
court to find the responsibles. The subject was already raised in Infonews
about "Bowling for Columbine", where Michael Moore was also looking for the
real responsible. here are articles on several aspects : the school, the
gun distributor,

Schools the wrong target in lawsuits
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http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/opinion_d35da809b28a8045007f.html

this article considers the fact that some people consider that school
should now take the kids completely in charge instead of the parents, and
educate them in all aspects....a good subject to be discussed, and linked
to "Bowling for Columbine".

You can't put a price on gun violence
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http://www.freep.com/sports/albom/mitch17_20021117.htm
Distributor, owner of the gun....and again video games, movies, NRA....

Landmark Verdict Handed Down Against Seller Of "Junk Guns"
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http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,555297,00.html
about locks on guns.

FIRST-PERSON: Litigat-a-phobia
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http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpcolumn.asp?ID=785
another aspect of the problem : always find somebody or something
responsible. With examples.

On lawyers, guns, money, refugees and audits
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-mayo17nov17,0,6872286.column?coll=sfla-news-col

a column which reminds me of Moore's : "are we a nation of nuts?"

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online books and stories
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Children’s Book Week November 18-24
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http://www.cbcbooks.org/html/howto.html
[ this is a week to try and make our students read. Here are some ideas of
activities, including a "no tv week" for which you can find ideas and
informations on the excellent "Adbusters" website about "turn off TV week"
in April.
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/diary.html

online books
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Book Spot has put together all the sites which offer free books online.
remember to bookmark this page!
http://www.bookspot.com/onlinebooks/

The Works of Edgar Allen Poe (from The Scout Report -- November 15)
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http://www.pambytes.com/poe/poe.html
Edgar Allen Poe was only on this earth for an all-too brief forty years, but
he crafted some fine poetry. Some have argued that with the "Murders in the
Rue Morgue," he created the first detective story. On this site, visitors
will see complete text versions of almost all of Mr. Poe's poems and short
stories. Each piece begins by indicating the year of its first publication
and the publication in which it appeared. Also, an extended biographical
essay about Poe's life is available, as well as a helpful resource page that
contains links to the Edgar Allen Poe Society of Baltimore and the Edgar
Allen Poe National Historic Site. One highlight of the site is the complete
text of Poe's only novel, _The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym_, a truly
horrifying account of one man's voyage on board an ocean-going vessel that
concludes with the line, "I have graven it within the hills, and my
vengeance upon the dust within the rock." [KMG]
[ you can find there full online texts and poems. An ideal resource for
those of you who teach in literature orientated classes]

Sleepy Hollow (from Chantal Capet)
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http://emints.more.net/ethemes/resources/S00000519.html
this page of links offers you several versions of the text online, many of
which are interactive, with useful notes and comments. This will allow
those who work on the film by Tim Burton to present the short story to
their students and compare both versions.

The Hoover Institute (from The Scout Report -- November 15)
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http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/
Perhaps one of the most well-known research centers in the world, the Hoover
Institution was founded by Herbert Hoover to collect and archive documents
related to the causes and consequences of World War I, and soon grew into
one of the largest libraries devoted solely to political, economic, and
social change in the 20th century. Appropriately, the library and its
holdings are prominently featured on the site, with detailed information on
using its collections and its prodigious holdings, including over 850
finding aids. For scholars and researchers, the most helpful aspect of the
site may be the diverse set of freely-available research papers,
newsletters, and complete books available on the site. Written by the
Institution's fellows and scholars, the topics covered here include American
public education, property rights, government accountability, and global
cooperation. The site is rounded by a complete list of persons currently
working at the Hoover Institution, either as a Hoover Fellow, Media Fellow,
or as a full-time staff member. [KMG]
[ this site offers access to many online documents, and some books about
teaching practice and current issues are also available in full version
(.pdf format). I selected for you:

Teaching practice
Teacher Quality
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/teacher.html#toc
A primer on America's schools
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/primer.html
Bringing in a New Era in Character Education
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/character.html

Current issues
Our Brave New World: Essays on the Impact of September 11
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/obnw.html
Liberty and democracy
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/libdemo.html
The New Terror: Facing the Threat of Biological and Chemical Weapons
http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/chemweapons.html

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Video games and Crime
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The Scout report from November 15 offers this week a special report about
this burning issue :"Video Game Serves as Inspiration for Criminal
Activity". This subject can complement what we have already studied about
violence in school in the previous Infonews. Here is first their own
comment, and then the links and my comments:
The first link leads to the news story that reports the full details of this
recent wave of auto thefts in southeastern Wisconsin. The second site is a
report on video games, First Amendment rights, and public policy by Dr.
David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family. The third
link is to the Video Game Research Site, maintained by Professor John Sherry
at Purdue University, which contains several helpful papers on the nature of
video game research and the potential effects of long-term exposure to these
games. The fourth site is that of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a
self-regulatory body that deals with all facets of the entertainment
software industry, and is also responsible for determining which rating any
particular game will receive. The fifth link is to a series of special
reports written by journalists at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on violence
and video games. The final link is to a prepared statement given by Lee
Peeler, the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, on the
marketing of violent entertainment products to children by the video-game,
motion picture, and music industries. [KMG]

Teen Car Thief Blames Video Game
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20021114/ap_on_re_us/theft_spree
[ a short article which can be used from second year of secondary school
upwards. It seems excellent to start a debate in class.]

Video Game Violence and Public Policy
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http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/conf2001/papers/walsh.html
[ a very interesting report for teachers and advanced students, from the
National Institute on Media and the Family, referring to several survey and
other reports. For in depth research on the subject.]

Research papers
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http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sherryj/videogames/papers.htm
[ eight students research papers on the subject. For teachers and very
advanced students.]

Links to information about video games
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http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sherryj/videogames/links.htm
Links to Sega and some other websites of game producers and manufacturers.

Entertainment Software Rating Board
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http://www.esrb.org/
[ this site is useful when you know the names of the games. just enter it,
and you get the rating. Most students, especially boys, play video games a
lot. You can send them to the site and discuss the ratings. For example,
for Resident Evil, one of the most violent, you get the rating : for mature
people (17+) and the comment : "Animated Blood & Gore, Animated Violence,
Realistic Blood & Gore"....]

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Special Report: Violence and Video games
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/videogameviolence/
a report with several articles, interviews of users of different opinion,
and a very interesting page of links :
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/videogameviolence/linx14.shtml
including an article about Columbine:
"The shooters and the shrinks"
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/05/06/game_violence/index.html
[ the article is illustrated with a gun and a computer keyboard, a good way
to start the discussion and brainstorm ideas on the subject.]

Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission
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http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/10/marketing021001.htm
[ a draft for an official proposition. Another document to be discuss :
could we (or do we...)have the same type of recommendation in France? In
Europe? write your own proposition....]

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Resources for primary school
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How to make an origami crane
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http://www-personal.umich.edu/~adysart/origami/crane/
Visit the Japanese art of paper folding to make these
origami cranes, starting with a simple piece of square
paper. Use any color you want to create these elegant
three-dimensional cranes. You can also make them as an
extension activity to "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes".
[ a nice step by step description of how to make this craft, with pictures
and short texts explaining the pictures. useful for a handicraft session in
English, in primary or lower secondary school.]

Thanksgiving crafts
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http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/indian/
lots of handicrafts explained step by step, with drawings and comments. My
favourite is the "dream catcher"
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Dreamcatcher.shtml

Tree of Thanksfulness
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http://www.makingfriends.com/tree_thankful.htm
a very nice idea : the children make a tree with something that looks like
a branch or branches, and they clip on it pieces of paper of different
colour, where they have written what they are thankful for. So the building
of the tree is a way to concretize the lesson, in which the pupils will
have learnt words that are really important to them: parents, home, food,
favorite toy, and even some abstract notions they may find important to
them.....
this activity can also be organised in lower secondary school...

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Thanksgiving
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A page of links and an assignment
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http://perso.wanadoo.fr/infonews/themes/thanksgivingkids.htm
on this page you will find an assignment and a few links for the students
to find out about Thanksgiving. I plan to ask my first year of secondary
school students to go through it, take notes corresponding to the
assignment on their copy book, and then put all their findings together
orally in class.

Interactive Thanksgiving poetry
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http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/8817/poem6.html
[ see a first poem, read the other students work, and send your pupils'.]

Thanksgiving celebrations from CNN
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http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/thanksgiving/
[ a lot about parade and other festivities for this year.]

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