ESL Intermediate Low at Pacoima Skills Center

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Improving your English: Another Teacher's Ideas

Dave Kees is an ESL teacher in China. In this podcast (listening selection on the Internet), he talks about some ideas about learning English. He talks about research in language learning done by a linguist (a scientist who studies language) named Steven Krashen. He speaks slowly and uses simple language.

Listen to his speech. It's only 10 minutes long. What do you think about his ideas and the ideas of Steven Krashen for learning a language? Did you think that the speech was too easy or too difficult for you? What happened to Lisa? What does Dave Kees think about what happened to Lisa?

Listen to the podcast by clicking here! http://www.gcast.com/user/davekees/podcast/main. The one I want you to listen to is titled "For Students - Understandable Input & Story of Lisa" It's at the bottom of the list.

NOTE: When you first click on the link, you'll hear someone talking. That's Dave Kees, but it's not the selection I want you to listen to yet. Click on the "PAUSE" button and scroll down to the story at the bottom of the list. Click on the green arrow to listen.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

When you grow rice, you can create art!

Farmers in Japan have found that they can create huge works of art as they grow rice. Not all rice plants have the same color leaves. Some rice plants have dark green leaves. Other varieties have purple or yellow leaves. By planting the seeds in a pattern, farmers can create art that you see when the plants grow.

See examples of the art at http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/07/pimp-my-rice-paddy/

See a sequence of photos that show how the rice grows over a period of time.

http://www.vill.inakadate.aomori.jp/ricecroptour/html/ricecroptour_progress_h18.html

What do you think about this art? Do you like it? Have you ever seen art like this before? Have you ever seen photos of art like this using other crops? Send me your answers in an email or as a word document!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Learn about a hazardous product

Unfortunately, many products that are sold in the United States (and in other countries too of course) can be dangerous to both adults and children. Sometimes, they're inherently dangerous. That means that by their very nature they're dangerous. For example, guns, knifes, electrical saws, gas stoves, and cigarettes are dangerous or potentially harmful at all times and you must be careful how you use them and where you keep them.

Some products are dangerous if you use them in the wrong way. For example, the Purell sanitizer lotion in the classroom is a product that is meant to kill germs, but if it swallowed by a child in even small amounts it can be very dangerous since it contains about 62% alchohol! (See http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp for more information about this)

Other products are dangerous because of the way they were made or some part of them is dangerous. A toy, for example, can have a small piece that a child can swallow and choke on. One government agency that helps warn the public about dangerous products is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission can also tell manufacturers that they need to recall a dangerous product. When a manufacturer recalls a product, they stop selling that product and they tell everyone who ever purchased it to return it to the store and get there money back, or they give them instructions on how to get the product fixed. Read about one product that was just recalled this week at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07237.html and answer the questions below. Send Mr. Bakin your answers in an email message or as a document on your USB flash drive.

What is the product that is being recalled?
What is the part of the product that is dangerous?
What can happen to the product?
Has anybody been hurt by this product?
What should you do if you bought this product?
Define these words (Tell me what they mean): counterfeit, overheat, rupture.

Find more products that have been recalled because they are dangerous at the Consumer Product Safety Commission website by clicking on the "Recalls and Product Safety News" link.

Click on these links to read more information about a very dangerous crib (bed for children) and a very dangerous popular toy.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Learn about the nutritional content of food at different fast food restaurants

We have been learning about health issues in the current unit in the textbook. One health issue is good nutrition. We have compared labels on the packages of different foods to see which food has more calories, more fat, more sugar and more salt. What about food that you buy at different fast food restaurants? You can also find out information about those foods too. One way to find out is to go to each restaurant and ask for the information. You can get a pamphlet or brochure in the restaurant that lists the calories and other nutritional information for everything that is sold in the restaurant. Another way to find out is to visit the website for that restaurant. Here are the websites of three popular fast food restaurants. Go to each website and find out about the foods that you can buy! Compare the nutritional content of your favorite foods!

McDonald’s http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat.html
Click on the nutrition FAQ – Does McDonald’s think that it’s food can be part of a healthy diet? What do you think?
Click on “Bag a McMeal”- Choose items and see how many calories and how much fat you will be eating!

Subway http://www.subway.com Click on Menu/Nutrition – How many calories are in your favorite sandwich? Don’t forget to add in other items like cheese, dressings, drinks and potato chips!

Taco Bell http://www.tacobell.com/ Click on Nutrition Guide – Use the Nutrition Calculator to find out about your favorite menu items.

Choose one restaurant and pick your favorite meal. Use the website for that restaurant to find out how many calories your meal contains. How much fat does your meal contain? How much sugar and salt? Send your meal and the nutritional information to me in an email or save it on your USB flash drive!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Welcome Back!

I hope that you had a nice 4th of July holiday break!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Listen to a story about immigration to a small town in the U.S.A.



Listen to a story about Hispanic immigration to a small town in Illinois. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11688844 (Click on "Listen")

Click here to see where Beardstown is.

Click here to see a closeup photo of the region.
Can you tell that Beardstown is located in a rural area?

See photos from Beardstown
. Some are quite old! See some more recent photos here. (Scroll down the page to see the photos)

What do you think about this story? Do you know anyone who has moved to small towns in other parts of the United States? Would you like to live in a small town like Beardstown, Illinois? Would it be more or less expensive to live there? Would you or your husband or wife be able to find a job there? Do you think it would be a good place for children? Compare life in Beardstown to life in Pacoima!

Send me your answer in an email or save it as a Word document and give it to me on your USB flash drive.