Snapshots from today

Today during lesson time we chose to stop our reading of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" mid-way through, in order to analyze and describe the traits/likes/dislikes of the main character in the book - Christopher. The class was divided into their study groups - eight of them - and cooperated in noting down words describing Christopher. Each group then presented their findings on the whiteboard. I also put the words into a canvas-poster that I put up in the classroom.

Here's the poster all put together: 

Evaluation of module 1: Tolerance

"Presidential Pitch" - ENG 5

In your speech I will look at the following: 

Tip of the day - an interactive way to learn about history and the USA

Snapshot from today - Quizlet live

We used Quizlet live today as we tested our knowledge about the three US branches of government. When the students got the hang of it there was a lot of laughter, excitement, cooperation and winners!

Words to U.S. Election 2016 - ENG 5

Words to U.S. Election 2016 - gravity

Words to U.S. Election 2016 - scatter

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time - Module 2: ENG 5 for NA16F

Plan for book

Questions 

This exit ticket really made my day!

Needless to say really, but this exit ticket made my day. The students were asked "What have you learned this week?" and this student's answer blew me away. I've succeeded in making this student feel comfortable in my classroom and in understanding that making mistakes is part of the learning process... A good feeling indeed. :)

Q&A with Lakeside Junior High, Springdale, Arkansas

Today my students got the chance to hang out with some students at Lakeside Junior High in Springdale, Arkansas through Google Hangout. We had prepared some topics to discuss - prisons, health care, education, diversity and the Nordic model. Each group had prepared some questions - and imagined possible answers to the questions coming in- and the discussion went on for close to 60 minutes. So educational - among other things, we found out that you may have to pay 5,000 dollars to mend a broken arm in the U.S., that there are "ladies' etiquette clubs" and "gentlemen's clubs" as extra-curricular activities at Lakeside Junior High, that a general type of lunch could be a chicken sandwich and that a typical stereotype of a southerner is a person in overalls playing a banjo. :)

Thanks to Brian for arranging yet another great Hangout! And thanks to my awesome students!

Link to video clip from Hangout

"Module 2: U.S. Election" for English 5 for SA16M + SA16P

Link to plan for U.S. Election ENG 5

Clinton and Trump - positions on a few issues right now:
sources: (screen dumps from www.procon.org)

How to summarize a story - some good tips

Here is the link to the wikihow page that we took a look at last week:

http://www.wikihow.com/Summarize-a-Story

Quizlet spelling - words for module 1: tolerance English 6

Here is the link to Quizlet

Snapshot from today - my desk on a Wednesday morning

It's 8.15 am Wednesday morning and I'm checking the usual morning "papers" USA Today, Daily Mail, The Times and The Huffington Post before starting to correct some tests. Have a great Wednesday! :)

English 6 - instructions for module 1: "Tolerance"

Module 1: Tolerance - plan

Instructions for discussion essay (from Blueprint B)

Example of essay  (from Blueprint B)

Revision of text

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The DNA Journey: 

Preview to "America by the numbers":

What are human rights? 

Preliminary plans for my classes

Plan for SA15M + SA15P:

Plan for NA16F:

Plan for SA16M + SA16P:

Preliminary plans for English 5 and English 6 in QR-codes

Plans for English 5 and English 6:

Snapshot from today

I'm settling in at my desk and this is what's in front of me:

Informal letter phrases for greetings and closings

Salutation/greeting

Usually starts out with Dear X, or Hi/Hello X and is generally followed by a comma.

Note: You can use an exclamation point also if there is a need for some emphasis. 

Closing

Here are some examples of what you can use to close the letter.

Well, that's all for now 
All the best 
Best wishes 
See you soon 
Take care 

Kindly
Kind regards

Yours 
Love 
Lots of love

Your closing phrase should be followed by a comma and your signature/name. 

Wishing you a great summer! I'm off to Spain!

I'm off to Spain in a few days and I'll be there with my family for two weeks - soaking up the sun, exploring Spanish sights and of course swimming a few lapses in the pool. Wishing you all a happy summer and I'll be back in August again!

Reading "All American Boys" - Global Read Aloud 2016

There has been a change of plans for me regarding Global Read Aloud since I'm changing work places and moving on up from junior high school to high school. This means  that "Orbiting Jupiter" will have to wait and instead I'm focusing on "All American Boys" to see if that is something that I can work with with my new students this fall. So far, after 100 pages of reading, it's promising and I'm slowly getting caught in the characters' dilemmas... I think this will be a great book to discuss and from it bridge into the US elections in November.