Posts Tagged ‘northstar’
Friday, April 9th, 2010
I continued with the homeless picking up on the reasons for homelessness. Their research got them to addictions, mental illness, and unemployment. But very few students discussed the dearth of affordable housing for low-income families. I wonder why that is.
We did the NorthStar 4 Unit 6 Video on Habitat for Humanity in class. The students really liked the idea of Habitat and all the volunteers working together with the family who will receive the house.
The founder of Habitat speaks in a Southern accent – students had trouble realizing that there are regional accents (not just “foreign” accents) in the U.S.
How have you handled different regional accents? Have you had any interesting lessons/discussions?
We also discussed volunteering possibilities at our university: mostly tutoring in disadvantaged neighborhood schools. We discussed what each side (children and university students) got out of this experience. For homework, students have to search YouTube for other videos about Habitat for Humanity (there are many).
Tags: efl, esl, esol, habitat for humanity, homelessness, northstar, regional accent, research, southern accent, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, video
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 6, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 6, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | 3 Comments »
Monday, April 5th, 2010
In our freewriting in class, some of the students reacted to the concern for animal rights by writing (sarcastically) that we should all become vegetarians. When we shared our writing, one student reported that her friend actually was a vegetarian and we discussed this option. Again, the same incredulity about such a decision. In fact, when we went over the public service announcements the students recorded, one pair made an additional announcement inviting humans to come in to become guinea pigs for science. “This is the only way to save the animals! Come in and volunteer today!” My colleague explained “tongue-in-cheek” and it was a lot of fun.
To conclude, we divided the students into pairs and each pair had to explain one of the quotes about animals in the Listening/Speaking book. It was just short enough to allow each team to speak but not to drag out the assignment. For those who have problems with pronunciation, teachers can assign them to do the explanation again on MyNorthStarLab and give them more feedback.
Tags: animals, efl, esl, esol, ideas, mynorthstarlab, northstar, pronunciation, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips, vegetarian
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 4, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 4, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Today we discussed zoos. We began by discussing a quote from Zola on the sadness of a lion caged up in a zoo.
Some people go to the zoo to look at the imprisoned animals. There is nothing sadder than those wild animals with their large dreamy eyes, moving around in their cages in despair.
Some students agreed with this quote and gave examples of zoos in their own countries, where the animals seem sad and trapped. One student felt that zoos should be forbidden in the interests of the animals. We listed the points “for” and “against” zoos. For example, little children want to see animals and the experience has some educational value. Zoos can help in breeding endangered species. Some families cannot afford expensive trips to places where animals roam free. On the other hand, animals in the zoo show behavior that is very different from behavior in their own habitat. It is cruel to keep large animals penned up
Tags: animals, efl, esl, esol, ideas, northstar, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 4, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 4, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
In my last post, I talked about a class debate I set up on animal intelligence. Some students pointed out that many of the examples involved animals showing an intelligence that can be of use to humans: bomb sniffing dogs or dogs that could predict seizures. This involved heightened animal perceptions that can be used by humans for their own benefit.
The students wanted to know what animals do in their own world. In answer to this, we went to the “60 Minutes” website and watched “The Secret Language of Elephants.” This video shows the work of Andrea Turkalo, a scientist who lives with elephants in Africa and studies their language — the varied sounds they use to communicate with each other. She and scientists at Cornell are working on a dictionary of elephant language. Students also searched the internet for reports of primates using sticks as tools, even sharpening them for hunting, and of communication among birds. This was a very fruitful discussion that we hope will lead to better essays with more examples and support.
Tags: debate, efl, esl, esol, intelligence, northstar, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips, video
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 4, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 4, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
Friday, March 19th, 2010
Hi again! Here’s the first regular post! Let the blogging begin!
We started Unit 4 on Animal Intelligence this week. I began with a discussion of the differences between animals and humans. There was a lot of disagreement in the class because some students felt that human beings were on a completely different plane because of their ability to reason. Others felt that there was a continuum between humans and animals and many shared traits.
One student brought out the fact that chimps and humans share more than 98% of their DNA. We discussed DNA and the building blocks of life. We discussed tool making, language, emotions etc. as some of the characteristics of man.
After the students explored the unit we came back to the ideas we talked about at the beginning. We prepared for a debate and divided the class: half the students prepared support for the idea that animals do not have intelligence (for example, the case of Clever Hans) and the other half prepared support for animal intelligence (Koko and learning sign language, for example, which they saw on MyNorthStarLab).
Then in groups of 4 they argued their points: 2 for and 2 against. The important point for me was that the students have to get used to providing support for their opinions. They are very strong in assertions, but they do not back up their opinions with examples and support in their essays.
Do you find that your language learners have similar problems? What do you do to help them add support to their opinions?
Tags: efl, esl, esol, ideas, mynorthstarlab, northstar, tefl, tesl, tips
Posted in L/S 4, Unit 4, Listening and Speaking, Listening/Speaking 4, R/W 4, Unit 4, Reading and Writing, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Hi Everyone!
My name is Judy Miller. Robert Cohen and I wrote NorthStar Reading/Writing level 5, and I am a teacher at Columbia University’s American Language Program.
This term I am using NorthStar level 4 and MyNorthstarLab with my intermediate class. I will be posting reflections on how my classes are going. Check back regularly, as other authors will be posting as well.
You can join the conversation by posting comments and questions. What have your experiences been? What activities have you done in your classes? This is a chance for all of us to share ideas and tips for teaching our students.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Tags: efl, esl, esol, ideas, mynorthstarlab, northstar, sharing, teaching, tefl, tesl, tesol, tips
Posted in Listening/Speaking 4, Reading/Writing 4 | No Comments »
