Category Archives: current events

Carondelet News Channel (en français!)

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I had originally planned to begin a new unit in my French 3 classes this past week and a half leading up to Spring Break, but everyone was showing signs of exhaustion after the completion of our last chapter, projects, and oral quizzes (on a light topic such as environmental issues and endangered animals in Francophone countries). They did a great job, so I wanted to reward them with something different than usual as we transitioned into Spring Break. I wanted a creative challenge that we could successfully complete in a week, and the pressure was on–I honestly had no idea how it would turn out, but I was excited to tap into my journalism background and do a journalism mini-project-based unit.
Over the past week, I taught my students all they might want to know about the news and media in French. I helped them expand their vocabulary in French after reading recent headlines, listening to topical news podcasts, watching daily news broadcasts, and parsing through satirical news sites in French to see if students could figure out what headlines were real and what were parodies (ask me if you want to see the presentation–the headlines are hilarious). We even debated current events and students defended their opinions about the news and journalistic integrity.
During our final long block period (today’s class), I charged the students with creating a class-wide 15-minute news broadcast. Running through some modified design thinking exercises, students in my 5th period (sole Carondelet-only) class pitched and then voted on their ideas for the show, concept, title, and logo and came up with the following:

In groups of 2-3, the girls were responsible for the following 2-minute segments: 

  • Introduction and Carondelet-local news (including Mr. Cushing’s departure from the school as he prepares to go on tour with the Spice Girls)
  • San Francisco Bay Area news about a local scammer and Anne Hathaway impersonator
  • International news chronicling the Carondelet trip to France next week in the wake of today’s Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris
  • Sports covering the Carondelet swimming, rugby, and lacrosse teams
  • Arts and lifestyle covering the construction of the art class’s school bus in the inner court that was tragically stolen overnight and replaced with a gigantic croissant
  • And the broadcast closes out on a very high note covering the erratic weather we’ve been experiencing recently.
They quickly edited their videos using either iMovie or the Apple Clips app which Karina and I presented about on Friday (and I’m looking forward to creating a screencast or future blog entry showcasing all the cool features Clips has to offer if you weren’t able to attend our Grab-and-Go session last week). 
Here is the folder of all their videos if you’re at all curious to see what they were able to produce with the quick 80-minute turnaround during today’s class. I had a lot of fun helping them think through their scripts and watching the final production (which we won’t get to watch as a class until after break), and I am so proud of them for their creativity and sensitivity and attention to world news as it relates to this class.
This was one of my most favorite long block periods of the entire year, and I am looking forward to getting even more creative next month when I roll out a food truck race competition in my French 3 classes.
That’s it for this blog, see you on the other side of Spring Break, everyone!

North Korea Conflict Discussion assignment

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This assignment worked well at the beginning of my U.S. History class this year.

North Korea Nuclear Missile Crisis

Each team will make slides that answers your teams questions. After the team completes the slides, your team will give a brief presentation using the slides to inform the class about your topic. Each group should cover each question with the answers clearly so the class understands the topic you are presenting. (Remember to bring your textbook, IPAD
Team 1 –North Korea
1.  Where is North Korea? (Show location-a map)
2. Who is the leader of North Korea? (Include a picture of the leader.)
3. What is North Korea’s relationship with the United States and her allies? Explain.
4. Why did Kim Jong Un vow to retaliate “thousands of times” against Washington for new U.N. sanctions and North Korea was “examining” a strike on American forces on the Pacific Island of Guam?
5. Why is North Korea building ICBM’s and developing nuclear capacity? Who is their target? Explain.
Team 2-South Korea

1. Where is South Korea? (Show location-a map)
2. Who is the leader of South Korea? (Include a picture of the leader.)
3. What is South Korea’s relationship with the United States? Explain.
4. What is the DMZ? Discuss the importance of United Nations troops that are stationed there.
5. How are South Korea and United Nation troops responding to North Korea’s threats?

Team 3-United States

1. Where are the United States and Guam located in relationship to North Korea? (Show locations-a map)
2. How are the United States and the United Nations responding to North Korea ICBM tests? Explain what an ICBM missile is and why it is so important strategically.
3. What is the United States policy regarding North Korea becoming a nuclear power? Explain.
4. How did President Trump respond to the vow of North Korea to retaliate “thousands of times” against Washington for new U.N. sanctions and North Korea was “examining” a strike on American forces on the Pacific Island of Guam?
5. What are the United Nations sanctions against North Korea and what does the U.N. want North Korea to do? (Include the work of Nikki Haley to provide a unified United Nations front against North Korea so they stop their testing program.)

Team 4-Guam

1. Where is Guam located? (Show location-a map)
2. Who is the leader of Guam and who controls this area? (Show a picture of the leader.)
3. What is Guam’s relationship to the United States? Explain.
4. How is Guam reacting to North Korea’s threat? Explain.
5. What does 14 minutes mean to people living on the island of Guam?

Team 5-Japan

1. Where is Japan located? (Show location-a map)
2. Who is the leader of Japan? (Show a picture of the leader)
3. What is Japan’s relationship to the United States? Explain.
4. How is Japan reacting to North Korea threats to the region? Explain.
5. What is Japan doing to prepare for the possible ICBM threat?

Team 6-China

1. Where is China located? (Show location-a map)
2. Who is the leader of China? (Show a picture of the leader)
3. What is China’s relationship with North Korea? Explain.
4. What is China’s relationship with the United States? Explain.
5. How is China reacting to North Korea threats to the region? Explain.
6. Why is China so important diplomatically in this current crisis in the Pacific? (Explain)

Quiz Questions:

1.  Completely discuss the question-Should North Korea be allowed to have nuclear weapons? (support your answer with examples and evidence)

2.  Completely discuss the question-North Korea is examining a strike on American forces on the Pacific Island of Guam, how should the United States respond to that threat? (support your answer with examples and evidence)

3.  Completely discuss the question-The United Nations have unanimously sanctioned North Korea, what else should the United Nations do to contain North Korea? (support your examples and evidence.)