Integrated English 2 Autumn 2013: Welcome Back!

Hello everyone, welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the summer.

Today we are going to begin the second half of our course.

This semester we will read two detective stories. For the first half of the semester we will read Death on U Street, the second story in our textbook, Fiction in Action - Whodunit. Death on U Street is another story featuring Detective Ellie Koo. I'm sure you will enjoy it very much. Just like last semester, there will be a quiz after each chapter.

In the second half of the course we will read The Sign of Four, which is a Sherlock Holmes Story.

First, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Death on U Street Chapter 1 Vocabulary.

Death on U Street is fiction, of course, but U Street is a real street in Washington D.C. You can see U Street in the image below.


View U Street NW, Washington, DC in a larger map

Ok, now let's start reading. Enjoy!

The University of Tsukuba Web 2.0 Workshop for Japanese Secondary School Teachers

Hello everyone, Welcome to the University of Tsukuba, and welcome to our workshop. Here's what we will do today.

Part 1: 13:30-15:00

1. Introductions and team building
2. Survey – I will ask you to do a survey in order to help understand your technical expertise, interests and needs. The survey will also introduce you to a great tool called Survey Monkey
3. A very brief introduction to Web 2.0
4. Some examples of how my students and I have used Web 2.0 applications

Part 2: 15:15-1645

1. Hands on practice using GoogleDrive
2. Hands on practice using Quizlet, a great online vocabulary flashcard application.
3. Introduction to iPads
4. Hands on practice using iPads
5. Closing Discussion

The first Web 2.0 tool I used was this blog. I started it when I was teaching at Kanto International High School (関東国際高等学校).  Please click the link to see some projects my students and I did at Kanto International High School.

Now let's look at some projects that I've done with students at various universities. Please click the links to see the projects.

Toyo Gakuen University Projects
Shibaura Institute of Technology Projects
The University of Tsukuba Projects

Finally, if you are interested in reading more about Web 2.0 and iPads you can find some articles in my shared Web 2.0 Workshop 2013-08-01 Folder on Dropbox.


I hope that this workshop has been enjoyable and useful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me on stout.michael.ga@u.tsukuba.ac.jp

Presentation 2 Spring 2013 Weeks 11-14: Project 3

Today we will work on our third project. First, let's do a survey for English Central. please click the link: English Central Survey. Now let's use English Central. Did you reach your goal this week?

Your third project is another group project. Work with the same group you worked with for Project 2

You and the members of your group will make a presentation about your course of study at the University of Tsukuba. 

Follow the steps below:

1.     Research and preparation

a.     The University of Tsukuba’s undergraduate education system is organised into undergraduate schools. These schools are divided into colleges. Click the link. Find information about your school and college: http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/english/organization/college.html#003

b.     Find information about your college’s curriculum

c.      Find information about majors

d.     Make notes about a project you are working on now, or a project that you want to do in the future.

2.     Write a script

a.     Write first draught

                                               i.     Introduction

                                              ii.     Description of your school

                                            iii.     Description of your college

                                            iv.     Description of your majors

                                              v.     Description of your projects

                                            vi.     Conclusion

b.     Read and edit first draught

c.      Write second draught

3.     Make Powerpoint

a.     Title slide

b.     Schools

c.      Colleges

d.     Majors

e.     Projects

f.      Conclusion

4.     Upload Powerpoint to Voicethread

5.     Record

OK, have fun doing your project!

Presentation 2 Spring 2013 Week 11: Project 2

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to work on our second project.

First, let's do some speaking practice using English Central.

Now let's check our Voicethread presentations and listen to any new comments. Look at the image on the left. When there is a new comment on your Voicethread presentation you will see yellow speech bubbles. After listening to the new comments on your presentations, please make another comment of your own.

OK, here are the instructions for our next project:

Your second project is a group project. You should work in groups of four. You will present a text related to your major. I have prepared some texts for you. Here are the steps in the project:

1.     Read the texts

2.     Choose a text related to your major from the choices provided

3.     Listen to the recording and mark the stressed words, the pauses and the full stops. Look at the example below.

4.     Show your paper to the members of your group. Your papers should be the same.

5.     Make slides for the text – 2 slides for each group member

6.     Upload your Powerpoint to Voicethread.

7.     Share your presentation with your group members:

• Go to your My Voice Page
• Click on the gear menu icon in the corner of your Voicethread presentation thumb nail
• Click Share
• Selection our Tsukuba Dai Group
• Scroll down to find the members of your group
• Click the pencil icon to make it turn gold.

  
 8.  Record your presentations

Please finish your presentations by next class.

Enjoy!

Presentation 2 Spring 2013 Weeks 9 & 10: Finishing up the first project

Hello everyone,
Here's today's plan:

1. Finish your Self Introduction Presentations: copy and paste the text and record
2. Share your presentations with our Tsukuba Dai Presentation II Spring 2013 Voicethread Group.
3. Watch 5 of your classmates' presentations. Post a comment and ask a question on one slide of each of your 5 classmates' presentations
4. Go to your own presentation. Listen to your classmates' comments, make a reply, and ask a question.
5. Finally, go to English Central and get some more speaking practice.

You must finish all these tasks by tomorrow at 12 noon

Enjoy!!

Integrated English 1 2013 Week 8: End of term project

Your final project is a writing task. Please choose ONE of the following options:

• Write a short story (短編小説) about one of the characters in The Inverted Eagle. Create a story about the character’s life after the events in the Inverted Eagle, OR  
• If you don’t like any of the characters in the story, invent a character of your own, and write a story about him or her in the context of The Inverted Eagle.
• Write a new ending for The Inverted Eagle
• Write a review of The Inverted Eagle. Explain why you liked the story, or why you didn’t like the story.
• Write a review of Cup of Death. Explain why you liked the story, or why you didn’t like the story.

You must write at least 100 words. The top 3 stories will be published on this blog and the writers will win a graded reader. The top 3 reviews will be published on Marcus Benevides’ Teach Your Own Adventure Blog (http://www.cyoateacher.com/). Please be honest. Negative reviews have a chance of winning too.

Please click the link to read some of the previous winners' stories.

You must submit your final project by Thursday 20th June at 12:00 noon. Please submit one copy by e-mail, and one printed copy. Please put the printed copy in my mailbox (#FLC 23) on the fourth floor of the Foreign Language Centre, just outside Room CA403.

Finally, please click the links to download your style sheet and your writing error codes sheet.

Enjoy!!!

Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2013 Semester 1 Week 7: Final Exam Study Guide

iStockphoto

Hello everyone,
Well we've come to the end of the Spring Semester. Wow! That was fast!! The next time we meet it will be time for the final test. The final test will be:
Monday the 17th of June.
Please click the link to download your study guide.

Let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English Vocabulary. 
Next, let's review all blog posts from this semester. Please click the link:
Cross Cultural Awareness & English Spring 2013

By the way, I found something very interesting, a Konkatsu app! It's called Shall we date? "KONKATSU" for marriage. You can see a screen shot of the app in the image on the left. It's available in the American Apple App Store. Interestingly, I couldn't find this app in the Japanese App store.





Study hard! See you next week.