an archive of lesson plans

Tag: Debate (Page 1 of 2)

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 1) [Zoom-class]

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 1) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Learn about “Konjunktiv II” (When and how to use it)
Discuss “Kunstfreiheit” (artistic freedom)
Put pictures in relation to “Kunstfreiheit” and discuss their historical context
Compare artistic freedom in Germany and the US
Discuss the content of a music video based on isolated pictures

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.20:        Welcome (Welcoming students to class, talking about how they feel and getting all the technology starting)

4.20 – 4.33:        “Was würdest du machen, wenn…” (Practicing the Konjunktiv II with the “würde”-form, e.g. “What you would do if you were to win a million dollars?” “I would buy an island if…”. Students join breakout rooms and ask each other one of the two questions in groups of 2-3 people. Three rounds with 2 questions each + always different groups)

4.33 – 4.37:        Review Konjunktiv II (short review of when to use and how to use the Konjunktiv II with its two forms. One of them the “würde”-Form, which we practiced in the task before)

4.37 – 4.45:        “Kunstfreiheit” + pictures (The term “Kunstfreiheit“ (artistic freedom) is introduced and students are then asked to look at 4 pictures, describe them, tell the group what is depicted in the pictures (and the context) and then put that in relation to “Kunstfreiheit”. If the students do not know about some of the pictures, the teacher can help them and explain their context. After that we take a quick look at how artistic freedom is embedded in the basic law for Germany)

4.45 – 4.55:        “Kunstfreiheit” experiences (students join breakout rooms first, and then come back to share with the group. They are asked to share their experiences with artistic freedom. Either because something that they themselves were involved, or something they have heard of and that has a relation to artistic freedom

4.55 – 5.00:        “Danger Dan” impression (“Danger Dan” is the name of the musician we are going to hear a song from. The students are asked to share their impressions when hearing the name)

5.00 – 5.05:        Pictures from the song (students see 4 pictures from the music video to the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt”. They are rather provocative and can be interpreted in different ways and the students are supposed to share their impressions of those pictures, and also what they think the video could be about and what it is supposed to express. Students discuss that in breakout rooms)

5.05 – 5.10:        Watch music video

5.10 – 5.15:        Music video impressions (students share their impressions from the music video and compare it with what they had shared before, when they just saw 4 isolated pictures from the music video)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

The introduction worked really well because the students seemed to be really engaged with the questions, as they had a lot of fun thinking about those scenarios and “what they could do, if…”. Also, it was a really good introduction and transition to explaining the Konjunktiv II, which is used a lot by Danger Dan in his song and therefore offers a great grammatical foundation for working with the song later on.

When we looked at the pictures, the students were able to identify most of them and put them in connection to artistic freedom. I chose the pictures because two of them are important pieces in the history of Germany, the Charlie Hebdo-picture is important in the context of contemporary European affairs, and the last one was a fun, little story that is connected to artistic freedom. We took a look at the basic law, and the exchange of their “Kunstfreiheit” experiences was really interesting. Same can be said for talking about the name “Danger Dan” and the pictures from the music video. Finally, we watched the music video and the students shared their impressions. Generally, it was a good mix of learning about current affairs in Germany, pop-culture and Konjunktiv II on the one hand, and sharing their impressions, thoughts and experiences on the other hand.

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 2) [Zoom-class]

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 2) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Analyze the lyrics of a song (describe in own words/research context/interpret what artist wants to express)
Compare different parts of a song with each other
Discuss differences and possible interpretations
Discuss whether the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung (insult)
Discuss whether Böhmermanns „Schmähgedicht“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.23:        Recap (Recap last class and thereby make a transition to this class’ topic)

4.23 – 4.35:        Group work (students have to get together in 3 groups and analyze the lyrics of one verse based on 3 questions that ask them to describe the lyrics in their own words, research the context of the song and interpret what the artist wants to say and how he writes his song in order to achieve that message. Each group meets in one breakout room, while they have access to the questions and a vocabulary list on our GoogleDoc)

4.35 – 4.55:        Presentation group work (Each group presents their findings according to the 3 questions that were given to them – there is a particular emphasis on finding the Konjunktiv-forms, as they are an important instrument for Danger Dan in his song and also connect to the last class and the grammatical topic)

4.55 – 5.00:        Bridge (We look at the bridge of the song and try to analyze in which ways it is different from the rest of the song and why that is the case)

5.00 – 5.07:        Positionsline + discussion (students have to locate themselves along a position line ranging from Kunstfreiheit to Beleidigung. Based on that they have to discuss their own position)

5.07 – 5.13:        Böhmermann-Affäre introduction + video (Most students probably see the song as an obvious example for Kunstfreiheit, thus I present them a case that could be more critical to evaluate. The so-called “Böhmermann-Affäre” is introduced in a few minutes, and then we watch the video of it)

5.13 – 5.20:        Positionsline + discussion (students are again asked to locate themselves along the same position line and then discuss what led them to their judgements)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Google Doc (Questions + vocabulary list)
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms & annotate functions)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)
(Jan Boehmermann Erdogan poem) https://vimeo.com/163537121

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

This class worked really well! It was a good conclusion to this 2-class-topic, which connected a song as a cultural element, with an important contemporary topic and a grammatical input. The class had different elements (discussions, group work, interpretations, media consumption etc.), a coherent structure and a few take-home messages.

The addition of a vocabulary list to the group work was very important and ensured efficiency, which allowed for a greater focus on the presentations and the discussions later. In those discussions, the students were really engaged and seemed interested in both the topic as well as the others’ opinions.  The position line worked really well and also as I expected (everybody saying it is Kunstfreiheit), which allowed me to introduce the “Böhmermann-Affäre” as a less clear-cut example for that topic. It is worth mentioning that the class ended about 5 minutes later – which is acceptable considering the complexity of the topic and the importance of the last discussion.

DE S22 INT/ADV: Music & The Voice

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Music

Goal of the class:
Learn about German music from the last ~25 years
Discuss music by elaborating on what you dis/like about it

How did you structure the class?

The class started of with an Introduction, explaining the rules of the game which focuses on German music. It doesn’t necessarily matter how many different artists you take and which one you focus on – I took 8 artists and tried to have a diverse range of artists (from Herbert Grönemeyer to Nena to Helene Fischer to Rammstein [the latter being rather well known in the U.S., though maybe not so much for their criticism, which can be talked about in class]).

The game works somewhat similar to “The Voice” – the students hear an artist for a maximum of 1 minute (they have the chance to raise their arms when they already know what they want to vote – if every student raises their hand, the song will be stopped before the minute is over – which happened when Rammstein was playing for example) and think about whether they like it and want to give it a vote to get to the next round or whether they dislike and want the artist to be “disqualified”. Then, they have 2 minutes to discuss the artist in the group and then vote on whether they want them to be in the next round or not.

In the first round there are 8 artists, in the second round 5, in the third 3 and then you can go for a winner. In my class I had 7 students, and when one artist had 4 upvotes they got into the next round. But that also means that when the students have already voted 5 artists in the next round before having heard the last ones, they won’t get a chance to go in to the next round (vice versa: if the students have already disqualified 3 artists in the first round before having heard the remaining artists then the remaining ones make it to the next round nevertheless the actual vote).

BUT there is one more rule to make it a bit more interesting: every student gets the name of one artist who bribed them. They get one point by having their candidate win “The Voice” (thereby you have students arguing for one artist who most dislike). Also, to give them something to “do” when “their” artist should have been disqualified in the first round – every student also writes down the name of one artist who they don’t want to win. If that candidate doesn’t win, they also get a point.

Rules for 2 students: For 2 students (in my conversation class intermediate) I slightly changed the rules. The students get 8, 7, 6, 5… points for the first round and can give each point-number to any artist. They listen to the song – they discuss it (which is a point where they can deceive or trick the other student, by saying they really like that artist but then giving only little points) and then they give points: for example student A gives 7 points, student B gives 4 points: artist has 11 points and depending on how many points the other artists get will make it to the next round or not. Student A cannot give 7 points to any other artist in this round, student B cannot give 4 points to any artist in this round.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Computer with music + music box
Whiteboard to write down names of songs, voting results and rules

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

Generally, the class worked really well. The students learned about different German singers/bands (which they specifically asked) for and I incorporated that into a game which forced them to discuss and engage with each other, while trying to convince the others from their point of view and being somewhat embedded in the structure of a show that most of them know (“The Voice”).

I did not tell them the names of the singers before they were disqualified to make it more of a challenge for them to decipher which candidate is actually the one that they support (e.g. if their singer-name seems like a female, and there are 3 female singers, they know that one of them has to be their candidate, but they do not really know which one exactly is their candidate) – I’m not sure if this was necessary though and if it might not have been even more engaging when they would know the names right out of the gate.

Other than that I wouldn’t really change anything. The introduction took about 10 minutes, which was fine, because the timing of the rest worked out really well.

Intermediate: The rule change for the intermediate class (with 2 students) worked really well. They were very engaged and tried to deceive each other a lot – which was particularly fun for me, as I always knew why they would say or do something (because I knew who they supported). Great class here as well!

ES S17 ADV Immigration in Spain

Language Resident Name: Joaquin Garcia

Day and Date: 04/19/2017

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advance

Class theme/topics discussed: Debate

Goal of the class: Debate about immigration

How did you structure the class?

Heads-up: Announcements and upcoming cultural activities

Activity 1: We read an article about second generation immigrants in Spain. Students read loudly the article in turns and we comment paragraph by paragraph and they share thoughts and compare it with the immigration situation in the US.

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2016/09/13/actualidad/1473758176_296143.html 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.) 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students love the topic. We had to divide the original class plan into two sessions because the discussion was very long! 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

 

 

DE S17 INT German and U.S. education system

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

 

Language Resident Name: Martin Siebert

 

Day and Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2017

 

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): German Intermediate Conversation

 

Class theme/topics discussed:

 

The German and U.S. education system in comparison

 

Goal of the class:

 

Students learn or recap vocabulary about school and education, talk about their educational background and compare it with the German system.

 

How did you structure the class?

 

20 minutes: Match the people. The LR presents a list of about ten jobs on the board. Then each student writes down ten associations that he or she has with one of these jobs. All of these have to be a single word, no matter if noun, adjective or verb. The students then work in pairs: they have to guess to which of the job the associations correspond. The associations shouldn’t be too obvious. When the partner guessed correctly, the explanation for each of the associations should be provided.

 

40 minutes: The German and U.S. education system in comparison. Students get in pairs. Together, they work to provide an overview of the U.S. school system (regarding all educational institutions from birth to the first real job). This should entail information such as the different schools (e.g. kindergarten, primary school), the age groups, the subjects studied, curriculum, the classes within the school, the qualification of teachers, hours that children stay in school daily, compulsory schooling, difficulty of studying, private vs. public schools, job training, university education, tutoring, grading/grades, food at schools, homeschooling etc. The students then share their collected information with the group. Subsequently, they watch a short video about the German school system and compare in their groups the most obvious differences. Then they share their thoughts and comments with the group. The LR provides vocabulary and additional information.

 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

 

Whiteboard, Video about the German education system, Vocabulary sheet.

 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

 

Both activities went well. It was interesting for the students to hear about the different educational backgrounds that they each had and liked to get to know new information about the “German way”.

 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

 

Maybe I would provide a table/sheet that helps the students to better organize their educational background.

20170125_Das_hessische_Schulsystem

 

DE S17 ADV Prisoners

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

 

Language Resident Name: Martin Siebert

 

Day and Date: Monday, January 23, 2017

 

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): German Intermediate Conversation

 

Class theme/topics discussed:

 

Prisoners: collective decision making.

 

Goal of the class:

 

Students learn useful expressions to communicate their opinion on various topics. They discuss slightly ethical questions, defend their position and persuade others of theirs.

 

How did you structure the class?

 

60 minutes: Prisoners. Students are given a sheet with information regarding several prisoners. The information is about the crimes that those prisoners have committed as well as their personal traits. As it turns out, the local prison is so overcrowded that one of the prisoners has to be released on probation. The students first make up their own minds and then discuss with their partner. After that, the whole group discusses their respective decisions. They have to come to a unanimous decision which is why a certain degree of persuasion is needed. The LR provides additional vocabulary.

 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.) 

Conversation class agreement. Sheet with the information about the prisoners. Sheet with useful phrases to express opinion, agreement and disagreement.

 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students discussed very well which is why it seemed inappropriate to stop them mid-game.

 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I’d keep it as it is.

 

20170123_Gefangenenspiel

20170123_Useful_Expressions

DE F16 INT NASA Game

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Martin Siebert 

Day and Date: Thursday, November 16, 2016

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): German Intermediate Conversation

Class theme/topics discussed: 

The N.A.S.A. game. 

Goal of the class:

Students express priorities, and reason in order to persuade others and reach a common goal.

How did you structure the class?

60 minutes: N.A.S.A. game. Students are given a scenario (moon landing) and a list of items they can use in order to reach their goal, which is to survive and get to the moon base. First, they rate the different items regarding to the importance by themselves. Afterwards they start discussing about their ratings with their partners (there need to be at least two smaller groups). Because they are a group, they have to come to unanimous decisions as a whole, too. There can be no majority votes (just in extreme cases), they need to persuade or to be persuaded. In the end, the LR reveals the official N.A.S.A. solutions to the group.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

The N.A.S.A. game list, prepared sheets.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students discussed a lot! Very good game.

How could this class be improved/modified? 

Perfect conversation class exercise.

 NASA Spiel

 

ES F16 ADV About Democracy

Language Resident Name: Joaquin Garcia

 

Day and Date: 11/15/2016

 

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced

 

Class theme/topics discussed: Democracy

 

Goal of the class: To learn vocabulary about politics, to learn about the Spanish political system

 

How did you structure the class?

 

Activity 1: We watch a video about the meaning of democracy. I stop the video step by step making sure everyone follows and we make comments. Open discussion at the end.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8vVEbCquMw

 

Activity 2: Open conversation about politics in both countries: USA (General elections, Trump, Sanders, Clinton) and Spain (new government, Podemos, independency movements)

 

 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

 

youtube.

 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

 

They really liked the video and the discussion. My class was very into politics so it was very easy to moderate the conversation.

 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

 I think that the success of this class depends on the students. It is better if you know in advance that students like open conversations.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

ES F15 Family and relationships

 

Class theme/topics discussed:

 Family. Relationships

Goal of the class:

To firmly remember vocabulary about family and have deep conversations about new and current changes on the concept of family in society.

 How did you structure the class?

Activity 1 (5min): Introduction. We talk about the weekend and upcoming events.

Activity 2 (10min): Warm-up: I give them an empty genealogical tree and, in pairs, they have to fill in the name of the different relationships.

http://www.abueling.com/Imagenes/arbol_genealogico_para_pensar_3.gif

Activity 3 (15min): Video and Discussion. I show a video from a news program that talks about new kinds of family (non-conventional families).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhkaeTjVik

Activity 3 (15min): Debate in little groups: Different topics are written in different pieces of papers inside of a bowl. The groups pick up one of the papers and discuss (or try to answer) what is written in the paper. From time to time, I will stop the conversations to have them speaking loudly their opinions.

ES F09 INT Familia

Activity 4 (15min): Famous’ genealogical tree. One by one, students pick a picture of a famous person and put it on the board making a genealogical tree. They have to say all the possible relationships between the picture they put and those that are already on the board.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Students enjoyed the class, they found the topics very interesting and were very involved and participative. The last activity is super fun, choose any kind of famous people (from Obama to Putin, Cleopatra, Shakira…).

RU S14 ADV Political situation in Ukraine (+ funny jokes about learning Russian, unrelated)

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language and Section: Russian Advanced 13

Date: February 25, 2014

Class theme/topics discussed:

Political situation in Ukraine

Goal of the class:

 Talk about OLC on Ukraine “Crisis in Ukraine – internal and external perspectives”, discuss political rhetoric, linguistic device

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

Warm-up – 15 minutes 

Discuss funny excerpts from Russian for foreigners- textbooks and phrase books “Why foreigners don’t understand Russians” http://www.adme.ru/vdohnovenie-919705/pochemu-inostrancy-ne-ponimayut-russkih-639205/?fb_action_ids=10203143073563535&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582 and listen to funny listening comprehension tasks “Princeton Russian” http://vk.com/timerain?w=wall175830784_1382

 Activity 1 Handout 1 20 minutes 

Read a recent livejournal post from a Ukrainian living in Kiev about the current political situation. Summarize, talk about the rhetoric, talk about what opinion(s) the author is trying to refute (reconstruct opinions) http://kaidannik.livejournal.com/180104.html

 Activity 2 Handout 2 – 10 minutes 

Read a parody poem about the political situation in Ukraine – whose interests are really at stake?

Activity 3 Discussion – 15 minutes

Talk about OLC on Ukraine “Crisis in Ukraine – internal and external perspectives”, compare to the point of view of the livejournal post. Watch video “I am Ukrainian, this needs to go vial”, discuss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvds2AIiWLA

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

Video, Internet

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

It is so wonderful to see students being able to express very complex thoughts on very complex issues and analyze the rhetoric used in propaganda. The class went very well and the students are also much better at taking turns now.

How could this class be improved/ modified? 

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

Handout 1

Mutha Fukka on the Motorcycle (kaidannik) wrote,

20140224 16:39:00

UPD: Что происходит (кратко для друзей и близких из России)

Привет, друзья. За последние пару дней, к большому своему сожалению, успел рассориться с большим количеством москвичей, с которыми долгое время общался, дружил, приезжал в гости и принимал у себя как дорогих гостей. Пишу для всех здравомыслящих людей, склонных делать свои собственные выводы, и верить собственным ушам и глазам. Никого не собираюсь переубеждать, и, Боже упаси, ломать шаблоны. Просто расскажу, как нам живется.

 

Любителям НТВ, ОРТ, Россия 24, Киселева, Кобзона, Доренко, цитирующих призывы Жириновского и что там у вас еще есть, рекомендую просто не тратить свое время: утолить жажду крови и ненависти, почитав о зверствах нацистов и озверевшей банды, здесь вы не сможете.

 

Так вот, тезисно:

 

– У нас так же есть российские каналы. И то, что там показывают, иногда веселит, но чаще всего вызывает горькую досаду, так как направлено исключительно на разжигание ненависти на национальной, религиозной и политической почве, и вместе с этим, ничего общего с происходящим это не имеет. Примерно такую же реакцию вызвал бы сюжет новостей, в котором ведущий на полном серьезе прочитал бы “У лукоморья”, и ушел на рекламу. Кстати, сюжет,в котором корреспондент Россия24 в полном экипе ползет под обстрелом, а его оператор якобы получает ранение, снят не на Институтской или Грушевского, а на Лаврской, под стенами Лавры, что примерно в 5 километрах от Майдана 🙂 Без смеха на такую лажу смотреть сложно, но ведь показывают это не киевлянам …

 

– Здес НЕ преследуют русских. Так же, как не преследуют беларусов, молдаван, евреев, поляков, грузинов, азербайджанцев, чечен, англичан, немцев, итальянцев и всех остальных. Украина всегда была страной, в которую можно было ехать в любое время, в любую ее часть БЕЗОПАСНО, и с тех пор ничего не изменилось. Какие еще этнические чистки, какое бегство русских, алло, вы чего? Половина Украины как говорила, так и говорит по-русски, хотя, скажу честно, благодаря льющейся лжи все больше хочется этот язык забыть.

 

– Киев (и все остальные города тоже) НЕ захвачен, НЕ разрушен, НЕ засран и НЕ разграблен. Мы, как обычно, живем своей жизнью, ходим на работу, гуляем с детьми. Все происходило на Крещатике, улицах Грушевского и Институтсткой. Конечно же, там предстоит как следует убраться. Но даже в самом центре событий нету ни разбитых витрин, ни разграбленных магазинов. Цел глобус, магазинчики в трубе, цветочный рынок, даже Сбербанк России, что прямо на углу Институтской и Крещатика. О чем это говорит?

 

– Лавра не захвачена, не разграблена, все святыни, мощи, иконы, а так же служащие в полном составе на месте, и занимаются своим обычным делом – дерут с туристов и прихожан деньги.

 

– Раду не захватывали, как писали многие российские СМИ. Поторопились опубликовать. Милиция сняла оцепление, прогнала титушек (наподдав им на последок, своим же), и отошли, ожидая захвата. И люди пошли, но … только для того, чтобы пустить внутрь депутатов, которые, наконец-то, начали собираться, включая все партии кроме коммуняк. Депутаты начали работу, а СМИ опубликовали сюжет о захвате рады, все идет по плану 🙂 Вот беда 🙂 Это было очень смешно.

 

– Система (если угодно – хунта, что значит бандиты в погонах) действительно пала, и люди, виновные в сотнях человеческих жертв, растрате казны и т.д. преследуются правоохранительными органами, после задержания будут преданы суду.

 

– Для того, чтобы обезопасить свои семьи, дома, автомобили от гопников, привезенных властью из юго-восточных областей, люди организовывают дежурство по дворам. Но это продлится не долго – на улицы вернулись патрули, многие из которых усилены простыми людьми из самообороны. Возвращаться домой ночью, да в спальном районе, можно спокойно.

 

 

– Люди не празднуют. Потому что цена в сто человеческих жизней – слишком высока, чтобы праздновать (человеческих, а не повстанцев или милиции, ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКИХ). Потому что рано – теперь нужно строить и строить, и всем хватит работы. Потому что оставшимся политикам все равно никто не верит, и люди следят за каждым словом. Потому что милиции нужно привести в порядок молодых и горячих, которые решили, что они революционеры. Потому что нужно латать дыры в экономике,

 

– Мы не понимаем, почему нас называют бандеровцами. Здесь нету таких. Нету фашистов, нацистов, партизан и так далее. Нету зомби, майданутых, ебанутых, западенцев. Здесь есть обычные люди: учителя, программисты, официанты, пенсионеры, колхозники, врачи, библиотекари, музыканты, юристы, военные, ветераны и инвалиды, молодые и старые, богатые и бедные. Сотни тысяч. Дай бог каждому из вас увидеть и почувствовать ту силу, которая исходит от тысяч людей, которые, слыша бой церковных колоколов, выходят из дому, вливаются в море таких же, и молча идут вперед – лечить, выносить, подносить, идут воевать в мирное время.

 

– У нас полно бензина, еды, банкоматы работают, доллар растет, снега нет, за окном солнце, и скоро весна.

 

Кто не верит – приезжайте, и посмотрите своими глазами. И информация для тех, кто брызжет слюной о “предательстве хохлов” и героизме ментов – знайте: ваши отрыжки не обидны, и не цепляют. Они выглядят как вопли городских сумасшедших где-то на улице: жалко бедолаг, хочется помочь, успокоить, и знаешь, что это невозможно, только медикаментозное лечение.

 

Помните: во времена тотальной лжи правда звучит, как экстремизм.

 

Мир всем!

 

UPD

 

Честно говоря, не ожидал такого резонанса – я не блоггер особо, уж точно не “тысячник”, и совсем не журналист. Но раз зацепило, значит тема болит у многих. Добавлю пару тезисов, часто спрашивают.

 

  1. Я не рисовал розовую картинку. Да, нас ждет не просто кризис, а яма, из которой сообща мы выберемся. Это хорошо понимают все. Я описал картину, которую видел или вижу каждый день не по телевизору, а своими глазами, занимаясь привычными делами обыкновенного жителя столицы Украины 35 лет отроду.

 

  1. Я не разделяю позицию Правого Сектора, как и любых других экстремистов. Я не бросал коктейль молотова, никогда в жизни ни в кого не стрелял, и таких людей здесь столько же, сколько в любой другой славянской или европейской стране – подавляющее большинство.

 

  1. Да, те, кто рвутся к власти сейчас, в большинстве все те же упыри, только, наверное, чуть напуганные. А где вы видели, чтобы страну по мановению волшебной палочки изменили за несколько дней?

 

  1. Нагнетание обстановки российскими СМИ ведет к ненависти, нетерпимости и прочему дерьму НА БЫТОВОМ уровне, никакого влияния на большую политику это не оказывает. Просто ссорят соседей, и все. Соседи, давайте оставим политику политикам.

 

  1. Вопрос языка. Мне кажется, во всем мире принято государственные документы в государственных учереждениях заполнять на государственном языке. Разве в России это не так? В остальном – да хоть на китайском, лишь бы тот, кому вы говорите, вас понял. Или вы думали, что у нас приняли закон, запрещающий русский язык? Часто упоминаете Фарион, и я согласен – это бооольшой перегиб. Или перекос. Или недочто-то. Но это ведь вопрос мизерной важности 🙂

 

  1. Я не считаю, и никогда не считал русских рабами, зомби, имбецилами и т.д., и это мнение большинства людей. Скорее пропагандистская машина РФ очень хороша.

 

И последнее: я отлично понимаю, что это – всего лишь субъективное, возможно несколько наивное мнение, и оно может кардинально отличаться от других. Пожалуйста, не стесняйтесь, на любом языке 🙂 Только без срача.

 

Очень хотелось бы, чтобы все мы оставались людьми, и не велись на очковтирательство и промывание мозгов.

 

Еще раз мир всем.

Tags: life, maidan, ukraine, Украина, майдан

 


 

Handout 2

 

Путин:

– А у нас в России газ! А у вас?

Янукович:

– А у нас переворот, вот.

Лукашенко:

– А у нас переворот не допустит наш народ!

Путин:

– А у нас Олимпиада. Что еще для счастья надо? И ликует весь народ. Вот!

Янукович:

– А у нас переворот. Вот…

Лукашенко:

– А зато у нас в стране, благодаря, конечно, мне, нет ни бедных, ни богатых, все живут лишь на зарплату.

Путин:

– А у нас на лыжах в Сочи каждый сможет отдыхать. И чиновник, и рабочий. Вот такая благодать!

Янукович:

– А у нас переворот… Вот.

Обама:

– Ну, а мне вообще все страны шлют картошку, газ, бананы. Кто бананы не пришлет – у того переворот. Вот.

 

Алексей Мазницын

CN S15 ADV Juvenile Delinquency

Language Resident Name: Zehuang Cao (Johnson)

Day and Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Chinese Advanced 013

Class theme/topics discussed:

Juvenile Delinquency

Goal of the class:

  • To help students learn some Chinese terms and expressions about juvenile delinquency;
  • To make students aware of the effects of juvenile delinquency on family and society;
  • To develop students’ understanding of the motive and prevention of juvenile delinquency.

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up: introduce this topic by referring to campus shootings in the U.S.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7maqufAXF0;

  1. Ask the students to think about the following questions: what is juvenile delinquency? Which age group does this refer to? What does juvenile delinquency include? Examples?
  2. Teach the students some Chinese terms and expressions about juvenile delinquency, and try to ask them to rephrase those words/expressions in simple Chinese;
  3. Guide the students to analyze the causes and effects of juvenile delinquency:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egvBwq1FB2g;

  1. Discuss how to prevent juvenile delinquency from various social dimensions (juvenile delinquent, victim, family, community, and society);
  2. Wind up this topic.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Handouts, videos.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The in-depth analysis and discussion of juvenile delinquency went on well in this class, since the students found they’re confident and fluent in talking about complicated social issues in Chinese. They made great progress in my conversation class this semester.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

No.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.

青少年犯罪

  1. 青少年:teenager           犯罪(fan4 zui4):crime
  2. 青少年犯罪:juvenile delinquency 犯罪率(lv4)
  3. 心智不成熟:emotionally and intellectually immature
  4. 暴力:violence                 家庭暴力
  5. 沉迷于网络/电脑游戏
  6. 心理问题/疾病
  7. 叛逆(pan4 ni4):rebellious
  8. 违反法律
  9. 拜金主义(bai4 jin1):money worship
  10. 虐待儿童:child abuse
  11. 未成年人
  12. 色情节目:pornography
  13. 误入歧途(wu4 ru4 qi2 tu2): go astray
  14. 文盲:illiteracy
  15. 坐牢(lao2):be in jail

CN S15 ADV Environmental Pollution and Protection

Language Resident Name: Zehuang Cao (Johnson)

Day and Date: Thursday, April 23, 2015

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Chinese Advanced 013

Class theme/topics discussed:

Environmental Pollution and Protection

Goal of the class:

  • To help students learn some Chinese terms about environmental pollution and protection;
  • To make students aware of key environmental issues in the world;
  • To guide students on how an individual makes a difference in protecting the environment.

How did you structure the class?

  1. Ask the students to brainstorm anything related to environment;
  2. Introduce some Chinese terms about environmental pollution and protection, and ask them to guess the meanings or paraphrase those terms in simple Chinese;
  3. Serve as a facilitator and divide them into several groups. Give 10 minutes to them for group discussion about key environmental issues in the world;
  4. Invite them to report to the whole class;
  5. Give them an in-depth analysis on the causes and consequences of environmental pollution, and provide a few feasible suggestions on how to protect the environment as a student:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLVqOPS9vqw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn8R_XqjjI0

  1. Wind up this topic.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Handouts, videos.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students liked to talk about environmental issues, since global issues of this kind can get the students more involved in discussion. They really wanted to do as much as they can to protect the environment. The discussion and in-class analysis worked very well in this class.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

No.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.

环境污染与保护 

  1. 环境污染(wu1 ran3)—环境保护
  2. 水污染
  3. 土地污染
  4. 空气(kong1 qi4)污染
  5. 自然灾害:natural disaster(飓风、洪水、台风、暴风雨)
  6. 全球变暖(nuan3)
  7. 温室效应:greenhouse effect
  8. 气候变化
  9. 世界环境日:World Environment Day(6月5日)
  10. 水土流失:water and soil erosion
  11. 有毒废物:toxic waste
  12. 植树造林:afforestation         滥砍滥伐(lan4 kan3 lan4 fa2):deforestation
  13. 节约用水
  14. 回收:recycling
  15. 污水处理:sewage disposal
  16. 环境恶化
  17. 垃圾:rubbish
  18. 灾难(zai1 nan4): disaster

CN S15 ADV Educational Differences between China and the U.S.

Language Resident Name: Zehuang Cao (Johnson)

Day and Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Chinese Advanced 013

Class theme/topics discussed:

Educational Differences between China and the U.S.

Goal of the class:

  • To help students learn about Chinese educational systems at all levels;
  • To help students analyze educational differences between these two countries;
  • To help students develop critical understanding of their own strengths in education.

How did you structure the class?

  1. Ask the students to discuss about the American educational systems, including the subjects they take in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college/university;
  2. Introduce some new & advanced words/expressions about education for their group discussion;
  3. Distribute the handouts and ask them to analyze educational differences between these two countries from a wide range of perspectives;
  4. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese & American educational systems;
  5. Wrap up.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Handouts.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students are keen on educational differences between these two countries, and they want to take the positive sides of these two educational systems for their future self-development. So the discussion went on very well in the class.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

No.

If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.

中美教育差异对比

  美国 中国
为谁而学
育人目标
课堂情况
师生关系
考试制度
班级人数
学习时间
放假时间
成绩单
教材情况
课程情况
教学方法
纪律问题
教师工资
课外活动

 

RU F14 INT Cafes

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language and Section: Russian Advanced 13

Date: September 23, 2014

Class theme/topics discussed:

Food and cafes/dining halls

Goal of the class:

Talk about food, aspects of cafes/restaurants

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

Activity 1 Warm-up – Vocabulary revision – 5 minutes

I make sure they remember words from the previous lesson.

Activity 2 – Trailers – 7 minutes

We watch two trailers for American movies about food/restaurant in Russian to talk about the word for chef (повар) and see if the students can pick out words for cook, etc.

Повар на колесах (The Chef) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UTDhrmqcYg

Вкус жизни (No reservations)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj-35jUUS6M

Activity 3 Discussion – Dining halls and cafés at the 7Cs. – HANDOUT 1 15 minutes RUSS11 Cafes Handout F14 

Students work in pairs. They have 8 questions about the dining hall and cafes at the 7Cs. They ask each other, discuss. Then together (in one group) they all go in turns answering the questions from they handouts about themselves.

Activity 4 – Café reviews – 15 minutes

Look at a few café reviews on The Village.Ru, a popular lifestyle portal http://www.the-village.ru What are important aspects/elements of going to a café? Students figure it out from the reviews. Location, concept, interior, food, drinks, service, general atmosphere, pricing, etc…

Activity 5Discussion – You ideal café – HANDOUT 3 – 15 minutes

Students talk about their ideal cafe in pairs keeping in mind the different elements we have found in Activity 4, then each pairs presents their ideal cafe

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went very well! They loved talking about the cafes and dining halls, and they especially enjoyed Activity 5. They all came up with original ideas and were eager to discuss them.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.


 

ES F13 ADV Organic Products

Conversation Class

Lesson Summary

 

Language and Section: Spanish Conversation Class 13- Advanced

 

Date: 10/03/2013

 

Class theme/topics discussed: Organic food and products.

 

Goal of the class: To introduce some biology-related vocabulary and discuss about organic products, advantages, disadvantages. Is it a trend or a trend or a reality?

 

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

ConClassPlan-Adv0310-1

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

Video on youtube and cards (see page 44, and 49-54 from the attached pdf)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

They liked the topic and participated a lot. The loved the first activities and right away went into competition. However, I think the debate could have been more fruitful. Some students did not understand the role-play at once.

 

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Guiding better the debate, they run out of ideas very quick, even though they spoke 15 min as planned. I should have given better instructions for the role-play, they did not understand the point at once.

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

Handout materialeselepdf

 

 

FR F13 ADV City

Conversation Class

Lesson Summary

 

Language and Section:

French13 ADV

Date:

10/08/13

Class theme/topics discussed: The city

Goal of the class: Talking about living in a city, learn vocabulary about it

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

  1. General discussion about the coming feedback session
  2. Listening comprehension with a song. I give them the lyrics of the song by Pauline Croze “Dans la ville”. They have to fill the blanks with words related to the city while listening the song. Then we explain the song, the vocabulary, etc. Finally, we listen to it a second time and sing it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nSJ59c-DZE (handout 1)
  3. 3.     You prefer… Pair work. I give them a list of questions “do you prefer this or that” and they had to answer each of them. Then, each pair answer a question in front of the rest of the class. (handout 2)
  4. Debate : do they prefer to live in a big city or in a smail town/in the countryside?

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

They really loved singing the song and asked me to show another song from Pauline Croze.

This class would actually be more adapted for intermediates.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

Next page: handouts 1 and 2 

Dans la ville – Pauline Croze

 

J’avais pensé quelques fois,
Tiens il faudrait retenir
Le nom de cet endroit, il faudra revenir…
Je m’étais dit bien souvent,
c’est une adresse garder
Il faudra essayer ce banc, cet été…

Mais dans la ville,
Je m’aperçois,
Ces adresses inutiles,
je n’y reviendrais pas…
Mais dans la ville, je m’aperçois, ces journées d’avril, ce n’était que toi…

La pensée m’était venue, en t’attendant un matin, je reviendrai dans ces rues, l’an prochain.
J’avais gardé pour plus tard, un quartier à visiter
Les environs de la gare, le papier peint du café

Ce n’était que toi…

 

Tu préfères ceci ou cela ? Pourquoi ?

–       Habiter en centre-ville ou en banlieue, ou à la campagne ?

–       Sortir en boîte ou aller au cinéma ?

–       Vivre seul(e) ou avec des colocataires ?

–       Habiter dans une petite rue ou sur une grande avenue ?

–       Parler aux étrangers dans la rue ou les éviter ?

–       Préserver les parcs publics ou construire plus d’édifices ?

–       Rouler en voiture ou prendre les transports en commun ?

 

FR F13 ADV Health

Conversation Class

Lesson Summary

 

Language and Section:

French13 ADV

Date:

09/26/13

Class theme/topics discussed: Health

Goal of the class: students may be able to describe what they feel to a doctor and understand treatments.

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

Introduction: 5mn

–       Greetings

–       Coming cultural activities

–       Any questions?

–       Autumn and cold are coming: have you been ill recently?

Vocabulary bingo (pair work) 10 min

–       Goal: to see vocabulary

–       I give each pair a table with words about health.

–       I describe one word without saying it. Then students cross the word they think it is.

–       The first pair with 3 words in a row wins.

–       Make them explain the rest of the words

Brainstorming: 15 min

–       Goal: group reflection about a given topic

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XUUW3h0Y8o

–       In group (3), they should make list:

What should we do not to spread germs?

What should we do when we are sick to get better?

Debate:  20 min

–       Reading comprehension: I give them an article about the fact that the French people buy a lot of medicine. We explain the vocabulary together.

–       In two groups They have to make a pro and cons list about the use of medicine.

–       Debate half of the class is pro the use of medicine, the other half is against.

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

Video, French ad about the importance of washing hands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XUUW3h0Y8o

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

They enjoyed this class!

I was really surprise by their enthusiasm for the debate. They had many different ideas and it worked really well.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

Médicaments : comment consomment les Français ?

Publié le 10-07-2013 à 17h39

Par Le Nouvel Observateur

INFOGRAPHIE. 48 boîtes de médicaments par an et par habitant, un marché en léger recul… Aperçu chiffré de la consommation de médicaments en France.

L’Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament (ANSM) a publié son analyse des ventes de médicaments pour l’année 2012 en France. Principale conclusion : le marché des médicaments est en léger recul. Il s’explique non par une baisse des quantités vendues mais par celle du chiffre d’affaires. En cause : les baisses de prix mises en œuvre en 2012 et le développement des génériques.

48 boîtes de médicament : c’est ce que consomme en moyenne chaque Français en un an. C’est moins que l’année dernière (-1,5% au total: -2,8 % pour les ventes en pharmacies; + 3% pour celles destinées aux établissements hospitaliers) mais «la consommation des médicaments reste importante», note l’agence.

Le 13 juin dernier, le syndicat de l’industrie pharmaceutique, le Leem, évoquait un «recul historique» après deux années de quasi-stagnation, avec, au total, un chiffre d’affaires (CA) qui a diminué de 2%. Pour le Leem, le recul du CA des ventes en officine était de 2,5% en 2012 et le CA à l’hôpital était stable.

 

CN F13 ADV Drugs

Class theme/topics discussed:
Drugs

Goal of the class:
Learn new words that related to drugs.
Talk about your opinion about Marihuana legalization.

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):
1 Chinese song < Say No to porn, gambling and drugs>
2 Warm up activity: Jeopardy ( In this game, everyone writes down ten answers to questions about themselves. After writing down the answers, people have to form pairs or small groups and try to find out what the questions are.)
3. Drugs (Introduce the topic by talking about Chinese character “毒” which means poisonous. Then talk about getting poisoned. At last talk about drugs. Is there drug problem on campus? What kind of drugs are popular? Why? Which school has the most serious problem about drug?)
4.What is your opinion about Marihuana legalization?

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)
None

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students talked for the first half an hour and I was just keeping the conversation alive. I felt they were more engaged with this issue since it is something that they have experiences with.

How could this class be improved/ modified?
There is another song that I wanted to show for students. However, I do not have enough time. I need to learn to manage time better.


Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

ES S13 INT White lies

Language Section: Spanish 11-2

Date: January 24th, 2013

Goal of the Class:

Improve the speaking skills and imagination.

Improve the use of the future tenses.

Activity

-Give the students the class agreement paper.

-Tel them about the cultural event off campus in Olvera street.

Warm up activity

-Ask the students the following question: Como le llamas a la accion de no decir la verdad?

-(in pairs) Give the students two different situations in a piece of paper.  Make to people to read them out loud to the class and in pairs decide whether they have horrible consequences or not.

Can you see the difference?

Which one is worse than the other? Why?

Discussion in pairs

-2 different pair shares with the class their conclusion. And ask the class whether they agree or not and why.

-Write on the board Mentira piadosa/ mentirilla.

-Ask the students whether they know the term or not.

-If not give the term and the pieces of paper with it.

Main activity

-Write a scale on the board between 1 and 5.

(1) not terrible, (2) somehow bad, (3) bad, (4) very bad, (5) terrible.

-Put the students into groups of three or 4 tops.

-Distribute the lie cards and make each group read and rank each lie from 1 to 5. (12 to 20 min)

-Bring the class together and discuss each of the 8 cards.

Follow up activity

Ask the students If they have ever told a white lie, which one and why.

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

It was a good class. However, I think next time would be better for an intermediate class to do read all the situations together and let them discuss and rank them in pairs.

 

ES S13 ADV Stereotypes

Language Section: Spanish 13-2

Date: January 29th, 2013

Goal of the Class:

Developing conversation skills.

Defining what a stereotype is and the different ones around the world.

Icebreaking

-Remember the students about the cultural event off campus in Olvera street.

Warm up

-Ask the students what a stereotype is.

-Brainstorm some stereotypes from Mexico, Spain and US.

Activity

-Show the students a picture of the PPT. of the Mexican colleges stereotypes

-Talk about other stereotypes and stereotypes of the Claremont colleges.

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The class went very well and the students were very talkative and engaged telling about the different stereotypes they know of the Claremont colleges.

 

FR S13 ADV Advertising

Conversation Class
Lesson Summary

Language and Section: French Advanced

Date: 2.7.13

Class theme/topics discussed: Advertising

Goal of the class: Make the students develop listening and argumentation skills, try open debates

Structure of the class:

– I show them five French video commercials about different topics (shampoo, dating-website, sugar, a commercial for a car that was forbidden in France because it was sexist, a commercial from the government to prevent young people from starting smoking cigarettes). We explained and commented the videos.
– They worked in groups of 4 students. I gave each group an item that they had to advertise (a vacuum cleaner, a hair-dryer, beers).

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

TV screen/computer
Whiteboard

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Everything worked well. We had a great debate about the commercial to prevent young people from smoking.
The advertisements they made were really fun.

JP F12 INT Death penalty

Conversation Class
Lesson Summary

Language and Section: Advanced Japanese

Date: October 16th

Class theme/topics discussed: What do you think of death penalty?

Goal of the class: Students learn new vocabularies and feel comfortable expressing their opinions in Japanese.

Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):
I introduced some vocabularies related to death penalty and students were divided into two groups. One is agree with death penalty and the other one is disagree with it.
After they spend about 10 minutes why they disagree and agree, students from each group presented their opinions.

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
It worked well in terms of learning new vocabularies.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I will prepare not only vocabularies but also basic/useful grammars and sentences for this kind of topics.
Next time I will choose more easy topics rather than this kind of hard topics.

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

DE F12 ADV Elections, Comparison of Political Systems

Conversation Class
Lesson Summary

Language and Section: German Advanced Conversation

Date: 11-08-2012

Class theme/topics discussed:
– Elections in America and in Germany

Goal of the class:
– Discussion of the results of the recent presidential elections
– Understanding of the working of German democracy
– Familiarization with difficult vocabulary in politics
– Comparison of two systems of electing a parliament

Structure of the class:
– students talked casually about the outcome of the elections
– we reviewed the system of American presidential elections
– we watched a video on a German news channel and evaluated if the explanation was good and could be followed
– I distributed a list of words concerning politics, parliamentary business, etc.
– We went through all the vocabulary
– We watched a video which explains the system of German federal elections
– We watched another easier video provided by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, explaining the same thing again
– We discussed the system: is it complicated, is it easy, is it just?
– What are the advantages, what’s a possible disadvantage?
– Students asked for more explanation
– We talked about earlier outcomes of German elections
– How is the chancellor elected?
– I explained the existing parties to students

What technology, media or props did you use?
TV screen, laptop, German public TV media offer, video, white board

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students were VERY interested, asked LOTS of questions, told me to actually keep on doing such topics. I feared it would be too much centered on me but it was a successful conversation class.

How could this class be improved/ modified?
Very time-consuming, in “weaker” classes there might not be as much talk. Risky but interesting.

08-11-2012, Alles Wahlen, Vokabular

08-11-2012, Politik-Vokabular

CN S12 ADV My Father is Li Gang

Language and Section: Chinese/ Advanced

Date: 31/1/2012

Class theme/topics discussed: My father is Li Gang

Goal of the class:
• To understand current social issue in China
• To learn how to express opinions on a current and complicated social issue
• To learn to debate in Chinese, make statements, to support them and to refute others’ statements

Structure of the class:
• The teacher introduces the topic to the student, and shows two videos to the students. the teacher pauses at intervals to answer students’ questions about the news report
• Students have questions to discuss with each other, mainly about what is happening in the video. The purpose is to make sure that students have a thorough understanding of the content.
• Students have a debate. One group is proposition side and the other side is opposition side. Each student has to refute the argument from the opposition team and then make his/her own argument.

What technology, media or props did you use?

• Handout , video

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
• Students are interested in the topic. The issue is a hot topic in China and the sentence My father is Li Gang is very popular in China now. It is important to let students know what is happening in China now. From the social issue, they have a deeper understanding of today’s China.
• The video is a bit hard for advanced students.

How could this class be improved/ modified?
• The teaching material is a little bit hard. It is best if i can find a video which matches their level.

Please attach your lesson plan and handouts for this class below – if you used any.

ES F11 ADV Political Debate

Language and Section:  SPA 13.2

 Date:  09/15/2011

 Class theme/topics discussed: National Identity

 Goal of the class: To debate and promote reflection on different political systems, as well as introduce vocabulary relating to those systems.

 Structure of the class (unless you attach your lesson plan below):

 –        Each group got assigned a political system on which they had to make a presentation and an argument for its implementation in the new nation (even if they don’t personally agree with the system) They were: Absolute Monarchy, Liberal Democracy, State Socialism.

–        Each group made their case and then fielded questions put forth by the other groups.

–        The class as a whole votes on a system to implement in the new nation

What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)

 Whiteboard

 What worked well in this class? What did not work?

The students were engaged and they presented very good points. The quizzing by their classmates forced them to think on their feet and express themselves quickly, which they did with very satisfactory level. They managed to articulate a very complex system to an astonishing level of detail, as the questions and debate became more focused on pragmatically matters. WARNING: this worked well because I knew the group was very politically-minded; other groups may not be as interested or even offended.

 How could this class be improved/ modified?

 If a group has truly differing opinions it could work less as a roleplaying exercise and more as an honest debate, though this can be a double-edged sword.

 

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