Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Primary education

The Great Depression

Starting with the collapse of the US stock market in 1929, the Great Depression was a period of worldwide economic stagnation and depression. Heavy borrowing by European nations from the USA during World War I contributed to instability in European economies. Sharp declines in income and production occurred as buying and selling slowed down. Widespread unemployment resulted, and countries raised tariffs to protect their industries. America stopped investing in Europe. This led to a loss of confidence that economies were self-adjusting, and President Herbert Hoover was blamed for the crisis.

Hoovervilles

Depression shantytowns were named after President Hoover, whom many blamed for their financial distress.

The New Deal

A series... Continue reading "The Great Depression and the New Deal" »

SMART Objectives in Education

What is a SMART Objective?

A SMART objective is a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goal set for student learning. Each element is crucial for creating effective learning experiences:

Specific

The objective has to be precise enough to show the learning outcome you want to get with your students.

Measurable

How will you know that your students have achieved the goal? What kind of indicators will I see, hear, or feel by the end of the lesson?

Achievable

The objective can be reached by students taking into consideration time, previous knowledge, and other constraints of the group.

Relevant

The objective has to be meaningful for students and it has to meet, if possible, students’ interests.

Time-Bound

Will... Continue reading "SMART Objectives in Education: A Comprehensive Guide" »

Ursula K. Le Guin's Notable Work

• The Earthsea Quartet, first published in 1967.

J.K. Rowling's Impact on Fantasy Literature

• J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997. Rowling and Philip Pullman ushered in a new era, often called the "Second Golden Age," due to the resurgence and success of their fantasy sagas: Harry Potter and His Dark Materials.

Defining Literature

• Literature is an art form that conveys a message, engaging both the senses and emotions.

Features of Children's Literature

• Generally shorter in length.
• Emphasis on dialogue and action.
• Child-oriented language.

Literary Analytical Tools

• Setting: The time and place where the action occurs.
• Characters: These can be flat, round, heroes, villains, etc.
• Narrator: Can be 1st

The Consequences of the War

The conflict caused:

• 55 million deaths
• A huge number of wounded military personnel
• Civilian victims

In 1945, conferences were held at Yalta (February) and Potsdam (July-August) at which the leaders of the Allies discussed the redrawing of the frontiers of Europe.

• Germany was divided into occupation zones. Berlin was divided into four military territories (British, French, Soviet, and American).
• Italy was occupied by Anglo-American armies.
• Japan was occupied by the United States.
• The USSR enlarged its frontiers and occupied various countries in Eastern Europe.

Europe’s prewar hegemony was replaced by a new international order led by the two main powers, the USA and the USSR. The UN (United Nations) was created to maintain... Continue reading "World War II: Consequences and Cultural Shifts (1919-1945)" »

Traditional prescriptive grammar
Correct usage: the do¡¦s and don¡¦ts/ Dogmatic
Example: Use ¡¥must¡¦ for internal obligation, and ¡¥have to¡¦ for external obligation
It is often inaccurate and subjective, and tends to ignore actual usage
It ignores the fact that a living language is constantly on the move.
It usually follows a decontextualized, rote memorization, worksheet-driven approach void of real-life application.

More on traditional grammar
Emphasis on correctness
Based on the principles which rule Latin
Preeminence of written form over oral form
Difference between what people actually do with L and what the should do.
Objetive: to preserve proper language
Restricted mainly to SYNTAX

Structuralist applied

Paradigmatic (vertical) axis

The words organizations, groups, and Amnesty International are related to each other because they all belong to the same semantic group, a relationship known as hyponymy. Organizations serve as a hypernym (a more general or superordinate word), while human rights groups and Amnesty International serve as hyponyms (more specific words, in this case types of organizations). The other two kinds of paradigmatic relationships are those of synonymy (prompted = caused) and antonymy (weak/strong).

Syntagmatic (horizontal) axis
 Unlike the paradigmatic relationships, the syntagmatic relationships of a word are not about meaning. They are about the lexical company the word keeps (collocation) and the grammatical patterns

Modern Descriptive Grammar

Descriptive grammar describes language as it is, not as it should be. It is based on a massive corpus of real English, both spoken and written, and it considers many structures that traditional grammar either ignored completely (e.g., determiners and verb complementation) or discussed only briefly (e.g., aspect and adverbial clauses). The first generation of descriptive grammars may be said to be the work of 'armchair grammarians', while only the current generation is corpus-based. Descriptive grammar, like other kinds of grammar, relies on structural analysis. It looks at syntax on many levels: morpheme, word, phrase, clause, sentence, and text.

Generative Grammar

Chomsky (1965) views language as an innate ability that... Continue reading "Descriptive, Generative, and Systemic Functional Grammar" »

Earth's Internal Structure and Plate Tectonics

Seismic Wave Behavior at Different Depths

P-waves (primary waves) and S-waves (secondary waves) are seismic waves that travel through the Earth's interior. At a depth of 100 km, P-waves have a speed of 6 km/s. This speed increases to 8 km/s as the material becomes more rigid. The speed then decreases at the Mohorovičić discontinuity. After 300 km, the speed begins to rise again until it reaches a point where it increases slowly because the material is less rigid. The Repetti discontinuity separates the lower mantle from the upper mantle. Continuing on, P-waves reach a point where their speed plunges at a depth of over 3,000 km. This is where S-waves diminish completely, as the material is more... Continue reading "Earth's Layers, Seismic Waves, and the Wilson Cycle" »

Academic English

Academic English refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual proficiency required to learn and communicate effectively in schools and academic programs, where English is used as a vehicular language.

Academic English is usually formal in tone, it has an advanced vocabulary and impersonal style. We avoid contractions or shortened forms of verbs. We avoid personal pronouns. We may use passive forms and academic vocabulary.

• EFL - English as a Foreign Language (in England)
• ESL - English as a Secondary Language (in Spain)
• ELF - English Lingua Franca
• EMI - English as a Medium of Instruction

Understanding Genres in Academic English

A genre is a class of communicative events, the members of which share a communicative purpose. John Swales... Continue reading "Academic English: Oral and Written Communication" »