Michelangelo News - A digital school newspaper

Open publication - Free publishing

July, 20 1969 - One giant leap for mankind

45 years ago man landed on the Moon. Let's celebrate this event talking about our magical satellite. It has always inspired artists from all over the world. How can we talk about the moon in our EFL classes? Here you can find some activities that involve the use of digital tools.

First of all, some information about that great day.

The first Moon landing

First Moon Landing-July 20 1969

Surf the following sites to get more information.
Nasa: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/what_does_nasa_do.html#.U58bD5R_utI

Apollo 11: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11_40th.html#.U58XTpR_utI

A day in the life aboard the International Space Station (some videos from the space!): http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/dayinthelife/index.html#.U58Y4JR_utJ

A brief history of rockets: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/TRC/Rockets/history_of_rockets.html

A clickable spacesuit experience: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacesuits/home/clickable_suit.html#.U58cF5R_utI

The Moon

Facts about the Moon: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Moon

The Moon:
http://nineplanets.org/luna.html

A tour of the Moon by Nasa

STUDENTS' TASK

Now imagine that you are a journalist. Write an article on Joomag and tell your readers about the first Moon landing. If you prefer, you can also imagine that you are an astronaut: describe your rocket, your spacesuit and your daily routine in the space.

The Moon in Arts

Poetry

Have a look at my presentation about some famous Moon poems. At the end of the slide show there are two videos about poems (and  haiku) writing . What about trying to write to the Moon?

(For more information on how to write a poem see this post of mine:

http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/06/poetry-in-our-efl-classroom.html)

STUDENTS' TASK

Poems about the Moon often use a figurative language. You could try PicLits to write a poem starting from a picture. Once you choose your image, you can use the "drag and drop" option: you have some nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs  related to that picture. Moreover, if you click on "Learn It" you'll have some information about the basics of creative writing. 

Painting

Some famous moon paintings:

http://framingpainting.com/famous-paintings/famous_moon_paintings.html

STUDENTS' TASK

Now, use Drawing to make your moon painting! If you are not so good at drawing, don't worry. This tool gives you lessons and examples! Have fun!




Music

OLD AND NEW MOON SONGS 

http://www.moonlightsys.com/themoon/lyrics.html

http://www.indierockcafe.com/2009/09/songs-about-moon-from-magnetic-fields.html

Fly me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra

Blue Moon - The Mavericks

Man on the Moon - R.E.M.

The Moon Song - Karen O

STUDENTS' TASK

Can you play any instruments? Can you compose music? Try Noteflight to compose your song to the Moon! Write your song's lyrics, as well. Listen to the songs above and reflect on the imagery that they suggest.

Poetry in EFL classes

Today I would like to talk about poetry. Could it be useful in an EFL class?  As usual, I try to imagine some activities that involve the use of different digital tools.

What's poetry? 
At the following link you can find some great definitions (I made the above word cloud from some of these definitions using Tagul):
http://poetinthecity.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/what-is-poetry-50-definitions-and-counting/



Why study poetry in an ESL classroom? 
Poetry can help you reach many goals. Take a look at the following map I created with Cacoo:

Click to enlarge my diagram

Some links about the different kinds of poetry

Different types of poetry:
https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/glossary-poetry-types
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=forms-and-types

Examples of different types of poetry:
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/types-of-poetry-examples.html

Forms of poetry:
http://www.poeticterminology.net/index.htm

What about writing a poem?

Watch the video

Where to begin? Have a look at this diagram I made with Cacoo.

Click to enlarge my map

Some more tips

Some useful figures of speech:
http://esl.about.com/cs/reading/a/blpoetry.htm

To find rhymes:
http://www.rhymezone.com/

Let's practise!

Magnetic Poetry is a funny tool to write poems. You have to choose some words to create your masterpiece! Try it! Watch my example at the following link:
http://play.magneticpoetry.com/poem/Original/kit/15415/?h=8444d213e9cd688d306fa98d2aa7ca79

You could also make a poetry magazine where you could collect all your poems! Joomag is a great web tool.

Have a look at my example by clicking on the picture below:

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."

Robert Frost

Football World Cup

SOME RESOURCES

FIFA official site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/vocabulary/football.shtml


Fuleco, Brazil 2014 mascot:
http://en.mascot.fifa.com/


The World Cup Stadiums 2014:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10383648/World-Cup-stadiums-a-venue-guide-for-Brazil-2014.html

 HISTORY 

A brief history of the World Cup:

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1989102,00.html?xid=rss-photoessays&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+time/photoessays+TIME:+Top+Photoessays

SOME FOOTBALL VOCABULARY 

Football vocabulary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/vocabulary/football.shtml

  FOOTBALL RULES

The rules of football:

http://rulesoffootball.co.uk/

ACTIVITIES AND PRINTABLES

Quizzes and printable worksheets:
http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/the-world-cup.html
http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/football.html

World Cup worksheets:
http://www.eslprintables.com/Vocabulary_worksheets/Sports/World_Cup/

INFORMATION ABOUT BRAZIL

Brazil:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/brazil.html

http://www.infoplease.com/country/brazil.html

http://www.mapsofworld.com/brazil/information/fact.html

YOUR TASK

And now it's up to you! Let's make a digital sport magazine about the World Cup events. Last time I used Glossi (in my previous post about food and recipes), now I've tried Joomag.

Here you can find a short example of our sport web magazine. 

You can write articles, add images, links or videos and keep us informed about the World Cup news! 

Click below to open my example

Become a digital journalist! Some advice for you:

• How to write a digital story
• How to wrtite a sports article