The Holidays and Their Challenges for ESL Students

The Holidays

Imagine the bedazzlement experienced by the new immigrant from Asia, Africa, or South America when they spend their first December in the United States. Lights are strung everywhere. Lawns are covered with huge blown up representations of Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, polar bears, menorahs, and even the Nativity scene, which includes the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child, all quite reminiscent of the Pillsbury Dough Boy! Shoppers mill about in great numbers, and the occasional panic arises over a much-in-demand gift item. Music is also omnipresent, so the new immigrant is likely to encounter such inscrutable tunes as "Grandma Got Run Over y a Reindeer." And

Ways to Use Blogging in the School Classroom

On Saturday I attended the LILT Conference at Bayshore Middle School. LILT stands for Long Island Language teachers, and the conference was a large gathering of language teachers. I met two of my former students there. One became a Spanish teacher, while the other became an Italian teacher, though the latter had originally intended to be an elementary school teacher. In addition to seeing them, I went to several interesting workshops.

Two Spanish/Italian teachers gave a workshop on blogging with their students. They have several blogs, to which all their students from various classes can connect. The school has given them permission for the blogs to be open to the public. Here are the addresses:

www.desimoneespanol5ap.blogspot.com

www.laotranovela.blogspot.com

www.poesiapincelada.blogspot.com

www.italiano-tre.blogspot.com

www.italiano-cinque.blogspot.com

I hope you can get some ideas from them. The links are not working properly through my blog, so just copy and paste them into your browser.

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 Oreo or Keebler's Chocolate Graham Crust
1 package of My-T-Fine chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
1 half pint of heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoon sugar or confectioner's sugar

Cook the pudding with the milk exactly as directed on the package. Stirring it is key to not burning it, so be patient.
Let it cool about 10 minutes, and then pour it into the pie crust. Put the pie in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Whip the heavy cream with the vanilla and sugar until thick and creamy. Put the cream on the top of the pie. Refrigerate or serve. You may add chocolate sprinkles or shavings.
Make this pie on the day that you are planning to eat it. Enjoy!

languageaccount Home - languageaccount

languageaccount Home - languageaccount


Please visit the link above. It takes you to a great web page that shows the world's killer languages on a map and has speakers of US dialects and of endangered languages around the world. You will be able to listen to spealkers of the Tangiers dialect in Virginia, USA. I challenge you to write a transcript of what they are saying. Don't miss it!

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 -- What is it? It is all the new possibilities for communication made possible by the Web most recently. Click on the title for a vodcast explanation.

For teaching and learning there are many new implications, of which blogging is just one. How can you use wikis, Google Docs, Zoho, Twitter and other web applications for teaching and learning? The possibilities seem endless. If our students are digital natives, then we must enter the digital world too. I have been using computers for over 30 years, so I am as close to a digital native as my generation gets. Still, there is so much to learn, and there seems to be something new every day. It is hard to keep up.

Vocabulary
vodcast -- a video available on the web
implications -- suggestions, possibilities
endless -- infinite, having no limit or final point
digital native -- someone who has used electronic media such as computers and video games from childhood
generation --the average period of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their children, usually around 20-30 years
to keep up -- to continue at the same pace or to match someone's pace

1. Technology changes so fast that it is hard to ___________________.
2. I would like to film the class and put the ____________________ on our blog.
3. Kids today can be called __________________________ because they have been using advanced technology for most of their lives.
4. The _______________ of the article are that students and teachers benefit from using technology.
5. The grammar lesson was so long that it seemed _________________.
6. My mother and I are not of the same __________________.

Grammar Point
The first paragraph has three different sentences: a question or interrogative (?), a statement or indicative (.), and an imperative (.). Try to write one of each on the same topic in the same paragraph.

Measuring the Earthquake

Earthquake

Today there was an earthquake off the coast of American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake resulted in a tsunami that killed people and damaged property on American Samoa and Samoa. The total number of casualties has not yet been determined.

I remember a small earthquake north of New York City in the 1980s. I was visiting my family on Long Island. At around 5 in the morning, we were awoken from our sleep by a rumbling sound from below. My father had the impression that it was from the oil burner in the basement, so he got up, turned the oil burner off, and went back to sleep. When he got up a few hours later, he called the oil burner company to ask for a repairman. The customer service agent informed him that the noise we had heard was an earthquake. We were astonished. That was the first and only earthquake I have ever felt, but my brother and his family have experienced a few small ones recently where they live in the New Jersey Highlands.

Anyone interested in earthquakes can learn about them at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

The Northern Hemishere

Here is a map of the Northern Hemisphere.

Back to School

All over the Northern Hemisphere, September is the time to go back to school. Summer and vacation time come to an end. Parents and children hurry to stores to buy autumn clothing and school supplies. In some localities, schools provide the supplies for the children. In others, schools send home long lists of items that the students will need for the school year. In these distressing economic times, some schools seem to be providing less. Nonetheless, most schoolchildren in the U.S.A. have the material essentials for learning, while in some parts of the world, they do not even have books. Sometimes organizations sponsor book collections, so we should be sure to keep an eye out for such charitable efforts in order to improve the educational experience of children everywhere.

Vocabulary

Northern Hemisphere--(noun) the northern half of the earth, the earth north of the equator
Autumn-- (adjective here, also can be a noun) fall
localities-- (noun) places
distressing--(adj.) upsetting, trying
sponsor--(verb) to finance or take responsibility for someone else
to keep an eye out-- (idiom) watch
charitable--(adjective) generous, willing to give money to help others

Vocabulary Exercise

1. I would like to _______________ a relative to immigrate to the USA.
2. Please ________________ for my husband because he is on his way.
3. Watching the news of the war on TV can be ______________.
4. In the ______________________, the weather is cold when we celebrate Christmas.
5. Many _________________ have snow in December.
6. Susana was kind and ______________ to her needy neighbors.
7. ______________ is my favorite season.

Grammar

The present tense of verbs is used for regular actions. For example, every weekday children attend school. Find the present verbs in the paragraph. Write a sentence using one of them.

The Long Winter -- At Last Behind Us

I used to like winter in all of its manifestations, but I think my opinions of the seasons have changed. I went to college at SUNY Oswego, which is located on the lovely but often frigid shores of Lake Ontario, one of America's five Great Lakes. Some say that the sunset there rivals the best in the world, but so does the snowfall. In any case, when I went there, I made up my mind to enjoy the winter, and so I did. But now, some thirty years down the pike, I have indeed had enough, though not enough to move to Florida. At least the winter ends here, whereas the grueling heat of the Floridians' summer only lets up a bit for a few months.

So where is that temperate ideal place with temperatures and precipitation that do not offend? Where is that place with no tornadoes nor hurricanes, no blizzards nor droughts? Where indeed?

Vocabulary
manifestations -- the ways in which something shows itself
frigid -- very cold, freezing
down the pike -- gone by, passed
precipitation -- rain or snow
tornado -- twisters
hurricane -- storm with very high winds and much rain
blizzard -- dangerous snowstorm
drought -- a period in which there is little or no rain

Places
SUNY Oswego -- State University of New York at Oswego
Lake Ontario -- the easternmost Great Lake
The Great Lakes -- five very large lakes that are on the border between the USA and Canada
Florida -- the southernmost US state on the Atlantic Ocean

Vocabulary Exercise
1. Oswego often had very cold or ___________ temperatures.
2. The desert is a place where there is always a ____________ because there is little or no rain.
3. Weather in the Great Lakes region has many ______________ : rain, snow, twisters, which are also called _________, and terrible winter ____________.
4. ______________ is measure by the number of inches of rain or snow that falls.
5. Though it is now many years _____________________, I still remember the bad winters and beautiful sunsets at SUNY Oswego.

Grammar Point:
In my last paragraph, I ask three questions. These three questions are called rhetorical questions because they are used to enhance my rhetoric (writing or writing style). I don't really expect an answer to the questions.

Grammar Exercise: Write a paragraph about a place or the weather. Put in at least one rhetorical question.

Manhattan

Is there any place in the world like Manhattan? Shops, restaurants, museums, parks, clubs, churches, and lively sidewalks day and night are just some of the features of this unique city. Visitors and immigrants come from every corner of the world to become part of the fabric of the Big Apple.

If you want to find out why the city is called the Big Apple, visit this link .

Applied Linguistics Conference

On Saturday I attended the Applied Linguistics Conference at Columbia University's Teachers College. ESL and EFL teachers from around the world gathered to discuss the pressing issues facing applied linguists today. The buildings were dark, musty, and labyrinthian, but the ideas presented at the conference were luminous, fresh, and lucid. As the attendees moved from room to room, workshop to workshop, the sharing of research and new perspectives filled the air with excitement. What a stimulating opportunity for professional development!

Vocabulary
pressing--(adj.) urgent
musty--(adj.) not fresh, stale
labyrinthian--(adj.) maze-like
luminous--(adj.) full of light
lucid--(adj.) clear
perspectives--(noun) views

1. Where would the world be without __________ and skillful writing?
2. After the winter, the attic is always ___________ until it is warm enough to open the windows.
3. When she won the award, she was beaming, and her face was ____________.
4. Many ___________ can be expressed in the classroom.
5. Tom couldn't stay for dinner because he had _________ business.
6. Bureaucracy is often characterized by ____________ procedures and forms that can confuse even the smartest person.

Description and adjectives:
In order to write a good description, you need to expand your knowledge of words and their synonyms. One way to do this is to use a thesaurus. Write a description of the view from your window and use at least 4 new adjectives.

ESL Students and Sports in America

Tonight a large number of Americans watched the Super Bowl, America's football championship game. In September or October every year, they watch the World Series, the baseball championship. These are two sports not widely played outside of the USA. When your students arrive from the four corners of the world, they may never have seen an American football or baseball game. Yet in our schools, textbooks and novels often include references to these sports. Math textbooks may try to entice students into calculating averages by asking them to figure out batting averages or into learning subtraction by figuring out how many yards need to be run to get a first down. So not only do ESL students have to learn English, but they also have to become familiar with what to them may seem unusual sports. Internationally, the word "football" refers to soccer, so that may cause some confusion too.

They will learn to play American sports in gym class and after school. However, as ESL teachers, you can also help them learn about our sports by reading high-interest stories, watching films such as Remember the Titans, and by encouraging them to attend school games. For example, one of our student teachers is doing a play based on the aforementioned movie with her students. Perhaps you could explain the role that sports played in your life. Moreover, you could explore with them the trend in America to view sports figures as heroes. (In my opinion, this trend is disturbing because heroism goes far beyond playing a sport well and because so many famous sports figures bring such disgrace upon their names.) It is hard to include everything about American life in the limited time we have with our students, but devoting a little time to sports may help them in content learning and social adjustment.

Vocabulary
Four corners of the world-everywhere, the ends of the earth
entice-attract
cause confusion-make seem uncertain or muddled
encourage-inspire or give support to
aforementioned-something that has just been referred to in the text
disgrace-shame, dishonor
social adjustment-getting used to a new way of life

1. The attractive window display __________ me into the store.
2. The fight in the bar certainly _________________ last night during our quiet dinner.
3. ESL students always experience a period of __________________ after they arrive in the USA.
4. The great Olympic swimmer Micahael Phelps was pictured using illegal drugs. It's a ___________.
5. The _____________ swimmer received more medals for swimming than anyone else.
6. Athletes in the Olympics come from ________________________.


Grammar Point+
Discourse markers -- words that signal a relationship among ideas in a text or conversation
Contrast: however, but, yet
Addition: also, moreover
Find these words in the above text, and notice the relationships that they represent. Try using them in sentences.

Sunday Nights

Suddenly, Sunday nights have become my favorite time of the week for watching TV. Masterpiece Theater on PBS is running a series of dramatizations of classic English novels. So far, I have watched two of my favorite novels--Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Next is Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, which will be followed by 4 stories by Charles Dickens. In short, Sunday nights have become this English teacher's dream.

Tess, which takes place in the gentle southwestern English countryside, is the grim tale of a simple girl's love and circumstances that drive her to a disturbing end. Tess (on the upper left) is in many ways the opposite of another lead fictional character Anna Karenina, and I hope someday to have the time to write an article comparing and contrasting them. And Wuthering Heights, which takes place on the wild Yorkshire moors, is the unrivaled tale of a love that could not be contained. The lead characters of Heathcliff and Cathy (on the upper right) are perhaps the most memorable lovers in English literature.

So if you are at home on Sunday nights, tune in to Channel 13, and bring great literature into your living room. But don't forget to read the books too , if you haven't already.

Books
Tess of the d"Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Place:
Yorkshire moors -- an area of open land in northern England with poor drainage, bogs (soft ground full of water), and heather (an evergreen shrub with purple flowers)


Vocabulary
novel-- a long fictional narrative
dramatization--adapting a novel or other work for TV, movies, etc.
disturbing -- upsetting
fictional -- not true
unrivaled -- unequaled, has no better
memorable --easy to remember
tune in -- turn on (the program)

1.The story I read last night is better than anything else I have ever read; it is ___________.
2. When the president gives his speech, remember to _______________.
3. The newspaper article is not _____________. The events really happened.
4. The bad news was very _______________.
5. I love the ______________ of the Sherlock Holmes stories for TV.
6. The Three Musketeers is a French ___________ by Alexander Dumas.
7. I will never forget our meeting. It was _________________.

Grammar Point
Can you start a sentence with and? Find the example above. Write your own paragraph with a similar example.

A New Beginning

The New Year means a new beginning; likewise, a new semester represents a new beginning for both students and teachers. Now we start a new term, a new course, and a new chance to learn new things. So welcome new and old students! I hope that you will enjoy blogging this term and that it will become an integral part of your teaching and learning.