User:Davidjohncock
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[edit] About Me
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This user teaches at a secondary school. |
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This user is a proper Englander. |  |
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This user writes poetry. |
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Today is April 3, 2007. |
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I am an English language and literature teacher based in Hong Kong. I was born in Torquay in 1972 and grew up in Paignton, Devon. I studied at Westlands Bilateral School in Torquay and then at Christ's College, Cambridge. My interests include languages and linguistics, history, literature, drama and education.
Last Year I co-wrote and directed a musical, Orpheus, written in collaboration with a colleague as a fund-raising project for the school where I work. I have also written a sequence of short comic plays in rhyming couplets based on four Shakespeare tragedies, with the title Shakespeare's Shorts. Most recently, I directed a production of Much Ado About Nothing
I am a NET scheme teacher and a member of the Native English-Speaking Teachers' Association (NESTA)
[edit] My Wikipedia Contributions
I have contributed to the following pages:
Standing Committee on Language Education and Research
[edit] My Wikibook Contributions
NET Teacher Survival Guide Wikibook
The Education System in Hong Kong Wikibook
[edit] Files and Groups
For students and colleagues at MSS to access files that I have created for language and literature teaching, such as worksheets, notes and exercises, or to access information about the annual production, please go to Marymount Yahoo E-Group. Remember that teachers and students will have access to these files - so please don't store confidential documents there or upload anything that you would not want to be in a public place.
Files, messages and links for literature teachers are at Hong Kong Literature Teachers
[edit] Recommended Websites and Wikipedia Pages for Language Students
Brainpop Flash animations and online quizzes on a wide range of topics including English, science, history, technology and maths.
Word2Word Links to websites for online language learning in many languages.
[edit] Junior Students
[edit] Grammar and Writing
Skillswise This site has a wide range of authentic situational exercises, quizzes and games to develop grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and writing skills. Should be particularly useful for junior forms.
Ambleside School, Cumbria An extraordinary site put together by students at a school in the Lake District - limerick and haiku generators, a silly story engine, exercises on easily confused words, homophones, comprehension and lots more. Fun stuff for junior students. The site also has links for many other subjects across the curriculum.
World English Website Grammar, vocabulary and comprehension practice, quizzes, games, writing guides, lists of the most common words in English, speaking and listening resources.
English Grammar Online An online resource with a lot of exercises similar in nature to Tensebusters.
Flash animated grammar exercises
[edit] Reading and Phonics
Young Post Registration required.
Time for Kids Children's edition of the American current affairs magazine]
American Stories - Comprehension Exercises
Giggle Poetry Fun poetry lesson plans, games and activities.
Starfall Online books for less confident readers, with animation and audio.
Created By Teachers Resources for early learners and remedial classes including basic vocabulary and sight-reading lists, flashcards, wordsearches and crosswords.
Usborne Quicklinks A directory of websites recommended by the educational publisher across the curriculum, including a number of sites for English language and literature.
Storyline-Online It's a great pleasure to have a story read out loud to you - especially by a talented actor! At this site, there is video-feed of actors and actresses reading from young people's storybooks, together with printable activities.
[edit] Listening
Living English The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's programme for elementary level English listening.
ESL Lab Try out the easy and medium exercises as well as the exercises for vocabulary building.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Wordsmith A site where you can design anagrams.
Primary NET Resources This is a huge repository of links to teaching resources maintained by NET teachers in Hong Kong primary schools. Includes online story books, songs, games, phonics activities and much, much more!
[edit] Intermediate
[edit] Listening and Multimedia
BBC World Service Learning English
Student Standard A site where you can listen to and read articles with an emphasis on social/ interpersonal issues, and find questions for discussion.
English Bites The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's programme for language learners with documentary and general interest videos,transcripts, glossaries, explanation of grammar and usage, tips and practice for speaking and writing.
Nexus Online video documentaries and transcripts for intermediate language learners.
Listening Lab Online Over 700 audio clips with slide shows, quizzes, songs, listening games and transcripts; a wide variety of regional accents; can be searched by level of difficulty.
ESL Lab Try out the medium and difficult exercises.
[edit] Writing and Grammar
Sentence Sense This is a self-taught online guide to writing coherent sentences and organising ones ideas in writing.
English Biz A guide to language and literature designed for British GCSE and A Level students, with guidelines on how to write a wide variety of essays.
Web English Teacher A very extensive directory of online resources –everything from elementary English to Shakespeare
Fridge Magnet Poetry Online version of the poetry game - "magnetic" tiles with words or suffixes that can be moved around to create poetry.
Grammar Book More advanced grammar exercises.
Teaching English Activities and lesson plans.
[edit] Advanced
World of Words A website with links for reading, writing, drama, public speaking and community resources maintained by the Canadian International School Parents' Association.
Guide to Composition Writing This is a very in depth but clear and straightforward guide to how to plan, draft, organise and review your writing. Lots of helpful tips and exercises. Especially helpful for argumentative writing and for students who nhave to write analytical compositions for other subjects.
University College London Internet Grammar This site offers a formal analysis of English grammar and a wide range of exercises on identifying parts of speech, subject and object, verb form, aspect and voice, clauses etc. Perhaps dry and technical, but should be useful for senior students seeking to polish their grammar, or even for teachers who could use it to look up clear explanations for grammar rules.
Linguarama Postscript Magazine Online resources with a focus on English for business and the world of work - particularly useful for senior students.
[edit] Reference Materials
Cambridge Learners' DictionaryThis has to be the best online dictionary available. It provides examples of usage from the corpus, all words derived from any root words that you enter, collocations and set phrases, pronunciation, differences between American, British and Australian usage and many other features.
Pronunciation - IPA Phonetic Symbol Chart for English
Reverse Dictionary If a word is 'on the tip of your tongue', type in a definition and this programme will give you possible words to fit it. Visuwords Online graphical dictionary/ thesaurus. Enter a word and see it in the context of a neural network of associated words.
Dr Grammar Frequently asked grammar and usage questions.
Idioms Dictionary of idioms with examples of usage in context from literary works.
Word Origins A site where the origins of idioms are explained.
Wordname Origins of words and names.
Crossword Dictionary Use it to search for words with the same sequence of letters
Puzzlemaker Build your own printable crossword puzzles.
Linguist List Includes "ask a linguist" discussion board.
[edit] French
Chez Mimi Interactive French Games.
French Steps Online beginner's course.
French Tutorial Online grammar course.
S-cool French Online revision guide.
French Wikibook Online language course.
Chloe, ou les Aventures d'une Jeune Fille Online radio drama and listening-based activities.
Bonjour de France Listening and reading comprehension from beginner to advanced.
[edit] Putonghua
Hanyu Learn Chinese Online. Free learning resources from beginner to advanced; requires subscription.
Hanban Office of the Chinese Language Council International
Teach Yourself Putonghua Wikibook
Chengo Chinese - Lessons 1-8 Beginners' Putonghua Course designed for American high-school students. Free but requires subscription.
Chinese Web Resources Links to more Putonghua Self-Access Learning Resources from Wikipedia
[edit] Old and Middle English
Faeder ure, thu the eart on heofonum... Audio recording of a very famous passage in Anglo-Saxon (c. 1000) - but can you tell what it is in modern English?
Old English Online Course Anglo-Saxon grammar primer and authentic passages with clickable glossaries.
Whan that Aprille with his swete brethe... A very famous passage in middle English (c. 1390) but can you tell what it is in modern English?
Luminarium Medieval Literature resources.
[edit] Recommended Pages for Senior Literature
[edit] Shakespeare
Shakespeare Concordance Type in a word and find all uses of that word in Shakespeare's work.
Folger Library The US Shakespeare library has a large portfolio of lesson plans.
Globe Link The Globe Theatre's archives of directors', producers' and actors' blogs about their experiences while rehearsing and staging the plays - a good way to understand the plays from the other side of the curtain.
Playing Shakespeare A guide to Gobe Education's production of Much Ado About Nothing from the perspective of the director, production team and actors.
Bardware Lots of useful links for Shakespeare students.
Clicknotes Shakespeare Navigable texts of several plays including Hamlet and Twelfth Night, with extensive notes and commentary.
Sparknotes Shakespeare Study Guide
Shakespeare's Globe See how Shakespeare plays are still being performed in a replica of the original open-air Globe Theatre and read rehearsal notes from recent productions.
Royal Shakespeare Company Educational resources from one of the world's most prestigious theatre companies.
Hamlet Haven An extensive collection of extracts from academic texts on every aspect of Hamlet, from every conceivable critical perspective.
Shakespeare Insults 'Thou art a stinking pigeon-livered maggot-pie!'
[edit] Writing Guides
Online Writing Guide Includes guidelines on how to make notes and plan and draft literary analysis essays
Rhetoric and Composition Wikibook Guide to writing analytical humanities essays.
[edit] Poetry
Aspirations English Literature A Level Resources for practical criticism, close reading of poetry and Shakespeare.
Poets Exhaustive resources on poetry and poets.
Poetry Please Poetry on the radio - an archive of webcasts of actors reading poems requested by the audience of this popular BBC Radio 4 programme.
Poetry Foundation The archives of poetry accompanied by refreshingly unpretentious discussion of poets' backgrounds and of the themes and style of their work are terrific. There's also featured essays about how to write, about the difference between poetry and doggerel verse, about why poetry is still relevant to everyday people's lives, about children's poetry... and lots, lots more.
Poetry Magic Resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry.
Wandering Minstrels A poem a day by e-mail service. Get a poem sent to your inbox every day accompanied by critical commentary - for free. The commentaries are insightful and entertaining, and the choices of poems range from canonical classics to contemporary song lyrics - from Keats to Cole Porter. There's a big archive, too.
American Poems Large archives of poems and discussion boards - some users' comments are helpful but some are rather trivial.
Chaucer4All Lots of stuff on Geoffrey Chaucer including video and audio recordings of the Tales retold as hip-hop raps.
Open Source Wikibook for Collaborative Practical Criticism Practice
S-Cool A-Level Literature Revision notes for unseen criticism.
[edit] Short Stories
Fairy Tale Generator Learn about Propp's theory of narrative structure and generate random fairy-tales based on your choice of a combination of motifs.
Brit Lit Downloadable short stories, activities, worksheets and lesson plans.
Short Stories Web An archive of classic and contemporary short stories together with teachers' notes, study questions, online games and activities.
Story Bites Reviews of famous short stories and links to online texts and websites with information about the authors.
Merlyn's Pen Short stories by American teenagers, searchable by age and genre, plus archives of lesson plans and writing tips.
[edit] Films
Internet Movie Data Base Resources on films.
[edit] Speech and Drama
[edit] Speech
American Rhetoric A database of famous speeches from politicians and Hollywood actors, audio and video files, transcripts and analysis of the use of rhetorical devices.
Audio Bible Speech festival participants taking part in bible reading can log on and listen to an actor reading their passage.
Free Online Books of Oral Activities - Games, Situational Task-Based Activities, Role Plays, Drama, Rubrics for Self Assessment. Lots of stuff!
Hong Kong Toastmasters A social club for people who are interested in public speaking, Toastmasters also organises public speaking workshops for schools.
The English Speaking Union A registered charity, this organisation promotes the wider use of English. Organises talks, language clinics, poetry readings and debates.
Theatre Garoupa Word Up - performance poetry recitals and workshops. For more details, contact jhcaplan@hotmail.com
[edit] Drama
Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Drama Links
Readers' Theatre Online scripts based on folktales from around the world for performance by groups of ten to fifteen students. Usually between ten and twenty minutes long - just right for drama festival!
Drama Lesson and Curriculum Plans
Hong Kong Schools' Drama Festival Rules and regulations and an archive of winning scripts.
Community Theatre Discussion Board Articles, tips for actors and directors, scripts and discussion boards.
Creative Drama Drama resources for primary and junior secondary students.
Sounddogs Useful sound effects.
[edit] Publishers
Macmillan’s online guide to using graded readers in the classroom. Lots of suggestions for pre-reading activities and project work.
Online guide to the ‘Black Cat’ series of graded readers.
Online guide to the ‘Penguin Readers’ series with a catalogue, samples of text, placement tests, teachers’ guides and supplementary exercises.
[edit] Maths and Science
Murderous Maths Puzzles, formulas and lots of useful links.
Ology A fun science website.
American Museum of Natural History - Resources Links to resources and websites recommended by the museum.
Tom Lehrer's The Elements A flash-animated singalong version of the periodic table!
[edit] Wikipedia Articles about Junior Class Readers
Form 1: The Secret Garden, Frankenstein, Kidnapped, Matilda, Chinese Cinderella
Form 2: Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, Silas Marner
Form 3: The Canterbury Tales, The Joy Luck Club, The Remains of the Day, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Brave New World
[edit] Thinking Skills
The following articles may be of interest:lateral thinking, creativity, problem solving, brainstorming, mind mapping, IQ, fallacy.
[edit] Independent Learning and Recommended Books
StumbleUpon Want to find something relevant to your interests online, but not exactly sure what to search for? Stumbleupon allows you to select topics that interest you and install a 'stumble' icon into your browser - once you click the icon, it will take you to a random page related to one of your interests. Depending on whether or not you give this page the thumbs up, it will build up a profile of what kinds of thing you like to read and will get better and better at finding what you want.
This is what I would like my students to do for independent learning:
Creative or reflective responses to English books (counted towards PTA reading record) e.g. diary entries, letters, alternative endings, reviews, book cover designs, scripts, comic strip retelling of part of the story…
Creative or reflective responses to English language films/ TV programmes/ newspaper/ magazine articles
Printouts of online exercises or reviews of language learning websites
You will be assessed on the following: l Did you challenge yourself and do things that you can learn from?
l Did you do a lot of work?
l Did you do a wide variety of work, covering all the language skills?
l Did you organize your portfolio well?
l Did you present your portfolio attractively?
[edit] Junior Forms
Horrible_Science Horrible Science
Horrible_Histories Horrible Histories
[edit] Senior Forms
A good starting point for broadening your general knowledge through reading is Squashed - Major philosophical, literary and religious texts can all be read here in an abridged format. The site also tells you how long it will take to read each abridgement and provides background details and a single-paragraph synopsis at the start of each 'squashed' text.
Science students, or students who want to broaden their knowledge of science, should look for books that have won the Aventis Prize. The Aventis Prize is awarded to the best science books for the general reader. Recent winners whose work is particularly interesting and readable include Jared Diamond, Robert Winston and Richard Dawkins.
Students will probably enjoy anything by Bill Bryson, who writes humorously on travel, language, science and anything that interests him.
Other interesting and sometimes controversial non-fiction authors include Malcolm Gladwell, Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore.
[edit] Visitors' Comments
Let me know what you think of this page. Simply click 'edit' to the right-hand side of your screen above this section and then type your message before clicking 'save page'. Alternatively, you can e-mail me. My e-mail address is david_johncock@hotmail.com
