Foundations: Lab 8 (Tongue Twisters)

This lab involves the internet.  You may do it at home if you have a computer.

Go to http://www.esl4kids.net/tongue.html .

1. Read the tongue twisters there and choose your 3 favorite.  Do not choose ones we have talked about in class.  Write them below.
2. Talk to three people and ask them to say the tongue twisters you chose.
3. Ask each person which tongue twister they think is the hardest.
4. Write your results here.

Tongue twisters:

1.

2.

3.

	Name	Which one was hardest?  (1, 2, or 3)
Person 1
Person 2
Person 3

5. Pick out your favorite tongue twister, ideally one that is difficult for you.  Practice saying it aloud.  You will have to say it for the class this Friday.

6. Bring this paper to class Friday, July 24.

Foundations: Lab 7 (National dress)

Prepare a presentation for the class about the national dress (clothes) of your country.

Your presentation should be about 3 minutes long (not longer).

Show us the traditional dress of your country and talk about it. You may use pictures or real items of clothing.

You should include at least three of these things:

• Clothing for men
• Clothing for women
• Clothing for children
• When the traditional dress is worn (for special days only? or every day?)
• Instructions on how to put on and wear the clothing
• Common colors and styles
• Symbolism of the dress (what does it mean?)
• History of the dress

(If there is more than one student from your country in the class, you may share the presentation and talk about all of the things.)

NOTE: If you use a PowerPoint presentation, DO NOT read from the slides. If you do this, you will lose points. It would be best not to put any sentences on your slides. You should be speaking freely, not reading or reciting.

Bring your lab paper to class on Friday with your presentation.

Foundations: Lab 6 (Phone Message)

This is an internet lab. You may do it at any computer that allows you to listen to audio and allows you to print.

1. Go to esl-lab.

2. Under General Listening Quizzes in the Easy column, click on “Phone Message.”
Pre-Listening Exercises:
Imagine you have answered the phone. The caller asks to speak with someone. That person can not come to the phone. You say:
“I’m sorry, he can’t come to the phone right now. He’s __________.”

What are three ways to complete that sentence?
Example: He’s out of the office right now.
a. ________________________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________________________

3. Follow the instructions in part II, Listening Exercises. You may listen as many times as you want. Answer the questions.
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.
5. Do do Part III, Post Listening Exercises.
Mixed-Up Sentence
Sentence:

Sentence and Vocabulary Matching
Sentences:
-
-
-
-
-
Text Completion Quiz
Answers:
1                    6
2                    7
3                    8
4                    9
5                    10

6. What does “right off the bat” mean?

________________________________________________________________________________

7. On Friday, bring this page, with your answers, to class.

Foundations: Lab 5 (Vacations)

In this lab, you will tell us about a vacation or trip you took in the past.

1. Choose a vacation or trip you took.

2. Find some pictures of the place.

• These can be pictures you took or pictures you find on the internet.
• Choose at least 1 (minimum) but no more than 7 (maximum) pictures.

3. In class on Monday, describe your vacation.

* You must use past tense.

* You must answer these questions:

• When did you go? (“In 2005,…)
• Where did you go? (“I went to…”)
• What did you do there? (“I swam in the ocean and visited the aquarium.”)
• How long did you stay? (“I stayed for…”)
• What was your favorite thing about the vacation? (“My favorite thing was…”)

4. Also, describe your picture(s).

* You do not have to have a Powerpoint presentation, but you may if you want to.

* Your presentations must be less than 3 minutes. (Maximum 3 minutes)

Example:

“In May of this year, I went to the Grand Canyon, Arizona, with my parents. We drove from Arkansas and traveled for one week. We visited the Grand Canyon, went for a hike in the Canyon, visited Petrified Forest National Monument, and saw the Hoover Dam. My favorite things were the ancient rock paintings and the wild animals we saw.”

“This is a California condor. They are very rare. We saw them at the Grand Canyon.”

“This is the Hoover Dam. It is really huge!”

Movies for listening practice

For English listening practice using radio and podcasts, go to this post.

In addition, here are some movies with language that should be fairly easy to listen to.

I have checked the DVDs of these movies. They all have either closed captioning or English subtitles. (Closed captioning can be accessed through your televion. To turn on subtitles, use the DVD menu language options.)

You should be able to rent most of these movies at a local video rental store, or buy them online at places like Amazon.com or Deepdiscount.com. You can find information about these movies by looking them up in the Internet Movie Database.

Animated films:

• Wall-E
• Toy Story
• The Iron Giant
• Monster House
• Antz

Live action dramas:

• Titanic
• E.T.
• The Karate Kid
• Rudy
• Secondhand Lions
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Documentaries (nonfiction):

• Encounters at the End of the World – about exploring Antarctica
• Animals Are Beautiful People – 1975 film about African animals
• Secret Yellowstone – about the U.S. national park
• March of the Penguins
• Space Station: IMAX

If you use one of these movies to practice your English listening, I would like to know your opinion!

• Was it easy to listen to?
• Did the captions or subtitles work?
• Was the movie interesting to you?
• Would you recommend the movie for other ESL students? Why or why not?
• Would you recommend a different movie?

Foundations: Lab 3 (Demonstration)

Due June 19

In this lab, you will demonstrate an ability. You should come to class Friday ready to demonstrate something you can do.

In 5 minutes or less, you will show us your skill or talent.

• We can go outside if necessary (weather permitting).
• You must bring all equipment or objects you need.
• After your demonstration, you should describe your ability. Use these sentences (and more, if you want):

I can…

I learned to … (time or age) …

To learn to …, you need to …

Example:

“I can play the clarinet.”

“I learned to play when I was 11 years old.”

“To learn to play the clarinet, you need to have a teacher and practice a lot! You also have to move your fingers fast and have a strong mouth.”

Examples of skills and abilities:

“I can…”

• draw
• dance
• play the (instrument)
• head a soccer ball, dribble a basketball, catch a pop fly (any skill necessary for a sport)
• tie my shoes
• make a sandwich
• tie a necktie
• braid hair

Foundations: Lab 1 (Objects)

This lab has three purposes:

• To help you find this blog (shaynasclass.wordpress.com)
• To see if your campus email address works
• To see how well you follow instructions

Instructions

1. Log in to your campus email at mail.ualr.edu.

2. Address an email to Shayna. The email address is on the syllabus Shayna gave you.

3. Subject of the email: Foundations Lab 1 from [your name]

4. In the email, list the objects that are on or near the desk where you are typing.

Example:

• A computer is on the desk.
• A box is beside the chair.
• My bag is under the chair.

List at least four objects.

5. Also, give me your other email address (not your campus email) if you want me to use that.

6. Send the email before Friday morning, June 5.

Foundations: Lab 7 (Entertainment preferences)

On Friday, give a presentation about your favorite type of music or your favorite type of TV program.

Your presentation should…

• Be about 5 minutes.
• Give a definition of that type/category of music or TV program. (How is it different from other types?)
• Tell why you like that type of music or TV program. (This is the most important part)
• Give an example of the music or TV program.
• Include real music and/or video.
• If there is no video, include at least one picture.

You may use the computer and equipment in class for your presentation.
Some examples of types of music are:

• Pop
• Classical
• Latin
• Rock
• Folk

Some examples of types of TV shows are:

• Sitcom
• Police drama
• Medical drama
• Soap opera
• Science fiction

Foundations: Lab 5 (Past actions)

Watch one of the following videos. After you watch, write sentences about the video. Be sure to use past tense. Turn in your sentences in class on Friday, October 10.

• 3 questions
• 5 affirmative sentences
• 5 negative sentences

Examples:

• Where did the dog pull a man?
• The dog climbed a tree. The dog didn’t climb a rope.

Video 1 (direct link)

Video 2 (direct link)

Foundations: Lab 4 (Doctor’s office dialogues)

On Friday, we will set up an imaginary doctor’s office in our classroom. Two students will be doctors, two students will be patients, and one student will be the receptionist.

To prepare, you will first draw “lots” to find out if you are a doctor, patient, or receptionist.

Then you will get a worksheet to help you prepare your half of a conversation between a doctor and a patient. (If you are the receptionist, you need to write your own lines!)

On Friday, come to class and work with another student to prepare your “Doctor’s Office” conversation. You will perform it for the class.