Introduction

1. Blog: The Story of Stuff תמר נוביק, שיעור אנגלית לכיתה י', ליידי דיוויס, תל אביב השתלמות מורים: "המורה והתלמיד בסביבת למידה מקוונת תשע"א 2010-2011" • Unit plan • Students worked in 7 groups of 4-5 pupils. • The unit was divided up into two parts: Part ǀ : In the computer room. Each group had to write on the blog about a different stage in the lifecycle of goods. Part ǁ: At home. The group had to make corrections based on my comments and relate to another group’s post. • Detailed description of the assignment appears below: • Conclusions • The students enjoyed the video and were exposed to the lifecycle of goods and to new facts they were not aware of before. • At first, students had some technical difficulties working with the blog, however in the end, they felt comfortable using it. Having the first lesson in the computer room, allowed me to immediately address any problems that came up on how to use the blog. • The students related to the topic personally and reached conclusions regarding their own conduct in their personal lives. • It was apparent that the students were interested in the topic. They worked very nicely and were focused on their task during the lesson. • Students summarized the information in their own words. I found that surprising. I was sure I was going to see more copy and paste. Introduction The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute animated documentary about the lifecycle of material goods, presenting a critical vision of consumerist society, primarily American. The video divides up the materials economy into a system composed of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. The Story of Stuff has been translated into 15 languages and has been viewed by over 12 million people. Assignment part ǀ • UnitGoals • Students will become familiar with the life cycle of goods, and corresponding environmental effects. • Students will become familiar with the blog tool and will experience distance learning. • Students will express their opinions in writing about the topic and how they personally relate to the topic, using new environment related vocabulary. • Students will extract knowledge from online sources and present it in writing in their own words • Students will become critical of other students’ writing • The Technological Tool – The Blog • A blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other materials. Most blogs are interactive (as opposed to static websites), allowing visitors to leave comments on the blogs. For this unit, I have created a blog, onto which the video and assignments were posted. Students replied with their comments on the blog. • Go to: http://tamarnovik.blogspot.com/ Assignment part ǁ Only one percentage of total material flow through this system is still in product or use 6 months after their sale in North America. For further information Please contact Tamar Novik, Lady Davis High Scholl, Tel-Aviv (tamar.nvk@gmail.com)