Intermediate: Lab 8 (This I Believe listening)

In this lab, you will listen to an essay that was broadcast on the radio. You may listen as many times as you like. Then answer the questions and bring them to class Friday, July 24.

“A Duty to Family, Heritage and Country” by Ying Ying Yu

Program name:  This I Believe – Morning Edition

Date of story:  July 17, 2006_

Web address and NPR story ID #:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5552257

1. In your own words, what is this story about?

2. What does Ying Ying Yu believe?

3. What did Ying Ying first want to do when she grew up?

4. What is her plan, now?

5. At first, Ying Ying had a hard time “opening up” her feelings to write this essay. What made it easier?

6. Write about your personal thoughts and feelings on this topic or something related to the article.

(Optional) If you liked this listening exercise, you may find more “This I Believe” essays on many topics at NPR’s This I Believe website.

Intermediate: Lab 7 (Science fiction and the future)

In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” written in 1950, Ray Bradbury imagined the Earth 76 years in his future.

A. Can you think of other science fiction books or movies that imagine the future?
Name of book or movie __________________________________________________

What is different about humans’ lives in this future story? Categories of different things might include …

• communication technology
• home technology
• how we work
• transportation
• medicine
• entertainment
• government
• family life

Some science fiction futures are dystopian (technology has brought a bad future) or post-apocalyptic (manmade or natural disasters have destroyed modern society).

List at least three things about the future in your book or movie that are different from our lives now. Try to be specific. Example: “People communicate directly through their minds. They do not have to use telephones.

1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________

B. Now imagine your idea of humans’ lives in the future. Will our lives be better or worse?
Choose three of the categories above. How will these things be different 200 year in the future?

• Be specific with details.
• Use future tense verbs.
• You should have at least 9 sentences total (3 sentences per paragraph).

Write your ideas on the back of your lab page. If you need more space, use another piece of paper or type your paragraphs.

Two hundred years in the future, __________________ will be different. ________ (…)

In the future, _________________________ will also be different. ________ (…)

Even _____________________________ will be different in the future. ________ (…)

C. Bonus (1 point)
Include a picture of what you think our future will look like in 200 years. It can be a picture you find or a picture you draw. It should match what you have written about in part B.

Intermediate: Lab 6 (Movie reviews)

Think of your favorite movie, or a movie you have seen recently.

Title of movie: _____________________________________

Your opinion of the movie (use adjectives from chapter 13 or otherse):

Now think about the answers to these questions. You will use this information to write a review of the movie. (If you don’t know some of the information about the movie, search in www.imdb.com .)

1.The movie stars _______ as _______, (name all the important actors and characters). The acting by _______ (name of actor or actress) was especially good. (describe why it was good)
2.Plot synopsis: [Summarize what happens in a few sentences, but try not to give away the ending]
3.The part of the movie I liked best was _____________ because ________.
4.I (liked / didn’t like) this movie because _____.
5.I ( would / would not ) recommend this movie to my friends because _____. [even if you didn't like the movie it might be very well done and others might like it.]

Now write a review of the movie in three paragraphs.

Here is an example written by Shayna. You may use this as a model. Please do not copy reviews from the internet.

Joe versus the Volcano is a silly but touching movie directed by John Patrick Shanley. It tells the story of Joe Banks, a man who is afraid of many things in life. But when Joe finds out he is going to die soon, he stops being afraid. He quits his horrible job and takes an offer to go on exciting voyage. At the end of the trip, he must save an island by jumping into a volcano. During the movie, Joe meets several women who help him along.

The main character, Joe, is played by Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks. Hanks does a good job. He makes Joe amusing and likeable. The three women in the movie are all played by actress Meg Ryan. Ryan is versatile, and she makes the three different characters feel like different, interesting people.

My favorite part of the movie was near the end when Joe thought about his past and said, “I’ve come a long way, on a crooked road.” This was interesting because of a visual theme in the movie: a crooked line that appears in several different places, including a company logo, a bolt of lightning, and the road to the top of the volcano. In fact, the movie was full of thoughtful symbolism. It’s like a modern fairy tale. I would recommend this movie to fans of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, as well as people who like simple stories with lots of symbolism.

Please type your review, print it, and bring it to class on Friday.

Intermediate: Lab 5 (Travel brochures)

For this lab, you will make an advertisement for a tourist attraction.

1. Choose a monument or other tourist attraction that you have visited.

2. Answer these questions about the attraction:

• Where is it located? (Country, nearest city)
• When was it built, erected, or established as a monument?
• Who built it or opened it to the public?
• Why is it interesting or special? Why would people want to visit it?

3. Look at these examples of a tourism website. What language is used to attract tourists?  Can you find examples of passive constructions?

Crater of Diamonds State Park
Crater of Diamonds – History

Try to find the following words on the first page:

abundance
unique
explore, enjoy
all colors of the rainbow
delight
well preserved
diversity
interesting
thrill

4. Using the information from the questions above, write one paragraph about the attraction.

• You should write in the style of a tourism advertisement or brochure.
• You should use at least three sentences with passive construction, using passives with “by” and passives without “by.”
• Type the paragraph in a Word document.
• Give your paragraph an attractive title!

5. Find one or more photographs of the attraction. If you took the photographs, that is great! If not, try to find a photo that is not copyrighted. Add the photo(s) to the document with your paragraph.

Try to make it look nice! You want to attract people to visit your attraction.

6. Save your Word document as a Word 97-2003 (.doc) document (not .docx) and email it to Shayna or print it out and give it to Shayna.

Here is an example of a paragraph for this assignment:

(photo from arkansas.com)

Find your own diamonds!

Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the country where you can dig for your own diamonds, and it is located in Arkansas! The first diamonds in the area were discovered in 1906 by John Wesley Huddleston. For awhile, the land was run as a private tourist attraction, and it was purchased by the State of Arkansas in 1972 . Today, it is a unique place to visit for the excitement of digging for precious stones. In 2006, a six-carat diamond was discovered in the park!

Intermediate: pre-writing example

Here is an example of the pre-writing (thinking of ideas, planning) for a five-paragraph essay. Your homework for Thursday is to do the pre-writing for an essay.

Topic: Advantages of Owning a Pet

Brainstorming: Pets

• Dogs
• Cats
• Fish
• Birds
• Mice
• Fun
• Play
• Helpers
• Do work
• Feed them
• Exercise
• Good health
• Love,  family

Planning (outline)

Paragraph #

1. Introduction: Pets can be good for people.
2. Support: many kinds to choose from
3. Support: fun, pleasure
4. Support: help, health
5. Conclusion: More people should have pets.

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?

Intermediate: Lab 3 (Writing a How-To Article)

For this lab, you will write a “How-To” article using instruction and suggestion language.

1. Look at an article on eHow.com to see an example.

How to Brush Your Teeth with Strawberries

There are many more examples on eHow.com.

2. In the above article about brushing your teeth, try to find examples of the following grammar:

(Look in the Introduction or Tips & Warnings section)
Infinitive for uses and purposes:  _________________________
Gerund for uses and purposes: __________________________

(Look in the Instructions section)
Imperatives for instructions: _____________________________
_____________________________

3. Now write an article about something that you know how to do. Use this format:

Title: How to _________________________________

Introduction: (what your instructions are about and why the instructions are important)

Things You’ll Need: (materials needed for doing this)

Instructions: (numbered steps – between three and ten steps)
1.(the first thing you should do)
2.(the next thing you should do)
3.(use as many steps as you need, up to ten)
4….

Tips & Warnings: (other information the readers need to know, including things you should not do)

4. Please type your article (on a computer) and print it. On Friday, June 19, bring two things to class:
- This page with your answers
-Your printed article

Intermediate: Lab 2 (Airplane Travel)

Go to the esl-lab.com  20-minute ESL Vocabulary Lesson, “Airplane Travel.”

1. Introduction: Read the instructions carefully and follow them. The last part of the instructions says,

“Write a sample sentence for each word to learn how it is used in context. You can use the Internet to find such sentences.”

You do not need to write a sentence for every word. Choose two words you don’t know and write sentences using those words.

2. Follow the instructions in part II, Practice. Write your answers on your page:  1. _____   2.______   3. _______

3. Part III, Follow Up:

What are the most important points you look for when choosing an airline for your next flight? Rank the following points from most important (1) to least important (7).

• ___ price
• ___ destination
• ___ length of flight
• ___ on-time record
• ___ meals
• ___ comfort and seating
• ___ customer service

4. Compare flights:

First, choose a destination (circle your choice):

• Chicago           Dallas                        Las Vegas

Then go to Southwest Airlines and choose “Book Travel” to find out about a flight to and from Little Rock and your chosen city.  How much does it cost? $_________

Finally, go to Delta Airlines and find information for the same city and dates. How much does it cost? $_____________

Which airline meets your needs better (circle one)?

Southwest                Delta

Why?

Intermediate B: Lab 1 (Introductions)

This lab is a homework assignment with three purposes:

• To make sure you can find this blog. We will use it throughout the semester.
• To make sure your campus email address works.
• To see how well you follow instructions.

Here are the instructions for this lab:

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

2. Address an email to Shayna. The email address is on the syllabus you were given in class.

3. In the subject line of the email, type Intermediate Lab 1 from [your name] – make sure to put your own name there.

4. The first chapter of our book is about childhood and memories. In the body of your email, tell me about a favorite toy you had when you were a child.

5. Also, if you prefer to use another email address, give me that email address in your message. (But the email for this assignment must come from your campus account.)

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

Reading resources

If you would like to do more reading for practice and pleasure, here are some ideas. Most of these are books and resources I think would be good for middle- to upper-level adult ESL students. (The Storybooks section has some links for beginning level ESL students.)

Novels
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (easy history, American culture)

books by Lois Lowry

Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (American culture)

The Dark Is Rising books by Susan Cooper (fantasy)

Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell (political satire and future fiction)

The Little Prince (English translation) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

books by Ernest Hemingway

books by Elizabeth George Speare

books by Roald Dahl (some are for children, but are interesting and culturally relevant)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Non-fiction articles
Time or Newsweek magazine (higher reading level)
Reader’s Digest – easy, short stories about many subjects

Graphic novels (comic books)
17 Free, Downloadable Graphic Novels

Storybooks

Children’s Storybooks Online has illustrated books for beginning readers to more advanced readers. Scroll down for lists for young children, older children, and young adults.

Other resources
Searchlit.org

This website helps you find many free online texts. It lets you choose which level of reading you want to look for (beginning, middle and strong readers) and you can search by “grade” level (for instance, 7th graders are about 12 years old) and you can choose short stories, poems, novels and plays.

I will add to these lists as I have more ideas. I hope they help!

(Updated 1 June 2009)