Thursday, October 29, 2015

Pumpkin Carving 2015






























On bottom photo, from left to right:  Wanna, Sozan, Medhat, Ivette, Nabil, Suheidy, Fatiha, Mousef, Chan, Cristina, Dalia


Sunday, October 25, 2015

"Hooks" for Essay Writing



This infographic can also be viewed at this link:  https://essayhave.com/blog/good-hooks-for-essays/

Linking Words Together: Consonant + Vowel

In connected speech, words are usually linked together smoothly without a break between them. Level 2 students practiced linking a word that ends in a consonant sound with a word that begins with a vowel sound.






Lay vs Lie

These are difficult words in English and the conjugations make them even more difficult.  It doesn't help that many Americans say "lay" when "lie" is the correct choice.





Online practice:

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/lie-lay.html

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-lie-lay-quiz.htm

https://journalism.ku.edu/node/315/take

Common Words and Phrases in Connected Speech

Some very common words have weak forms that are normally used in connected speech.  While this is very normal in spoken language, the written form should only be used in very informal language (texting, emailing to a friend, social media, etc.)

There are two videos below:  the first focuses on shoulda, woulda, and coulda.  The second video is called Learn American English with Alligators where the focus is on speech reductions.




Monday, October 19, 2015

Adjectives: Superlatives


Here is a link to the powerpoint that Level 1 students viewed in class today.  You need to download it in order for it to work correctly.

Around the World in Superlatives

Monday, October 12, 2015

"How To" Essay Instructions

Level 2 students will write a "How to" essay with three paragraphs.  This is due October 22.  Your essay should have the following:

  • first paragraph:  a brief introduction
  • second paragraph:  a topic sentence and some details
  • third paragraph:  a brief conclusion
The websites below have several topic ideas:

Rhythm in American Pronunciation

Below are the two videos we watched in class on learning the rhythm of American pronunciation. The first video is just a quick overview, and the second video goes into more depth.

For homework, please watch the second video and take notes.



Saturday, October 10, 2015

Phrasal Verbs That Begin With "B"



The English language has over 3,000 phrasal verbs (also called multi-word verbs)!  Of course, not all of them are commonly used.  The best way to learn phrasal verbs is to simply surround yourself with English.

Level 2 students learned some common "B" phrasal verbs from the Cool English website.  For online practice, the site offers exercises with a story, definition matching, headline synonyms, and fill-in-the-blanks.

Cool English has common "B" and "C" phrasal verbs so far, but more will continue to be added as they are developed.

More practice with phrasal verbs can be found on the following sites:

English Page

Learn English Feel Good (school down to Phrasal Verbs)


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Comparing Adjectives

Level 1 students learned about comparing adjectives today.  You can view the Powerpoint presentation we watched in class by clicking the link below.

Comparing Adjectives



Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Problems Young Adults Face Today

In class today we brainstormed problems facing young adults today.  We watched the video below and listened to several college students give their opinions. 

Your writing assignment is:  Explain a problem (only one) that young people have nowadays.  Your writing should be one paragraph and give several supporting details for the problem you choose.

 

Below are more two more videos on this topic.







Monday, October 5, 2015

News for You Online



Today in class we listened to the article " 'Drinkable Book' Could Make Dirty Water Safe to Drink".  This article came from the website called News for You.  On this website, you can listen to articles, read along with them, read them line-by-line (and repeat), and complete comprehension activities.  Doing all of these activities will help you improve your reading, vocabulary, grammar, listening, and pronunciation skills.

To use this website at home, you must:

2. Enter the News for You password 43D5DB and click "sign in".

Friday, October 2, 2015

More Practice with SCHWA

English Pronunciation Pod has an excellent audio activity reviewing the vowel reduction in unstressed syllables (the schwa sound).  It's about 12 minutes long.