Teaching Tips 170
Fooling around
|
It's April Fool's Day on 1st April, a time for practical jokes in
quite a few Western countries. Nobody really knows where or when
the tradition began, the first time it was mentioned was in
Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'. On Wikipedia they say 'Many writers
suggest that the restoration of the 1st of January as New Year's
Day in the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the
holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day
On the same page there is a list of well known public practical
jokes,that includes the Guardian's spaghetti harvest supplement.
Here are a couple of our own from past Tips:
'Cognitive & affective feedback':
According to studies carried out
by the linguistics department at the University of Soto del
Real in Spain, learners have been found to make more progress
when given negative feedback as opposed to praise & positive
feedback. So even if the student comes out with something
good it is not such a good idea to praise.
If the student thinks that s/he has said
something correctly & then the teacher gives a negative
reaction this will then provoke what they call 'cognitive
confusion'. This will provoke the right hemisphere brain cells
& get the student to reassess the utterance. The greater
the cognitive confusion the better, apparently. If you are
inconsistent in giving affective feedback - e.g. non-verbal
through facial expressions & body language - scowling
& smiling - at the same time then all the better as this
reinforces the confusion.
If at the end of the lesson the students
are in a state of 'near-the-edge breakdown' then you
have achieved your aims satisfactorily. The 'over-the-edge
breakdown' state is recommended for the end of the course.
One of the advantages to this, the researchers
point out, is that we now no longer have to pretend we are
in a good mood. We can now actually take our bad mood out
on our students & come out of the lesson feeling much
better about life & at the same time maximise learning
for our students! It's comforting to know that my intuition
is backed up by solid research evidence.
http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips17.htm
'Stir It Up':
You may remember at about
the same time last year a Tip titled 'Cognitive & Affective Confusion'.
In that Tip the University
of Soto del Real published research that confirmed that
the more confused the students were, the better they learned.
Since then I have been trying my best to enforce this excellent
way forward. No longer do I plan lessons but make it up
when I arrive in the class. I deliberately ignore what I
have told the students we were going to do & look for
something else way beyond their level. I find this last
second rush & change an effective first step towards
creating complete havoc by the end of the lesson.
Recently the University has
come out with some more startling research. This time they
say that not only confusion promotes better learning but
combine this with peer antagonism then students can move
into the superlearning bracket. The idea is that you have
to pitch the students against each other so that a mutual
dislike begins to form. This, with much provoking by you,
then turns into a higher level of hate, a state they call
'learning nirvana'.
Great you say, but how can
I do this? Well, start off by favouring a few students in
the group & ignore the rest. Then the next week change
the ones you favour & be nasty to the others. You could
let slip certain unsavoury facts about the students, as
well as start a few rumours about select individuals in
the class, generally stirring them up as much as possible.
At the same time, carry out some really wicked humanistic
activities like getting all to discuss their most horrific
moments of their lives - you could provide a communicative
purpose of them deciding who had the worst moment. They
could then roleplay these moments in front of each other
- thus providing a great degree of communicative stress,
which makes learning more efficient. While the roleplays
are going on, class derision is to be supported. And don't
forget to put students who dislike each other together.
You might like to have a group tutorial, discussing the
negative aspects of each student. If, as a result, there
is any actual physical violence then you can really say
you have achieved your aims!
So, they've done it again
at the University of Soto. Cutting edge stuff.
http://developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips33.htm
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Below is a history of April fool's Day from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_fool%27s_day#History
| History
The origins of April Fool's Day are unknown, although various theories have been proposed. It is considered to be related to the festival of the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21. Prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, it was observed as New Year's Day by cultures as far apart as ancient Rome and India. New Year was originally celebrated from March 25 to April 1, before the Gregorian reforms moved it back to January 1. The English first celebrated the day on a widespread basis only as late as the 18th century, though it appears to have reached England probably from Germany in the mid-17th century. Its first known description in English originates with John Aubrey, who noted in 1686: "Fooles holy day. We observe it on ye first of April. And so it is kept in Germany everywhere."
The custom of playing practical jokes on April Fool's Day is also very widespread and of uncertain origins. The victim of a joke is known in English as an April Fool; in Scots as a gowk (cuckoo or fool); and in French as a poisson d'avril (April fish). It has been suggested the custom may have had something to do with the move of the New Year's date, when people who forgot or didn't accept the new date system were given invitations to nonexistent parties, funny gifts, etc. Originally, April Fool's Day jokes concentrated on individuals (sending someone on an absurd errand such as seeking pigeon's milk) but in the 20th century it became common for the media to perpetrate hoaxes on the general population. |
Here are some ideas on using the above text:
- present it as a cloze - take out every nth word & the students fill in the gaps from the contextual clues. Cloze tests were first designed to check the readability of texts & they can be quite hard, so have a go at completing it yourself first. Also there might be more than one right answer. After the task, you could pick up on one or two of the answers & give further practice.
- for free software so that you can create cloze tests on your computer, ready to print off:
http://drott.cis.drexel.edu/clozeproze.htm
This is a very small download that doesn't need installing - just click on it. You need to create a text file with the text you want to use in it eg. text.txt. Then create an empty file eg. text1.txt . Double click on the programme & first enter the interval number - every nth word you want omitting eg. 9, then press 'enter', then write text.txt, then 'enter', then write text1.txt , then 'enter'. Finally go to your text1.txt open it & see the cloze text you have just created, together with the answers - very easy! Keep it all in one folder for ease of use. See below for a cloze I created of the History text. If your students find it difficult, have the answers at hand - jumbled up! - to give out while they are completing the task.
- present it as a selective cloze - take out all of the verbs or all vocab connected to a certain field. Nice for reviewing an area.
- after dealing with the text, the students could think of tricks they could play, the most imaginative being the 'winner'.
| The origins of April Fool's Day are (1)____________, although various theories have been proposed. It (2)____________ considered to be related to the festival (3)____________ the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21. (4)____________ to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar (5)____________ 1582, it was observed as New Year's Day (6)____________ cultures as far apart as ancient Rome (7)____________ India. New Year was originally celebrated from (8)____________ 25 to April 1, before the Gregorian reforms moved (9)____________ back to January 1. The English first celebrated (10)____________ day on a widespread basis only as (11)____________ as the 18th century, though it appears (12)____________ have reached England probably from Germany in (13)____________ mid-17th century. Its first known description (14)____________ English originates with John Aubrey, who noted (15)____________ 1686: "Fooles holy day. We observe it on (16)____________ first of April. And so it is (17)____________ in Germany everywhere."
The custom of playing (18)____________ jokes on April Fool's Day is also (19)____________ widespread and of uncertain origins. The victim (20)____________ a joke is known in English as (21)____________ April Fool; in Scots as a gowk ((22)____________ or fool); and in French as a (23)____________ d'avril (April fish). It has been suggested (24)____________ custom may have had something to do (25)____________ the move of the New Year's date, (26)____________ people who forgot or didn't accept the (27)____________ date system were given invitations to nonexistent (28)____________, funny gifts, etc. Originally, April Fool's Day (29)____________ concentrated on individuals (sending someone on an (30)____________ errand such as seeking pigeon's milk) but (31)____________ the 20th century it became common for (32)____________ media to perpetrate hoaxes on the general (33)____________.
ANSWERS
1 unknown
2 is
3 of
4 Prior
5 in
6 by
7 and
8 March
9 it
10 the
11 late
12 to
13 the
14 in
15 in
16 ye
17 kept
18 practical
19 very
20 of
21 an
22 cuckoo
23 poisson
24 the
25 with
26 when
27 new
28 parties
29 jokes
30 absurd
31 in
32 the
33 population |
On the same page as the History text there is mention of some notable April fool's jokes, for example:
| Television licence: In another year the Dutch television news reported that the government had introduced a new way to detect hidden televisions (in many countries in Europe, one must pay a television licence to fund public broadcasting) by simply driving through the streets with a new detector, and that the only way to keep your television from being detected was to wrap it in aluminium foil. Within a few hours all aluminium foil was sold out throughout the country. |
A couple of ideas for using this:
- Give out or dictate the first part up until '...broadcasting) ' & the students work together & complete the text, reading them out & deciding on the most interesting, & then reading the remainder of the original.
- Use the text as a dictation & then focus on the tenses - past perfect, past simple - & past passive.
- you could use the text as a running dictation - see:
http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips30.htm
------
Here's a lesson plan on April Fool jokes:
Preliminary information
Time: 75 minutes??
Level: Intermediate
upwards
Aims:
To give intensive reading practice
To give freer speaking practice
To give freer writing practice
See the texts for possible language aims
Assumptions:
That the stds will be interested in the topic of April
Fool's Day.
That the language will not be too difficult to get the overall
meaning of the texts.
Anticipated Problems and
Solutions:
Some of the vocabulary may be challenging >> dictionaries
on hand/ meaning from context tasks.
Structures - depending on level - have a good look at the
texts you want to use. You may want to provide tasks focusing
on the vocab & language with each text.
Aids: Quotes & Texts below with permission from the
Museum of Hoaxes
Procedure
Stage 1 - Intro to the
theme of April Fool's Day through the 'fool' quotations
15 mins tch<>stds, std<>std
1. Elicit the vocab: a fool,
foolish, to act the fool.
2. Handout the quotes & in pairs
read & discuss the ones they like.
3. Feedback - class - elicit their faves & discuss why.
Ask if they know any in their own language?
4. Introduce/elicit April Fool's Day - maybe through the
day they celebrate in their country to play pranks on each
other. Elicit what kind of things are done on a day like
this. During this introduce vocab connected to the lexical
set: to play a joke on, a prank, to be taken in, gullible,
etc....
Stage 2 - Reading
15 mins tch<>stds, std<>std
1. Explain the activity -
the stds read one of the past pranks, work on the text, & then get together with other stds to explain their
prank & rank them in order of imaginativeness, effectiveness,
fun etc..- a jigsaw activity.
2. Handout texts - stds in pairs read & help each other with comprehension - poss. have dictionaries
on hand. You could add comprehension & vocab tasks at
the end of each text. Be on hand to help out when all else
fails.
Stage 3 - Jigsaw speaking
activity
20 mins tch<>stds, std<>std
1. Put stds into two or three different groups - each having
read a different text, depending how many you have in the
group. The stds explain their stories & then together
they rank them. Also encourage them to write down new vocab
they learned from each other.
2. When they have an order either get one std to go to the
other group to explain the order & justifications or
go back to the original pairs & they compare what they
have heard & their group's orderings.
3. Feedback - on both the task achievement & the language,
both difficulties & good things that came up.
Stage 4 - Stds design their
own April Fool's joke
20 mins tch<>stds, std<>std, tch<>stds
1. Set up the activity, explaining that they are going to
design their own & write a report of it for all to read
& then put them on the walls to vote on most imaginative.
2. In small groups/pairs stds discuss & write - be on
hand if needed.
3. Stick up reports on walls - stds wander round reading
each others.
4. Vote on best - could be done informally in a class discussion.
A few quotes about fools & foolish things
However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool
to admire him. (Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux)
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects
of folly, is to fill the world with fools. (Herbert
Spencer)
Looking foolish does the spirit good. (John Updike)
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the
rest of us could not succeed. (Mark Twain)
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
(William Blake)
Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn
at no other. (Benjamin Franklin)
A fool must now and then be right by chance. (Cowper)
It is better to be a fool than to be dead. (Stevenson)
A common mistake that people make when trying to
design something completely foolproof is to underestimate
the ingenuity of complete fools. (Douglas Adams)
The first of April is the day we remember what we
are the other 364 days of the year. (Mark Twain)
The surprising thing about young fools is how many
survive to become old fools. (Doug Larson) |
Some April Fool's Day Hoaxes of
All Time
1. The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced
that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual
elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss
farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It
accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss
peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees.
Huge numbers of viewers were taken in, and many called
up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti
trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied
that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti
in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
2. San Serriffe
In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published
a special seven-page supplement in honor of the tenth
anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located
in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped
islands. A series of articles affectionately described
the geography and culture of this obscure nation.
Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower
Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was
General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as
readers sought more information about the idyllic
holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the
island was named after printer's terminology. The
success of this hoax is widely credited with launching
the enthusiasm for April Foolery that then gripped
the British tabloids in the following decades.
3. Sidd Finch
In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published
a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to
play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch and he
could reportedly throw a baseball with startling,
pinpoint accuracy at 168 mph (65 mph faster than anyone
else has ever been able to throw a ball). Surprisingly,
Sidd Finch had never even played the game before.
Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch"
in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great
poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans everywhere
celebrated at their team's amazing luck at having
found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated
was flooded with requests for more information. But
in reality this legendary player only existed in the
imagination of the writer of the article, George Plimpton.
4. Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
In its April 1985 issue Discover Magazine announced
that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile
Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica:
the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures
had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous
blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing
the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They
used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice
beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards
into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed
them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that
the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious
disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe
Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would
have looked like a penguin," the article quoted
her as saying. Discover received more mail in response
to this article than they had received for any other
article in their history.
5. Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science
and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming
that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change
the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159
to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article
had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly
made its way around the world, forwarded by people
in their e-mail. It only became apparent how far the
article had spread when the Alabama legislature began
receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting
the legislation. The original article, which was intended
as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe
the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist
named Mark Boslough.
6. The Sydney Iceberg
On April 1, 1978 a barge appeared in Sydney Harbor
towing a giant iceberg. Sydneysiders were expecting
it. Dick Smith, a local adventurer and millionaire
businessman (owner of Dick Smith's Foods), had been
loudly promoting his scheme to tow an iceberg from
Antarctica for quite some time. Now he had apparently
succeeded. He said that he was going to carve the
berg into small ice cubes, which he would sell to
the public for ten cents each. These well-traveled
cubes, fresh from the pure waters of Antarctica, were
promised to improve the flavor of any drink they cooled.
Slowly the iceberg made its way into the harbor. Local
radio stations provided excited blow-by-blow coverage
of the scene. Only when the berg was well into the
harbor was its secret revealed. It started to rain,
and the firefighting foam and shaving cream that the
berg was really made of washed away, uncovering the
white plastic sheets beneath.
7. The 26-Day Marathon
In 1981 the Daily Mail ran a story about an unfortunate
Japanese long-distance runner, Kimo Nakajimi, who
had entered the London Marathon but, on account of
a translation error, thought that he had to run for
26 days, not 26 miles. The Daily Mail reported that
Nakajimi was now somewhere out on the roads of England,
still running, determined to finish the race. Supposedly
various people had spotted him, though they were unable
to flag him down. The translation error was attributed
to Timothy Bryant, an import director, who said, "I
translated the rules and sent them off to him. But
I have only been learning Japanese for two years,
and I must have made a mistake. He seems to be taking
this marathon to be something like the very long races
they have over there."
8. Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced
on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime
astronomical event was going to occur that listeners
could experience in their very own homes. The planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing
a gravitational alignment that would counteract and
lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners
that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment
that this planetary alignment occurred, they would
experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47
AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone
calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation.
One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends
had risen from their chairs and floated around the
room.
9. The Left-Handed Whopper
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement
in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new
item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper"
specially designed for the 32 million left-handed
Americans. According to the advertisement, the new
whopper included the same ingredients as the original
Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.),
but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for
the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following
day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing
that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax,
thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to
request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according
to the press release, "many others requested
their own 'right handed' version."
10. Whistling Carrots
In 2002 the British supermarket chain Tesco published
an advertisement in The Sun announcing the successful
development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.'
The ad explained that the carrots had been specially
engineered to grow with tapered airholes in their
side. When fully cooked, these airholes caused the
vegetable to whistle.
11. Guinness Mean Time
In 1998 Guinness issued a press release announcing
that it had reached an agreement with the Old Royal
Observatory in Greenwich, England to be the official
beer sponsor of the Observatory's millennium celebration.
According to this agreement, Greenwich Mean Time would
be renamed Guinness Mean Time until the end of 1999.
In addition, where the Observatory traditionally counted
seconds in "pips," it would now count them
in "pint drips." The Financial Times, not
realizing that the release was a joke, declared that
Guinness was setting a "brash tone for the millennium."
When the Financial Times learned that it had fallen
for a joke, it printed a curt retraction, stating
that the news it had disclosed "was apparently
intended as part of an April 1 spoof."
12. Drunk Driving on the Internet
An article by John Dvorak in the April 1994 issue
of PC Computing magazine described a bill going through
Congress that would make it illegal to use the internet
while drunk, or to discuss sexual matters over a public
network. The bill was supposedly numbered 040194 (i.e.
04/01/94), and the contact person was listed as Lirpa
Sloof (April Fools backwards). The article said that
the FBI was going to use the bill to tap the phone
line of anyone who "uses or abuses alcohol"
while accessing the internet. Passage of the bill
was felt to be certain because "Who wants to
come out and support drunkenness and computer sex?"
The article offered this explanation for the origin
of the bill: "The moniker 'Information Highway'
itself seems to be responsible for SB 040194... I
know how silly this sounds, but Congress apparently
thinks being drunk on a highway is bad no matter what
kind of highway it is." The article generated
so many outraged phone calls to Congress that Senator
Edward Kennedy's office had to release an official
denial of the rumor that he was a sponsor of the bill. |
For a
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Back to the contents
 Large & mixed
|
One of the most challenging teaching situations is that of the large mixed-level group, typically in a university context. Added to this is irregular attendance & possibly an 'acoustically challenged' room ie it's very difficult for all to hear what is going on. Here are a few ideas to consider:
- insist that English is spoken as a general rule. It is easy for students to do tasks in their mother tongue with a loss of lots of useful practice.
- talk to the students about the problems of the situation so that they are sympathetic to the challenges & then they can feel they can ask for clarification if they don't hear something or need individual attention. And then ask for feedback on it every so often.
- try to get away from the traditional lecture room scenario where the students sit passively & try to keep up. Think about more of a workshop type lesson where all are busy using English to work out & develop their English skills, with you in the role of monitor & helper.
- be aware of where you are during the lesson. For example, when dealing with the whole group, if talking to one student, make a point of walking over to the other side of the room so that they need to talk over everyone & thereby include everyone in the conversation.
- use small group work & pairwork a lot rather than the big group. Maximise student talking time.
- make sure that all can hear the instructions, that they are crystal clear & have been checked so that everyone knows what to do.
- if the lesson consists of a series of related tasks, give out all the material at the beginning together with written instructions for each task, & in groups the students work through everything at their own pace, freeing you up to get around & help out & teach. You won't need to stop everyone & give instructions to set up the next task.
- do some voice training so that when you talk to the group you can project your voice enough for all to hear you.
- attend to individuals, keep your eyes & ears open to make sure that no one is left out. It is difficult but an important area.
- regularly pair off strong & weaker students & change the students round periodically.
- play around with the class shape. Rather than let the students sit where they want, place them so that they can work together easily. If you can move the desks & chairs work out the best configuration to match the lesson.
- for discussions, try pyramiding, starting with pairs discussing a problem & coming to a conclusion, then two pairs join to make a four & do the same task, then two groups of four combine & so on, each time the new groups need to come to an agreement.
- instead of getting individuals from groups to report on their findings to the whole class, where not everyone can hear, get the individuals to visit each different group to report their findings.
- get them to produce products - posters, solutions etc, that all can see, maximising the effectiveness of the task.
- make lessons interesting, manageable & fun.
- set several graded tasks for students to choose from depending on their level, all answering some task & keeping all happy. Talk to the group about the mixed-level problem & say this is what you are going to do. All will accept it readily as a very sensible idea.
- work on the group dynamics to create a healthy, working & fun group feeling. For ideas on this see the book 'Group Dynamics' by Jill Hadfield (OUP):
Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0194371476
/developingteac0b
Amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0194371476/
developingteache
These ideas apply to most teaching situations but especially so to the large mixed-level context.
It is very difficult to teach in this situation but the challenges cannot be ignored. If they are ignored then the smaller & stronger minority get the attention & make the progress, with the larger part being left to fend for themselves & often giving up.
--------
World Wide Fund for Nature - WWF
The WWL reaches 50 years old - here's an interesting article, with 50 interesting facts about the organisation, for classroom use:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/50-years-of-the-
wwf-2247228.html
Sir Peter Scott, WWF co-founder: "We shan't save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried."
A task from a past Tip on the WWF, 'Elephants never forget, And younger learners?':
http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips34.htm
Back to the contents
 Drawing it out
|
A really useful teaching skill is the ability to draw. If you can draw simple stick drawings you are able to convey meaning visually & quickly of planned vocab or vocab that crops up in a lesson. On a slightly more sophisticated level the ability to draw sequences of actions opens up the rich area of stories of every kind to exploit.
The Guardian last week started a monthly drawing series:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/gallery/2011/mar
/10/how-to-draw-characters-gallery#/?picture=372372817&index=0
Copy the drawings (right click 'save as') & develop your drawing or better still use them in class with your students, all of you learning to draw together, with lots of English going on in the process. Lots of fun.
An excellent book that starts from scratch is '1000 Pictures for Teachers to Copy' by Andrew Wright (Pearson Longman).
To get hold of it:
Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0175568782/
developingteache
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0175568782/
developingteac0b
A couple of other past Tips on drawing:
Doodling - http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips140.htm
Quick on the draw! - http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips116.htm
There are more than a few online resources - a couple here:
http://www.howtodrawit.com/
http://www.howtodrawguide.com/
http://www.drawspace.com/
---------------------
ST PATRICK'S DAY
It's St.Patrick's Day on March 17th, so here's some teaching ideas from past Tips.
Below is an abbreviated story
of St. Patrick. It is in skeleton bullet point form to allow
you to tell the story easier. It is best to memorise the
story as this will make it more natural. Have
a look at the article 'Effective
Storytelling - a manual for beginners' - you'll find
lots of tips on how to tell St Patrick's story. If you want
more detail for the story check out the links below.
- St Patrick
is the patron saint of Ireland.
- In Ireland, March 17th is a national holiday in honour
of his memory.
- He is sometimes known as the Apostle of Ireland and
is credited with bringing Christianity to the country.
- He was the son of a Roman officer who was stationed
in Britain & he was brought up in a wealthy household.
- When he was 16 Patrick was carried off in a pirate's
raid & taken to Ireland and sold as a slave to a
chieftain called Milcho
- Milcho did not like Patrick, so he sent him off to
Mount Slemish to look after pigs and be a swineherd.
Life was very hard for Patrick on the mountain.
- One night he escaped and walked for 200 miles until
he reached the sea.
- He found a ship sailing for Brittany & when he
arrived there he went to Auxerre, where his Mother had
some relatives.
- Patrick wanted to return to Ireland and convert the
tyrannical Pagans there to Christianity.
- He entered the priesthood in Auxerre and spent several
years studying.
- The Pope agreed to let Patrick go to Ireland and gave
him the special title of "Patercuis", from
the Latin pater civium, which means father of his country.
- Patrick set sail from Brittany in the summer of 432,
and landed near Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland.
- He first went to Milcho's fort & converted him.
- Patrick then converted the rest of Ireland to Christianity.
- Patrick is famous for ridding Ireland of snakes, driving
them into the sea. There are no snakes in Ireland and
nowadays this is believed more the result of the island
separating in the Ice Age. |
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SPRING
And on the March 20th it's the first day of Spring.
For teaching ideas check out the past Tip 'Easter, Festivals & Spring':
http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/pasttips50.htm
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YOUTUBE VIDEOS
A great link to help you choose which YouTube videos to view amongst the millions & to help you choose which to use in class.
http://www.openculture.com/smartyoutube
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