Infonews n°328 from 16/03/2008
A webquest
A quiz
A song
*** Free music and songs to download
From the British Council
Easter
Road Safety
Heathrow Airport
Fred and Betty : is this the end?
Flying Foxes
Learn English vocabulary and fight hunger
London Science Museum
Women in History: Historical Figures (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
KQED: Election 2008 (from [LII New This Week] March 6)
Youth Radio: Election 2008 (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
Primaries and Caucuses
Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
Mondiologo
Training sessions in Ireland
ICT competency standards for teachers
Schools closing the achievement gap in Colorado
Laurence Bernard, our colleague from Martinique, has designed a teaching
unit level A2/ B1 for her students. She put everything online: the resources,
the worksheets and she ends up with the official evaluation grid for Bac STG.
And I'm sure the resources can be adapted to other levels. Thanks a lot, Laurence!
http://cms.ac-martinique.fr/discipline/anglais/file/realitytv.php
A webquest
As a complement to infonews n°327, you can use this nice webquest designed
by our colleague Jean-Luc Prost for students level A1+ and above. He has put
it on Rapidshare where you can download it. It is based on the following three
St Patrick sites, that the students must type themselves : Enchanted Learning,
English zone and académie de Paris.
http://rapidshare.com/files/99789482/ST_PATRICK_webquest.doc.html (download
and print)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/ireland/ (lots
of activities level A1 and A2)
http://www.english-zone.com/holidays/st-patsymbols.html (symbols
explained)
http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/stpat/symbols.htm (very
simple : guess the name of the symbol)
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/327.htm#une (special
St Patrick's day)
A quiz
On eTeachNet, Sarah Rapnouil-Dunn share with you what she will do with her
students : "I'm doing a special St Patrick's teatime on Monday (sponsored
by Le Comptoir Irlandais!!) with my 3e and 2nde Section Euros. They will have
an oral quiz to do in teams, so I thought I'd share my 20 questions (and answers)
with you, in case someone can use them. It starts with very easy ones but gradually
gets harder.
http://www.rapnouil.net/ndaeuro/nda2/irishquiz.htm
A song
On e-teach, Sylvie Brod recommends this Irish pub song : the Wild Rover.
Here are the story of the song, the lyrics and the video on You Tube by the
Dubliners. Ideal to create a St Patrick's Day atmosphere in your class!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Rover
http://lve.scola.ac-paris.fr/anglais/son/Wildrovr.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgsVd4-wH_A
Free music and songs to download
*** For more Irish background music, go to the Brobdingnagian Bards' site
(pronounced brAHb'ding-näg-EE-en). With Firefox Downloadhelper you can download
2 cds worth of free MP3 music.(including Lock Lomond, Finnegan's wake, Scarborough
Faire, Danny boy, Wild Rover, Little drummer boy, the leprechaun, several extracts
from the Lord of the Ring's soundtrack, etc.)
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=106366
http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/The_Leprechaun.shtml (lyrics
of "the leprechaun")
From the British Council
in the newsletter from the British Council, you will find links to special
days to celebrate in March : St Patrick's Day on february 17th, Racial Discrimination
week from March 17th to 23rd, World Water Day on March 22nd, and Jobs and Work
week from March 23rd to 30th.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/lec-news-march-2008-1.htm
Easter
Here are some ideas of activities for Easter :
- from Michelle Henry : lots of ideas of stories, handicrafts, songs, tongue
twisters, jokes, cartoons, games and interactive activities. Excellent, as
usual!
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/easter.htm
- from [LII New This Week] March 6 : "collection of Easter craft and recipe
ideas for children and their families. Includes instructions for baskets, table
decorations, bunny-based projects, and cards; numerous egg decorating ideas;
and recipes for eggs, brunch and dinner fare, and cakes. Also includes printable
projects, suggestions for Easter parties and games, and instructional videos.
From FamilyFun magazine."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25564
[don't miss the how-to video!!!!]
- from [LII New This Week] March 13 : pictures of Easter Parade 2007 to make
students talk : "See dozens of photos of the whimsical and wild head adornments
worn at the New York City Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival, which takes
place along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets each Easter. Includes photos
from 2006 and 2007. From a professional photographer.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25562
Road Safety
You can find lots of resources for young children on the British site about
road Safety "Hedgehog" :
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/hedgehogs/hedgehogs.htm
including video and audio
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/hedgehogs/hedgehogsmedia.htm#video
a game
http://www.hedgehogs.gov.uk/main/main.html
guides and lesson plans for teachers
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/advice/teachers.htm
and forms for survey
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sd/managers/travel/STAtoolkit/stp/
for older students, level A1+ and above, Florinda Fernandes has put on her
site several links to ready to use worksheets:
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-4538736.html
and of course, the place to go is the page prepared by Michelle Henry with
lots of resources around the Road and Road safety:
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/route.htm
Heathrow Airport
For students level B2, BBC learning English offers a program about Heathrow
Airport and the problems linked to air travel, with words explained : for example
discover "the buzz word"
in context. You can download the podcast and the full script.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/144_6minute/
Fred and Betty : is this the end?
Adult beginners (level A1+) will enjoy this very serie in 12 very short episodes,
each including a phrasal verb in a conversation. Only 6 are online so far,
so students can discuss the possible ending. You can download the audio of
each episode (a few seconds) and the page that you can use as a worksheet.
The BBC also introduces a new concept : chatting about what will happen next
with other students and practicing your phrasal verbs through Face Book.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1715_faceup/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1715_faceup/page2.shtml
Flying Foxes
Are you looking for an unusual topic to train B1+ students to audio comprehension?
here is a news report from the BBC about the nuisance of Flying Foxes in Sydney's
botanic garden. As usual in BBC Learning from the News, you can download the
audio and the lesson plan, and there is also a quiz and links to further information
about the topic.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/03/080305_flying_foxes.shtml
Learn English vocabulary and fight hunger
Free rice is a website which claims giving one grain of rice for each one
of your good answers. You can also learn sophisticated English vocabulary,
and hear the words. This special vocabulary will be useful only to natives
or advanced learners level C2, but it is fun for teachers ...;)
Site recommended by Thot :
http://thot.cursus.edu/rubrique.asp?no=27488
http://www.freerice.com/index.php
London Science Museum
Thot recommends this game for students in physics and engineering, to help
them figure out a solution to a problem. This problem solving game has won
several awards.
http://thot.cursus.edu/rubrique.asp?no=27490
Have a look at the new features on the website of the Science Museum and discover
online exhibitions in many fields and information about how to organise your
visit. They even offer to come to your school : they mean in the UK, of course,
but maybe they would also consider coming over to France...
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
Women in History: Historical Figures (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
Profiles of famous American women, such as Louisa May Alcott, Clara Barton,
Rachel Carson, Isadora Duncan, Sally Hemings, Dolley Madison, Annie Oakley,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Profiles
vary in amount of information provided about the individual. A good starting
point for ideas for school paper topics, as this listing includes women from
a variety of time periods, professions, and fields of accomplishment. From
Lakewood Public Library, Ohio.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25627
KQED: Election 2008 (from [LII New This Week] March 6)
News and features from KQED radio and TV programs concerning the 2008 U.S.
presidential election. Audio and video clips cover national and California
perspectives on the election, candidates, and specific issues. Includes links
to election news from Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programs and National
Public Radio (NPR).
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25559
Youth Radio: Election 2008 (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
This site follows the 2008 U.S. presidential election "around the country,
through the perspectives of young people who are getting a close-up view of
the process." Features youth reporting on candidates, primaries, fundraisers,
and other election topics. From Youth Radio, a
"youth media production company creating radio, television, web and print
content."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25628
Primaries and Caucuses
Telling the difference and explaining how it works is really difficult. France
Info wrote an article which is clear and helpful (in French). Voyez aussi les
articles dans leur dossier spécial élections (deuxième adresse).
http://www.france-info.com/spip.php?article59299&theme=14&sous_theme=16
http://www.france-info.com/spip.php?rubrique238&theme=14&sous_theme=16
Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos (from [LII New This Week] March 13)
Collection of videos from March 2008 of "fiery explosions, beautiful
reactions, and hilarious music ...[which] are great reasons to be excited about
chemistry." Includes videos of a gummy bear reacting with potassium chlorate,
how to make your own glow sticks, and more. Note: these experiments are meant
only for trained professionals in labs. From Wired magazine.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25594
Mondiologo
Thot invites us to discover this website created by Daimler and UNESCO to
encourage intercultural dialogue. You can register as a member, or take part
in one of their contests for classes and for engineering students, and work
with other students from all over the world. With the second address you can
read about the ongoing projects and choose a partner school or university.
http://thot.cursus.edu/rubrique.asp?no=27403
http://www.mondialogo.org/294.html?&L=en&tx_ttnews[%20tt_news]=40&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=323&tx_ttnews[backPid]=93
Training sessions in Ireland
Here is a message from English Matters Co-ordination Team, announcing Comenius
courses for EFL teachers and teachers of Subjects in English (DNL in France).
Don't hesitate to contact them for more information:
" You can find our courses for Teachers in Ireland (July-August 2008)
in the Comenius-Grundtvig Training Database:
A. Courses for TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, held in Trinity College
Dublin, Dublin City University, and University of Limerick.
**OPENING CONVERSATIONS – TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN. Reference number: ES-2008-185-001.
**TALKING TO PEOPLE–DUBLIN. Reference num.: ES-2008-184-002.
**LET US TALK: An Intercultural Dialogue for Teachers of English FL - Univ.
Limerick. Reference number: ES-2008-182-002.
B. Course for SUBJECT TEACHERS, held in University of Limerick:
**AN ENQUIRY-BASED APPROACH FOR TEACHERS OF SUBJECTS OTHER THAN ENGLISH (History,
Geography, Literature, Art, Religion, Politics, Civics, Social Science, CLIL,
etc.) - University of Limerick. (Reference number: ES-2008-183-002).
For more details about each course, enter the number of the course in the Comenius
data base:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/trainingdatabase/search.cfm
Pour d'autres infromations sur les actions Socrates, Comenius, etc. et sur
les modalités d'attribution des bourses, voyez l'agence Socrates France:
http://www.europe-education-formation.fr/
ICT competency standards for teachers
Lu dans Thot "D'après l'UNESCO, l'enjeu de l'usage des TIC dans l'enseignement
dépasse largement la question de l'enrichissement des contenus pédagogiques
et l'accroissement de la variété des méthodes de travail proposées à
l'élève. Il s'agit plutôt de préparer les jeunes
à s'insérer dans une société numérique et ce, quel que soit le pays où ils
vivent."
http://thot.cursus.edu/rubrique.asp?no=27467
On UNESCO, read this "implementation guide"
recommending various actions and attitudes, in clear tables organised like
the Common Framework for Languages (CECRL)
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001562/156209E.pdf
to read about it in English and download other brochures
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25740&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Schools closing the achievement gap in Colorado
I heard yesterday morning a program on France Info presenting a plan implemented
with success in Colorado. It is a plan in 10 steps. Have a look and see what
they did to improve the results and the atmosphere in those schools. Note especially
that the head have less power and that the teachers are implied even in the
selection of new teachers and have a lot of freedom and autonomy as long at
things improve...a definitely very American model!
http://www.apaconsulting.net/uploads/reports/11.pdf
Read the article or listen to the podcast in French
http://www.france-info.com/spip.php?article109881&theme=81&sous_theme=133
Ceci est un message de la LISTE INFONEWS
réalisé par Christine Reymond
lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
Les commentaires et réflexions entre [ ] ne reflètent que mon opinion personnelle.
Sites Infonews:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/une1.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/une1.htm
Pour consulter les sources:
http://perso.numericable.fr/~dreymondch46/infonews/archives/sourcinfonw.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/sourcinfonw.htm
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