My English 5 class

Video clips in progress

2008-04-03T19:52:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to all of you who have started writing the script of the videoclip.
I will keep looking for updates in the wiki.
See you

Project in progress.

2008-03-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

Dear students,
The assignment for this week:
A.
It seems that you are having lots of work but we need to go on with our listening practise.
For next week you need to listen and prepare notes on the following podcast
People and places

There is an audio file available for download and a script to read.

B. In a few sentences , describe the content of your video clip in the wiki.

Good luck

Podcast "Better speaking"

2008-02-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

We are in the last quarter of the school year and we are preparing for our last project.
Our video magazine
This project will give you an opportunity to practice speaking more.
A.
For this week the podcast you need to listen to is episode 3 from Better speaking.
1.Go to the webpage by clicking on the link below.
2. Look for episode 3
3. Download the audio file into your cell phone.
4. Listen to it as many times as you can. There is no script
5.Takes notes and be ready to retell and discuss the information in class.

Episode 3 Better speaking

B.

Go to the wiki I have created for both groups (501 and 509).
Look for your teams name.
Write your name and the names of the other members of your team.
Describe in 2 or 3 sentences what you want to make your video clip about.

The following link will be used by both groups 501 and 509.
Wiki 501 and 509
password 501

More listening and reporting

2008-02-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

Dear students

It has been a pleasure to see that most of you have managed to download the audio files to your cell phones or mp3 players.

Retelling in class the content of the podcasts using just your notes has been a challenge you have overcome quite well.
A big applause for all of you who have participated.

This week we have 3 files.

Two are audio files and one is a video to watch online.

A. Audio files
The files for this week are:
Pancake day
and
Painting the Forth Bridge

B. Video file to watch online
To learn more about new technology . We will take a look at BROADBAND
What can broadband offer the user ?. Listen and watch this video tutorial.
Make sure you go throught all the menu options.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/helpplus/

Then,answer the followinng question¨:
1. What is a WI Fi router? What is it used for?
2. What is a peer to peer program? How does it work? What are the advantgaes?
3. What is an electronic guide? What options do I have to find progrmas more easily?
4. What is digital rights managament?
5. What is the difference between dowloading and streaming?

Write your answers.

Then record them in a video clip using your cell phone. (you can work in pairs or groups of three.
Upload your video clip using QIK and embed it in your blog.
Keep up the good work.

Podcasts for this week

2008-02-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

It seems that we all enjoyed listening to the " Languages " podcast and the one about rhubab

This week I have selected for you one podcast
Spagetti Junction

A. Listen to the podcast. Take notes, and be prepared to retell the content in class using only your notes.

B. Rememeber to download the audio file into your cell phone, mp3 player or ipod.
You need to have the file ready next Tuesday (February 19th) in class.
C. If you wish, delete last week files.

Listen, read and take notes (part2)

2008-02-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

Dear students,
To continue listening and taking notes I have selected three sources.
The first is a powerpoint presentation called "Did you know". I embedded it in this post.
The second and third, are two audio files from the podcast
Listen to English"
The episodes that you need to download are:
Languages
and
Rhubarb

Follow these steps:
1. Download the 2 audio files from "Listen to English podcast" and bring them to class in your mp3 player. It may be your cellphone, your ipod, your mp3player, or any other portable gadget you probably already have.
2. Listen to the files and print the text available in the website.
3. Take notes on the text . Remember the idea is to be able to reconstruct orally in class (retell) what the audio is about.
4. Listen again to the files many times as necessary, specially the morning before we have our class so that you refresh the information.

Be prepared to present in class the main ideas using only your notes

Taking notes and making presentations

2008-01-30T17:20:00.001-08:00

We are about to begin the last segment of the school year.
We will practise listening , taking notes and making oral presentations.

We will use three sources.
A podcast that you can download or listen online about Grammar
Big think which has experts opinions on different topics
and a podcast on various interesting topics for language learners.

Homework for next February 6th.

1. Listen , read the script and answer the quizz
Making suggestions form BBC how to...
Take some notes and be prepared to report this information in class.

2. Listen to the video clip What is happiness
Takes notes of the relevant information.

3. English Podcast. Listen to the episode called "Swimming the channel"
You can download the audio and read the script on the website. Remember to tke notes.

We will have oral presentations on these topics.

Past tense- Activities

2008-01-15T17:59:00.001-08:00

Dear students,
Congratulations. I was very happy to see how well you completed the task based on the first story of the book "The Diamod as big as the Ritz".

Here is the assignment for this week :
1. Please read the second story "The long way out" for next Monday January 21th (group 509) Tuesday January 22nd (group 501).
2. Practice and learn more verbs in past tense using the following links. There are 2 or 3 interesting exercises in each page.
Past tense (regular)
Past tense (irregular verbs)
Past tense (negatives and questions)

3. Listen to 2 stories of your choice in the webpage called 'Interactive listening stories'.
Click on the button "Solution" to access the written version of the story.
Print the text and underline the verbs in past tense that you can find.
Bring to class the printed story with the underlined verbs.

Interactive listening stories

Deadline January 21rst group 509
January 22nd group 501

4. Listen and read about the life of Benjamin Franklin
Takes notes and be ready to participate in class with the information you have.

Have fun and enjoy the weekend.

New project

2008-01-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome back

Yes, we are about to begin classes again. I hope you had a great holiday and are ready to continue working and learning . In January we will have three major activities.

1. A project where you describe your Christmas holiday and your major achievements in 2007.
2. An session in the LACE lab. using internet to learn about giving suggestions
3. And an exam using your cards.

For this first week you need to create a podcast ( a recording of about 1 or 2 minutes)with a short text describing your Christmas holidays and your achievements in 2007.
You can make your podcast using evoca or podomatic
Embed your podcast in your blog.

If you would like to try out your web cam you can make 1 or 2 minute video clip where you talk to me about your Christmas holidays.
You can use Springdoo
or You tube

Click to listen to my message
or go to the following URL

http://www.springdoo.com/M1F9AA1D5BFEFC6F52

The deadline is January 12th.

To get some ideas listen to the following segments from Fred in Canada. Click begin and activate the view text (on) to listen and read.
Fred´s routine
Fred's Gifts

Thanksgiving

2007-11-08T15:35:00.001-08:00

Learn about this important celebration in the USA.
Read and listen to the information in the following web site.
The First Thanksgiving
Next November 22nd there will be a special event in the English language floor (building D)

Thanksgiving Questionnaire.

Copy and print the following questions.
Answer them
Take your questionnaire to class next Wednesday 21rst.

Voyage on the Mayflower
1. The trip form England to North America took place in this year ______
2. The voyage took this many days ______

Tour the ship
3.Mayflower was the name of a ship built in the s____ century
4.It was not for battle. It was used to transport __________
5.The Mayflower did not have motors, it used 6 ____________
6.The master use the position of the s______ to direct the ship.
7.The cook prepared food for example _______ and _______________
8.What time of the year was it when the Pilgrims arrived to North America ?
_____________

9. Who helped them to survive? _________________
10.The Indian tribesmen and the Pilgrim celebrated for a week . This celebration is called ______________

"Dia de Muertos" project

2007-10-15T18:29:00.001-07:00

Dear students,
I hope you had a chance to take lots of wonderful pictures and videoclips for the "Día de muertos"project.

We will use Springdoo for the videoclip and evoca for the audio.

If you have pictures you can use Bubbleshare
Once you have created your projects share them in your blogs.

Please have them ready for next November 12th an 13th as we will meet in the LACE room to upload the files.

You too, can Springdoo

Congratulations!!!

2007-10-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Most of you have finished your project with Voicethread.

So, this week for those of you who have finished you can continue with the fun part.

1. In the same way we can find the top 10 (favorite songs)in MTV . I want you to select your
TOP 3 songs in SMS tunes karaoke. Please write the names of the songs in the comments section of this post

2. Play with the Halloween activities selected by Mr. Maufroid . His collection of games and activities are wonderful. ACTIVITIES and GAMES

A halloween song

BBC kids Halloween

Listen to your text

2007-10-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

Dear students,
This week we will work on describing a place in Mexico using images , audio and an online tool called Voice Thread.

Before you record your audio please practise and make sure you know how to pronounce your text.

You can use the following TEXT TO SPEECH software .

All you need to do is write your text ( or copy and paste it ) in the text box and click the button SPEAK to listen to the correct pronunciation.

Just for Fun

2007-10-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Dear students

Check this karaoke site.and write a comment in this blog telling me if you like it or not.

SMS Tunes Karaoke

Thanks and see you on Monday

A multimedia Library

2007-10-02T18:21:00.001-07:00

After the Voice thread project we will begin reading on curricular topics.
Check the types of materials you can find here. We will explore, listen and read about the topics of your choice.

A place in Wales

2007-10-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting description.I hope you like it.
It was made with Voice Thread.

http://voicethread.com/view.php?b=8519

A memorable trip

2007-09-29T16:15:00.001-07:00

Group Profile

2007-09-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

We are now going to protray the 509 group.
We will use a tool called "Create a graph" to show our results form the survey in a grpahical way.
First you need to create your graphs using the following link
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx

Make 5 graphs. One for each one of your questions.
Then, in a powerpoint presentation create :
slide 1 The title of your project
slide 2 Your name and a brief description of the purpose

of your survey include the total number of subjects

and the 5 questions you asked.
slide 3 Write question 1 and the corresponding graph.
slides 4 to 7 do the same as with slide 3
slide 8 Write a conlusion based on your findings.

If possible include a picture of your group.

Save your powerpoint presentation as "jpg"
When you are finished use the following tool to upload the powerpoint into your blog.
slide share http://www.slideshare.net/
Have fun

My family

2007-09-02T11:00:00.001-07:00

Topic: My family

2007-09-02T10:46:00.001-07:00

In two weeks , you are going to create your blog in the LACE computer labs on September 10th and 11th)
So we need to get ready and have something written for the first post.
Our topic for the post will be our family. Look at the following example.

This is my family. I have a daughter named Gaby and my son is Carlos, just like my husband. We enjoy being together. We like to visit places and to play tennis.
Gaby is almost 14 and Carlos is 11. They are students . My husband is an economist . He works for the Central bank .

Getting ready
1. You will need several digital photos of your family.

2. Listen to Lotti describe her dad
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-my-dad.htm
Print and answer the activiy that comes with the description.

3. Practise the words for family relations
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-games-wordsearch-family.htm

4. Now, look at some examples of webpages where people talk about their families.
Write 5 facts about the members of the family.
A. The British Royal family
www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5541.asp (click on members of the Royal family)

B. Listen to an example of a family description
http://www.trainyouraccent.com/a-family.htm

5. Finally, describe your family. Write a description and include your digital pictures.

Have fun

Sign my Guestbook

2007-09-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Second grammar topic-Pronouns

2007-08-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

Our second topic for review is Pronouns.
To learn and practice pronouns , go to the following link.

Personal Pronouns in BBC skillswise
www.bbc.uk/skillswise/words/grammar

1. Start with the game section

2. Continue with the quizzes and print your certificate for Quizz level A, B and C

To get more practice on pronouns answer the following uizzes
http://www.marshalladulteducation.org/hot_potatoes/pronouns/pronouns.htm

Be ready for a quizz September4th

Welcome to class...

2007-08-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

Dear students
I hope you enjoy the activities that I will be posting in this blog.

Our first topic is Adjectives.

In the following web page select http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
select " Describing people, places and things"

Copy and Paste the URL on a new page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/
Practise with the 'game' section
Then answer the "Quizz" . Level A, B and C.

On August 28 we will have a quizz on this topic.

Have fun