AS1: Week 10, June 21st, 2019

Homework

Read my comments to your movie report draft 2. They may help you when you make your presentation.

Today’s class

Questions (if you were absent today, you can email me your answers if you wish):

  1. What did you feel was interesting about doing the movie report (finding the movie, watching it, researching, writing, uploading, everything)?
  2. What did you not like about doing your movie report?
  3. What do you want to improve in this class?
  4. How can you improve #3 and enjoy this class more? Tell me what you can do, and something I (Mr. Sheffner) can do to help you improve and enjoy more.

Instructor (model) presentation on the movie “Bend it Like Beckham”, demonstrating how to use a popular movie for learning about British history: making a presentation starts with identifying questions you have. Some of my questions were:

  1. Who is Beckham in the title? What does the title mean?
  2. Why is an Indian family living in Britain? Where did they come from? How many other “British Indians” are there living in Britain? When did they start coming? Why?
  3. Why does the story take place in Hounslow? Where is Hounslow? Is it a new town or does it have a long history?
  4. What questions do you have about this movie?
  5. What questions do you have about the British history movie you watched?

WS1: Week 9, June 14th, 2019

Homework

  • Write a short book report (150-300 words) about the book you read from the Easy Reading list. Divide it into two parts: a summary (keep it as short as possible) and your understanding of the meaning of the story. Type it and upload to Manaba by Friday’s class.
  • Don’t forget your Reference page.

Today’s class

  • Discussion of books from the Easy Reading list.
  • The next story from “Splitting the Arrow”.

AS1: Week 9, June 14th, 2019

Homework

  • Re-write your British history movie report and post to Manaba by next Friday’s class. Don’t forget your “Reference” page.
  • Save your document as “AS1 Movie report draft2 Your Name”.

Today’s class

  • Discussion of student movie reports
  • Watch a video about writing English composition.
  • What did you learn about writing from today’s class?

WS1: Week 8, June 7th, 2019

Homework

  1. After receiving my comments and corrections to your draft 2 of “The Tortoises’ Picnic” writing, re-write it, save as “WS1 Tortoises’ Picnic draft3 Name” then upload to Manaba by next Friday 11:00.
  2. Choose an English book from the booklist “WS1 Easy Reading Library List” on Manaba (under “Resources”) and start reading it. It should be a book you can read without using a dictionary too much. Choose a book that interests you and that you can read easily.

Today’s class

Sentence correction and discussion about the meaning of the story.

AS1: Week 8, June 7th, 2019

Homework

Watch the British history movie you chose and write a report on it. You should include

    • a very brief summary of the story, including
      • where and when it takes place (maps and illustrations are recommended)?
      • Who are the main characters?
    • What historical facts are is the movie based on?
    • What original story is the movie based on?
    • Is the movie famous? If so, why? Director? Actors? Original story? Other reason?
    • list the movie in your “References” list according to the APA style. For details, see this reference page: Reference list – other non-print sources.

Today’s class

  • Academic writing about history includes not only facts but also explanations of human behaviour, e.g. why people acted the way they did.
    • Why did Boudicca start a rebellion against the Romans?
    • Why is she famous and popular today?
      • The Roman history of Britain, including about Boudicca, was written by Tacitus and lost after the fall of the Roman Empire, then rediscovered in the Renaissance.
      • The Romans were impressed by the Britons’ heroism and savagery.
        • Queen Elizabeth I was likened to Boudicca in a poem written in 1588.
      • There is a statue of Boudicca in London; ironic considering she and her soldiers burned the town to the ground and killed many inhabitants.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boadicea_and_Her_Daughters
      • Not everyone agrees that Boudicca was worth respect: they argue that for personal reasons she started a rebellion that involved tens of thousands of people (maybe even hundreds of thousands) and in which many innocent people were killed indiscrimately – Romans, Britons and Romano-Britons, men, women and children.
  • Timeline of British and Japanese history from the beginning of the building of Stonehenge to the end of the Anglo-Saxon period (1066).
  • How to use a movie to learn about British history (using “Great Expectations” as an example).

WS1: WEEK 7, MAY 31ST, 2019

Homework

Update: I have now sent everyone my corrections and comments to your “Tortoises’ Picnic” writing. Re-write your first draft, save it as “WS1 Tortoises Picnic Draft2 YourName” (without the quotation marks) and post on Manaba by 11 a.m.  Friday June 7th.

Today’s class

Watch the beginning of “Get Shorty”: https://youtu.be/Q7iU5hfG53w?t=93

  1. Which country is Miami in?
  2. Which part of that country is Miami in (West, East, South, North, Centre?)
  3. “I’ll say no more than I have to, if that.” Translate into Japanese.

Now watch Episode 6 of Dragon Zakura.

  1. What did you learn about learning English and writing English from this episode?

AS1: Week 7, May 31st, 2019

Homework

Watch the British history movie that you have chosen. Take notes. You will write a report about it (due June 14th).

Today’s class

  1. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) poem, “The Battle of Maldon”(see video on YouTube)
    1. What words can you recognize as modern English words?
    2. What letters are not used in modern English?
  2. How to cite a YouTube video in your “References” list. Here are the guidelines:
    1. Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
  3. Alfred the Great. Why was he called “Great”?
    1. How to cite a Wikipedia page using Microsoft Word’s citation function
  4. Excalibur (the movie) – how Arthur was born and why there’s a sword in the stone.

WS1: WEEK 6, MAY 24TH, 2019

Homework

Write a summary and comment about today’s story ” The tortoises’ picnic.

  • Use your APA template to write the summary and your response to the story, and upload it to Manaba in the assignment section.
  • If you agree to let your classmates read your response, copy it into the forum. (If you don’t want your classmates to read your response, don’t post it in the forum but only with your summary.)

Today’s class

  1. Were you able to see my two files (*.htm and *.rtf) with my corrections and comments to your writing? Were they useful to you? (If you were absent from class today, please email me your answer to this question.)
  2. Release forms from students for
    1. this class
    2. for public use (including publication)
  3. Academic writing rules:
    1. Avoid non-academic language (conversational English, contractions like “don’t”,  “isn’t”, etc.)
    2. Don’t begin new sentences with “And”, “But” or “Because” but instead keep them as part of the same sentence.
    3. One paragraph, one topic. New topic, new paragraphs. Keep sentences about the same topic together.
  4. Would you like to continue reading classmates’ comments to stories?
  5. Would you like to read your classmates’ summaries?
  6. Would you like to read Sheffner’s comments and corrections to classmates’ writing?
  7. Read the next story “The Tortoises’ Picnic” and the author’s comment. Check the vocabulary and meaning.

AS1: Week 6, May 24th, 2019

Homework

Write up your notes about the “Dark Ages”, the Anglo-Saxon times. Upload to Manaba by Wednesday midnight as usual.  Try to use your new APA Template. You should include:

  1. When the Anglo-Saxons came,
  2. Where they came from
  3. Why they came
  4. Where they came and settled (talk about and explain Wessex, Sussex and Essex)
  5. what language they spoke
  6. A brief introduction to King Arthur and his legend
  7. The Viking/Danish invasions (when, where from, where to)
  8. King Alfred the Great (who he was, when he lived, what he did that was famous, why he is called “the Great”).
  9. If possible, use your template you made last week with APA formatting.

Today’s class

  1. Were you able to see my two files (*.htm and *.rtf) with my corrections and comments to your writing? Were they useful to you? (If you were absent from class today, please email me your answer to this question.)
  2. Release forms from students for
    1. this class
    2. for public use (including publication)
  3. Academic writing rules:
    1. Avoid non-academic language (conversational English, contractions like “don’t”,  “isn’t”, etc.)
    2. Don’t begin new sentences with “And”, “But” or “Because” but instead keep them as part of the same sentence.
    3. One paragraph, one topic. New topic, new paragraphs. Keep sentences about the same topic together.
  4. The Anglo-Saxons. Key points:
    1. Where they came from (see the maps here)
    2. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
      1. Merlin the Magician
      2. Guinevere
      3. Sir Lancelot
      4. Excalibur (Arthur’s sword)
    3. They spoke Anglo-Saxon (not Celtic, not Latin), which is also called Old English.
      1. Here is part of an Anglo-Saxon poem called the Battle of Maldon which was a battle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings (Danes) which took place in 911 A.D. (The Vikings won!) Can you recognize any modern English words in this Old English text?
  1. the monk Bede and his History of the English Church (written in Latin of course because Bede was a monk) and later translated into Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred.
  2. King Alfred the Great, Danegeld, Danelaw

Bonus – Celtic videos

WS1: Week 5, MAY 17th, 2019

Homework

  1. Make your own 3-page APA-style template for your Writing Strategies writing.
    1. You can download the instructions (which I showed in class today) here
  2. Write two paragraphs about the “Learned Parrots” story.
    1. paragraph 1 – summarise the story (main points only, don’t tell the whole story)
    2. paragraph 2 – your personal response to the story.
    3. your paragraphs should be typed and saved with the name “WS1 Learned Parrots Name.doc(x)” and uploaded to Manaba by Wednesday midnight.

Update

I have corrected your “Two Ants” summaries, and uploaded them to Manaba. Please take a look.

Today’s class

  1. How to create an APA-style template for your Writing Strategies class writing.
  2. Explanation of my error-correction system with examples.
  3. Read the next story “The Learned Parrots” in the textbook.