Infonews n°332 from 04/05/2008

A la Une this week, read the reviews about "The 11th Hour", Leonardo DiCaprio's film in the same vein as Al Gore's "An inconvenient Truth", and discover some resources to complement the film and even a game. In the news, read about the 100 most influential people of the year selected by Time magazine and discover the May calendars from the British Council and from Michelle Henry. This week, I found several resources for primary school teachers : clapping games, folk songs, flash cards and language games. The first topic in the secondary school section is about the new anti-teens device and the controversies it raises, then try a webquest created by Michelle henry, a lesson about how to write email, a debate about child brides, read articles about Grand Theft Auto, 1968 in France, and finally explore a video career library. Et pour finir, découvrez le programme d'anglais langue de complément et lisez la lettre d'information de l'APLV.

Enjoy the sun and have a nice week!
Christine Reymond

Sommaire

A la Une : the 11th Hour

The film
Reviews
More on this topic
Free online game

In the News

Time 100
Press Censorship
British Council May calendar
Rescol May calendar

Resources for Primary School

Clapping Games
Folk Songs
Flash Cards
Language games

Resources for Secondary School

Anti-teen Device
Safe or Trapped? - a webquest
Email and Emoticons
Child Bride
Grand theft Auto launched
40 years after 1968
Multimedia Career Library

Teaching Practice

Programme pour l'anglais langue de complément
Lettre de l'APLV


A la Une : the 11th Hour

The film

The film will be released in the USA on August 17th , but it is already available in stores as a DVD and you can buy it from Amazon for $4.99. You may notice that there are 44 second hand DVDs also available...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005JPXA?tag=11thhouracti-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00005JPXA&adid=0768B13KRXAD0B60XRNG&
You can download the poster, the trailers and short clips (in .mov)
http://11thhouraction.com/downloads
Two other free online films in Flash by Leonardo Di Caprio : Global WarNing and Water Planet (bottom right of the first page, two icons on the right under the pictures on the second)
http://www.leonardodicaprio.org/
http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/

Reviews

Although in the same vein as "An Inconvenient Truth", this film seems to focus on people rather than nature. "The 11th Hour is quick to assure us that the planet will be just fine. Instead, it's ourselves we should be concerned about. " And, what's even better, it "devotes a good third of its running time to sketching possible ways out of the dilemma."
http://worldfilm.about.com/od/documentaryfilms/fr/11thHour.htm
For USA today, the film is too close to Al Gore's, "But The 11th Hour distinguishes itself just enough by delving into themes not explored by Truth, including mankind's place in the animal kingdom, the influence of religion on climate change and the nature of human greed."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2007-08-16-11th-hour_N.htm
The New York Times says : "It may not change your life, but it may inspire you to recycle that old slogan-button your folks pinned on their dashikis back in the day: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. "
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/movies/17hour.html
and here is the comment from the BBC : "A heavy dose of hysteria along with copious scientific data means that, even at 90 minutes, it can feel unwieldy and quite overwhelming. Still, if you're able to handle the pace, it is in the end, a positive eye-opener. "
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2008/03/17/the_11th_hour_2008_review.shtml
The environment activist site "Tree Hugger" says that : "The 11th Hour is essentially a film about man’s relationship to earth. "
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/dicaprios_11th.php
Smart Planet, another activist site, was disappointed
"The overall message was that we've forgotten that we're part of nature and even though the Earth as such will survive, it will not be a pleasant -- or indeed habitable -- place to be if we don't start looking after it and each other. While it's undoubtedly a good message, which we'd like as many people as possible to hear, the film itself is just not up to scratch."
http://www.smartplanet.com/news/leisure/10000780/our-take-on-leo-dicaprio-s-11th-hour.htm
It was launched at the 2007 Cannes festival and got these reviews: "True to its doom-laden title, global-warming doc "The 11th Hour" presents the viewer with reams of depressing data, loads of hand-wringing about the woeful state of humanity and, finally, some altogether fascinating ideas about how to go about solving the climate crisis. "
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933689
and "Unlike "An Inconvenient Truth" which focused in large part on Gore, "11th Hour," takes a scholarly look at the causes of the problem -- which some political leaders and scientists deny exists -- and what people can do to stop it."
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPAR98560520070519?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

More on this topic

On eTeachNet, our colleague Laure Peskine recommends a site, YouthXchange :
"Planet Earth is facing a severe global crisis. Inefficient consumption and production patterns are putting an unbearable strain on our planet. Youthxchange is designed to help trainers and individuals to understand and communicate on sustainable lifestyles.".
http://www.youthxchange.net/
and a "training kit on responsible consumption" published by the UNESCO on April 28th 2008, which provides useful material and links to study sustainable development :
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001587/158700e.pdf
[ Teachers and students will find there facts, statistics and articles to reflect on humanity's ecological footprint. The entries on YouthXchange differ from the traditional sites to educate about sustainable development : they are more personal and youth centered, for example : "clean up your fun", with tips for a sustainable party or advices on how to choose ecofriendly music or clothes. Although the rest of the articles is not as exciting, the titles of the entry show a new vein in advertising for sustainable living : an emphasis on fun and pleasure...]
And of course you can still find the pages about Al Gore's film and Nobel Prize in Infonews n°313.
http://lycees.ac-rouen.fr/pascal/infonews/archives/313.htm#news

Free online game

Eco Champ is "An educational Game about Renewable Energy Resources ". The player must register to receive by mail a code which will enable him/her to login and play. It is a Sim City style game, where the players build and manage things like a renewable energy power plant (wind power, solar energy, bio gas, wave and tidal, hydroelectric and geothermal) , taking into account the weather, which can destroy it. To play, students have to discover those new energy and learn how to manage them. this is what they say in the introduction : "The goal of the game is to maintain or to improve the power level of the virtual island by installing different renewable energy sources in the most appropriate locations. "
http://www.ecochamp.com/main.php?op=introduction1

In the News

Time 100

Time magazine has published their "fifth annual list of the world's 100 most influential people: leaders, thinkers, heroes, artists, scientists and more". Here it is:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733757,00.html

Press Censorship

Yesterday was International Press Censorship Day. The British Council presents this page of articles and games to learn English and discover information about this important topic. (with a cartoon, a trivia, a summary of Fahrenheit 451 and a link to RSF : Reporter Without Border)
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-press-censorship.htm

British Council May calendar

Find activities around themes for each week of May
http://www.britishcouncil.org/lec-news-may-2008-1.htm

Rescol May calendar

Find in Michelle Henry's Calendar all the important days in May, with links and activities for each
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/celebramonth.htm#may

Resources for Primary School

Clapping Games

On the blog of Educational PlayGround you can find the video, the words and the actions for a clap games : children recite a poem and clap their hands or do something of the kind on each word. You could use this with primary school students to help them memorize and use English. First, they understand and learn the poem, then they understand and act the actions, they play (reciting and acting) and finally they can write their own poem and decide on the actions.
http://blog.edu-cyberpg.com/2008/04/28/April+Is+Poetry+Month.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upfqw5Tzu_w
and you can find lots of other examples on You Tube.
source : http://blog.edu-cyberpg.com/CategoryView,category,K12+Newsletters+Mailing+List.aspx

Folk Songs

Listen to traditional folk songs like "the farmer in the dell", "go down Moses" and so on. You can download the MP3 files with Mozilla Firefox Download Helper.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/NCFR/folksongs.html

Flash Cards

The British Council designed those Flash Cards on several topics, the last one (on the left) being the environment. All of them cannot be used in ESL classes : wetland is not really an essential word, but you can select them in relation to the themes you study in class, and print them to decorate the class, or use them as a memory game.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-flashcards.htm

Language games

On eteachNet, Laure Peskine recommends Ted Power, a site full of interesting and useful resources.
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/index.html
She especially liked the pages about phonetics
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.html
I also found those games that can be adapted to beginners or more advanced students.
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/games.htm

Resources for Secondary School

Anti-teen Device

Here are articles about Mosquito, a device which raises a lot of controversies in the US and the UK. The article is short, the level is B1+ but if the students are motivated by the subjects, they may put in more efforts to understand it. You can give your class different articles and invite them to first put together all the information they got, and then use it as a basis for a debate...
What is Mosquito teen repeller
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1204468,00.html#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito
"Test yourself teen buzz you are so old you've already lost your hearing"
http://blog.edu-cyberpg.com/2008/04/25/Drive+Awary+Teens.aspx

"Kids' commissioner calls for ban on Mosquito, ultrasonic anti-teen device"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3356157.ece
"calls to ban anti-teen device" : an article from the BBC with a B2 video on how it works
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7240180.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7240000/newsid_7240200?redirect=7240233.stm&news=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&asb=1
"Conflict follows device that drives away teen loiterers" (from CNN)
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/23/teen.be.gone.ap/
"call to swat anti-teen Mosquito gadgets (from Sky News)
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1305024,00.html
and you can also find out that teens turned this noise into a teacher-proof ring tone for their mobile phone!

"Kids turn "teen repellent" sound into teacher-proof ring tone"
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/24/kids-turn-teen-repel.html

Safe or Trapped? - a webquest

Michelle Henry has designed a webquest about Biological Identification, Technological Devices and Surveillance level A1+, that can be very useful for vocational studies or technicians as well as students interested in technology. It is well designed, very visual and easy to use. The second address is a transparent that will prompt the students to use in the oral what they have learnt through the webquest. Thanks, Michelle!
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/trapped.htm
http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/trapped2.htm

Email and Emoticons

On eTeachNet, Catherine Serreau recommends us those three ready to use lessons (elementary, intermediate and advanced) from One Stop English.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?catid=58223&docid=155500

Child Bride

Thirteen Ed Online May Bulletin recommends the PBS NOW program on early marriages and their consequences. On this page you can access a video (with transcript), and an audio file, several articles and special files like an action kit and a facilitator's guide:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/341/index.html

Grand theft Auto launched

BBC learning English presents a lesson ( audio, text, vocabulary) about the release of this famous and much controverted British video game.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/04/080430_gta.shtml
and you can learn more about this topic in this page, including a video. Also a basis for a debate : is it dangerous?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7370590.stm

40 years after 1968

The scout report features a special section about 1968 in France.
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current/inthenews.php

Multimedia Career Library

Laure Peskine recommends this site where you can download ( with Download Helper) 1737 films about careers in 17 different fields in .mov or .mpg, captioned or uncaptioned.
http://web1.dol.state.nj.us/coei/CareerVideos/careervideos_list.html

Teaching Practice

Programme pour l'anglais langue de complément

Sur eteachNet, Yvan Baptiste nous indique que le programme pour l'anglais langue de complément pour les sessions 2009-2010 est paru au B.O.
http://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2008/18/MENE0800338N.htm

Lettre de l'APLV

Sur le site de l'APLV, retrouvez les dernières informations pour les langues vivantes: le printemps de l'Europe, la lettre d'Emilangues, la lettre TIC'Edu, etc.
http://www.aplv-languesmodernes.org/


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
Pour vous inscrire ou vous désinscrire:
http://listes.ac-rouen.fr/wws/info/liste-infonews