Love
Omar and Marina

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In SHARE 115

1.-    The Impact of Oral Narrative in the Classroom.
2.-    Word Formation Processes.
3.-    Teaching English to a Blind Child – Part 4.
4.-    The Keepers. 
5.-    Segundo Encuentro de Profesores y Traductores en la UCA.
6.-    Politically Correct Terms for “Stupid”.
7.-    Capacitación en Español como Lengua Extranjera.
8.-    On-line courses for Teachers of English.
9.-    Becoming an effective presenter.
10.-   Teacher Training Courses in Bahía Blanca.
11.-   “Little Women” at The Playhouse.
12.-   Course on how to use the Web in the Classroom.
13.-   “Stories that sound” Farewell Workshop.
14.-   “Little Shop of Horrors” in Venado Tuerto.

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1.- THE IMPACT OF ORAL NARRATIVE IN THE CLASSROOM

Our dear SHARER Graciela Obregón from Santa Fé has sent us this article about the power of storytelling she wants to SHARE with all of us. Today we are publishing part one of that article.

The Power of Storytelling: How Oral Narrative Influences Children's Relationships in Classrooms
Robin Mello
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Abstract

This article presents findings from an arts-based research projcet that took place in a fourth-grade classroom over the period of one school year. It examines the impact of storytelling on children's self-concept. In addition, it discusses how storytelling helped children process their social experiences in school.

Storytelling & The Cultural Voice

The folk literature of the past, which was once consumed by adults, is now the standard fare of basal texts and children's literary classics. Today, despite our increasingly technologically literate society, traditional literature still holds a place in our culture. We know that the myths, legends, epics, and folk tales of prechirographic (Note 1) societies helped shape human experience; so it is not surprising to see that these same stories have found their way into the modern public discourse including our school classrooms. For example, stories such as the Odyssey and the Iliad are currently found in picture book form and have been translated into children's cartoons and animated feature. Even the popular television show "Hercules" as well as its spin off "Xeena Warrior Princess" attests to the fact that epic themes and mythological characters from antiquity are currently part of the modern psyche, at the very least they are part of our entertainment industry.

 Storytelling

 Storytelling is one of the oldest, if not the oldest method of communicating ideas and images. Story performance honed our mythologies long before they were written and edited by scribes, poets, or scholars. Storytelling, as it is defined here, is a linguistic activity that is educative because it allows individuals to share their personal understanding with others, thereby creating negotiated transactions (Egan, 1995 & 1999). Without this interactive narrative experience humans could not express their knowledge or thought. As Bruner (1986) points out, storytelling is part of how humans translate their individual private experience of understanding into a public culturally negotiated form.

Storytelling is also a performance art, one that has been revitalized in recent years and which has developed into a neotradition throughout the U.S.A (Zipes, 1995). Today, the modern storyteller performs texts that (for most) have been learned from books. However, the art of storytelling still remains connected to its ancient roots in that it remains an activity where a tale is told aloud, to an audience, without the use of memorized scripts or other literary texts. It is the closest thing we have, in modern contexts, to the orality of our preliterate ancestors. Modern storytellers, therefore, like their ancient counterparts, continue to rely on their manipulation of language in order to relate an anecdote and often make use of dramatic skills such as characterization, narration, vocalization, and mimetic action.

Traditional Literature

Traditional texts have been passed on through storytelling across the generations, developed by way of the folk process, and resulting in archetypal culturally shared narratives that have educative value. Literary forms of these tales, as we know them today, were originally collected (mostly by white male European Scholars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries), transcribed, edited, published, and subsequently used as source material for much of the current literature for children as well as the fantasy fiction for adults. Still, due to the fact that many tellers crafted myths and legends in a variety of social contexts, over time, these stories remain illustrative of collective experiences. Many traditional texts define ethical perspectives, epistemological views, and cultural constructions of identities and it is generally thought that the folk process strengthened the collective or social knowledge, contained in stories. The evolution of folk tales, then, evolved into primary texts for learning and meaning making (Coles, 1989; Engle, 1995; Mishler, 1995).

The concept, that stories characterize and define identity, for both individuals and groups, is also grounded in the work of Jung (1969) who identifies a series of specific and formal elements within world mythologies that have become primary archetypes. Each archetype represents a core psychological function common to all humans. Jung's archetypes are found symbolically within traditional tales and are depicted in a variety of forms. The fact that many of these archetypes occur repetitively in myths from widely divergent geographical areas is evidence, according to Jung, that a "collective unconscious" exists connecting people, cultures, and time within a "generative force."

Bettelheim, a Freudian psychoanalyst, has also argued that stories are symbolic expressions of the inner experience of development in children (1977). Stories connect children to psychological realities and folk tales assist children in their psychosocial and imaginative growth. When traditional texts are told to children, according to Bettelheim, the symbolic patterns these tales display become manifestations of psychological constructs.

The work of Bettelheim (1977) and Jung (1969) profoundly influenced the field of education. Developmental models extracted from traditional literatures by these theorists suggested to many educators, at the time, that stories were important teaching tools and that children would benefit from exposure folk tales. Applebee (1978) and Favat (1977), in their originative studies, examined children's reactions to folk stories and found that students made connections between the plots and events in books by connecting their own life experiences to that of fictional characters. This research encouraged more educators to take stories seriously and to incorporate them in teaching and learning environments.

Storytelling and Learning

Wells's (1986) seminal study investigating the links between storytelling and school success found that the key to literacy development was consistent exposure to storytelling and narrative discourse in both the home and classroom environments. Wells' work has strengthened efforts to incorporate storytelling in school environments. Current studies support Well's findings, suggesting that telling stories from culturally diverse sources supports the creation of multicultural awareness in classrooms (McCabe, 1997) and encourages the development of healthy self-concepts (Paley, 1990). Traditional literatures from a wide variety of cultural contexts have also been found useful in the growth of imagination (Rosenblatt, 1976; Gallas, 1994), morality (Coles, 1989; Zipes, 1997) and self-identity (Chinen, 1996). In addition, Egan (1999) suggests that the dramatic format of Western story itself can function within classrooms as the primary form of teaching and learning. In addition, he finds that "the classic fairy tales have considerable power to engage the imaginations of young children in [classroom settings]" (p.35).

Although storytelling is now maturing into a recognized performance-art form, as indicated by the current popularity of storytellers' guilds, artist-residency programs, university courses, publications, and international conferences, it still takes a back seat to other more technological forms of instruction. In spite of the fact that storytelling as teaching has the strongest support in preschool and kindergarten classrooms—where it is an important accepted method of teaching—it is still not a common and consistent practice across grades and content areas. As Eisner (1998) points out, the mere presence and acceptance of arts-based practice does not presume that the arts have parity within schools, or a consistent place within classrooms. It has been over a decade since Egan (1989) urged teachers to see storytelling as a conceptual approach to curriculum. However, widespread integration of narrative pedagogy has not been created. Therefore, it is time, as Eisner (1998) suggests, to:

Widen our epistemologies [so that] the potential for rescuing curriculum from a hierarchy that reflects a more or less Platonic conception of knowledge and cognition increases… The privileged place of a limited array of fields of study in our schools would give way to a more ecumenical and broadly arrayed set of curricular options. (p. 107)

Unless we can now begin to readdress storytelling's place in the educational arena the performing-art of storytelling will continue to compete with media and computers as a system of instruction. It is likely too, that it will decline in schools as the prevailing emphasis on computer literacy, interactive technology, and distance learning programs increase—and as we come to rely on hypertexts and media productions as our primary source of information.

Investigating the Impact of Storytelling in Classrooms

Because children are currently the major consumers of traditional texts in our society, the question of how folk tales may or may not impact learning remains important to our understanding of education and human development. However, few studies exist that actually investigate the impact of the ancient and seminal performing art of storytelling on children's development and learning. With the exception of Egan's work (1989, 1995, 1997) in developing curricular formats based on story structures, Paley's (1990) pedagogical reflections on young children's dramatic play, and Atkinson's (1995 & 1998) life-story methodology examining how students perceive their life history, questions about the impact of storytelling in classrooms remain virtually unanswered.

In response to the paucity of research in this area, and because I am both a teacher and a storyteller, I conducted a qualitative arts-based study designed to examine children's responses to the storytelling of traditional texts. The intent of this study was to investigate how the art of storytelling impacted students' development and to look at what students might learn from folk tales after hearing them told aloud.

This study explored children's responses to the character roles portrayed in traditional and used methods influenced by qualitative and arts-based epistemologies (Barone & Eisner, 1997; Eisner, 1991 & 1998; Finley & Knowles, 1995). In addition, the study is influenced by research conducted by Stone (1998), Westland (1993), and Trousdale (1995) who compared children's attitudes to characters found in Grimms' fairy tales and is intended as a response to, and a deeper investigation of, traditional literatures' place in educational environments.

Methods

As a performance artist, scholar, and storyteller, I have become deeply interested, during the past twenty years, in examining what happens when stories come to school in their original format. Specifically, I am curious to know what impact, if any, traditional tales have on children's learning when they are presented in their oral form—as opposed to reading or retelling them from a book. This study was designed with these questions and assumptions in mind. It was grounded in the arts-process of performance- telling. Its major purpose was to investigate areas not accounted for in previous research by including multiple perspectives of children and by providing information about what elementary school students might say about storytelling and traditional texts as part of classroom practice.

Qualitative arts-based research includes the researcher and subject(s) in an iterative process based on participants' responses and reflections on the research question (Strauss & Corbin, 1997). In this type of practice method evolves as data are collected, examined, and meanings are negotiated. Emergent theories are then brought back to the field and are used to modify concepts, protocols, and investigative practice. This study utilized such a process. For example, at the beginning of this study students discussed preferences and reacted to the qualities of characters in stories. As the study progressed, their reflections deepened and protocol questions were changed in order to better represent their thinking, reflectivity, and input. Stories and questions were presented to students, responses recorded, then questions, as well as analytical perspectives, were reworked and reinterpreted—dependent on student feedback. In addition, due to the iterative and grounded nature of this examination, the sample population was intentionally small so that the questions could be examined in-depth and over time. The goal of the study was to get the most holistic information possible from a small sample population so as to include participants in the exploration and development of the research.

This study was also grounded in the practice of storytelling and the narrative discourse of children, a traditionally powerless group in our society. It uses their stories as the primary data for making meaning out of the research encounter. In an attempt to break down some of the hierarchical and power relationships that are inherent in any relationship between adults and children, this investigation attempted to create a research setting that enabled students to creatively express their thoughts and viewpoints in a safe, respectful, and arts-infused environment. It was also designed to give students an opportunity for expressing and exploring their own intuition and thinking.

Validity

Maxwell (1996) states that validity, in qualitative research, is both an issue of design and an issue of credibility, as it address the question of why findings should be believed. The validity standard that this study worked within is one of authentic relativism, in that it depended on the research design, employed art disciplines and procedures, fostered the research relationship as part of its methodology, and reflected participants' viewpoints in order to create an authentic account that is grounded in the reality of the event. Care was taken to capture a legitimate understanding of the study's context by presenting as complete a picture as possible of what participants and the researcher actually said, did, thought, created, and perceived.

Validity issues were also addressed as part of an epistemological grounding as well as method. For example, validity issues were deliberately structured into the research design and plan including; a) using methodology that correspond to the design with qualitative and arts-based approaches; b) including on-going collaborative approaches to discussion and investigation of research questions; c) paying attention to disconfirming and divergent data; d) collecting multiple data from multiple sources as a way of checking out researcher beliefs, assumptions, and biases; e) an on-going system of "memoing" (Creswell, 1998) on the part of the researcher.

Scope & Context

Because storytelling is a highly verbal and auditory art form, a small group (one Fourth-grade class) of students was selected as participants. The small size of the group allowed for in-depth discussions and analysis over a long period of time. It also enhanced the reflective nature of the responses.

The students involved were all regular attendees of Washington Intermediate School, a neighborhood facility located in a small New England mill town. All were between the ages ten through twelve, of working class, working poor, or welfare poor parents of Franco-American, Irish-American, Native American, or "Yankee" backgrounds.

Data collection, which took place over the course of one school year, focused on students' reactions to stories told aloud. Texts were selected from a wide variety of world tales from multicultural sources and included myths, folk and fairy tales, sections of epics, legends, and fables. In addition, stories were also selected for their ethical content. Stories included both conformist and nonconformist heroes and heroines, as well characters who portrayed vanity, foolishness, courage, housekeeping, magical abilities, care taking, and superhuman abilities.

Throughout the duration of this study (September-May), students were asked to participate in twice-monthly storytelling sessions executed by the researcher/storyteller (a guest-artist in the classroom). Storytelling time was usually scheduled during midmorning, after literacy and math instruction, and before recess. During presentations, chairs and desks were moved back and a rug was repositioned so students could lounge comfortably during the listening/telling.

In every case, students participated actively and with a high degree of interest; often requesting that a particular story be retold over and over again. After the storytelling, students met in small groups for in-depth interviews. Interviews and stories were taped and transcribed; these conversations and interactions made up the bulk of data used in the analysis. All of the data used here is quoted verbatim. No part of the transcribed text has been adjusted or changed to make it easier to read. However, the data presented below have been pre-selected as indicative of the larger data set.

© International Journal of Education and the Arts

Volume 2 Number 1 - February 2, 2001

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2.- WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

Our dear SHARER Graciela Barrientos Prieto from Valparaíso, Chile has sent us this article about how new words find their way into the language.

Words pour into English
Jean Aitchison

Word formation processes

New words are not totally new. The vast majority are made up out of existing components. The same word-formation processes recur around the globe, though each language has its own particular favourites.

New words are typically placed in inverted commas, when they are first introduced, as in 'The annual fee allows unlimited entry to district parks for your dog for a year and a case of 100 'pooper-scoopers''', a pooper-scooper being a tool for the removal of a dog's solid waste. As a word becomes accepted, these inverted commas are eventually dropped.

i) Compounds. In English, compounding has been the most prolific process throughout the 20th century. This consists simply of putting words together. Sometimes these remain as two words. Recent examples include airport fiction (books, especially ones that are not very serious, that people buy at airports to read while they are travelling on planes) and hot desk (a desk which is used by different workers on different days, instead of by the same worker every day).

At other times, the two parts are joined into a single new word, for example jobseeker (someone who is trying to find a job), and webhead (someone who uses the Internet a lot, especially in a skilful way). Sometimes the two parts are linked by a hyphen, as in walk-in, a recent adjective that describes a place to which you can go without an appointment, as in walk-in clinic.

ii) Affixes. Affixation is another common method of forming new words. An affix is an additional part of a word added at the beginning (prefix) or end of the word (suffix).

Adding an ending to an existing word continues to produce many new words in English. For example, -iac has been added to the word brain to created the recent new word brainiac (informal humorous someone who spends a lot of time studying and thinking about complicated ideas, but who is often unable to communicate with people in ordinary social situations: Electrical engineering is the perfect career for a brainiac like him). This word is also used as an adjective: The company is trying to change its brainiac image.

Many new words have also been created through the addition of the suffix -ization, as in dollarization (a situation in which countries outside the US want to use the dollar rather than their own country's money) or globalization (the process by which countries all over the world become connected, especially because large companies are doing business in many different countries). This is, in fact, two suffixes combined, -ize as in globalize, then with an added -ation.

Another increasingly popular suffix is -land, as in adland (the activity or business of advertising, considered as a whole: Anything that grabs your attention is good in adland) and cyberland (activity that involves the Internet and the people who use it).

Prefixes have become more widespread recently. Cyber- is a good example of a prefix which has been used to create a range of new words (originally meaning 'computer', now often meaning 'to do with the Internet'). For example cybercafé, cybercrime, cyberforensics, cyberfraud (the illegal act of deceiving people on the Internet in order to gain money, power etc), cyberland, cyberporn (sexual images, films etc shown on the Internet).

And dozens of new words formed by prefixes relate to size, both large size and very small size, such as micro-, super-, and multi-, as in:

microbrewery a small company that makes only a small quantities of beer, and often has a restaurant where its beer is served

microengineering the activity of designing structures and machines that are extremely small micromanage to organize and control all the details of other people's work in a way that they find annoying: Professors warned that students will suffer if the state legislature tries to micromanage public education.

supersize AmE a supersize drink or meal in a fast-food restaurant is the largest size that the restaurant serves

multi-tasking 1 a computer's ability to do more than one job at a time 2 the ability to do different types of work at the same time

These prefixes mostly have clear meanings. But suffixes too may have meanings: -ism is a suffix which has acquired a more specific meaning in recent years, alongside -ist. At one time, its meaning was fairly neutral, as in pacifism (the belief that all wars and all forms of violence are wrong). But gradually -ism has taken on a feeling of disapproval: ageism is 'unfair treatment of people because they are old', and someone who is prejudiced in this way is an ageist. Similarly, lookist (adj) is unfairly deciding to like or not like someone by considering only the way they look, their weight, their clothes etc'. The -ism is lookism, and the person who discriminates is a lookist.

iii) Conversion (change of word class). A variety of other word formation processes exist, which sometimes suddenly erupt in dozens of new words and phrases. Conversion, the change of a word from one word class (part of speech) to another is very common in today's English. It is easy for a language with few word endings to use this process, as with to bookmark (a verb formed from a noun) meaning 'to save the address of a page on the Internet, so that you can find it again easily'; to ramp or to ramp something up (a verb formed from a noun), meaning 'to try to persuade people that a company's shares are worth more than they really are'; and to sample (a verb formed from a noun) is 'to use a small part of a song from a CD or record in a new song'.

iv) Acronyms and abbreviations. Acronyms, initial letters of words, have been important for some time, and abbreviations such as RIP ('Rest in Peace', used on tombstones and in speech about someone who is dead) and asap ('as soon as possible') are widely known and used. Some of these acronyms become accepted as full words, such as laser ('light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation', meaning a device that can emit an intense beam of light), which is pronounced as a word (leIze). Recently, acronyms and abbreviations have grown increasingly frequent, at least among teenagers and young adults, partly because of mobile phones, or cell phones, which can also send text messages, but which have very limited space on their screens. So brief message abbreviations are becoming common, such as IMHO ('in my humble opinion') and CUL ('see you later') - though caution is needed. Some abbreviations are ambiguous: LOL could mean either 'Lots of love' or 'Laughing out loud'!

v) Blends. Two words combined into one are known as blends (a term now more usual than the older one, portmanteau words, sometimes still used to describe this happening).

A few blends have become an accepted part of English, such as brunch, a mixture of breakfast and lunch, and some of them are intentionally humorous. For example:

netizen slang someone who uses the Internet, especially someone who uses it in a responsible way. This word comes from a combination of the words 'net', meaning 'the Internet', and 'citizen': China and India will soon have far larger numbers of netizens than any Western nation.

netiquette informal the commonly accepted rules for polite behaviour when communicating with other people on the Internet: Netiquette says that you don't use all capital letters in an e-mail, because that shows you are angry.

The word imagineer, from 'imagination' and 'engineer', means someone who has a lot of new ideas, and who is also able to use these ideas to do practical things.

Layering

Yet new words are not necessarily fresh ones. Existing words can split apart, in a process known as layering. New layers of meaning grow up alongside existing ones, such as client (a computer on a network that receives information from a server {=large powerful computer}), or brother (a word meaning a black man, used especially by other black men). Similarly, lurk is now used not only of suspicious characters who may hide in the bushes, but also of someone who enters a chat room on the Internet, and reads what other people are writing to each other, but does not write any messages to them.

Another type of layering is when words appear to fade in meaning. In fact, this is not so much weakening, as an additional new meaning, as with the word devastated. 'The city was devastated', usually means that it was destroyed by an enemy or a major natural disaster, such as a volcano. But 'Peggy was devastated when her new hat got wet' is quite a trivial affair, and simply means 'Peggy was unhappy'.

Conclusion

Words, then, are continually coming into English. So is the language getting bigger and bigger? Yes, it is. But words do not necessarily stay for ever. They may fall out of use, and die away.

So how does one cope with all these hordes of words? The answer is: buy a recent dictionary. Hopefully, the current one will provide a useful stock of words for any student who wants to start the 21st century by updating their vocabulary.

Jean Aitchison is the Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford. She is the author of a number of books, including:

Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell 1994 Language Change: Progress or decay?, 3rd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001

(c) Pearson Education 1996-2003

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3.- TEACHING ENGLISH TO A BLIND CHILD – PART 4

Today we are publishing the last part of the paper that our dear SHARER and friend Cristina Araujo presented at the Ninth National Congress of Teachers and Students of English last July.

If you missed parts any the previous parts, you can always find them in the SHARE Archives of our Website: www.ShareEducation.com.ar  

Projected Application: Alternative Class Activities & Tasks

The following activities were designed taking into consideration the previous study and having in mind that all children learn by doing, that they learn better in a positive atmosphere, that variety is motivating, that different children learn in different ways, that English can be used to explore themes such as tolerance or social behaviour, and finally that activities can be adapted to suit the needs of students with different requirements.

All the activities in this section were carried out by the fourth grade teacher at the private institute were I work. Her group is formed by 16 students, 10 girls and 6 boys, aged 12 to 14. They have been together since first grade and the textbook used at the moment is Super Buzz.

Activity 1

Let’s get to know what Braille is

Objective: The purpose of this activity is to show the class what Braille is all about.

Helped by a chart, the teacher introduces all the Braille symbols.

Each student tries to write his/her name in Braille using glue. When they finish the blind child checks if names have been written correctly.

For example:

Tomas:  .  l    l .    ll  l .    l . 

                 ll       l   .  .     . .      .  l

                 l .     l .    l .    . .      l .

 Activity 2

Let’s play with Braille

Objective: The purpose of this activity is to make all students in the classroom become acquainted with the Braille system. It was developed in 3 stages according to the degree of difficulty that the different symbols presented.

 Stage 1:

Learn Braille - Letters A to J

With this set of symbols students are asked to note how letters A to J are made in the upper two-thirds of the cells.

Exercise 1:

    Can you identify these words?

Stage 2:

Learn Braille - Letters A to T

At this point students are asked to note how the letters K to T are formed by adding dot 3 to the letters A to J.

Exercise 2:

    Can you identify these words?

(Notice that so far no capital letters have been used, since this implies an extra difficulty).

Activity 3

Video session

A video session may have multiple purposes, such as: to present or consolidate structures, to provide stimulus for a piece of writing, to serve as a springboard for role-play, discussion, and listening, to focus on vocabulary, etc.

The activity was planned to be carried out in 5 stages.

Stage 1- Silent listening: Students listen for a couple of minutes to the beginning of the sound track so as to imagine what the story is about.

Stage 2: Viewing of the presentation of the film –title, cast, etc.- to elicit the story. This moment is also used to incorporate the necessary vocabulary by predicting dialogue.

Stage 3: Back-to-back description. For 5 minutes students sit in back-to-back pairs; the one who faces the screen describes what s/he sees to the other. Then they all share information.

Stage 4: Viewing of the rest of the film. Students take turns to sit next to the blind child to answer his/her questions. If the student in charge cannot answer by him/herself s/he would raise his/her hand, the teacher would stop the video and the whole group would try to find the proper answer.

Stage5- reformulation: In a paragraph they are to change the end of the story.

Activity 4

Image Streaming

This exercise on was conceived of as an introduction to guided fantasy exercises. Words have the power of making us feel, see, hear, smell and taste things that we may not even know.  Our words and those of others can direct what we imagine in the same way that what we imagine can direct our words; this occurs because this activity connects different parts of our brain, stimulating new connections and new learning.

Objective: to access and enhance the students’ potential to become more aware of their capabilities, and to practise and harness their powers of visualization in the service of their language learning. It is also useful to discover our students’ interests.

Exercise 1:

Setting: Students sit in pairs while Baroque music is played, e.g. Alejandro Marcello’s Concert in D minor, Adagio. 

The student on the right closes his/her eyes, listens and imagines. The student on the left listens to the music and whispers to his/her classmate the words than come to his/her mind.

The first time this activity should last only one minute; in later classes it may last longer. When the minute is over the teacher stops the music, asks students to remember the visualization and share it with his/her partner. Then they change roles.

Activity 5

Guided Fantasy

Guided fantasies, which are also called guided journeys or visualizations, involve students in creating pictures in their minds while following a script read by the guide, in this case the teacher.

Objective: All of us learn better when we are given the opportunity to access and process information in different ways. The focus of this activity is the use of guided fantasy to access the right side of the brain, the side where metaphors are understood and emotions are realized, where dreams and imagery occur and fantasies are born.

Setting: Students sit in a circle while Baroque music is played, e.g. Vivaldi’s Four seasons: Spring.

Stage 1: The teacher asks her students to sit comfortably, close their eyes and concentrate on the music.

Stage 2: After a few seconds the teacher starts reading:

Script:

 It is a beautiful afternoon, the sun is shining brightly and you can listen to the birds singing. You are walking along a path; you are happily enjoying your walk. But, No, wait…  in front of you there is a wall, a high wall. Look for a door… (silence: 5´´) There it is, now open it! You are in the most beautiful place you have ever seen. Look around, contemplate it.  Now start  walking again; look for something that you really like, go nearer, touch it, smell it, weigh it, listen to it, feel it, embrace it, enjoy it…. (silence 10´´). Now you have to come back, leave the object where it was and say goodbye, turn around and walk again to the open door, close the door carefully and walk back to the classroom… (silence: 5´´).

Stage 3: After the reading the teacher tells her students to turn around so as to face their peers’ back, then she asks them to draw with one finger on their peers’ back the object that they have found. 

Stage 4: Each student describes what he thinks his/her peer has drawn on his/her back. They share opinions, confirm or correct.

Conclusion

The five activities described above were carried out between August and October by the teacher while I reserved for myself the role of observer. Except for the first activity ”Let’s get to know what Braille is”, which was used as an icebreaker, the rest of the activities were specially designed to be integrated with the rest of the regular classroom activities. All of them had a purpose and they did not interfere with the development or timing of the class; on the contrary, they fostered integration and successfully addressed the needs of all the members of the group.

Today, all 4^th grade students form a group based on integration, recognition of difference and acceptance of the other, where every member, sighted or not, has a place of their own.

© 2003 by Lic. Cristina Araujo

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4.- THE KEEPERS

Our dear SHARER and SHARER Efraín Davis has sent us this delicious piece of writing:

Dear Friends,
I have received this beautiful reflection from a Friend.Now,I am sharing it with other Friends.Enjoy!!!!
Efrain


The Keepers

I grew up with practical parents--a Mother, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name
for it. A Father, who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good,their dreams focused.

Their friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now. It was the time for fixing things -- a curtain rod, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress.  Things
we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made  me crazy. All that fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted  just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. But then my Mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more'.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.

So........while we have it........it's best we love it.........  and care for it.........and fix it when it's broken.........  and heal it when it's sick.  This is true...........for
marriage.........and old cars..........and children with  bad report cards.........and dogs with bad hips.......... aging parents..........and grandparents.  We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep.  Like a best friend that moved away--or--a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special....and so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'! Then I sent it to the people I think of in the same way. Have a great day, keepers!!!!!!!

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 5.- SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO DE PROFESORES Y TRADUCTORES EN LA UCA

 Our dear SHARERS from the Centro de Graduados en Lenguas Vivas de la UCA have  sent us this announcement about their forthcoming Segundo Encuentro Abierto de Profesores y Traductores de Inglés which they are currently organizing with the Departamento de Lenguas de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad Católica

Argentina. Omar will give the closing plenary of the Section devoted to ELT and we hope to see many of our SHARERS there.

 Nuevos Enfoques en el Siglo XXI

Viernes  7 Noviembre – 15:00 horas

Auditorio Monseñor Derisi – Alicia M. De Justo 1400 (Subsuelo) – Puerto Madero.

Panel de Profesores: Nuevos enfoques en la enseñanza de la Lengua Inglesa

15.20-16.00 : Susan Hillyard B.A. 
Use it or Lose it

16.05-16.45  Prof. Oriel Villagarcía M.A.
The Hidden Dimension

17.00- 17.40  Prof. Laura Szmuch  y Jamie Duncan B.A.
They´re playing our song

17.45- 18.25  Lic. Omar Villarreal
Teaching English in Argentina: The Tragedy and the Glory.

18.20-18.30  Preguntas
18.30-18.45  Coffee break

18.45  Panel de Traductores: Nuevos Enfoques en la Traducción.
18.45  T.P. Graciela Isaía y Ruiz
El Traductor Argentino y el Mercado Internacional

19.30  T. P. Herminia Alonso
Servicios a la Comunidad y Programas de Voluntariado

Arancel: $5

Inscripción: At: Leticia Dagna – TE 338-0822 – leticia_dagna@uca.edu.ar

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6.- POLITICALLY CORRECT TERMS FOR “STUPID”

Our dear SHARER Adriana Quinteros from Córdoba sends us this very original contribution:

Stupid Politically Correct Terms!!!

Everything these days is so Politically Correct that we are now not allowed to tell
someone they are stupid.  So use any of these helpful little Politically Correct phrases:

Crippled too high for his crutches.
The cursor's blinking but the keyboard ain't connected.
A few clowns short of a circus.
A few fries short of a happy meal.
A few beers short of a six pack.
A few peas short of a casserole.
The wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead.
One fruit loop shy of a full bowl.
One taco short of a combination plate.
A few feathers short of a whole duck.
All foam, no beer.
The cheese slid off his cracker.
Body by Fisher, brains by Mattel.
Has an IQ of 2, but it takes 3 to grunt.
Warning: Objects in mirror are dumber than they appear.
Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.
He fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
An intellect rivaled only by garden tools.
As smart as bait.
Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
Elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor.
Forgot to pay his brain bill.
Her sewing machine's out of thread.
His antenna doesn't pick up all the channels.
His belt doesn't go through all the loops.
Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
Receiver is off the hook.
Several nuts short of a full pouch.
Skylight leaks a little.
Slinky's kinked.
Too much yardage between the goal posts.
One inch short of a yard.
One bacon bit short of a salad.
id10t error. (Usually used by techs in reference to users.)
10 yards down and the game hasn't even started.
Sub-human Error.
Experiment for brain-killing viruses.

This is a term that tech support users use only with the stupidest of people: "PEBCAK", which stands for "problem exists between chair and keyboard".

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7.-  CAPACITACIÓN EN ESPAÑOL COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA

Our dear SHARER María José Gassó from Centro Alpha has sent us this information about their forthcoming activities:

(1)  Curso Alpha de Iniciación a la Enseñanza de ELE I

CAI-ELE (primera parte) noviembre-diciembre 2003, 8 encuentros

a cargo de la Lic. María José Bravo

Lugar: Centro Alpha, Av. Córdoba 991 2º “A”, Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Fechas y Horario : Martes y jueves  de 18:30 a 21:00
Martes 11, 18 y 25 de noviembre
Jueves 13, 20 y 27 de noviembre
Martes 2 de diciembre
Jueves 4 de diciembre

Arancel del curso: $250. El 60% debe abonarse antes de comenzar y el 40% restante debe abonarse al comienzo de la segunda semana.

Requisitos para la inscripción: Para poder inscribirse, no necesita contar con formación ni experiencia previas. La inscripción cierra el día 7 de noviembre. El primer pago debe efectivizarse hasta ese día como último plazo, en Centro Alpha Av. Córdoba 991 2º”A” todos los días desde las 14:30 hasta las 19:30 hs.

¿Qué es el CAI-ELE?

ELE es el nombre internacional de Español Lengua Extranjera.

Usted está pensando en enseñar español para extranjeros en el país o en el exterior o ya ha dado algunas clases. Es hablante nativo del español, tal vez es profesor de otras lenguas extranjeras, traductor, periodista, o se ha dedicado hasta el momento a otra profesión.

Enseñar una lengua no es tarea simple: hay que saber sobre ella, sobre su cultura, hay que saber acercar esos conocimientos a un hablante de otra lengua, que irá aprendiendo, a la vez, la gramática, las pautas culturales y los códigos de una nueva comunidad.

Alpha ha pensado un curso para usted. CAI-ELE es un curso intensivo, de un mes de duración, de 8 encuentros de dos horas y media, 20 horas en total.

CAI-ELE está pensado para aquellos que no pueden hacer una carrera, pero que están interesados en formarse en el área y que creen en esa formación como base para empezar a hacer. No se requiere formación o experiencia previas.

CAI-ELE tiene 3 módulos:

Módulo de lengua: ¿Qué tengo que saber sobre el español para enseñarlo?

Módulo de cultura: ¿Qué tengo que saber sobre nuestra cultura y nuestras pautas socio-culturales?

Módulo de didáctica: ¿Cómo llevo esto al aula? ¿Con qué materiales? ¿Con qué estrategias?

Los tres módulos están pensados de manera complementaria y sus contenidos van alternando durante el curso. CAI-ELE es un curso de iniciación. Con CAI-ELE no habrá hecho todo, pero será un excelente puntapié inicial. Luego, lo ayudaremos a continuar.

Además, Alpha (un centro dedicado al estudio y difusión del español en Buenos Aires) puede contactarlo con el mundo de la enseñanza del español para extranjeros y acercarle la información que necesite. A través de Alpha, puede entrar en contacto e intercambiar con otros futuros colegas experiencias, dudas e inquietudes.

Escríbanos: e-mail informes@centroalpha.com.ar,  o llámenos al  4393-1972 (por la tarde).

(2)  Talleres de capacitación en ELE – Español como Lengua Extranjera

21 y 22 de noviembre de 2003

Coordinadoras de los talleres: Lic. María José Bravo, Lic. Beatriz Autieri y Lic. María José Gassó

Trabajaremos en la capacitación y actualización en la enseñanza de español para extranjeros, focalizando cada vez, diferentes temas: la comprensión auditiva, la comprensión lectora, la corrección y la evaluación de la comprensión, la producción oral, la producción escrita y la corrección y evaluación de la producción oral y escrita.

Horario: viernes de 9:30 a 18:30 hs. Sábado de 9:30 a 16:30hs.

Arancel: $80 (ochenta pesos) por los dos días. No se aceptarán inscripciones por un solo día.
Cierre de inscripción: 14 de noviembre. El pago del arancel deberá hacerse hasta el 14 de noviembre en nuestras oficinas: Av. Córdoba 991 2º A. Si reside en el interior, comuníquese con nosotros para organizar su inscripción.
Informes e inscripción: escríbanos a informes@centroalpha.com.ar o llámenos al 4393 1972 (por la tarde).

Alpha centro de comunicación y cultura
Av. Córdoba 991 2º "A" - (C1054AAI) Ciudad de Buenos Aires - Argentina
TE: (54 11) 4393-1972
Página web: www.centroalpha.com.ar
E-mail: informes@centroalpha.com.ar

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8-  ON-LINE COURSES FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

Our dear SHARER and friend Susana Trabaldo announces NET LEARNING three new courses for teachers of English:

Prepositions and Phrasals – How to learn them and how to teach them

Tutor: Aldo Omar Blanco  -  Duration:  6 weeks 

Fee:  $160 (in Argentina) 

Drama Projects for the ELT classroom

Tutor: Ana María Rozzi de Bergel  -  Duration: 4 weeks

Fee: $110 (in Argentina)

Moving the class to Web-enhanced learning

Tutor:  Norma Scagnoli  -  Duration :  4 weeks

Fee:  $ 140 (in Argentina)

Methodology:

These courses will be taught on the Internet through the Net-Learning system –completely on-line.   Every week you will be able to download the materials which you will find in your virtual room.  You can study them even when you are not connected to the Internet.  There will be email exchange, discussion forums, collaborative work and tutoring chat sessions.  Certificates of attainment will be issued by Asociación de Ex-alumnos del Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández" at the end of the course.

There are group discounts for all the courses.  

For further information, please contact us: www.net-learning.com.ar or info@net-learning.com.ar
Phone / Messages:  (011) 4654 8945  -  (011) 4791 6009

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9.- BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTER

Our dear friends and SHARERS Jamie Duncan and Laura Szmuch  write to us:

Enhancing your skills as a trainer
with Laura Szmuch and Jamie Duncan

This two-day workshop will teach skills for excellence as a presenter.  The aim is to maximise and polish the skills of the participants in the area of preparing and giving of talks, workshops, lectures and seminars.

Target audience: teachers, teacher trainers, seminar and workshop givers, coordinators, directors of studies

Format:  two sessions on Saturdays.  10.00   - 13.00 and 14.30 - 17. 30.  There will be a mixture of input and practice activities.

Content areas:

Preparation
Type of session, Structuring the session, Planning for time, Modes of delivery, Didactic materials, VAK.

Selecting the material
Knowing your subject, Preparation of titles and abstracts, Left brain/right brain?, Organisation, What do they take away?

Managing the venue
Use of space, Speaker movement, Sightlines, Handling technology,Microphone skills

Knowing the audience
Size and background, Familiarity with topic, Expectations, Establishing rapport, Delivery skills, Sorting styles, Language.

Special speaker skills
Preframing, Humour, Variety, Stage management, Self-talk, Worst nightmare scenarios, Voice training.

Fees:  $95 per session. -  $175 both sessions paid in advance
Venue: Gallardo 719, Capital Federal (1408)

To enrol, contact Jamie jamie@abaconet.com.ar , Laura lauraszmuch@aol.com or      005411-4641-9068

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10.-  TEACHER TRAINING COURSES IN BAHÍA BLANCA

Our dear friends and SHARERS Leticia and EL JEM inmvte all SHARERS to their taing courses:

The Helen Keller Institute cordially invites you to two workshops on

Saturday 8 November

WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT by Jeremy Goodchild, PG Cert. TEFL.
12.30 - 14.30 hrs

and

TESTING IN ELT by Prof. Leticia Yulita, MA (Ed)
15.00 - 17.00 hrs

Venue: Necochea 354 - Bahía Blanca - tel. 482 1468

Fee: $25 if you attend both or $15 if you attend only one for APIBB & SEA members, Profesorado & HK students and state school teachers. $30 & $18 for all others.

Wash Your Mouth Out

Bad language has nothing to do with poor grammar but everything to do with swearing. Join us as we look at taboo language in an adult-themed workshop that will discuss some of the diverse applications of casual and causal swearing. This consideration of an often ignored area of contemporary language will analyse authentic material from a variety of sources. Ideal for teachers and students of English.

Jeremy Goodchild holds the PG Cert. in TEFL from Leeds Metropolitan University. Formerly of London and Norwich, he is Co-Director of Helen Keller. A guest speaker for APIBB, FAAPI and the IX Congress of Argentinian Teachers and Students of English, he is experienced in producing and presenting language and culture development and teacher training workshops.

Testing in ELT

Surprised by poor student test performance? Is it the student, or is it the test? This highly practical workshop will explore the fundamentals of testing and a selection of common problems teachers and students can have with tests. Discover the flaws inherent in many typical test items in coursebooks and consider what current literature has to say on best practice. Ideal for teachers and Profesorado students.

Prof. Leticia Yulita is a graduate teacher of English from ISP Juan XXIII and holds an MA in Education and Professional Development from the University of East Anglia, England. Leticia is the Director of Studies at the Helen Keller Institute and responsible for course and testing quality control. She produces and delivers in-service teacher training sessions to maintain the teaching standards at her place of work as well as having assisted in teacher training at the University of East Anglia.

Certificates of Attendance will be issued

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11.- “LITTLE WOMEN” AT THE PLAYHOUSE

Our dear SHARER Ximena  Faralla has got an invitation to make:

The Suburban Players presents

Little Women
Adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott

Cast: Carolina Alfonsin - Rita Carou - Ian Duddy - Susan Frost - Paula Garcia Haymes - Paul Jeannot - Karen Kesselbrenner - Clara Portugheis - Veronica Taylor - Victor Taylor

Directed by Mara Santucci
Music by Julián Vidal - Song by Clara Portugheis - Lyrics by Mara Santucci

Saturday 8^th November  at 9 pm & Sunday 9^th November  at 7 pm-

Tickets $10 - Group discounts - Members free!
Reservations: 4747-4470 - thesuburbanplayers@unete.com

"The Playhouse"
Moreno 80, San Isidro
Check out our new website www.thesuburbanplayers.com 

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12-  COURSE ON HOW TO USE THE WEB IN THE CLASSROOM

Our dear SHARER Julie Mauro writes to us:

Dear Omar and Marina

                    Thank you once again for such a nice e-magazine. Every issue is always a refreshing way of getting ready for work. On behalf of Centro de Profesores de Inglés egresados ISP-JVG, I would like to invite you to the following workshop organized by
IAPEI´s _Teacher training College Staff :
 
"What Can the Web add to the English Lesson?" by Gladys Baya.
November 8th

Place: IADEI   Yerbal 2621-Capital Federal
Time : 2 to 5.30 pm
Free of Charge
Certificates of attendance will be issued.
Enrolment: Yerbal 2621 - Phone:4611-2710/9479 - e-mail:info@iadei.com

Looking forward to reading your next issues,
Warm regards,
Julia Lalanne de Mauro

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13-  “STORIES THAT SOUND” FAREWELL WORKSHOP

Our dear SHARERS Graciela Moyano and Cristina Gondona White announce:

“Stories that Sound” is closing activities for the present year. We would like to
thank all those who have shown interest in our workshop - prospective participants and promoters, encourage those participants who experienced story-telling in our workshops to continue working at it and invite participants who completed Stories that Sound I to join us in Stories that Sound II - Farewell Workshop.
María Cristina Thomson de Grondona White and Graciela C. Moyano

Stories that Sound II - Farewell Workshop

Date: November 15 2003 - Time: 9 to 12 am - Venue: Salguero 1932 - 6º B
Fees: $30
Please book your place in advance as vacancies are limited. Tel.: 4784-8791 / 4541-8323
Email: mcthom@satlink.com / gmoyano@netizen.com.ar

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14-  “LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS” IN VENADO TUERTO

Our dear friends from “Escuela de los Padres” in Venado Tuerto, Santa Fé wish to make an invitation:

Dear Friends,

Once again, we would like to invite teachers, students and all those who enjoy music, drama and the English Language to see the show our Drama  Workshop will be putting on at the Centro Cultural, Sala 2,  on November 5, 6,  and 7.

This year our teenage stars will be performing Little Shop of Horrors, a horrifically funny and bizarre musical comedy. The show is colourful, fast-paced and suitable for audiences of all ages.

There will be performances at 2.30 pm on Wednesday 5 and  Thursday 6,  and at 8.30  pm on Thursday 6 and Friday 7.  Tickets cost $3.  We would be grateful if you could book tickets by phone in advance (there’s no need to pay for them until the time of the show) so that it’s easier for us to organize the performances.  Our telephone numbers are 424534 and 420841.  Tickets will be sold at school and at the theatre before the shows.

We hope to see you in the audience!

Sincerely, 
Connie Bellocq- Patricia Sánchez
Drama Workshop - Escuela de los Padres - Venado Tuerto

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We  would like to finish this issue of SHARE in the same spirit that inspired our first issue four years ago now. Our first SHARE was simply a Halloween greeting to a group of around 40 friends. We are a big family now. Let this farewell be a belated Halloween greeting for more than 6,000. The following is a contribution from a very dear friend from Catamarca, José Luís García, to him and to all of you an enormous bear hug on our (yours and ours) birthday:
 
What do you call someone who puts poison in a person's corn flakes?
A: A cereal killer...
 
Why did the Vampire subscribe to the Wall Street Journal?
A: He heard it had great circulation...
 
What does a child monster call his parents?
A: Mummy and Deady...

Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers?
A: No, they eat the fingers separately...

Why didn't the skeleton dance at the party?
A: He had no body to dance with.

Why was the skeleton afraid to cross the road?
A: It had no guts...

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!
Omar and Marina.

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SHARE is distributed free of charge. All announcements in this electronic magazine are also absolutely free of charge. We do not endorse any of the services announced or the views expressed by the contributors.  For more information about the characteristics and readership of SHARE visit: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ShareMagazine
VISIT OUR WEBSITE : http://www.ShareEducation.com.ar There you can read all past  issues of SHARE in the section SHARE ARCHIVES.

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