Reading Project - Checklist 3 - BookPortfolio

Finally, here is the Checklist you should use to make sure your portfolio is complete:

Our PORTFOLIO contains:
1. Individual Reading Logs including:
- my reactions and reflections as I was reading the short story/book
- self -assessment (e.g. commitment, what I would do differently, whether I am pleased with my work and the group's work, .... )
2. Information about the author and background historical information
3. Beautiful Passages and discussion
4. Illustration(s) and discussion
5.  Any other texts you've written (e.g. dramatisations)
6. Conclusions and recommendations (Group)
(Points 2-6 = your presentation, mostly)

And now I'm done with checklists :)

Reading Project - Checklist 2 - Groupwork

Click here for a second Checklist, this time about Group Work. It's actually the one you filled in in class and that will be used later in both final assessment and individual interviews.

Reading Project - Checklist 1 - Presentations

Here are just a few questions  - actually a checklist -  to help you prepare and assess your Presentation:

When we introduce the author and historical background:
1. We selected aspects that are relevant for the interpretation of the book/short story
2. After the presentation the audience will be able to establish the connections between author/background and book/short story

About the connections/illustrations:
1. We have discussed them in the group
2. Presentation is the result of that discussion, not individual points of view
3. We are happy with our work mainly because we discovered many new things.

About the Beautiful Passages:
They are either:
1. illustrated and/or
2. read expressively and/or
3. dramatised and/or
4. explained in terms of style/technique

If we have a Powerpoint:
1. We're NOT going to read the slides
2. Most slides are IMAGES that help us illustrate/explain some point
3. If we do have some text, we are quite sure it's just topics
4. Text/topics are 'readable' i.e. right font / right colour / right background

All in all:
1. We are confident because we read the book/short story and are well-prepared
2. We are confident our colleagues will be curious and will most probably read the book (or at least see the film!)

I tried to keep it simple. Add other questions if you must. That would be lovely :)

TEST PLAN

As you all know FINAL WRITTEN TEST  will take place on 24 May. For your reference here is the TEST PLAN.

Public Speaking

I should say our first Public Speaking session (11-8) was quite a success. I'm looking forward to the second leg :)
All of you will be taking notes and assessing. Click here for the checklist with the criteria.

Our Name Brand Sociey

Read this poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti - The World is a Beautiful Place and answer the questions to help  interpretation.
All in all, what do you think is meant by the phrase 'Our Name Brand Society'?
Read other poems by Ferlinghetti on http://www.poemhunter.com/lawrence-ferlinghetti/poems/
And explore the site for other poets and poems if you feel in the mood

Welcome back

Here we are back to school again. I hope you had a splendid holiday, and had plenty of time for ... reading :)

As we get started please take some time to check this term's planning because there have been some changes (11-5 and 11-8).


As promised here is the link with the speeches of the finalists of the SPEAK OUT Challenge that Cláudia (11-8) brought to us. Thank you, Claúdia. I believe these videos will be very helpful.And again, the assessment criteria.

Finally, please do not forget to read the GUIDELINES that will help you prepare your BOOK PRESENTATION and BOOK PORTFOLIO.

Keep up the good work :)

Reading Project

It seems The Translator by Daoud Hari is a hard book to find. So, for something completely different, why not turn to Oscar Wilde?
For starters, you'll be reading a classic so it's always a good bet.
Secondly, his books are really  good reading, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Finally, you can find Oscar Wilde's books online (Project Gutenberg), as they're now public domain. And you can even download the audio files.

Some of you have already started reading  The Importance of Being Earnest . Try the AUDIO file too.
And here you can find The Picture of Dorian Gray and download the audio file too. In any case, if you want the book, it will be pretty inexpensive, and easy to find.

What do you reckon?

Summer Term Planning

Well, you might say, 'We haven't finished Spring Term, how come we're already planning the next term?'
But we are :)
Click here (11-5) or here (11-8) to find out what we'll be doing in April and May.
And yes, you have a lot to of reading to do on your holiday, which, I believe, makes the perfect holiday :)

Workshop in English

Here is A REMINDER of an activity that might interest some of you. Check the website Casa das Histórias for more information about My Choice, My Voice (9 April).

Self-assessment

This term is almost over so it's time to think back and assess work. Here is a file to guide you through self-assessment. As usual, it should be part of your Learning Journal.

UNIT - Culture and Identity / Public Speaking

It's been a while since we started this unit. It's therefore time to have here the whole set of documents that we've been using.
To start with the UNIT OVERVIEW. In this file you'll find links for all the other materials we've used/will use but to make it easier here are the individual links:

READING/LISTENING

- Claudia's Videos: Speak Out Challenge & James Bond

- ‘Dilemmas 

                1 – The Disappearing Degree

                2 – Lost in translation?

                3 – Does it matter who is asking?

VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR FOCUS

Ways of adding emphasis with KEY
 

STUDY VISIT 

Guide Discover Cova da Moura

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Assessment Criteria

Hope everything is clear :)

Lisboa Pombalina

As promised (!) here is the outline of the text you are supposed to write with (some of) the things you learned in the study visit:

- Introductory paragraph - purpose of the visit
- Historical background
- The city before the earthquake
- The earthquake
- The rationale for reconstruction (context, layout, buildings' structure,topography, economic constraints,...)
- One detail (or more) that caught your imagination: colour, toponomy, façades, statuary, function ...
- Final comments/general assessment of visit

This book, that you can find in CRE, might help you:

 Guia Urbanístico e Arquitectónico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Associação de Arquitectos Portugueses,1987.
It is bilingual (Portuguese and English :)

Reading a BOOK

Some of you have already started reading your chosen book, I'm sure. So here are the guidelines that will help you read and prepare both the written work and the oral presentation.
Please note that next term your portfolio will actually be a BOOK PORTFOLIO. Please, make sure you read these guidelines carefully so that you can ASK QUESTIONS if in doubt, and coordinate work with your colleagues.
I'm sure you'll enjoy it :) Reading the book, I mean.

Casa das Histórias

And now for something way more interesting.
We might consider a visit to Casa das Histórias, early next term. One of the guided visits is in English so it would be perfect. What do you reckon?
In the meanwhile here is something you could do on your own, especially the arts class. But not only!

My Choice, My Voice

Um workshop interactivo que promove o desenvolvimento de competências no uso da língua inglesa.

As actividades servem de mote para a aprendizagem da língua, incluem a escuta, a oralidade, a leitura

e a escrita, bem como a descrição de obras ou a simulação de uma entrevista com a artista.

A comunicação, a aprendizagem de vocabulário específico para a descrição de obras de arte e da própria experiência estética, constituem os objectivos deste breve curso.

Nível Intermédio de Inglês | 30€ por participante

Auditório e salas de exposição | Formador: British Council

9 de Abril

das 10h30 às 17h30

Modal Verbs

Here is a worksheet to help you revise the MODAL VEBS. To tell you the truth I think by now you should be independent enough to have the initiative of picking a grammar and/or searching the net :) But if you feel you don't have the time or the will to do so, you can use this worksheet.

Testing is over ...

... for the time being.
Check the KEY - 11-5 / 11-8

As far as Use of English is concerned here are two areas you should revise:
-IF clauses
- MODAL Verbs (especially DEDUCTION: certainty and possibility)

The World of Work - Follow Up

As a follow up of this unit, and as planned, we'll focus on how to write a biography.
For the Art Class (11-5)  Frank Lloyd Wright seemed to me an inevitable option. I must say his life and work absolutely fascinate me so... Here is the worksheet.
I'm looking forward to Zé Diogo's presentation (great idea, ZD, to volunteer :-) but in the meanwhile, and if you'd like to do some research on your own just take a look at the FALLINGWATER...

For the Economics Class (11-8) I have someone else in store. Can you guess whom it might be?
Well, nobody dared to guess, but here is the worksheet. The autobiography of AMARTYA SEN.

Lead like the great conducters - TED conference

This may not be exactly within your interests, I know...but I couldn't help it. This is an amazing talk and I liked it so much I have to share it.
Here it is:

What’s in the news? / What’s in this advert/commercial?

Guidelines for individual presentations

1. Introduction e.g. Have a good reason for picking that piece of news/advert and explain it to the class! OR
   Give your colleagues some hints about what they’re going to see, let them anticipate and guess…

2. Promote active listening – have your colleagues take notes
   You’ll need to guide them through that process. E.g. give titles/headings
3. Briefly summarise the contents, or preferably, have someone do that for you. Like this you’ll check comprehension. Check notes. A second viewing may be necessary.
4. Go into more detail: analyse image and text. E.g its objectives, context, impact…  
5. Highlight any vocabulary and/or grammar points you think might be important
6. Open question time / discuss
7. Conclusion

 I'm looking forward to your presentations :)

TESTS

For your reference please check these documents:
- Wrap up (5 Feb)
- Test Plan
- Progress Check KEY (11-5)
They'll help you prepare for the tests, in the coming weeks. Good luck :)

Round Table - The World of Work

Next Thursday (11-8) we'll stage a ROUND TABLE in which very important issues will be discussed by a most distinguished panel of experts. The audience, a group of concerned and commited young people, will be there to ask questions and comment. Click here to check the rules and the names of the experts.

 On Friday (11-5) we'll have the second part of the debate. Click here for some notes that can help you out prepare the debate and to check who will be the members of the panel.

Week 2 - The World of WORK (4)

This week we'll start by viewing and discussing this (not so) silly JOB INTERVIEW.
Being a Monty Python's sketch you'll probably think it will be very silly, but I can tell you there is more to it than meets the eye.
Let's see if you agree with me :)



Next you'll be writing a MAGAZINE ARTICLE. Hopefully, your text will bear witness of all the work we've done so far, regarding this topic.

Week 2 - The World of WORK (3)

On Thursday/Friday we'll listen to/view some job interviews. Anticipate the lesson by viewing the videos comfortably at home. They're part of the series 'You're hired' that you can find here, the British Council website. There you can also find some vocabulary exercises, and you can read the script and, why not, 'repeat after them' to practise pronunciation.



About the game you played last Monday I'll just copy down Cláudia's LJ entry. I hope you don't mind, Cláudia :)

"This game is about choosing the best career options. This person was fired and it is necessary to find new opportunities to make a living, to earn money. At the beginning we decided to be careful, but this strategy didn't work and we tried again chosing steps that involved higher risks. Like this we found our way and we were successful. I liked this game because it helps us to make difficult decisions, and try to understand our colleagues' point of view."

Or, as Max put it:" this is a game about how easily our decisions can change our life."

Week 2 - The World of WORK (2)

Brave new world of work / Teleworking --> Here is the link to the solutions of the exercises.
Remember you should write a Learning Journal entry about these issues.
Whatever your reflections are about this topic. Think about it :)

WORK - expanding ideas

Since our topic is WORK some of you might be interested in this article. Not too difficult, an interesting read, especially good for vocabulary building. And since you (11-8) 'are majoring' Economics ... you might start to get used to reading this kind of article. It's from the New Yorker online,January 7, 2011

Jobs: The Crisis Continues

Posted by John Cassidy

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2011/01/jobs-the-crisis-continues.html#ixzz1AgG98fHx

Week 2 - The World of WORK

We have already started this new unit about THE WORLD of WORK.

These are the documents that you need to start with:
OVERVIEW of the unit
Some questions and a painting to get us started...
QUIZ - Are you on the right path? (+ worksheet)

I hope you'll enjoy this unit. Honestly, I think it contains some really good materials, but who I am to judge that :)