Blog #9: Presenting our Valedictorian

The title of "Valedictorian" is given to a graduate (possibly the top graduate) of a graduating class. The title comes from the valedictorian's traditional role as the last speaker at the graduation ceremony.

Imagine you were Valedictorian for our graduating class of ESL students. Write about:

What you would you say?

How would you say it?

Would you tell little stories about each of the students or funny jokes about graduation?

Would you thank all the people who helped you along the way?

What advice would you give?

If you were not Valedictorian, what kind of speech would you like to hear? Sad and memorable? Funny and fast? No speech at all?

Let me know about what you would do if you were our Valedictorian!

Blog # 8 Making a Difference

Using the link below, please calculate your Ecological Footprint and tell me: how many earths you need to support your lifestyle? How big is your footprint?

http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp

Do you have any ideas why your footprint it the way it is? What are the worst things you do to the environment?

Do you have any ideas how to make your footprint smaller?
List at least three things you are going to do to make a difference with Global Warming.

Blog #7: Films and Movies

For this week's blog please tell me:

What is your favorite type or category of film? For example, comedy, scary, romance or documentary. Why? Give me an example of a really good movie that you have watched that fits into your favorite category. What is the best "message" or "lesson" you have received from a movie?

For example, in "The Pursuit of Happiness" we learned that hard work and perseverance pays off. In the end, the main character got the job he worked for after all that time. Tell me about another lesson or message you learned from a movie you watched outside of class.

News Events for the Year of Your Birth

Today you are going to write an article on a news event that occurred on the month and/or year of you birth. Use these links to help you get some ideas. Once you find an event that interests you, research it and write your article! Follow the steps outlined in class and be careful not to plagiarize! Make sure to include your sources in proper citation form.

http://www.fun4birthdays.com/year/index.html

http://www.scopesys.com/year/

Blog #6: Current Events

What is a current event? A current event is something that has happened recently and is discussed in the paper or in the news. The word current means now and the word event means something that happened. For this blog you needed to find one current event on either the Internet or a news paper and read it. This current event must be submitted to me today.

Your blog entry this week will have two parts. The first part is to tell me about your current event. I want to know:

1. Where it came from and the date it was published.
2. The title of the article and the author.
3.Who?
4. What?
5. When?
6. Where?
7. Why?
8. How?

After you complete this activity for your article, read the article "Fire Devastates Apartment Complex" found in the Fort McMurray Today Paper.
You will find that story at this link:
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/Local%20News/301040.html

After reading the story, answer the same questions that you did for the current event you found.

Don't forget to spellcheck your blog!

My dog Meeka

This is my little dog Meeka. She was the highlight of my Spring Break!

I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Homonyms

What is a homonym? Homonyms are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things. For example the words "plain" and "plane." Both of these words sound the same, but one (plane) is can be something you fly in, and the other (plain) can mean without flavour or "boring."

Check out how many English homonyms you know at this link:

The Internet TESL Journal: Self-Study Homonym Quizzes

http://a4esl.org/q/h/homonyms.html

Run-on-Sentences!

Visit this link for an exercise to work on your run-on-sentences!

http://www.quia.com/pop/35933.html

Let me know your score out of 10 by posting a comment to this entry.
Please ask me if you are unsure of how to do this.

Blog 5: Wednesday, April 4th

Spring Break 2007!

My spring break this year will be spent mostly at the school, getting things ready for when you all return. However, I wish I was going somewhere hot, with a beach and no homework!

This week's blog is all about your ten days of holidays coming up once school is over on Thursday. I want you to tell me what you have planned or, if you do not have anything exciting to do, what you wish you had planned!

When you are done, choose another blog from someone in the class and post a comment. Make sure to tell me which blog you chose and where you posted the comment. Put this information in your Spring Break 2007 Blog.

Happy Holidays!!