Infonews n°319 from 09/12/2007

A la Une this week, earthquakes and safety, then two videos to teach beginners (or those who have forgotten) how to tell the time and spell. The resources for secondary school include an audio document about product advertising in films and on TV, a course on what words and expressions to use to complain, documents about human rights, and interactive quiz about what to do with wastes at home, an exercise to rewrite tales and another to discover the holidays in december. Then here are some more resources for the Christmas period, including a play, another interactive calendar, a site about the traditions in Finland, with recipes, a difficult papercraft and a webquest to study a Christmas Carol, by Dickens. Advanced literature students will enjoy a new translation of Boewulf's poem, and teachers will see how a colleague organises a debate, and another offers an interesting exercise around numbers. A la fin, en français, l'appel à communication pour le prochain colloque Cyber-langues et une compilation des tâches finales par nos collègues de e-teach.

Have a nice week!
Christine Reymond

Sommaire

A la Une : Earthquake

Earthquake in Martinique
Earthquakes and Safety

Resources for Primary School

Time and Spelling

Resources for Secondary School

Product placement in advertisements (from the BBC)
How to complaint
Human Rights Today
Environment : How to reduce wastes
Rewriting folks tales (from everydayteaching.com)
December holidays (from everydayteaching.com)

More on Christmas

Christmas Readers' Theater program (from everydayteaching.com)
BBC Learning English advent calendar
A Finnish Christmas (from everydayteaching.com)
Handicraft : Santa's House (from everydayteaching.com)
A Christmas Carol (from everydayteaching.com)

Resources for Advanced Students

Beowulf's epic poem

From our colleagues

Organise a debate in class
Hear numbers...and deduce

Teaching Practice

Appel à communication pour le Colloque Cyber-Langues 2008
Tâches finales


A la Une : Earthquake

Earthquake in Martinique

Several members of our list of ESL teachers live in Martinique where there was an earthquake last week. Laurence Bernard found this article with a video on BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7120018.stm
There are many links to explore on the page, but you can also study the phenomenon with those two sites recommended by Sylvie Brod
- 3 flash animations about earthquakes on Frédéric Chotard's page (scroll down to earthquake)
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/prof.danglais/animations/index.htm
- this virtual online course about earthquake
http://www.sciencecourseware.org/eec/Earthquake/

Earthquakes and Safety

- *** an excellent animation presenting the safety measures in a funny way that studnets will remember
http://itsartmag.com/news/archives/1083-How-to-survive-an-Earthquake.html
- a page made by students to explain earthquake : simple vocabulary and clear diagrams (fro beginners and lower intermediates)
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/earthquake1.htm
- the video and pages about how earthquakes work on How Stuff Works (for intermediates and above)
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/earthquake-video.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/earthquake.htm
- lots of animations presenting earthquakes and their consequences on a Californian website
http://www.edcenter.sdsu.edu/ssc/3d/
- for technicians : online safety videos
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/EHS/prod/training/video/online/index.html

Resources for Primary School

Time and Spelling

On eTeachNet, Françoise Peyrissat recommends this site to hear real natives telling the time. You can use it with beginners who just learnt how to tell the time, or with more advanced students who have forgotten it.
What time is it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crU_xe12N4Q
You may also want to teach or revise the alphabet : here is a site where you can hear the alphabet recited in two different ways, then some names are spelled, and in the end you hear the spelling, and you have to tell the mane yourself. older students will also love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dU3Pa9_fIc

Resources for Secondary School

Product placement in advertisements (from the BBC)

BBC "Word in the News" features an audio and written report (with vocabulary) about the EU position and regulation about product placement on TV.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2007/11/071130_eu_tv_ads.shtml
See also other articles about Ofcom (the media watchdog) and products placed in films
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4800904.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4578563.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4372842.stm

How to complaint

BBC Learning English features this video about "how to complaint", with the full program to download, vocabulary and special expressions and an activity to print. Remember that this program is meant for adult autonomous learners of intermediate level minimum. You can also edit the program and use only parts of it and to organise a role play with your students, focusing first on the words and expressions used, then on how it is pronounced. Excellent also for professionals who will have to work in a complaint service or answer to complaints on the phone.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1331_howto_feedback/page6.shtml

Human Rights Today

the Australian site of Amnesty International presents Human Rights today : a new curriculum resource which has been developed by Curriculum Corporation for Amnesty International Australia for use by teachers and students in years 9 and 10. You can download a chapter of the book for free, and also the teacher's guide (with lots of links)
http://action.amnesty.org.au/images/uploads/hre/HumanrightsOnlineteacherguide.pdf

Environment : How to reduce wastes

The Scout Report recommends this Interactive site about how to deal with your wastes.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2007/scout-071207-re.php#3
http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/intro.html
My students liked doing the interactive quiz : Test your knowledge about hazardous wastes in your home. And the part advising to through your medicine down the drain has been corrected : medicine are now hazardous wastes! ;)
http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/hazardous/

A ban on plastic bags

On eTeachNet our colleague Béatrice Manigat from Togo recommand this video from CNN, with a full transcript, about the ban of plastic bags in San Francisco.
Video (you can download it with DownloadHelper):
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/education/2007/11/26/sn.1127.cnn?iref=videosearch
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/11/26/transcript.tue/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
Transcript:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/11/26/transcript.tue/index.html#three
read also the article : "Plastic bags fly into environmental storm"
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/14/fsummit.climate.plasticbags/index.html?iref=newssearch

Rewriting folks tales (from everydayteaching.com)

"Take any folktale, fable, or fairytale, and have your students rewrite and perform their plays according to the directions in this language arts and drama lesson plan. Try and choose a story that students are familiar with, and have fun updating it. (3-9)"
http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/DaylePayne7242002572
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php
[ note that the example of play attached and the group worksheet are no longer accessible, but the process is still interesting.]

December holidays (from everydayteaching.com)

"Have your students research a holiday celebration different from their own, working in groups and interviewing members of their communities. They can ask a neighbor or friend about Los Posadas, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah, for instance, or perhaps visit a senior's residence to inquire about traditions celebrated earlier last century. They can write up a presentation, invite a guest, prepare a special recipe from a different culture, include illustrations or drawings, bring in items related to the celebration, create how-to posters, etc. Pull it all together for a December Holidays Presentation Day, where they can dress in costume if desired and invite guests to help celebrate the diversity of all of our amazing celebrations and backgrounds. Use the different links above for inspiration and/or guidance. (5-12)"
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/MCC/
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/glossary/holidaysgloss.htm
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php

More on Christmas

Christmas Readers' Theater program (from everydayteaching.com)

"Goldilocks visits the North Pole and has some adventures with the elves from Santa's Workshop in this Christmas Readers' Theater program. Sleeping Beauty also has a dramatic performance, and all of these tales and characters get lovingly mixed up into a hilarious and charming Christmas tale with 15 parts; a perfect holiday Readers' Theater script for grades 3-5. (3-6)"
http://www.everydayteaching.com/Holiday/Christmas/GoldilockstheChristmasElves.pdf
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php
[ designed for young native speakers, this play is funny and full of useful current expressions and references to characters from the traditional fairy tales. Could be an original Christmas play for intermediate students.]

BBC Learning English advent calendar

Discover a question each day, with a link to a text from the site where you can find a hint for the answer. Encourage your students to go there every day and share the questions with the class the next morning!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1144_xmas07/page3.shtml

A Finnish Christmas (from everydayteaching.com)

'This site is beautifully rendered with images, music, and text, and tells much of Finnish Christmas traditions. Christmas Eve is the major celebration, though festivities continue through until Twelfth Night. It's always wonderful to learn of traditions in other lands, which, while similar to our own, have their own special customs. In Finland, for example, the Christmas dinner is laden with pickled herring, roe, and salmon, and Christmas Peace is proclaimed as a long-standing event, dating back to the 13th century and now broadcast live on television every Christmas Eve day at noon. Learn more about present day customs and also take a look at Christmas traditions long ago in Finland. While you're there, visit Santa Claus, listen to some Finnish Christmas carols or try some great cultural recipes, send a Christmas card, or try the Advent Calendar beginning December 1st. (2-6)"
http://virtual.finland.fi/xmas/index.asp
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php
[ I especially liked the recipes (with cookies)
http://virtual.finland.fi/xmas/index.asp?p=4&sub=13
and the 51 questions about Santa, with short answers:
http://virtual.finland.fi/xmas/index.asp?p=3&sub=1 ]

Handicraft : Santa's House (from everydayteaching.com)

Everything is ready for intermediate students who want to build this papercraft : just print the color patterns for the house and the decorations (37 pages) and then assemble following the instructions in the guide (second address). A stunning result but it is a lot of work and it reuires a lot of attention to details.
http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/event/download/santaclaus_house_e_ltr.pdf
http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/event/download/santaclaus_house_i_e_ltr.pdf
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php

A Christmas Carol (from everydayteaching.com)

What were the values and traditions of Victorian England during the time Charles Dickens wrote this most famous of all Christmas tales, A Christmas Carol? Students will take on roles and characters to present their findings to the class, while looking at the elements of characterization and drama as well. Use the 2nd link above for the webquest portion of the lesson plan, which includes detailed role card assignments and planning worksheets. Rubrics are also included. (6-9)
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=238
http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson238/dickens_WebQuest.html
from : http://everydayteaching.com/lists/subscribe.php
[ interesting webquest on a novel for upper intermediate students in literature.]

Resources for Advanced Students

Beowulf's epic poem

The Scout Report announces this New Translation for Oral Delivery of Beowulf's epic poem. Interesting for advanced students in English literature.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2007/scout-071207-re.php#1
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Literature/subcollections/RinglBeowulfAbout.shtml

From our colleagues

Organize a debate in class

On e-teach, Sophie Bonfils, a colleague from Lyon, shares her work with us. She organized a debate with a class of business oriented students about a Starbuck café in the Forbidden city in Beijing. She first studies a text with the students, and then worked on the vocabulary, the pronunciation and the possible arguments. You can see online the videos, the worksheet for the debate and the videos of her students debating. Thanks for sharing this interesting work with us!
http://mmebonfils.free.fr/comm_intern/comm_intern.html
http://mmebonfils.free.fr/comm_intern/china/starbucks_in_China.html
http://mmebonfils.free.fr/comm_intern/china/worksheet.pdf
http://mmebonfils.free.fr/comm_intern/china/debates/debating.html

Hear numbers...and deduce

I think this page made by Michel Barbot for his students can be very useful to train students to spot elements in something they hear, and them work around them to learn more. Michel works from an audio extract from Erin Brockovich, when she give "numbers", and those few numbers describe her life and how she feels. Hear the extract, answer the questions, and deduce...
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/michel.barbot/hotpot/fig_numbers/erin.htm

Teaching Practice

Appel à communication pour le Colloque Cyber-Langues 2008

Sur Eteachnet, Yvan Baptiste nous informe que le prochain colloque Cyber-Langues, aura lieu du mardi 26 au jeudi 28 août 2008, à Dijon.
Le thème choisi pour cette nouvelle manifestation est : 'TICE et langues : de l'expérimentation à la généralisation.'
- Une plaquette d'information sur l'événement est en ligne à
http://www.cyber-langues.asso.fr/IMG/pdf/Appel_a_comm_2008-1.pdf
- si vous souhaitez venir faire partager votre expérience, si vous voulez présenter ce que vous faites, vous pouvez faire une proposition d'intervention
http://www.cyber-langues.asso.fr/spip.php?article38

Tâches finales

Our colleague Hervé Hubert has put together the ideas of several members of e-teach for the task at the end of a teaching unit, done according to the new approach of the European Framework (CECRL). Here is the list so far : you can read them, test them, and if you have some more ideas, just send them to him and add your brick to our wall....
http://rv.humbert.chez-alice.fr/tachesfinales.pdf


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