Madkundskab modul 1

I dag harvi

Poem

Creating a poem in a sonnet form

 

1: The weather out is  very dark and cold

2: Where can I find some hugs embrasing warm

3:I listen to my mom cause she is wise and  old

4: She knows what to do when I'm out of charm

 

5: The morning starts with boring food and bath

6: But then again I crawl to my cold bed

7:  I lie there and it makes me feel so sad

8: Will today be the day the sun uprise. 

 

9: I struggle with the glasses just to see

10: The dew apear so thick its hard to move

11: Can I cope with parts of me to be

12: I hope and pray today I will arise

Culture, context and discourse - My Fair Lady

1.      Eliza is being humiliated by the professor because of her language and status as a floweriest. He is stated as a person in the high society and having more knowledge about the language then her and the rest of the people around him. He believes that ridicule the English language by the way they use the language. As they have no respect of the language as they have in for example France. He wonders why there can’t be more respect. He believes that he can change her status in the society by changing her way of speaking the language in the right class.  

2.      He acts like he is language detective, and judge people from how they speak while connecting them to a geographic area. He believes that by using the language correctly, one can gain whatever one wants in life.

3.      The communication is very asymmetrical, as he is the one who is higher stated and his way of using the language is more correct then she is. It seems like he has more power than her because he is the teacher and all of the listeners are students and that is in itself gives more power to the teacher. But the question is, is he really better. Compared to following link: http://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english

4.      Eliza says: “Why’d ya take down me word? Ow do I know you took me down right”…. “Ought to be ashamed of ‘imself unmanly coward”. The professor answers: “Cease this detestable boohooing instantly or else seek the shelter of some other place of worship”.  The professor is very correct in this use of words, and pronounces the words very clearly. She drags the word together and her dialect is very different from what is correct English. 

5. We can compare the story to fairytales like Cinderella; the professor is the good mother and the prince. As soon as she is put into a dress, the man realizes he can’t live without her. We react on the same way today when hearing this kind of story like we did 100 years ago. That is cultural interesting.   
     

Teaching intercultural competence in danish schools

Why should we teach culture?

In their every day life the students will meet and be introduced to different cultures, stereotypes of the different countries through the media, different cultural events etc. It is important that the students can make their own opinions. It is not our job. The teacher’s part is to help with the cultural meeting and create a consistent curiosity for the cultural differences and the world

Which cultures should be taught and which topics should we focus on – and who

decides this?

-  In the beginning you will primarily introduce the countries that have English as their first language but since they are not the most dominating English speaking countries (china is) it will also be relevant to introduce them to countries with English as their second language. They will form the language and their traditions ass much as the Britain’s and the American’s.

The subjects shall give the students different views of the country. Mostly it is important to introduce them to topics they can compare their daily life to the daily life in other countries and cultures.

As it is now there are 8 main topics within the cultural topic. It can be divided in to:

1.     Technology

2.     Economy

3.     Social institutions

4.     Political institutions

5.     Language and communication

6.     Reproduction and socialisation

7.     Ideology

8.     Religion

The topics will be chosen together with the students as well as the texts.

Why are viden (knowledge), holdninger (attitudes) og færdigheder (skills) considered important?

- Knowledge is about knowing the different groups of population and their culture.

- Attitude is about knowing how to act among other people in other countries and work about how they should feel about other cultures.

- Skills: the students shall be able to know how to deal in the meeting with strangers and different cultures. They shall know that their point of view is not necessarily the right or only view.

English lesson September 22nd

Today we have talked about the texts we have read for today. Kramsch was one of them who have pointed out some things about classroom teaching. For example that it is important for a teacher keeping up a juggling act in the classroom. One might have planned everything from home, but when one is dealing with human beings, one has to adjust on the way. Grab the situation in the classroom and just go with it. A teacher has to be repaired for changes. He also points out, that we tend to focus on how much the students communicate in the classroom instead of what is actually said.

We were introduced to the word SOLE, a project that focuses on how children are able to learn while gaining curiosity, and thereby learning some more. How technology can be used in the classroom as the children search for answers by them self, and then learn when informing the rest of the class of what they have found out. As a teacher we have to let go of control, and let the children learn on their own, because children are naturally curious.  I would say there are some good point in this, but not sure this would work generally, as we in the Danish school system are struggling with children who’s been diagnosed and thereby having trouble working on their own.

 

Then we were talking about the Dunn and Dunn model, which is about that we all learn differently, that some are learning best in the physiology element, by listening, others are learning best my touching, which is under the emotional element. We are all different and somehow we have to accommodate each student, how they learn best. So to compare this with SOLE project, this will not be possible as some children do not have the self-organization element.

And thereby we were introduced to Howard Gardner and the 7 intelligences. Gardner talks about giving the children space to be who they are, and not squander the students creativity and their desire to learn in the way that is possible for them to learn best. Creativity is a lot of things, it is not only about that one is creative when one is able to draw or sing. As teachers we do not only have to focus on when something is wrong, we should also see what comes out of what the students are saying, as it is not only the right answer that is important. This is about grabbing the situation, which Kramsch is also talking about. This is about how we meet the needs of the students who are different. 

Give the children room to be what they are even though they do not fit into the element. We have to find out as teachers what their learning style is and not only state them as unintelligent people.

English

Topic: Music and Teen Pregnancies and ghetto lifestyle.

 

Target group: 8-9th grade.

 

Content and Material: Drawing and writing down a felling. According to Sir Ken Robinson I will try to meet the children in their element. It might not be all children who are learning best by reading a song, some might learn more about the song by listening. So I will try to use the differences in each student, by having them come up with their feelings. But as a main topic I will give them “teen pregnancies and ghetto lifestyle”. This is something for them to focus on and that will be clear for them to work with. Most people know the feeling of being different, doing something people do not agree in and being judged. But also, we all have prejudices.

They will listen to the song “Brendas got a baby” by 2pac.  At first they are all to draw a pictures of the first thing they think about, when they hear this piece of music. Second time they have to write down what individual feeling they get, when listening to the song. Third time they have to write down what they think the song is actually about. Then they have to walk around among each other, first showing their drawings and explaining what they have drawn, and then they have to walk around sharing their feelings. In the end they will walk around and share with each other, what each person thinks the song is about. Just explaining in a few words. In groups they will answer some questions. For example:

•           What information is given about Brenda?

•           What do we learn about Brenda’s family?

•           How did the birth of Brenda’s baby happen?

•           How did Brenda support herself after her family kicks her out?

•           What happened to Brenda in the end?

We will afterwards talk about the song in the class, and what it is trying to tell us.  

Each group will then sit by them self and watch the music video and answer new question, like:

• Is the music video true to the lyrics?
• Why do you think the music video is filmed in black and white?
• Why is there black people involved in the video?
• What role does 2pac play in the video?

 

In the class we will afterwards talk about black people and how we tend to have prejudices, what 2pac is trying to tell us by using black people and how we tend to listen to rap and think black.

They will then in groups have to come up with different songs that tell something about how it is to live in the ghetto.  The main gold is to have them find a way to explain to the rest of the class, what the specific chosen song is about. They can do it by using powerpoint, telling it by pictures, showing it theatrical, it will be their choice. 

 

Aim: The aim is to have the students believing in their own feelings, that the feeling they gain when listening to a piece of music, is not wrong, because we each get different pictures in our head when hearing a song. Also this is to "fælles mål" a time where the students are to work with cultural meetings which could be black people, growing up, pregnancy, ghetto, teenage life and so on. A lot of teenagers listen to music, and by this I will include something they know (music) with something they could learn more about (the theme). The aim is also to have them come up with different products in the end by giving them the freedom to use their creativity. Learn on their own and from each other.

 

 

English

Today we have made an exercise for the older classes. See below.

Level: 7-9

Age group: 13-16

Time: Approximately 15-20 min.

Aims:  The students are to participate in a longer augumenting conversation about the given subject and write down their answers. Do to fælles mål, they will have to discuss some cultural differences and thereby being forces to give some understanding to other cultures, and thereby augument in English. Also if you compare this to Richard Morans four learning interactions, they are defiantly being active in the “knowing about” as they will be getting some facts about other cultures, but also “knowing how”, as some of the exercises will have them to speak like they do in other countries. "Knowing why", to see what other cultures find highly valued. They have to go into the mind of other people and find out why they are doing as they are.

Description:
Going from post to post, the students are to scan the QR-codes and watch the/look at the short video clips and pictures and reflect/relate to their own school situation.
6 groups with a maximum of 5 students in each. The students are to write down what they come up with, and after the exercise all answers will be compared in the class.

Tasks:
 
1) School uniforms in Britain. Discuss (Pros/cons)
QR-code shows a short video clip of how the British students wear school uniforms.

2)  Cafeteria food in the American school. Relate theirs to ours.
QR-code shows a short video clip about the food of an American school

3) Classroom and material conditions in an Indian classroom. Relate theirs to ours.
Repeat given sentence with an Indian/English dialect. (must be video recorded and show send to the teacher)
QR-code shows a picture of an Indian classroom.

Materials:

·       4 QR-codes printed out on a pize of A4 paper.

·       QR-code scanner aps (for Smartphone and Iphone)

·       Answer sheets.

Preparation:

Make QR-Codes and attach video clips and pictures