Infonews n°276 from 14/05/2006
Let's make Europe together!
Fat man Walking
Clay bell as Mother's Day gift (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday,
May 12th)
Make Paper Boomerangs with NASA (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday,
May 12th)
Kindergarten material (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, May 12th)
Summer Activities
Displaced people (article + audio and slide show)
Youth Radio (texts and audio)
Tracking : is Big Brother Helping us?
Chernobyl (from The Scout Report -- May 12)
The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice (from The Scout Report -- May 12)
Appellation America (from [LII New This Week] May 11)
Freud Museum, London (from [LII New This Week] May 11)
Positive reinforcement
eTwinning professional development workshops
I received this announcement which seems very interesting. Be quick to apply,
the closing date is May 19th (the end of this coming week):
"Testing oppt'y: Materials on Nobel Peace Prize winners
The United Nations and Smithsonian Institution are working together to develop
two audio CDs and a booklet about Nobel Peace Prize winners for middle and
secondary school students called Nobel Voices. The project will be released
by the not-for-profit record label, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The content
will teach students about the history of the disarmament movement and will
include voice recordings of nine different Nobel Peace Prize winners. If you
are a middle or secondary school teacher and would like to test these new materials
in your classroom please contact us at
cyberschoolbus@un.org
with the subject header "Nobel Voices."
Students should be fluent in English and have access to a computer. We hope
you will consider participating in this exciting project.
Please respond by Friday, May 19th."
from : UNCyberschoolbus mailing list
UNCyberschoolbus@list.un.org
http://list.un.org/mailman/listinfo/uncyberschoolbus
[ I think this material will be interesting in upper secondary school (1ère
and terminale), with biographies of people who changed the world and an insight
into conflict solving ( the disarmament movement).]
Let's make Europe together!
Monday May 9th was European day. For basic information, invite your students
to this treasure hunt written by the Académie de Paris Team :
http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/europe.php
Many schools registered and organised special activities or events on that
day (116 in France). Find out about it on the EUropean SchoolNet (EUN) website
for Spring Day:
http://www.springday2006.org/ww/en/pub/spring2006/homepage.htm
see also in this site several thought raising pages about Europe and how young
people and students can take part in its making, especially the site "decide
for Europe" (also available in most European languages)
http://decide4europe.eun.org/ww/en/pub/role_play_2006/homepage.htm
don't forget the My Europe website, full of resources, ideas and collaborative
actions and projects
http://myeurope.eun.org/ww/en/pub/myeurope/home.htm
and to find partners for a project, go to eTwinning!
http://www.etwinning.net/ww/fr/pub/etwinning/index2005.htm
Fat man Walking
A man who has been walking across the United States for more than a year
to lose weight has finally arrived at his destination, New York.
And he realised the secret to becoming thinner was being happier.
The BBC chose this topic for a lesson in Learning English. You can find:
a news article and a video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4756717.stm
the text and the audio file:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2006/05/060510_fat_man.shtml
the lesson plan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/plans/060510_fat_man.pdf
the man's site:http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/page/66308/
Clay bell as Mother's Day gift (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, May 12th)
Using small clay pots, bells, and twine, students can fashion a wonderful
summer garden gift for Mother's Day. Use paint for decoration, or try decoupage
as well.
http://www.ghbooks.com/activity/activity.cfm?bookid=15937&page=38
[ the material may be difficult to find for a whole class, but with imagination,
you can adapt this idea to other material such as tins covered with aluminium
foil...
you can also choose to make those simple windcatchers, made of craft foam (you
can use hard paper instead) :
http://www.ghbooks.com/activity/activity.cfm?bookid=15937&page=40
Make Paper Boomerangs with NASA (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, May 12th)
If anyone knows about flying, it should be NASA, and they offer this page
on how to make a flying four-winged boomerang out of manila file folders. Take
them outside for a competition, and be sure to study the science of flight
as well.
http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/Four_Wing_Boomerang.html
[ This handicraft might also be the starting point for a lesson in physics
(how and why do they fly?). You can also explore the wonderful world of boomerang
and discover this site of the Australian culture:
http://www.flight-toys.com/boomerangs.htm
or you can choose to make more airplanes:
http://www.amazingpaperairplanes.com/index.html ]
Kindergarten material (from Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Friday, May 12th)
Specifically designed for early learners, you can print out these summer-themed
dot-to-dot student worksheets and coloring pages for at-desk sponge activities
as your school year winds down, or send them home with students for a nice
end-of-year student gift. Wildlife scenes, ocean life, and birds are also available,
as well as a good variety of number matching worksheets.
http://www.randomhouse.com/golden/printfactory/print_factory.php#
[ matching the numbers http://www.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin/pf/fullsize.cgi?img=/golden/images/pf/full/143961113.gif could
be a good activity for young learners, and in the other sheets, the instructions
are made from drawings and very few words (for example
"find the tigers and color them") http://www.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin/pf/fullsize.cgi?img=/golden/images/pf/full/143961125.gif .
You are then free to add whatever vocabulary you wish. For example in this
picture : tigers, circus, lion, three tigers and a lion are in the circus,
etc...]
Summer Activities
Infonews n°274 featured a section about summer camps ( the title was "for
secondary school" but in fact it was aimed at primary school, as some
of you might have corrected.) . Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer from May 12th adds
these activities:
- "What will you do this summer? (creative summer writing)
Before summer begins rather than at the start of a new school year, is a great
time to ask students what they will do this vacation. Bring in a picnic basket
filled with summer items as suggested here, and have your students complete
a creative writing exercise; try acrostic poems for younger students, brochures
for older ones."
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/seasonal/end-of-year/basket.htm
- "Summer crafts and activities
If you're running a summer school session, you will have to plan ahead to keep
your students' interest levels high during those warm, sunny days. Here are
some suggestions, including Nature Scavenger Hunts, a Friendship Day, recommended
reading lists just for summer, indoor summer gardens, games, and more."
http://mailjust4me.com/play/summer1.htm
- Summer Camp: Take Chances, Make Memories (from [LII New This Week] May 11)
Collection of material about children attending residential camps during the
summer. Topics include why go to camp, choosing a camp (with questions parents
should ask camp staff), getting ready to go and packing, making friends, and
homesickness. Also includes a short bibliography of fiction and nonfiction
books about summer camps, a summer camp word search, and links to related sites.
Part of the PBS Kids It's My Life website.
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/summercamp/
Displaced people (article + audio and slide show)
Discover this unusual problem presented in an article from the New York Time.
The article deal with the Nukak, a tribe from the Columbian wilderness, who
suddenly came to a big town, asking to join the modern world. They now live
in a camp at the outskirts of the town, as they did in the forests, except
for the fact that they no longer have to look for their food since it comes
free from the government....
The article is a good starting point for a discussion : how can those primitive
groups join the "modern world"? Should we go on trying to protect
their culture and traditional lifestyle, or help them integrate the modern
world? and can they integrate our world, since their lifestyle is so different
and they don't want to change it?
The New York Time Learning Network offers us as usual the article (a bit long)
and a lesson plan (with written comprehension questions, plus ideas to go further).
But there is now a new feature : a slide show with a commentary. There is no
script for the commentary, but the sentences take up many parts of the text,
and it is read by the journalist who wrote the article.
"Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change" By JUAN FORERO,May
12, 2006
Article : http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20060512friday.html
Lesson : http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20060512friday.html
Slide show with comments : http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2006/05/11/world/americas/20060511_NUKAK_FEATURE.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1147586365-Mz9N9TaER61632mBqJtshQ
Youth Radio (texts and audio)
The Scout Report from May 12 recommends this site : "With an impressive
headquarters in downtown Oakland, Youth Radio is fast becoming a compelling
and insightful media phenomenon that should be watched closely. Their mission
is a laudable one, and as their website puts it, “….is to promote young people’s
intellectual creative and professional growth through training and access to
media and to produce the highest quality original media for local and national
outlets.” Of course, the real heart of the site contains the actual programming,
which is streamed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Along with unique mix of music,
individuals can listen to a host of stories reported by young people. Visitors
can also browse a list of recently added stories by topic, which include relationships,
society, sports, poetry, and health. Those who are hoping to get some of the
basic flavor of the offerings here would do well to take a look at the story
featuring reporting from a group of Berkeley High School students at the World
Social Forum in Caracas, or by listening to the commentary offered by Lauryn
Silverman on the modern conundrum of multi-tasking. [KMG]"
http://www.youthradio.org
[ lots of authentic material there (American accent). The front page topic
of the moment is immigration : there are audio and video reports about events
and demonstrations. But there are lots of other documents where young people
talk about their feeling or their lifestyle. Most documents are texts (some
as short as 200 words, other longer) but all the texts are read by their author.
They are easy to understand and can be used as oral comprehension material.
Here is a selection from several sections ( video, education, lifestyle, relationships)
for you to see what's available, but there is a lot more...
- this poem (script and the audio file) about the feelings of a young illegal
immigrant, that can be used with lower intermediates (4ème) and upwards:
text: http://youthradio.org/poetry/060417_lafrontera.shtml
audio: http://easylink.playstream.com/youth/latinousa2006/060417_border_poem.rm
- this argumentative text about wearing a uniform at school : easy to understand
( intermediates and upwards), and a good starting point for a discussion, since
he presents the pros and the cons:
text: http://youthradio.org/education/wabe060218_dresscodes.shtml
audio:http://easylink.playstream.com/youth/wabe2006/0218_dresscodes_wabe.rm
- a video ( no script, but not too difficult to understand) for upper intermediate
about sideshows ( spinning cars at full speed : it is illegal, and lots of
accidents happen when the police chase them : should it be legalised?)
http://youthradio.org/video/sideshow.mov
and a text with the audio file ( pros and cons. You can use it as a whole for
upper intermediates or just parts of it for lower intermediates)
text: http://youthradio.org/lifestyle/kpfa040424_sideshow.shtml
audio: http://easylink.playstream.com/youth/kpfa2004/0424_sideshows_kpfa.rm
- for upper intermediates and advanced students : videos of interviews of students
about segregation at university. They don't really know why, but the race groups
hang together and tends to segregate each others. The only answer they give
is : we should watch what we say and try to respect people. here is the comment
from the website:
"It's been fifty years since public schools have been de-segregated. But
do kids of different races really hang out? Youth Radio's interns share their
thoughts. August 2003"
video : http://youthradio.org/video/raceimpressions.mov
and for intermediates and above, a text ( with several interviews of students
) and audio file about teaching MLK and the Civil Rights movement in a school
full of Latinos.
text: http://www.youthradio.org/society/npr060116_mlk.shtml
audio: http://easylink.playstream.com/youth/npr2006/0116_racemlk_npr.rm
Tracking : is Big Brother Helping us?
Discover the RFID tags on How Stuff Works:
"Imagine going to the grocery store, filling up your cart and walking
right out the door. No longer will you have to wait as someone rings up each
item in your cart one at a time. Instead, these RFID tags will communicate
with an electronic reader that will detect every item in the cart and ring
each up almost instantly. The reader will be connected to a large network that
will send information on your products to the retailer and product manufacturers.
Your bank will then be notified and the amount of the bill will be deducted
from your account. No lines, no waiting.
RFID tags, a technology once limited to tracking cattle, will soon be tracking
trillions of consumer products worldwide. Manufacturers will know the location
of each product they make from the time it's made until it's used and tossed
in the recycle bin or trash can. In this article, you'll learn about the types
of RFID tags in development and how these smart labels will be tracked through
the entire supply chain."
all the details on how it works at:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ref/smart-label.htm?cid=e13
Discover also several other systems and devices: UPC Bar Codes, Anti-shoplifting
Devices, E-ZPass, Blink Technology
How UPC Bar Codes Work
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ref/upc.htm?cid=e13
How Anti-shoplifting Devices Work
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ref/anti-shoplifting-device.htm?cid=e13
How E-ZPass Works
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ref/e-zpass.htm?cid=e13
How Blink Technology Works
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ref/blink.htm?cid=e13
[ For technicians and all those interested in inventions and news devices.
As usual on How Stuff Works, the pages are illustrated with drawings, diagrams
and visual interactive features which are very helpful to understand. What
I also like there is that some students know the systems and are quite happy
to bring more information and explain details to the teacher and the class.]
Chernobyl (from The Scout Report -- May 12)
Brought online in 1978, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was considered
a model plant throughout the USSR. Eight years later, that same plant experienced
an explosion and meltdown that had disastrous consequences for local residents.
This terrible incident caused serious damage to the global cause of establishing
nuclear power as a viable alternative source of energy. This very thorough
and well-designed site serves as an excellent gateway to information about
the events surrounding that date, and more importantly, about the long-term
effects of the event and the organizations that are intimately concerned with
these affairs. The “Facts” section is a good place to start, as it contains
an overview of the incidents of 20 years ago, along with information about
the consequences for the health of local residents and the environment. Another
useful section is in the right-hand corner of the homepage provides news updates
about projects, events, and
meetings related to the events at Chernobyl. One of the most powerful areas
of the site contains first-hand recollections about the events at Chernobyl,
and it should not be missed. It is also worth noting that the site is available
in Russian, German, and English. [KMG]
http://www.chernobyl.info/
[ see also the special report in Infonews n°274 from 30/04/2006]
The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice (from The Scout Report -- May 12)
With offices in such gritty locales as Oakland and the nation’s capital,
it follows that The Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) is well-positioned
to offer well-thought out policy research and technical assistance in the field
of juvenile and criminal justice. Founded in 1985, the CJCJ works in a number
of arenas, such as sentencing reform and community-based alternatives to juvenile
detention. A good place to start for first-time visitors is the publications
area, which contains links to recent works created by staff members on juvenile
justice, adult corrections, and sentencing. One highlight of the site is the
juvenile justice area. Here visitors can learn about the CJCJ’s work in the
state of California with alternative sentencing options and also view video
clips from their conference on youth reform. [KMG]
http://www.cjcj.org
[ the site contains a lot of reports and projects difficult to use in class,
but you might find interesting documents in their page of links about juvenile
delinquency ( facts, figures and possible remedies) : http://www.cjcj.org/links/index.php ]
Appellation America (from [LII New This Week] May 11)
Educational material about North American wines, wine-growing regions, and
wineries, with an emphasis on the concept of "terroir": wine that
comes from the same appelation (geographic region). Features a "Varietal
Character of the Week" (with caricatures representing dozens of wine "personalities"),
descriptions of wine regions in the U.S. and Canada, articles about wine, profiles
of wine writers, an index of wineries, and more. From a group promoting the
North American wine industry.
http://wine.appellationamerica.com/
Freud Museum, London (from [LII New This Week] May 11)
This museum (housed in Freud's home after he fled the Nazis) celebrates the
life and work of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and his daughter
Anna Freud. The site features photos of the museum (including Freud's psychoanalytic
couch), historical photos, and essay on topics such as Freud and religion,
and the interpretation of dreams. Lists museum events commemorating the 150-year
anniversary of his birth in 2006.
http://www.freud.org.uk
Positive reinforcement
Florinda Fernandes recommends on eTeachNet this page of positive comments
for your classes (from her site):
http://bebos.chez-alice.fr/mon_site_web/doc/99_ways_to_say_very_good.pdf
eTwinning professional development workshops
Voici une occasion de rencontrer des collègues, de construire des projets
et de travailler ensemble en Europe! Brigitte parry, dans la lettre aux enseignants
de EUN vous propose de participer à des ateliers eTwinning.
"Trois ateliers de développement professionnel supplémentaires seront
organisés avant l’été et une autre série de 10 ateliers est en préparation
pour l’année scolaire prochaine. Cela signifie que chaque année, eTwinning
offre à près de 1 000 enseignants la possibilité de voyager, de se rencontrer,
d’apprendre et de coopérer.
Pour tout savoir sur les ateliers :
The workshops are aimed at teachers who want to learn more about eTwinning
and develop their skills in European collaboration using Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT). The workshops bring together participants from different
European countries to network and share experiences.
http://www.etwinning.net/ww/en/pub/etwinning/european_development_workshops.htm
Et prenez contact avec votre Bureau d’assistance national pour vous inscrire
:
http://www.etwinning.net/ww/fr/pub/etwinning/about_etwinning/contact_details/national_support_services.htm
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