QUEEN'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Queen speaks of hope in 2011 Christmas Day message - 25 December 2011
ARTICLE + VIDEO 
+ THE TEXT
Watch the Queen's Christmas message in full.
(BBC)
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THE YEAR 2011 / ART / ENTERTAINMENT
In pictures : Arts and Entertainment in 2011
(BBC)
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QUEEN'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Cartoon: The Queen's Christmas Message
"In the cartoon by Paul Thomas from The Express, the Queen is shown delivering her Christmas message in front of the TV cameras..."
BACKGROUND + THE CARTOON + LINKS
(englishblog.com)
Queen's Christmas message 2011 preview
"The Queen's Christmas message will focus on family, friends and community spirit
and feature the Christmas carol 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'."
+ a video
(telegraph.co.uk)
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LONDON 2012
London 2012 aerial photos - 15 photos
"New aerial images of the Olympic Park have been released."
(telegraph.co.uk)
THE YEAR 2011
2011 in the House of Commons
"From phone-hacking to the Arab Spring, and from the eurozone to Hillsborough it has been a momentous year in the House of Commons.
Democracy Live has some of 2011's parliamentary highlights."
+ VIDEOS
(BBC)
2011 in review: Telegraph readers' pictures of the year
(telegraph.co.uk)
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THE YEAR 2011 / SCIENCE / ENVIRONMENT
In pictures: 2011 as seen from space
(BBC)
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THE YEAR 2011 / QUIZ
Jon Snow's 2011 Quiz of the Year - interactive
(channel4.com)
CNN 2011 News Quiz - interactive
(edition.cnn.com)
CHRISTMAS
Queen's Christmas Day speech to focus on family - 24 December 2011
"The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals."
(BBC)
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VIOLENCE / SHOPPING
Air Jordan release sparks stampedes at stores across US - 23 December 2011
ARTICLE + VIDEO
"Rowdy scenes have broken out at stores across the US as shoppers jostled to lay their hands on Nike's new shoe."
(BBC)
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THE YEAR 2011 / SCIENCE / ENVIRONMENT
Science news highlights of 2011
"The year 2011 offered up glimpses of Earth-like planets, hints of the Higgs boson and
suggestions of a discovery that could turn modern physics on its head.
Headlines were dominated by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which resulted
in the loss of thousands of lives and plunged the country into a nuclear emergency.
The BBC News website's science editor Paul Rincon looks back at an eventful year in science and the environment."
(BBC)
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Forces spéciales
"is a 2011 French war adventure film by Stéphane Rybojad which was shot in France, Djibouti and Tajikistan.
The film shows a little group of elite soldiers on a hopeless mission...
While filming the action scenes, the actors were overseen and advised by French naval special forces according to the press folder
available on the official site. Moreover one of their former chief instructors (Alain Alivon) played his own role."
(Wikipedia)
WINTER
More than 1,000 people gathered at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, "to mark the winter solstice.
During the winter solstice, the sun is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights."
(BBC)
MORE PICTURES HERE.
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PRESENTS
Yo Gabba Gabba - To Give A Present from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.
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BRITISH CULTURE
British Culture 8 - Visit England (Part Two) - a webquest
Created by Laurence Haquet
CHRISTMAS
The Twelve Shoppers of Christmas
Which one are you ?
(geekculture.com)
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THE YEAR 2011
Technology trends of 2011: year in review
"BlackBerry's crash, the launch of Google+, and the growing popularity of Android, eBooks,
the iPad and hacktivism made 2011 a busy year for tech trends."
(telegraph.co.uk)
2011 - The technology year
"It has been a momentous year, with riots, revolutions, natural disasters and economic crises.
And looking back month by month, technology has played a big part in many of those stories, while making plenty of its own headlines."
(BBC)
2011 Year in Review: Technology - 15 photos
(cbsnews.com)
A 2011 Quiz - interactive
(mentalfloss.com)
What really caused the eurozone crisis? - 22 December 2011
"World leaders probably spent more time worrying about the eurozone crisis than anything else in 2011."
(BBC)
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RESOLUTIONS
Whose resolutions are these ? - interactive
"Please put the sentence into the right box."
Created by Renée Maufroid. (Ac. Lille)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
KINDNESS
Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day"
"Watch as the camera tracks an act of kindness as it is passed from one individual to the next
and manages to boomerang back to the person who set it into motion."
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo :
"I’ll certainly use it in my ESL class to have students both describe what they see happen in the video and the message it is trying to send."
CHRISTMAS
Auld Lang Syne - from 'It's A Wonderful Life'
"Remember no man is a failure who has friends."
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THE YEAR 2011
2011, Buh-Bye!
"From Charlie Sheen's #winning tweets to the debt ceiling crisis and global protests, it seems the whole world went nuts in 2011.
Join us as we reminisce about the most notorious moments of the year in our 7th annual year in review...
this time sung by a popsicle stick puppet choir!"
- with the lyrics below the video on YouTube.
_____________________________________________________________
Test your news knowledge: 2011 End of Year Quiz
- with a PDF version 
(edition.cnn.com)
Thanks to Catherine Serreau (Ac. Versailles)
___________________________________________________
Year Review - 3: Just how green was 2011? from TheGreenCarWebsite.
(sabironlangues.typepad.fr)
Thanks to Jean Sabiron.
____________________________________________________
2011 defining moments
(washingtonpost.com)
Photos Of The Year
(graphicsweb.wsj.com)
The Year In Pictures Part 1
(boston.com)
TIME’s Best Photojournalism of 2011
(lightbox.time.com)
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo.
CHRISTMAS
Terry Gilliam - The Christmas Card
"Iconic animator, Monty Python alum, and one of the best darn filmmakers ever Terry Gilliam made The Christmas Card back in 1968,
as part of an animated short called Storytime." (Neatorama)
COMPUTER / INTERNET
VOCABULAIRE ANGLAIS DE L'INFORMATIQUE 
(u-picardie.fr)
Fiche de vocabulaire anglais : L'informatique et Internet
(anglaiscours.fr)
Glossaire informatique des termes de la Commission ministérielle de terminologie informatique 
(deschamp.free.fr)
Lexique informatique officieux de la Commission ministérielle de terminologie informatique
(deschamp.free.fr)
Lexique bilingue français/anglais pour l'informatique
(info.ucl.ac.be)
Glossaire de termes informatiques
"iste de termes qu'on utilise quand on surfe sur internet. Vocabulaire lié aux ordinateurs et à internet."
(anglaisfacile.com)
Lexique des néologismes Internet
(humains-associes.org)
Whatis?com - Computer dictionary : Definitions
Browse for tech terms alphabetically
or Browse for technology definitions by category:
Computing fundamentals
Data and data management
Hardware
Network management
Programming
Security
Internet technology and lingo / Browse all tech definition categories
(whatis.techtarget.com)
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OCCUPY
Bishop arrested during Occupy Wall Street protests - 18 Dec 2011
(telegraph.co.uk)
Occupy protesters block US port - 12 Dec 2011
(telegraph.co.uk)
Occupy San Francisco camp cleared by police - 07 Dec 2011
(telegraph.co.uk)
CHRISTMAS / NEW YEAR
Cartoon: Have A Christmas And New Year
"This cartoon by Matt from The Sun shows two officials standing outside the HM Treasury building.
They are looking at a banner which reads, "Have A Christmas And New Year."
One official says to the other, "We had to take out the words 'Merry' and 'Prosperous'"..."
+ EXPLANATION + COMMENT + LINKS
(englishblog.com)
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THE SNOWMAN
The Snowman
"is a children's book by English author Raymond Briggs... (It) has become a part of British and international Christmas popular culture."
+ Re-tell powerpoint + Worksheets + Short PPT
(community.eflclassroom.com)
NEW VIDEO :
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo.
IRAQ WAR
Ten Grim Lessons Learned From the Iraq War
(globalspin.blogs.time.com)
Looking Back at Iraq - a slideshow
"See major moments from the U.S. mission in Iraq over the past nine years."
(online.wsj.com)
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo.
TRAFFIC SIGNS
Haiku Traffic Signs Bring Poetry To NYC Streets
+ Illustrations + Audio 
(pr.org)
New Haiku Signs Will Make NYC Streets Safer Through Power Of Poetry
MORE examples
(gothamist.com)
Haiku Street Safety Signs Unveiled By NYC DOT, Safe Streets Fund (MAP)
"Using money from drunk driver fines, the NYC Department of Transportation has created 144 special new street signs
featuring colorful artwork and safety messages written in haiku..."
(huffingtonpost.com)
Curbside Haiku - Examples
(nyc.gov)
Thanks to Josiane BEHENGARAY (Ac. Rouen)
THE YEAR 2011
Captured: 2011 Best Photos of the Year, Part 1 of 3
+ Part 2 + Part 3
"The best photos of 2011 from around the globe.
Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content.
Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history."
(blogs.denverpost.com)
TIME Picks the Best Viral Photos of 2011 - 11 photos
(lightbox.time.com)
2011 in review: Arab Spring, disasters, demise of icons
(hosted.ap.org)
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo.
CLOTHES
Clothes - interactive activity
"Please put the words into the right box."
Created by Renée Maufroid. (Ac. Lille)
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A NEW PAGE :
Vocabulary - Pictures - Facts - Conversation questions - Interactive exercises - Interactive games -
Cartoons - Videos - Cinema - Web series - A novel
(to be continued...)
THE YEAR 2011
Newsy Video: TIME Person of the Year
"'The Protester' beat out Gabby Giffords, Steve Jobs, and other prominent figures to land the title of Person of the Year 2011."
+ LESSON IDEA + LINKS
(englishblog.com)
CHRISTMAS
Singing Christmas Hedgehogs - INTERACTIVE
Who colour-coded Christmas?
"Santa's crimson and fur-lined coat? Shiny holly leaves and berries? Colourful poisonous, hallucinogenic mushrooms?
Or medieval paintings in East Anglian churches? Just how did red, green and white become the conventional colours of Christmas?"
(BBC)
IMMIGRATION
US-Mexico immigration: Even oceans have borders - 17 December 2011
"The US government is erecting a fence in the ocean to divide California from Tijuana, Mexico.
Immigration and environmental activists say it is a costly, dangerous endeavour that will do little to keep out unauthorised migrants."
(BBC)
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
New Years Resolution Generator
"This year, I will ..."
(moninavelarde.com)
Thanks to Renée Maufroid. (Ac. Lille)
TEXTING / DRIVING / PAST CONTINUOUS
Distracted driving - Cartoons
(cagle.com)
Texting while flying - a cartoon
(cagle.com)
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IRAQ WAR
US flag ceremony ends Iraq operation - 15 December 2011
(BBC)
ARTICLE + VIDEO
"The flag of American forces in Iraq has been lowered in Baghdad,
bringing nearly nine years of US military operations in Iraq to a formal end."
LONDON 2012
London 2012: 13,500 troops to provide Olympic security - 15 December 2011
"Some 5,000 troops will support the police, up to 7,500 will provide venue security and 1,000 will provide logistical support..."
ARTICLE + VIDEO
(BBC)
Armed forces to add 'robustness' to 2012 security says Hammond
(BBC)
The torch - News
(BBC)
DICKENS
Charles Dickens: Six things he gave the modern world
"With the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens quickly approaching, and an entire series of events planned,
what is the lasting legacy of his work and his causes ?"
(BBC)
COKE
Coke's secret formula gets closer to the public - December 8, 2011
"In honor of the company's 125th anniversary, the formula was moved to a new home in the World of Coca-Cola ... in Atlanta
where a new exhibit titled The Vault of the Secret Formula will be on display beginning Thursday..."
+ a video
(money.cnn.com)
CHRISTMAS / ANIMATIONS
"5 short idents we made for E4 on the topic of Christmas.
The general idea was to surprise people with something really anti-christmas and transform something boring into something amazing..."
ex. : The reindeer :
THE YEAR 2011
Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review
Music: "Sooner or Later" by Mat Kearney (YouTube) + Lyrics (hotnewsonglyrics.com)
LOVE STORY
Chico and Rita
"is an animated feature-length film directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal.
The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana, New York City, Las Vegas,
Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
Musicians featured in the film include Chucho Valdes, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker,
Chano Pozo, Tito Puente, Ben Webster, and Thelonious Monk."
(Wikipedia)
SHOPPING CARTS / GPS
Harvard Business Review: Shopping Carts Will Track Consumers’ Every Move - December 10, 2011
"Each (shopping cart) comes with a small computer that can be programmed to understand the shopper’s buying patterns.
It reveals the speed of the shopper, how long it takes to make a selection, the preferred route, and the order in which items are placed in the cart.
The mini device, equipped with a GPS, plugs into the supermarket’s mainframe computer..."
(martinlindstrom.com)
GLOBAL WARMING
Durban climate change conference: Big three of US, China and India agree to cut carbon emissions - 11 December 2011 
"A new deal to "save the planet" will force the world's three biggest emitters the US, China and India to cut carbon emissions
for the first time, although scientists fear it will come too late to stop global warming...
More than 190 countries managed to finally agree a new climate change deal amid chaotic scenes
in the early hours of Sunday morning in Durban, South Africa."
+ a video
(telegraph.co.uk)
Ralph Waldo EMERSON
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882: A Great 19th Century Writer and Philosopher
- TEXT + AUDIO
(voanews.com)
COUNTRIES / PRESENT PERFECT
Interactive Book - Have you been abroad?
"Learn / revise the vocabulary related to countries with this interactive book
and get introduced to thepresent perfect to talk about the places you have visited!"
Created by Laurence Haquet (Ac. Rouen)
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POLICE
Indonesian police shave rockers' hair to 'spiritually cleanse' them - 15 December 2011
"Police in Indonesia's most conservative province raided a punk-rock concert and detained 65 fans,
shaving off their spiky mohawks and stripping away body piercings because of the perceived threat to Islamic values...
Dog-collar necklaces and chains were also taken from the youths before they were thrown in pools of water for "spiritual" cleansing..."
(telegraph.co.uk)
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HOPEFUL PARENTS / VIDEO GAMES
Hopeful parents - a cartoon
"An old Gary Larson Far Side cartoon showed a child playing a Nintendo with 'hopeful parents' in the background
imagining help wanted ads in the year 2005: ''Nintendo Expert Needed. $50,000 salary + bonus"
or ''Can You Save The Princess? We need skilled men and women, $75,000 + Retirement.'
"The cartoonist's message is obvious: Nintendo prepares our children to go nowhere in the real world...
"Video games did not change the fact that my son is responsible, thoughtful and worthy. If he was so attracted to the game,
my thought was that there could be something positive to that attraction. Today in 2010, degrees and careers in gaming and
game development - both in programming and design - are in high demand for the exponential growth of this multibillion-dollar industry.
The hopeful parents in the Far Side cartoon were heralds of the future!"
(Dr. Yvonne Fournier, a specialist in childrens education as well as a columnist for Scripps-Howard)
(mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com)
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CHRISTMAS
Cool Christmas Lights
Pictures and videos from around the world. 
(collthings.co.uk)
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12 Christmas Poems for Kids
"I truly hope my Christmas poems bring joy to many kids out there."
(anitapoems.com)
PERSON OF THE YEAR
The Protester - Cover story
(time.com)
Time magazine names 'The protester' person of the year
ARTICLE + VIDEO
(telegraph.co.uk)
CHRISTMAS
Mistletoe, the kiss of Christmas
"It's a vintage year for the legendary mistletoe berries...
In Britain’s mistletoe-growing regions, a branch would be brought inside at Christmas to protect the house. Any woman walking underneath
could not refuse to be kissed, or she would remain an old maid. After a kiss, she would pick a berry from the branch."
(telegraph.co.uk)
CHRISTMAS
Video: The Beatbox Nativity (YouTube)
"A vicar has become an internet hit after posting a video on YouTube of himself rapping the story of the Nativity."
+ LINKS (englishblog.com)
A NEW PAGE on RESCOL 2 :
VOCABULARY -
THE EMBLEMS - THE MEDAL - THE COINS - THE EVENTS -
PICTURES - VIDEOS
(to be continued...)
LONDON 2012
Video: Olympics overview (2 mins 30 secs)
"It provides an overview of the Games and gives a sneak peek inside the stadium."
+ Activity
MORE ACTIVITIES on that page.
(BBC)
2011
2011: The Year Beyond Words
"This year has been dominated by huge news stories that shook the world.
This video tries to show how it felt to live through 2011... the year beyond words. (Warning: Contains graphic images)"
+ the list of the events featured in this video (below the video on YouTube).
Music: The Knife - The Height of Summer
Les catastrophes naturelles 2011 - diaporama - 19 photos
"Inondations, séismes, tornades... Retour sur les phénomènes naturels qui ont frappé la planète..."
(20minutes.fr)
IRAQ WAR / VETERANS
How the Iraq war followed one veteran home
"As the last US troops leave Iraq, the BBC's David Botti reflects on the nearly nine years of war.
He served in Iraq as an infantryman in the US Marine Corps Reserve during the 2003 invasion.
After he came home the war remained a presence in ways he couldn't have imagined."
(BBC)
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TECHNOLOGY
50 things killed by technology
"Ringing the cinema to check film times, owning an encyclopaedia and dialling 1471
are among 50 things killed off by modern technology, according to a new poll."
(telegraph.co.uk)
NOISE / NEIGHBOURS
Young mother Emma Jones 'killed for complaining about loud music' 
"Emma Jones was believed to have asked neighbours to turn down their music before she was fatally stabbed."
(telegraph.co.uk)
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INDIA
Audio slideshow: Delhi at 100 - 12 December 2011
"Delhi is celebrating 100 years as the capital of India, having taken over that title from Calcutta while still under British colonial rule."
(BBC)
WHALING
Japanese Whalers Sue U.S. Anti-Whalers (9th December, 2011) - a lesson plan with audio
(newsenglishlessons.com)
In the background :
In the background of RESCOL 1 :
