Sunday, 27 April 2014

Saturday, April 26

Level 1 - I spent a little time getting the new students to introduce themselves to me and to ask me a few questions. Then we did 3 rounds of the practice C on page 15. They enjoyed the chance to talk with three students each and to practice using the expressions and to try not reading from the book all the time.

Next week is GW so I gave them homework to keep them busy.

Homework: If they didn't finish it in class, they should complete their original questions for A on Page 16. This will be used for their warm up group work next class. Also, I asked them to try and complete the Challenge Questions A,B on Page 18. They may need bit of extra time to complete in class. We didn't get to the listening on Page 17, so next class, you can warm up with page 16B, do listening on page 17 then go on to Challenge activities.


Level 3 - We completed Page 2-4.

Homework: Answer the questions on Page 5, do the Analyze questions on page 6 and do Discussion Question No. 2 on page 7. I told them they could look up other reality shows on the internet and use one of those for Discussion number 2. Since there is no class  next week, I asked them to also do Part 2 Reading on Page 8.

Level 4:  The textbook is good and the listening challenges them but the Critical thinking questions are a bit lacking. They did a fine job with the Critical thinking question but I think it’s a bit easy for them and too short so I added some extra questions. We started the next Unit and watched the video about 4 times. I checked their answers to the Cloze Listening practice 2.

Homework: Complete Listening Practice on Page 7 and the comprehension check on pages 9-10. With the long break due to Golden Week, I asked them also to do the reading on Page 10. Additionally, I gave them 4 extra questions to think about and prepare to discuss. You can use it as warm-up or add it to the simple Critical thinking question at the end.

My Questions:
 1) When Michelin first started rating Japanese restaurants a few years back there were some criticisms and some people didn't want it. I asked them to think about why some people were not happy about it.
2.What are your thoughts about Michelin star ratings and other ratings system/sites for restaurants?
3. Have you been to a highly rated restaurant and was disappointed in the food?

4. Compare Japanese and Danish food culture?

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Saturday, April 19

Level 100 - We started with a warm-up discussion activity about "Favorite things." We then briefly reviewed the "Classroom English" and "Introductions" sections of the textbook (pp. 12-13), then moved on to the "Listening" and "Conversation" practice sections on p. 14. 

For Homework, please complete Exercises A and B on p.15.

Level 300 - We had a class discussion about "Reality TV." We didn't get through too much of the text other than covering the Preview section on p.1 and talking about the 4 shows mentioned in the reading. 

For homework, please prepare some sentences answering the questions: "Why do you think reality TV shows are so popular with a) audiences and b) TV production companies. Also, please review the class reading on pp.3-4 and highlight or underline any words or phrases you're unsure about, and be ready to discuss them next week.

Level 400 - We started off with an in-depth discussion about "Employment Issues" to tie in with Chapter 1's theme. We watched the video clip several times, covering sections 1-4 (Vocab Check, Listening, Video Script Cloze activity and Comprehension Check), and covered some vocab and assorted related questions that came up during these exercises.


For homework, please do the reading on p. 4 of the book, as well as Part 1 - "Vocabulary Check", in preparation for discussion next week.

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Saturday, April 12

It was wonderful to meet all of the new students and see all of the returning students again. I think that we are going to have a great time studying English together this year!

In all of the classes we did various icebreaker activities so everyone could get a chance to meet all of their classmates and learn a little bit about them. For homework, could you please do the following tasks:

Level 1 – Please preview Unit 1 of your textbook. We will start the first unit next class.

Level 3 – Please answer the questions on page 1 and read or listen to the article on pages 3 and 4.

Level 4 – Please complete #1 Key Word Study and #2 Listening Practice on page 1. Try to make one discussion question about the topic.