PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

FACULDADE DE LETRAS

PROJECT

The Challenge Day

ALICE MARASCA WIENER

 Porto Alegre, 2009
Theme: Challenge Day: a way to promote interaction with English and raise the self-
esteem of teenager students.

Justification:
This project is meant for the high school. It can be applied to any grade. Based
on some observations (including in other subjects), it can be concluded that the
teachers don’t know their students. They just know the students’ qualities or defects
on their subject. They don’t (try to avoid contractions when writing) know in what they
are really good at. In this way, the teacher can’t really work appropriately with their
students, using everything they can do in a better way. (a little confusing…)
Another thing that can be observed is that some teenagers have low self-
esteem when we are talking about things that they can do. They are in a moment of
their life that they have to choose one profession and they can’t really define
themselves. Because they can’t define exactly their profession (there are so many
options and influences on them), they can’t say “I am really good at this thing. I can do
it very well”.
Also, most of the time, English is used to talk about topics that are not related
to the things that students like. In this project, students will have a time to use English
in a interesting way for them.
This project is meant to work on this idea of students’ qualities and to give
opportunities for teachers to get to know their students better.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:
Citizenship is a subject very important in teaching English or any other kind of
subject. According to the Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio, teaching
languages in schools should have more objectives than just teaching grammar or the
language itself.

“Quando falamos sobre o aspecto educacional do ensino de Línguas

Estrangeiras, referimo-nos, por exemplo, à compreensão do conceito de
cidadania, enfatizando-o. (...) De acordo com a visão tradicional, falar em
 cidadania significa falar em pátria, civismo, deveres cívicos, como nas antigas
aulas de Educação Cívica. Estas, freqüentemente, pretendiam disseminar um
sentimento de patriotismo e de nacionalismo. Mas se por um lado houve o
estímulo a esse sentimento e, de certa maneira, cumprimento da finalidade
dessa disciplina, por outro houve uma ação pedagógico-ideológica que se
confundiu com o que veio a ser denominado “inculcação” ou “doutrinação”.
Nas propostas atuais, essa visão da cidadania como algo homogêneo se
modificou. “ (references)

This project wants to show students a new way of citizenship: the cooperation
in a community. When the students teach and learn with each other, they are
cooperating. They learn that they can help another person with their own knowledge,
and that each person has something to add in other people’s lives. So, when a person
shows his/her ability, he/she feels more confident. And, being confident and happy is a
way to initiate a better world.
The Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio (year) also says:

“desenvolver a confiança do aprendiz, por meio de experiências bem-

sucedidas no uso de uma língua estrangeira, enfrentar os desafios cotidianos e
sociais de viver, adaptando-se, conforme necessário, a usos diversos da
linguagem em ambientes diversos (sejam esses em sua própria comunidade,
cidade, estado, país ou fora desses).

This project, as it was said, develops the confidence of the learner. And, as the
use of English will be in a context that interests the students, it is thought that the
experience will be well-succeeded. They will also learn different vocabularies, which
help in the diversity of the language. If the students stay in the same kind of learning if
they use the same resources again and again (only in the book and reading standard
English texts), maybe they wouldn’t learn many words. For example, if someone talks
about skating, they will learn words that they would never hear in classes.
Moreover, it is important to say that the idea of having a challenge day in the
classroom is based on the law 12.942 of Rio Grande do Sul, created by the Deputado
Estadual (State Deputy) Giovani Cherini. The text of this document says that the “Dia
Estadual do Desafio” has to be commemorated, annually, on the last Wednesday of
May. This day consists of mobilizing people on the Idea of socialization and inserting a
physical activity in the daily routine of the participants. The objective is to get a better
quality of life. In 2009, beyond this physical activity, the project wants to plant trees as
much as possible. The slogan of this project is “Você se mexe e o mundo mexe junto”
(Move and the world will move with you)

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
- Promote contact between the English language and the student in a way that interest
them.

COGNITIVE OBJECTIVES:
- Learn vocabulary about different subjects;
- Use this vocabulary orally and in writing;
- Develop the speaking and listening skills;

AFFECTIVE OBJECTIVES
- Get everybody to know everybody’s qualities;
- Respect and deal with different interests;
- Learn different subjects;
- Get the idea that everybody can teach something to another person and, also, that
everybody can learn something with another person.
- Cooperate in a student's presentation
FIRST AND SECOND CLASS:
In this first class, the teacher will bring the movie The Goonies, written by
Steven Spielberg. This movie is about seven friends that find a treasure map and they
have to pass by some obstacles to find the money. Each friend help once in something,
using the best ability that he/she has.

THIRD CLASS:
Teacher will make, with the students, a brief summary about the story of the
movie. This is meant to remember the movie as a whole, because the movie was cut
into two parts. Then, students will receive a questionnaire that is supposed to be hand
out to the teacher in the same day:
1) Write in a few lines the summary of the movie.
2) Write about the seven friends and Sloth. About their abilities and how they
helped to the solution of the movie.
a) Mikey
b) Brand
c) Mouth
d) Chunk
e) Data
f) Andy
g) Stef
h) Sloth
3) Do you think Mikey would find the treasure if he was alone? Why?
4) About the Fratelli Family, do you think they would have found the treasure
all by themselves? Why?

FOURTH CLASS:
The teacher will divide the class into five groups. Each group will read about
one of the texts below. The groups can use dictionaries and even, if the school has, the
computer lab for searching words and information about some topics.
Text 1 - Supertasters

People who experience taste with greater intensity

than the rest of the population are called supertasters.
Having extra fungiform papillae is thought to be the
reason why these people have a stronger response to
the sensation of taste. Of the five types of taste,
sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami, a supertaster
generally finds bitterness to be the most perceptible.

Scientists first noticed the differing abilities of people

to taste a known compound when a DuPont chemist
called Arthur Fox asked people to taste
Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Some people could taste
its bitterness; some couldn’t. While about 70% of
people can taste PTC, two thirds of them are rated as medium and only one third
(approximately 25% of the wider population) are supertasters.

Supertasters will often dislike certain foods, particularly bitter ones, such as brussel
sprouts, cabbage, coffee, and grapefruit juice. Women, Asians, and Africans are most
likely to have the increased number of fungiform papillae that make them
supertasters.

Text 2 - Absolute pitch

People with absolute pitch are

capable of identifying and
reproducing a tone without needing a
known reference. Examples of this
include identifying the pitch of
everyday noises (e.g. horns, sirens,
and engines), being able to sing a
named note without hearing a
reference, naming the tones of a
chord, or naming the key signature of

a song. Opinions vary as to whether absolute pitch is genetic or a learned ability that is
strongly influenced to one’s exposure to music at crucial developmental stages (like in
childhood). Estimates of the portion of the population having absolute pitch range
from 3% of the general population in the US and Europe to 8% of who are semi-
professional or professional musicians. In music conservatories in Japan however,
about 70% of musicians have absolute pitch. Absolute pitch is also more common in
those who are blind from birth, have William’s Syndrome, or have an autism spectrum
disorder.
Text 3 - Echolocation

Echolocation is how bats fly around in

dark forests – they emit a sound, wait for
the echo to return, and use that sound of
the echo in each ear plus the return time
to work out where an object is and how
far away. Surprisingly, humans are also
capable of using echolocation. Use of
echolocation is probably restricted to
blind people because it takes a long time
to master and heightened sensitivity to
reflected sound.

To navigate via echolocation a person actively creates a noise (e.g. tapping a cane or
clicking the tongue) and determines from the echoes where objects are located
around them. People skilled at this can often tell where an object is, what size it is,
and its density.

Text 4 - Mental Calculators

The most extraordinary group of people adept

at performing complex mental calculations is
those who are autistic savants. While there are
many trained people who can work out
multiplications of large numbers (among other
calculations) in their head extremely fast –
mostly mathematicians, writers, and linguists –
the untrained ability of autistic savants is the
most interesting. The majority of these people are born with savant syndrome (only
an estimated 50% of people with savantism are also autistic), which is still poorly
understood, few develop it later in life, usually due to a head injury. There are less
than 100 recognised prodigious savants in the world and of the savants with autism
who are capable of using mental calculation techniques there are even less.
Text 5 - Eidetic memory

When a person has photographic memory or total

recall this is called eidetic memory. It is the ability
to recall sounds, images, or objects from one’s
memory with extreme accuracy. Examples of
eidetic memory include the effort of Akira
Haraguchi who recited from memory the first
100,000 decimal places of pi and the drawings of
Stephen Wiltshire who recreate Rome in a picture.
Kim Peek, eho is the inspiration for the movie
Rainman, can recall some 12,000 books from
memory. Whether true photographic memory
exists in adults is still a controversial issue, but it is
accepted that eidetic abilities are distributed
evenly between men and women. One also cannot
become an eidetiker through practice.

These texts were taken from http://listverse.com/2008/06/28/9-extraordinary-human-abilities/

After giving some time for the groups to discuss the text, the students will form
new groups that have, at least, one component of each group. So, in one group it will
have one student that have read the first text, one that have read the second and so
on. Now, they should exchange information.

FIFTH CLASS:
In a big group, teacher should promote the discussion about what ability, about
the texts worked last class, they have considered more interesting, how these abilities
could help in life, etc. This discussion should be done orally and in an informal way. The
students should, then, try to remember other stories of people with abilities (it can be
"normal" abilities, but things that they are good at). The teacher could ask if they have
any ability that is good for them and for the people who live with them.
Now, it is time to present the project "The Challenge Day", asking the students
to prepare a presentation about one thing that they are really good at. The
presentation can be in English, with some Portuguese (depending on the level of the
group). However, the words that are specific of the thing that he/she is going to
present should be in English. For example, if a student is good in gymnastic and he/she
will make a class about aerobic gymnastic, the words of the body and the movements
should be in English (example: “Now, put your hand on your foot”).
The teacher should let the students use their creativity to organize the
presentation that should not last more than fifteen minutes. It should have interaction
on the presentation. For example, this student that is going to teach a mini-lesson
about gymnastic, he/she should try to interact with the audience. In this way they
could really learn something and be challenge to do it.
Also, the topic of the presentation is free. It means that if a student wants to
present a topic that is not consider by the society an important thing, like skating, the
teacher should not censure.
The way the presentations will be organized (three or four days of all the
presentations or another way) will be a choice of the teacher. But, one interesting
thing would be to reserve some minutes of each class for each presentation. In this
way, they will have their own "challenge day" and the students will have time to learn
a little bit of different things in each class.
Next classes will be used to continue the syllabus and for the presentation of
the abilities.

AFTER THE PRESENTATIONS

The students will now get together in groups of interest (for example, those
who presented something about computer will form a group, those who presented
about cooking will form another one and so on) to write some posters that will be
hung on the walls of the school. Theses posters should not have more than two
sentences and should provide general tips of the subject. For example, the group
about computer can write "Press Ctrl+Z to undo what you have done". These posters
can also have, in a small font, the translation of the tip, so that the whole school can
access the information.
The number of posters will depend on how big the group is. If the group has
two components, for example, they will write, at least, four posters. But that should be
count when the groups are formed.
 The teacher here should help the students in language problems and
organization. He/she should be aware of what is going on in the group to see if
everybody is helping on discussing what is important to be write and how to write it.

EVALUATION
This project will be 50% of the grade. And the evaluation will be like this:
- 10% will account for the questions of the movie and the texts about abilities.
- 25% will account for the presentation of the individual ability. It should be
consider the use of English (in the words that was related to the subject, as mentioned
before), organization, creativity, interaction with the audience, material (if it was
necessary). Remember: the teacher should not be prejudice. It is not because one
thing is not consider important that should receive a bad grade. Here it is more
important to see if the student could express himself well and could teach something
for their classmates, then to see if the thing was useful or not. Actually, learning is
never a useless thing, it does not matter what you are learning.
- 10% will account for the posters. It can be consider the English, the creativity
and participation on writing it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Linguagens, códigos e suas tecnologias / Secretaria de Educação Básica. – Brasília :

Ministério da Educação, Secretaria de Educação Básica, 2006. 239 p. (Orientações
curriculares para o ensino médio; volume 1)
- AMORIM, Vanessa; MAGALHÃES, Vivian. Cem Aulas Sem Tédio: para o Professor de
Língua Estrangeira. Porto Alegre: SBS – Special Books Services, 2003.
- SELIGSON, Paul; Correcting Oral Error. New Routes, São Paulo, p. 12-16, September,
2003