Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,  

This afternoon, I'm going to give you some time to work on your autobiographies and goal statements for your portfolios. Please finish your final versions of your autobiographies and submit them via email.  Then, you can finish creating your list of goals for language learning.  This video might help you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cCiqbSJ9fg

Finally, go to the VoiceThread and post your comments for today's slides.

https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we are going to be creating a document for your new learning portfolios.  This morning, we talked about the purpose of a portfolio and how we will be using them.  In the first section, 'About Me', you will place information about your specific needs and goals.  The first document will be your autobiography.  This is your story about who you are, where you're from and what you're planning to do in the future?

Please write several paragraphs describing what you think are the important details of your life.  You don't need to write anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.  This information will help you to assess your needs, establish your goals, and make a plan for your future learning.  
Submit your writing before the end of class, and it will become part of your portfolio.  

Once you've finished your autobiography, please follow the link to the POSE Test.  I would like you to complete the 'Word Stress' test.  

http://eslactivities.com/pt/mainMenu.phpsesID=7a774dc993e99bd547dedfa39b03cd13

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you're going to be working quite a bit with the VoiceThread.  We seem to have overcome our problems with posting comments (my apologies! The privacy settings were too private ;) 

First, please begin by review the different types of intonation in English. You can listen while you're reading.

http://reallifebh.com/intonation-the-secret-ingredient-to-great-pronunciation-with-audio  

After you have reviewed this website, please go to the VoiceThread and practice what you've learned.

https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/

After you've practiced the different intonation patterns, please practice sharing your opinions on the statements provided.  Try using some of the expressions you learning this morning with Melissa.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Good Afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we going to continue to think about stress and listen to a different way to think about stress. First, you will listen to a TED Talk, entitled 'How to Make Stress Your Friend' by Kelly McGonigal.  The talk is only 14:28 minutes, so you'll be able to listen twice if necessary.  **DO NOT look at the transcript. (This is a listening and speaking activity not a reading activity.)

Before you listen, here are some words that might unfamiliar to you.  Use an online dictionary (not Google Translate) to look up any new words:

1. track (verb)
2. belief
3. freak someone out (idiom)
4. impromptu
5. demoralized
6. constrict (verb)
7. intervention
8. mechanism
9. resilience

http://www.ldoceonline.com/

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/


http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend


I know that last week we had some difficulty with VoiceThread, but some of you were able to post messages.  Please try again if you weren't able to post last week.  Also, you will find that I have added a new page for this week's listening task.

https://voicethread.com/#u2203971.b5608869


Finally, here's a little extra practice with word stress, just for fun. :) 

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/253.html


Enjoy!!

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

Good Afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, you're going to familiarize yourself with several of the tools we use in LINC 7.  You will access the blog in class, and you can also access it outside of class at any time.  

Please begin by completing the Needs Assessment:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TJQA7rYfrTVCgOy8988950P8A4znCDrllB29_brdxlQ/viewform

Next, we're going to do some listening.  Please follow the link to the BBC Talk About English: Who on Earth Are We? website and listen to Part 1 (please note that you will have to scroll to the bottom of the screen to find it).  Please take notes while you're listening.  If there are words that you need to look up, please use one of these dictionaries:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

http://www.oed.com/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/tae_whoonearth_archive.shtml

After you have listened to Part 1, please go to the LINC 7 VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com/share/5608869/) and add your comments.  You should have received an invitation via email for VoiceThread.com. 

Enjoy!

:) 

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

This afternoon, we are going to take a break from writing and researching....YAY!  You will be working on your speaking.  The exercises below are related to the speaking part of the IELTS task; however, many tests have similar types of speaking exercises.  

First, begin by watch a sample IELTS speaking exam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oawkQIgrw

This speaker is an example of an approximate Band 7 (approximately CLB 9). *Notice that her speaking isn't perfect but very fluent.

Here's some more information about the three parts of the test.  After you've read about the different parts, you can listen to some examples and even try recording your own responses by clicking on these buttons:



http://www.splendid-speaking.com/exams/ielts_speaking.html


Here's the link to Melissa's presentation last week on Michael Ondaatje:

http://www.slideshare.net/KimHenrie/melissas-presentationmichael-ondaatje



Enjoy!
Kim

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

Good afternoon LINC 7,

Today I would like you to finish working on the final draft of your reports. Some of you haven't submitted a first draft yet, so you will need to begin with the first draft.   Here's the format again that you should use: 

When you've completed your writing, here are some more exercises on articles:

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/images/stories/Documents/articles.pdf

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/images/stories/Documents/definite-article.pdf

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/indefinite-article-and

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/definite-article