Assignment 2

What follows (Assignments A-K) is the way I changed the teaching sequence (TASKS 1-6) planned by L. Simón & G. Rosetti. I decided to keep the original number of each task to easily show how I modified the sequence. I did so having in mind a group of students I teach at a state secondary school in the province of BA.

FRENCH REVOLUTION

The Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du jeu de paume) was a pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789. They made a makeshift conference room inside a tennis court located in the Saint-Louis district of Versailles (commune), near the Palace of Versailles. [Borrowed from “Tennis Court Oath” in Wikipedia (last modified on 24^th March 2012 at 11:10) retrieved on 24^th March 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Court_Oath]

Assignment A

1- Visit “World History: French Revolution Pictures” at Curiosity.com (Click http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/world-history/french-revolution-pictures.htm) and look at the 30 pictures of the French Revolution carefully. You can read the captions to understand the meaning of each picture.

Alternatively, you can google ‘french revolution images’ and have a careful look at the pictures that turn out.

2- Use the pictures to brainstorm as many words connected to this revolution as you can. Write the words in a word processing document at GOOGLE DOC.: http://www.google.com/google-d-s/documents/#__utma=72592003.512038982.1332564151.1332564151.1332564151.1&__utmb=72592003.1.10.1332564151&__utmc=72592003&__utmx=-&__utmz=72592003.1332564151.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=99301272.

3- Create a new notebook on EVERNOTE: http://www.evernote.com/about/home.php.

Name the notebook as “French Revolution”.

4- Save a copy of the Google doc in a page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to use it later on.

Assignment B

Let’s reflect upon your own learning process.

1- Think over these questions:

·         What do you already know about the French Revolution?

·         What do you want to know about it?

2- Take some minutes and complete only the first two columns in the KWLH chart below.

What I Know	What I Want to know	What I have Learnt	How I learnt

3- Save this chart in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to use it later on.

Assignment C (TASK 1)

1- Use the words in Assignment A to make a word cloud in WORDLE: http://www.wordle.net/

2- Make your own glossary with BABYLON GLOSSARY BUILDER. If this software is not installed in your netbook, you can download it from http://www.babylon.com/products/glossary-builder/ for free.

Alternatively, you can use MICROSOFT WORD to create your glossary, but you’ll need to follow the instructions at SHAUNA KELLY “Making the most of WORD in your business” http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/layout/glossary.html

3- Save your word cloud and the glossary in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to use them later on.

Assignment D (TASK 2)

1- Watch the music video about the French Revolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXsZbkt0yqo&feature=player_embedded#!. As you watch the video,

·         how many words in your Wordle can you recognise in the video?

·         list the words that appear in both your Wordle and the video.

2- Save your list in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to use it later on.

Assignment E (TASK 4)

1- Watch the video again. Tick (a) the right statements and put a cross (r) next to the wrong ones.

2- Account for all your answers by writing the time at which the corresponding subtitle is shown on the screen.

You might need to watch the video several times to complete this activity.

★¥There was a motto that described the revolution.

★¥There were favours for the nobles.

★¥There were a lot of taxes to pay.

★¥The nobles were angry about the taxes.

★¥There was little food for the peasants.

★¥There were 6 coups d’état in 12 years.

3- Save your answers in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to use them later on.

Assignment F (TASK 5 pt. 1)

1- Look up more information about the causes of the French Revolution. You can consult the four sources suggested below. As you read the sources, think these over:

·         Do all the sources present the same information? Same kind? Same amount? Same focus? Same way of presentation? Why?

·         What seems to be the author’s point of view in each source? Can you spot any instances of bias? Are all these sources reliable? Why?

Sources suggested:

BONJOUR LA FRANCE

http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-facts/france-history/causes-of-the-french-revolution.htm

HISTORY 151. The French Revolution: Causes, Outcomes, Conflicting Interpretations by Mr. Schwartz

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151s03/french_rev_causes_consequences.htm

THE CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by Miss Lavelle

at http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/frenchrevolution_causes.shtml

THE HISTORY GUIDE. Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution by Steven Kreis

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html

2- What other sources can you consult? Surf the Internet to find reliable sources. Google ‘french revolution primary sources’ and check out what turns up.

REMINDER: There are different types of sources…Can you recall them? If you can’t, check out your notes. We have already talked about this issue in class.

3- Save a copy of your sources in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE; you’ll need to consult them later on.

REMINDER: Use the appropriate citation conventions (e.g. APA or MLA). We have already talked about this issue in class. Re-read your notes.

Assignment G

Let’s think over the use of language in the texts you have read.

1- Re-read the sources (Assignment F) you saved on EVERNOTE and find 2 examples of each of the three narrative tenses.

2- Write the examples under the corresponding explanation in the box below.

3- Complete the explanations with the name of the corresponding tense.

4. Read the grammatical explanations and examples on the websites below and check your answers to activity 3 above. Correct your wrong answers.

Past Simple: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html

Past Continuous: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html

Past Perfect Simple: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

5. Let’s practise the narrative tenses. Do these online activities:

5.1. Verb Tense Exercise 11. Simple Past vs Past Perfect Simple: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs11.htm

5.2. Verb Tense Exercise 13. Past Perfect Simple vs Past Perfect Continuous: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs13.htm

5.3. Narrative Verb Tense Exercise. Past Tenses Gap-fill exercise: http://www.admc.hct.ac.ae/hd1/english/narrate/narrtense.htm

5.4. The Narrative Tenses Review. Gap-fill exercise: http://www.cesdonbosco.com/filologia/english/narrative_tenses.htm

5.5. Narrative tenses. Excerpt 2 from Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” Gap-fill exercise: http://www.projectx2002.org/english_hotpots/lamb2_verbs.htm

Assignment H

1- Use the key words in your glossary (Assignment C) and in your list (Assignment D) to make a mindmap with IHMC CMAP TOOLS: http://cmap.ihmc.us/. Be critical and selective.

2- Use the mindmap as a guide to extract the most relevant information from the sources you consulted in Assignment F and make a presentation with PREZI: http://prezi.com/. Be critical and selective.

3- Include your mindmap in your presentation and save a copy of your presentation in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE. You’ll improve the presentation later on

REMINDER: Your presentation must be academic (i.e. formal and precise) but it should also be appealing, engaging and creative. We have already talked about these issues in class; check out your notes.

Assignment I (TASK 6)

1- From all the information you summarised in your presentation about the French Revolution, choose only the most relevant historical events and create a timeline with TIMETOAST: http://www.timetoast.com/. Be critical and selective.

 2- Include your timeline in your presentation and save a copy of the improved version of your presentation in another page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE. You’ll need to use this version of the presentation later on.

Assignment J (TASK 3)

What do you think about the French Revolution?

Everybody wants to know your opinion about the French Revolution. So let’s get ready…

1- Take some minutes to get ready; use these tips:

2- Take turns to give your oral presentation. As your classmates talk, complete the form below. This form will help you remember the information you want to ask questions about when each speaker finishes.

Speaker’s name	Presentation title	Most relevant information	Most interesting information	I wonder…	I think…

3- Save a copy of the presentation form in a new page of the notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE. You’ll need to use it later on.

Assignment K (including TASK 5 pt.2):

1- Go over all the materials collected in your notebook named “French Revolution” on EVERNOTE and think over these questions:

·         What have you learnt about the French revolution?

·         How did you learn?

2- Take some minutes and complete the last two columns in the KWLH chart that you saved on EVERNOTE.

What I Know	What I Want to know	What I have Learnt	How I learnt

3- Choose the most relevant things you have learnt about the French Revolution and make a video with MOVIE MAKER: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started.

REMEMBER to be creative and careful when choosing pictures, photos, sounds and music. They must all be appropriate to an academic context.

4- In order to keep improving, you need to answer:

·         What do you think you still need to learn/practise?