Infonews n°330 from 30/03/2008

A la Une this week, read about DNA test for sale in stores in the US and what companies do with them. In the news, find information about the events in Tibet and the Olympic games, a governmental website in the US for patients to rate hospitals and nursing homes, the discovery of what Scott, a Frenchman, invented before Edison to record a sound, an article about Obama's mother in the NYT, an article and a video about "the big turn off" to save energy, and articles about M.Sarkozy's visit to London. In the calendar, don't forget World Health Day and Earth Day. Then find several online learning games for the youngest, especially for math, and documents for audio and written comprehension, old copyright-free films to download, and sites about time share, the profiles of US voters, clean vehicles (discover also HOV lanes), and the cover article of Time Magazine about the appalling situation of youngsters in the UK (and more documents about homelessness). Et finalement, le sommaire du dernier numéro des langues Modernes et un site de documents pour évaluer toutes les compétences niveau A2.

I'll be on holidays at the end of next week, so Infonews n°331 will be published on April 27th.
Until then, have a nice week and enjoy your holidays!

Christine Reymond

Sommaire

A la Une : DNA tests

Pictures
Articles
Animations

In the News

Save Tibet
Patients rate US hospital care
Edison's first recording predated
- Picture of the phonautograph
- Audio
- Video
Obama's Mother
Earth Hour : the big turn off
Sarkozy's visit to London

In the Calendar

April 7th : World Health Day
April 22nd : Earth Day

Resources for Primary School

BBC games to learn
Funfacts
Change Maker
What number is missing?
Choose your math game

Resources for Secondary School

Written Compréhension
Audio Comprehension : BBC Children's news
Free films to download
Business, economics : Time share
Politics : Campaign 2008 - Patchwork Nation (from [LII New This Week] March 27)
Sustainable development, engineering : Drive Clean (from [LII New This Week] March 27)
Social Studies : Britain's Mean Streets

Teaching Practice

Les Langues Modernes
Entrainement niveau A2


A la Une : DNA tests

Pictures

Here is an excellent picture to start the topic. It is enigmatic enough to start students talking, and will also enable them to raise interesting philosophical questions to which they will then try to find answers through the articles.
http://www.wired.com/images/article/magazine/1512/ff_genomics1_630.jpg
You may prefer this picture presenting a test tube, which will gear the questions towards more technical issues : a less rich approach, but more focused.
http://www.wired.com/images/article/full/2007/11/genomics_full.jpg

Articles

In the news this week, I found this article from the Washington Post entitled " Dollar signs in double Helixes". It deals with the benefits and problems linked to this new opportunity for people in the US to access paternity tests easily. Some will spare a costly trial, but others may have problems to face the results unprepared:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/28/AR2008032803511.html
The article also hints at some companies offering those tests to find out what disease you may get...or your ideal partner! For more on that line, read "Companies offering DNA insights into health, behavior or even mate selection". At the end of the article, they mention the fact that companies might one day use DNA test to hire their employees and make sure they will not develop some disease that will keep them away from work.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/mar/30/genetic-testing-gets-personal/
You may also find interesting material in this long article (5 pages) from Wired : "32andMe Will Decode Your DNA for $1,000. Welcome to the Age of Genomics." This new opportunity is considered from several points of view, but mainly the medical aspect, including this difficult question : do people want to know what they are likely to die from?
http://www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/magazine/15-12/ff_genomics?currentPage=all
http://www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/magazine/15-12/ff_genomics?currentPage=5
You will also discover how two women started the 32andMe company. Here is the website of their company:
https://www.23andme.com/gen101/genes/
You can also relate this finding to history with this article about "the royal disease", hemophilia that affected Queen Victoria's offsprings.
https://www.23andme.com/gen101/variation/hemophilia/

Animations

The genes 101 section of the 32andMe company features 4 Flash animations presenting what the genes are, where they come from, what SNPs are and what a phenotype is. Those animations are easy to understand for students specialised in biology who already know most of the information, so students with a level as low as A2+ can understand it.
https://www.23andme.com/gen101/

In the News

Save Tibet

[LII New This Week] March 27 presents "March 2008 analysis about the conflict between Chinese authorities and Tibetan protesters in which Chinese troops "moved to seal off the Tibetan capital of Lhasa." Features links to news stories and related commentary, such as about reform pressures on China related to Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics. From the Council on Foreign Relations."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25731
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15738/trouble_in_tibet.html
and recommends to take action with "the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) : a website for this organization that believes that "there must be a political solution [about Tibet] based on direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and his representatives and the People's Republic of China." Features material about campaigns (such as "Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet," related to the 2008 Olympics in China), news, background about Tibet and the Dalai Lama, and details about advocacy efforts (including information about U.S. policy and Tibet). Available in several languages."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25732
http://savetibet.org/

Patients rate US hospital care

Read this article from Associated Press presenting the new site from the US government allowing patients to rate and compare hospital care
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iFD5ubtTb2aOaVeyeo7KeQKq0x6gD8VMNFNG0
Here is the site
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/
and on Medicare.gov, US citizen can compare nursing homes, dialysis facilities, and health plans.
http://www.medicare.gov/

Edison's first recording predated

Nothing to do with predator! This title just means that an earlier attempt to record sound was discovered in France by American researchers. Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville made this first recording of "au clair de la lune" 17 years before Edison recorded "Mary had a little lamb". Read this short article, for the use of the word "predate" : "A 10-second version of "Au Clair De La Lune," now archived online, is said to predate Thomas Edison's Manhattan railroad sounds."
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207000451
or those articles from the New York Times, the BBC and the Guardian
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.html?ei=5124&en=f98597c0206e2879&ex=1364356800&adxnnl=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&adxnnlx=1206861630-ePpZLlcC0cYhGYoi9Xb3EQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7318180.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/30/sciencenews.france

- Picture of the phonautograph
http://inventorspot.com/files/images/phonautograph_0.png

- Audio
Several reacordings on the site First Sounds
http://www.firstsounds.org/
A long interview of Scott's relative from the BBC (B1+, French accent)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7310000/newsid_7318700/7318701.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1#
Listen to the oldest recording and presentation of the invention. The beginning is easy and can be used with level A2 students.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7310000/newsid_7318200?redirect=7318205.stm&news=1&nbram=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&asb=1

- Video
On Euronews, a short report with part of the script, level B1
http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=477709&lng=1#

Obama's Mother

Discover Obama's mother and a timeline of his life in " A Free Spirited Wanderer Who Set Obama's Path", an article published the New York Times and also in the Sunday supplement of Le Monde yesterday. Gives a endearing image of the candidate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/politics/14obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/29/us/politics/20071229_OBAMA_TIMELINE.html
You will also find information in the profile page of the NYT
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per

Earth Hour : the big turn off

Yesterday, March 30th, 27 big cities in the world including Sydney and Dublin switched off their lights as a sign of their concern towards global warming. Read this article from Reuters and watch the video (level B1, note : "the darker the better")
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSSP28389220080330
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=79164&newsChannel=wtMostRead

Sarkozy's visit to London

Here are some sites where you can find articles and photos of the visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7316200.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sarkomania-your-complete-guide-to-the-state-visit-of-the-year-800615.html
a short article from the Guardian : "Carla dresses for success"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/30/pressandpublishing.nicolassarkozy

In the Calendar

April 7th : World Health Day

"World Health Day, on 7 April, marks the founding of the World Health Organization and is an opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year. In 2008, World Health Day focuses on the need to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change. " (from the site)
http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/index.html

April 22nd : Earth Day

Don't miss Earth Day, a special day to talk about environmental issues, discuss global warming and sustainable development!
http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/
and if you missed that day, there will be Environment Day 2008 on June 5th.
You will find all the links you need on Michelle Henry's page and mine:
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/earth.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/earthday.htm
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/themes/earthandenvironment.html

Resources for Primary School

BBC games to learn

Here are several short games for the youngest. The child has to locate a town on the map, put the right weather symbol on a place, put some items in the right recycling box, etc. It's fun, and a way to learn simple vocabulary.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/barnabybear/games/

Funfacts

Learn everything about cheetahs. The text is read aloud and the letters color as they are pronounced.
http://www.playkidsgames.com/funfacts/cheetah/funfact_011_cheta.html

Change Maker

Students have to practice giving back change in US, UK, Canadian, Australian and Mexican currency : they learn how to count and how to recognize the coins.
http://www.funbrain.com/cashreg/index.html

What number is missing?

Find as fast as you can the missing number.
http://www.mathsyear2000.org/magnet/minus/mouse/index.html

Choose your math game

lots of other math games to do in English.
http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/ekowalcz/math/elementary_web_sites.htm

Resources for Secondary School

Written Compréhension

On e-teach, Emmanuelle Saupé shared with us a Canadian site that she has discovered and which contains short texts about various subjects that could be used for an evaluation of written comprehension level A1+/A2
http://2ndnature-online-eikaiwa.com/Canada-Festivals/Festivals-Canada.htm

Audio Comprehension : BBC Children's news

Listen to the news online, and find the transcript for teachers; A good comprehension exercise for students level A2.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/bulletin_scripts.shtml

Free films to download

On e-teach, Catherine Hugenschmitt recommends this site with old movies and animations films that you can download. The films are in streaming, but you can easily download them with DownloadHelper.
http://www.freemooviesonline.com
For example, you can watch :
- an old version of "the man who knew too much" by Hitchcock: "This is the original, British-made movie from 1934 and is now in the public domain. After coming to the United States, Alfred Hitchcock produced a remake of this movie in 1956 starring James (Jimmy) Stewart and Doris Day. The remake remains under copyright.
http://www.freemooviesonline.com/watch-free-movies/mystery-movies/the-man-who-knew-too-much.html
- a day at the zoo by Tex Avery
http://www.freemooviesonline.com/watch-free-movies/animations/a-day-at-the-zoo.html

Business, economics : Time share

[LII New This Week] March 27 recommends this site of tips and advices to time share buyers and owners from the American Resort Development Association. Students level A2+ and above specialised in tourism, economics or social studies will find this site interesting and you can organise a learning unit around it. You can for example use it as a basis for role playing activities, mock interviews, etc.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25689
http://www.arda.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Purchasing_Tips
They also recommend this article from Kiplinger, a business and finance magazine. The article also gives tips and advices, but presented in a long article. it could be interesting to have one part of the class working on the ARDA site and the other on this article.
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25692
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2007/10/timeshare.html

Politics : Campaign 2008 - Patchwork Nation (from [LII New This Week] March 27)

"Series of features about 2008 U.S. presidential election issues important in "11 places across the US that represent distinct types of voter communities. They are Monied 'Burbs, Minority Central, Evangelical Epicenters, Tractor Country, Campus and Careers, Immigration Nation, Industrial Metropolis, Boom Towns, Service Worker Centers, Emptying Nests, and Military Bastions." Includes a blog, message boards, candidate information, and related material. From the Christian Science Monitor."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25740
[ Fascinating classification of American people by the Christian Science Monitor. Discover the monied burbs and the tractor Country, but remember that this newpaper is published by a church (read the "about us" section):
http://www.csmonitor.com/aboutus/about_the_monitor.html
This site is also recommended by Intute, a British site for social sciences recommended by two British universities.
http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=20080327-10115551

Sustainable development, engineering : Drive Clean (from [LII New This Week] March 27)

"A zero and near-zero emission vehicle guide brought to you by the California Air Resources Board." Features background about clean and cleaner air vehicle types including electric, hybrid electric, alternative fuel, fuel cell, and cleaner gas cars. Includes information about environmental benefits, charging and fueling, technology, safety, and carpool lane eligibility. Also includes fact sheets, a vehicle search, information about government incentives, news, and links to related sites."
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25632
http://www.driveclean.ca.gov/en/gv/driveclean/vtype_electric.asp
[ an excellent site for students interested in alternative energy for cars : for each type, the site provides an easy-to-read (level A2+) article with sections like benefits, perks (meaning perquisite : privilege, gain) etc. I also discovered the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOV ]

Social Studies : Britain's Mean Streets

This week's cover story from Time Magazine is entitled "Unhappy, Unloved and Out of Control" is about "an epidemic of violent crime, teen pregnancy, heavy drinking and drug abuse fuels fears that British youth is in crisis"
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547-3,00.html
As an illustration, you can watch this extract from BBC News featuring a very young mother who delivered her baby alone in the bathroom while her companion was fast asleep in the bedroom. Appalling!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F2ro7C390Q
a page from the BBC (with link to
http://www.bbc.co.uk/outreach/2006_review/partnerships/homelessness.shtml
History of homelessness in the UK
http://www.mungos.org/facts/history.html
an educational pack about homelessness, with lessons, quizzes and activities
http://www.centrepoint.org.uk/content/view/34/21/
http://www.centrepoint.org.uk/documents/Centrepoint_MyPlace.pdf
Audio material : homeless stories from the BBC. Teens tell their story and explain how and why they became homeless
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nohome/homeless/
more real stories
http://www.crisis.org.uk/page.builder/reallifestories.html
a US page of links about homelessness
http://www.gradebook.org/Poverty.htm

Teaching Practice

Les Langues Modernes

L’équipe de rédaction de la revue Les Langues Modernes a le plaisir de vous annoncer la parution du n°1/2008 : « L'intercompréhension».
Sommaire à voir sur le site de l'APLV.
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/spip.php?article1604

Entrainement niveau A2

Yvan Baptiste nous informe que les IPRs viennent de mettre en ligne sur le site académique de Montpellier des documents (texte et sonore) pour entraîner / évaluer le niveau A2 dans toutes les compétences, y compris l'interaction. Ces documents pourront vous permettre de voir comment évaluer vos élèves pour la certification A2 en fin de troisième.
http://pedagogie.ac-montpellier.fr/disciplines/anglais/ressources/niveauA2/index.html


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lycée Blaise Pascal, Rouen, France
E-Mail: Christine.Reymond@ac-rouen.fr
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