His story, Her story

Dear students!

In this post, you will find resources for the topic "History and Historic figures. Peace and war issues, control and power."

Here's the vocabulary for this unit:

The task for the blog:

Think of an important event (conflict, discovery, victory etc.), phenomenon (civil movement, suffrage, development in a certain sphere, e.g. Industrial revolution  etc.) or a historic figure that is particulary interesting for you. In your post (200-250 words) describe why you are interested in the chosen event, phenomenon or a person. Present important details (at least 6) in a timeline (using this tool: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/) and paste it in your blog.

A very rough example:

  Good luck!

On the move

Dear students!

In this post you will find resources for the topic "Holidays and Sights. Migration. US English."

First off, here are the words and phrases you will need to work with:

In order to complete your task for the blog, you will need to complete this interactive task:

http://tenement.org/immigrate/

In this activity, you will get acquianted with the realities faced by immigrants in the USA around a century ago. As you enter the site, press "i" for instructions.

You will have to choose an immigrant character for yourself and follow further steps.  A girl called Victoria will be your guide in this adventure. After you have completed all the stages of this game you will be offered to send Victoria a postcard. This is the base for your blogpost (you don't have to do the task on the game site; you should write a letter in your blog):

Write a letter (200-250 words, 20-25 active words and expressions) to Victoria describing your imagined experience based on the choices you made throughout the game (mention as many details as possible) and your imagination. Make sure you include some facts from Victoria's stories too. Also, paste an image of your immigrant passport and any other pictures you  consider relevant. 

News travels fast

Dear students!

In this post, you will find resources for the topic "Media. Fame. Celebrities. Talking about truth and lies".

To begin with, take a look at the vocabulary on the topic:

The task for your blog:

Imagine that a world celebrity (of your choice) paid a visit to the Ostroh Academy (the reason and purpose are also up to you). You will have to create a fake facebook profile of this celebrity with his/her updates concerning this visit (up to 250 words, 20-25 active words and expressions) and embed it in your blog. Remember to add pictures and/or videos, freinds' comments to make it more interesting.

Use this tool: http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page

Here's one of the existing profiles of Johnny Cash:
http://www.classtools.net/FB/1105-RUSWah



Once you enter the site, you'll see the video with a tutorial on how to use it.

Good luck!

Education matters

Dear students!

We hope that you're enjoying your time with your families and friends. For the sake of keeping you away from boredom we'd like to offer you some tasks. We'll be posting them one by one making sure that you get all of them till the end of December.

EDUCATION.
In addition to the wordlist you have (see below the post), please consider these resourses and review collocations presented in them. If you find any expressions unfamiliar, add them to your wordlist.

It appears that you have quite an impressive load of vocabulary now! It means that you need to create a wonderful blogpost using all those collocations, phrasal verbs and idioms.

BUT!

In this trimester we're taking the course to a whole level. For example, before creating something you will need to listen to the experts on this topic. In the videos below you will hear two renowned and visionary educators, Sugata Mitra and Sir Ken Robinson. While you're listening, jot down the ideas you find complelling, controversial or impossible to agree with, i.e. those that inspire you to express your own opinion on them. It is particularly important to single out the ideas that YOU personally find thought provoking.

  Now that you have watched the videos, write a blogpost where you will include some ideas (not more than 4) that you've jotted down and express your opinion on them. Requirements: 200-250 words, 20-25 active expressions.

Think about your own ways to improve education system in our country based on what you have learned from videos. Present your ideas in a mindmap created with this tool: coggle.it and add it to your blogpost. You will need to sign up using your google account.

A very rough example just to give you an idea what it looks like:


Once you've created a mindmap, you can download it as an image and paste in your blog, or choose the option "share publicly" (then you have to copy the code and paste it in your blog, just as you did when adding a Voki avatar).

Happy holidays!

P.S. And yes, you'll be getting more points for your blogs in the second trimester.

The basic wordlist on topic "Education"

Final blogpost (for groups 212, 213, 223)

Dear friends!

On Tuesday we'll have our final class in this trimester. Please make sure you have completed all the blog tasks by that time. Still, there's one more task you need to accomplish by Thursday (27 November). This will be your final blogpost in the 1st trimester that will include your reflections on the course. Make sure you mention your thoughts and ideas on the following items:

- your expectations of the course and impressions at the end of trimester;
- your progress and what contributed to it;
- what prevented you from achieveing certain goals (if anything);
- having to blog;
- having to create content with on-line tools;
- learning related topics in English practice and Vocabulary;
- your wishes regarding the course in the second trimester;
-  anything else you would like express regarding the course.


In your post, use 25-30 expressions that you particularly liked while doing the course.

Please take this task seriously as we're interested in your opinion in order to keep improving the course.

For groups 212, 213, 223

Dear friends!

For your blogpost on the topic "Houses and Buildings" you need to do as follows:

- imagine you're an alien who finds him/herself on earth and has to send a message to his/her friends about a place where they can find him/her
- fortunately, you find yourself near a building (of your choice), so you need to make a video of it showing as many details as possible (outside and/or inside) (up to 1 minute)
- in a post, you will describe a building, some details of the surrounding area and/or story reated to it.


For your final blogpost you need to provide a list of 25 links to the post you've commented on.

Good luck!

Final Test

Dear friends!

Next week you are to write the final test (25 points) that is designed to test your vocabulary knowledge and skills. Material to brush up on for the test includes the following items:

For subgroups A-211, A-221, A-222:

1) Units 44-51, and Unit 55 (Oxford Word Skills)
2) Unit 36 (English Vocabulary in Use, Upper-Intermediate)
3) Upstream Unit 4 (p.61, 64)

For subgroups A-212, A-213, and A-223

1) Units 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 55 (Oxford Word Skills)
2) Upstream Unit 4 (p.61, 64)
3) Wordlist on topic "Money":

ATM n. Automatic Teller Machine aka Hole in the wall. 

balance n. the difference between credits and debits in an account

bank charges n. money paid to a bank for the bank's services etc

barter v. to trade without using money.

borrow v. to ask for the temporary use of money on the condition of repayment and at a set rate of interest. 

chequebook n. book containing detachable cheques 

cheque n. written order to a bank to pay the stated sum from one's account

credit n. money in a bank a/c; sum added to a bank a/c; money lent by a bank - also v. 

credit card n. (plastic) card from a bank authorising the purchasing of goods on credit

currency n. money that is used by a country such as the United Kingdom. 

current account n. bank a/c from which money may be drawn at any time; checking account US 

debit n. a sum deducted from a bank account, as for a cheque - also v. 

debit card n. you use a debit card in much the same way as a credit card but instead of receiving credit after making your purchase, the funds are automatically (within a few days usually) withdrawn from your bank account.

debt n. the state of owing something (especially money).

deposit n. an amount of money placed with a bank 

deposit account n. bank a/c on which interest is paid; savings account US.

interest n. money paid for borrowing money, or money that a bank or building society pays a customer for putting money into their bank.

interest rate n. the percentage of an amount of money which is paid for the use of that money over a period of time.

lend v.to give the temporary use of money on the condition of repayment and at a set rate of interest.

loan n. money lent by a bank etc and that must be repaid with interest - also v. 

mortgage n. most of us do not buy our homes outright for cash - instead we borrow money to do so. 

overdraft n. deficit in a bank account caused by withdrawing more money than is paid in

payee n. person to whom money is paid 

(bank) statement n. a record of transactions in a bank account 

withdraw v. to take money out of a bank account 

withdrawal n. the act of taking out money.

 Rich man / Poor man

There are lots of ways to describe how rich or poor someone is. Here are a few - from very rich to very poor.

filthy rich             rolling in it             wealthy             rich             prosperous             affluent             well off             hard-up             needy             skint             penniless             broke             poor             impoverished             poverty-stricken             destitute
If you gladly share your money you may be considered:- charitable - generous - sharing - unselfish If you keep all your money you may be considered: - mean - miserly - selfish - stingy - tight - uncharitable - ungenerous

Creating a Company

Dear friends!

For the next class you have to work with Unit 55 (Oxford Word skills) and brush up on the vocabulary from Upstream Unit 4 as we're going to begin with a dictation.

The task for your blog:

This time you will try on a role of an entrepreneur and try to describe a company (or an organisation) you would like to set up as if you have already done it.  Therefore, describe it in a promotional manner to attract new employees.

Your description should include: 

- general characteristic (sphere of activity, aims, rules and MOTTO);

- working conditions (pay, perks etc.)

- descriptions of positions available (two or three),

- qualities that employees should possess 

- any other details that you find relevant.

In your description, use vocabulary from Units 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51 (Oxford Word Skills).

Besides, you will have to incorporate some gimmicks in your post. This time you will have to create speaking avatars using site http://voki.com/. Follow these steps:

1. Start a new post and make sure you enable this option in your settings:

2. Go to  http://voki.com/

3. Choose "Create"

 3. Choose a character from many suggested categories (you may as well select a background, choose character's outfit etc.):

4. Give your character a voice! The site offers different options: by phone, text-to-speech or record with a microphone. You have to choose EITHER text-to-speech OR record option. 

If you use text-to-speech option, you can either type or paste the text you wish. You also have an option to choose a male or female voice and an accent. Have fun trying out different options!

Now, what is your Voki avatar going to talk about? Obviously, about something relevant to the company you have created. Your Voki avatar could be a boss giving introductory info, an employee sharing impressions about his or her workplace, a new manager who has got promoted or anybody related to your company. Let your imagination do the work! What you have to bear in mind is that you have to use active vocabulary and the number of signs you can input (around 850).

If you wish to record your voice, you can speak up to one minute.

5. After you have created your avatar, embed it in your post. That is how you're going to do this:

- press "Publish" and name your avatar

- press "save" and close the window that will pop up:

- copy the code and paste it in your blog (the code is long, so make sure you cope the whole thing):

- if you've done everything properly, your code will turn into an avatar as soon as you publish your post. If you wish you may create more than one avatar!

Good luck!

For the students of subgroups 212, 213, 223

Dear friends!


Your task for the next class doesn't include writing a blogpost. Instead, you have to work thoroughly with the material of the Units 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51 (Oxford Word Skills), do the suggested exercises and get ready to a dictation.

In addition, you could take your time to comment your peers' blogs. Otherwise, it might be too late as we only have 1 month left to complete the course and 6 classes to enjoy each other's complany. Therefore, use your time wisely.

Best regards!  

Think locally, report globally

Dear friends!

In this post you will find out what you have to brush up on for your module test as well as the task for your next blogpost.

First off, if you want to be delighted with your test results, make sure you revise the following material:

1) Tips and guidelines on how arrange new words and expressions in your vocabulary notebook (English Vocabulary in Use, Units 1,2,3)

2) Rules of word formation and word families (English Vocabulary in Use, Units 8, 9, 10; Word Skills, Units 5, 6, 74, 75)

3) Words and expressions on the following topics:

- Collocations (Word Skills, Unit 4 pp. 17-19)
- Body Language (Word Skills, Unit 8)
- Communication technology (Word Skills, Unit 31)
- Discourse markers (Word Skills, Unit 64)
- Vague language (Word Skills, Unit 65)
- Sayings and proverbs (Word Skills, Unit 66)
- Feelings (Word Skills, Unit 15)
- Likes and Dislikes (Vocabulary in Use, Unit 69 pp. 138-139)


Your task for the next blogpost is due by October 28.

This time you have a chance to feel like a journalist of one of the world's leading newspapers. Follow these steps to accomplish your task:

1) Go to site http://newsjack.in/

2) Enter the URL of the newspaper. You may want to choose out of these: http://www.nytimes.com/, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Press "Remix"

3) Now let the magic begin! You can edit any part of the newspaper by clicking it. You can even change pictures! Your task is to fill the front page with the news from our university using at least 20 words from the units mentioned in section 3. Change headlines and content of the news reports, articles and other entries. The main part of the task is to write one report based on a recent event (up to 150 words). TIP: Have your report typed in Word before pasting it onto the Newsjack site.

4) After you have made the changes and typed/pasted your report, press "Share Your Remix". You will see a link to your remix, which you have to copy and paste in your blog.

5) As you can see there are quite many headlines and reports on the front page. You don't have to change everything, of course (however, you can do it if you wish). Make sure you have ONE extended report (up to 150 words) and change the content on the part of the newspaper that is available on your screen without scrolling down, i.e. this much:

Here are some tips:

How to replace the text:

1. Click on the text you want to replace.

2. Delete existing information.

3. Type or paste the text you want to add.

4. Save Changes.

5. Enjoy the result!

How to replace pictures

1. Click on the picture you want to replace.

2. Delete the URL of the picture.

3. Paste the URL of the picture you want to add.

4. Save the changes

5. Enjoy the result!

GOOD LUCK!

Feelings, emotions and stories

Dear friends! 

This time you have a task to write a story based on pictures from the site Flikr. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the site Five Card Flikr Stories: http://5card.cogdogblog.com/play.php

2. Generate a card set for yourself pressing "Play a Round". You may repeat this procedure till you have the set you feel like using for your story. Make sure all five pictures are available. Then PrintScreen the set and paste it in your blog. Like this:

3. Now it's high time you started creating! Write a story based on the card set you have chosen using vocabulary from:

                          a) Unit 15 Oxford Word Skills Advanced

                          b) Unit 2 Upstream B2 Plus (pp. 26-27), including these collocations: 

                                          business is booming

                                          take an interest in something

                                          consult an expert

                                          take off

                                          have n impact on

                                          absorb bad vibes

                                         be by-product of something

                                         put problems into words

                                         it does wonders for (something)

                                         live one’s life to the fullest

                                        connect with characters (of a book or film)

                                        reduce stress

Your story should include 200-250 words. Remember to make a nice title for it!

Good luck!