OXFORDON C1: March 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Thursday's Lesson 29-03-2012

Unit 5 Exam Tuesday, April 3.
Exam information: group discussion topic: Polish News Media; grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading and writing in class. Students who have completed and submitted all writing assignments are exempt from the in-class writing portion of the exam.

Next Class: Thursday, April 12. Begin Unit 6.

Vocabulary:
catchy
chronic
lethargy
lethargic
sugar cane

Significant Aspects of Unit 5:
gerund v. infinitive
used to
reporting verbs
vocabulary about sleep, music, media
formal letter writing

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

avoid-prevent
hear-listening
seems-appears
I would rather be healthy

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Who knew what when? Who do you trust?

Read this short, but intriguing article involving the Polish Intelligence Office and the CIA.
Let me know what you think about this.

http://news.yahoo.com/poland-charges-ex-official-over-cia-prisons-report-141440331.html

New Vocabulary 27-03-2012

biased = partial
partial v. impartial
impartial = objective
defeat
freelance journalist
quiz
censored
row
ongoing
constant
downside

Reminder: Unit 5 exam Tuesday, April 3; writing assignment #2 due also.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Let's Discuss: Race Relations in the U.S.

This is a current news article from the New York Times, a highly respected newspaper. It is about a recent killing in Florida of a 17-year old black young man by a 28-year old white man. There is also a video clip from President Obama's news conference on Thursday, March 23.

If several students read the article, we could discuss it in class.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/obama-makes-first-comments-on-trayvon-martin-shooting/?emc=na

Posted by Janis Sanford

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Homework for Tuesday

1) Worksheet 5C: "Grammar: Reporting Verbs"
Download, print and complete

2) Workbook: Finish p. 51

3) On Tuesday we will begin with p.77, "Pronunciation."

4) Optional: Find a 1-2 min. video clip from your favorite news media to present to the class.
Add a link as a comment to this blog. Try to search there:

TED

March 22, 2012 Homework

1. Workbook: Finish page 51
2. Worksheet: 5C Grammar, "Reporting Verbs"
3. Begin with page 77, "Pronunciation" on Tuesday"
4. Optional: Find a 1-2 minute video clip from your favorite news media to present to the class.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Educators are giving YouTube

article from New York Times:

Education

Michael McElroy for The New York Times

Educators are giving YouTube — long dismissed as a storehouse of whimsical, time-wasting and occasionally distasteful videos — another look. As Google, YouTube’s parent company, fine-tunes a portal that lets schools limit students’ access to selected content, the video-sharing Web site is gaining popularity as a trove of free educational materials.

Schools across the country commonly block access to YouTube, shielding students from the irresistible distractions of, say, the cat in a T-shirt playing a piano, or worse. So in December, Google started YouTube for Schools, offering schools the ability to pluck only the videos they want, scrubbed of all comments and linked only to other related educational videos. The program gives schools the ability to allow access to theYouTube EDU educational library, and to specific videos within its own network — while blocking the general site.

That has enabled teachers to bring popular educational videos from YouTube into classrooms, like the famous TED talk on population growth by Hans Rosling, the Swedish data presentation expert, or a series of hugely popular short videos about each element of the periodic table that somehow turns a rote memorization exercise into gripping entertainment.
more:>>