Dsla. Mòdul 3. Pràctica 4. Internet i la llengua anglesa a secundària

Diari a l'escola

Diari a l'escola is a section in Vilaweb, the veteran online newspaper in Catalan. Several times a month it publishes an article in English. For some of those articles, the CRLE creates a reading comprehension worksheet, which is suitable for 2nd cycle of ESO and Batxillerat. Most of the questions are to be answered online, although the activity could be easily adaptable for offline work.

Practice it!

1. Diari a l'escola can be reached via www.vilaweb.cat

or edu365.com

or even the CRLE . The first two offer the comprehensive list of articles available; the latter links to the articles with an activity and the correction key.

2. Choose Gaudí in New York

The article contains many external links to related sites, in case you want to do some further reading on the topic. There are some more to the right, under Materials (in Catalan) and Que ho sabíeu? (in English). At the bottom of the page, Investigueu asks the students some amusing questions to raise their interest in the topic.

3. The box takes you to an extension of the piece of news, with some questions to reflect upon and open a debate. It also links with the CRLE page.

4. Open now the worksheet http://www.xtec.es/crle/02/diari/gaudi/gaudi1.htm and answer the questions.

5. Check your answers at http://www.xtec.es/crle/02/diari/gaudi/gaudi2.html

Activity framework

Methodology.The students may print the worksheet , write their answers on it and hand it out to the teacher when it is completed. It will be necessary to give them the address where the article is found, or the path to it: edu365.com -> Diari de l'escola -> Hemeroteca -> Cultura i societat
Timing. This activity is intended for one session in the computer room. It may be a good idea to have it done as pair work, as there is a lot of reading involved, and students may help each other find the answers.

Additional info

If you are interested in having your students read the news, try the following excellent websites:

Breaking News English. As the website says, it contains Ready-to-use EFL / ESL Lesson Plans & Podcast. All the articles come with a lesson plan at two levels (easier and harder). Each contains a warm-up, some before, while and after reading/listening activities, discussion questions, speaking practice and even homework. A great site!

Crayon lets you create your own newspaper by choosing which sections from which newspapers you want to read. It then presents everything in a webpage. You must register for free and log in.
Studentnewsnet is an online newspaper for students. It seeks to provide age-appropriate information for young people. While some information on the website is free of charge, the main body of information is available only by subscription.