New Standpoints N°47

ARTICLES

PANORAMA Immigration Ins & Outs François Vergniolle de Chantal provides an overview of a century of American immigration law — torn between ideals, needs and prejudice.

YESTERDAY From the Golden Door to the Gold Mountain: A Tale of Two Islands
Didier Aubert introduces Angel Island, its less welcoming counterpart on the West Coast.

GOING PLACES Miami, City of Refugees
Jacqueline Karp shows how the Cuban and Haitian communities transformed Miami from a sleepy little backwater into a bustling, cosmopolitan city.

TO THE POINT Geneaology
Once the domain of those with noble ancestry, Regan Kramer explains how geneaology has become a popular pursuit with people of all ages and from all walks of life. Some related links: Ellis Island, and  Who Do You Think You Are?, which offers great tips for getting started.

SEASONAL Britain's Got Talent
As Paul Giggins reminds us, not all TV series are made in the U.S.A. The British also have some serious know-how when it comes to entertaining — or info-taining — an audience.

SAFE & SOUND Hear We Go!
Starting from an authentic interview on New Standpoints Live, Ruth Huart advises on constructing listening strategies.

BACK TO LITERATURE: Willa Cather
Antony McDermott provides an introduction to the classic Amercian novelist's life and work.

WORDWISE Everybody Lies... D'oh!
From Star Trek to Seinfeld, Regan Kramer takes a look at the origins of television catch phrases that have entered the language. 

STARTING OUT Les groupes de compétences, quoi de neuf ?
Cherchant à mettre à la disposition des professeurs le plus possible de points de vue ou expériences sur les groupes de compétence, New Standpoints s'est entretenu avec Frédéric Chotard, IPR-IA de Nantes.

INTERACTION Le socle — un édifice commun
Quel casse-tête, ce socle commun !? Pourtant, comme Claudine Martina le montre, les interrogations sur les démarches possibles s'avèrent fécondes.

SCHOOL TRIP À vos marques, prêts ? Partez ! Organiser un court voyage scolaire
De plus en plus de professeurs font appel à des agences de voyage pour organiser un court voyage de classe au Royaume-Uni. Ce qui ne signifie pas que le professeur n'ait plus rien à faire... loin s'en faut !

WORKSHEETS

CELEBRITIES
Teens & Celebs (Lower Intermediate/A2) This worksheet channels pupils' enthusiasm for talking about celebrities to have them listen to comments from British teens, then write to an on-line forum. NS Live ▶ Track 47-49

Queenly Portraits (Lower Intermediate/A2) Listening to an example of visual analysis of portraits of Queens Elizabeth I and II leads to pupils constructing their own analysis of different royal portraits. Resources: the website: History on the Net, the photo of Lucian Freud painting his portrait on the National Portrait Gallery site, and NS Live ▶ Tracks 50-51

For more portraits of the Queen, see this news brief about an exhibit of 60 portraits of QEII that will be touring all five capitals of the United Kingdom in 2011-2012 in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 

Shakira, Chanteuse Engagée (Intermediate/A2-B1) A listening-comprehension activity about singer Shakira forms the base for work about helping good causes, and leads to role-playing an interview.  NS Live ▶ Tracks 62-64 

IMMIGRANTS & REFUGEES

Helping Refugees (Lower Intermediate-Intermediate/A2-B1) An audio interview with a young Kosovan refugee in London leads to pupils working on the theme of refugees and considering how they could help a refugee pupil integrate into their class. NS Live ▶ Track 52-55

My Àntonia (Terminale de Spécialité/B1-C1) Exploring the theme of immigration to19th-century frontier America through Willa Cather's novel My Àntonia, one of the boooks studied for Terminale L, enseignement de spécialité. Resource: Merika, a Hungarian museum's website about immigration to America.

Ellis Island (Intermediate A2-B1) Two different approaches to the same recording of a guide at the Ellis Island immigration museum — ideal for working with skill-level groups (groupes de compétences). Resources: Interactive Ellis Island tour and NS Live ▶ Tracks 56-58 

NEW THIS YEAR: INTERACTIVE WORKSHEET
Family Trees (SEGPA/A1)
The second of our new interactive worksheets, which are designed to be used with an interactive whiteboard or videoprojector. This worksheet introduces pupils to some family-relations vocabulary via family trees for the British Royals and a fictional vampire family. Pupils then work on their own family trees. You can find the worksheet in the subscriber-only section which you can log onto on our home page.

CREATIVE WRITING
Writing a Short Story (Intermediate-Upper Intermediate/A2-B2) This worksheet presents a step-by-step group creative-writing project based on the trailer for the film Gattaca, about a futuristic soceity. Resources: The Gattaca trailer in English only and/or the trailer in English with French sub-titles

FUNNY FOOD
Barbaby, le dinosaure (Beginners/A1) A lively song on a popular topic leads to wrok on food, introduction and dinosaurs' eating habits. NS Live ▶ Track 46

COOKING UP NEW CHEMISTRY (Intermediate-Upper Intermediate/A2-B1 CLIL) A Some interesting videos about cooking and chemistry provide work for both English and Chemistry classes. Resource: Kitchen Chemistry videos

TEACHERS' LOUNGE
Extra information, films, books, art exhibits, websites and more on the themes of the issue or simply of interest to ESL teachers. All of the books reviewed in a given issue can usually be ordered (in English) from Amazon.fr.

- Just click here to find out more about National Geographic's Genographic Project.