Impressions: Texts from Asia for the Lower Secondary English Classroom
This book is out of print.
Drawing on factual and fictional extracts, personal memoirs and visual texts, Impressions takes Year 7 and 8 students into the cultures and life experiences of people across Asia. Students will be both challenged and informed. There are memoirs from Vietnam, extracts from the Ramayana epic, and miniatures of the Indian elephant-headed god Ganesh. The emphasis is on folktales, myths, legends and autobiographical writings.
A series of accompanying activities – including critical reading and role-play – are designed to prompt lively discussion of the experiences and ideas raised.
- Index
- Searching the Internet
Searching the Internet for Shinto
Teacher Information for Student Activities
Note: Some sites used in these activities contain large quantities of images which may take some time to download.
SEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR SHINTO
This student activity sheet aims to improve students' Internet search skills, asking them to target and locate information, and to develop an appreciation of the characteristics of a useful website.
The student activity sheet requires students to:
- investigate Shinto
- develop search skills for efficient location of specific information
- develop an appreciation of the qualities of a useful website.
Learning Outcomes
Teacher Support: Websites
Shinto information is available on the BBC site: www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto
A list of search engines and a guide on their use is available on this website.
Suggested Approach
- Class decides on appropriate criteria for choosing the best website found in this activity. Consideration should be given to:
- whether information on website is valid and up-to-date
- relevance to the search or query.
- accessibility (ease of moving around the site, presence and usefulness of indexes, contents and hotlinks)
- presentation (layout, colours, quality, quantity and relevance of graphics, presence or absence of advertising)
- time taken to download the website
Some sites which provide criteria for evaluating website include:- http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html
- http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesforkids/greatwebsites.cfm
- http://students.ou.edu/W/Carolyn.M.Winchester-1/documents/tenplusten.pdf
Students should discuss the varied purposes and audiences for websites.
The best wesbite for educational purposes may not work as effectively for other purposes (eg social networking, marketing, etc).
Students should discuss factors such as copyright and privacy in making choices about materials to load onto a public webite. - Class brainstorms and lists vocabulary and criteria to use for their search (synonyms and associated paraphrases).
- Class decides upon the kind of information considered satisfactory for the set task.
- Groups or teams undertake Internet searches and select and collate information. Note particular words and phrases that are the most successful. Assess the websites found against the criteria for choosing the best website.
- Groups or teams use information to develop a paragraph-length report on the results of the search task.
- Groups or teams design the framework for a website to present the information obtained, using appropriate criteria.
