Infonews n°182 du 30/03/2003
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This week, a special April Fool Day newsletter, with lots of
addresses to find special ideas for that day (including a site for
cats...;). Also this week, for upper secondary school, some addresses to
organise activities for US National Poetry Month, to help the students deal
with the stress of the exams and improve their memory, and to help them
talk about the war; for the younger ones in primary or lower secondary
school, a sentence flip book to build and a suggestion for a preposition
Easter egg hunt; at the end of the letter, an article about how
uncomfortable some US teachers feel to talk about the war in class, and a
bank of pictures that you can use to illustrate your (or your students' )
online documents.
Have a nice week!
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Sommaire
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April fool Day
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Catty, the first website for cats...
Definitions
Class activities
Pranks
Jokes
Hoaxes
Quiz
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Resources for secondary school
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US national Poetry Month
How to improve study skills
Techniques for improving your memory
Dealing with anxiety
Press freedom versus military censorship
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Resources for primary school
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Sentence flip books
Preposition Easter egg hunt
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Teaching practice
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US Teachers grapple with wartime role
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Internet tools
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Free Images for Educators (from Library Hot Five #174)
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April fool Day
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Catty, the first website for cats...
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http://www.cattv.com/catwebsite.htm
you could use one of the photos on the front page, and invite the students
to talk about it:
http://www.cattv.com/Images/waldocatweb1.jpg
Definitions
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short ones
Britannica : http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0804428.html
Columbia : http://www.bartleby.com/65/ap/AprilFoo.html
http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/other/aprlfool.html
http://www.marvelicious.com/aprilfools.html
short, + vocabulary
http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/student/holidays/AprilFools.html
longer ones
http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p593.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
http://sunniebunniezz.com/holiday/afool.htm
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/aforigin.html
and how different countries celebrate it
http://www.calendar-updates.com/Holidays/Canada/aprilfools.htm
with music
http://wilstar.net/holidays/aprilfool.htm
very efficient for global understanding
http://www.usis.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/april.html
http://april-fools.holiday.com/
definition + vintage postcards you could use on a transparent to make
students speak
http://www.geocities.com/atine6/
A history of the day from the New York Times (with a nice picture)
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0401.html
Class activities
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Ideas for class activities
http://members.aol.com/MrDonnLessons/Holidays.html#AprilFools
[ a short story and two mini units.]
Definition and activities (with music!)
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/5365/fool.html
Definition, vocabulary, crafts for younger children
http://www.web-holidays.com/fools/
foolish terms (vocabulary for April fool day)
http://www.web-holidays.com/fools/diction.asp
Pranks
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list of pranks
http://www.web-holidays.com/fools/crafts/pranks.asp
Pranks from Family Fun
http://www.calendar-updates.com/Holidays/Canada/aprilfools.htm
Jokes and pranks
http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p1939.htm
Jokes
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Jokes (be careful, some joke might not be suited for school!)
http://www.azkidsnet.com/JSknockjoke.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/twoanda/holidays/fools.htm
For children, by categories, including the famous knock-knock ones..;
http://www.scatty.com/
Hoaxes
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http://www.april-fools.us/
[ see the GM carrots, or the tax on pets, there is also a list of pranks ]
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/top100.html
[ top 100 hoaxes. here is what LIIWeek says about it:
This site presents The Origin of April Fool's Day, The Top 100
April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time, and a quiz, which
challenges sorting the truth from the outrageously false
stories reported by the media on April first. It also includes
a chronological index of hoaxes from the Middle Ages to
the present, and an essay on reasons to hate the
observance.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/aprilframe.html
]
Quiz
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a quiz : true or april fool?
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/tests/afquiz.html
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Resources for secondary school teachers
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US national Poetry Month
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Classroom Connect offers us a long list of links to poetry sites for
students and teachers, with lessons plans and ideas.
http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A2=ind0303&L=ctodaynewsletter&F=P&S=&P=72
here are 5 other adresses, where you can also find giggle poetry, and the
opportunuity to ask questions to a poet
http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A2=ind0303&L=hot5&F=P&S=&P=499
How to improve study skills
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http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2002/05/052002_studyskills.jhtml
These advices can help the students learn better, get better prepared for
their exams, or just be the starting point for a class discussion in upper
secondary school or in post secondary classes.
Techniques for improving your memory
-----------------------------
http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html
These advices can be used as the ones above, or as exercises in class. One
which is mentioned in both sites is the "mind map" or "concept map"
technique, where they use the technique of the brainstorming to help
memorise and put together ideas and concepts.
Dealing with anxiety
-----------------------------
for literary students in upper secondary school and above, here is a list
of quotations and aphorism about anxiety, which can then lead to a
discussion about the war. See the lesson plan from PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/iraq/quotes.html
Press freedom versus military censorship
-----------------------------
this site from the Constitutional Rights Foundation goes through the rules
edicted to the press during this war, criticises them, and offers as an
assignement to the students to edict their own rules for a future conflict.
http://www.crf-usa.org/Iraqwar_html/iraqwar_press.html
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Resources for primary school
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Sentence flip books
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This is an idea to create a flip book allowing children to use the
vocabulary they know in different ways. This leads to possible sentences or
wacky ones : the students read them, and decide if their meaning is
coherent or not. From these sentences, they can start writing a story, or a
poem...
http://suzyred.com/flip.html
Preposition Easter egg hunt
-----------------------------
Easter eggs are hidden in the classroom : the students must find where they
are, and then report it to the class, using directions and prepositions to
help someone else get there and find it. An interesting activity to
organise in English for Easter : you introduce the cultural concept of egg
hunt, and give them the opportunity to use directions and prepositions in a
real context.
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Fountain/2131/eggshunt.html
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Teaching practice
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US Teachers grapple with wartime role
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Read this article about how divided some US teachers feel when they wish to
promote peace, but can't openly criticise the US goverment....
http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=27teach_web.h22
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Internet tools
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Free Images for Educators (from Library Hot Five #174)
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http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A2=ind0303&L=hot5&F=P&S=&P=353
you find there five addresses of sites where you can find free quality
pictures that you can use in class and on your websites.
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Une compilation réalisée par :
Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
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