Welcome to this class!! I hope you enjoy this blog and take advantage of it.

February 19, 2014

Components of the Program

Clase Taller
Asesoría
Laboratorio de Lectura
Centro de Recursos
Plenarias o Sesiones Interculturales
Proyecto

Syllabus Level 2

Procedures

What is a project?

Level 2

Theme 1
Personal Information
Personality
Likes & Dislikes
Conversations about things or activities somebody likes or dislikes and his/her reasons.
Express your opinions regarding different topics.

Theme 2
Biographies & Experiences
Understand a text on the different aspects and phases of someone’s life
Narrate or recount past experiences..

Theme 3
Places and Comparison
Understand and state similarities and differences between two different aspects of places.

Theme 4
Suggestions
Give suggestions on different situations.

Evaluation
Follow up 30% (workshops, quizzes, exams)

Independent Work 20% (your works at home or at the Resource Center)

Project Work 30% (including all the phases of the project)

Speaking Task 20% (oral performance)

February 21, 2014

Knowing each other

Review: Greetings and introductions

Dialogue

Listening activity

Greeting sentences

Listening activity

Speaking activity: guess why I wrote that word and ask me questions

Homework:
Listen to following segment and answer the questions. Check how your listening comprehension is.
Daily Schedule

February 26th

Food for thought:
Coca-Cola launched a new product, and it's not a soda.
Watch the video and think about it

Before starting our work this semester, it is important we check our level of English. These activities are intended to guide your Independent Work.

1. In order to test your reading, vocabulary, grammar, verbal structures and listening skills, go to the following links and take all the tests:

PLACEMENT TEST

IN CLASS

VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR AND VERBAL STRUCTURES
http://www.curso-ingles.com/ejercicios-ingles/test-de-nivel.php

(After checking your answers, take notes on your grade and the lesson or lessons you need to study).

AT HOME

READING
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omtest/placementest102.htm

LISTENING
http://www.forumeducation.net/tools/QuizTest/index.php?qid=267

2. Write down in comments which level you are in and the scores you got in each test.

EXAMPLE

Sandra Echeverri
VOCABULARY: 90%
READING: 15/20
LISTENING: 16/32

Actividad planeada por la profesora Alejandra Jiménez

February 28, 2014

Describing yourself
Read the e-mail. The computer has found ten mistakes. They are either grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Can you correct them?

March 5, 2014

Food for thought:

Oscar Nominee Lupita Nyong'o Speech on Black Beauty

Writing my profile

Read these profiles. Answer these questions:
1. What do Chrsitina and Guido have in common?
2. In what ways are they different?
3. In your opinion, is it a good idea for them to date?

Name: Christina

Age: 19

Likes: Reading; cooking,; animals; going to the ballet

Dislikes: soccer; loud music; cold weather

My life style is: healthy!

Right now: I am a university student.

Name: Guido

Age: 22

Likes: rock; music; animals; fast food; surfing

Dislikes: studying; soccer; the winter

My life style is: exciting!

Right now: I’m working in a music store.

Writing an e-mail with my personal information

March 19, 2014
Likes and Dislikes

Listen to people talking about they like doing
Like to do / Like doing

Pronunciation Practice

Listening activities to practice

Let's play

Project Work
1. Define your topic
2. Organize your team
3. State your questions
4 Chose the texts types and formats
5. Look for information
6. Analize the information
7. Reading comprehension activities
8. Classify and summarize your information
9. Write your own ideas nad texts
10. Edit your texts
10. Prepare your presentations

March 21, 2014

Listening comprehension activity

1. Listen to the following segment "Tell me about yourself" and answer the questions.

2. Listen to the conversation again as you read the Quiz Script.

3. Do practice activities to review the vocabulary:

Describing famous people

1. Enter this link
2. Chose one of the biographies that call your attention.
3. Read the biography and do the exercises.
4. Prepare an oral presentation about the biography you chose.

March 28, 2014

Project Work

Situation: you are going to study a masters program abroad. You will have to look for the University that best accomplish your expectations. You will also look for information about the country or city in which the university is located (location, currency, population, weather, typical food, transport, life cost, cultural aspects, etc). At the end of the semester you will present your project to the class.

1. Chose the topic:
University
Program
Country

2. State the questions that will lead your project
Ex: Where is the university located?
Why is this university the best option to study?
How much is a year in this university?

3. Read the information you found about the university, program, country and culture. Underline the strange words and look for the meaning in a dictionary.

4. Build your glossary about the project
Include common or specific words and expresssions related to your topic.

Take a look at these link: Country Guides
Convenios Universidad Nacional

April 1, 2014
Describing places

Read and listen the following description about San Francisco

San Francisco is one of the most well-known cities in America, mainly because the city has great weather, wonderful views, and many famous landmarks. The city is on a peninsula so it is surrounded by water, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and San Francisco Bay on the other.

The most famous landmark in San Francisco is probably the Golden Gate Bridge which is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. The bridge was completed in 1937 and is still widely used today. The bridge has an Art Deco design and unique orange color, making it not only practical, but beautiful as well.

Another famous landmark with an Art Deco design is Coit Tower, which is 210 feet tall and sits atop Telegraph Hill. The tower was designed to look like a fire hose nozzle in memory to the many brave firemen who battled the Great San Francisco Fire from the 1906 earthquake.

In San Francisco, even the prisons are unique. Alcatraz is now probably one of America's most famous prisons. It sits on an island in San Francisco Bay so it offers some of the best views of the city. Alcatraz is no longer in use but open for tourists year round.

Unlike the other landmarks that can be seen from afar, Lombard Street is a famous spot that is hard to find. The street sits in a very hilly residential area. Originally, the street was designed with many curves to make it safe to travel down. The street is lined on both sides with various bushes, trees, and flowers making it a drive-thru garden.

Like other large American cities, San Francisco has many tall buildings, or skyscrapers as they are commonly called. The most famous of these is the Transamerica Building which is shaped like a pyramid. The building is not the tallest in the city, but it is definitely its most memorable.

Audio

Vocabulary:
Do the following exercices: Adjectives to describe places

Vocabulary to describe places

Comparing places

Superaltives to describe places

April 9, 2014

Comparative Adjectives

An adjective is a word or phrase that is used to describe a noun or pronoun.

A comparative adjective is used to make a comparison between two things. This
comparison may show equality or inequality between the two things.

Equal Comparisons:

• To show an equal comparison, you need to use an adjective between the subordinating
conjunctions “as”.

• To show an equal comparison, use the form: as [adjective] as

Example: Julia is as tall as the bookshelf.

Example: The water is as cold as ice.

Directions: Fill in the spaces with the appropriate comparative adjective.

1. The light shines as ___________ as the sun.
2. The runner moves as ___________ as the wind.
3. The apple is as ___________ as a fire truck.
4. The giraffe is as ___________ as the tree.
5. That clock is as ___________ as my grandfather.
6. His voice was as ___________ as thunder.
7. The truck was as ___________ as a house.
8. Your book bag is ___________ as a rock.

Directions: Write two of you own sentences which show an equal comparison.

1) ____________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________________________

Unequal Comparisons:

• To show an unequal comparison, you need to use an adjective followed by the
subordinating conjunction “than”. You may have to double the final consonant letter for
some comparative adjectives.

• To show an unequal comparison using an adjective with one syllable, you must add
“er” to the ending.

[adjective + “er”] than

Example: Yuri is smarter than Joe.

Directions: Fill in the spaces with the appropriate comparative adjective.

1. Dennis is ___________ (old) than Kiki.
2. I am ___________ (tall) than the bookshelf. 3. My dog is ___________ (fast) than my cat.
4. The soup is ___________ (hot) than the milk.
5. The rock is ___________ (hard) than the banana.

Directions: Write two of you own sentences which show an unequal comparison using
an adjective with one syllable.

1) ____________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________________________

• To show an unequal comparison using an adjective with more than one syllable that
ends in “y”, you must omit the “y” and add “ier” to the ending.

[adjective + “ier”] than

Example: The plane is heavier than the bird.

Directions: Fill in the spaces with the appropriate comparative adjective.

1. Yuki was at school __________ (early) than I was.
2. Rice is __________ (sticky) than salad.
3. This exercise is __________ (tricky) than the last one.
4. My little brother is __________ (silly) than I am.
5. This picture is __________ (pretty) than the other one.

Directions: Write two of you own sentences which show an unequal comparison using
an adjective with more than one syllable that ends in “y”.

1) ____________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________________________

• To show an unequal comparison using an adjective with more than one syllable that
does not end in “y”, the ending of the adjective remains unchanged and you must use
“more” or “less” before the adjective.

[more / less] [adjective] than

Example: The butterfly is more beautiful than the spider.

Directions: Fill in the spaces with the appropriate comparative adjective.

1. Her motorcycle is _______ ____________ (dangerous) than my car.
2. Gold is _______ ____________ (expensive) than silver.
3. Butterflies are _______ ____________ (beautiful) than snakes.
4. The grey jacket is _______ ____________ (colorful) than the pink one.
5. I am _______ ____________ (tired) now than I was this morning.

Directions: Write two of you own sentences which show an unequal comparison using
an adjective with more than one syllable that does not end in “y”.

1) ____________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________________________

Listening Activity
Listen and watch the following video and write as many ideas as you can.

Exercises
Comparatives/Superlatives

Different Exercises

Video: comparing countries

Real English: Comparatives

Speaking activity: Superlative Olympics
Comparative and superlative card game
Superlative board game

check: http://valsequilloclil.blogspot.com/search/label/ALPHABET

April 11, 2014

Review comparatives

April 23, 2014 Listening practice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHoquYB0TZo Take notes of the information you understand. Pay attention to content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs).

2. Watch the video and check your comprehension.

3. Answer the following questions.
- What kind of insteresting places can you find in Central Park?
- What do you like the most about Central Park?
- Whta can you find in Times Square?
- Whta do you like the most about Broadway shows?
- What is your favorite show?
- How is Broadway like?
- What do you like the most about Brooklyn Bridge?

Vocabulary Practice
Read the description about Ontario.

Project Work
Classify and organize the information you found for the project:

These are some samples of graphic organizers:

Graphic Organizers Book

Holt Interactive graphic organizers

Eduplace Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers for reading comprehension

Homework

- Send your first report of Independent work by Monday April 14

Homework

Do a graphic organizer to classify and summarize the information and/or topics you will include in your project.

Visit this site and take a look at some examples

Choose the graphic organizer that is best for your project.

http://www.inspiration.com/webspirationclassroom-language-arts-examples

Take a look at the following example

May 2, 2014

Project Work

Do your graphic organizers and send them to my e-mail
Check this other site to create maps https://bubbl.us/

Reading and Speaking Activity

Famous Places:

Choose one of the following places in this link http://esllibrary.weebly.com/famous-places.html

If you prefer to read a different place description from other website, you can do it.

This is other option to find readings with audio about places

http://community.eflclassroom.com/page/non-fictionreaders?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Read the description of the place and prepare an oral report to describe this place to the class. Remember to summarize the main ideas from the text

May 7, 2014

Recounting in English

What is a recount?

Recounts are a way of retelling an important event or describing an experience that you have had to others, such as a school trip or a funny story.

Purpose: To re-tell past experiences
Framework:

Setting: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Events: In time order
Concluding statement

Take a look at this explanation

Simple past, function:
The simple past is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. Duration is not important. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past.

John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
My father died last year.
He lived in Fiji in 1976.
We crossed the Channel yesterday.

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions

frequency:
often, sometimes, always;
a definite point in time:
last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago.
an indefinite point in time:
the other day, ages ago, a long time ago etc.

Simple Past Form

Affirmative sentences:

Use the same form of the verb every time regardless the subject.

regular verbs	irregular verbs
I played football.	I went to the supermarket.

Negative sentences:

Use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of do) every time regardless the subject.

regular verbs	irregular verbs
I did not play football.	I did not go to the supermarket.

NOTE: Short forms in negative sentences in the Simple Past are used quite often.

regular verbs	irregular verbs
I didn't play football.	I didn't go to the supermarket.

Questions:

Use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of do) every time regardless the subject.

regular verbs	irregular verbs
Did you play football?	Did I go to the supermarket?

Activities:

1. Video: What did you do yesterday?

2. Reading comprehension: who is J.k. Rowling

3. Reading aloud: Princess SmartyPants

4. Regular and irregular verbs

5. Past Simple regular verbs endings

Describing and narrating experiences from different places

Reading about hollidays

Oral report:

Show one of your favorite vacation pictures to the class. Describe the place and tell what experiences you lived there