The ‘News report’ project will help you gain a better understanding of current events. You will also learn to speak in public, to structure a presentation and to organize a project. You will need quite a few resources to help you with this project. More information will come, but for the time being you may want to download or look at the following documents.

If you’re going to be autonomous in your learning, you must know where to get the proper resources. You will find most ot the class documents and information on this school blog, but that will not suffice. In addition to the e-mails I’ll be sending you on a regular basis, here are the websites that I use and that you should add to your news feeder. They are followed by a list of Web resources to help you put your work online. The list is by no means complete, but I’ve tried to choose the best known and user-friendliest sites.

Everyone likes comics. There’s lots of places where you can read them, such as Comics.com, but what if you want to create your own? Pixton is a free online web resource that not only makes it easy for people with little art skills to create a comic strip and even post it on your blog. And if that isn’t enough, you can even remix it with your friends. Now, isn’t this a neat idea for a different kind of writing? ‘Production process’ or ‘text type’, anyone?

It used to be that students who wanted to communicate with their peers from around the world needed to write. The popularity of the phenomenon gave it a name: pen pals. Now, with the Internet, you may communicate instantly not only by writing, but also through speech. It’s a great way to learn a language. Palabea seems to be a great new service where you can meet other people your age and communicate in any language. Isn’t life exciting?

Many of you already owned an iPod, and I’m sure quite a few more found one under the Christmas tree this year. Obviously, they’re great for listening to music, but they’re much more than a music device. They’re also a powerful learning tool. The two vidcasts below highlight some of the ways that can turn your iPod into a wonderful learning accessory. Underneath, I’ve added additional resources to make the most of what is really a computer in your pocket.

It will happen, once in a while, that a dimwit will leave an obnoxious or mean message on your blog. It has happened to me as well. However unfortunate and troubling the text may be, simply disregard it as a cowardly act from an immature person. There’s no way we can please everyone in this world. Even if you try, you’ll not only be wasting your time, but wasting who you are. It’s just like in real life… people talk behind your back. You might as well get used to it.

The speaking exam will be held on Friday morning, December 21. Here are the teams for the exam, as well as the timetable: download the PDF file or view the timetable at the bottom of the page (zoom in by dragging the cursor at the top of the sheet). Make sure to review the speaking strategies that will help you succeed the test; many strategies are explained in this post, which you should print for your portfolio.

The speaking exam will be held on Thursday afternoon, December 20. Here are the teams for the exam, as well as the timetable: download the PDF file or view the timetable at the bottom of the page (zoom in by dragging the cursor at the top of the sheet). Make sure to review the speaking strategies that will help you succeed the test; many strategies are explained in this post, which you should print for your portfolio.

The speaking exam will be held on Thursday morning, December 20. Here are the teams for the exam, as well as the timetable: download the PDF file or view the timetable at the bottom of the page (zoom in by dragging the cursor at the top of the sheet). Make sure to review the speaking strategies that will help you succeed the test; many strategies are explained in this post, which you should print for your portfolio.

No one can remain insensitive to the suffering of the needy. FreeRice is a brillant idea that engages people in a simple vocabulary test. For every correct answer, 20 grains of rice will be donated by the site and its sponsors to the United Nations World Food Program. There are 50 levels of difficulty, which the program will automatically rise or lower for every good or wrong answer. How about that? While enriching your vocabulary, you’re contributing to feed the poor. Wouldn’t it be nice if every learning activity was this productive for Third World countries?

Here’s a splendid idea for explaining the process by which you create something on your computer, or elsewhere for that matter (with a digital camera): take screenshots along the way and post them in Flickr. The idea was suggested by Sylvain St-Jean, along with this example (Le webmestre pédagogique : Utiliser Flickr pour expliquer une démarche). For those who don’t already know, Flickr is a great Web repository for pictures that you can then comment, organize in albums, and even present in a slideshow. In addition, you may annotate sections of a picture, as in this other example (Relief : Flickr revisité).

Most of you have discovered by now just how efficiently images can enhance publishing. They are also a great way to add to the meaning and appeal of a mind map. Everaldo Coehlo graciously offers Crystal Clear, a beautiful set of icons that you may use freely under a GNU Lesser General Public License (LPGL) such as your blog or schoolwork (via Heuristiquement). Click on any of the icons, and subsequently on the image once more, for a larger version of the illustration.

Plutôt que de toujours aller sur les carnets de l’école pour savoir s’il y a quelque chose de nouveau, il est beaucoup plus simple et efficace de recourir à un agrégateur. Un agrégateur est un logiciel qui vous livre immédiatement toute nouvelle information publiée dans les carnets de votre choix, comme le courrier électronique. Vous pouvez également être avisé des plus récents événements en sélectionnant les fils XML ou RSS (Real Simple Syndication) des grands quotidiens.

Not fond of writing? The Web now has great tools to help you tell a story in original and creative ways. Starting from the simple one minute story posted on YouTube below, Alan Levine created 50 different versions by resorting to as many different Web resources that are entirely free (bear in mind that they were all created by a non-professional). These are all splendid ideas for a project or a book report. Best of all, most of the web sites provide the code to embed your work in your blog.

It is important that you become a lifelong learner. Learning to learn is also about becoming autonomous in why, when and what we learn. Since all students are different in their interests, personal learning styles, and levels of language acquisition, you must know how to manage your work, according to your strengths and weaknesses. A portfolio is a great way of doing that. To help you plan the work for the year, download the ‘Calendar organizer’ and specify the deadline for each of the 14 tasks listed at the bottom.

It is important that you become a lifelong learner. Which implies that you acquire the skills to do so. Learning to learn is also about becoming autonomous in why, when and what we learn. Since all students have different interests, personal learning styles, and have reached individual levels of language acquisition, you are asked to manage a good part of your work according to your strengths and weaknesses. To help you plan the work for the year, download the ‘Calendar organizer’ for EESL students and specify the deadline for each of the 18 tasks listed at the bottom.

Diego posted a vivid reaction on his blog concerning the detention of students who were caught plagiarizing an assignment (see Le plagiat! Oh quelle mauvaise blague!!!). The post attracted quite a lot of attention from the students. The comments, for the most part, were remarkably mature. All the same, I felt that it was my duty to give a teacher’s perspective on the matter. Unfortunately, my comment was too long to be automatically published, and it seems that Diego is reluctant to add it with the other comments. Because of the seriousness of the topic, I’ve decided to post my thoughts on my own blog.

Looking for great graphs to enhance your work or your presentation? Swivel is not only a great resource where people share information and graphs about topics of interest, but it also makes for a great project idea. As a research tool, the search engine allows you to find information on the topic of your choice. However, don’t forget to verify the source of the information to insure its validity.

I’ve noticed that many among you are stuck when you can’t find the proper information on Google. Although Google is a fantastic search engine, resorting to other search engines will provide different search results. Some of these other search engines offer interesting strategies to help you in your quest. Two very interesting ways of refining a query (recherche) are clusters and tag clouds.

As most of you already know, learning the proper pronunciation of words is one of the biggest challenges of the English language. Before speaking to a large audience, you should verify the pronunciation of the words that sound awkward or of which you are uncertain. Looking up words in a dictionary can be useful, but you must get acquainted with the pronunciation key. Luckily, there are quite a few online resources that allow you to hear the words outright. The most convenient, I find, is howjsay (as in “how d’ya say?”). After submitting a word, roll the mouse over the pink area to hear it as often as you wish.

La onzième édition des rencontres de l’Internet à Autrans auront lieu du 11 au 13 janviers, sous le thème Les générations Internet. Deux élèves de l’école sont invités à y participer. Cet événement réunit des gens du milieu de l’éducation qui désirent partager leurs connaissances sur l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies à des fins d’apprentissage.

In the wake of the computer revolution, let us not forget paper, which is a technology in itself. The Paper Project pays tribute to an invention that has carried mankind over the past millenniums. Have fun with paper, test your knowledge with a quiz, or peek at the wonderful gallery of images captured through a microscope. You will never see paper in the same light.

In your teams you must now come up with a mystery story that is creative and original. This project takes into account collaborative or “team” writing, each member of the team is responsible for a part of the story. If you forget what are some of the elements of a mystery story, take a look at the elements of the mystery story found on this website under “Basic Ingredients”. This website is also useful with your planning (look at flow chart). Another great site to use for elements of the mystery story is found here, which is very useful with the elements and with planning (see storyboard).

How keen is your sense of observation? Here’s a great activity that will challenge your Web surfing skills and your ability to solve small problems, as you discover the wonderful province of Nova Scotia. Download the exercise sheet, read the instructions at the top of the page, and try to answer as many questions as possible. Have a nice trip!

You have never seen maps of the world like these before. Worldmapper presents “a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest”, such as population, toys imports and underweight children (see picture below). This is a fantastic resource to help us understand the blatant inequities in the world, as well as the principles behind the areas of interaction.

It is important that you become a lifelong learner. Which implies that you acquire the skills to do so. Learning to learn is also about becoming autonomous in why, when and what we learn. Since all students have different interests, personal learning styles, and have reached individual levels of language acquisition, you are asked to manage a good part of your work, according to your strengths and weaknesses, using a portfolio. To help you plan the work for the year, download the ‘Calendar organizer’ for Language Arts students and specify the deadline for each of the 19 tasks listed at the bottom.

It is important that you become a lifelong learner. Which implies that you acquire the skills to do so. Learning to learn is also about becoming autonomous in why, when and what we learn. Since all students have different interests, personal learning styles, and have reached individual levels of language acquisition, you are asked to manage a good part of your work, according to your strengths and weaknesses, using a portfolio. To help you plan the work for the year, download the ‘Calendar organizer’ and specify the deadline for each of the 13 tasks listed at the bottom.

Some of you have chosen to do homework instead of speaking English in class. That’s fine. Other students who opted for speaking English and resort to speak French must make up for breaking their resolution by doing work at home. Whatever the case, here’s a list of activities from which to choose as homework.

The universe is absolutely awesome. It has been a tremendous source of inspiration ever since man started gazing at the stars and pondered his fate. Today, science is providing many answers to the vast expanse of space that reaches beyond our tiny planet. And computers can greatly help: Stellarium “is a free open source planetarium for your computer.” You may also want to check KStars, one of many free educational programs from the KDE Edutainment Project.

Here’s an overview of conflict in literature. Remember that you should understand how the various literary elements interact on one another.

Click on the picture below to view or print the diagram in full size.

Speaking is probably the most difficult of the four basic language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). There are many strategies you can apply to become a better conversasionalist. What follows is a mind map of these various strategies (click on the picture to zoom in), many of which you can use no matter what the language, including your mother tongue.

You are now all familiar with blogs. But like all tools, they have their limitations, such as not allowing you to collaborate on the same document. Wikis do just that: imagine a web page where all team members can add content or change an existing part, without losing any of the past work. PBwiki is a free online service that offers easy to use wikis. This is definitely the next creative tool we will be learning (and using).

“Poetry, like music, is to be heard.” So says Basil Bunting, with whom I agree (depending on my mood, of course). And nowhere will you find a better place to listen to poetry than The Poetry Archive. You can search for a particular poem or poet, or let the site surprise you with a random pick. But first, learn how to listen to poetry. And last but not least, for something more easygoing, go to The Children’s Poetry Archive.

Reading is a very complex skill, one that requires many strategies, and even more so when reading in a second language. You must provide at least four good reading strategies every time you do a reading comprehension test. These abilities, pictured below, will help you throughout your lifetime. Click on the mindmap to see it in full view. Additional resources can be found by activating the links at the bottom of the post.

I hope I never regret posting this: “Three students at Leeds University are applying their learning to a problem that has plagued humanity for decades: how to make the perfect paper aeroplane. Their plane, Avenger, has been judged by academics to combine aerodynamics and ease of manufacture.” The Guardian shows you how to make it. Master this skill and you will be ready for our next ‘paper airplane competition’.

It’s always nice when you can surprise your friends with an original greeting card or message. Let Them Sing It For You converts your written prose into song bites from its archives. The result is kind of weird to hear, but it’s got punch. It would be nice if the Web app could match several words at a time, in an upcoming version, perhaps.

Don’t we all like colors? Life would be such a drag if everything was wan. Which explains why mankind has attributed all kinds of symbolism to colors. Color in motion is a wonderfully designed Web site that illustrates, in Flash animation, the various meanings that we associate with the most familiar colors. You may also treat your eyes with fun interactive activities.

In a comment on an earlier post, Haikouhi (group 43) recommended the quizzes that people create on QuizFarm. Indeed, it is a fun way to work on your English, although some quizzes contain a good number of grammar mistakes.

Many students have been asking me lately about topic suggestions for their writing. You should be able to find something interesting to write about by going through the numerous writing prompts provided by CanTeach. Other ideas can be found in the links below.

Many thanks to Mak (group 43) for telling us about Paragraph Punch, which “takes users through the actual steps of writing a basic paragraph”. It also provides several hints about the writing process. Before you start the interactive writing exercise, skip the advertisement page. The main drawback, however, is that you may not choose your topic.

Outer space, it seems, is the next frontier of science exploration. Therefore, you may want to know more about the universe. Celestia is a free simulation application that “lets you explore our universe in three dimensions.” It runs on all popular operating systems, whether it be Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows. A look at the screenshot gallery should convince you of its worth. One day, in the distant future, I believe astronomy will be mandatory study for everyone.

Science lovers will have a ball trying out the experiments from the Steve Spangler Science TV show. Most experiments come with a video and a description. Maybe your parents won’t like it so much, but you can always argue that it’s all part of learning and that they should encourage you instead if you are ever to become a scientist or an engineer.

More gymnastics for the brain: I just came across two sites that provide challenging online brain teasers. The first, Scott Kim, provides insight on designing visual puzzles, including a web games section. The second is Mental Workout, which offers quite a few interactive puzzles to test your brain power.

Writing is an arduous process that is better served when you apply the right strategies. When handing in a piece of writing for assessment, all ESL students must provide a short list of 4 such strategies they used, as well as proof of those strategies in an annex. Provided below is a list of the most widely known strategies (click on the image to view an enlargement).

Organizing our daily activities is getting more and more complicated. For a student who has to keep track of 10 subjects, it can become quite mind-boggling. Carrying a day planner around is cumbersome, and not everyone can afford a PDA (personal digital assistant). A lot of people are turning to simple paper lists to organize their work. If you have trouble doing things because you forget, you may want to try a different approach. Here are two ideas to help you. ...

Many thanks to Katarina (group 43) for bringing to my attention this excellent French-English / English-French dictionary, which is also great for finding synonyms. You should bookmark this online resource for all your future English work. You’ll find it very handy.

The gist of what you need to know about characterization. Click on the following link to view the diagram in a new pane. You may also download the file by clicking here. You must do one of the five exercise sheets that you can download here: exercise 1, exercise 2 (view the sheets before downloading: exercise 1, exercise 2). The other exercise sheets are available in class (because of copyright protection, I cannot post them online).

Most second language learners have a very hard time with articles, mostly when using ‘the’. So here are the basic rules for using articles (a/an, the) properly. You will also find a list of online exercises at the bottom of the page.

The artists among you will have a lot of fun with Artpad, an online resource that provides the basic tools for drawing and painting. The great thing about this tool is that you can print your artwork or e-mail it to a friend. You may want to surprise someone for his birthday; this is more personal than sending a ready-made card.

Some books are absolute works of art. As such, they are kept in museums or not readily available to the public. To allow us to leaf through these treasures of humanity, the British Library has digitized 14 great books, from the oldest printed book to the original Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. Each book comes with audio commentary and a mignifying glass to have a closer look at the finer details. You must see Turning the Pages to believe it.