Assessment of Your Learning

What have you learned this quarter?
Below is a list of the subjects we studied this quarter. Which subjects were especially helpful to your English learning? Why? Which ones weren't as good? Why? What would you have liked more of? Use a personal letter format to write me a letter telling me about your learning this quarter.

Grammar: gerunds and infinitives, embedded questions, reported speech, using conjunctions to fix run-on sentences, future perfect tense, past perfect continuous tense, used to
Vocabulary: writing sentences using nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
Reading: Balancing your Life: Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, Career Pathways, Goal setting, Setting priorities, motivation Personal Finance: Creating a budget(Money out), Organizing finances, Creating financial goals, Managing Money, Investing Wisely, 4 Keys to Great Credit, Maintaining Good Credit, and Identity Theft
Writing: Sentences with the vocabulary, Personal letters, Goal Statement, Summaries of internet research, Thanksgiving Essay, and editing your writing
Speaking and Listening in groups about the readings
Computer Lab: WOIS search, grammar practice, internet research
Transition: WOIS Career and Educational Plan, Transition Day, pre & post, Transition Portfolio assignments

Using What you Have Learned

Today, we will review what you have learned about using 'used to' to talk about a past habit, routine or process. Also, we will look more closely at reported speech.
Finally, you will write a letter using these forms.

• Used to
• Reported Statements
• Quiz 1
• Quiz 2 with Time Expressions
  
• Reported questions
• Quiz 1
• Quiz 2 with Time Expressions
• Reported Commands
• Quiz Affirmative
• Quiz Negative
• Using Say or Tell

Write a letter to a family member about your memories of living together. Talk about what you used to enjoy doing together. What kinds of questions did you used to ask? What were your responsibilities at home; what did people used to ask you to do?

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Some people call it Turkey Day.
Watch this video and learn more about this holiday. (You'll need headsets to listen.)

How will you celebrate the day? Will you eat turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie?
I am having 15 people to my house on Thanksgiving. Everyone is contributing different dishes. My menu is below.
Look at this food website to see how to make the traditional foods Americans eat at Thanksgiving.

As you listen and read about the topic of Thanksgiving, take notes. You will use the notes to write a report in class about what you learned.

Our Thanksgiving Menu

Roast Turkey
Stuffing (or Dressing)
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Squash
Pearled onions
Corn pudding
Green Beans
Beets
Roast vegetables
3 Cranberry sauces
DESSERT:
3 different pies and ice cream

Establishing, Maintaining and Checking Your Credit

This week, we are focusing on credit. As you have learned, you need to have a good credit rating before you can get a loan to make a major purchase like a car or a house.

Answer the questionnaire about whether you are a good or a bad risk by clicking on the
CREDIT CHECKER and scrolling down to Start the Check.

Next, go to the FTC--Federal Trade Commission site to read about Building a Better Credit Report. Look at Sections 1 --3. Take notes so that you can write a report about what you learned.

Then, go to How to Get a Free Credit Report and click on the video to understand why this site is the only one to use. Learn how to order a free Credit report. Finally, to order your credit report, click here.

After you have done this research, write a report explaining what you learned.

Financial Planning for Your Future

Today, you will be reading about Financial Planning.

Go to this Time Magazine link, Planning for Retirement at Any Age.

This article has 30 tips for people at different ages who want to make good financial choices so that when they are old enough to retire, they will be able to live comfortably. There are five or six strategies for each age group. Please read the tips for your age group, and then write a two or three sentence summary of each tip.

Internet Research

Today, you will do some more in depth reading about one of the topics we've been studying. The website we will be looking at is Wikipedia. Have you heard of it? It's quite famous because it has so much information,but it belongs to everyone and can be edited by anyone. I would like you to read about one of the following topics and then write a summary of what you learned.
Multiple Intelligences
Learning Styles
Managing Your Time

In addition, after you've finished reading about one of the topics above, here is a link to the Future Perfect Tense.
Finally, the BTS website has lots of great resources for you to use.

Remember to write a summary paragraph about what you learned.

Career and Educational Plan

We are going to explore a website that is available to you only from the college. It's called WOIS, The Career Information System.

I have given you a hand out called Career and Educational Plan. I have also copied the questions below. (You can copy and paste them into a Word document if you want to type your answers on the computer.) Answer the questions using the WOIS site. The first question asks you to identify two possible careers. Now, you need to figure out whether this website uses the same career name as you do. Thus, the first thing you need to do is to enter the WOIS database and click on Occupations. Then, find your career listings, and then click on it to figure out if the names are the same. You will see a menu at the top of the page with a lot of links. You can use the links to help you answer the questions I gave you.

For example the second question is...
"What skills will you need in order to work in this career?"
Which link would help you answer that question?
You would click on skills and abilities

Homework Page

I will try to post all your written homework assignments here.

1. Write a personal letter to a friend or family member. Include a paragraph describing one of the classmates you interviewed.
2. Write sentences using the vocabulary word families. All the sentences are due on Thursday, October 15th.
3. After you take the VARK learning style assessment, and have read the helpsheets describing your preferred learning style(s), write at least one paragraph telling what your learning style is and what study strategies should be most appropriate to help you learn. Explain why you think this information might be helpful to you.
4. We will have a test on the vocabulary families on Monday. The test will also include some questions on gerunds and infinitives.
5. Complete the Career and Educational Plan by Thursday, October 29th.
6. Complete the statement of your goals and short term goals
7. Complete the 'motivation' handout about goals and obstacles.
8. Summary of internet research on October 21st.

Learning Styles

Use this website to determine what your learning style is and what study strategies you might like to use: VARK

When you have answered the questionnaire, look at the "helpsheets" and click on the one for your learning style. Notice that this site uses some terms you might not be familiar with. Aural is similar to auditory. Multimodal means you like to use more than one style; multi means many.

After you are finished, write a paragraph telling what your preferred learning style is and tell about a few study strategies that would be best for you.

Studying about Gerunds and Infinitives

The English Page website is excellent for studying gerunds and infinitives.

Syllabus

Here is your syllabus for the course.

SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

English as a Second Language

Basic and Transitional Studies Division

ESL 051 &052 (5A & 5B)

Syllabus

Fall, 2009

INSTRUCTOR: Sara Baldwin

OFFICE PHONE 768-6851 (You can leave voice-mail at any time.)

EMAIL ADDRESS sbaldwin@sccd.ctc.edu (Use for college-related messages.)

OFFICE CAS 217

OFFICE HOURS 12:00 Wed & 1:00 Mon & Tues (Make an appointment.)

DATES: September 29^th – December 10^th

CLASSROOM: CAS 201

COMPUTER LAB: CAS 200 ( )

DAYS: Monday—Thursday 8:00 – 10:45

HOLIDAYS: November 11^th, Veterans’ Day

November 26^th, Thanksgiving Day

Transition Day November 4^th (Workshops will be held focusing on Transition Information)

DESCRIPTION: This is a high-intermediate ESL class. In this class we will use the book, Stand Out 5, as the basis of learning. Students will read/listen to the text and then pull out the concepts, vocabulary and grammar to learn. Much of the learning will be in groups. By speaking and understanding others’ ideas, students’ learning will be more profound. Some lessons will provide the basis for student projects. In these projects, there will be a research component in which students reinforce their learning by investigating related topics. Students will report about their research both orally and in writing. In addition, students will focus on their metacognition and learning strategies to use in pursuit of life-long learning outside of the ESL classroom.

The following textbooks may be used:

1. Stand Out 5 by Staci Johnson and Rob Jenkins (This book is available for purchase in the SSCC bookstore.)

STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO:

· Attend class everyday (If you will be absent, call my voice mail beforehand)

· Come to class everyday on time.

· Make a study-partner contract with another student

· Participate actively in class activities.

· Complete all assignments on time.

· Speak English in class at all times.

· Ask questions for clarification.

· Save work on a computer disc or flash drive in the computer lab.

· Proofread and edit written homework.

· Maximize your ability to learn language outside of class by:

o keeping a language learning notebook.

o taking notes in and out of class.

Course Objectives: In this class, students will learn many of the following:

· Write and talk about personal goals and identify obstacles, then strategize ways of overcoming them.

· Learn about options for careers and higher education in Washington.

· Read and interpret charts and graphs.

· Synthesize information (construct parts into a new whole) from a variety of written and oral sources in order to make plans, decisions, and form opinions (e.g. job choice, voting and goal setting.)

· Summarize and clarify information.

· Write compositions with topic sentences and supported by logical development of ideas.

· Use knowledge of parts of speech, grammar and vocabulary to write clearly and edit own writing.

· Use English tense, negation and question structures and punctuation with few mistakes.

· Access reference materials including English-English dictionaries, catalogs, indexes and electronic sources, and use as tools to check for appropriate word usage, definition, pronunciation, part of speech etc.

· Learn strategies to understand, memorize and expand vocabulary.

· Monitor comprehension and apply appropriate reading/listening strategies in difficult text/speech/lecture (e.g. predict, ignore an unfamiliar/irrelevant word/phrase, visualize, think of an example, etc.)

· Take clear, concise, useful notes from texts and lectures

· Effectively study in groups.

Writing & Computer Lab Objectives: Students will use process-writing techniques to do the following writing tasks: 1. Write, proofread and edit compositions and letters. 2. Use e-mail to correspond with teachers and students. 3. Access the internet to research and interpret information. 4. Employ common software including Word to correct errors, cut, copy, paste, and make tables.

Proper format for written work: 1. Your heading should be in the upper right corner and include your first and last names, the date. 2. There should be a centered title on the first line.(or the name, or page of the homework assignment) 3. All hand-written work to be turned in should be completed in BLUE or Black ink. 4. Typed and hand-written papers should be double-spaced. 5. All work should have one inch margins at the top, both sides, and the bottom. 6. All work completed on notebook paper should be written on one side of the paper only. 7. Multiple pages should be stapled in the upper left corner.

The following SSCC Student Learning Outcomes are addressed in this class:

· Read and listen actively to learn and communicate.

· Speak and write effectively for personal, academic, and career purposes.

· Use social interactive skills to work in groups effectively.

· Recognize the diversity of cultural influences and values.

· Take pride in one’s work.

· Use information to achieve personal, academic, and career goals, as well as to participate in a democratic society.

Grading: ESL 051 is a non-credit course. However, to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and monitor your progress, you will have graded assignments during this course. ESL 051 Grading Scale Numerical Grade Percentage Grade 4.0 95 -100% 3.9 94 3.8 93 3.7 92 3.6 91 3.5_______Lowest "A"__________90 3.4 89 3.3 88 3.2 87 3.1 86 3.0 85 2.9 84 2.8 83 2.7 82 2.6 81 2.5______Lowest "B"___________80 2.4 79 2.3 78 2.2 77 2.1 76 2.0__Lowest Passing Grade_____75 BELOW 2.0 IS FAILING!!!!!!! 1.9 74 1.8 73 1.7 72 1.6 71 1.5______Lowest "C"___________70 1.4 69 1.3 68 1.2 67 1.1 66

Students subject to provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act:

If you believe you qualify for course adaptations or accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is your responsibility to contact the Disability Support Services officer and provide the appropriate documentation. If you have already documented a disability or other condition which would qualify you for accommodations, or if you have emergency medical information or special needs I should know about, please notify me during the first week of class.

College Closure Information

If you think the college might not be open because of the weather, please refer to the following:

Closure information should be available first on the Public Schools Emergency Communications System site at http://www.schoolreport.org and then on College and District websites. Most local television and radio stations use the Public Schools Emergency Communications System information in their broadcasts.