• "What's On?" by Mirosława Podgórska

• "A Virtual Visit to the National Gallery of Art" by Shiao-Chuan Kung

• "Appreciation of Art" by Renata Chylinski

"WHAT'S ON?"
by Mirosława Podgórska
secondary school teacher, Zamość, Poland
marmil@interia.pl

Inspired by and suggested as a follow-up to: Enterprise 3, unit 21 "A modern myth."

Subject: What’s on?

Level: Pre-intermediate and above.

Time: 90 minutes.

Aims:

1.       To revise vocabulary related to films.

2.       To read for gist.

3.       To write a recommendation for a film.

Technical requirements: One computer per a group of 2-3 students, with the Internet connection.

Knowledge: Students should be skilled at typing the URLs.

Procedure:

I. Pre-stage (15 minutes).

To warm students up, the teacher asks questions:

o        What types of films do you remember?

o        What is your favourite type and why?

o        What are the three titles of films worth remembering?

o        What do you expect to find on a website dealing with films?

II. While-stage activities (25minutes)

1. The teacher writes an URL on the blackboard, students type the address: http://us.imdb.com

The teacher asks: Have a quick look at the page and tell me what kind of information you can collect here? (5minutes)

Expected answers: a list of top movies, results of a poll, recommendation, some fun stuff, games, photos, etc.

2. The teacher divides the class into two groups. Students are given task sheets with a chart to be filled with some information. The teacher explains what MPAA is (the Motion Picture Association in America) and what their role is. Then students are told to click on the icon TOP MOVIES (upper left-hand corner).

1^st group is to find the top movie in the USA by clicking TOP US (in March 2001 it was the Mexican)

2^nd group is told to click on TOP UK and find out what’s on top in Great Britain (in March 2001 it was Hannibal)

Additionally, the teacher may suggest reading at least one user’s comment to widen students’ perspective. Having done these, students are to complete the task sheet.

3. Students report back what they’ve found out. (10 minutes)

4. The teacher asks students to write a short recommendation for the film they’ve been reading about. They are supposed to include the information written in the chart. After that one or two recommendations are read aloud. (20 minutes)

III. Post-stage activities

If time allows, students may be asked to do the following exercises:

1. A competition.

The teacher asks: What’s the worst film today?

Students are given 3 minutes to find the information. The winner is the first person to find the icon TODAY’S POLL and give the required information (in March 2001 it was Star Wars).

2. Go back to the page TOP MOVIES and on the left you’ll find the place to type your birth date in to check what famous actors were born, died, or got married on that day.

3. There’s a photo gallery on each page. Click on the photo you like to learn about the obscure roles of the well-known film stars.

4. Click on the icon FUN & GAMES (at the top of the main page). There are lots of funny quotes, trivias and goofs from most recent films, such as Hannibal, Matrix, Gladiator, etc. Your students will enjoy it!

A VIRTUAL VISIT TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
by Shiao-Chuan Kung
English Department
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
sckung@mail.wtuc.edu.tw

Introduction

The Web’s multimedia capabilities and interactive functions make it an attractive and motivating medium for students. Documents on the Web cover a huge range of topics, are mostly written in English, and are constantly increasing in number. The Web is thus a rich source of authentic materials. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., houses one of the finest art collections in the world. The museum’s website is an example of a well-organized, visually appealing and reliable source of authentic material. This lesson requires that students decode information found at the museum’s website and practise on-line navigation and research skills through a virtual visit to the museum.

Level: intermediate

Time: 1 hour

Materials: computers with a web browser and Internet access. Depending on the number of computers available and the size of the class, students can work individually or in teams of two or three.

Procedure

1. Introduce the activity by asking students to name two famous museums that they have heard about or been to.

2. Ask students how they would attempt to find the information about the opening hours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the kinds of art works that can be found at the Louvre.

3. Ask students to predict what information they might find on the website of a museum.

4. Have the students launch their web browsers and go to the web site http://www.nga.gov.

5. Give the following assignment. While the students are completing the assignment, move around the classroom addressing technical difficulties or answering questions.

A Virtual Visit to the National Gallery of Art (www.nga.gov)

1. Where is the National Gallery of Art located?

a) in New York b) in Los Angeles c) in Washington, D.C.

2. How much does it cost to get into the museum?

a) $7 b) nothing c) It depends on how old you are

3. Where is the West building of the museum?

a) on Independence Avenue & 7^th Street

b) on Constitution Avenue & 7^th Street

c) on Constitution Avenue & 3^rd Street

4. When can I visit the museum?

a) Mondays to Fridays only

b) everyday except Mondays

c) everyday except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day

5. Who was the architect who designed the East building of the museum?

a) I. M. Pei b) Frank Lloyd Wright c) John Russell Pope

6. What kind of performances can we enjoy in the Sculpture Garden?

a) jazz concerts b) classical music concerts c) modern dance performances

Follow the “NGA Kids” link and view the slide show of Rogier van der Weyden’s “Saint George and the Dragon”

7. Who was Saint George?

a) an English night b) a Roman soldier c) a Renaissance monk

8. What is the young woman on the left of the painting doing?

a) saying a prayer

b) screaming in horror

c) staring at the scene without saying a word

9. How big is the painting?

a) as long as a wall b) quite small c) about the size of a 31-inch TV

10. What was the dragon a symbol of when this painting was done 500 years ago?

a) loyalty b) power c) evil

Answer Key

APPRECIATION OF ART
by Renata Chylinski
CALL Coordinator
Monash University ELC, Melbourne, Australia
renata.chylinski@monint.monash.edu.au

BACKGROUND

The language project I am about to describe has been developed from a web site recommended by the "Tower Tipsheet." ESL teachers and learners can sign up for that service at http://towerofenglish.tripod.com/tipsheet.htm.

"A. Pintura Art Detective - The Case of Grandpas Painting" (http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/index.html) is an educational web adventure, a detective story, asking students to solve the case of a stolen mystery painting.

While comparing the painting to the works of Picasso, Gaugin, Millet, Van Gogh, Titian and Raphael students try to decide on its painter. Each example highlights an art concept such as composition, style or subject, providing students with precise art-specific vocabulary. At the same time students are taken on a journey through features of various art styles across centuries.

Language level: Intermediate

Time: 3 hours (excluding publishing) of which only 1 hour requires Internet access in pairs.

Step 1. Introducing the topic: What is Art? (off-line)

Focus: Vocabulary Building, Speaking

·         "What is Art?" - brainstorming. Writing a definition of Art and checking it with a definition in a dictionary. Examples of different types of Art are put on the whiteboard.

·         "Are you artistic?" In small groups of four students talk about their artistic abilities, skills they may have or used to have. A group representative gives a quick summary of his/her group’s artistic abilities to the rest of the class.

Step 2. Reading an adventure story online - be an art detective!

Focus: Reading and Oral Collaboration

·         In pairs students follow the story together helping detective Pintura to solve two puzzles: who painted the stolen work of art and who was the mysterious woman who brought the painting to the detective’s office. As it is an adventure story, students need to negotiate a route to be taken in order to solve the puzzle (oral collaboration aspect).

·         Once both puzzles are solved the pair may complete comprehension questions (time permitting) (http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/pworksheet.html)

Follow up: Writing a personal piece about a favourite painting (this activity doesn’t necessarily require computers)

Focus: Personal Writing, Vocabulary re-enforcement

·         Students are asked to write about their favourite painting or choose a favourite from the "Lechter’s Collection" and describe its subject, composition, colours and style. They should also research some biographical information about the painter and interweave this with their descriptions.

In our case the final product became a website called “Appreciation of Art” (http://www-muelc.general.monash.edu.au/art/index.htm) linked to our homepage. Alternatively, students’ writings could be posted in the classroom or published in a class/school magazine.