EXPLORING THE CITY (2)

I hope you enjoyed last week’s field trip.
For starters, it always feels good to get out of the classroom and feel free…for a change. So I’m sure you’ve enjoyed each other’s company, and ‘goofing around’, and taking pictures, and being loud in a nice way:-)
But what about the CITY? Did you manage to keep your eyes – and mind – wide open?

Let me put you to the test. If you answer Yes to the following questions, then I’m sure the visit was worthwhile. Actually, I’ve read your texts and seen your photos so I know what your answers will be like, but still, here it goes:
- Were you surprised by some of the things you saw?
- Did anything happen (either good or ‘evil’!) that made you think?
- Can you identify what made you feel ‘at home’?
- Can you make out what made you feel uneasy ?
- Are you curious to find out more?
And a final question:
- Karina wrote that this visit “has demolished, like bulldozers, our prejudice”. Has it?
Actually I’m not so sure about that but I expect you really want to know more, and that is what is really important.

In order to know more we´ll follow two lines of action that will help you build your final task:

1 - YOUR RESEARCH
Make sure you identify what you need to know and how. Design your ‘project’ in a more detailed fashion so you can organise your work, decide and divide tasks, plan your time.
To do that you’ll have to:
- Ask your RESEARCH QUESTIONS (RQ) – remember, you must have a FOCUS
- Decide the NEXT STEPS in order to answer your RQ (interviews? More photos? Reading what?...)
- Prepare/decide what will be your FINAL TASK and PRESENTATION (Week 16-20 February - Please make sure your product is ready by the deadline which is right after the test and right before Carnival).
(Note: For photos of the old city visit the archives of the Arquivo Fotográfico )

2 - CLASSROOM WORK
Here is a selection of the images and texts we’ll be READING and discussing:

World’s population distribution – LINKS - Unit 2.4 – pp 70-72
Why do people live in cities? What are the trends for the future? Are cities nice places to live in? Is Lisbon a cosmopolitan city?
Green Delhi – Clean Delhi - A city of contrasts

Mobility - Your DNA Journey – LINKS - Unit 2.5 – pp 74

The city:
- Little Boxes (the suburbs) vs city centre (CBD)
- Norman Rockwell’s New neighbors
- Commuting (Roald Dahl’s Galloping Foxley – Tales of the Unexpected) and other descriptions of the CITY
- Walking Billboards – LINKS – Unit 3.2. pp 102

WRITING ACTIVITIES
Essay writing - providing solutions to problems
Besides your Learning Journal, of course, and the final product.

SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
Initial presentations – favourite photos (after exploratory visit)
Discussing and debating in class
Short presentations (poems and other texts)
Final presentation

VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR
Do not forget to expand your Vocabulary Records on the different topics (Consumer Society, Environment, Cultures, Work)
In the meanwhile we’ll have some grammar consolidation and new input. Most important topics will be: Verb tenses – Future Tenses & Passive Voice; Word Formation; Phrasal Verbs

“Well, how do you see what all it is to see?”

Mr. Head didn’t answer. Then as if the sight of people passing had given him the clue, he said,” You walk,” and started off down the street. Nelson followed, steadying his hat. So many sights and sounds were flooding in on him that for the first block he hardly knew what he was seeing. Mr. Head turned and looked behind him at the station they had left, a putty-colored terminal with a concrete dome on top. He thought that if he could keep the dome always in sight, he would be able to get back in the afternoon to catch the train again.

in The Artificial Nigger (sic) by Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man is Hard to Find - Stories)

And, why not, another extract from the same story:

“The day is going to come,” Mr. Head prophesied, “when you’ll find you ain’t as smart as you think you are.” He had been thinking about this trip for several months but it was for the most part in moral terms that he conceived it. It was to be a lesson that the boy would never forget. He was to find out from it that he had no cause for pride merely because he had been born in a city. He was to find out that the city is not a great place. Mr. Head meant him to see everything there is to see in a city so that he would be content to stay at home for the rest of his life. He fell asleep thinking how the boy would at last find out that he was not as smart as he thought he was.

EXPLORING THE CITY (1)

The NEW YEAR is here (HAPPY NEW YEAR :-) …and with it new ideas and new projects.
For starters, tell me… how well do you know Lisbon? Are you ready to use your (video) camera and explore it? Are you ready to ‘trek’ up and down past unknown places? To stop, and spot, and wonder about the little details that bring a city alive? Are you ready to forget the comfort of your parents’ car and spend two hours hopping up and down the bus or tramway? Yes, this is what this new unit will take!
Well, before you give up, here is a glimpse of my proposals for the first half of the term. Take a minute to think about them. And then react :-)
DISCOVER the CITY.Amoreiras? Bairro Alto? Martim Moniz? Alfama? …? You pick… And GO.
Let’s organize a first exploratory visit together. Later, after having set your own objectives and purposes, you should return on your own (group).

Your FOCUS
As you go along the streets keep your eyes open, both for general points and for detail. Your observations should be linked to (one of) the 4 topics of the English syllabus.
Brainstorm some questions that may guide your observation. Later you’ll decide what exactly your focus will be.
Connections to other subjects – History / Geography /… - are strongly welcome.

Here are some examples of questions that you could ask:
WORK –What kind of economic activity is there in the area? What impact does it have on people’s lives? What do local people do for a living? Do they have to commute?
CULTURES – Who are the people that live in the area? Who works there? Are there any signs of different cultures mixing together? Or do they just coexist? Side by side? What are people’s attitudes towards diversity? What can you find there that you’ve never seen before? CONSUMER SOCIETY/ADVERTISING – Is this particular neighborhood a ‘good’ example of our ‘Name Brand society’? Are there billboards/neons everywhere? Of what kind? Are people happy with this kind of environment? Indifferent? Does it go unnoticed? What impact does it have on people’s lives? What kind of shops are there? Is a particular branch more common? Why?
ENVIRONMENT – What is the atmosphere like? Are people aware of the impact of their actions? Are there any environmental hazards in the area? What is causing them?

Your group should pick ONE area/neighbourhood and ONE focus. Brainstorm more questions, let your curiosity run wild!

What about your final task?
Use your experience, your photos or footage to build your own narrative of the city. In other words create a narrative based on what you saw and documented.
There are actually different ways of doing this:
- an exhibition of your photos and respective catalogue;
- a story/play that you write (and illustrate) based on what you saw;
- … ? (Your suggestion)

You can then post your product in CNN – iReport/My City,My Life

In the meanwhile we’ll be reading different texts and discussing pictures and paintings that bring us different views and interpretations of city life. But I’ll tell you about it later.

Do you like these proposals? Do you think they’ll work? Are there any suggestions you’d like to make? Are there any questions you’d like to ask? Let me/everybody know if you have any texts, images, songs, poems, …, that you’d like to use in class or recommend your colleagues. Let’s discuss all this during the first two weeks of January both in class and using this forum. Once you’ve contributed with new ideas I’ll try to incorporate them in the final version of the unit which I’ll post by January 20/23.

Here is a chart with the main dates for this initial stage of the project.
STEP 1 – 6 to 16 January - Presentations of project; brainstorming and discussing new ideas
STEP 2 – 13 or 14 January - Exploratory Visit
STEP 3 – 16 January - Class Presentation – Your favourite photo(s)
STEP 4 – 16 January - Decide what your FOCUS will be; Your objectives and/or Research Questions;