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Teaching With
Technology Idea of the Month |
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Idea
of the Month: Save the Planet: Project
Hand-outs on Whiteboard. (by
D. Trudeau)
If you dislike whiteboards but love the
planet, here is one advantage of
whiteboards over traditional
blackboards: they can be turned into
write-on projection screens. If you use
transparencies, project them on the
whiteboard and do your exercises
normally, with the additional
possibility of writing on the
whiteboard. All types of exercises
usually done on paper or using
transparencies can be done this way:
grammar and vocabulary, composition,
pronunciation, cultural facts; fill in
the blanks, mix and match, short
answers, etc. If your classroom is
equipped with a computer projector, take
one step beyond to save the planet:
project directly from the computer onto
the whiteboard. This will save you the
work of having to print out
transparencies and the tedious task of
putting them away after class. Another
great advantage of computer projection
on whiteboard is that texts and pictures
can be easily edited or updated as
needed, without wasting paper.
Example:
To teach the elision of mute “e”, I use
“Le Poinçonneur des Lilas” by S.
Gainsbourg. I project a version of the
song without elisions on the whiteboard,
and I play the song at the same time.
The students have to find where there
are elisions and when the composer
purposely avoided them. We do the first
two lines altogether, then each student
comes to the whiteboard to do one line.
We then discuss the rules that have been
applied, and other phonetic changes
(i.e. consonant assimilation) related to
the elision of mute “e.” |
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Idea
of the month by Jason Bagley
Task: Students will create a biography
of a French artist.
Ability level: All levels
Technology: Microsoft PhotoStory (Power
Point can also be used)
Assignment: Students will use PhotoStory
to “teach the class” about a French
artist. They may include things like
biographical information,
characteristics of the artistic movement
to which they belong, and examples of
works.
Things to note: PhotoStory is a free
download from
www.microsoft.com. This assignment
allows students to narrate in French,
practice citation skills, and extend
learning on an art unit from class.
Equipment needed: computer, PhotoStory,
microphone, access to the Internet or
examples of works of art
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Idea of the month (by
Stéphanie
Roulon and
Geraldine Blattner)
Etudions à l’étranger !
Description:
This
is a semester-long wiki and blog-based
project designed for beginners and
intermediate students of French, which
utilizes a computer-mediated classroom
(at least once a week), and is made up
of seven
different components, all of which must
be completed in teams of two
continuously throughout the semester.
The objectives of this program’s
activities are: 1) introduce students to
creating, using and maintaining a wiki
and a blog, 2) to acquaint students with
the formalities of study abroad, 3) to
prepare them for immersion in the French
language and various Francophone
cultures, 4) to promote basic cultural
awareness, and 5) to encourage the
development of language awareness in a
specific context.
Contents :
1) A la découverte du
monde francophone !
Language: French
Content: One detailed map, exploring
all possible options for French study
abroad programs available at your
institution. After researching and
identifying each
Francophone region, ask students to
provide a 100-word description (in
French) of each location and post it to
the class wiki. At the end of each
group’s entry, be sure to remind
students to provide a link to the map
and each of the websites they consulted
in their research.
Useful Links:
http://clicnet.swarthmore.edu/pays.francophones.html
http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~ddelaney/paysfrancophone.html
2) On fait de la pub !
Language : French
Content : After consulting the class
wiki and selecting a program, students
create a poster, any size, in an
electronic format, which includes the
following information : country, city,
host institution and provider, what
semester(s) the program is offered, who
it’s ideally suited for, whether or not
there’s an internship available, the
primary courses that are offered, the
language in which the classes are
conducted, the housing arrangement, and
the eligibility requirements. Students
should provide a brief description of
their group’s poster, as well as a link
to the document itself, in their group’s
blog.
***list all websites and
resources from which information was
obtained.
Useful Link:
https://www.international.psu.edu/ieps/forms/SearchPrograms.asp
3) Jouons aux cartes !
Language: French
Content: One illustrated map, any size,
in an electronic format, which reveals
the
regional specialties, main agricultural
products, monuments, customs, etc.,
through its
illustrations. Be sure to ask students
to include a key somewhere on the map,
wherein each illustration is defined,
and create a short description and link
the map in their blog.
Useful Links:
http://www.google.fr
http://www.yahoo.fr
http://www.wanadoo.fr
http://www.voila.fr
http://french.about.com
http://www.linternaute.com
***list all websites and
resources from which information was
obtained.
4) On se fait un resto
!
Language: French
Content: After the in-class screening
of different restaurant scenes (i.e.
L’aile ou la
Cuisse, Le placard),
visit
http://paris.planresto.fr and click
on “découvrir” (in the upper right-hand
corner). Watch and listen to several of
the video / sound clips presenting
various restaurants. Then students
create their own establishment and menu,
offering 3 choices for each course (3
entrées, 3 plats principaux, 3 desserts,
3 vins). They should design a name for
your restaurant, and include typical
regional cuisine on the menu, as well as
some original dishes.
Now
they want their restaurant to be
featured on
http://paris.planresto.fr, so they
must
digitally record a video presentation of
it (following the models) that lasts
approximately 2-3 minutes. Link their
video to their blog along with a short
description of the restaurant (i.e.
location, specialties, hours).
Useful Links:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Aile_ou_la_cuisse
http://paris.planresto.fr
***list all websites and
resources from which information was
obtained.
5) La paperasserie !
Language : French
Content : 2 pages.
Go to the
French Embassy website and print out the
application
they
would need for a visa to study abroad
for six months. Fill it out in its
entirety for a fictional character of
their choosing, making sure to include a
passport-sized photo.
Useful Link:
http://www.info-france-usa.org/fr
***list all websites and
resources from which information was
obtained.
6) Vous. Moi. Toît !
Language : French
Length : 1 page
Content : Students look at apartment
adds online in French (preferably in the
same region as their program). They
choose 3 that they would rent and
explain in a paragraph that they will
post on their group blog why they have
chosen them. (Don’t forget to include
photos and/or links, if available).
Then, they carefully look through the
announcements for roommates on
http://www.colocation.fr/homepage.php.
Pick 3 that you would consider living
with and explain your reasons in a
paragraph (also posted to the blog).
Finally, write an announcement of your
own and post it directly on the
website.
Useful Links:
http://www.seloger.com
http://www.colocation.fr/homepage.php
***list all websites from
which information was obtained.
7) Voici notre blog !
Language : French
Length : 10 minutes
Contents : Imagine that they’ve just
completed this study-abroad adventure.
Students share what they liked and
learned about it in an oral presentation
to the class, incorporating the material
in their group’s blog (maps, posters,
photos, links, etc.) After each group
presentation, each class member must
post their impressions of the other
groups’ projects (i.e. what did you
like, dislike, learn, want to know more
about) on the class wiki. Be sure to
include at least 3 discussion questions
with your comments.
Project will be graded on
cultural accuracy, originality,
creativity, presentation,
comprehensibility, and grammatical and
lexical accuracy.
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Idea of the month (by
Maria
Schein):
Using Podcasts and
Videocasts to Evaluate
Speaking/Pronunciation Skills
If you are looking for a
different way to evaluate speaking
skills through non-traditional
activities, Audacity, iMovie for Macs,
and Movie Maker for Windows XP can
help.
Try asking students to
make an audio and/or video cast in lieu
of an in-class task. For example, at
the beginning of the semester, you may
ask your students to prepare a 5-minutes
self-portrait to share with you and
their peers. They can download Audacity
for free and produce a WAV or MP3 file
that can be easily sent as an attachment
to an e-mail or posted in a drop box, if
you are using Web CT, Blackboard, or
eCollege. You may want them to produce
a video presentation instead. Check out
the equipment available to you in your
Computer Lab or Language Lab. Both PCs
and Macs have video making tools such as
a iMovie and Movie Maker. Many Macs
have a built-in camera, but you can also
invest in a few inexpensive eyeball
cameras that hook up directly on the
computer monitor. Students can produce
a short video and send it or post it in
the location you specify.
Try recording your
evaluation, using the same tools, to
provide your students with personalized
and communicative feedback. Your
students will receive more than advice
to improve their pronunciation, they
will be able to hear and see you
demonstrate. |
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Idea of the month (by
Annalisa Mosca):
Let’s create our own
class fairy tale!
Objectives:
practice, usage and review of the
imparfait versus passé composé.
The class fairy tale can
also be used to review other grammar
(which will come out in the students’
writing) especially the use of the
following: discours direct/indirect, les
phrases passives, les pronoms relatifs,
le plusqueparfait, la concordance des
temps de verbes.
Modalities:
the instructor begins a fairy tale with
the classic “Il était une fois...” and
writes a very first line/paragraph of
the tale, making sure to include a
strange twist. Each student then
continues the class fairy tale on the
electronic discussion board.
Example of my beginning (used in my class):
Il était une
fois un lieu magique, la Frafantasie.
Notre héro, Gamin, y était arrivé. Mais
une chose bizarre s'était passée:
pendant le voyage il est devenu un chat,
et on l'appelait maintenant ... ??
Materials:
forum discussion board or simply paper
(it’s more fun on the discussion board)
Target language level:
third semester proficiency (but can be
adapted to any level)
Time frame:
one week outside of class on the
discussion board, for the specific
writing activity and its discussion of
the imparfait versus passé composé. You
may choose to read the class’s fairy
tale during a class period and act it
out. |
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Idea of the month (by Denise Wagstaff)
Create a PowerPoint travelogue project
in which students “visit” various
regions of France. This project
includes both pictures/photos as well as
a writing component.
Objectives: to
increase cultural awareness of the
diversity of the regions of France; to
give students the opportunity to express
themselves in written French using a
variety of tenses (future, passé composé/imparfait)
Time frame:
4-6 weeks (can be done entirely at home
or partially during class time)
Language Level:
intermediate (this project is best
suited for a French 3 or 4 class)
Materials:
PowerPoint
To
access a description of the project &
grading rubric, please go to:
http://geocities.com/dehamwey/regionsdefrance
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October 2007
Idea of the month:
Creating
e-stories (by Deb. Reisinger)
Objectives:
Students create personalized online
slideshows with photos and voice overlay
to demonstrate language abilities.
Time frame:
Technology is very user friendly, so
most work can be done outside of class.
Professor can create sample project to
show in class, then students can work
outside of class on projects. Final
project can be shared online using Web
2.0 sites such as Flickr, submitted to a
central course management system for
viewing, or displayed in class like a
film festival.
Language Level:
Beginning to advanced. For beginning
levels, students can create photo
stories of their families or dorm life.
At more advanced levels, students might
narrate a personal story, describe their
city, summarize an historical event, or
frame a debate.
Materials:
Students need access to
digital photos (personal or otherwise)
and to the internet. Some user-friendly
sites for creating photo or slide
stories include
Microsoft’s Photostory and
Flickr.
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September 2007
(2 ideas)
Idea #1
Contributed by: Monique Navelet
Computer project:
Creating a comic strip.
Age Appropriate from 2nd
grade up with modifications.
Technical knowledge
requirements:
Power Point, scanning and
internet research.
Pedagogical Benefits:
Students spend time
reading, writing and speaking French.
1.
Choose a poem or a short
story which can be illustrated
2.
Each student is in charge
of illustrating one or two sentences or
a paragraph depending on the age of the
students.
3.
The pictures are scanned
in the computer For elementary school
the teacher scans for Middle and High
schools the students scan
4.
Each student creates a
Power Point Slide with the picture and
the text.
5.
The slides are merged
together for the final product to be
shown to other sections.
6.
During the presentation
the students read their sentence or
their paragraph.
7.
If the students say that
they cannot draw they can import
pictures from the Internet.
This the simplest of the
computer projects I have undertaken and
it works quite well.
When and if you have
technological support you can use
Clicker 5 or Microworlds and have the
students create their own games on the
computer.
You can also use Imovies
to obtain the same results. The students
are acting out the poem or the story.
This would be a whole
year project.
PowerPoint presentation
created by my second graders at the
Hewitt school is linked
here.
Here is a link to another
PowerPoint with lots of great links for
French. Click
here!
Idea #2
Submitted by Jason Bagley
Target Culture:
French
Language Level:
Elementary to low Intermediate
Time Involved:
30-45 minutes
Objective:
Students will work within a budget and
go on a virtual shopping spree. They
will then describe what they
“purchased”.
Materials Needed:
Internet
Description of Activity:
Students
will be given a set budget (ex. 150
euros). They will then visit a French
shopping or catalog site, such as
www.3suisses.fr . They will create
an outfit within their budget and to
their taste. When they are done, they
can either make an oral presentation of
their outfit, or write a paragraph,
whatever goal you might want to
accomplish. If students have money
left over, you might want to have them
tell the class what they will do with
it. |
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May 2007
Google Earth
– Go beyond finding your house and
school on Google Earth. You can create a
virtual tour of any francophone area by
adding placemarks complete with
pictures, text, links and even
multimedia. You could do a tour as
detailed as the monuments of Paris, as
broad as the francophone countries in
Africa, or anything in-between. In each
placemark you add, enter information
about the site, questions for students,
and links to web sites with more
information. For more fun, make it in
the format of a scavenger hunt for facts
about each area. Download Google Earth
for free at
http://earth.google.com/
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| April 2007 - Using Bandes annonces for oral testing
(by Deb Reisinger) Target Culture: French and/or Francophone culture
Language Level: Elementary through Advanced
Time involved: 30 minutes for initial exercises which can then be replicated and completed outside of class as homework
Objectives: Developing oral comprehension and production skills, becoming familiar with French culture and cinema.
Materials:
* http://www.allocine.fr/ (Internet access with streaming capabilities)
* Language lab with recording program such as Audacity (available for free download at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) and microphone OR iPod with microphone
* Website to upload or send electronic files
Description of Activity:
Students will watch the trailer for a French film and record answers to basic questions. To do a pre-listening warm-up activity, have students look at the affiche du film and describe what they see. Then ask students to watch the bande-annonce (trailer). After the first viewing, pose 3 questions for them to think about while they watch it the second time. Based on the level of your students and the grammar and vocabulary you have been studying, some questions might be: Décrivez un des personnages que vous avez vu. De quoi s’agit-il dans le film? Quelle est l’intrigue? Quel type de film est-ce (un film d’amour? un drame? un western?) et comment le savez-vous? Est-ce que vous avez envie de voir le film? Pourquoi oui ou non? Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé dans la bande-annonce? Décrivez les enjeux culturels que vous remarquez. etc. You can either create a link to the trailer and copy/paste the movie poster into a course management site such as Blackboard OR have students navigate through the site itself. [Students enjoy watching English-language films dubbed, so it’s fun to show them something like the Spiderman 3 trailer, but for the purposes of the activity, direct them to a francophone film.] After they have viewed the trailer a second time, pose each question again, this time giving students 30 seconds to think about their answer and then 1 minute to record before going on to the next question. They can do this in a language lab using a program such as Audacity, Divace, or Soundforge or an iPod and Belkin recorder. After recording, they should upload sound files to your course management system, which you can review later.
Evaluation: How you evaluate this exercise will depend on your objectives, but the following breakdown has worked well: 40% communication (40%), grammar (20%), vocabulary (20%), accuracy of pronunciation (20%) and fluency (10%).
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March 2007 - Creating a car
Owner’s Manual using Microsoft Publisher
This project has been developed,
adapted, and contributed from a colleague at Lexington High School,
Kim Seferian.
Target Culture:
France/Francophone Countries
Language
Level: Intermediate (French III-Honors)
Time Frame:
4-5 45 minute sessions in a computer lab. The time frame can be
adjusted to accommodate your needs to be a shorter or longer
project.
Objective:
Students will
create an owner’s manual for a French car, demonstrating their
knowledge of the imperative form of verbs and the subjunctive.
Materials:
Computer with
Internet Access
Microsoft
Publisher (Template
for activity)
Description of
Activity:
Day 1:
Students will
research the major French car manufacturers on the web for images
and information on the car model that they wish to highlight in
their manual.
http://www.citroen.fr
http://www.renault.fr
http://www.peugeot.fr
Students will
work on the cover of their manual, where they choose an image,
display the make and model, as well as identifying information.
If students
complete this, they can start on page two, where they choose an
image of their car, and begin labeling ten items on the car.
Day 2:
Students will
label the 10 items of their choice on their car. Students will need
to be familiar with how to use a dictionary so that they correctly
label the car. Some students may find car vocabulary on the
Internet.
Day3:
Students will
work on pages 3-4 of their manual. In this section, they will create
statements on how to care for the car. Teachers may alter this
section to fit whatever their learning objectives are. I chose to
have students complete 5 sentences using the imperative, and 5 using
the subjunctive.
Day 4:
Students will
edit their manuals for accuracy and final preparations before
turning them in to the teacher for grading.
Evaluation:
Car Manual
Grading Rubric
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February 2007 -
Creating Podcasts to Explore
Study Abroad (Lara Lomicka Anderson)
[originally
published at the NCLRC http://www.nclrc.org/cultureclub/teachers_lounge.html]
Target
Culture: France/Francophone Countries
Language Level:
Intermediate to Advanced
Time involved:
One semester
Objectives:
This activity is designed to help students explore a
potential study abroad site in a French-speaking country. Students
also have opportunities to practice speaking and presenting their
ideas to others. They work on listening skills (listening to other
podcasts) and writing (text based blog entry(ies).
Materials:
-
http://wordpress.com/: to set up a
class blog
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http://odeo.com/: to record audio
for podcasts
-
Internet access
Description of Activity:
During the semester, our class
will maintain 2 weblogs (4-6 students per group). You will be placed
in a team and will be required to contribute to the blog three times
during the semester; you will be asked to visit the other class blog
and comment three times during the semester. The topic of each of
the blogs will be study abroad. While some of you might be planning
to study abroad and others of you not, these topics will give you
ideas about the study abroad experience and if it would be an
appropriate option for you.
For the blog
posting, you will be asked to write 200 words including and a
picture or link to (it is a good idea to write your posting on Word
and then copy and paste it to the blog so that you have an extra
copy) and create a 1 ½ minute-long podcast. For the other two
postings, you will be asked to produce a longer podcast. Be sure to
cite any sources you use when writing your blog or producing a
podcast (with a link to the website, for example). During the week
after you finish your blog/podcast, you should visit the opposing
team’s blog and comment on what they wrote/said. If you as the
author then respond to those comments left by your classmates,
demonstrating in your answer that you read the comment, you will
receive ½ point extra credit on your blog assignment per response.
At the end of the semester, we will have a contest and ask French
speakers to vote on which blog they felt was the most informative,
entertaining, and creative. The losing blog group will then throw a
party for the winning group during the last week of class. The
topics are listed below:
Context – study
abroad
1. Blog (200
words) Introduce yourself – answer questions for study abroad
application
- Have you
traveled or studied abroad before? Where?
- Describe
your family.
- Tell us
about your personal interests and hobbies.
- Why are you
a good candidate for studying abroad?
- Why do you
want to study in this country?
- What do you
want to achieve during your experience?
-Required image:
picture of yourself
-Podcast (1 ½
minutes)– intercultural story/misunderstanding that occurred either
in US or abroad and what you learned from it
2. Interview (4
minutes) – Interview someone who has studied abroad. Prepare a list
of 3-4 questions about study abroad (2 minutes) and then discuss
stereotypes you have about French and what kinds of stereotypes they
have about us. Are they necessarily true? Why or why not? (2
minutes)
-Required image:
picture of person you interviewed (could also be a picture of
interviewee taken while studying abroad)
3. Podcast (3-4
minutes) – Research a French/Francophone town in which you would be
interested in studying abroad. Then create an advertisement (what to
see, do, eat, sleep, university, classes, etc.) for the city.
Remember that you are trying to encourage your classmates to visit
you here, so try to make it sound interesting and inviting.
-Required image:
3-4 pictures of the town
Evaluation:
Blog Grading Rubric
Expansion:
Students can present their projects in class using PowerPoint,
posters, or other tools.
Variations:
Students can introduce their state or region to a partner class
in France or they can explore a certain region in France in-depth.
Many variations are possible.
Sample
projects for French:
http://fllc.cas.sc.edu/FR209A/wordpress/
http://fllc.cas.sc.edu/FR209B/wordpress/
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January 2007 -
Create Flowcharts
with Inspiration (Gail Corder)
Standards:
Communication, Connections
Type of
Activity:
Flowchart using graphic organizer software such as
Inspiration*
Concept to be
Taught:
Agreement of the past participle and choosing the
auxiliary verb in compound tenses
Materials
Needed:
Computers with graphic organizer software
Duration of
activity:
1 ½ to 2 fifty minute class periods
Description of
activity:
Students create their own flowcharts which illustrate the rules of
agreement of the past participle and choice of auxiliary verb in
compound tenses. First, give the students a
written overview of the rules and exceptions.
Next, explain what a
flowchart is, a graphical
representation of a process, which uses yes/no questions as its
organizational structure. Show the students an
example of a flowchart they might
create for the rules of agreement, but do not let them keep it.
Explain that they must choose a yes/no question to begin the
flowchart. The example uses “Is it a reflexive verb?” as the
starting point, but they may choose to begin with a different
question if desired. Traditionally, questions on the flowchart are
represented by diamond shaped symbols. Send students to work
individually or in groups at computers equipped with graphic
organizer software, such as Inspiration. They must create
their own flowchart by setting up a series of yes/no questions which
cover all the rules and exceptions. As the students work, circulate
checking their work and pointing out areas which you see will not
work logically. (Note: It is recommended that the teacher create
his/her own flowchart first to think through the process and
anticipate difficulties.) When students think they have finished
their flowchart, give them a set of
sample sentences with which to test
it. They should use their flowchart to complete all the blanks. If
they answer 100% correctly, the flowchart works. If not, back to the
drawing board! This activity requires students to think critically,
and is engaging for many different types of learners.
* Don’t have
Inspiration?
Many graphic organizers available for free,
or students can use the Draw tools in Word or Excel.
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December 2006 -
Teaching with TV5 (Anne-Sophie Tzanetatos)
The TV5 website is a wonderful
resource for teachers interested in using videos to complement their
classroom activities. In a section for teachers, the website offers
music videos, newscasts, documentaries, all accompanied by lesson
plans adapted to all levels of French . Note that some videos play
on Windows Media Player, but the majority use Real Player. It might
also be a good idea to have a data projector and a good set of
speakers.
http://www.tv5.org
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November 2006 -
Brochure Touristique - Projet avec Microsoft Publisher (Jason
Bagley)
Standard:
Communities
Type of Activity: Tourist Brochure
Materials Needed: Computer lab with Internet
access and Microsoft Publisher, printer
Duration of activity: 2, 90 minute class
blocks as a minimum- OR you can break the project into smaller time
frames and do it over several class periods.
Description of activity: Create a travel
brochure for French-speaking tourists about your town, city, or
area. Draw and label pictures of places you think they would like to
visit, or use photos from other sources. Be sure to include
important information such as times and days the places are open,
the entrance fees, the type of food available, and so on. Before you
make your final brochure, write a rough draft and have two
classmates proofread it.
This activity can be used for any level of
instruction, just modify the type or complexity of language
expected.
Try to partner with the Chamber of Commerce in your
area to see if they might be interested in publishing some of your
students’ brochures!
View
a sample brochure!
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October 2006 -
SiteNous.com:
Bridging Cultures
through Web-Based Pen Pal Exchanges (Anne-Sophie Tzanetatos)
SiteNous.com was born of the
collaboration between a technology consultant whose wife and
daughters shared a passion for French, and a French teacher looking
for ways to improve pen pal exchanges. By combining their strengths
and knowledge, they created a website to complement a French
teacher’s classroom and provide opportunities to enhance
intercultural communication.
Most teachers agree that pen pal
exchanges bring reality into the classroom: French is not just a
subject anymore but a language spoken by teens in other parts of the
world. However, the logistics of organizing a successful pen pal
exchange can sometimes be challenging: you don’t have the same
number of students in both groups, some students find little to talk
about with their partners, or you keep waiting for students who are
always late in bringing their letters to you. SiteNous.com
eliminates most of these problems by bringing all students together
in one space at Internet speed.
Whether you are a beginning user of
technology or your world revolves around new multi-media gadgets,
this site has something for you. Set up as a virtual classroom,
SiteNous.com provides each teacher with their own space, an
online meeting place for their students. A beginning teacher can
simply use forums to facilitate the interaction among his or her
students while a more tech-savvy teacher might enjoy using such
features as wikis, podcastings, file sharing or blogs. Teachers can
customize their own space to fit their needs as time goes on.
In this international classroom, a
group of students from Pennsylvania are in contact with a group of
students from Tournai, in Belgium. Each month, the teacher posts a
new topic to which students have to answer. Depending on the topic
and the students’ level, these posts can be in French or in English.
Students are encouraged to respond to each other and submit new
ideas of topics and activities. On a more advanced level, students
from both countries can work collaboratively on various topics,
comparing and contrasting items of their daily life: what’s a
typical day like? Where do you go on vacation? They can create
photomontages, short videos, or PowerPoint presentations to be
posted on the website.
It is important to note that student
safety is of the utmost importance to SiteNous.com’s
creators. Each classroom is password protected and accessible only
to students registered in the class. All actions within the virtual
classroom are recorded and a teacher can pull reports of all
activities on the site. This is true also of chat rooms where
everything is recorded even if the teacher is not present.
In addition to the virtual classroom
assigned to them, teachers have access to a teacher forum where they
can share ideas on how best to use the website and other tools.
Small tutorials on the various technologies, from podcasting to
videoconferencing, are also available.
SiteNous.com is a new website
and still looking for teachers willing to try their hands at a new
way to complement their classroom and/or approach pen pal exchanges.
SiteNous.com is also trying to “recruit” French-speaking
teachers who would like to be partnered with an English-speaking
class. Note that it is not necessary to have a partner class for you
to be able to use the virtual classroom. If you are interested or
know anyone who might be, go to
http://www.sitenous.com
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September 2006 -
Musical Chair Composition Game using Microsoft Word (Lara Lomicka
Anderson)
Level: Intermediate
Technology experience: Basic (Microsoft word +
editing tools)
Subject: You will write about your summer
(fall/spring/winter) break: invent (or tell) an adventure or amusing
anecdote that happened to you during the break. Use the past tense.
1. All students should sit at a computer (students
who don't have a computer can sit in chairs and write). They open MS
word, and begin to type an introduction paragraph about their
vacation (the teacher can situate the context). Students should set
up the story (adventure, funny anecdote, etc.).
2. The teacher should bring a tape and/or CD to class
in order to play music from the podium and have students move around
(ex.: 5 seats forward, 3 seats backward, etc.) whenever the music
stops. Each time the music stops, you have them move. You may allow
5 minutes one time or 2 minutes another time to write. Each student
has to make a new contribution to the composition she/he is at when
the music stops (and do editing if time permits). Each student may
work on 4 or 5 (or more) different compositions during the class.
3. Students can take 5 minutes at the end of class to
go back to the original document that they started, read what others
have added and edit it. Students can vote on the funniest or most
original (etc.) story.
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