Tourism Brochure

Look at the following pictures and write an interesting brochure about the location.

1st, choose a picture and write the number of the picture so we know which one you are writing about.

2nd, use what we learned last week about using words similar to like: as if, as though, as, the way. Don't forget what we studied at the back of the book as well, as does Robert.

3rd, Have Fun!


1 2


34


5 6

Mid Term Exam

Since we are practically done with unit 6 and we have to begin preparing for the midterm exam, I have decided that this week we are going to have one post. This will be like a forum where questions and answers will be answered. You need to post 3 times this week but you are encouraged to check it more.

This week's assignment is going to be for you to begin checking units 1 thru 6 and write any questions you might have here. Your 3 posts can either be asking a question or answering one. I will be checking this post about twice a day so I will try to answer as many questions as I can.

Remember that this is for you to review for the exam. Also, if you post more than 3 times this week, there will be extra credit on the midterm exam which is probably going to be Thursday.

Name the band

For this activity you have to write about a band, actor, singer, writer, etc.

First, think of a famous band, actor, singer, writer, etc.
that we all know.

Second, use the new vocabulary for unit 6 and will and would for present and past routines to write a very good description of the thing you chose to write about. Do not write the name of the thing you chose, we are going to guess.

Third, write what you think another person wrote about might be after you read the description.

Remember, do not write the name of the thing you chose you are writing about!

Remember, guess the ones you think you know!

Double Comparitives

Using the information we have just studied, write something you believe and explain it.


Use: The more, The Less, The comparitive

Make sure to explain your answer.

New T.V. Show

Read the following T.V. show proposal.

T.V. Show Proposal

English 101 is a heartwarming drama that focuses on the lives of three high school students and their English teacher. The show is set in an international high school that will be shut down unless students and teachers can find a way to save it.

Target Market: Young teens will love watching this after-school show because they'll identify with the main characters, the school setting, and the situations.

Characters: Each episode revolves around English teacher Roberto Garcia and a small group of students. Maria is a senior who dreams of becoming a hip-hop star. Sam is the brilliant and handsome honor students. John is the shy basketball star.

Story Line: Everyone loves Maple, but unless they come up with a plan, it will be closed to make room for a new shopping center. Each week cast members struggle with their own lives as they also struggle to save their school.

Similar to what I did, you must write a proposal for a new T.V. Show. It should meet 3 criteria.

1. Name and brief description

2. Target Market and brief description

3. Characters with a brief description

4. Story Line and brief description

Interesting News

The following articles are from the Onion, a phony internet journal. Read one of the following and report what you thought using the grammar studied on page 37.
so, such, such...that, so...that, so much/little...that, so many/few...that

1. Mayan calendar predicts bad movie
2. Museum allow painting to be touched
3. Temporary priests due to lack of money
4.

T.V. Shows

This week's assignment is extremely easy! You need to write about 3 movies, T.V. shows, books, plays, etc., shows using the vocabulary on page 40.

Clichéd, engrossing, formulaic, insipid, inspiring, moving, predictable, riveting, touching.

Write 3 in total, not 3 for each. Make sure you use the vocabulary.

E True Xoxollywood Story - The Life of Robert

Look at the following pictures and invent a story about one of them.

USE: it + is, was, has been + Past Participle

USE: it + is, was, has been + Past Participle

Hoaxes and Tall Tales

This week, each of you will do a brief investigation on one of the following either Hoaxes or Tall Tales. First of all, let me explain what a hoax is. It kind of like a big, elaborate lie; for example, the three naufragos. A tall tale, on the other hand, is an exaggerated story told by people who were beginning to inhabit The United States.

Each option can only be used once! So if you see two comments on one hoax or tall tale, choose another one. There should be enough choices, I think.

Click on one of the following links to investigate, then read the instruction on the bottom.

Hoaxes

Piltdown Man

Loch Ness Monster (Feel free to look elsewhere for

Bigfoot/Yeti information, but these sites are

Chupacabras well-founded coming from

War of Worlds international newspapers)

Crop Circles

Tall Tales

Paul Bunyan

Pecos Bill

Johnny Appleseed

Roberto Garcia

After investigating about one of the above, write two to three sentences about what you learnt using the following verbs in a reporting clause:

argue assert claim report

admit agree assume believe doubt explain feel

ie. Many people assume (that) Robert is the smartest person in Mexico.

Don't forget you can use some new vocabulary, too.

believable convincing dubious fishy misleading

plausible conceivable far-fetched iffy phony

Superstitions

Are you superstitious? Take the follwing test to find out.
Click on submit answers to find out.

Now write a superstition you know. Make sure not to repeat what your other classmates have said so read what everyone has written.

Roll Call

Are you there? Just to make sure you have understood how to blog, I would like you to each post that you are here.

Technology, good or bad?

Nowadays, technology can be seen as both good and bad. Read the following article from a university newspaper and react to what is said.

Look around your room and you'll find technology strewn all over the place alongside clothes and books. A computer sits on a desk littered with paper and food wrappers. Your cell phone is tucked away in your right pocket, and in your left, maybe an iPod.

In our everyday lives, technology is making our tasks and pleasures more efficient and enjoyable. Or is it? With each new technological gadget that hits the market, one must ask just how much technology is truly helping us. In the medical and science fields, technology is making it possible to find cures for diseases and create new medicines.

Few could argue that these are harmful impacts of technology, but what about some of the negative aspects it presents? We all saw the disaster of electronic voting in the 2000 presidential elections, and some political analysts predict the problem will only get worse if more states adopt electronic voting. Should we really be using technology at the risk of it interfering with our democratic processes?

On a more personal level, computers are just as frustrating as they are necessary in our lives. Sure, being able to check e-mail and write papers the night before they are due can be wonderful, but what about when the computer inevitably crashes, demolishing a 12-page paper? Not to mention the capabilities of hackers stealing personal information and using it to their advantage. It would seem that despite all of the tasks the computer makes easy, its malfunctions could possibly outweigh its outweigh its benefits.

More importantly, some could argue that technology has enabled our generation to be lazy students. When our parents were in college, there was no such thing as the Internet. When they had a research paper due, they had to go to the library and utilize stacks of books to find the coveted information.

We have it much easier. The Internet makes it possible for us to look up various sources while sitting at home in our pajamas if we so choose.

But, as any professor has most likely mentioned, the Web also makes it easier for us to plagiarize. This isn't assuming anyone does, but the temptation and ability to do so are greater now than 30 years ago.

Technology is also putting people out of jobs. In some factories, humans have been seemingly phased out for robot-esque workers. The very thing we use every day to communicate and do our work is taking work away from some people.

And what about journalists? Newspaper subscriptions are dropping nationwide. Who wants to pay for a newspaper when you can read it on the Web for free? Most newspaper Web sites are forcing people to register before they can access the whole article, but what good does this really do if most people don't read the entire article? Are any of us journalists going to see our names in print on the pages of The New York Times or The Chicago Tribune or just at the top of a Web page?

It seems it may not be technology itself, but our addiction to it that has become the problem. When our computers crash or our cell phones fizzle, we are frustrated. These things are supposed to work all of the time, right? Wrong. They don't because they're only machines designed by humans, which makes them prone to malfunction and breakage periodically.

Welcome

We will use this blog to complement the class and to give you an opportunity to practice your English outside of class with not only your classmates but students from another class of the same level. The Blog will be updated at least once a week which means you have to check it weekly. The content on the blog will be based on themes we touch in class and in the book. Each week there will be either a link to go to or a passage on which we will comment. The idea of the blog is to work from each other's ideas. So you will read what other people have written and comment based on what they said.