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.

Practice it!

To access it, go to http://www.vilaweb.cat/. On the right-hand side margin, as you go towards the bottom of the page, you’ll find Diari de l’escola.

vilaweb.jpg

You’ll see some articles in English in ÚLTIMES NOTÍCIES, or if you click on any of the categories of the HEMEROTECA.
Alternatively, go to www.edu365.cat, ESO, Llengua anglesa, and you’ll see it on the top left hand-side corner.
For some of those articles, the CRLE used to create a reading comprehension worksheet, suitable for 2nd cycle of ESO and Batxillerat. These activities are not created any more, but the old ones are still available online. This is the direct link:
http://www.xtec.cat/cirel/02/diari/index.htm
Each of the links takes you to an article and its corresponding worksheet. The tick next to it will show the answer key.
Take the article Gaudí in New York, for example. Apart from the article itself, there are also 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 SABIES? (in English). At the bottom of the page, INVESTIGUEU asks the students some amusing questions to raise their interest in the topic.

Activity framework

  • Methodology.The students may print the worksheet dsllm3p4ftx.odt, 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.jpg 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.
  • studentnews.jpg 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.

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