A blog for students of Renton Technical College multi-level evening ESL class, taught at Worksource Renton. We are from Cambodia, China, El Salvador, Eritrea, Guatemala, Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Laos, Mexico, Moldova, Somalia, India, Ukraine, and Vietnam. We have one common goal: TO IMPROVE OUR ENGLISH!
ALSO! A belated blog of the week for LAST WEEK....goes to DUNG! BLOG OF THE WEEK! Dung has been writing great summaries of the movie in her blog, and has put up some links to her favorite sites. CONGRATULATIONS, DUNG!
EVERYONE should do the first activitiy at the "Our Grammar Activity" (Quia) site.
PLEASE SIGN IN when you do this! (Ask me for your password if you don't have it.)
If you haven't worked on the "present to past" activity at that site, please do so.
Do you want to work on improving your SPEAKING? Good news: englishcentral.com is now working on about half of the Worksource computers. Computers R1 - R8 are set up for this site. Try it out -- First come, first served.
Here's the song we listened to last night, which is also good listening and speaking practice:
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Another WET NIGHT!!
Tonight, don't forget to write a few sentences about the 5 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER. Please practice speaking about these things - I hope to talk to all of you in person about this.
Question of the day: WHO IS THIS? BLOG OF THE WEEK! ARACELI is the winner of the BLOG OF THE WEEK. Congratulations, Araceli She wrote short entries each night in class, and also added images in her posts. If you read her blog, you can understand a lot about her life, what is important to her, and what she has been doing. Remember: You don't have to write a LOT, but it is important to write OFTEN.
What happened last night in the movie? Write 3-5 sentences, using PAST TENSE verbs.
I have added NEW ACTIVITIES to the QUIA grammar page! Get your password from me, sign in, and try a few out!
ALSO: Start thinking about the "Five Questions to Consider" for the new video project. Write a few sentences about each of these in your blog: What rights are important to you? Why?
What do you like best about the US?
What is the most difficult part about learning English?
Can you have your cake and eat it too? I think we have shown that it is indeed possible! Thank you Sergio - and Sergio's boss - for the wonderful treat!
PLEASE read the comments I made under your recent blog posts! Then make the changes I suggested by going to "edit post." Let me know if you have problems.
TONIGHT: Please write a short summary of the story we are watching; the first three scenes from "Pursuit of Happiness." When does the movie take place? Where is it? Who are the characters? What are some of the problems they are having?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHON! THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS HELPING MAKE THE CLASS BETTER!
BLOG OF THE WEEK! PHAT is the winner of the BLOG OF THE WEEK. Congratulations, Phat! Please check out his great blog - he has information from the internet, his own introduction, some beautiful photos and a video. This week, everyone did a great job! For people who set up new blogs and started writing: The New Blog Award goes to Nelson, Teklom, Muhammed, Huyen and Saynab. Dung and Larisa also have been writing a lot in their new blogs. For people who gave their blog a New Look, congratulations to Tetyana, Yuriy, Sergio, Juventino, Ramesh (who also posted several interesting entries), and Araceli. If I didn't mention you, you need to START WRITING EVERY DAY!
Tonight: Please cut and paste the text below into a new post, and fill out the sentences about yourself. (Ramesh and Araceli already did this; everyone else, please do it.)
HOW DO YOU COMPARE TO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN? Example: The average American speaks one language. YOU: I speak two languages.
1. The average American sleeps 7.5 hours a night.
YOU:
2. The average American goes to the moves once a month.
YOU:
3. The average American watches TV four hours a day.
YOU:
4. The average American goes to the dentist once a year.
YOU:
5. The average American eats three hamburgers a week.
YOU:
6. The average American drinks a cup and a half of coffee a day.
YOU:
7. The average American takes a shower once a day.
YOU:
8. The average American goes to bed before 12:00.
YOU:
9. The average American lives in a house
YOU:
10. The average American has one or more credit cards.
Tonight I will be giving you your personal PASSWORD to use the QUIA account, for various grammar activities. You can work on them anytime, and I will be adding new activities each week. Let me know if you have questions.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THIS IS? Write the answer in your blog.
Yesterday's Internet research results:
The average American eats 63 dozen donuts a year.
The average American eats 24.5 gallons of ice cream a year.
The average American drinks the equivalent of 38 six packs of beer, 12 bottles of wine, and 2 quarts of distilled spirits a year.
The average American is 17 pounds overweight.
The average American has 13 days of paid vacation.
24% of Americans have tattoos.
19.8% of Americans smoke.
76% of Americans own a computer.
12.4% of Americans are immigrants
39% own guns.
Young adults eat out about 24 times a month. They spend an average of $6.00. The average American spends 880.00 eating out a year. The average household spends 2,211.00 a year.
INTERNET RESEARCH: Please look up last night's question, comparing it to other countries. Try to include your own country. THEN, write 3 different sentences, with only ONE of them true. Bring those sentences to class, and we will guess which one is correct.
For example, my question was, "What percent of people smoke in the US?"
My 3 sentences are:
20 percent of Americans smoke, but in Ukraine, 35 percent smoke.
20 percent of Americans smoke, but in Ukraine, 67 percent smoke.
20 percent of Americans smoke, but in Ukraine, only 11 percent smoke.
(I will tell you the correct answer in class!)
If you didn't have time to do the grammar assignment yesterday, please do it today.
Please check your blogs; I made comments on them. Make the changes I suggested.
TONIGHT'S MAIN ASSIGNMENT: INTERNET RESEARCH. Pick a question from the envelope and use google.com to look up the answer about "average Americans". If possible, compare what you find with other countries. Be ready to share what you learned in class!
Also, notice the new "RESUME AND COVER LETTER" link on the right. There are many formats here to use....check them out! I'll be glad to help you work on these.
Several students have asked about a site where they can practice typing (keyboarding) when they are not at Worksource. This is a great site:http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/#
Remember, tonight is your night to make a NEW SPRING LOOK at your blog! Sign in, go to "customize", then you can 1) click on "fonts and colors" to change the color of your background, fonts, etc. or 2) click on "pick new template" to completely change your blog.
Today:
If you posted to your blog yesterday, please read my comment.
If you sent me an attachment, please check your email for my reply. Then you can post your spring break news.
New students: Finish testing.
Everyone: You can CHANGE THE TEMPLATE on your blog for a new look this quarter.
A new SPEAKING PRACTICE SITE is now available, using computers 1 - 8, on the left side of the room. It is http://www.englishcentral.com
Give it a try!
Yesterday many of you sent me an attachment about your break. Please check your email, and you wil find your edited attachments from me! After you make your edits, you can post them to your blogs!
This quarter we will add using Microsoft Word in our class. Today, please open and write a word document that has five thing you did during break. (Use five past-tense verbs.) Then email it to me at: efalconer@rtc.edu. AFTER I edit it and email it back to you and you make the changes, you will post it to your blog. Good luck!
