Saturday, December 14

We hope that everyone is having a great end to the year! There is no homework for this Saturday, but we thought we would post an update on what we did in class last week anyway.

We hope that everyone has a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

 Level 100:

We started off with a Winter discussion questions exercise, then ran through the homework and basically polished off the "Hockey" chapter - though the students might need a brief review of using apostrophes (last exercise in the unit) when you start up again on Jan. 11th, Rob.

Level 200:

We started out with a Topic Talk conversation activity about "Crime," then reviewed the vocab from last week before working through Pt. 2 (listening practice) and Part 3 on pp. 34-35. We ended the class with the students practicing "Reported Speech" from the example in Part 3, as well as creating some of their own.

Level 300:

We continued on with the very interesting "Women in the Workplace" chapter in the book, picking up right where you left off, Susette. The students all confessed that the homework (especially the new vocabulary exercise) was difficult; Max said he put several hours into it, but then that sounds like typical Max to me, the guy really digs into it! We worked through pp. 56-57 with lots of detailed discussions with the class as a whole. I told them that you'd pick up with the "Personalization" section on p. 58 (which they've already done as homework) once we start up again in January, Rob.

Level 400:

The gang tore into the same "Crime" questions mentioned earlier and had the usual spirited discussion. We then went through last week's homework and watched the video three times through, covering most of the chapter. We weren't quite able to get all the way through, so I left Part VIII (Conversation in Action) and Part IX (Critical Thinking) for the next normal lesson. 

Saturday, December 7

Level 100:  We took a long time with the giving opinion homework as it was difficult for them and they needed lots of help. I think its a very good thing for them to practice and maybe we can revisit that print or giving opinions topic from time to time.
We  read and did the vocabulary and comprehension section of What is Canada's Favorite Sport. I copied and gave out the second page of the reading so they can do it for homework.

Homework:　Please do the Use questions and Remembering Details on Page 102. Also, do the Sentence  Completion, Discussion questions and Critical Thinking Question 1.

Level 200: Students had a very good time and did a good job with the Agreeing/Disagreeing with their classmates' opinion homework. hey were good and I think we can review this topic from time to time to help them get better at it. They also really enjoyed doing the Speak with Confidence group activity. We started Lesson 14 and finished A on Page 34.

Homework: I asked students to choose 3 of the  7 situations and reactions on Page 34 and to write a short dialog continuing the situation. This is the B pair work activity. I thought it would go more smoothly if they did it for homework. They can then come to class to share their completed dialogues with a partner and practice them in pairs.  I told them to have a little fun and be creative with their  dialogues. Example: A: My brother proposed to his girlfriend in Paris! B: How Romantic. (Did she say yes?) A: She said no and told him she doesn't love him.)

Level 300: We talked about what they have been doing the past month. Hiro went to Cambodia last week so he told us about his trip and so on. We took some time doing the crossword puzzle. They did have a lively discussion of Warm up question Number 1 and asked each other questions so we never got past the first question. So please start the lesson by letting them finish discussing warm up questions 2,3,4.

Homework: Please do the vocabulary on Page 56, Read the Points of View on Page 57 and Complete the Personalization  on Page 58.

Level 400:  They had a great, lively discussion of the Critical Questions. They really gave it all a lot of thought and said the topic of happiness was not as easy to talk about as they thought.

Homework:  Review the Before you Watch Questions on Page 88 and do the Word match on Page 89.

Saturday, November 30

Level 100 – We played a word card activity and then did an activity on expressing your own opinions and agreeing and disagreeing with other people's opinions. We also completed the “Critical Thinking” questions and “Writing” section on page 55 of your textbook.

For homework, please complete Part IV from the worksheet by writing 4 of your own opinions to share with the class next week. Your fellow classmates will get a chance to agree or disagree with your opinions and give their reason why they agree or disagree next week. Also, please read the story I handed out last Saturday, “What is Canada’s Favourite Sport?”

Level 200 -  We played a word card activity and then did an activity on expressing your own opinions and agreeing and disagreeing with other people's opinions. We finished #3 and #4 on page 33 of your textbook.

For homework, please complete Part IV from the worksheet by writing 4 of your own opinions to share with the class next week. Your fellow classmates will get a chance to agree or disagree with your opinions and give their reason why they agree or disagree next week. Also, answer the questions in the “Speak with Confidence” section on page 33.

Level 300 - We played a word card activity and then had a long discussion using the questions from the “Discussion” section on page 52 of your textbook. You all did an excellent job on your speeches using the topics on page 54.

For homework, please finish the crossword on page 55 and prepare answers for the warm-up questions on page 56.

Level 400 - We played a word card activity and then did a short 15 minute debate on various topics from the handout I distributed to you.  After that, in small groups, we did pages 81-84.

For homework, please answer the comprehension questions on page 85 and the critical thinking questions on page 87.  

Saturday, November 16

Level 100

We started with a discussion activity (about travel) which took a large chunk of the class, but they seemed to enjoy the discussion. We spent a bit of time going over comparative and superlative adjectives, then we reviewed the homework (Comprehension Qs, pp. 53-54) and spent some time going over the Discussion Qs on p. 55.

For homework, I asked them to spend some time thinking about the Critical Thinking Qs on p. 55 and to prepare some answers, as well as do the Writing section on the same page (only 6 sentences) and to be prepared to share them with a partner or the class as a whole next time.

Level 200

We started with a Discussion activity, then reviewed the previous lesson’s homework. We started Ch. 13, covering the Vocabulary, Conversation sections (first page of the chapter, basically).

For homework, I asked them to write a brief presentation relating a memory from their childhoods (happy, sad, scary, embarrassing, etc.).

  

Level 300

We began with a fun discussion activity about various ethical dilemmas. Students began working through the questions on p. 52 but were not able to get all the way through the "Discussion" questions on the bottom of that page, so I told them to expect to finish that section the next time (they had mostly already prepared their answers).

For homework, I asked them to write a brief presentation on one of the three topics in the "Speeches" section on p. 54 and be prepared to share them with the class next time.

  

Level 400

We began with the same "Ethics" questions activity as the previous class, and the students really enjoyed a lively group conversation. The students then split up into pairs to go through the "Critical thinking" questions on p. 78, and we finished with a brief  overview of the next chapter ("Happiness 101"), and reviewed the homework on pp. 79-80. 

Homework for next week is to watch the video segment a few times and do Part III on p. 81.

Saturday, November 2

Level 100- In today’s lesson, we played a word card game, did a speaking activity and completed pages 50-53 from the textbook. For homework, please complete the comprehension questions on pages 53-54 and the 3 discussion questions on page 55.

Level 200- We played a word card game, did a speaking activity and completed unit 12 from the textbook. For homework, please finish the “What’s wrong in the picture?” handout by making a short conversation and write 5 sentences about things you “used to do.” Next week we will be starting unit 13.

Level 300- In today’s class, we played a word card game, did a speaking activity and completed page 51 and some of the “personalization” statements on page 52. Next lesson, we will complete the rest of the “personalization” statements. Could you please also finish the “discussion” questions at the bottom of page 52 for the next lesson?

Level 400- We played a word card game, did a speaking activity and completed the “retelling the news story” section from the textbook. Next week we will start with the "Critical Thinking" questions on page 78 and then we will move on to Unit 9. For homework, please answer the warm-up questions on page 79 and the “vocabulary” section on page 80.

Saturday, October 26

Level 1: Students did their homework writing about special food in Japan but they said they had trouble understanding what they were supposed to write. I spent most of the class explaining and giving them examples. Finally, they got it and they rewrote their homework and then talked about it.

Homework:
Review the Warm up questions and Read Unit 8, check the vocabulary and make word cards as usual. Also, Complete the Vocabulary section on page 52 and the words that go together section on page 53. Also, I asked students to complete the USE questions for homework so they can be ready for the pair work next class.

Level 2: We started with a warm up question about what superpower they would like to have and why and what would they use it for. They seemed to enjoy it and came up with some unusual answers. We completed all of Page 28 of Unit 12 and finished the Language Booster on Page 29.

Please start with #4 Listening on Page 29.

Homework:  Review the Speak with Confidence activity, decide which ideas they think are good and come up with more ideas of their own.

Level 3: We did not get past the Vocabulary section in class because they had a lot of trouble with the reading. they said it was confusing and so they had a lot of mistakes and questions.  I was able to clear things up for them but then we got hung up a bit on grammar usage.

Homework: Read the Points of View section, check vocabulary and make word cards. Also, I asked them to do the personalization questions.

Level 4: We did the before you watch questions and completed the Word Match and moved on to the video.  We finished watching the video 3 times and completed the fill in the blanks section.

Homework: Please complete Section 8 Retelling the Story on Page 77 and prepare the Critical Thinking Discussion Questions.

Saturday, October 19

Level 100: 

We started off with a conversation about TV and viewing habits. Then we
reviewed the homework from last week (Comprehension Questions), and then the
students worked in pairs to discuss the Critical Thinking questions on p.36 of
the "Blowfish" handout from What a World 1. 

For homework, I asked students to do the Writing section (about a special
Japanese dish) on p. 37

Level 200: 

We started off with an Opinion Topic discussion that the students seemed to
really enjoy. We then finished up Chapter 11, the students practicing making
appointments in different situations; also we completed the workbook handout
for Ch. 11. We also reviewed colloquial uses of "gimme" and
"lemme" on p. 27.

Homework: Study and complete part 1, Vocabulary, for Ch. 12,　p. 28.

Level 300: 

Students presented their speeches that I asked them to do prepare for last
week's homework, about various environmental topics. They all did a great job.
Then we reviewed the Collocation Sets and Extra Expressions sections in Ch. 6,
and finally went over the answers for the Crossword for that chapter... 

Homework for next week: I was under the impression that we were skipping the
"Aliens" unit so asked them to review the vocabulary for Ch. 8,
"History" on p. 50.

Level 400: 


We reviewed the video a few times in class and went over the answers for
sections IV and V in Ch. 9, "Happy Meals Target Kids". The bulk of
the class was taken up with great, detailed group discussions of the Discussion
Questions section of that chapter. We finished the chapter with a quick cover
of part VIII, "Conversation in Action."



Homework: Review the homework and do part II from Ch. 10,"Internships,"


for next week.

Saturday, October 12

Level 100 - Do all Comprehension Questions on the "Blowfish" handout, pp. 35 - 36.

Level 200 - Create a conversation to make an appointment, using one of the jobs (other than "doctor") from Ex. 1, p. 26.

LEvel 300 - Prepare a short presentation for next week, choosing one topic from either the "Speeches" section on p. 42 or the "Writing Opinions" section on p. 43.

Level 400 - We spent most of the class on the 12th discussing some difficult and complex questions related to "fast food" culture, so for homework, please watch the video at home, time permitting, and prepare some answers for Part III in Unit 9.

Saturday, October 05

Level 1:  We finished the unit on the Ancient Egyptians and then  had a good discussion about What Japanese Culture is most famous for and what contributions Japan has made to the world.  You all did a great job.

Homework:  Please read  the print   "What's Special About the Blowfish?," check the words you don't know and  make  vocabulary  cards.

Jeff and Rob: Level 2: We finished Unit 10 "Sorry. My Mistake."  but for homework I wanted them to do a bit more review/practice about pointing out mistakes and apologizing. My idea as you see in the homework below is to get them to do a bit more thinking and speaking by having each student write a conversation and then share that conversation in pairs. Its a small class so I think giving them a chance to choose and present one of their conversation to the class is a good speaking/listening challenge for them. But I leave that up to you.

Level 2 Homework: Choose a situation about making a mistake and  write a short  conversation about pointing out a mistake and apologizing for it and solving the problem。In the next class, you will share your conversation in pairs. You will then choose one conversation, practice it  and  present it to the class

Level 3:  Lots of new vocabulary and bit difficult topic but they  all  did an excellent job with the personalization questions. They  had a few grammar and other questions which took up a bit of time. They are very knowledgeable about the environment and Global Warming and such which made their discussion very good. There were only 5 students so I put them all in one group. I think it worked out well.

 

Level 3 Homework: Please Finish the Discussion Questions on Page 40 and complete the crossword on Page 43. . Also, please  do the Warm Up Questions for Unit 8 - History - on Page 80.

Please give them a bit of time at the beginning of class to do the Discussion Questions.

 

Level 4: What a lively lesson. They started with a kind of mock party situation  where they all had to use their tag lines to introduce themselves to a different people which led to a lot of noisy and interesting small talk. Well done. Lots of interest in this topic which led to another great animated Discussion in groups. We finished the unit.

 

Homework: Please prepare for Unit 9- Happy Meal Ads Target Kids. Complete Before you Watch section on Page 61 and the vocabulary section on Page 62.

 

Saturday, September 28

Level 1: We had fun playing a challenging speaking  game as a warm up.  Then we had a good discussion about Unit 7 - What the Egyptians Gave Us. Many of you said you learned a lot of interesting things about the Egyptian civilization. I did too. I had no idea the Egyptians invented the first toothbrush and toothpaste and were the first to come up with the idea of a police force. And what about wearing all that crazy eye makeup to ward off We finished Page 45 - Vocabulary and Words that Go Together.

 
Homework:  Please complete all of Page 46 and do Discussion Questions 1 & 2 on Page 47. Please make your Word Cards. 
 
Level 2: We had fun playing a speaking game as a warm up. We finished Unit 9 - Do you know.....? up to Pronunciation on Page 23. 
Homework: Complete the Speak with Confidence section on Page 23. Please add two more questions so you will have a total of 6 questions to ask your classmates next week. 
 
Level 3:  We had a challenging but fun time playing a new speaking game.  We did a brief discussion of  Unit 6.
Homework: Complete the Warm-up Questions and Vocabulary section on Page 38, Please read the Points of View Section on Page 39. Also, try to answer the Personalization Questions on Page 40. 
 
Level 4: We started the lesson with a small talk warm up activity  before moving on to Unit 8- Learning Small  Talk. We watched the DVD and completed all exercises on Pages 53-58. We also completed the Conversation in Action Listening.
 
Homework: Complete Page 59- Retelling the Story in your own words. Also,  do all the Critical Thinking questions on Page 60. AND:  each of you should write a "tag line" to introduce yourself. 
We should have a great discussion in next week's class.

Saturday, September 21

It was great meeting all of the new students and seeing all of the returning students again last Saturday. You do not have any homework for next week, but please try to buy some new word cards and make cards for any new words that you learn from your textbook or in everyday life. Also, it might be a good idea to preview the units from your textbook which we will be covering in next week's lesson. Level 1 - What did the Ancient Egyptians give us? Level 2 - Do you know...? Level 3 - The Environment Level 4 - Learning Small Talk

Saturday, July 20

Level 100 - Students started with a discussion exercise (about Food likes and dislikes), then we went over the answers to the Comprehension Questions on pp. 71-72. 

Then we covered Cardinal and Ordinal numbers on pp. 73-74. For homework, I asked the students to do the Writing Ex. on p. 73.

Level 200 - We reviewed the homework from the previous week (talking about complaints/problems and how the students addressed them), then went through Unit 8, pp. 18-19. Homework for next week: write 2 offers for each of the 5 situations in the Speak with Confidence exercise, p. 19

Level 300 - We did a quick Vocab Review from p. 28. Students then discussed the questions on the bottom of p. 28. For homework for 7/27, I asked them to complete the Crossword on p. 31 if possible and to write a brief speech about one of the 6 topics mentioned in the "Speeches" and Writing Opinions" sections on pp. 30-31.

Level 400 - We started off with a brief warm-up, then split into pairs/groups to discuss "Men and Women in the Workplace." We then reviewed the homework from the previous week, and finished with a discussion of the negative impact on Japanese society of being constantly "wired."

Saturday, July 13

Please accept my deepest apologies for not updating this blog sooner. This week has been a super hectic week to say the least!

Level 100- We played a vocabulary game and finished the vocabulary section on pages 70-71 last Saturday. Please finish the comprehension questions on page 71 and the discussion questions on page 72.

Level 200- We played a vocabulary card game and completed unit 7 last week. For homework, try to think of some problems or complaints and then some ways to address each problem. After doing this review exercise, we will start unit 8.

Level 300- Last Saturday, we played a vocabulary card game and finished the personalization section on page 28. For homework, please prepare your answers for the discussion questions on page 28 and do the crossword on page 31.

Level 400 – We played a vocabulary card game and had a great discussion about the use of technology in the classroom. We will start the next lesson by discussing the "before you watch" questions on page 37 and then do the vocabulary section on page 38.

Saturday, July 6

Level 1 - We completed all the comprehension questions on pages 60 and 61. We did a bit of the discussion questions and then moved on to Unit 10. We did the Before you Read questions and talked about the story a bit.
Homework is to Complete all of Pages 70 and 71.
 
Level 2 - After students talked about the rules they did for homework, we then had a good discussion about rules they hated when they were children. We completed the Speaking With Confidence section and started Unit 7. We completed Unit 7 Page 16 1 A&B.

Homework: Please think of 5 common problems that people have in daily life and write about those problems and the ways to address them. 

Level 3 - We finished the Vocabulary and Point of View sections on pages 26 and 27. We had a really good group discussion using our Mind Maps.

Homework: Please complete Personalization and Discussion Questions for next class.

Level 4 - Another lively discussion of the Critical Thinking questions on Page 36. We finished the unit and will start Unit 6 next week

Homework:  Please do the Before You Watch Questions on Page 37 and the Vocabulary matching on Page 38.

Saturday, June 29

In all of the classes we started with a started with a 15-minute speaking game followed by a 10-minute word card activity.

Level 1- We completed the vocabulary section and vocabulary in use on pages 59 and 60. For homework, please finish the comprehension section on page 60 -61. After taking up those answers, we will move on to unit 10 so please read it before coming to class.

Level 2-  We finished most of unit 6 with the exception of the "speak with confidence" section. For homework, use the language in the “Language Booster” section to write 5- 10 rules that you are familiar with.

Level 3- We had a great discussion on education, but unfortunately, we did not get a chance to take up the answers in the vocabulary section on page 26. We will take up those answers at the beginning of class next week. For homework, please make your own mind map about education on page 26 and preview the “points of view” section on page 27.

Level 4- We completed “understanding the news” and “retelling the news story on pages 34 and 35. For homework, please answer the “critical thinking” discussion questions on page 36.   

Saturday, June 22

With Levels 100-300, we did a 20 Qs warm up...I divided the students into groups and wrote a number of questions on the board, such as *What am I made of?" "What color am I?" "What am I used for?," etc. Then I gave the groups a bunch of cards with various things written on them, such as "a lkoala," "a Christmas present," "mayonnaise," etc. The students would then ask a series of questions to the rest of the group to guess what was on their card. All 3 levels enjoyed the activity very much.

For the Level 400 class, I also divided them into 4 different groups of 3 people and gave them a sheet with a variety of topics to discuss their opinions on, such as "Couples shouldn't live together before they are married" or "Buying omiyage is a waste of time." Needless to say, this class went to town on the various discussion topics and had very good, in-depth discussions.

Level 100 - We mostly spent the remainder of the class chorusing the reading from Unit 9, p. 58-59, after briefly discussing what a detective is and does. Then the students practiced the reading aloud by turns. For homework, I asked them to complete the Vocabulary exercise on p. 59.

Level 200 - We quickly reviewed the language boosters on the top of p. 13, then went over the pronunciation sounds exercise. We finished with paired conversation practice with open book (Speak with Confidence) then did a standing up role play, with the students practicing various check-in scenarios together. It seemed to go pretty well. I asked them to study the vocabulary section at the beginning of Ch. 6, p. 14, for homework.

Level 300 - After the warm-up, we went over the answers to the crossword on p. 25, then went back to p. 24 to discuss the collocation sets and extra expressions sections. We finished with the students in pairs discussion whether they agreed or disagreed with the opinions expressed in the "Speech" section on the same page. Homework for next week was to study the new vocabulary words on p. 26 of the next unit.

Level 400 - We spent the 2nd half of the class discussing the chapter topic, then went over the vocabulary, then watched the DVD news story about 5 times and completed Parts II and IV. The class went excellently, per usual. Went a little over to finish Part IV. Homework for next week was for everyone to complete the True or False exercise (Part V).

Saturday, June 15

Level 1 - Please do Unit 9, “Before you read Questions” on page 57.  This should be good as a warm-up to start class next time. Read the story and check the vocabulary on Page 58-59.
 
Level 2 - We finished all of Page 12.
 
Homework: Review Page 13. Please write about your best and worst hotel stay experiences. If you don’t have one, imagine what would be your best and worst hotel experience. This should be a good warm-up.
 
Level 3 - We did the “Personalization Activity” on Page 22.
 
Homework: Please complete the “Discussion” questions on Page 22 and complete “Building Vocabulary Crossword” on Page 25. 
 
Level 4 – We finished Unit 4. There were some very lively and long discussions of the Critical Thinking Questions. The group dynamics and energy was great.

 
Homework: Please prepare for Unit 5.  Complete the “Before you Watch” questions on page 30 and vocabulary on Page 31

Saturday, June 8

It was great to see everyone on Saturday. I really hope that you enjoyed your day off on Sunday and maybe even studied English a little bit too! :) Level 100: We played a speaking/writing relay game, a word card game and finished pages 16 & 17 and the “Use” section at the top of page 18. For homework, please finish the “Comprehension” section on page 18. Also, preview the remaining units in the textbook (Units 4-18) and rank them in terms of how interesting you think the are: 1 – most interesting to 15 – least interesting. Please email me (robert@otemae.ac.jp) your rankings by no later than Thursday. Level 200: We played a speaking/writing relay game, a word card game and completed unit 4. For homework, please do Vocabulary A&B on page 12. Level 300: We played a vocabulary card game, took up the unit 2 crossword and finished page 20. For homework, please read “Points of View” on page 21 and write sentences for “Personalization” on page 22. Level 400: We played a speaking/writing relay game, a word card game and completed pages 23 – 27. For homework, please finish pages 28 & 29.

Saturday, June 1

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are having a great start to the week! Here is an update on last Saturday's classes from Susette. I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Level 1--    We did a lot of speaking today.  Everyone did a good job talking about what traditional Japanese customs should change and which one should not. The students also worked well in pairs talking about what they do to stay healthy and to look good (Writing page 13.)

Homework: Read and check vocabulary on Page 16. Try to complete Vocabulary and words that go together on Page 17.  Also, answer the USE Questions on page 18.  We went over the meaning of the questions and how to answer them so the students should be able to do it at home easily and be ready for pair work after we go over the Vocabulary section.

Level 2: Very good group. We finished most of Unit 4. The students need some more practice with the Language Booster section of '' Interrupting Politely and return to a topic'' so I asked them to prepare some topics so they can really get into it next week as their warm up. I think it will help them a lot and should be a good way to get the lesson started. We finished all of Page 8, did one practice of Language Booster and completed the Listening on Page 9.

Homework: Write/Prepare to talk on 4 topics: 1. the weekend, 2. your favorite movie, 3.an important value and 4. an interesting story - recent or old one. You will talk about these topics using the language booster strategies. Also, do Speak with Confidence activity A. page 9.

Level 3: We finished personalization and discussion questions. They had some questions about the expressions so I needed to explain a bit and give examples.

Level 3: Please do crossword on page 19 to review vocabulary for Unit 2. Also, do all of page 20 so we can start with Unit 3 Health next week -  Do warm up questions, vocabulary and make a simple mind map about keeping healthy.

Level 4- A really good class today. We talked, discussed and shared ideas with the whole class after critical thinking discussion.

Homework: Prepare for Unit 4. Please review “Before you Watch” section on Page 23 and complete  Vocabulary on Page 24.

Saturday, May 25

Hello everyone! I hope that you have a great weekend and a really fun class on Saturday. Here is an update from Jeff:

Level 100 – We reviewed the vocabulary from the reading on page 9 and then reviewed the comprehension questions on page 12. After that, we finished the discussion questions on page 12. For homework, I asked them to check for unknown vocabulary items in the “Critical Thinking” section on page 12 and do the “Writing” section on page 13.

Level 200- We had a discussion on music and then reviewed the workbook homework. After that, we completed the “Language Booster,” “Pair work” and “Pronunciation” sections. For homework, preview and study the vocabulary in the “Vocabulary” section on page 8.

Level 300- We spent a long time discussing “families” and reviewing the vocabulary from pages 13 and 14 so we did not have a chance to take up your homework from last week’s class. We will start class next week by discussing it (the “Personalization” and “Discussion” sections on page 16.)

Level 400- We discussed families, reviewed the vocabulary on page 17, watched the video and then did the comprehension discussion on pages 17-18 and the listening cloze on pages 18-20. For homework, do part V, VI and if possible, part VII.

Saturday, May 18

It was great seeing everyone again on Saturday. It felt like it had been a long time! Great work on your word cards. Remember that you should try to make about 10 word cards each week.

Level 100 – In class, we finished the “Vocabulary” section on pages 10 and 11. For homework, please do the comprehension questions on pages 11 and 12 and also prepare your answers for the discussion questions on page 12.

Level 200 – We completed page 6 from unit 3 in class. For homework, please complete part 1 and 2 from the workbook. Could you also use the expressions in the “Language Booster” section on page 6 to describe 5 people in your life?

Level 300 – In class, we finished pages 14 and 15 from the unit on “Money.” For homework, please finish the “Personalization” and “Discussion” sections on page 16.

Level 400 – We completed unit 2, “Tutoring for Tots,” in class. For homework, please complete the “Vocabulary” section on page 17. View the video at home as many times as you would like (until you feel that you have a good understanding of it).     

Saturday, May 11

Here is an update from Susette for the classes on May 11. 

Level 1: We finished Unit 1 and also “before you read” on page 8.

Homework: Please read and check the meaning of story on page 9, then complete all of page 10.

Level 2: We completed Unit 2.

Homework: Do the vocabulary and section B on page 6 to prepare for pair work. Please write about 4 family members.

Level 3: We did the “personalization” and “discussion” sections.

Homework: Please do the crossword on page 13 and the warm up questions for unit 2, Money. Also finish the vocabulary section and read “points of view.”

Level 4: We completed the vocabulary, listening, and true or false for Unit 2, “Tutoring for Tots.” We watched the DVD about 3 times.

Homework: Please complete all of pages 14 & 15. 

I hope that everyone has been making their word cards. We will start all of next week's classes with a word card game.

Saturday, April 27

Here is an update from Susette.

All classes went very well. With new members in each class and it being my first time to meet them, I did a getting to know you activity that uses people's first names to come up with ways to describe or talk about themselves. I did it with L1-L3 and I think it went really well. A bit challenging but it gave them a good chance to use English, get to know each other on a deeper level and do some follow-up question work. Anyone who was absent should ask their classmates about the activity. Example: S-U-S-E-T-T-E ( S is for sake, sunshine because I love Japanese sake and my friends say I am positive so they call me Sunshine some times. U-Uniqlo because it’s my favorite store...and so on. Lots of good stuff came out about each student. They were so involved that time just flew.)

Level 1: We finished the vocabulary fill in the blanks and started the Questions on Page 4. It was a bit tough for them so I wrote and gave examples how to answer the questions in complete sentences.
Homework: They should write their answers to questions at top of Page 4. This will be used for their warm up discussion in next class. I also asked them to complete the other two activities on Page 4. After we do these activities, we will start the new Unit.

Level 2: Homework is to do the B pair work activity of Unit 2, on page 4. They are to write about 5 people they know using the vocabulary words for activity A. Someone they know who is a pessimist, optimist, know it all, born leader and so on. They have to give examples also. This will be their warm-up pair work activity at beginning of the class.

Level 3: They hadn’t done any homework to prepare for the Personalization section of Unit 1 and they had some questions about meanings in Point of View and how to answer the Personalization questions so I gave some examples and asked them to prepare for the next lesson. I also asked them to do as much of the Discussion Questions as they could. It's a lot of homework but I told them they could do it since they have two weeks this time. I think all will settle down in a week or two. New members just need to get used to book.

Level 4: We watched the DVD without the subtitles once (wow, its fast. Good practice for them.) Then did the section where they had to put the Japanese phrase into English and then listen to the CD and check their answers. They also discussed some of the critical thinking questions which went well.
Homework: Prepare their thoughts on Critical Thinking Questions 3 and the 2 What Would you Do Questions on Page 7. We will begin the lesson with a short group discussion on these 3 questions and then move on to the new Unit.

Saturday, April 20

For each class, we did the “Famous People” game as a warm-up.

Level 1- In class, we did page 1 & 2 Reading/ Pronunciation Practice and talked about the bolded vocabulary. For homework, review the new words and make at least 10 word cards.

Level 2- We completed page 2 & 3. For homework, review what we did in class today and make 10 word cards.

Level 3- We finished page 8 & 9. Review the ‘Points of View’ section for next week. We will do this activity again at the beginning of class. Also, make 10 word cards.

Level 4- We did page 1-5. We will start with retelling the news story on page 6 next week. Review the news story and make 10 word cards for homework.

Saturday, April 13

It was wonderful meeting all of the new OCC students and getting a chance to catch up with all of the returning ones last Saturday! I think that we are going to have great classes again this year.

In each class last Saturday, we went through the syllabus, briefly looked at how to make word cards and did some ice-breaker activities.

For homework, I would like you to please buy some word cards and bring them to class with you next week.  Also, it might be a good idea to preview the first unit of your text. Jeff will be starting the text with you this Saturday.

I can’t wait to see you again soon!

Homework for Saturday, February 2

Thank you for all of your hard work this semester. I really enjoyed teaching all of you. I hope to see you all on February 16!

Here is your homework for next week with Susette.

Level 1- Please finish the 6 short conversations on pages 104-106

Level 2- Please prepare your answers for the discussion questions on page 52 and complete the crossword on page 55. You might want to also preview the next unit on 'Transportation' as we will start that next week as well.

Level 3- Could you please prepare your answers for the discussion questions on page 52 and complete the crossword on page 55? We will try to finish Unit 8 quickly next week.

Level 4- Please answer questions 2 and 3 of the 'What do you think?' section on page 156. Also, please finish the 'Vocabulary' section on pages 158 and 159.

Homework for Saturday, January 26

I hope that everyone is doing well and already finished all of their homework for tomorrow. Here is a reminder for the students who are like me and wait till the last moment to do their homework! :) I am for not updating the site before now.

Level 1- Please finish the 12 short conversations on pages 108-111.

Level 2- Please do the Vocabulary section on page 50 and then read page 51. Also, do the Personalization section on page 52. You do not need to answer the Discussion questions on page 52, but make sure that you understand what the questions are asking.

Level 3- Please read page 51 and do the Personalization section on page 52. Finally, answer the Discussion questions on page 52.

Level 4- Please answer questions C and D on page 152 and do the Vocabulary on page 153. Listen or read "The Power of Serendipity." You might want to also answer the questions about the article on page 155.

Happy New Year!!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays thoroughly (and studied English every day). I can't wait to see you again this Saturday!

A Happy New Year from Susette, too! Susette will bring the small prizes for those who won the Christmas Bingo game when she teaches on Feb. 2.

Our present to you is that you do not have any homework for this week's class. :)