[etni] fw: Re: the war and us

From: "Mer JH" <mjh_teacher@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: the war and us
 
Daniel wrote: "Do we really need to address the war 
issues with our students in English class?" "They get 
enough of the war talks in history, and other classes."

Well dear Daniel-  Although I understand you, I strongly disagree.

1. English is a tool of communication, which our students 
should master.  Being able to speak about and react to the 
events around us is one of the most important aims of our 
teaching and is part of the English curriculum. Especially 
in times of crisis, we need speakers who can present our point 
of view in any language the media is willing to hear it. In 
this war, when the media was in the battlefield and many 
interviews with Israeli soldiers were broadcasted around the 
world, I witnessed again the impact the proper usage of the 
language had on the interviewer's point of view. We, as a nation, 
"picture better" to the world when our speakers speak fluently 
in any language. Although we're hoping they wouldn't have to fight, 
our students are the soldiers of tomorrow and the speakers of today, 
and that is what we have to prepare them for.     

2. As for boring the students: Each teacher can and should deal 
with the war from a different aspect. In a Yeshiva high school, 
you could relate to AHAVAT AHIM, HESED IN WAR TIME, PIKUAH NEFES 
related to the war in addition to.  The secret is cooperation 
between the teachers, to avoid repetition and boring the kids. 
During English lessons, you could relate to the war and the situation 
in Israel during/after the war through a poem, a story or a newspaper 
article or in relation to what you're teaching. 

E.g.: When revising "personal details" to my 7th graders in the 
central area at the beginning of the year, we're going to discuss 
relevance of information in different circumstances, relate to 
families from the north who were looking for a place to stay during 
the war and as a performance task, the kids will plan and prepare 
a form that will assist matching hosting families, fill in details 
of imaginary families and try to match them. (We'll introduce/review 
vocabulary, review the formation of questions and answering them 
- present simple) 

You could do with your students a "war journal" - they could share 
their feelings in English. (Introduce vocabulary related to the war; 
revise/teach the past tenses)

Merav Jerafi-Hochmitz
  
-----------------------------------------------
Write for "The Etni Rag" - http://www.etni.org/etni_rag.htm

Add yourself / Update your entry to "Who's Who on Etni"
http://www.boker.org.il/etni/whoswho.htm
-----------------------------------------------

Other related posts: