ESL L5: A Beautiful Day to Read in the Sunshine

Friday, September 17, 2010

You all have been working so hard in class. Keep up the great work everyone! Can you believe you have just finished your fourth week of ESL Level 5? Time is flying; very soon the leaves will be off of all the trees.

I just looked at the weather forecast and it seems that this weekend will be quite rainy and a bit on the chilly side. Do get outside today and enjoy the sunshine. Sitting outside on a nice fall day with a cup of coffee and something fun to read in English would be a nice way to pass the afternoon.

What's that you say? Read for fun in English? Yes, of course you should read for fun and you should do so every day. For example, if you like to read the news from your home country in your native language, google the headline and find the article in English and test your knowledge of the article. If you love gossip columns, then read the latest on the celebrities. If you like sports, then read about your favorite sport. It just doesn't matter what you read in English, what matters is that you do read!

Here are some helpful strategies for improving reading comprehension that I have modified from English for Foreign Language Speakers the Easy Way:

• Be positive. Don't get down upon yourself for what you don't understand. Feel proud of what you do understand. Simply keep reading. It will become easier and easier with practice.
• Be motivated. Visualize yourself reading in English your favorite book, magazine, or website in the future. Picture yourself reading without the aid of a dictionary because you are now fluent in English. Picture how happy you are that you have achieved this momentous goal. Think this is simply a dream? Re-read this post every month. You will be amazed by the results of this simple affirmation...
• Create a movie in your head. Visualization while you read helps you with comprehension.
• Read words in thought groups. Try to get the main idea of clauses and sentences. Do not read word for word.
• For practice, underline the topic sentence. Can you identify the topic and the opinion? When you finish a paragraph, test your comprehension by writing one sentence that summarizes the paragraph.
• Read in a place that makes you happy. Read in your favorite comfy (meaning: comfortable) chair, or at your favorite café. Part of my living room is a sun room which is surrounded by my plants and overlooks a park in Oak Park. I tend to do all my reading in this nook of my living room. I even do my grading here as it is a happy spot for me! :D
• Read a healthy balance of fiction and non-fiction. Fiction will help you with dialects and writing styles. Non-fiction will help you with current English terminology/vocabulary terms.

Today's Holidays of the World

Angola: Hero's Day

United States of America: Citizenship Day; National Stepfamily Day

Homework for Friday, September 17, 2010

1. Study for the Unit 2 Quiz. Make sure you review:
• Vocabulary terms
• Grammar: Present Perfect Continuous
• Grammar: Passive Voice vs. Active Voice
• Grammar: Irregular Verbs: Past Tense and Past Participles (side one of the handout)
• Reading: RFID Chips
• Reading: Wuthering Heights Ch. 1-3
• Writing: The pros and cons of technology
• Writing: How to express abilities
• Writing: Identifying topic sentences and supporting information
2. Read: Wuthering Heights Ch. 4
3. Writing Paragraphs Handout: Practice II
4. Vocabulary Notebook: Ten (10) entries are due Monday, September 20, 2010
5. Writing: Unit 2: Lesson B: Workbook: p. 13 C, D, and E to hand in

~Happy Studying!~