Friday, January 29, 2021

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment.
Developing illustrative descriptors of aspects of mediation for the CEFR



This paper reports on a project of the Council of Europe’s Language Policy Programme (henceforth LPP) carried out between January 2014 and April 2016. The main aim of this project was to develop a descriptive scheme and illustrative descriptors for mediation, the fourth mode of language activity presented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (Council of Europe 2001 – henceforth CEFR).

O documento é baseado em projeto de 2016 do Council of Europe para criar um guia esquemático e ilustrativo para mediação no ensino de idiomas. Trata a mediação para além da interpretação e da tradução. Organiza a mediação como idiomática, cultural, social e pedagógica. Avalia a mediação como ferramenta para aproximar parcerias, intermediar conflitos e ultrapassar diferenças. Analisa a teoria de Vygotsky do ensino como processo social. Esquematiza a mediação em categorias, subdivididas em uma tabela (Seção 4) de atividades de texto, conceitos, comunicação, estratégias, interação on-line e competências plurilíngues e pluriculturais. Apresenta pesquisa global (Seção 5) para definição de descritores de competências e habilidades usados na certificação de proficiência em idiomas.

Author: North, Brian; Piccardo, Enrica
Institution: Council of Europe. Education Department - Strasbourg - France
URL: Click here to access
Format: pdf
Type of Document: Book
Publication Date: 2016
Licence: All rights reserved.


Available at: https://www.inglesnasescolas.org/en/research/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching-assessment-developing-illustrative-descriptors-of-aspects-of-mediation-for-the-cefr/. Accessed on January 29, 2021.

ENGLISH - ENEM 2020

AMERICANAH (Fragment)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie



Finally, Aisha finished with her customer and asked what colour Ifemelu wanted for her hair attachments. 
“Colour four.” 
“Not good colour,” Aisha said promptly. 
“That’s what I use.” 
“It look dirty. You don’t want colour one?” 
“Colour one is too black, it looks fake,” Ifemelu said, loosening her headwrap. “Sometimes I use colour two, but colour four is closest to my natural colour.” 
[...] 
She touched Ifemelu’s hair. “Why you don’t have relaxer?” 
“I like my hair the way God made it.” 
“But how you comb it? Hard to comb,” Aisha said. 
Ifemelu had brought her own comb. She gently combed her hair, dense, soft and tightly coiled, until it framed her head like a halo. “It’s not hard to comb if you moisturize it properly,” she said, slipping into the coaxing tone of the proselytizer that she used whenever she was trying to convince other black women about the merits of wearing their hair natural. Aisha snorted; she clearly could not understand why anybody would choose to suffer through combing natural hair, instead of simply relaxing it. She sectioned out Ifemelu’s hair, plucked a little attachment from the pile on the table and began deftly to twist.

ADICHIE, C. Americanah: A novel. New York: Anchor Books, 2013.

Questão 2 (caderno branco)

A passagem do romance da escritora nigeriana traz um diálogo entre duas mulheres negras: a cabeleireira, Aisha, e a cliente, Ifemelu. O posicionamento da cliente é sustentado por argumentos que:
A) reforçam um padrão de beleza. 
B) retratam um conflito de gerações. 
C) revelam uma atitude de resistência. 
D) demonstram uma postura de imaturidade. 
E) evidenciam uma mudança de comportamento.

Gabarito: C

**********

Após acusação de racismo, Inep muda gabarito de questões do Enem 2020

Ana Carla Bermúdez
Do UOL, em São Paulo
28/01/2021 - 11h27 - Atualizada em 28/01/2021 - 17h29


O Inep (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira) alterou hoje o gabarito de duas questões da versão impressa do Enem (Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio) 2020. A mudança acontece após candidatos apontarem racismo nas respostas oficiais anteriores. De acordo com o instituto, as alterações foram feitas após a identificação de "inconsistências" nos gabaritos (veja mais abaixo). 
A primeira das questões é de inglês e faz parte da prova de linguagens, aplicada no primeiro dia do exame. Nela, é apresentada uma passagem do livro "Americanah", da autora Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, que traz o diálogo de uma cabeleireira com uma cliente —as duas são negras. Na conversa, a cliente diz que não quer alisar os cabelos porque gosta deles "do jeito que Deus os fez".
A questão então pergunta quais argumentos sustentam o posicionamento da mulher. De acordo com o gabarito divulgado ontem pelo Inep, a resposta correta seria a letra D, que relaciona a atitude da personagem a uma "postura de imaturidade". 
Hoje, o Inep alterou o gabarito para indicar que a resposta correta é a alternativa C, que diz que o comportamento da mulher revela "uma atitude de resistência".
Já a segunda questão que teve o gabarito alterado fala sobre o uso de um software para a realização de um processo seletivo em uma faculdade britânica de medicina. O texto afirma que, ao digitar nomes comuns entre negros no Google, a chance de os anúncios automáticos oferecerem checagem de antecedentes criminais pode aumentar 25%.
A questão então pede: "o texto permite desnudamento da sociedade ao relacionar as tecnologias de informação e comunicação com o (a)...". No gabarito liberado ontem, o Inep indicou que a alternativa correta seria "linguagem" (letra C).
Hoje pela manhã, na primeira atualização dos gabaritos, o Inep alterou a resposta em três das quatro cores de prova. Nos gabaritos das provas azul, amarela e rosa, a alternativa correta passou a ser a letra D, que fala em "preconceito". Na prova branca, no entanto, permaneceu como correta a letra C.
Por volta das 13h, o Inep fez uma nova atualização nos gabaritos do exame. Só então a letra D passou a constar como a alternativa correta para esta questão na prova branca.

Inep fala em "inconsistências"

Em nota enviada ao UOL na manhã de hoje, o Inep informou que a mudança aconteceu após a identificação de uma "inconsistência" nos gabaritos divulgados ontem.
"A autarquia verificou que uma modificação feita no gabarito após o retorno das provas para o Inep não foi salva no banco de dados. Em função disso, a área técnica providenciou uma revisão no material e o instituto já disponibilizou as versões corrigidas no seu portal", diz o texto.
Ontem, ao divulgar os gabaritos do Enem, o Inep anunciou também que duas questões do exame foram anuladas: uma de ciências da natureza e uma de matemática.
As provas do Enem impresso aconteceram nos dias 17 e 24 de janeiro e foram marcadas por uma abstenção recorde: mais de metade dos candidatos (55,3%) não compareceram ao exame.
Apesar disso, houve uma série de denúncias de aglomeração e relatos de candidatos que foram barrados e impedidos de fazer as provas devido à superlotação de algumas salas.


Disponível em: https://educacao.uol.com.br/noticias/2021/01/28/apos-polemica-sobre-racismo-inep-muda-gabarito-de-questao-do-enem.htm. Acesso em: 29.jan.2021.

Para baixar a prova (caderno branco), CLIQUE AQUI.
Para baixar o gabarito (caderno branco), CLIQUE AQUI.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

OF A FEMALE DOG AND A MAN

Devoted dog spends days outside
Turkish hospital waiting for owner


January 22, 2021 | 1:25pm | Updated

© January 22, 2021, Guardian News, THE GUARDIAN

A faithful dog waited outside a hospital in Turkey for almost a week until her owner was released after being treated for a brain condition.

The devoted pooch, named Boncuk, followed the ambulance that took Cemal Senturk, 68, to the hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on Jan. 14, news agency DHA reported.

Bonuck — whose name means “beads,” in reference to her hazel eyes — then returned every morning to the entrance to continue her lonely vigil, where hospital staff would sometimes feed her.

“She doesn’t pose a danger to anyone. Everybody noticed the relationship between the dog and her owner. It makes everybody happy,” hospital rep Fuat Ugur said, according to Reuters.

Security guard Muhammet Akdeniz told DHA: “She comes every day around 9 a.m. and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in. When the door opens, she pokes her head inside.”

Cemal Senturk, owner of his faithful companion Boncuk, outside a medical care facility in Trabzon, Turkey, on January 20, 2021. (DHA via AP)

Senturk’s daughter, Aynur Egeli, said she tried to take Boncuk home several times but the dog would race right back to the hospital.

When Senturk was finally released Wednesday, an overjoyed Boncuk ran alongside his wheelchair, jumping up to be petted and wagging her tail.

Boncuk the pup looking for her owner at the entrance of a medical care facility in Trabzon, Turkey, on January 19, 2021. (DHA via AP)

“It makes a person very happy. The dog is very close to us, like a human being, and it makes you happy,” Senturk said.

“She’s very used to me. And I miss her too, constantly,” he added.

With Post wires

CURRÍCULO EM AÇÃO

MATERIAIS DE APOIO 2021
CURRÍCULO PAULISTA



Já estão disponíveis os materiais de apoio ao Currículo Paulista, volume 1, para o ano letivo de 2021. Os cadernos (do aluno e do professor), bem como os anexos com as habilidades essenciais, podem ser baixados do site do CURRÍCULO PAULISTA da EFAPE (CLIQUE AQUI e escolha "materiais"), ou por este LINK, ou ao lado em MATERIAIS DE APOIO - 2021.

TECLA SAP - HEALTHY FOOD?

Why you can't just eat
one cookie or potato chip
Leitura e tradução de artigo da CNN

Tecla SAP com ULISSES CARVALHO
Transmitido ao vivo em 21 de março de 2019


Venham ler e traduzir com Ulisses Carvalho o artigo "The 'bliss point,' or why you can't just eat one cookie or potato chip", escrito pela Dra. Darria Long Gillespie e publicado pela CNN (transcrição abaixo do vídeo). Entendam por que é praticamente impossível comermos só um cookie ou só uma batatinha frita. Ao conhecermos esses motivos, teremos mais condições de controlarmos o consumo desses produtos e adotarmos hábitos alimentares mais saudáveis. 
Vocês vão conhecer e/ou relembrar os significados e aprender as pronúncias das seguintes palavras e expressões: chips, willpower, craving, fat, junk food, rewarding, dopamine, fullness, withdrawal, sweetener, salad dressing, barbecue, sauce, pasta, hit, amp up, food labeling, processed foods, umami, satiety, soy sauce, go back for seconds, entre muitas outras.


The 'bliss point,' or why you can't just eat one cookie or potato chip

By Dr. Darria Long Gillespie
Updated 0834 GMT (1634 HKT) March 19, 2019


(CNN) Have you ever found yourself staring at an empty bag of cookies you just devoured? Don't beat yourself up. Your brain is wired to eat that cookie -- and the next 10. It's as automatic a response as running away from a loud noise.
But resisting the cookies (or chips, or cakes, or chocolate-covered pretzels) doesn't have to feel like a constant cage match between willpower and craving. You can use the same science that food manufacturers use to make junk foods biologically irresistible to your advantage.

Why can't I just crave carrots?

To our caveman ancestors, sugar, salt and fat were necessary for survival, so they evolved to crave it. But since those foods were rare, our ancestors didn't need much in terms of willpower. That's why the region of our brain that regulates willpower is evolutionarily younger and easily overridden by the more primitive cravings-driven region.
But in the past 200 years, we started producing foods that are nothing but straight sugar, salt or fat. Our environment changed, but our brains and bodies couldn't adapt to the sudden onslaught of junky but highly rewarding food.


Junk foods specifically triggers our brain's "reward zone," the same area where drugs and alcohol act. Every time you eat sugar, your brain releases dopamine (the happy hormone), and you feel good.
In fact, food manufacturers spend millions to find the "bliss point" for each food: that irresistible ratio of sugar, salt and fat. These foods bypass our normal fullness mechanisms, which is why you could eat them all day and not feel full. Over time, your body becomes less sensitive to these foods, so you have to eat more just to get the same dopamine rush and feel withdrawal if you don't get it. It's like a designer drug in an easy-to-open package.
Also, since our brains love sugar, food manufacturers have added it to pretty much everything. Today, 74% of grocery store foods have added sweeteners, including salad dressing, barbecue sauce and pasta sauce. Kid-specific foods average 85% more sugar than the adult versions. Not only does sugar add calories, but hidden sugar is like giving your brain a constant "hit" that only amps up cravings.

Start with the Rule of 5s

We're first going to end the cage match between cravings and willpower. In my work, I've found ways to sidestep the boxing ring with what I call Minimum Viable Actions: the smallest, most science-backed steps that can trigger healthy behaviors with the least possible effort.
Don't start by trying to resist that cookie head-on. To tackle sugar cravings, first reduce the hidden sugars in your diet, and over time, you'll become more sensitive to sweet (and need less).


Unfortunately, food labeling laws means you need to be a sugar sleuth; some juices labeled "no added sugar" have more sugar than a can of soda! How to tell? Follow my "Rule of 5s." Read the first five items in the ingredients list to look for sugar by any name (there are more than 60 potential names): anything ending in "-ose," "cane" (sugar, crystals), "corn" (syrup, sweetener), rice syrup, honey or others. If it doesn't pass the Rule of 5s, it's a dessert, and you should find an alternative.
Second, embrace new flavors. Most processed foods are based on sugar and salt. But we forget the three other big ones: sour, bitter and umami. These three flavors have a lower satiety threshold, meaning they're more filling, without salt or sugar. Dress up meats or vegetables with umami flavors (pickled vegetables, cured meats, mushrooms, tomato paste, miso soup, low-sodium soy sauce and hard-aged cheeses such as Parmesan) for a hearty flavor. Over time, you'll notice salty cravings start to fall.
Third, maintain portion control when it comes to high-bliss-point foods. We don't stop eating these kinds of food when we're full, we stop when the food in front of us runs out. Use that to your advantage. When people are given several smaller individually wrapped bars, they'll eat substantially less than if they're given the same total amount in a large chocolate bar. So acknowledge your caveman brain and scoop out a set portion. Even if you still go back for seconds (totally normal), you'll eat less than if you had the entire bag.
So, when you hear "Betcha' can't eat just one," that's not just a cutesy slogan. It's a promise. Or a threat.
Don't try to fight it head-on. If you want to win, get out of the boxing ring.


Dr. Darria Long Gillespie is an emergency physician and author of "Mom Hacks."

Article published by CNN on March 19, 2019. 

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

ENGLISH - CMSP

What countries speak ENGLISH?



No último dia 19/01, durante o período de recuperação na rede estadual, os professores Edmundo Gomes Júnior e João Franco (moderador) apresentaram, no Centro de Mídias, uma aula de Língua Inglesa acerca do tema "countries where the English language is spoken". Foram desenvolvidas as seguintes habilidades da BNCC e do Currículo Paulista:
  • (EF06LI24) Investigar o alcance da língua inglesa no mundo: como língua materna e/ou oficial (primeira ou segunda língua).
  • (EF06LI09) Localizar informações específicas em texto.
  • (EF06LI18) Reconhecer semelhanças e diferenças na pronúncia de palavras da língua inglesa e da língua materna e/ou outras línguas conhecidas.
  • (EF06LI04) Reconhecer, com o apoio de palavras cognatas e pistas do contexto discursivo, o assunto e as informações principais em textos orais sobre temas familiares.
  • (EF06LI08) Identificar o assunto de um texto, reconhecendo sua organização textual e palavras cognatas.
  • (EF06LI12) Interessar-se pelo texto lido, compartilhando suas ideias sobre o que o texto informa/comunica.

BNCC - ENGLISH

A Língua Inglesa na BNCC

SANDRA RODRIGUES
Informe Publicitário, 22 de setembro de 2019

Em algum lugar do passado…

Maria: Flávia você pode ir lá pra casa depois da aula?
Flávia: Hoje não posso Maria, tenho curso de datilografia.
Maria: E você Regina? Pode ir?
Regina: Não Maria, a gente precisa fazer o trabalho de história lembra? Depois da aula vou passar na papelaria comprar papel almaço e te encontrar na biblioteca.

Presente

Curso de datilografia! Fazer trabalho em folha de papel almaço!
Quanta coisa mudou não é mesmo?
De acordo com alguns economistas, estamos vivendo a quarta revolução industrial. A inteligência artificial, o desenvolvimento e uso de aplicativos, robôs, o conceito de big data, entre tantos outros, estão causando mudanças significativas nas indústrias e na forma como trabalhamos, estudamos, nos comunicamos, nos relacionamos enfim, vivemos.
Sabemos que a convivência em comunidade pede para que seus cidadãos dominem habilidades que vão além da memorização e da repetição, práticas por muito tempo adotadas como pedagógicas em sala de aula e consequentemente reproduzidas no mercado de trabalho. No entanto, para contribuir de forma bem-sucedida e significativa neste novo cenário mundial é preciso que cada indivíduo tenha consciência do seu papel no contexto cultural em que está inserido, que saiba se comunicar, que tenha postura crítica e analítica, que seja participativo, dedicado e que busque soluções colaborativas para questões que nos rondam há muito tempo.
E é para isso que vamos à escola: para nos desenvolver. John Dewey já dizia em 1916 (sim, há mais de 100 anos) que “a escola não é uma preparação para a vida, a escola é a própria vida”. Uma escola que possibilite reflexão, desenvolvimento e transformação.
Alunos autônomos e encantados com seu próprio processo de aprendizagem.
Estamos falando sobre aprender a aprender. Não é mais (apenas) sobre acessar informação (já que temos muita coisa disponível no Google), mas como nos relacionamos e agimos perante esta informação.
Jovens de todo o mundo têm ganhado destaque nas mídias por criarem inovações em diversas áreas de conhecimento. Estes jovens foram e são estimulados a desenvolver sua curiosidade, criatividade, empreendedorismo, protagonismo, entre outras competências.
Pesquisas como a do Fórum Econômico Mundial defendem que cerca de 65% das crianças e jovens de hoje exercerão profissões que ainda não existem. Estas mesmas pesquisas recomendam que é preciso fomentar desde cedo, competências que vão além dos conteúdos das áreas tradicionais de conhecimento.
Encontramos também em nossas escolas, uma mudança significativa no perfil das crianças e jovens que já nascem conectados e absorvidos da cultura digital. Assim, os currículos e as metodologias de ensino das nossas escolas precisam incorporar inovações que estimulem a formação integral de jovens protagonistas para que estejam prontos para desafios atuais e futuros. Competências? Inovação? Cultura digital? Formação integral? Protagonismo?
Onde encontramos uma orientação para trabalhar estes temas em nossas escolas?
Na BNCC!

O que é a BNCC?

A Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) é a política pública que define os direitos de aprendizagens de todos os alunos do Brasil da educação infantil ao ensino médio. Para nortear o trabalho das escolas e dos professores em cada uma das etapas de ensino, a BNCC traz como pilares 10 competências gerais que vão além dos saberes cognitivos (como Língua Portuguesa e Matemática). As competências gerais apontam para a necessidade do desenvolvimento integral do estudante.
Aprovada em 2018, a BNCC está em fase de implementação em salas de aula de todo o país. Escolas das redes públicas e particulares devem tê-la como referencial em seus currículos até o início do ano letivo de 2020.
A BNCC incentiva o respeito à igualdade e a diversidade cultural, o que traz a necessidade de se planejar e rever o currículo e prática segundo a cultura e experiência local de cada escola.

A BNCC é o currículo da minha escola?

A BNCC não é currículo, é uma referência nacional e obrigatória, que orienta para as competências que queremos que os alunos alcancem em cada etapa de estudo.


Competências?

Segundo a definição que consta na BNCC, competências são “mobilização de conhecimentos (conceitos e procedimentos), habilidades (práticas, cognitivas e socioemocionais), atividades e valores para resolver demandas complexas da vida cotidiana, do pleno exercício da cidadania e do mundo do trabalho”.
Na prática, significa que nossos alunos possam utilizar os saberes para a própria vida (dentro e fora da escola), conhecendo e valorizando princípios universais, como a ética, os direitos humanos, a justiça social e sustentabilidade ambiental.
Assim as escolas passam a promover não apenas o desenvolvimento intelectual, mas também o social, o físico, o emocional e o cultural, compreendidos como dimensões fundamentais para a perspectiva de uma educação integral.

A BNCC mudou o ensino da língua inglesa?

De língua estrangeira para lingua franca:
“Nessa proposta, a língua inglesa não é mais aquela do “estrangeiro”, oriundo de países hegemônicos, cujos falantes servem de modelo a ser seguido, nem tampouco trata-se de uma variante da língua inglesa. Nessa perspectiva, são acolhidos e legitimados os usos que dela fazem falantes espalhados no mundo inteiro, com diferentes repertórios linguísticos e culturais, o que possibilita, por exemplo, questionar a visão de que o único inglês “correto” – e a ser ensinado – é aquele falado por estadunidenses ou britânicos.” (trecho da Base Nacional Comum Curricular)

Então não tem mais essa de falar que o inglês da escola é americano ou britânico?

A BNCC considera o contexto social e político do idioma e considera a língua inglesa como uma ferramenta de comunicação e oportunidade de acesso em um mundo globalizado.
Ao ter contato com a língua inglesa em uma perspectiva que valoriza a interculturalidade, amplia-se a compreensão de um idioma que não é só falado em países como os Estados Unidos ou Inglaterra permitindo assim que, todos os jovens e crianças possam exercer a cidadania e ampliar suas possibilidades de interação nos mais diversos contextos.

E na prática? As aulas continuam com foco na leitura e interpretação de textos?

De acordo com a BNCC o ensino da língua inglesa, deve colaborar para desenvolver competências que vão além de ler, interpretar e resolver problemas. Nesse contexto, o eixo da oralidade foi ampliado e agora envolve práticas de linguagem com foco na compreensão (escuta) e na produção oral (fala).
O documento também organiza as habilidades da área em cinco eixos:
- Oralidade – Práticas de compreensão e produção oral de língua inglesa em diferentes contextos
- Leitura – Práticas de leitura de textos diversos em língua inglesa (verbais, verbo-visuais, multimodais)
- Escrita – Práticas de produção de textos em língua inglesa relacionados ao cotidiano dos alunos
- Conhecimentos linguísticos – Práticas de análise linguística para a reflexão sobre o funcionamento da língua inglesa
- Dimensão Intercultural – Reflexão sobre aspectos relativos à interação entre culturas (dos alunos e aquelas relacionadas a demais falantes de língua inglesa), de modo a favorecer o convívio, o respeito, a superação de conflitos e a valorização da diversidade entre os povos.

Teremos mais tecnologia nas aulas de língua inglesa?

Como mencionamos anteriormente, encontramos em nossas escolas uma mudança significativa no perfil das crianças e jovens que já nascem conectados e absorvidos da cultura digital. A BNCC reconhece e valoriza esta mudança ao entender que a formação do indivíduo também é concebida nas práticas sociais do mundo digital. Sabemos que a língua inglesa potencializa as possibilidades de comunicação e participação, ao mesmo tempo que entrelaça diferentes linguagens (verbal, visual, corporal, audiovisual).

Então a língua inglesa passa a ser vista como prática social?

Sim! O idioma agora é visto não como língua estrangeira ou do outro, mas como um bem cultural mundial que pode ser incorporado de várias formas, para usos diversos, por falantes multilíngues ao expressarem suas múltiplas culturas. Assim, na BNCC, a língua inglesa é concebida como uma prática social que reconhece, valoriza e fortalece as diferenças culturais e variações linguísticas decorrentes de seus diferentes usos, acolhendo os diversos repertórios linguísticos presentes em sala de aula e fora dela.

Em algum lugar do presente...

Talita – Mãããee! Vou fechar a porta do quarto pra fazer o trabalho de ciências humanas tá?
Mãe – Ok…sobre o que é o trabalho?
Talita – Influências do imperialismo na contemporaneidade
Mãe – Vai fazer com a Yasmim e a Rafa?
Talita – Também…mas também com o Antoine da França, o Fabian da Alemanha e a Heidi da Inglaterra…não entra no quarto pra ninguém te ver na câmera hein!

Ter uma adolescente em casa fazendo trabalho de imperialismo com a ajuda de amigos que conheceu no intercâmbio das férias ajuda a entender a língua inglesa como prática social.
Quando que em nossa época, podíamos fazer um trabalho sobre o imperialismo discutindo (em inglês claro) com jovens da França, Alemanha e Inglaterra?
É, o mundo mudou prezado gestor, e nossas reflexões e perguntas não cabem mais em uma folha de papel almaço.
Carpe diem!

Sandra Rodrigues é fundadora da Smart Learning Brazil, pedagoga especialista na Abordagem de Reggio Emilia e mestre em Educação pela Open University do Reino Unido.
Conteúdo apresentado por Oxford University Press.

BNCC - ENGLISH

Aprender Inglês: meu novo mundo


Ficha técnica
  • Materiais: livros didáticos; computadores.
  • Competências específicas: LGG – Competência 4
  • Habilidades trabalhadas: EM13LGG401; EM13LGG402; EM13LGG403
Créditos
  • Professor(a) responsável: Eder Jose Monte de Araujo. Escola Estadual Professora Risalva Freitas do Amaral, Macapá (AP).


A possibilidade de usar uma língua estrangeira para se comunicar é uma necessidade nos dias de hoje. É também uma forma de encurtar distâncias e conhecer novas culturas.
O tema deste projeto surgiu não só porque existe uma expectativa social estimulada para o crescimento dos intercâmbios culturais e a circulação de informações e conhecimentos, mas também porque o aprendizado de uma língua estrangeira tem contribuído para a formação educativa.
Os recortes dessa aprendizagem propiciam aos alunos a oportunidade de engajamento e interação no mundo social (acadêmico, científico, tecnológico, humano). Também possibilitam contato com outras civilizações e culturas, competência enfatizada como um dos principais eixos do ensino.
Por isso, é necessário incentivar os estudantes, desde o princípio, a observarem as diferenças de valores e costumes que permeiam textos, diálogos, histórias, mensagens eletrônicas etc.
O entendimento dessas diferenças pode interferir de forma positiva ou negativa na comunicação e na harmonia entre os povos ou, até mesmo, entre os grupos sociais de um país, pois a língua é usada no mundo social como reflexo de crenças e valores.
O enfoque interacional oferece uma melhor compreensão da importância da pluralidade cultural que hoje direciona o ensino de inglês. Além de se comunicarem em inglês, os alunos precisam se inteirar dos valores que norteiam outras culturas.

O projeto “Aprender inglês: meu novo mundo” surgiu para oferecer o ensino da Língua Inglesa aos estudantes do 8º ano do Ensino Fundamental II e da 2ª série do Ensino Médio, fora do horário escolar habitual.
Assim, em vez de ficarem em casa assistindo televisão ou na rua, sujeitos a diversos riscos, os alunos aproveitaram o tempo na escola para aprender e desenvolver habilidades específicas, buscando melhoria no rendimento e transformando sua realidade social.
Com essa solução, os pais puderam trabalhar tranquilos, sabendo que seus filhos estavam dentro da escola, que é um espaço seguro e acolhedor.

***


Inicialmente, foi feito um diagnóstico prévio, por meio de exercícios e entrevistas. Percebeu-se que a maioria dos alunos nunca havia tido contato com o Inglês. Esse diagnóstico foi muito importante para a realização de acertos no planejamento inicial. O diagnóstico final se deu por meio de observações nas aulas e pelas primeiras produções escritas e faladas.
O projeto foi lançado por edital, e muitos pais vieram até a escola para fazer a inscrição dos filhos, momento em que trouxeram um quilo de alimento não perecível para ajudar uma instituição carente, despertando também, nos alunos, o espírito da solidariedade.
Os pais ficaram muito contentes por conseguirem colocar seus filhos no projeto, que era totalmente gratuito.

Um dos momentos mais significativos foi a realização de uma gincana em que os alunos puderam demonstrar em pouco tempo de curso os primeiros conhecimentos adquiridos em sala de aula.
Durante a execução do projeto, foram avaliados o desempenho e o empenho de cada aluno nas atividades propostas, como prática oral, interesse e participação no decorrer das aulas. Os meios utilizados foram exercícios, leituras, diálogo, conversação e gincana.
Os resultados alcançados mostraram o êxito da iniciativa, com os alunos passando a falar e a escrever em inglês.

A aprendizagem se deu de forma extraordinária. Hoje, os alunos já estão exercitando o idioma com excelência, desenvolvendo, assim, a autonomia, a conversação e a fluência.

Adaptado de: http://basenacionalcomum.mec.gov.br/implementacao/praticas/caderno-de-praticas/ensino-medio/116-aprender-ingles-meu-novo-mundo. Acesso em: 27.jan.2021.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

OBSERVATÓRIO ENSINO DA LÍNGUA INGLESA

ENGLISH FOR DAILY LIFE


Find out why the approach of teaching English as a lingua franca introduced by the BNCC points up diversity and the everyday uses of the language, beyond its status as a foreign language.

Observatory for English Language Teaching
Newsroom
Nov. 27, 2020


The BNCC (Base Nacional Comum Curricular in Portuguese, or Common Core Curriculum) offers a new way of thinking about English teaching in Brazilian schools. With a focus on its social and political functions, English starts to be treated in the document no longer as a foreign language, but as a lingua franca. With this change, specialists believe that the way is open for more flexible English teaching, which is capable of promoting interculturality and protagonism. In a context in which communication is the focal point, the student and teacher’s critical capacities are underscored, as the walls between the classroom and daily life come down, stereotypes fade and the meaning of proficiency is rethought.

“Why should education treat English as a foreign language?”, asks the researcher, Telma Gimenez, of the Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). After all, as she points out, most of the students who studied English in Brazil will have to speak with non-native speakers, just like them. English as a lingua franca, or simply ELF, verges on this reality. Contemporary uses of English in multilingual and multicultural contexts require a rethinking of the concepts that have oriented the teaching of English as a foreign language.

The idea of a lingua franca has its origins in Antiquity. However, in relation to English, the concept started to be researched in the 1980s. It went through different phases and reviews, and goes on gaining support among researchers from all over the world. As a lingua franca, English takes on the role of a point of contact, capable of fostering communication between speakers of different places, with different native languages. For this reason, ELF should not be seen as a variety of English to add to those that already exist; it is a status that English acquires as a contact language in the moment of communicating, according to the researcher Ana Paula Martinez Duboc, from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

Duboc emphasizes that Brazilian researchers, with their scientific production over the years, have contributed to bringing about the current proposal in the Common Core Curriculum. She calls ELF Made in Brazil the critical outlook regarding the particularities of ELF in the reality of our country (read an article of hers on the subject at the end of this text): “It is necessary to understand the context of these users”, she says. “Here in Brazil, we see this concept from a much more political, ideological viewpoint, according to which you challenge a number of the traditional pillars of English language teaching, which means English as a foreign language”, adds the researcher, Domingos Sávio Siqueira, from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA).

According to Siqueira, the concept went through various phases until it arrived at the position of a language instead of a variation, which he argues is well defined in the Common Core Curriculum. Even so, the BNCC seems to open the way for different uses of the concept of ELF that it brings with it. “I think that the interpretation (made about English as a lingua franca in the BNCC) was that of its daily use, in many places around the world”, explains Gimenez. For Duboc, in the document, the presentation of the concept contrasts with the teaching frameworks.

A new posture towards English

Even though the concept of English as a lingua franca can be interpreted in different ways (CLICK HERE), the approach adopted by the BNCC may have a positive impact. Ana Paula believes that ELF may be a way of overcoming the idea of the foreign language as the language of the other, opening the way for a more flexible concept of English, or more “ventilated”, as she puts it. Telma agrees with these new possibilities of opening. “Without doubt, it is a step forward, because it undermines the idea that there is only American or British English”, she stresses.

For Domingos Sávio, the tradition of language teaching is very much grounded on the imitation of the ideal speaker, which is generally stereotyped. Meanwhile, the reality in the classroom is alive, with students bringing more and more their experiences and their linguistic and cultural repertoires. They have contact with this diversity when they watch a series or participate in an online social network, for example. He underlines that with ELF the question of interculturality becomes plain to see, as it is an important component for a language that is not located in a single territory.

As Gimenez explains, questioning the teaching that demands of students a production which is identical to that of an idealized native speaker and then exposing these learners to a real use of the language is important so that they see themselves as protagonists. For example, the student’s pronunciation may be different from what a native speaker would use at a given moment, but they may communicate well even so. In this case, if the teacher recognizes their effort, they help the student to understand that their use of English may be legitimate. “Proficiency is given new meaning as you can be proficient in one context and not in another”, the researcher adds. In this scenario, in which learning until then was based essentially on precision, on proficiency measured by the standards of native speakers, and on linearity, intelligibility is valued, as are differences. Duboc argues that this flexibility is liberating, and that learning English comes to mean learning about oneself and others.

If the prospects are positive, they create challenges, on the other hand, to find a balance between the ELF vision and the more traditional approaches to the teaching of the language. It becomes necessary to rethink aspects such as assessment, for example, which would have to follow the pedagogic teaching vision, as Gimenez points out. For Siqueira, an important question is teaching materials. In them, he says, minority cultures do not normally appear, and the examples are usually restricted to American and British English. In this way, to align interculturality with practical developments for the classroom, the teacher needs to be critically aware, with ‘ELF awareness’ – a concept introduced by the Greek researcher Nicos Sifakis: that is, to be aware of these needs. Thus, the teacher may choose a text that better reflects the reality of a given class, for example; or bring to the class English as it is used by different speakers from around the world, getting away from the linguistic and cultural standardization which is characteristic of English teaching as a foreign language.


Available at: https://www.inglesnasescolas.org/en/headline/english-for-daily-life/. Accessed on January 26, 2021.

OBSERVATÓRIO ENSINO DA LÍNGUA INGLESA

The role of teacher training in accommodating diversity: security and preparation for a diverse classroom


A student of English is expected to be able to communicate in the language to thus broaden their personal and professional horizons. And this is valid for everyone. What are the challenges of teaching English ensuring inclusion and accommodating diversity?

Observatory for English Language Teaching
Newsroom
Nov. 27, 2020


‘Difference’ is a term which is generally associated by educators with problems to be solved in schools, either related “to deficiency, to cultural deficit or to inequality”. These are the words of researcher, Vera Maria Candau, who is a specialist in interculturality in education (CLICK HERE). “Very few link difference to plural identities that enrich pedagogical processes and that must be recognized and valued”, she adds. How can diversity be linked positively to the English-teaching classroom, accommodating differences and also working with inclusion? How can teacher training engage with this process?

“I was at university for four years and at no point was I alerted to the fact that I could have a student with some kind of deficiency”, recounts the lecturer and researcher Betânia Medrado, of the Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). In the last 13 years, she has been deepening her understanding of teaching English to blind or partially sighted people. During her time there, she has contributed to the changes the Modern Languages course curriculum at UFPB has gone through: today the course incorporates aspects of inclusive education in all the training disciplines supervised there.

Generally, the discussion about inclusion arose before in the field of education, taking longer to appear in Modern Languages, according to Medrado. “The obligation to teach signing in teaching college, in a sense, brought about this awareness, beyond changes in policies that put deaf students in regular classes”, adds the lecturer and researcher Telma Gimenez, from the Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL).

Addressing teaching for all brings up a wider scope of debate. We need to discuss the inclusion of students with deficiencies and also diversity. “There is diversity in terms of physical characteristics and of social identities”, explains Gimenez. We are talking about classrooms in which students of different races/ethnic groups, genders, ages, religions, and social and cultural backgrounds are found. It is worth pointing out that there are features even within groups that look homogeneous, but are not. The misunderstanding about this occurs especially with deficiency, in the case of blind, partially-sighted or autistic people, for example.

Aparecida de Jesus Ferreira, a lecturer and researcher at the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG), which is a reference in terms of racial questions relative to English teaching, reinforces that teacher training must prepare teachers to deal with diversity in the classroom and with the daily challenges that arise from it. But she argues that, in addition, an attentive look at our own experience may be a starting point. Aparecida explains that she has tried to deal with diversity broadly in her practice, her main focus being the racial question, which is why she does not feel able to speak with the same authority about issues specifically related to the inclusion of students with deficiency. However, she tells what she did when she needed to teach a deaf student: adopting the path of dialogue, she had a meeting with her so that the student herself could express what would be the best way for Aparecida to assist her in her learning process.

Betânia’s involvement in the question of inclusion of people with visual deficiency also began with an unexpected situation. On finishing her doctorate in 2007, she was invited to teach at a model elementary school in João Pessoa. A teacher she worked with there went to Betânia when she needed to teach two blind students and did not know how to assist them best. “This teacher inspired me to do what I have been doing for the last 13 years”, she says. The teacher in question was not a beginner: with 25 years in the classroom, she was about to retire. Just like Betânia, she had not received the right training to deal with diversity in the classroom. The two started, together, putting into practice different actions every day to assist the students, observing what would bring about the best results. From the accumulation of experiences like these, at a certain point in her career, Betânia went on to transform these questions into her research projects.
Training leads to security in the teacher

In Brazil, we have laws that guarantee every student’s access to education. On the other hand, accommodation to the particularities of each student needs to be effectively put into practice in teaching and learning environments. Teacher training may not be able to cope with the breadth that inclusion and diversity involve, but it is important to leave the teacher secure to deal with the varied situations that they may face in the classroom, Aparecida Ferreira explains.

She emphasizes that deficiencies demand quite a specific preparation for inclusion of students to be effective, which includes resources like the presence of classroom mediators to adequately meet the students’ needs. However, she stresses that there are certain fundamental questions when dealing with inclusion in general and her point of view calls to mind the broad accommodation of difference, in the sense of plural identities which Vera Candau refers to. Among the aspects quoted by Aparecida are the concept of racial identity, issues of gender, social class and sexuality. The researcher highlights that the training is, then, precisely the process which can awaken in teachers the essential ideas and concepts that, once taken in, become part of their repertoire as educators and citizens. As a result, they become able to deal with the varied situations that crop up in teachers’ daily life.

Additionally, according to Ferreira, when awareness is raised in terms of diversity, teachers start to become concerned with representativity in such a way that there is no way back, no other way. With this, they begin to bring black writers’ texts to the classroom, for example. They see they can use news from all over the world for contemporary debates. In short, they can be more creative in their teaching, collaborating in accommodating students in their multiplicity. Aparecida stresses another essential point for schools to successfully accommodate diversity: the institution’s administrators must be aware, to be able to identify difficulties, monitoring processes and promoting transdisciplinary projects. After all, questions of diversity go beyond all disciplines. 


ENGLISH - SEDUC: HABILIDADES 2020-2021

HABILIDADES ESSENCIAIS DE
LÍNGUA INGLESA
2020-2021



Conforme Comunicado Externo COPED/EFAPE, nº 50, encaminhado às Diretorias de Ensino no dia 19 de janeiro, neste ano letivo de 2021 ainda será necessário priorizar habilidades do Currículo Paulista e da BNCC, de modo a garantir a aprendizagem no ciclo 2020-2021
Com o objetivo de apoiar o trabalho pedagógico nas escolas e basear a retomada das aulas pelo CMSP, a SEDUC realizou uma seleção de qual seriam as habilidades essenciais para serem trabalhadas em 2021. AQUI pode ser encontrado o PDF com as habilidades essenciais de Língua Inglesa nos anos finais do Ensino Fundamental e as do Ensino Médio (observem que as habilidades referentes à primeira série já estão de acordo com a BNCC e o Currículo Paulista dessa etapa escolar).
Nesse processo foram selecionadas habilidades de anos/séries anteriores que precisam ser revisitadas para consolidação (com base nos resultados das avaliações), e habilidades essenciais para o desenvolvimento da aprendizagem ao longo do ano letivo para todos os componentes curriculares.
A seleção de habilidades foi realizada pela SEDUC para orientar o trabalho dos professores e escolas, que têm autonomia para progredir de acordo com o conhecimento de seus estudantes, adequando à realidade de cada contexto, modalidade e a proposta pedagógica da escola.

Monday, January 25, 2021

STUDENTS' HABITS

8 Daily Habits All Successful Students Have


Each year, more and more young people choose to go to college. But while some thrive, others can’t seem to figure out what to do. To define what’s different about the two student examples, we need to look deeper into their behaviors. The one thriving has so much on their plate, but they manage every little bit of it. Because this person has established routines, patterns, and habits that help them simplify daily tasks.


The thing about habits, specifically, the good ones, is that they make everything easier. A habit can be defined as a pattern of action a person completes without thinking. And while some might say that habits are boring and don’t leave you room for creativity, it’s not true. They do the exact opposite, optimizing your usual actions, so they take as little time as possible, leaving you with more free time.
Now that we’ve established what habits are and how you can benefit from them, let’s discuss the 8 daily habits of all successful students.

Create a Schedule

If you’re having trouble organizing any process of your life - creating a schedule is a must. As you write stuff down, you see it in front of you, and it becomes more real. Then, you can prioritize, placing more complicated tasks at the top of your to-do list. It will teach you how much time each task takes, and you will be able to manage your time properly. With some practice, of course.



Study at a Specific Time

Your brain can be trained to call a “muse” at a specific time. Establish the same time every day when you will sit down and get to business. Don’t put it off for the sake of TV or other distractions; that’s unacceptable. Although if you’re in the loop already and you don’t know what to do about an essay, order one from a perfect essay writing service to free up your schedule a bit.
As you develop the habit of studying at, say, 3 PM every day, your brain will get used to becoming creative at this time. You will notice that if you skip a study session once the habit is formed, you will feel an urge to create anyway.

Sleep Well

There’s nothing more important for a student than getting enough quality sleep. As you move into the dorm, think about the basics - does your mattress provide enough support? Make sure it’s not too soft and not too hard. If any of these points didn’t check out, think about replacing a mattress or the entire bed.
Scheduling your sleep is also vital to your health and productivity in college. Try not to pull all-nighters and go to sleep at the same time every night.
Another thing that can disrupt your sleep is working in your bed. If you have a habit of taking your laptop to bed with you and studying there, you might develop sleep problems. Again, this is because your brain starts associating your bed with working or studying, not with sleep.
If you find yourself already in that situation, to fix it, try to go to bed only when you’re actually feeling sleepy, this should help you fall asleep easier.

Exercise Regularly

Exercising daily might not be realistic for everyone. However, finding 20 minutes for a morning yoga stretch is a good idea. Working out is often overlooked by modern students, but it has immense benefits for your mental and physical health. Not only will it keep your body energized and strong, but it can also do the same to your brain.
Working out produces dopamine and serotonin and other ”happy hormones” that can help you stay positive and full of energy. But remember to stick to a schedule. No exercise can be effective if you don’t follow a pattern. There’s barely any point in exercising once a month.



Take Notes

Taking notes in class is important for a multitude of reasons. You won’t have to keep all the directions and assignments in mind, and you’ll never end up in a situation where you forgot about an essay due. Besides, without taking notes, your schedule from the first point will remain empty. If you are challenging your writing, take a canadian assistant from https://ca.essaywritingservice.com - best writing service.
As you write information down, your brain registers it once again, which makes it easier to remember. Books can sometimes contain information that is too detailed, while in class, it’s presented in a condensed manner. That’s why it’s much more convenient to revise from class notes instead of a textbook. Another option is having a voice recorder to record the lecture and listening back to it later. However, you will still need to write it down to remember.

Ask Questions

Showing your interest in class can come a long way in securing your reputation as a responsible and attentive student. The professor will definitely notice your eagerness to learn, and you will understand the subject better. Starting a conversation will show that you’re engaged and possibly, engage other students as well.


Don’t Multitask

Multitasking doesn’t work; it’s been proven many times. The main reason is that your brain is simply unable to do it. It can switch between two things very quickly, but eventually, it’ll get even more tired, and details will start to slip away.
Have you ever noticed how if you’re watching TV and then look at your phone, you’re not paying attention to what’s on TV? That’s the simplest example of how multitasking is not a thing. Don’t try to be superhuman. Instead, divide your time properly.

Take Breaks

Nobody can be productive for more than two hours in a row. We’re people, after all, not machines. Stepping away from books will help you remain concentrated and focused. However, taking a break doesn’t necessarily mean doing something useless or wasting 20 minutes of your time. If you put your focus on a different action, your brain will get some rest still.
So don’t reach for your phone every time you want to distract yourself. Try to do something useful instead: wash dishes, clean your room, or read a book. Drawing can help you relax and de-stress. And if you’re not particularly good at drawing, you can color instead. There are plenty of beautiful, detailed pictures online you can print out and color in.


This post was sponsored by Essay Writing Service

Originally published on Multimedia - English on October 14, 2020. Available at: https://multimedia-english.com/blog/8-daily-habits-all-successful-students-have-58. Accesed on January 25, 2021.

READING - #BidenInauguration

"THE HILL WE CLIMB"
Amanda Gorman


National youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman recites her inaugural poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20. Patrick Semansky/Pool/AP

11:10 p.m. ET, January 20, 2021

Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman: "Words matter"

From CNN's Leinz Vales

Amanda Gorman, the United States’ first-ever youth poet laureate who recited a poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, said the purpose of her poetry was not only to provide hope, but to show the power of words.
"To me, words matter, and I think that’s kind of what made this inauguration that much more sentimental and special," Gorman said.
She continued: "We’ve seen over the past few years the way in which the power of words has been violated and misappropriated. And what I wanted to do was kind of reclaim poetry as that site in which we can re-purify, re-sanctify, not only the Capitol building that we saw violated, but the power of words and invest that in kind of the highest office of the land.”
Gorman talked about the importance of rebuilding and recovering in her poem today at the inauguration.


"THE HILL WE CLIMB"

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn't always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we'll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we're to live up to our own time
Then victory won't lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we've made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children's birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it
If only we're brave enough to be it

CLICK HERE to read some more about Amanda Gorman, the Inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, and the translation of Gorman's poem into Portuguese.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

READING - COVID-19 IN BRAZIL

‘A complete massacre, a horror film’:
inside Brazil's Covid disaster


Hospitals in Amazonas state overwhelmed after surge in infections linked to new variant, leaving many without even the most basic supplies

THE GUARDIAN - International Edition
by Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 - 10:00 GMT

A relative of a patient infected with Covid-19 waits to refill an oxygen tank in Manaus, Amazonas state, on Tuesday. Photograph: Marcio James/AFP/Getty Images

It took just 60 minutes at daybreak for the seven patients to die, asphyxiated as coronavirus swept back into the Brazilian Amazon with nightmarish force.
“Today was one of the hardest days in all my years of public service. You feel so impotent,” sobbed Francisnalva Mendes, the health chief in the river town of Coari, as she remembered the moment on Tuesday when its hospital’s oxygen supply ran out.
“We need to get back to the fight – to carry on saving lives,” Mendes insisted as she digested losing a third of her town’s 22 Covid-19 patients in one fell swoop – four of them in their 50s. “But we all feel broken. It was such a hard day.”
Coari was at the centre of Latin America’s latest coronavirus catastrophe last week after a surge in infections linked to a new and seemingly more contagious variant overwhelmed hospitals in Brazil’s Amazonas state, leaving many without even the most basic supplies. Circumstances were so bleak oxygen tankers were rushed over the border from Venezuela, the economically collapsed nation next door, with its leader, Nicolás Maduro, decrying what he called “Jair Bolsonaro’s public health disaster”.

Health workers bring a patient in the Emergency room of the public hospital in Manacapuru, Amazonas state, on January 20. Photograph: Marcio James/AFP/Getty Images

“It’s a very chaotic situation. We just can’t keep up with the number of patients coming to us,” said Marcus Lacerda, an infectious disease specialist from Amazonas’s crisis-hit capital, Manaus.
“Private hospitals don’t want to take anyone else in because they’re afraid of admitting a patient and then running out of oxygen again.”
Manaus made international headlines in April after a torrent of Covid deaths forced authorities to carve mass graves out of the city’s rust-red earth. Nine months – and more than 210,000 Brazilian deaths – later, the situation is even worse.
Some days about 200 bodies are being interred in Manaus, compared with the usual 40. Last week many hospitals ran out of the oxygen sustaining Covid patients, apparently because of a catastrophic government failure to foresee the magnitude of the impending disaster.
“Nothing like this as ever happened – not even last year. I never imagined there would be a wave of reinfections as big as the one we’re now seeing in Manaus,” said Lacerda, one of the region’s top infectologists, blaming a variant “that appears to be more contagious”.

"The fall-off in people’s immunity and the changes in the virus mean this second wave is uncontrollable." (Marcus Lacerda)

Lacerda said he had hoped the scale of last year’s epidemic might have provided the riverside city some immunological protection from such a shattering second wave. “But the truth is there’s just no way. The fall-off in people’s immunity and the changes in the virus mean this second wave is uncontrollable.”
Distressing stories of suffocating patients and the evacuation of premature babies have generated a public revolt against Amazonas’s leaders who critics accuse of failing to plan for, let alone prevent its second cataclysm in a year.
“There’s an atmosphere of disgust, abandonment, despair and impunity,” said one staff member at the Alvorada health clinic in Manaus, where medics were filmed pleading for divine intervention. “What we’re watching is a complete massacre, a desperate situation, a horror film,” added the worker, who asked not to be named.
Much of the anger is directed at the government of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has trivialized Covid-19 even as his country’s death toll soared to the second highest on earth.
Bolsonaro’s biddable health minister, Eduardo Pazuello – an army general with no medical experience – visited Manaus on the eve of last week’s health collapse but pushed bogus Covid-19 “early treatments” promoted by his leader rather than solving the impending oxygen crisis.
“The president’s bootlicker had days of warning that Manaus’s hospitals were going to run out of oxygen. He did nothing but prescribe useless chloroquine,” the journalist Luiz Fernando Vianna wrote in the magazine Época, blaming Bolsonaro and Pazuello for the “slaughter”.
Lacerda accused the government of trying to distract citizens from its deadly inaction with the “false hope” of ineffectual remedies. “This isn’t happening in any other part of the planet,” he said.

Relatives of a man who died at home are asked routine questions by a professional from the municipal health secretariat in Manaus on January 15. Photograph: Raphael Alves/EPA

In Manaus, a jungle-flanked city reachable only by plane or boat, public anger has been matched with action. Dozens of volunteer groups, many formed by young manauaras, have sprung up to raise funds and provide the city’s battered health system with oxygen, equipment and food.
“It’s a Dantesque situation … we feel like we’re living in a place with no government,” said Vinícius Lima, 16, who is using Twitter and Instagram to crowdsource cylinders, oximeters and PPE.
“I’m doing what I think is my duty. I couldn’t sleep at night if I wasn’t doing anything to help the city I love,” the student said. “I’m very proud to be from the city at the heart of the Amazon, you know?”
Others use social networks to grieve, flooding Facebook with photographs of loved-ones lost to the punishing second wave. “It’s as if the city’s in a constant state of mourning,” said the clinic worker, who lost an aunt.
Some call Manaus’s latest calamity an aberration, the result of its fragile health service and geographical isolation. Lacerda claimed it actually offered a glimpse of the future for other parts of Brazil since the Amazon’s rainy season meant its flu season came earlier.
“If we don’t immediately put in place a more aggressive vaccine ‘blockade’ what happened in Manaus will happen in the rest of the country,” he warned. “We need to vaccinate people.”
That may not be easy. Inoculation finally began last Sunday, weeks after other Latin American countries such as Chile and Mexico. But Brazil, which has 212 million citizens, has so far secured only 6m doses of China’s CoronaVac shot and 2m of the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot.
“This is absolutely insufficient to halt this disease’s advance,” said Lacerda, who believed Brazil’s “utter international isolation” under Bolsonaro helped explain its failure to acquire sufficient shots.


Vítor Cabral comforts his wife, Raissa Floriano, in Manaus on January 14. Photograph: Bruno Kelly/Reuters

Last week it emerged that Brazil’s efforts to import from China active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) essential for producing vaccines had stalled, with some blaming the China-bashing of Bolsonaro and his backers.
Raissa Floriano, whose 73-year-old father is fighting Covid in hospital, said at least six of his wardmates died after its oxygen ran out.
“With better decisions, this whole tragedy could have been avoided. But every single sensible decision that might have been taken was either shunned or it was mocked,” said the 27-year-old teacher.
“I feel dismay, disappointment and anger – just absolute despondency and fear for the future.”

Taking a shower...

COMO DIZER TOMAR BANHO EM INGLÊS Você toma banho de banheira ou de chuveiro ? Aprenda as sutilezas sobre esse assunto na Língua Inglesa . ...