Group Presentations: Thursday, November 29

Please be ready to present your group presentation to the class!  Here are the group assignments and topics:

• Mohammed, Saori, & Kyeong A: In a car, a full cup of coffee tends to spill when you begin driving and when you stop.
• Alejandro, Mio, & Yhan: When you put objects on a tablecloth and pull the tablecloth, the objects do not fall off the table.
• Hussah, Keis, & Sara: While riding a skateboard, you fly forward off the board when the wheel hits a rock.

After class on Thursday, I will upload videos of your final presenations to your Reading & Vocabulary class wiki.  To review your presentation, go to your R&V wiki, then click on the SLNT Final Group Presentation Page link in the sidebar to the right of the main page.

Oral Presentation Resources

• How to give a successful oral presentation - primarily for science-related talks
• Oral Communication Center - Tips & Guides

Newton's First Law of Motion

Unit 6 Quiz on Thursday, November 15th

We will have a quiz on the Unit 6 Vocabulary on pg. 92 in our textbook and on Friday's Code Talker lecture.  You can use your notes from Friday's lecture during the quiz.

Informal Debate in class on Thursday, November 8th

After the presentations, we will have an informal debate on the topic of whether or not students in US public schools should take an additional history course that focuses on Native American History.  Some additional information on this topic is below:

• Montana Enacts American Indian Education Provision
• Texas Textbook Tussle Could Have National Impact
• New AZ Law Targets 'Ethnic Studies' Programs
• American History Told Through Native Lens

Informal Debate in class on Monday, November 5th

After the presentations, we will have an informal debate on a current issue facing Native Americans.  Page 108 of our text lists three possible topics, and we will choose one of them to debate during class on Monday.  Below is some supplementary information on each of the three topics:

1. Tribal vs. U.S. Government Laws
• Law Tackles Crime On American Indian Reservations
• Gov't to Allow Indians to Posses Eagle Feathers 
2. Tribes pay no taxes
• Tribes Clash with Counties over Property Taxes
3. History of Native Americans taught in U.S. Schools:
• Montana Enacts American Indian Education Provision

Homework for Monday, Nov. 5th

Your next presentation will involve sharing your observations of the university class you observed.  For this assignment, you conducted primary research by observing a class and taking notes on the behavior of the students and the instructor and the interactions between the participants.

This four-minute presentation should include the following information:

1. Describe what you did - what class did you observe? What was the topic of the lecture? How many students were in the class?
2. Describe your observations - How do the students behave in class? How do the students and instructor interact?  Use the questions on the classroom observation form to guide your discussion.
3. Interpret what you learned - What did you learn about acceptable classroom behavior at the university?  Do you think this is normal? Did it surprise you? How is it different from classroom behavior at a university in your country?

Your presentation should also:

• have an introduction, body, and conclusion (just like a good essay)
• make use of appropriate transitional expressions

Finally, don't forget to practice your presentation, so that you can look at your audience while giving your speech. Avoid reading your presentation!

Homework for Thursday, Nov. 1st

Class Observation Reports due!  Your report should include answers to the questions about your observations of student and teacher behavior in the class you observed.  You will also need to include a page of notes from the class.

Videos from Friday's Class

Video 1: Russell Means, Native American activist, dies (CBSNewsOnline)  

•  http://youtu.be/-ko5JdatZCs

Video 2: Interview with Russell Means

Homework Assignment due in class on Monday, Oct. 29th

Use your composition book to summarize one current news story that really interests you from the NPR (National Public Radio) broadcast news show, All Things Considered. To find a story to summarize, go to

• Go to http://www.npr.org/
• Click on Programs
• Under News, click on All Things Considered.
• Scroll down and choose the story you'd like to hear.
• You can listen to the story directly in NPR's media player, or you can download the podcast and save it to your computer to listen using iTunes. Listen to the story as many times as you need in order to write your summary.

The entry in your composition book should follow the outline below:

1. Summarize the story in your own words. Who or what is the story about? Where, when, and how did it take place? Why is it important enough to be on the news?
2. Voice your opinion about what happened. What might be wrong with the situation and how might you change it?
3. Write two discussion questions about the story for your classmates. Try to write open-ended questions that will generate discussion and debate; avoid yes/no questions.

I will check your composition books with your news story in class on Monday. Be prepared to share your story!

Homework for Monday, October 22nd

Prepare an outline of your visual aid presentation and be ready to share your presentation with a classmate.

Presentation Requirements:

1. Between four (4) and five (5) minutes long – no more, no less
2. Prepare a visual aid that will be shown to the class – if you plan to use handouts for your visual aid, then prepare enough for the entire class, including me.
3. Use appropriate discourse markers and vocabulary terms in your presentation.
4. Explain all the relevant parts of the visual aid: title, symbols, what is being measured, etc.
5. Describe the purpose of the visual aid. What is it meant to show or demonstrate?

Homework for Thursday, October 18th

1. Do a graph analysis of your visual aid by answering the questions on page 87 on a separate sheet of paper.
2. Study for the Unit 5 vocabulary quiz.

The vocabulary for the quiz comes from the graph-related and math-related words we've been practicing with in class.  Words to know for the quiz are:

• correspond
• series
• statistics
• data
• subsequent
• vertical
• horizontal
• axis
• trend
• fraction
• percentage
• hypothesis
• analysis
• synopsis

Discussing Graphs

In class on Friday (October 12th), we looked at three short videos that discussed three common graphs: the line graph, the bar graph, and the pie graph.  These videos introduce vocabulary that are often used to discuss graphs. 

Click the play button to view each of the videos.  What words or expressions are used to discuss the graphs?

Bar Graphs

Line Graphs

Pie Charts

Homework Assignment due in class on Monday, Oct. 8

Use your composition book to summarize one current news story that really interest you from the NPR (National Public Radio) broadcast news show, All Things Considered.  To find a story to summarize, go to

• Go to http://www.npr.org/
• Click on Programs
• Under News, click on All Things Considered.
• Scroll down and choose the story you'd like to hear.
• You can listen to the story directly in NPR's media player, or you can download the podcast and save it to your computer to listen using iTunes. Listen to the story as many times as you need in order to write your summary. 

The entry in your composition book should follow the outline below:

1. Summarize the story in your own words. Who or what is the story about? Where, when, and how did it take place? Why is it important enough to be on the news?
2. Voice your opinion about what happened. What might be wrong with the situation and how might you change it?
3. Write two discussion questions about the story for your classmates. Try to write open-ended questions that will generate discussion and debate; avoid yes/no questions.

I will check your composition books with your news story in class on Monday. Be prepared to share your story!

Homework Assignment due in class on Monday, Sept. 24

Use your composition book to summarize the NPR news story from the April 2011 Morning Edition podcast. You can hear the podcast directly through the NPR website.

• Click here to access the podcast for the story, Federal Effort Targets Sexual Assaults At Colleges by Elaine Grant
• Once on the story's webpage, click on "Listen to the Story"

The entry in your composition book should follow the outline below:

1. Summarize the story. Who or what is the story about? Where, when, and how did it take place? Why is it important enough to be on the news?
2. Voice your opinion about what happened. What might be wrong with the situation and how might you change it?
3. Write two discussion questions about the story for your classmates. Write open-ended questions that will generate discussion and debate; avoid yes/no questions.

I will collect/check your composition books with your news stories in class on Monday. Be prepared to share your story and lead a class discussion!

Phrasal Verb Presentations starting in class on Monday, Sept. 17

Choose one of your phrasal verbs and prepare a five (5) minute presentation that explains the term and how it is used.  Be prepared to write the following on the board before class starts:

1. The phrasal verb that you will be discussing,
2. A definition that is written in your own words,
3. Two (2) sentences that use the phrasal verb correctly and demonstrate how the term is used.

Here are the dates of the presentations:

• Monday, Sept 17th:
• Sarah
• Mohammed
• Saori
• Alejandro
• Thursday, Sept 20th:
• Kyeonga
• Raid
• Friday, Sept 21st:
• Yhannels
• Mio
• Monday, Sept 24th
• Keisuke
• Hussah
• Ayat

Homework Assignment due in class on Thursday, Sept. 13

Use your composition book to summarize two current news stories that really interest you. Choose one story from the USA and one story from the world (anywhere outside of the USA).

This time, challenge yourself by summarizing news stories that are spoken rather than written.  Look for news stories on the television or the radio.  You might also want to look for spoken news stories that can be listened to over the Internet.  Some possible places you can go to hear the news over the Internet:

• http://www.voanews.com/
• http://www.npr.org/
• http://www.cnn.com/video/

For both stories, the entries in your composition book should follow the outline below:

1. Summarize the story in your own words. Who or what is the story about? Where, when, and how did it take place? Why is it important enough to be on the news?
2. Voice your opinion about what happened. What might be wrong with the situation and how might you change it?
3. Write two discussion questions about the story for your classmates. Try to write open-ended questions that will generate discussion and debate; avoid yes/no questions.

I will collect your composition books with your news stories in class on Monday. Be prepared to share at least one of your stories!

Homework Assignment due in class on Monday, Sept. 10

This is the first step in our phrasal verb project! In Thursday's class, you picked two phrasal verbs that you will focus on for your project.  For Monday's homework:

1. First, ask a native speaker to define the two phrasal verbs; write down his or her definitions. 
2. Next, look up the phrasal verbs in a dictionary, and write down the dictionary definitions next to the defintions from the native speaker.
3. Third, write one example sentence using the phrasal verb correctly for both of your terms. You can ask the native speaker to help you with this, too.

Be ready to share your definitions and example sentences with your classmates in class on Monday!

Homework Assignment due in class on Thursday, Sept. 6

Use your composition book to summarize two current news stories that really interest you.  Choose one story from the USA and one story from the world (anywhere outside of the USA).  For both stories, the entries in your composition book should follow the outline below:

1. Summarize the story. Who or what is the story about? Where, when, and how did it take place? Why is it important enough to be on the news?
2. Voice your opinion about what happened.  What might be wrong with the situation and how might you change it?
3. Write two discussion questions about the story for your classmates.  Try to write open-ended questions that will generate discussion and debate; avoid yes/no questions.

I will collect your composition books with you news stories in class on Thursday.  Be prepared to share at least one of your stories!

Welcome to our Level 5 Speaking, Listening, and Note-taking blog! Check this blog frequently for homework descriptions, links to useful information, and other supplementary materials!