Wednesday 11/26 what to expect

Hi all,

I hope to have completed the grading of your midterms by about 10 a.m. tomorrow, so.... you are welcome to show up at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning and I will NOT mark you late.

I would like to leave for a field trip around 10:45, so show up before because I want to share your test score with you and also review what you might have missed!

I think it would be nice to walk over to the gourmet ghetto in North Berkeley, I know some of you have already done this before, but hopefully it will still be fun for you. If everyone is up for it, we could get a pizza at the Berkeley Cheese Collective, we could walk around Walnut Square and then walk back to the school.

Before we leave for the field trip, I would like for us to talk about what we will be looking at on Monday so we have a head's up of what to expect next in the curriculum. Obviously we will tackle Unit 6 immediately, so if you are ambitious, take a look at that Unit before Monday.

See you in the morning around 10. Feel free to come at 9 if you prefer.

MIDTERM 11/25

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow as you know we will have our midterm exam which covers Units 1-5.

Please study the grammar and the vocabulary of all of these units.

Make sure to get plenty of rest and above all, do not stress about this.

I will administer the exam at 9:15, so please arrive before!

Suggested amount of time for the test is 100 minutes, that is one hour and 40 minutes, broken down as follows:

40 minutes for Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation

30 minutes for Reading and Writing

30 minutes for Listening and Speaking.

Beginning at 9:15 means we will break at 10:55 - let's say at 11.

At 11 we will take a 20 minute break.  At 11:20 we will grade the exams together.  I will need you here, so please stay in class. Many of you have been leaving early, this hurts your attendance and you are learning less! Let's stay together!

See you tomorrow ~

HW for 11/21 and Quiz info

Hi everyone,

For HW please complete pp. 41 and 42 in the workbook.

Also please review for the quiz tomorrow.  What will be on the quiz?

• The vocabulary of Units 1, 2, 3 and 4, which we reviewed today in class 
• Grammar points of Units 4 and 5

(I have given some grammar examples, these are in no way all-inclusive of course, they are just meant to refresh your memory of the grammar point. Please go to the book and/or check any handouts I have given you, for a more comprehensive review!)

subject-verb inversions out of unit 4,
ex.: At no time     did      he      consider     surgery. (He didn't consider surgery)
       Neg. Adv.      Aux     S       Main V           O

conditionals, out of unit 5
ex. (again, these are just some examples, they are not exhaustive - check your handout and the book)

zero conditional: If you want to improve your English you have to read everyday!

first conditional: If I haven't finished the homework, I won't go to that party.

second conditional: If I were you, I'd learn the grammar inside out!

third conditional: If Moises had studied the vocabulary from the beginning, he wouldn't have to cram now!  =)

cleft sentences, out of unit 5
ex.
It was Marzouk who figured out the HDMI cable for us today!
I could have said: 'Marzouk figured out the HDMI cable for us' but this sentence gives less importance to Marzouk!

What I want is something to eat now!
I could have said: 'I want something to eat now' and the sentence is fine, but it lacks emphasis. By starting with the cleft 'What I want now' I demonstrate to the other interlocutors that what I want is important!

OK, that does it for the quiz.


READING CLUB is still happening - please share with your classmates what you are reading, you ARE reading right?!? If you're not, then it's never too late, read something NOW!

See you all tomorrow, have a great evening ~

HW for 11/19

Hi everyone,

If you were in class today, please complete the second side of the handout 'conditionals.'

Everyone please complete the exercises on page 65, the unit wrap up.

Our midterm exam is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25th and we will be completing the exam in one day. In the past I have divided the test into two sections, this time that won't work, given the format of the test.

Remember to read so you will be prepared to share what you are reading on Thursday.

We will review for the midterm, tomorrow, Thursday and Monday. Of course I hope you will study and review over the upcoming weekend as well.

See you all tomorrow. Remember too, if you have a communicable illness (i.e., your illness is contagious), please, please stay home and spare the rest of us! Send me a text via WhatsApp and I will excuse your absence. Again, use your judgment wisely, ONLY do this if you are really sick with a cold or a flu!

Cheers!

HW for 11/18

In the active book on page 63, please do exercise 4.

In the workbook please complete exercises 2 and 3 on page 34 also do the reading on page 37 and do exercises 4a, 4b and 5.

HW for 11/17

Hi everyone, thank you for another great week together.

For HW please begin working on Unit 5. On page 55 of the active book, read the warm-up, part 1 and make sure you understand the terms in bold such as 'came into a fortune,' or 'went bankrupt.'

Then please read the story on page 56, 'Zingerman's Community of Businesses.' Look at the Grammar section, part 4 on page 57 and complete exercise 5a.

Also please continue TO READ! Reading is key for your continued success learning the English language!

See you on Monday. Stay warm and stay healthy. Remember you can get some Ester C quick release vitamins - it's cold and flu season, pop one of those vitamins here and there as a preventive measure!

HW 11/13

For homework please complete ex. 3 on page 47 - future probability

Also please read the article on page 50, "How to Make your Child a Genius." Find the inversions in the text and underline them, then complete matching exercise 2 on the same page. If you do not know the meaning of the words, then check the learner dictionaries on the right banner (underneath the California poppy here on the blog) for help.

Quiz tomorrow, please review pp. 46, 47 and p. 130.
Grammar-
Future probability

Vocabulary-
Arrangements

Reading club
Please be prepared to share what you are reading with your group. If you are reading the same story or novel, give your group an update. Remember that you may read ANY form of literature you like, including comics, magazine articles, recipes, whatever floats your boat!

See you tomorrow!

HW for 11/12 - NO SCHOOL Tues. 11/11!

Hi everyone,

Here is the HW for Wednesday.

In the active book, please read pp. 44 and 45 "How to be a Super Hero." Be prepared to discuss the questions on page 45 in class on Wednesday, so PLEASE do the reading, we will not be rereading this in class. If you don't have the book, ask someone for a picture of the pages?

In the workbook, please complete exercise 3 on page 29. This is a review of the future probability phrases we went over today in class.

Our midterm exam will occur the week of 11/24. It was originally scheduled for 11/19, but I don't think we have enough time to prepare all units, 1-5, that are featured on the midterm.

Have a great holiday, it's Veterans Day tomorrow.

See you soon ~

HW for 11/10

Hi everyone,

Here is the HW for Monday:

Review the answers for Grammar exercise 2, page 25, in the workbook, about the days of cowboys and saloons. This exercise was not so easy, this is why I am asking you to review it. Please consult 'Active Grammar' on page 39 of your active book to see the reason for the answers.

Additionally please complete -

exercise 3 in the workbook on page 25

and exercise 7 in the active book, page 40.

Exercise 7 on page 40 is about genres of humor. If you are unsure what some of the terms mean, please look them up. You could even use the dictionaries I have loaded here on our blog on the right banner.

The midterm is scheduled for 11/19 and it covers Lessons 1-5, we may need to postpone the midterm to the week of 11/20, we will discuss this on Monday in class.

Thank you to Bow for her presentation and thank you all for sharing what you are reading. Keep reading and have a wonderful weekend!

HW for 11/6

Hi all,

HW is in the workbook, p. 23, exercise 4b, p. 24, exercises 1a and 1b.

Also -

• if you have not given me a story, fable, myth, legend, tall tale, story about a hoax or fake, please do so tomorrow;
• quiz - past tenses and compound adjectives;
• reading club - be prepared to share what you are reading, I will come around to check in with each group tomorrow.

Have a great afternoon and see you soon!

HW for 11/5

Hi everyone,
Please complete pp. 20, 21, 22 and 23 in the workbook. I know this is a lot of homework, but we need to move a little more quickly since we are a bit behind per Tracy's schedule and the midterm coming up.
We will review only some sections of the homework tomorrow.

Reading club: please make sure you are reading something so that I may record your progress and what you are reading. Thursday we will have a chance to talk to each other about what we are reading. Hopefully we will all inspire each other to read more!

Thank you to those students who shared their stories today, I look forward to hearing more stories tomorrow.

See you soon, have a great afternoon!

HW for 11/4

Hi everyone! Hope you had a fabulous Halloween weekend. Here is the homework for tomorrow:

In the workbook, please complete the exercises on pp. 16, 17, 18 and 19.

We are a bit behind, this is why I am assigning a bit more homework, so we can catch up. The mid-term exam is coming up in a couple of weeks, we will talk about this tomorrow.

See you soon ~