The Internet is a useful resource for teachers planning one or more Simulated trips with students.
From my experience, here is a list of ways to minimize frustration and to integrate it successfully into a Trip Unit:
1. Introductory Activities:
Print out and use a variety of sites for pre-planning the trip.
Assuming that this is your first CyberTrip, I recommend that you limit your visit to one major city, and select the current month for the trip. To make use of the suggested activities, you only need access to one computer with a modem. To include all colleagues, my directions are written as if a teacher had no class computer, but could go online herself, outside the classroom.
Here are some suggestions to choose from:
Preplan The Unit:
Set the Stage:
1. WHO ARE WE:
-print out flags of the country, using sites from Flags of the World.
--Assign different nationalities to pairs of students (use different French or Spanish speaking countries or representatives from around the world; draw on the ethnic/racial backround of your students or focus on border countries of the chosen country to reinforce geography). (Optional: later on, assign each pair to look up and replicate national flag of assigned nationality.)
2.PACKING FOR THE TRIP
-print out World's Weather fromUSA Today World's Weather arranged alphabetically by nation. Click also on F to Celsius conversions to print out a copy of the 2 scale graph.
-search, bookmark and print out a FL weather site for use in planning how to pack.
-print out a list of basic things (clothes/ toiletries/ electrical items/medicinal items/foods/ guides/reading materials) to pack, specifying the categories and number of each. Use the activity: In my suitcase, I put/arrange. Have students be honest, specifying number of items, clothing, toiletries and other specific items each really thinks is important; teacher make a list of most debatable items(why 7 pairs of shoes why aspirin is ok; what voltage; why 4 tubes toothpaste not necessary) to stimulate discussion. Remind students to add/subtract from list as their trip plans solidify.
-have students write up what they will NOT need to bring. Teacher will collate and distribute for discussion.
-have students prepare in FL a wish list for purchases there: print a few pages from La Redoute, Trois Suisses Elle or other online fashion catalogs or magazines to find examples. Specify 5 items (fantasy or real) that each student might buy there or at FNAC.
OUR FLIGHT: ARRIVAL PLACE AND TIME
-print out a flight on a specific airline, specifying time od arrival and destination.
-select a way to get from airport to the city, if arriving by plane. For Paris, use la Desserte des Aeroprts Parisiens and click on information for either direction.
-select a train station, if arriving by rail. Pull up sufficient information at SNCF: Guide du Voyageur to show the services offered by the rail company.
Select European Train Server for backround information on trains from throughout Europe. Assign pairs based on students' chosen nationalities. Click on TGV pages for info in English.
-collect specific information about the subway system in your city. For Paris, visit RATP to explain the Noctambus route, other topics of interest,and to learn about the routes and services of the subway. Click on all the icons for up-to the minute delays and pull up sample tickets for the class. Later on, this is a useful site to send pairs to, for specific information.
OUR HOTEL OR RESIDENCE
-visit PSR, Pages de Paris or Paris Net to make reservations by quarter and cost in Paris. Make a list of options including subway stop, telephone number and price information so students may decide. I let students narrow the choice to 3 or 4 quartiers. Later on when they plot the monuents, they agree on the specific spot and cost of a stay.
-choose instead to have students choose from among student housing in your city, using Pages de Paris.
-go to Social services site Paris InterSocial to show how the city of Paris helps the needy with emergency shelter, housing and services.
DINING OUT: CREATE A MENU
-select foods from Putnam's Food, Literature and Arts Projects Page and create French and regional French menus for student research. Remember to specify categories and include many kinds of foods and menus that students might really encounter.
-have students in groups create a full menu for later use with their visitors on trip day. Have them write up an L1 version separately.
-search through tourism sites for each city for restaurant menus on line.
MAKE USE OF EXISTING ONLINE CIVILIZATION SITES
For teachers of French, here are suggestions on adapting interesting online sites.
-go to Marie Ponterio's Civilisation: Table des Matieres and set up a rotation for students, having 2 or 3 groups at one time at a specific site (there are 18). This is an ideal site to bring beginning students to, since they will be in pairs in front of one screen,and each group having a specific site to work on. Have beginning language level students read the French script FIRST with answers (there's a place to click for réponses), then in the original, with blanks to fill in. They will love this site! They may later return to each site to complete the focused-reading, and once finished with the topics you have selected, will have a superb sense of French civilization.
-read sites at Putnam's Trip page and distribute backround information in French and English, one site per group. Each group will translate information and create a lexique for other groups. Switch information and next group writes up 3 questions L1 or L2 on material and so forth among remaining groups as time allows.
-pull up Headlines and front pages (La Une) from several FL press sources. Follow directions in Putnam's Activities or copy sections of a newspaper and put into a newspaper collage. This will help students identify current events and stories in their city and/or country.
WHAT TO SEE
prior to sending students on to the WWW, display the graphics and sites in your classroom. Allow students to plot them out using printed maps and aids, as a general introduction to the city they will visit. Identify the point of the visit: if students to be able to take the subway to selected places of interest, divide up the destinations among groups so they can teach one another. It is helpful to give students opportunities to locate key places, to complete tasks asking for clear reasons for going to each tourist site, before being sent on to the WWW.
-visit Marie Ponterio's Paris for exquisite images of Paris and for a useful list of Paris places not to miss. Scroll to her links to other Paris sites and print out graphics to display around your classroom.
-visit Putnam's Simulated Trips to identify additional sites for the "must see" and for off-beat tours, such as the Virtual Cemetery (students can research those buried there). The Archives of Pariscope are another good source
Only after preparing students, set up some live online activities!
Now that students have tried out the Marie Ponterio Civilisation site for French, set up a 10 minute L1 "Here's how to" session for bookmarking and directions for accessing sites, then proceed to the pre-planned and written out tasks of the day. Distribute the written sites to your groups and off they go!
-select a number of sites for groups of students to visit. Include tourism, magazines and press in your directions for researching the sites you assign. Keep your requests open-ended and include more than needed, letting students decide. For example, have students buy 3 magazines and 3 newspapers from across the country or L2 speaking world. Assign each pair one or two neighborhoods or specific sites to visit.
For smooth results, DO NOT send more than 2 or 3 groups at any time to one site, to avoid a cyberjam and much frustration. This is the single-most jam-up we experience when first on-line with students, so take heed and over-plan the number needed, in case some sites are busy or not responding!
Click on Laura Cantor's CyberTrip Lesson Plan for a fine example of a 40 minute Middle school class guided visit to Paris.
There are specific Lesson plans for Trips to many FL places and an excellent introduction to Web Activities in many FL, from the California FL Project's site Internet Activities for FL Classes found in Lauren Rosen's excellent site, Teaching With the Web. Click on Rosen's Language Specific Activities then on the title (Internet Activities for FL Classes) immediately below the introduction. Assign this site for reading then adapt for your classes. Return to Lauren Rosen's site Teaching With the Web to examine other language specific activities.
-set up your classroom for a simulated trip and invite visitors and parents: arrange the seats to resemble an airplane ; offer an in-flight menu from the Internet; set up a customs check, with necessary papers for visitors (make a passport and ID card in the FL); post graphics and prepare a variety of itineraries (with printed maps and aids) for your students to lead and join. Set up a menu and assign FL roles to students (pre-planned short scripts): Mayor of city welcomes; Maitre d' invites all to sit down and shares menu; tour guides show highlights of city(museums/places and scenes) posted around room.
More ideas to follow: use the WWW sparingly and effectively, especially as Follow-up. The Internet is condusive to open-ended yet pre-planned activities, so give students opportunities to be in charge. The Internet is not an Hors d'oeuvres: the best activity to open a Unit with. As an entrée or Main Course it is an ideal tool for use after initial preparation. So use the Web accordingly and Off you Go, Success!