Infonews n°191 du 31/08/2003
~~~~~~~~ Sommaire ~~~~~~~~
How to start this school year differently?
First, try and organise your classroom(s) for communication : either with
the tables in a square or circle shape, or with small communications groups.
Then introduce yourself a a human being, talk about yourself, your life,
your holidays, and invite your students to do the same, and promote their
skills and abilities, or specificities. To do this, you can use all the
"back to school" ideas from this Infonews.
You can also decide to work from the news : the heat wave or the black out
(see e-teach archives), or MLK 40 years later and the excellent and free
"preventing hate, promoting respect" cd and website.
For primary school, you will also find lots of getting together and team
building activities, and tips and ideas for the first day of school.
To help students discover their schoolbook, you can use the bookquests
offered by the colleagues on e-teach, and to invite them to discover the
US, see the "discover the US" webquests in this Infonews.
Finally, discover the lists and sites that can help you, some projects, and
a page of addresses about classroom management, with tips for new teachers
and ideas to renew or improve what you usually do.
I hope this newsletter will help you start an excellent school year....
amicalement à tous,
Christine Reymond
~~~~~~~~
Sommaire
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A la Une : MLK 40 years later.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARCHING ON: Learning About the New Civil Rights Movement (from The New
York Times "TODAY'S LESSON PLAN")
Free cdrom : Preventing hate, promoting respect
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to School Activities
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friendship themes (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 25th)
Ice-breakers and activities for the first day of school (from Infonews
n°89, all those addresses work
Back to school guide from About.com (infonews n°160)
Back To School Special : How to start the year?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resources for primary school
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alphabet Flags (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 25th)
Back to school bulletin board ideas (Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 22nd)
Back to school printable book (from The Classroom Flyer Edition 08/30/02)
Back to school time capsule (from The Classroom Flyer Edition 08/30/02)
Feeling faces and Circle Time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discover the US webquests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
50 States Webquest (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
Regions of the USA (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
Best State Webquest (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
Journey to America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lists and information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AskERIC: Education Information with the Personal Touch ( fromThe Scout
Report August 22)
Actualités et TICE en cours d'anglais (from Olivier Colas)
E-teach
Tech-Langues
~~~~~~
Projects
~~~~~~
Random Act of Kindness of the Month (from Classroom Connect)
European Schoolnet Projects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teaching practice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behavior Management
****************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A la Une : MLK 40 years later.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARCHING ON: Learning About the New Civil Rights Movement (from The New
York Times "TODAY'S LESSON PLAN")
---------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20030825monday.html
Based on the article:
"Old Dream and New Issues 40 Years After Rights March"
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON and STEVEN A. HOLMES, in the NYT on August 25, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20030825monday.html
[ a news article and an interesting reflection about the new equal rights
movement. For advanced students, and for your information. For a change,
you could study MLK at the beginning of the schoolyear instead of for MLK
Day. And remember that this theme is one of those mentioned in the new
"programmes des classes de premières". To start a theme around Civil rights
and MLK, you can go to:
http://www.ac-versailles.fr/pedagogi/anglais/civi/mlk.htm
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/infonews/themes/martinlutherking.htm
]
Free cdrom : Preventing hate, promoting respect
---------------------------
This program aims at raising students' awareness of all kind of hate
crimes, which often start with small biased opinions or prejudices
considered "unharmful". Free workshops are lead through the US, and they
look for people to promote their program in any possible way. Although it
is for the moment meant for the US, they accept to send their documents
overseas, including a free cdrom and booklet.
The cdrom is really interesting, and designed for students working in
groups or on their own. The method is exceptionally well explained in the
accompanying booklet, and helps the teacher make the students make the best
out of the learning ( awareness raising?) material. The aim is to make
young people ( or even adults) talk :
- about why they chose to start with this or that part of the cdrom
- about bias and prejudices
- about violence (domestic, gang, racial, but also against people who are
different...) that they have witnessed or lived
- about the solutions we can find
and this talking alone will raise their awareness, so even if no solution
can be found, only talking about the problems is already a positive step
forward.
For the free cdrom and booklet, go to:
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/youth/promoting_respect.html
for a precious page of links on the subject:
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/educators/resources.html
students can also start doing something in the school. they can find
information
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/youth/index.html
and download material
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/youth/peer.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to School Activities
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some ideas and tips for the first day of school. You will find
there ideas of ice-beakers, and other activities of this type. The idea is
to introduce the teacher as a person and not a professor, discover the
students as individuals, each of them with precious personal abilities and
knowledge, and set the basis for a year of working and discovering
together, and a taste for English as a living language, to communicate with
real people and discover how they live.
Friendship themes (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 25th)
---------------------------
http://www.123child.com/selfconcept/friend.html
Help your students get to know each other and establish a climate of
friendship in your classroom with these various art activities, games, and
songs.
[ ideas designed for young children in kindergarten or primary school, but
some activities can be adapted to older children. I noticed these
activities and would like to try it with a group of boys in my upper
secondary school:
- "I Like..."
"have the children sit in a circle and say one nice thing about the child
sitting next to him/her."
There, some will only say:
" I like his cap, shirt, etc...." or "I like his hair style"
but some others may say (with the help of the teacher if needed):
"he looks nice, interesting, witty...." or " He looks like a basket ball
player, a great skater, etc..."
But beware!
This game deals with personal characteristics, and this is something French
children are not used to talk about. If you are not certain to be able to
stop the game before it gets nasty, or turn it back to something positive,
don't start it. You don't know the students in your class yet, and some may
enjoy making fun of others, and some others may be very sensitive to
criticism. A nickname can come out of this activity, and the poor student
will have to live with it all year long!
- "Getting to know you"
"Pass out memory cards to each person. Then have them walk around and try
to find their match. But, before they see if they have a match, they would
have to shortly introduce themselves. Then, you would have them ask a few
simple questions of their new friend. Name? Age? Favorite Color? Whatever...
Then you would go around the room and each person would introduce their new
friend."
This activity is rather difficult to organise with a full group of 35
students, but you could do it with a smaller group, or invent some kind of
variation adapted to your class.]
Ice-breakers and activities for the first day of school (from Infonews
n°89, all those addresses work
-------------------------------
getting to know you: http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson019.shtml
ice-breakers:
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/breakice.htm
14 great activities for the first day:
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson074.shtml
14 more: http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson073.shtml
some more: http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/backtoschool/071298.html
and more: http://www.unm.edu/~sac/lhints.html#ice
1st day of school: http://teachingtips.com/articles/Jthefirstday1.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/teachme/firstday.html
Back to school guide from About.com (infonews n°160)
---------------------------
beginners: http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aabackschool_beginner.htm
intermediate:
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aabackschool_intermediate.htm
advanced: http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aabackschool_advanced.htm
teachers: http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aabackschool_teacher.htm
most of these pages suggest language activities designed to revise some or
other grammatical rule.
the teachers' page offers some more original activities, like "brain
friendly" activities, to work with all parts of the brain.....
Back To School Special : How to start the year?
New intentions, new hopes, new objectives, new faces...
---------------------------
A lire sur le site d'anglais, la page "Rentrée 2003" mise à jour avec des
ressources de collègues de l'académie de Versailles et des sites
pré-sélectionnés.
Accès à partir de la page d'accueil, en un clic à partir des NOUVEAUTES
http://www.ac-versailles.fr/pedagogi/anglais/formation/backtoschool/
[ a lot of precious addresses to start the year differently....]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resources for primary school
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alphabet Flags (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 25th)
---------------------------
http://www.janbrett.com/alphabet_flags/toothpick_flags_main.htm
Use these wonderful toothpick flags for rewards in your classroom. Children
can collect all of the illustrated letters until they form the whole alphabet.
[ For primary school, or the first class of lower secondary. Lovely
drawings, to be colour-printed, cut and pasted on toothpicks or glued on a
book. They will help the students learn some words, as well as the alphabet
in English. ( the Y, which seems to be "yarn" may be a bit difficult...)]
Back to school bulletin board ideas (Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, August 22nd)
---------------------------
http://www.kinderart.com/bulletin/backtoschool.shtml
http://www.nea.org/helpfrom/growing/works4me/organize/boards.html#bulletin
Handprint trees, self-portrait balloons, or wacky cylinders... Each of
these ideas will help to give your bulletin board a welcoming back to
school theme, and allow your students to express themselves as unique
individuals at the same time. Try the 2nd URL above for even more shared
ideas across all grade levels and topics.
Back to school printable book (from The Classroom Flyer Edition 08/30/02)
---------------------------
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/books/backtoschool/
Create a memory book at the beginning of school, where students get a
chance to share information about themselves and their families. Eight
pages guide students through their family trees, creating a self-portrait,
writing a page of favorites, and describing where they live. All pages
should be colored and designed further by students as they wish to
individualize their projects.
[ as always, Enchanted Learning offers the best resources for primary
school. you will find eight pages of a personal book, including a self
portrait, a family tree and so on. ideal for our pupils!!!]
Back to school time capsule (from The Classroom Flyer Edition 08/30/02)
---------------------------
http://family.go.com/crafts/season/feature/famf89school/famf89school4.html
Using a simple three ring notebook, students will create a scrapbook to
record their favorites, summer memories, expectations and anticipations for
the coming school year, and more.
[ the pupils have a wider choice of things to present about themselves, and
they can illustrate the pages with photos and collages. the written part
will be limited to the essential, the words or sentences they really need
about themselves....]
Feeling faces and Circle Time
---------------------------
http://www.evan-moor.com/pk1.pdf
For primary school and lower secondary school, here are faces (smileys) to
cut out to express feelings. You can paste them on the walls of the
classroom as reminders, and/or pupils can paste them in their copy book.
The document, designed for American preschoolers, starts with questions
that can be asked during "circle time" : this activity is also used in
French kindergarten classes as a moment to allow children to express
themselves and improve their oral skills. It can be transferred to upper
classes, as a warming up activity, or the encourage students to talk.
What I find essential in this activity is that the group is in a circle,
and the teacher can even be outside the circle, and let a student lead the
discussion. It has to do with the new position of the teacher, and I think
it is important to set this new atmosphere early in the school year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discover the US webquests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
50 States Webquest (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
---------------------------
http://www.dedham.k12.ma.us/webquest/fall2000/jd/statesquest.htm
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/stateknow/
Students will work in pairs and on one selected state to become travel
experts on that state. They will create a travel journal as well as a
brochure to present to the class. Use the 2nd URL above for the correct
link to IPL's Stately Knowledge.
[ this project is a 3rd grade social project, but the ideas are easily
transferable to ESL . The weblinks and the evaluation part are very useful.
You can adapt it to all classes, starting in the upper classes of primary
school.]
Regions of the USA (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
---------------------------
http://www.learnnc.org/LearnNC/lessonp.nsf/0/E4BD4E2C8676D9A0852568D600653475?openDocument
http://www.riverdeep.net/products/carmen_sandiego/carmen_usa.jhtml
Regions are the focus of this internet, computer, and social studies
exercise. Students will be creating a study guide, charts, maps, and an
oral presentation on their region, using Where in the USA is Carmen
Sandiego (2nd URL above) and various websites for resources.
[ an interesting webquest from NY State, and remember that these Carmen San
Diego cds are really useful as entertaining and educational games, from the
middle classes of secondary school upwards. ]
Best State Webquest (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer,August 27th)
---------------------------
http://www.wcs.edu/pes/webquest.htm
The students' mission is to travel all around the fifty states and decide
what key features they find to be the best in each of the states. They will
be required to produce an editorial, an oral presentation, and a travel
brochure.
[ a surprising starting point (create a new state made of all the best
features of the 50 existing ones!), but a very interesting process and
useful links. For older students than the previous ones.]
Journey to America
---------------------------
http://www.berksiu.k12.pa.us/webquest/kowker/index.htm
In order to help students appreciate and understand the differences between
America and other countries, students will journey back to the early 1900's
and retrace the immigrant experience. They will choose one country to
thoroughly research, following guidelines with this creative webquest.
Numerous online resources are included.
[ one more Ellis Island Webquest.... and I don't find it as good as the one
our colleagues from e-teach made together as a team on Tappedin.....:
http://www.ardecol.ac-grenoble.fr/english/enqust13.htm
]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lists and information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AskERIC: Education Information with the Personal Touch ( fromThe Scout
Report August 22)
---------------------------
http://www.askeric.org/
AskERIC is a "personalized Internet-based service providing education
information to teachers, librarians, counselors, administrators, parents,
and anyone interested in education throughout the United States and the
world." Quite comprehensive in its overall scope, AskERIC began in 1992 as
a project of the Educational Resources Information Center, and is now a
component of the Information Institute of Syracuse at Syracuse University.
Currently, AskERIC consists of a question and answer service (where
education questions submitted by users are submitted to a specialist in the
field), a resource collection, a question archive, and over 200 lesson
plans submitted from teachers across the United States. The resource
section is particularly useful, as the AskERIC information specialists have
compiled over 3000 internet-based resources on educational issues ranging
from peer education programs to classroom management. This impressive Web
site will be
extremely valuable to a number of interested parties in the field of
education, including administrators, teachers, and policy makers. [KMG]
Actualités et TICE en cours d'anglais (from Olivier Colas)
---------------------------
If you were there in Cyber-langues, you have met Olivier Colas and enjoyed
his conference. Here are the addresses he uses. He put them in a page that
is now a reference of all of us. Don't miss:
http://www.ac-versailles.fr/pedagogi/anglais/sites/actualite-anglais.htm
A page for addresses of all the resources you need to teach ESL with
actuality from the web.
E-teach
--------------
http://www.listes.educnet.education.fr/wws/info/e-teach
A French-based discussion list open to anyone with a professional interest
in the teaching of English at all levels.
It addresses topics and questions relating to the experience of English
teachers who wish to share their practices and pool their resources through
informal exchanges.
The development of ICT as applied to languages is of special interest to
most members. E-teach is a mine of information in that respect.
E-teach is strictly independent from any institution whatsoever. It is a
moderated list and members agree to the terms of the e-teach chart by
joining the list. Subscription becomes effective on receipt of the
requested identification.
Members: 515
Traffic: 120-150 posts per week
Posting: through the web or via e-mail
A web interface is provided with the following features:
-Info about the list
-Subscribe/un-subscribe button
Members can access :
-Archives (search engine)
-Posting to the list
-Posts from the list
-Documents: a section where personal or collaborative work can be uploaded
and downloaded for the benefit of all the members.
Worksheets, lesson plans, links, posters, bookquests, etc. Worth visiting.
List owner: Clau Hepburn
A click on e-teach-request@listes.educnet.education.fr will put you in
touch with the helpful co-moderators of the list:
Clau Hepburn Claude Covo-Farchi Sarah Rapnouil-Dunn Lucy Georges
Tech-Langues
----------------------
http://listes.educnet.education.fr/wws/info/tech-langues
Members of this list are 99% E-teachers (English teachers belonging to the
E-Teach list). The Tech-Langues list is open to any teachers who are
particularly interested in the technical aspect of integrating ICT in their
language classrooms.
Tech-langue members share their practices, tips and technical know-how :
there's almost always someone who knows the answer to that techie question,
or can put you on the right track.
Members: 178
Traffic: 10-15 posts per week
Moderators: tech-langues-request@listes.educnet.education.fr
Claude Covo-Farchi, Sarah Rapnouil-Dunn, Lucy Georges
~~~~~~
Projects
~~~~~~
Random Act of Kindness of the Month (from Classroom Connect)
---------------------------
Here is an American project for young children : primary school or lower
classes of secondary school. You can also use the stories on the site as
class documents, and encourage your students to also perform an "act of
kindness."
Here is what the coordinator, Harriet Stolzenberg, says about her project:
"Join us in recognizing children's acts of kindness. Let us know when
children in your class should be celebrated for going the extra distance by
being kind to one another. Too many times children's good deeds go
unnoticed. Let this be the first step in their successes!
Each month you will submit a paragraph about one student in your class who
performed a "Random act of kindness". We will post the child's act, to
celebrate him or her. You must send in your entry by the 25th of each month.
Hopefully we will give all children the incentive to just be nice!
Join our project at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ProjectKAVE/
or write to:
hstolz@aol.com to register. "
European Schoolnet Projects
---------------------------
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/About_eschoolnet/sub_area.cfm?sa=95
if you are looking for a project, or want to find partners for your
project, or even would just like to use the documents and resources created
during various projects, explore this website. You want to find ideas to
celebrate the European Day of languages on September the 26th : go and find
ideas in the "Spring Day" or "My Europe" websites.
And to be kept informed of the ongoing projects, you can subscribe to the
EUN Newsletter at:
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/_News_search_news/sub_area.cfm?sa=122
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/_News_search_news/content.cfm?lang=en&ov=1240
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teaching practice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behavior Management
---------------------------
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plans/lesson-5806.html
on this very useful page, you will find tips and ideas to take a good start
for this year. Many tips are for primary school teachers, but can be
transfered to secondary education. Discover the bully-proof classroom,
pro-active measures and positive reinforcement, read "what I wish I'd known
when I was a new teacher", use the decision-making sheets and the behavior
management forms, etc...
****************************************
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Une compilation réalisée par :
Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
******************************************