LLT 841 - 5

This is about the technical aspects of the 2 new activities I worked on. the cultural content is under GRM 815-4 if you would like to read it.

The first is on Tourism:
the students would come to a descision in groups through chat what they would show, a tourist in the lansing area to give them an idea of american life and culture. (Culture isn't monolithic but you could get an idea). It was also based on different people so the tourists were (a student, a young married couple, a Family [2 kids 8, 12], and a couple of retireees.) They would then post their descisions in a discussion forum, or maybe a googledoc or wiki would work nicely for that.
the second step had them working with the clear conversations tool. I had trouble with the mic on my desktop but i tried it this past week on my laptop, and although it was more tedious working on the laptop (its really slow and annoying) the mic worked. the Students would be given one of the roles from the first part, and then they would answer questions about their hometowns in german. this would continue their train of thought and allow it to evolve.
the third part the students take on the role are given a city to visit and an maximum amount of money. they have to plan a trip using websites that is appropriate, within their means, and that gives them an idea of the life and culture. they would then post the itineraries in the same place as their earlier descisions. I like it because it has the students doing a variety of related tasks and evolves as the students progress.

Rotkäppchen: (little red riding hood)
It would start with a discussion about fairy tales then have the students tell the tale they know. they are given a link to a website with a simplified german version, which they read and then have to describe the differences in a discussion forum. students would have to also find other versions and post links to them. the next day in class I would show them a version from an austrian tv show. from there the discussion forum would be aexpanded to include all differences, but also what is essential to the story, and why it varies so much. IT also asks for similar tales. the interaction through the discussion forum would allow for more discussion time about these things and hopefully the students could get ideas about the times, and regions of the tales.