February '99
Volume 6-2

The Grapevine
The Haifa Region English Inspectorate Newsletter

In this issue:

Dear teachers,

This edition is devoted to the annual topic of "Respect Is A Two Way Street". Please let us know what ideas you have used from the Grapevine and give us suggestions for further issues.

We, as teachers, and especially as English teachers, should remember that first and foremost we are educators. As English teachers, we have a fantastic opportunity to use our lessons to learn about the world around us and to discuss problems and issues that affect us as citizens of this country. Likewise, unlike other teachers, we are able to focus the topic of "Respect Is A Two Way Street" in our teaching - not only with the materials we bring into class but also by our own personal example to our pupils and our fellow teachers.

By respecting ourselves and our pupils and by giving the respect to the profession that we are members of, we can make our classrooms, our schools and the society in which we live a better place for all.

All the very best,

Miriam

Internet site review

http://www.snoopy.com/

“Snoopy” is here again! This great site gives you all you ever wanted to know about the cartoon “Snoopy”. Moreover, its colorful and attractive home page leads you to a variety of pages that can keep you and your pupils occupied for a number of lessons! You can read about the founder of “Snoopy”, Charles Schulz or the history of “Snoopy”. You can enter the “Snoopy” game gallery, go to the gift shop, or send a post card to a friend!

This site caters to all ages as well as to heterogeneous classes. Suggested activities for this site are:

1. Read and discuss the humor in the various comic strips offered.
2. Discuss how humor may have changed over the years.
3. Read about Charles Schulz and how he started the “Snoopy” cartoon.
4. Read about the history of the cartoon and how it has developed over the years. These texts can be used in a number of ways - as reading comprehension, or as an exercise in which pupils make up their own questions to be exchanged with others in the class to answer. Pupils can summarize the text into their own words, or can be encouraged to make up a “treasure hunt” through the site where others have to find the answers.
5. Pupils send each other a “Snoopy” postcard.
6. Pupils can go into the games section of this site and play the various games. These include a crossword, a word hunt, a baseball game (great for practicing hand-eye coordination) and a great word game. These games are for grades 5-8.
7. Pupils make up their own puzzles or games using information from the site.
8. Print out black and white pictures of the various “Snoopy” characters and have younger classes color by number or use the picture for a color dictation.
9. Pupils make up their own cartoons about “Snoopy”.
10. Pupils visit the “Snoopy” store. Give pupils a shopping list of what they have to “buy” from this store with a limited budget. Or have pupils “buy” what they like with a limited budget. Let them say why they chose what they did.

Lindsey Gutt

What can be more appropriate for the year’s topic “ Respect Is A Two Way Street”, than some “Golden Rules for Living”:

If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If it will brighten someone's day, say it.
If it will tarnish someone's reputation, keep it to yourself.
Source Unknown - Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Patty Hansen

• Present groups of pupils with the sentences cut into halves. E.g.: If you open it / close it. Students have to match the halves to get the rules.

• After checking for meaning discuss what the rules have in common. E.g.: They focus on carelessness with objects and possessions, the advice given ensures harmonious living.

• Hand out the last two rules and ask: “What are the differences between these and the other rules.” E.g.: Be positive. Spread a little happiness, make people feel good not bad.

• Personalize the rules. Ask pupils to choose the ones they like. Have pupils illustrate or act out their favourite rule.

• Give out sentence halves and tell pupils to find their partner, act out the rule and prepare a slogan for the classroom walls.

• Have pupils make up their own rules for golden living.

• Work on opposites: lock / unlock , break / fix

• After which rules would you say : “ Sorry, “  “ Please” or “Thank you” ?

• Write stories in which the rule is the punchline. Brainstorm situations where the rules apply. E.g. Dan lost his friend’s favourite tape cassette and said he left it on his friend’s desk. "If you borrow it, return it."

• Change the rule from abstract to concrete. If you borrow my pencil, return it. If you value your walkman, don’t leave it on the floor. (How is this for personalizing conditionals?)

• Take it further and justify the rule. If you make a mess, clean it up. You came to a clean room.

• Make posters illustrating the rule and hang them around schools.

Animal Awards - Say Something Nice To A Classmate

Thanks to Naomi Roffman for finding these terrific awards. They are reproduced from Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc and are reproducible.

Here is an idea:

Enlarge these pictures and have your pupils prepare awards for each other. Brainstorm and write on the board different words we can use for complimenting each other. Ask your pupils how often they really do pay someone else a compliment. Hand out a name to each pupil in the class (prepare this before the lesson). Have the pupils think of something nice to say to the pupil whose name they received. Then have them choose the appropriate award. Help your pupils write their message in English.
 
 

The Internet provides many resources. Try the following:

Human Rights in Action - United Nations Publications - Interactive Declaration, Questions and Answers, Resources, Student Action, Stories, Links and more ….
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/humanrights/index.html

The Elephant Man has been acclaimed by critics the world over for cinematographic excellence and
for its outstanding story of the triumph of human dignity over ignorance, prejudice, hatred and fear.
http://www.mikedunn.com/lynch/em.html
 

Respect Each Other Or Be Lonely. This site was made by students at Holy Name school.
http://members.tripod.com/nicksmoke/respect.html
 

Welcome to Quix's Shel Silverstein Page! Many of Shel Silversteins poems can be utilized to discuss this theme.
http://www.ezy.net/~quix/shel.html

Chicken Soup has many appropriate stories:
www.chickensoup.com

And always more from our trusted ETNI (follow the link from the front page):
http://www.boker.org.il/eng/etni/
 
 

Every time I try to do a role play activity in class, my students hardly talk and their conversations are very shallow.

Please help,

B. Active

The following are the suggestions and ideas that The Grape Team came up with:

We can well understand how disappointed you are when your pupils fool around in role play activities. After all, researchers say that learners acquire the foreign language best when holding conversations.

Is the subject relevant to your pupils? Do they really have enough to say? Does it involve a problem to solve? In other words , is it something they would be likely to really talk to their friends about?

Pupils can evaluate each other.

You might also consider the lead-in. Before starting the role-play, brainstorm and write key words and phrases on the board. It often helps to introduce vocabulary and even a wide range of ideas for pupils to play around with before starting to role play.

Presenting the role-play in front of the class should be optional.
There are many drama techniques that could be helpful in creating the atmosphere necessary for effective role-play. Students should work in small groups.

Describe the setting of the role-play to the students. Use as many visual descriptors as possible.

Tell the students that when you snap your fingers they must 'freeze' in a position that reflects the mood. E.g. if they are angry, their expression and body language should reflect the anger.

While the students are in their 'frozen' positions, walk around and randomly touch a student on teh shoulder. The student should then verbalize his/her thoughts that reflect the scene at hand. Repeat with other pupils.

Speak to your students and explain the importance of role playing. Why do we use this activity in class? Let them suggest ideas for role-play activities. Maybe they need more time to plan the activity.

You can use a tape recorder and tape them when they perform or even use a video. Let them observe and listen to themselves (or other groups) and analyze what they saw.

Have your students build identities for the role (name/age/what character/their attitude to the problem) and then they can introduce themselves to other partners and try being true to their role.
 

How do they carry out the activity? Do they all work in pairs at the same time, or do you ask for volunteers to act it out in front of the classes?

Simultaneous pair work can be very effective in loosening tongues. It provides maximum participation with low risk and minimal stage fright. It also provides an opportunity to rehearse and get help with words they need. Even shy pupils may be willing to perform for their peers after doing it without an audience.

The introduction to the activity must include an explanation as to why the activity is worthwhile, emphasizing the process as well as the product.

What might help is to develop a list of criteria by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the role-play. A discussion should take place at the end to determine how many of the criteria were met. Why or why not? The participants in the role-play can also evaluate themselves.

We think it's important to give them a topic that they can relate to and identify with. If they are put into a situation that they could experience in real life the results will be different. Role play is also a technique that has to practiced to be perfected.

A good idea would be to spend time focusing on what we learn from different activities. Every now and again, stop what you're doing and ask: "What are you gaining from this activity?" Perhaps getting them to focus on the 'why' will help them with the 'how'.

Send your questions for "Dear Grapey"
 

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