Monday, April 30th, 2012

Happy Monday!

Today our plan is...

9 - 9:30am:
Go over Q's about Friday's worksheet.

9:30-11:30 (Break 10:30-40)am:
Unit 7 Quiz

11:30am:
Unit Intro: "Fashion" / Some Vocab

1 - 2pm:
Reading 5-1: "Clothing of the Future"

Homework:
(1) Write a paragraph, dialogue, or just some sentences using all of the vocab. Use 2-3 words per sentence.
(2) Audio Match 3 times.

Friday, April 27th, 2012

Happy Friday!

Today our plan is...

Vocab Game

Conferences with Carey about "My Favorite Artist" writing

Practice with Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous and Simple Past -- Fill in the blank and error correction with paragraphs.


HOMEWORK:
- Email your essay to me with the corrections you made during (and after) our conference.
**If you didn't give me an essay today, send it to me. Unfortunately, you will not have a conference with me.

- Finish your worksheet on Present Perfect / Present Perfect Continuous / Simple Past & we can go over questions Monday morning!

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

Happy Thursday!

Here's our plan for today...


9 - 10:30am:
Write some discussion questions!
If you have your computer, type them into this shared document with your name in (parentheses).

Listening 7-1: "Favorite Artist"
     Listening for Meaning
     Listening for Details

10:40am - 12pm:
HW questions

 In-Class Writing -- "My Favorite Artist"

Write 3-5 paragraphs about your favorite artist. (We will go over them one-on-one in class tomorrow.)

We brainstormed about what content to include:

-           

T     The artist’s life

o    Year born, year died

o    Nationality

o    Marriage – relationship that changed their art

o    Where s/he did most of his/her work

-          The artist’s career

o    When s/he started to do art

o    Is s/he successful? // Was s/he successful when s/he was alive?

o    Did/does s/he have exhibitions?

o    Rival? Competitor.

-          Artistic style  

o    describe their art

o    Compare to another artist (?)

-          Why you like him/her

o    How long…

We talked about what grammar to include:
- Simple Past (and perhaps Past Continuous or Past Perfect) to talk about finished events in the past
- Present Perfect, probably for...
     - If the artist is alive:
                 How long s/he has been making art -- how long s/he has used a specific style -- how long s/he has been famous -- how many pieces of art s/he has made -- etc.
      - If the artist is dead:
                  How long you have liked the artist -- how many times you have seen his/her art in museums -- how long the artist has inspired you -- etc.

1 - 2pm:
Discussion with Scott's class and half of Adam's class.

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Here the plan for today....

We're going to start by meeting with Shannon in the lounge at around 9:05/10.

After the meeting, we'll...

Do some speaking practice with Present Perfect Speaking Pairs.

Then we'll have Notes on Present Perfect for Experience.

10:40am - 12pm:

When we finish our notes, we'll have some sentence-level practice with Exercises #1 and #2.

We'll start Reading 7-1: "Two Famous Bands"

1-2pm:

We'll finish reading!

If we have time, you can start your homework: Exercises #3 and #4.

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Happy Tuesday!

I hope all are enjoying the weather!

Here's our plan for today:

9 - 9:10am: Collect HW, settle in

9:10 - 10:00am:
Vocab and Speaking

10:00-10:30am:
Notes on Present Perfect for Duration

10:40am-12pm:
Continue Notes

Sentence-level practice with Exercises #1 and #3


1-2pm:
Write a paragraph about your favorite band or musician- use Present Perfect Simple & Continuous to describe how long they have been making music, how long they have been famous (or not famous!) how long you have liked them and anything else you can think of.

Share your paragraph with your group/class (depends on how much time we have) and show them your video of your favorite band or musician!


HOMEWORK:
(1) Present Perfect for Duration Exercise #2 (finish Ex 3 if you didn't in class)

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Happy Monday everyone!

Today our plan is....

9 - 9:20am:
Questions before the quiz!

9:20 - 11/11:30am (Break 10:30-40):
Unit 3 Quiz

When you finish the quiz...
           -  Read about Present Perfect for Duration (Simple & Continuous) and Experience (Simple)
           - Or study Vocab:
                                  Vocab List
                                   Audio Match (Get a head start on your HW)
                                   Hang Mouse (good for spelling practice)

NOTE: This week, we are studying Unit 7 because if you want to move up at mid-quarter, you need a strong foundation in Present Perfect (plus, you're always asking about it!) We will go back to Unit 4 for Future next week. Don't get nervous because we've moved to Unit7 :)

11:00am-12:00pm:
Intro to Unit & Some Vocab

1:00-2:00pm:
Listening 7-2: "Favorite Music"

HOMEWORK:
1) Write a paragraph (or just some sentences) using all of the Unit 7 Vocab. Use 2-3 words in each sentence.
2) Audio Match - 3X
3) Find a YouTube video of your favorite band or musician that you can share with the class.

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Happy Friday everyone!

Our plan for today is...

9 - 10:30
Reading Q's

Passive Voice & Some Exercises

10:40 - 12pm:
Vocab Game

Writing:
Use Andrea's story as a model to make an outline!

Start writing (finish as HW):
Write an "Interesting History" story about a natural disaster or travel story that is true OR false (we'll after to guess Monday after the quiz).
Use:
- Simple Past (of course), Past Continuous (3 times), Past Perfect (2 times) and Past Passive (1 time).
- 10 Vocab words
- Try to put in quotes like Andrea and make it exciting!

Thursday, April 19th, 2012

Happy Thursday!

Yesterday was "hump day," so today we're "over the hump"!

Today our plan is...

9 - 9:20am:
Warm up by writing some questions for discussion later today.

9:20am - 12pm:

Grammar: Past Perfect

Identify using Reading from Tuesday -- "Three Natural Disasters"

Some sentence-level practice -- Past Perfect

1-2pm:
Discussion with other classes!

HOMEWORK:
Read Andrea's Earthquake Story
- Send Ex. 1 & 2 from Past Perfect if you didn't compete them

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today, our plan is to...

9-12pm:
Grammar!
Simple Past and Past Continuous

Some Exercises Simple Past and Past Continuous

Fill in the blank with your Monday HW paragraphs (you're so famous...)

1 - 2pm:
Speaking and Vocab #2

HOMEWORK:
- Finish FITB Worksheet if you didn't in class
- Read about Past Perfect and Past Passive

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

Good morning everyone!

Today our plan is to...

9 - 9:20am:
Go over quizzes

9:20 - 10:30am:
Speaking and Vocab #1

10:40 - 12pm:
Reading: "Three Stories about Natural Disasters"
+Verbs the reading

1 - 2pm:
Start Simple Past and Past Continuous

HOMEWORK:
Remember: Your "English Outside of Class" journal is due tomorrow.

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Happy Monday!

It's quiz day!

Today our plan is...

9 - 9:20am:
- Go over questions
- Go over notes one your paragraphs
                Things to watch out for in writing are:
                        - Run-ons! (punctuation!)
                        - Missing subjects (fragments)
                         - Capital letters
                         - Using too many verbs for Simple Present: "It's have six rooms" instead of "It has six rooms"

9:20am - 11am(?):
Quiz for Unit 2!

11:30am -12pm; 1-2pm:
Listening 3-1: "Natural Disasters"
      Listening for Meaning
      Listening for Details 

HOMEWORK:
- Read about Simple Past and Past Continuous
- Write a paragraph: "Have you ever been in a natural disaster? When? What happened?" // "If not, what's the worst natural disaster you've ever heard about? When? What happened?"
Use at least four Vocab words from today and other vocab if you wish.
- PLEASE email your HW to me before 8AM. :)

Friday, April 13th, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th! In American culture, Friday the 13th is considered bad luck, but I think we'll have a good day because we finish at noon!

Today, our plan is...

9 - 9:45am:
Vocab Game

9:45-10:30:
Listening: "My dream house"

10:40 - 12pm:
Writing & Structure (Some review and information for writing well!):
Simple Sentences
Punctuation
Fragments
Run-Ons
Correct a Paragraph 

HOMEWORK (Due Monday):

Write two paragraphs contrasting your current home and your dream house using Simple Present and Present Continuous, 7 vocab words and at least 5 Stative Verbs.
You can use Present Continuous for now / and Simple Present for facts about your present home.
You can use Present Simple for facts about your dream house.
You can use Vocab and Stative Verbs to talk about both your current home and your dream house.

HOMEWORK (due Wednesday next week):

One English Outside of Class Journal

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Hey everyone!

Today in class we...

9 - 10:30am:
We practiced using Present Continuous with "Where am I?" and Simple Present with "Who am I?"
We made sure to focus on our target grammar by highlighting and labeling our verbs.

10:40am - 12pm:
We did HW Error Correction and played Pictionary with our vocab for a few minutes.

1-2pm:
We had discussion with Neal and Nicole's classes!

HOMEWORK:
None! You are lucky students this week!

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Good Morning all! Can you believe that it's already Wednesday?

Today we...

9 - 10ish:
This morning, we're going to start with a short in-class using Simple Present! You will have ten minutes to write  about your daily/weekly routine (habits & facts).

Then we'll trade papers and read each others' paragraphs. We'll check for correct verb usage.

10 -  10:30am:
Grammar: Present Continuous

10:40am -12pm:
We did some Present Continuous speaking practice with Mr. Bean.

We studied Stative & Dynamic Verbs.

Then we left for lunch early because of the strange smell!

1-2pm:
We did some exercises with Stative & Dynamic verbs.

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday!

Today we...

9 - 9:20am:
We had a guest named Jen who observed our class! We introduced ourselves and asked her questions about herself. She's a Master's student at Eastern Washington University who is studying teach English as a second language.

9:25-10:30am:
Vocab and Speaking Practice (work on your fluency - smoothness and speed of speaking)

10:40am-12pm:
Grammar: We started with Exercise 1 (Grammar 2-2) to find out what we already knew about the differences between Simple Present and Present Continuous. You guys knew a lot about habits and facts (Simple) and actions happening now (Continuous).

We went over notes for Simple Present.

Some extra notes:
Adverbs of Frequency (for Simple Present). 
      Most frequent --> least frequent:
            Always
            Almost Always
            Usually
            Frequently
            Often
            Sometimes
            Occasionally
            Rarely
            Hardly Ever
            Almost Never
            Never

- Usually, you put adverbs of frequency before the main verb (or sometimes at the beginning of a sentence, like this one!)
           We usually study grammar on Tuesdays.
            I always drink green tea in the morning.
            He almost never does his homework!

- BUT, in a Simple Present sentence with "be," put the adverb of frequency after the main verb and before an adjective:
            We are often tired on Friday.
             The students are almost always excited about grammar.
             I am rarely awake at 4am.
           
**ALSO, remember that "BE" does NOT use the auxiliary "do" in Simple tenses.

1-2pm:
Reading: "Real Estate Agent Blog."

HOMEWORK:
- Do Exercises 2 & 3

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had great weekends!

Here's our plan for today...

9 - 9:30/45am:
- Talk a little bit about paragraph writing
      - Topic, Supporting and Conclusion Sentences (especially conclusion!)
      - Common errors from your weekend HW
              - Organization: Missing topic or conclusion sentences
              - Grammar: Missing subjects or missing verbs
              - Vocab: Treadmill, Exercise
              - Mechanics: Capital letters, period placement, comma placement, pressing "enter"/"return" after each sentence

9:30/45 - 11:30:
- Unit 1 Test (OMG! So exciting!)

If you finish early:
- Study Vocab (click on the word to get a definition!)
     - Play games on Spelling City to help with your spelling/pronunciation recognition like....
                   Audio Match (Start your HW early! And make sure you wear earphones.)
                   Word Search
                    Hang Mouse

11:30am -12pm:
- Classroom goals

1 - 2pm:
- Vocab Study
- Listening 2-1: "Great Apartment Living"


Your HOMEWORK is:
- Write sentences using all of the vocab words. Use 2-3 words in each sentence.
- Audio Match on Spelling City, 3 times. (Take a screenshot, picture with your phone or write down your answers to email to me or to show me tomorrow).


Get a head start with Grammar for tomorrow (NOT required):
- Simple Present
- Present Continuous

Enjoy the weekend!

I hope you have fun this weekend, but of course you need to study for the test, too.

Weekend HW:
- Write a paragraph that answers the question: "How do you stay in shape?"
      - use 4 vocab words (or more)
      - Have a good topic sentence
      - Have good supporting sentences - at least 3 supporting sentences
The earlier you send your paragraph to me, the better. I can correct your paragraph sooner and have it ready for you look at before the test.

For the test, you need to know:
Unit 1 Vocabulary:
         - Listening and Spelling
         - Fill in the blank (meaning) - you might need to change the words for plural or verb tense
         - Speaking: You need to make 3 sentences with vocab

Grammar 1-1 (that's all because of the short week!)
         - Recognize and identify auxiliary, modal and main verbs (like we practiced in  class)
         - Correct verb errors (like we practiced in class)

You will need to write a paragraph about staying in shape using vocab and some grammar.

CJ

   

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Hello everyone!

Remember, there's no school tomorrow, so this is the last day of the week! ...But you will study English all weekend, right?  :p

Today, our plan is...

9-9:45am:
- Vocab Review Game

9:50-10:10am:
- Correct "A Journal" reading HW
- Identify kinds of verbs in "A Journal"

10:10-10:30am:
- Correct Grammar 1-1 Exercise #2 HW
- Starting listening

10:40-11:20am:
- Listening: "A Healthy Lifestyle"
11:20am-12pm:
- Correct auxiliary verb errors from Tuesday HW (one sentence from each person :) )

1-2pm:
- Structure:
                      - Topic Sentences
                      - Supporting Sentences
                      - Concluding Sentences

- Writing a paragraph: How do you stay in shape?

Sadly, because this week is so busy, we will finish our class goals on Monday!

CJ

Notes from after class: We didn't get to concluding sentences or writing our paragraph. Writing a paragraph is HW (see the newest blog entry). Check out the file on concluding sentences if you have time.

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed doing your homework last night! ;)

Today, we studied...

9-10am:
- Practiced our vocab and speaking in groups.

10am-12pm:
- Finished talking about our "3 Kinds of Verbs"  and did some Exercise #3.

1-2pm:
- Reading: "A Journal."

HOMEWORK:
- Exercise #2 (grammar drill)
- Finish answering questions on "A Journal."

Welcome to SCEL English 120 Spring Quarter!

Hello new students and welcome to SCEL English 120! I'm so excited to start a new quarter together and I hope that you are, too.

This week will be a very short one because we didn't have class together Monday and we don't have class on Friday -- so I hope you're ready to do some quick learning on SMRT Unit 1.

You can access our Unit 1 material here.

Today, we....

- Got to know each other with interviews and introductions... and surprising facts! (Can you believe that Kseniya went swimming with sharks?!)

- Went over class policies and our websites. All of the websites we use are linked on the right side of the blog.

- Some people have lost their Engrade passwords. I can't send you a new password, so you need to change it. Here's how:

      First, go to the log in page and click on "Lost Password":

      On the Lost Password page, type your email address and the numbers you see. Click on "Submit."

     You will see that an email has been sent to you. 

     Go to your usa-english account and find the email from Engrade. 

      Open it and click on the link.

      It will take you to Engrade. Type in your new password two times. Click "Submit."

      Engrade will take you back to the log in page. Log in with your new password!

- We wrote down some of our goals for the quarter -- we'll continue tomorrow with our class goals sheet.

- We started SMRT Unit 1 with Listening 1-1: "Stay in Shape."

- After lunch, we started to talk about "3 Kinds of Verbs" and how to do your homework.

Your HOMEWORK is:
- Write sentences using all of the vocab words. Use 2-3 words in each sentence.
- Audio Match on Spelling City, 3 times. (Take a screenshot, picture with your phone or write down your answers to email to me or to show me tomorrow).