Hi guys,

today we first talked about a weird woman in India who decided to marry her cow... You can watch the video again below:

And here is what you said about it:

"to be written by..."

Then Holly introduced you to a reality show from the USA entitled "To catch a predator" and you had to comment on it. You can watch parts of the show here on Youtube:

"yet to be uploaded by Holly"

HW:

- faire le compte rendu du texte "Surprise" en respectant l'analyse de texte (wh- questions) et en utilisant des mots clés dans votre présentation.

- pour la rentrée, regarder un épisode de "Catch a Predator" sur youtube et arriver en classe avec une opinion construite et réfléchie sur le show. Les questions de Holly en bas du poly devront vous aider à vous forger une opinion et à orienter vos réponses.

Hi guys,

today we first worked on the commentary of that picture so that you could get a training before your oral mock exams...

Here is what you wrote about it:

"to be written by Nathalie"

Then in the 2nd part of the hour, you did some little presentations about sexism. Here are the notes that you took at the end of the lesson about the different presentations:

"to be written by Nathalie"

HW:

- finir vos fiches de vocabulaire sur le thème en cours (India, a land of contrast)

- être capable de faire le compte rendu oral du texte.

Info:

- prochain cours: après avoir fait le compte rendu du texte et pris quelques notes complémentaires dans le classeur, nous corrigerons votre devoir type bac de la dernière fois (sur Shopping). Pensez à le rapporter (+ texte).

Hi guys,

today we first talked about an audio document: the Queen's address to the nation for Christmas 2011. Here is what we said about her speech:

The Queen address to the nation

She speaks very clearly and with a perfect accent: the “Queen’s English”

For instance, Holly speaks the “Queen's English”

The Queen speaks about the Common Wealth, an economic organization including former British colonies.

Natural disasters:

·         Flood (water)

·         Earthquake (earth)

·         Cyclone/storm (wind)

·         Drought (no water + heat wave)

·         Tsunami (water + quake) = tidal wave

Natural disasters can have an impact on economy. Countries help each other in a crisis politically and financially.

a little bit more about our text and we explained how the main character and her family reacted to the future wedding. Here is what we said about their feelings and reactions: 

First meeting

The text isa first-person narrative where the main character is the narrator.

She is a thirteen-year-old girl who is getting married.

The reasons that proves she’s a girl are:

·         “she prefers to work than to be a wife”

·         A bride (a woman who is getting married)

·         Sari with gold lace (a type of clothes for women)

·         Jewelry borrowed from my sister in law

·         She is preparing herself to her ceremony

 Her family is shocked, outraged and angry with their daughter because she is against the wedding.

Her parents won’t talk to her because they are too angry

                                                                                            enraged

                                                                                            furious

                                                                                            revolted

She doesn’t want to get married. It’s not the aim of her life.

                                                                                  goal

She wants to work / she would rather work. However/ nevertheless she forces herself to respect her uncle.

The narrator considers herself a victim because she is compelled / forced to get married. For her, it’s a sexist custom.

She would like to work rather than to be a housewife at 13. She is a rebellious teenager who is against the system. She is not willing to accept her parent’s authority.  

Then we continued the class with Holly about the place of women in society. Here is what you said:

Sexism still a problem?

→ at work (salary difference = they don't have the same wages) / at home (housework + looking after the children) / in many countries = no free speech + no rights + women are considered as slaves

Stereotypes?

→ the image of women in the media (all women are slim, gorgeous, …) / physical appearance / girls like pink and boys like blue

Father = head of the household?

→ he is seen as the family protector traditionally and culturally, but is this right ? Aren't women capable of protecting their families ?

Glad to be a boy / girl?

→ men have more power (physically and socially) / men will never get pregnant or have PMS / men are given more rights / lots of women feel culturally forced to take care of their looks a lot (like doing their nails, wearing jewelry...) / men don't have to be perfect.
→ girls succeed better at school. They have better results (but are they more intelligent?)

HW:

- apprendre les détails sur le texte (vendredi)

- se préparer à son oral blanc (mardi)

- préparer une intervention orale sur votre thème selon les instructions laissées par Holly (presentation, opinion, solution to the problem, quiz, opinion poll).

Hi guys,

today you first took a vocabulary test about shopping. You can dowload the answers here to get prepared for your final test on Thursday.

Then we had a quick warm up about Jamie Oliver's show. Here is what we said about it:

Jamie Oliver’s food revolution

AIM/POINT/GOAL

Ø    To fight against obesity

Ø    To change people’s food habits (hamburgers, chips, nuggets, pizza)

          JUNK FOOD:

Ø  High in fat = greasy

Ø  Unhealthy

Ø  To make children stop eating junk food

Ø  To make them be disgusted

Then we continued talking about the dabbawalas and you had to find why we could say that their company was a success. Here is what you said:

"to be written by Nathalie"

Finally, we studied the caste system in India and how it worked. You had to determine where the dabbawalas could be. Here is the name of the caste that they most likely belong to (+the reasons):

Have you been to India?

Ø    No, because the plane ticket is too expensive and it doesn’t attract me.

Ø    No, but I would like to go to and visit Mumbai and the cities where Bollywood movies are filmed.

N o, but why not? However I don't know anybody there. If I went to India, I would like to visit the country with a local (someone who lives in the country, not a foreigner)

A foreigner (someone who doesn’t live in the country)

The notion of Karma

Your goal when you believe in Karma:

You want to behave in the best possible way to climb up the social pyramid when you are reincarnated.

Actually your goal is to stop being reincarnated and reach Nirvana.

At the top of the social ladder, there are the Brahmans who are the most privileged caste. At the bottom, there are the Sudras, the least privileged caste.

Most Indians are “untouchables” it means that they are not part of society.

For example: Jack the Ripper would be an outcast because he was a killer/ a murderer.

On the contrary Lady Diana would probably be a brahman because she helped people with her charity and she was a princess.

HW:

- vous devez lire le document distribué avec les différentes personnalités mentionnées et dire (en justifiant) dans quelle caste vous les mettriez (aidez-vous du texte sur les castes pour trouver les "bonnes réponses" et justifier votre choix).

Hey guys,

today we first finished our sequence about shopping with the end of the song "Price Tag" that you finally succeeded in singing alright. Here are the comments we made about the song:

"to be written by ..."

Then we continued the lesson without Holly because she was sick but we did talk about slavery and modern slavery in particular. Here is what we said about the document we watched about Bridal Slaves:

India, a land of contrasts (slavery and a blooming economy)

The document is a report about slaves in India. It deals with bride trafficking, a modern type of slavery.  A woman is sold to a man by her parents. She is then the slave of her husband, who can make her work around the house (for the house chores and for sex) and outside the house for agriculture.

          Slavery is now illegal in every country in the world. However, it is alive, striving and bigger than ever (in India for instance).

A slave: is a person who works for no money and without his/her consent. They are not free to leave. Moreover, there is always violence.

Finally, you had to guess what the mystery object was and you have made many assumptions so far. Here is the list of possibilities you put forward:

"to be written by ..."

The mystery object, the picture:

HW:

- apprendre vos leçons.

- faire la fiche de vocabulaire "Shopping"

- se préparer pour le test de fin de séquence et le test de vocabulaire sur "Shopping".

Hi guys,

today two of you came up to the front of the class to give out their presentations about this visual document: 

You can send me YOUR personal oral presentation by email and I will help you correct it.

Then in the 2nd part of the hour, we had class with Holly who taught you some bits about slavery and a slave auction. You had to impersonify slaves, slave owners and buyers at a slave market.

Here are important vocabulary words:

"to be written by ..."

HW:

- vous devez aller remplir l'enquête sur le site "Slavery Foot Print" et revenir après les vacances avec le nombres d'escalves que vous faites travailler sans le savoir. Cliquez ici pour accéder au questionnaire.

- vous devez également regarder ce reportage pendant les vacances et être capables de présenter à l'oral ce que vous en avez compris (who, where, when, what, how, why, ...)

Hey guys,

today we first focused our attention on an ad campaign by the charity WWF.

Here is what we said about the picture:

"to be written by..."

HW:

- apprendre le commentaire et le mettre en forme

- réviser les mots de vocabulaire liés au thème "Shopping" et être sûr de leur classement dans le tableau de catégories grammaticales.