Semester Schedule Update

Just a reminder that we will be meeting next on 11/23 for a full day of classes.
The week after (11/30) is Thanksgiving weekend, so enjoy your family and don't eat too much!

December 7th is our last day - I will be giving out your attendance certificates and then we will meet with the entire COPE class for a party.  Usually the students plan the party so we will talk more about what you should bring on 11/23.  Classes are held at the same time, but for 1 hour with a 15 minute 'switch'.  Then we will meet in 1 classroom for a group party! - yep - you get out early!

Post about Bullying

This is a news post about Bullying in our country and how people are trying to raise awareness about it.

We can talk about this next time we meet.
http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2013/11/tyler_clementis_mom_brother_cr.html

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

We were talking about some NYC shows to see and I saw a GROUPON coupon for 30.00 tickets at the Radio City Christmas Show: but you need to buy them soon!
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-radio-city-christmas-spectacular-starring-the-rockettes-52?p=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&sid=271fda3b-4a33-4af0-bc96-9119cbf312a6&division=new-york&user=558ba0c4ef90e88c8b3a7d60c0428cea5f6cfe501dc7ed62730d68fedea701cb&date=20131109&s=body&c=deal_image&d=deal-page&utm_campaign=gl-radio-city-christmas-spectacular-starring-the-rockettes-52

November 16th Class Schedule

Just an announcement to the Students who were not in class this weekend (11/9).
Morning Speaking & Listening class will not meet in the morning. Your afternoon class will be held the usual time with Renee.
My afternoon Reading & Writing class will meet at the Museum at 9:45 sharp.  I will take over the tour of the Museum once Brendan has left for his afternoon class.

Looking Ahead:
Nov 23 - we have class - bring your resume
Nov 30 - no class - Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec 7 - class, diploma presentation and class party!
Have a great week!

Quiz yourself! Study and Practice

Those of you who have a SMARTPHONE or a COMPUTER - there is a great App you can download to store you vocabulary words - it is called QUIZLET!  Also, you can build little quizzes on things you need to study!
Forget playing Plants Vs Zombies - study you vocabulary and become a better at English!

http://quizlet.com/mobile

Theater for ESL Students

Educational Theater of New York is presenting "The Gioconda Smile" by Aldous Huxley, especially designed for students of English as a Second Language. The story is adapted in short scenes, after each scene is presented the action stops and the Presenter engages the students in a conversation about the issues they just saw, then the students have the opportunity to ask the scene to be repeated for further understanding or to continue to the next.

After the play is completed the students can ask questions to the characters about their actions during the play.

ETNY empowers the students to be in control for their understanding, pre and post-performance  lesson plans could be found at www.etnyarts.org.

The play opens Tuesday November 5 at 10 am,  

Wednesday Nov. 6 at 6:30 pm, 

Thursday Nov. 7 at 10 am and 6:30 pm, 

Friday Nov. 8 at 10 am, 

Monday Nov. 11 at 10 am and 6:30 pm, and 

Tuesday Nov. 12 at 10 am.

To make reservations or further information info@etnyarts.org or 646-733-7685. Tickets are $15.

Spanish Language Educational Workshops

The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library

  Hablemos de la Historia y del Arte: Talleres Educativos para las Familias

Open to:  Spanish-speaking families

Events: October 5, 2013 through May 10, 2014; one Saturday afternoon per month, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Location:  New-York Historical Society; 170 Central Park West

 The New-York Historical Society Museum and Library invites Spanish-speaking families to participate in their second annual Spanish language educational workshops, which allow families to tour the New-York Historical Society’s galleries and conclude with original art-making and other hands-on activities.  These educational workshops are free with museum admission. The price for admission has been reduced to $5 per participant for this special program and is good for a full day; scholarships are available for families who need financial assistance.

 For more information, including a workshop session calendar, please e-mail Rosa Tejada at rosa.tejada@nyhistory.org.

10/19 Speaking & Listening Homework

Be prepared with your resume next week and be able to talk about yourself in front of the class.
If you can bring in a few copies of your resume that would be helpful, or send it to my email and I will print them out for class.

S&L followup 10/12

Today we had an interesting conversation about high fructose corn syrup.  I did a little 'googling' and came up with some interesting reading:

1.  A doctor wrote this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/high-fructose-corn-syrup-dangers_b_861913.html

2. and this is from Dr. Mercola about foods americans eat that should be banned:
http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/11944-banned-foods.html

10/19 Reading&Writing Homework

These are the questions we discussed at the end of class.  Write a paragraph about them for EXTRA CREDIT  :}

1.     According to the information in the selection, what is Vingo’s attitude toward his wife?  What else do you learn about her at the conclusion of the story. 

2.    Why do you think the young people first became interested In Vingo?  How do you think their attitude about him changed after they head learned his story?

 
For homework write 1 paragraph:

Many people are thrilled, some even to tears, by this story.  How did you react when you first read it?  Why do you think ‘The Yellow Ribbon” has such a powerful effect on readers?

 

Start to Read the Story on Page 83 - Do It Better
Remember the reading strategies we discussed last week:
read/underline words
read again
read again -does it make more sense now?
look up the vocabulary if you dont know the word from context
 

 

 

Speaking & Listening Students:

On 11/16 our classroom is not available so I was considering a field trip instead.   Has anyone gone to the Tenement Museum?
http://www.tenement.org/groups.php


I think it would be interesting to learn about how our city was formed and give us lots of listening practice.  Look at the guide below and let me know below if it sounds interesting.
http://www.tenement.org/files/group/SchoolGroupGuide.pdf

****I have heard back from them- they can give us a tour on  11/16- it is the Then & Now Walking Tour (maximum 25 people) from  10 to 12pm.  The cost would be $12 per student and $14 per adult.

metropolitan museum of art/Moma cinema

*jewish museum at 91st and madison.  

9/24 Speaking/Listening Class:
We discussed listening for gist and filling in vocabulary for a story we listened to.  It was especially challenging since some of the words were not readily available on our worksheet and we had to stretch our memory or use different words to make the sentence meaningful.

We also watched a video with no sound and discussed what was happening to our partner who could not see the screen! It was interesting to see what words and actions we knew spontaneously.

Some pronunciation videos were watched also, as I finished interviewing the class.

9/28 S&Listening

Discovering some of the challenges an English Language Learners encounter every day is so fascinating.  Today we learned about common expressions to remember:
I beg your pardon? (more formal)
I'm sorry?
Excuse me?
I didn't catch that?
Can you please slow down?
Can you repeat that?

And we learned some expressions like :
I'll figure it out - or getting 'the shakes' from too much coffee.

We listened to a report about Soda and its bad effects on children.  We will discuss more about that next week as well as alcoholism and withdrawal.

Have a great week!
podcast:
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/soda-soft-drinks-aggressive-behavior-alcoholism-cdc/1743447.html

Extra Practice Sites

Games and Practice: http://a4esl.org/ http://www.esl-galaxy.com/adults.html http://www.eslcafe.com/students/ Tutoring Suppport: http://www.eastsideliteracy.org/tutorsupportfESLlESLRes.htm

Opportunity for students from Japan, Korea and China!

Below is an email I received from a fellow student who is conducting research.....read below - you could win a prize and help be a part of some interesting research!

My name is Tristan, and I'm an MA student in applied linguistics at Teachers College, Columbia University.  As part of my MA project, I'm conducting an online survey about how Japanese, Korean, and Chinese adults living in the United States introduce themselves to English speakers.  I thought I would reach out to this group in an effort to attract more participants, because I'm seeking as many as possible!

Participants must be at least 18 years old, come from Japan, Korea, or a primarily Chinese-speaking country or territory, and currently live in the New York City area.  Participants' results are confidential, and participants can also enter to win one of two $20 Amazon gift cards.  On average, the survey takes less than 5 minutes.  Because I did not need IRB approval for this project, informed consent is not needed.

Here is the link to the survey:   http://goo.gl/O1R5X4

9/24 Reading/Writing Class: This week we covered getting to know one another - what fun that was!  Everyone joined in a circle and introduced themselves with a custom 'sign' or 'signal'.  We all had to repeat everyone's name and signal as we went around the room!  As I discussed, this is a great way to learn though all of our learning modalities - seeing, speaking, listening, and moving.

Welcome Hunter College COPE Students

I just wanted to thank you all for such a wonderful first day - I hope it was the same for you!
It was a pleasure to meet with you all and discuss your hopes in becoming a better English Language Learner!

I figured out our problem with the afternoon class and its overcrowding!  My morning students will be moved to another classroom (so they won't have me for the afternoon) and have Mrs. Ashmede who is a wonderful teacher and writer!

Things to remember:

Bring in two notebooks to class on Saturday!
Bring in your $10.00 for class materials (if you have not paid me already :}

My afternoon students should remember their newspaper so we can have an excellent class discussion and writing assignment!

Have a wonderful week!