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ARTICLES et LIENS

ARTICLES

Latest in Learning - Peut réussir: Une expérimentation réussie des groupes de compétences
Dans ce deuxième et dernier volet sur les groupes de compétences, une équipe de professeurs expose son expérience – réussie – des groupes de compétence en seconde.

In the Field - Les cartes mentales: un outil efficace
Sylvie Dumez, qui enseigne dans un collège de REP, recourt de façon régulière aux cartes mentales, (mind-mapping) et nous en expose les raisons. Vous pouvez voir un reportage vidéo (de France 3, en français donc) sur le « mind-mapping » en Finlande. The sites suggested on the Michael Phelps mind map shown in the article are NBC the American TV station; IMDB , the movie-info site; and wikipedia .

Young Learners - Anglais et Interdisciplinarité en primaire
Pierre Pinet relate une expérience menée par deux stagiaires PE2 à l’IUFM et encourage les professeurs des écoles à exploiter cette piste, qui valorise l’anglais tout en l’intégrant dans l’apprentissage de l’élève.

Interaction - Défense de stationner
Dans le premier volet de cet article consacré aux interdits que les professeurs d’anglais se fixent parfois habitude, Claudine Martina invite les professeurs à oser remettre en cause ces pratiques routinières.

Cameo - The Titans of Tech
Elaine McCarthy introduces the young men who brought you Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and the world of social networking.

To the Point - Censorship on the Internet
It used to be easy to understand how censorship worked: books and texts were banned (or burned), and committed citizens would circulate a few copies underground. Sébastien Blondeel explains the subtleties of censorship on the internet. As suggested in the article, you can find out your IP address on whatismyip.com or showmyip.com ; and IP-adress.com will let you know where (i.e. what country and town) it thinks your in.

Panorama – Evolution of a Controversy: The War Over Darwin
In the United States, creationists and proponents of evolution have been engaged in a long-running battle over how to teach the origins of mankind in public schools. Aurélie Godet provides a brief history of reactions to Darwin in England and America. Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s takes on the evolution vs creationism debate are available on line.

Going Places - Marvellous Melbourne
Marian Hollings emigrated to Melbourne, Victoria from the North of England, at the age of 13. She describes both that experience, and how Melbourne has evolved over the years.

Literary Horizons - What’s New in Aussie Literature
A look at today’s major Australian novelists and poets, by Jacqueline Karp. Katherine Gallagher, one of the poets mentioned, has a website, Katherine-Gallagher.com , where you can find more of her poetry.

Yesterday - From LPs to MP3s
Vinyl records have disappeared, and so have short-lived cassette tapes. Are CD’s on the brink of destruction too? LP, CD, MP3… As Ray Wilcox – San Franciscan singer-songwriter, musician, sound engineer and music educator – reminds us, the acronyms may come and go, but the music remains.

Seasonal - Christmas: from Pagan to Puritan to Pay, Pay, Pay
Paul Giggins examines the metamorphosis of Christmas and its trappings through the ages.

Letter from London - The 51st State?
With the Bush-Blair era fast adding into distant memory, James Payne, writing from London, tells us about the special relationship that links the two countries: shared interests and mutual understanding and empathy, yet with some differences

WORKSHEETS

Darwin and Evolution

All About Animals (Beginners/A1-A2)
Entertaining activities to teach pupils about different wild animals, their diet and habitat. Vocabulary activities lead to oral expression using superlatives and preferences.

Survival of the Fittest (Intermediate/Upper Intermediate / A2-B1)

An introduction to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution for pupils who are also studying it in science, based on an excellent educational cartoon , in English with English sub-titles, produced by the Field Museum of Natural Sciences in Chicago.
Find out more about the “Darwin Debate” that the pupils interviewed on New Standpoints Live participated in on The Natural History Museum in London’s website.

Other recommended links include the Field Museum’s All About Evolution page and the American Museum of Natural History’s section about their Darwin exhibit and the BBC’s evolution page.

There is also a website that is misleadingly named “all about science” . It is in fact a Creationist site disguised as a scientific one. It could be an interesting activity to analyze their tactics, but we recommend using this site with caution, if at all.

Robot Possibilities (Intermediate A2-B1)

This interview with a scientist working on robot development will be particularly appealing to technically-minded pupils.

Prohibition

Darwin’s Legacy (Upper Intermediate B1-B1+ )

This project is aimed at showing students how Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species, and his Theory of Evolution challenged the beliefs and values of Victorian society. Includes an audio extract from a UKTV documentary.
Recommended images: The Chain of Being and The Descent of Man and a prize-winning political cartoon site.

Going Further
Here is the extra activity you can give students (in two groups), as mentioned on page 48.

1. Go to the Natural History Museum’s page about Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Read Darwin’s biography and take a few notes.

Group 1:
Note down:
* Charles Darwin’s dates and personal information:
* 2 facts about “On board the Beagle”:

Group 2:
Notes down:
- 2 facts about “Evolution versus Creation”
- 2 facts about Darwin’s legacy.

Group 3:
Go to the American Museumof National History’s website :
Describe the relationship between modern scientists and Darwin? (How did his work contribute to theirs, and theirs to his?)

2. Report to the class.

Australia

Back to School (Beginners / A1)
Lets pupils compare Australian and European school traditions (uniforms, school year, etc.), geography, flags and more.

Dreamtime: An Aboriginal Tale (Lower intermediate A1+/A2+)
A traditional tale introduces pupils to Australia’s unique wildlife and allows them to practise all five skills.

Remote School (Intermediate A2-B1+)
Learning about the School of the Air, which teaches children on isolated farms, pupils discover Australia and some useful IT terms.
Here are the links for the various web pages listed in the material for this worksheet.

* Australian Culture Net
* The CBBC article in print , audio and video versions.

Top of the Class
New publications, calendar, special events and news briefs, including a review of the film Boy A, which swept the awards at Dinard. See the trailer http://www.boyamovie.info/trailer.htm .

Transcripts
New Standpoints Live Transcripts

Resource File
Answers to Worksheets; complementary information for articles