Classroom notes
ENGLISH THROUGH THE NEWS
Students from two English Through the News classes and their teachers,
Barbara Gillette and Patience Phillips, visited the Newseum,
the world's only interactive news museum, in Arlington, VA, in May. Students
went behind the scenes to see how news broadcasts are made in the on-site
studio and enjoyed the 126-foot-long Video News Wall which displays dozens
of satellite-television news feeds. Many found familiar newspapers in
the press section which features 80 current front pages from around the
world daily. Finally, all relaxed in the News Cafe, a "cyber-cafe" where
visitors can access their favorite Internet news sites.
In a related visit, Barbara Morris' News class enjoyed the Newseum's traveling exhibit when it stopped in Wilmington in August. Class members took turns using a real TelePrompTer to simulate reporting the news from the White House, then watched a playback of their news broadcast.
1960s CLASS
The year 1999 has been a big year for the 1960s class taught by Russ Mason.
Not only was it the 30th anniversary of the Apollo Space Program's moon
landing and the Woodstock Art and Music Festival, it also represented
the fourth year of almost continuous adventures with ELI students exploring
the culture of America through the 1960s. Class members visited the special
Apollo Art Exhibit on campus, viewed the movies "Austin Powers II" and
"The Matrix" and learned about the civil rights movement from Dr. James
Newton, professor of Black Studies at UD.
LEVEL II LISTENING/SPEAKING CLASS
Lisa Grimsley and Grant Wolf used popular films as tools in teaching specific
class skills and objectives in Level II. For example, after watching the
movie "The Fugitive," the students practiced describing past action, developed
the use of their regular and irregular verbs and increased their spoken
vocabulary. Another movie, "Witness," provided opportunities for the students
to practice other language skills such as comparing, giving opinions and
advice and explaining cause and effect.
LEVEL III READING/WRITING CLASS
Several of Leslie Criston's Level III Reading/Writing classes took
part in an online project called N3, the Nashville/Newark Newsletter.
Fellow language students from Vanderbilt University and from ELI joined
to create this virtual newsletter that explores and shares their experiences
of living in two very different US cities.
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