FOLLOW-­‐UP LESSON PLAN FOR GIVING DIRECTIONS LINC 3 (READING SKILL ) A) PRE-­‐READING OR WARM UP: Tell students your favorite street in Toronto is “Roncesvalles” (choose your own). Write it on the board before pronouncing it. Check to see if students can actually pronounce it. Pronounce it for them. Ask them if they know what the friendly short-­‐form for Roncesvalles is (If not, tell them it is “Roncy´s”). You might even ask them to spell it to check their alphabet. Tell them why you love it (3 street cars, 2 subway station close-­‐
by, High Park, close to the Lake, friendly people, la Cubanita! …. Polish perogies!) Now write on the BB the following questions: 1) What are some of your favorites streets in Toronto? Why? 2) What are some difficult streets to pronounce? (Sorauren, Runnymede, Westminster, Adelaide, …) 3) Who gives streets their names? Who decides? (Have them discuss in groups and have each group provide one example for each) Tell students today they will be learning about the history of some of Toronto´s streets by reading a blog post. Ask them: Do you know that “Roncesvalles” has a Spanish origin? (optional warm up: Show pictures of streets and try to guess: the ones at T.O Blog are excellent.) (optional warm-­‐up: short review of the previous class regarding asking for and giving directions.) B) VOCABULARY: Write down words on BB. Go through each one individually following some of the ideas in parenthesis below. For all words check pronunciation by modeling, then having them repeat as a class, and then by picking out some “volunteers”. 1) cronyism (Note: giving position to relatives/friends that are NOT qualified vs. meritocracy; Discuss existence in own countries; IS cronyism good? Why does it exist?; if you want, go into the suffix “–ism” used for general abstract nouns, e.g., capitalism, socialism, nationalism, atheism, feminism) (noun, non-­‐count noun) 2) a thoroughfare (broad or general name for all streets, highways or roads; connects 2 locations; What are some important thoroughfares in Toronto; emphasize it sounds really elegant) (noun, count noun) 3) an escarpment (take photo of Niagara Escarpment to class, use map showing how extended it is: Do you have any escarpments in your countries, bring pics for next class) 4) a “get it done” attitude (your objective is to finish what you have started; no stopping you! think also of brand Nike “Just do it”; do you agree with this attitude? What is a kind of opposite/antonym? Write down: procrastinate) (idiomatic expression) 5) perennial (for a long time, never-­‐ending: what is a perennial problem in your countries?; talk about perennial plants vs. annuals, maybe even mention why perennials are SO important) (adjective) 6) thorns (think of a rose; discuss why roses have thorns; connect to the Catholic expression, a “valley of thorns”; have you ever been hurt with a thorn? Maybe write the poem “But he who dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.” ― Anne Brontë) (noun, count noun) 7) nemesis (a person who is an enemy, but not just any enemy but the biggest enemy, but not just the biggest enemy but the one that caused your fall!: can use famous comic characters, nemesis of Batman = Joker …: ask students, who/what is your nemesis? (optional: let students know this is an ancient Greek word for the goddess of “divine retribution”/vengeance. Remember Aristotle) 8) a vista (word taken from Spanish and Italian, “a view”: emphasize that it sounds elegant in English! Mention the Ford model called “Vista”. Why do you think that car has that name?) Tell students they will understand when they read about Broadview Street! After reading you will have a new “vista” on the whole question of streets! C) GIST QUESTION: Why do Toronto streets have these special names? Is it the same reason for all? D) READING: (Give 15-­‐20 minutes) E) POST READING: E.!.) CHECK GIST QUESTION E.2) GIVE COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (work in pairs) 1. Is “Spadina” originally an English word? Which pronunciation do you prefer? 2. How many streets are named for Royalty or famous people? 3. Is Parliament at Parliament Street today? 4. What was chairman Gardiner known for? 5. Did Queen Street always have such an elegant name? 6. Is Yonge Street the longest Street in the World? 7. Who had 2 streets named after him? Why? 8. Who is St. Clare? 9. Was Broadview named for a person? Or easier, “Is Broadview a person?” E.3) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (in groups, and then as a class.) 1. Which is your favorite story? Why? 2. Why are so many streets named after public figures (military and politicians)? Do you have examples in your countries of streets or buildings or places? (Tell students Bogotá uses numbers for its streets but names for special places, e.g. Bolívar Park). What are some famous examples in the USA? (Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin … Can you imagine “King Street” in Washington?!) 3. Would you like to have a street named after you? 4. What do you think of Gardiner´s sayings? Do you like the Gardiner? What do most criticize about it? 5. Do you know anything about Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington? (if not, have them research for next class, thinking about why he is so famous. Do you imagine a Wellington Street in the Province of Quebec? 6. Why is the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin so famous? Do you know about the Canadian “Underground Railroad”? (if not, have them research, specially if coming from a country where slavery was part of their history.) Have you watched the recent movie 12 Years a Slave? 7. Have you been to Broadview? What is so special about it? What is special about a vista? Do you have examples of such vistas? (Mention, Mount Royal in Montreal, La Calera Bogotá, Los PInos in Santa Marta) Have you been to the CN Tower? Like the vista? E.4) Finally, have the class read the story out loud by having each student read a paragraph. (If you like, tape them –use app on cell phone (Recorder App is excellent) if you have one-­‐-­‐ and have them hear themselves reading. Focus more on stress, rhythm and intonation rather than pronunciation. You can even send the recording to their emails) F) FOLLOW UP (OTHER EXERCISES FOR THIS, OR HIGHER LEVEL COURSE) F.1) WRITE a brief history of one of the streets in your neighborhood. Ask people in your community who have lived in Toronto for many years. How has that street changed? Has it changed for the good? Look a the internet if necessary. If a street is too difficult, think about a famous place and write about the history of its name. Present later to class if possible. F.2) FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS READ article on the history of Yonge Street entitled “Yonge at Heart” (in one of CCLCS´s Canadian Geographic (a copy will be provided if needed). This is a MUCH more difficult reading, but has an excellent map of Yonge showing why it was once in the Guinness Records!). Have Students write a 2 page summary and 5 questions. F.3) If students have an iPhone or an iPad have students download the beautiful and helpful APP Toronto Mao and Walks (motto of app? “Lose Yourself Without Getting Lost” Lite version is free, paid version is $4.99) Have them look at the standard self-­‐guided tours (e.g., ”TORONTO HISTORY WALKS”, 2.7 KM, 2 HOURS; starts at the Canadian Life Building and ends at the Daniel Brooke Building, there are 16 more walks). If used, then have them draw a map of their tour. Also tell students of the Doors Open Toronto Event where you can explore amazing buildings such as the “R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant”. (May?) If you wish discuss the nature of GPS and the role it plays in our lives today. F.4) FOR ADVANCED COURSE INTERESTED IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES Have students write a brief essay discussing a quote by famous Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor. The quote directly connects our sense of orientation in physical space with our orientation in life as moral beings: “It is what we call an “identity crisis”, an acute form of disorientation, which people often express in terms of not knowing who they are, but which can also be seen as a radical uncertainty of where they stand. They lack a frame or horizon within which things can take on a stable meaning, within which some life possibilities can be seen as good or meaningful, others as bad or trivial … This is a painful and frightening experience. What this brings to light is the essential link between identity and a kind of orientation. To know who you are is to be oriented in a moral space, a space in which questions arise about what is good or bad, what is worth doing and what is not, what has meaning and importance to you and what is trivial and secondary. I feel myself here drawn to use a spatial metaphor, but I believe this is more than a personal predilection. There are signs that the link with spatial orientation lies very deep in the human psyche. In some extreme cases of what are described as “narcissistic personality disorders”, where there is a form of a radical uncertainty about oneself and about what is of value to one, patients show signs of spatial disorientation as well as moments of acute crisis. The disorientation and uncertainty about where one stands as a person seems to spill over into a loss of grip on one´s stance in physical space-­‐“ Why this link between identity and orientation? (the quote continues…)… (Sources of the Self: p. 27-­‐28: see also pp. 41-­‐42, “But the image of spatial orientation which I have been using …..”) G) SOURCES The actual reading students have combines both posts by Bateman and changes some words to make it more applicable to level 3. G.1) T.O. BLOG 1) “The story behind Toronto street names”, Posted by Chris Bateman / FEBRUARY 8, 2012 http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/02/the_story_behind_toronto_street_names/ 2) “More stories about the origins of Toronto street names”, Posted by Chris Bateman / FEBRUARY 23, 2012 http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/02/more_stories_about_the_origins_of_toronto_street_names/ G.2) Toronto Street Names: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins Paperback – Oct 27 2011 by Leonard Wise (Author), Allan Gould (Author) http://www.allangould.com/books/biohistory/torontostreetnames/books_biohistory_torontostreetnames.
html G.3) “Yonge at Heart” from Canadian Geographic September-­‐October 1996 “Toronto Yonge Street turns 200). G..4) “Street culture, Torontonians on Parade”, Canadian Geographic July/ August, 1997 (excellent historical photographs of the festivals).