update

OK:

So here are the modifications:
Your post can be closer to 100 words.

And, leaving 2 instead of 3 comments is fine.

Something interesting for you:

Kais Nashif (who played Said) is a well known Palestinian actor living in Tel Aviv, Israel with frequent travel to the U.S. Kais is part German from his mother's side and speaks fluent German as well. Languages English, Arabic, Hebrew, German, conversational French

Personal Quotes


"I understand how a performance should be like a sculpture; this was my first ever film and I learned lots from my mistakes - both from what I got right and from what I got wrong.I liked it intensely.
It made me realize that we never hear their story, their side. How could they justify this? Not only to their families but also to themselves. However you may judge them, they have a story and a rationale." Said by Kais Nashif who played Said in Paradise Now.
"Their life has no value. Where they live - in the specific case of the Palestinians - they're all surrounded and caged in cities, which they can't leave, so there's no value to their life. There's no cinema, no theater, no love, no nothing."

Israel-Palestine conflict; Newspaper writing

Today in class we will continue to learn about Israel and good newspaper writing.

1:45-2:10

To begin, using Part V of the Study Guide of Paradise Now, write a post in which you share your idea about one of the proverbs listed. Try to finish your post by 2:10 at the latest.

2:10-2:25

During this segment of class, read others’ posts and leave at least 3 comments.

2:25-2:50

Begin preparing for your next writing evaluation, a newspaper article. To do this, follow the steps below:

Choose or invent a news story to write about. It should be based on some event happening in Israel. (You may want to do research)! What you may NOT do is copy from a real newspaper. This would be plagiarism, a serious offense.

1. Regarding your story, answer these questions very briefly in one paragraph, your first paragraph.

a. Who?

b. What?

c. When?

d. Why?

e. Where?

Remember to be unbiased and to state just the facts.

2. In your second and third paragraph (which can be short) elaborate on the above, giving more information.

3. Bring to class on Tuesday, the first draft of your newspaper article. You will have some time in class to work on it before you print out your final version for me to mark.

Note: The final draft of your paper will be due on Thursday, June 4^th. On this day, you must bring both your first and final draft of your paper.

who are YOU?

Dear LIII Students,

In preparation for Tuesday’s in-class evaluation, you should use today’s class to do a practice testimony. Here are the instructions:

Use recent homework assignments to write a 200-250-word testimony about who you are, focusing on your unique, individual history. To do this assignment, answer each of the following questions in clear, well-written paragraphs which will become the body of your text. After completing the body, write a short introduction and conclusion.

1) ORIGINS

Where does your family or do your ancestors come from?

Describe its or their history, highlighting important elements.

2) FAMILY

What family member(s) peak(s) your interest?

Describe a person (living or deceased) who you find intriguing. Show through descriptions what this person is/was like. (Recall Teresa describing her grandpa in “The Wolf, The Woman and The Wilderness”.)

3) IDENTITY

How does the above influence who you are? Are there things you embrace?

Reject? What connection can you find between the beliefs and goals you have now and your and your family’s past?

In writing the testimony, you should focus on content and form. The content should include descriptions, detail, coherent ideas, elements of cause and effect, etc. With regards to form, remember that paragraphs should revolve around a central idea. When you start a new idea, start a new paragraph. BUT remember that a paragraph should have a minimum of 50 words (3 sentences). If your paragraph is too short, try to elaborate on your idea by including more detail and/or examples.

Last but not least, after you are sure that your testimony is cohesive (with connectors and transitions) and coherent (logical and orderly), review your use of English. Are your verbs correct? What about word order? Spelling? Punctuation?

And, now, share! Post your testimony on your blog. Take a break from writing and read about your classmates.

For fun:

Learn about your surname:

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/surname/a/spanish_names.htm

Your homework for Tuesday is to practice writing.

These sites are great. Do them before next class:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9704/rv-mistakes.html

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/correctText/cable1.htm

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/multi/satzErr.htm

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/multi/satzErr.htm (“Fragment” means incomplete sentence; “Run-on” means that there is no punctuation between two complete sentences.)

Native Americans

Dear LIII Students,

PART 1:

In an effort to understand more about the indigenous people of Chile, I invite you to spend today’s class doing some internet research. Surf the web, then answer these questions:

Who are the indigenous people of Chile?
How many people belong to each of the Indian nations?
Choose one group in particular for which to answer these questions:
Where do these natives live?
What is their history?
What is life like for them now?
What challenges do they currently face?
How do non-natives react to their needs, to them as people?

Take notes in your notebook. Bring these notes to class on Tuesday.

PART 2:

Native American arts:

Choose one Chilean indigenous group and focus on one of the following aspects to research about:

Health/healing
Spiritual beliefs
Food preparation (hunting, gathering, cooking)
Family structure (patriarchal or matriarchal)
Structures (homes) and clothing (including jewellery and other accessories)
Legends
Current events—how the group gets along with non-natives (locals, the govt., etc.)
Other???

After reading at least two different sites, share the information in a post on your blog. Minimum words= 150.

You are free to spend this module reading and writing about the areas that most interest you. Be sure you leave time to see others’ blogs and comment on their posts. You do need to try to get all of your information from English-language websites so that you are practicing your second language reading comprehension and research skills.

Essay feedback

Here we are again, back in the lab. I congratulate you on your work last week as you were all able to create your blog, write a post and connect with others to interact. Today you’re free to, again, work at your own pace, focusing on learning and improving your English.

Activity 1:

Publish your essay (about the poem) on your blog if you have not already done so. Then read three classmates’ essays and comment on 1-2 things that you liked—give example(s)—and 1-2 things that you think can be improved—give example(s).

Example: I liked how you started your paper. Asking a question to get the reader’s attention was effective. I also think you used good words. “Mundane” as in “this mundane world” was new to me. About possible improvements, be careful with your verb forms and spelling. Examples: I knew what he wants to say… “wants” should be “wanted”. And, “intresting” is spelled wrong.

IMPORTANT: If the person has already received three comments, go to somebody else’s blog!

Activity 2:

After you have received at least two comments on your essay, edit your own, taking into account your classmates’ feedback. Note that it may be easier to work in Microsoft “Word” then copy and paste your essay. Word also has spell check to help you.

Activity 3:

Check out one of these sites that relates to LOVE:

Writing Review
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1113_gramchallenge30/page4.shtml

Listening
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2009/02/090226_6minenglish_love_drug_page.shtml

Reading
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/movingwords/shortlist/augustine.shtml

Activity 4:

Open the Student Handbook and go to the Study skills section (p. 19) and practice what you need to practice.

Don’t forget your homework for Tuesday is to read the article about the Pope. Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form and try to guess the meaning of the underlined words based on context.

Alright, here we go...

Hello L3 Students,

Welcome to your first lab session. Today, what we’re going to do is get you all going on your blogs. When you leave class today, you should have your blog all set up with your classmates as “followers”. This will allow you to read your classmates’ blogs and comment on their postings.

1. To get started, go to the following website:

www.blogger.com (immediately set the language to English—top, right corner)

2. Optional: To practice some listening skills, click on “Watch a video tutorial” under “Learn More”.

3. Click on “create a blog” to be taken through the steps. If you have questions, ask a classmate or me.

4. Once you have created your blog, you will want to follow your classmates' blogs so you can interact virtually. To do this, take these steps:
Click on customize (top right of screen).
Click on “Add a gadget”.
Click on the plus sign (+) next to “Followers”

5. Return to your blog, click on "Customize" again, then "Dashboard". Scroll down, and click on "add". You now have to type in each of your classmates' blog websites.
(We will write them on the board).

6. Now, write your first post—introduce yourself, share something interesting. (min. 100-150 words.)

7. Visit at least two of your classmates’ blogs and comment on their first posts. You can write just a few sentences today.

8. Play around! Start to experiment to feel more comfortable.

Be sure you finish all of these steps before next Thursday's lab session.