Tuesday, December 16

Good morning!
Please submit your speed reading records today.
Speed Reading: 30 minutes

Review these vocabulary words:
alleviate
carbohydrates
digest
dilemma
fatigue
hormone
immune system
metabolism
protein
refined
restore
stamina

Research the artist and writer Emily Carr.
Take notes in your own words and look at her artwork.
Form some opinions and be prepared to discuss this famous Canadian.

IDIOMS

 Check out this website; there are numerous learning opportunities.

http://www.eslcafe.com/idioms/
http://www.eslcafe.com/quiz/dennis1.html

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

1. Work through Tense Busters, Advanced Level, Reported Speech. Show me your test score.

2. Read the article and write a paragraph commenting on the author's views. Do you agree or disagree with Graham Fraser?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/language-commissioner-graham-fraser-on-optimism-and-pessimism/article13002402/

Friday, December 5, 2014

What do you know about diabetes?
Please read the article on the following website:
www.canadianimmigrant.ca
"Health risk with diabetes on the rise"
Summarize the article following the steps on the handout.

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/immigrant-stories/health/health-at-risk-with-diabetes-on-the-rise

Reading Tables

 Numbers...they are all around us. Sometimes it is important to take time to figure out what they mean. Statistics can be interpreted in many different ways. But before that can happen, we have to be able to read tables for basic information. Today I will give you a few questions to answer. You will find the answers on the following website:


 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/health52a-eng.htm

The Flu Shot

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/reason-get-flu-shot-why_n_6194600.html

Whatever you think about the flu shot, here are some points to consider.

Please read for Thursday

A colleague brought this article to my attention.  Please read it for Thursday.


http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/a-voice-of-authority-people-can-recognize-high-power-voices-study-finds-1.2118494 

Reading for Tuesday

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/distracted-driving-is-the-new-drunk-driving/article21680846/


Read the article, and come prepared to discuss main points and details.
Take note of collocations.
What is your opinion on this issue?

Please read this article for Thursday

 OPINION


 

 This article includes vocabulary that will be challenging; I encourage you to read carefully, and look up words that impede your ability to grasp main points.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/11/17/margaret-somerville-the-ethics-of-egg-freezing/

Frugality: some tips

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/11/15/i-once-made-my-own-laundry-detergent-tips-from-canadas-most-frugal-bloggers/

Interesting article

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/11/13/magie-dominic-new-york-by-way-of-newfoundland/

Opinion Essay: vaccines and vaccinations

What's the difference?
from the Longman Dictionary:

vac‧cine [uncountable and countable]

a substance which contains a weak form of the bacteria or virus that causes a disease and is used to protect people from that disease:

a polio vaccine

Doctors worried that there would not be enough vaccine for everyone who needed it.

 

vac‧cin‧ate [transitive]

to protect a person or animal from a disease by giving them a vaccine [= immunize]

vaccinate somebody against something

All children should be vaccinated against measles.

—vaccination noun [uncountable and countable]

a flu vaccination

 

 

 

Here is some suggested reading regarding vaccinations.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
http://www.ontario.ca/health-and-wellness/flu-shot-safety
http://www.immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/chickenpox
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/immunization/myths.aspx
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/index-eng.php

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

 

 Computer Lab
1. Use the program intended to help you increase your reading speed.

2. FACT or OPINION?

Please record your results.
Read first, then try the quiz:
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/~steuben/factopinion.htm

This one is a little more challenging:

http://users.dhp.com/~laflemm/RfT/Tut2.htm

3.Vocabulary Study:
http://www.testmagic.com/toefl/gramm_quizzes/181_190/toefl_q181_frameset_copy%281%29.htm

4. Here is a musical rendition of the famous Canadian poem, "In Flanders Fields"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcPUpjIFI9o
There are many available on youtube, as well as many videos related to Remembrance Day.

Behaviours in an academic context OR elsewhere...

 

Watch this video and be prepared to discuss the points made.
Have you tried these strategies?
Do you recognize the validity of the premise that punctuality is important?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bow7q-pfXkY


This next video examines cultural variations in the understanding of time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fz6pl5xo5M&spfreload=1

Remembrance Day, November 11, 2014

Why is it important to you?

Check out this art installation in England:
 http://poppies.hrp.org.uk/







    
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng  
click on Remembrance

This is a collection of historic photos and a famous poem written by a Canadian, followed by a song by Bryan Adams. Try the quiz after you watch the video.
http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_intermediate.php?id=2804

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

  
Do you recognize these characters? They are Winnie-the-Pooh, and Tigger, made famous by A.A. Milne. There is an interesting story behind their creation--see if you can find out what it is.

Please come prepared to discuss literature on Thursday. This is an important component of your studies.
Thank you to those of you who volunteered to do the vocabulary study for Sublist 4.
Remember to study and review. One tool is: http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/id24.htm

If you have been absent, ask your peers about work you missed.

This morning we will be looking at tense shifts. http://www.chompchomp.com/presentations.htm
Click on the presentation for tense shifts. We will be working on these later again.
Then try some exercises:
http://www.chompchomp.com/frag05/frag05.htm
http://www.chompchomp.com/handouts/csfs05.pdf


 

Reading: optional

Good morning. Here's a link to an article about childhood. R, your husband might find it interesting. It isn't easy reading, so it is optional. Take the challenge. What is the author's tone? Can you take what he says seriously? Do you think he was exploited as a child?

 http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/08/16/rex-murphy-a-childs-summer-in-newfoundland/

Noun Clauses: another online quiz

http://www.myenglishgrammar.com/exercise-17-clauses/1741-noun-clauses.html

word game

Try
knoword.com
It will challenge your ability to come up with English words.

spell check

I'm not sure who wrote this, but it's good!
Nothing beats proofreading.
No one ever said spelling in English was easy (or logical).


A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...
 
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Noun Clauses

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables


Check out the quizzes on these websites:

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl-noun-clauses1.html

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/nounclausequiz.html

http://clausesandsentences.weebly.com/noun-clause-practice.html

http://arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en/hypergrammar/building-clauses/review-noun-adjective-and-adverb-clauses

Thanksgiving

A special thank you to my wonderful class and colleague for the delicious Thanksgiving potluck lunch we enjoyed today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Literature Circles

Please come prepared every week; your participation contributes to our success!
Role descriptions:
Vocabulary leader:
-look carefully through the reading and find the words and phrases that you do not know
-choose up to 10 words you think are important and necessary to understanding the reading
-list them, include the page number, copy the sentence with the word in context, and include a definition of the word as it is used in the reading.

Summarizer:
-give a brief summary of the most important things that happened or were addressed in the part of the book you read this week.

Connector:
-help group members make connections between the reading and the world outside
-think about how the story relates to his/her own experiences or to the experiences of friends or family members. e.g. Do any of the characters remind you of people that you know? Have you ever had thoughts or feelings similar to people in the story? Does anything in the story remind you of something in the news or something you have seen happen?

Passage finder: 
-find and discuss with the group important, interesting, or difficult parts of the reading.
-read the passage aloud to the group or ask another student to read it.
-why did you choose the passage?

Group discussion leader:
-write some questions to start the discussion
-ask questions to keep the discussion going
-make sure each group member participates in the discussion

Assignment on Soft Skills

Soft Skills



Please submit a Word document of your answers to the questions on the handout. Write in complete sentences.
Refer to the article if necessary.
Due: Friday, October 10.