Homework

For Tuesday, November 27

• Do some reading practice (check the links on the blog's home page for some sites) if you want.
• Organize your work in preparation for your 1-on-1 consultation with me on Thursday November 29th.
• Do the self-assessment checklist (CLB 5, CLB 6) and bring it to the consultation on Thursday
• Relax and have a great weekend!

For Thursday November 20

• Check the blog's writing page for links to a couple of sites on punctuation.
• News journal - this will be the last one for this term!
• Freewriting journal - 'Dreams' - or any topic of your choice
• Read the handout on compare/contrast and do the exercises if you think they are helpful. We will work on the task on the last page on Tuesday.
• Grammar handouts - articles. We will check our answers in class.
• We will do a practice (UI) reading test on Tuesday, and work on compare-contrast paragraphs/compositions

For Tuesday Nov. 13

• Work on/finish the 'tips for learning English' article that you started in class tonight. You e-mail it to me this weekend if you want feedback or hand it in on Tuesday. On Thursday Nov. 15, you will do an in-class writing task (for marks) using the same format.
• Read the handout on the semi-colon and do the exercises. We'll check the answers in class on Tuesday.
• Vocabulary sheet - similies. Please come to class with the worksheet completed!
• Keep reading
• Have a great weekend! 

For Thursday Nov. 8

• Finish/bring adjective clauses worksheets. Click here to check your answers to everything but the last 2 sections.
• We will do a reading quiz in class on Thursday
• Go to modo.coop  and find the answers to the six questions below. Hand in your answers on Thursday or e-mail the answers to syuen@vcc.ca
1. What is modo? 
2. Why? (what’s the purpose?) 
3. How (do I join)? What are the different ways I can join? 
4. Who can join? (What are the eligibility requirements?) 
5. What kind of person would be interested in joining Modo?  
6. Would this be a good thing for you? Why/why not?
• Work on/finish the 'tips for learning English' article that you started in class tonight. You can hand it in on Thursday or e-mail it to me later on the weekend if you want feedback. Next week sometime you will do an in-class writing task (for marks) using the same format.
• Keep reading...novels from the book box, and if you want to try something else, go to the blog's reading page and click on the link for "Reading for Understanding". Start at the bottom and keep moving up!

For Tuesday Nov. 6

• News Journal
• Freewriting journal: "Is life better in Canada?" (Or a topic of your choice)
• Vocabulary sheet: Education
• Grammar package: Adjective Clauses - do as much as you can and we will check the last page in class together.
• Read your novel from the book box

For Tuesday October 30:

• News journal - you know what to do! :)
•  Freewriting journal: Opinion - Do you like Hallowe'en? Why/why not?
• Vocabulary sheet: 'success, failure, and difficulty' (We will check the answers on Tuesday)
• Reading and questions: 'Count Dracula' and 'Acrobatic Worms' - read and do the questions. We will check the answers on Tuesday
• Click here to go to the "Sentence Sense" writing site. Choose one or two aspects of writing to work on - spelling, subject-verb agreement, etc. If you don't see anything useful here, go to the other topics and try to find something to work on.
• Please bring your reading test back and return it to me. (You can't keep them, sorry!)

For Thursday October 25:

• Review my feedback/edits on your writing to prepare for the in-class comp (narrative paragraph/comp) on Thursday night. UI students will have 60 minutes to write 1 paragraph (or more), and LA students will have 90 minutes to write a composition. 

For Tuesday October 23:

• News journal: complete the sheet, cut out the article, and come to class on time and prepared to discuss it.
• Freewriting journal: Reflect on your learning/progress so far this term. Also explain what you want to focus on (what your learning goals are) for the rest of the term (or another topic of your choice).
• Vocabulary worksheet: 'Feelings' 
• Work on your second draft of your narrative essay. E-mail it to me or hand it in on Tuesday. If I didn't give you your first draft back, then wait for my feedback.
• Keep reading your short novel. You should be finishing book #2 if you want to finish 4 by the end of the term.
• (optional): answer the questions on the Gerund/Infinitive worksheet that I gave you on Tuesday Oct. 16

For Tuesday Oct. 16

• News journal: complete the sheet, cut out the article, and come to class on time and prepared to discuss it.
• Gerund and Infinitive worksheet - finish
• Make sentences using the new vocabulary (the onomatopoeic words that your reviewed with Bobbi on Thursday night; for example: I woke to the sound of bacon sizzling in the pan and the coffee maker whirring, and I knew that it was going to be a fantastic mother's day.)
• Journal topic: stress, stress management (or a topic of your choice)

for Tuesday Oct. 9

• News journal #3: select an article, complete the news journal worksheet, and come to class ready to discuss/share information about your article
• Journal (freewriting): "A national hero - what national hero (in Canada or elsewhere) do you know a lot about?"
• vocabulary worksheet: "do/make" 
• Work on your vocabulary - add words to your personal vocabulary notebook, your Quizlet set(s), etc. Spend a few minutes adding some words to the class set 'Frequently used words in English'. Click here to view or add to that set.(To edit, you must enter the password 'readwrite')
• (Optional):Write a first draft of the narrative composition about an inspirational teacher/person or "a memorable moment in school". Refer to the information about narrative essays that I handed out in class on Thursday Sept. 27 if you need help. If you don't have time to do this first draft at home, you will have time on Tuesday night to do some writing.

for Thursday Oct. 4

• Read either the Terry Fox or Rick Hansen article. Come to class prepared to retell/explain the contents of this article to a partner.
• Study your vocabulary sheets (the 3 I gave you in September) - we will have a small vocabulary quiz on Thursday

for Tuesday Oct. 2

• news journal #2: select an article and complete the news journal worksheet (click here for the pdf version of the worksheet)
• journal: "my jobs: past, present, and future"
• simple past vs. past progressive worksheet (optional - click here to check your answers on your own; if you have questions, ask in class)
• e-mail me your second draft of your composition about a photo, if you haven't already done so.

for Thursday Sept. 27

• vocabulary worksheet: compound adjectives
• login to Quizlet and add new vocabulary to your 'September 2012' (or whatever you want to call it) set.
• revise your composition about a person/animal (photo) and e-mail it to Sara by Tuesday Oct. 2
• remember to start each new sentence with a capital letter and one space (press the space bar once) after the end of every sentence.

for Tuesday Sept. 25

• News journal #1: choose an article from a newspaper (print or online), read it, and complete the first page of the worksheet that I gave you (the other side is for you to do in class on Tuesday). Cut out or print out the article, attach it to your worksheet, and bring it to class on Tuesday ready to discuss your article with your classmates.
• Journal (freewriting): suggested topic: "My name" (the meaning of it, who gave you your name, naming traditions or customs in your country of origin). If you don't like this topic, feel free to write about anything else that strikes your fancy.
• Vocabulary worksheet - the one that I handed out at the end of class on Sept. 20 (describing people)

for Thursday Sept. 20:

• complete the vocabulary worksheet: "Unit 10 Adjective suffixes" 
• bring your photo to class again. You'll be doing some paragraph/composition writing about the person/animal in your photo
• e-mail Sara (syuen@vcc.ca) if you haven't already done so!
• finish the exercises on "Previewing" - the reading strategy we worked on in class.

for Tuesday Sept. 18:

• Bring a photo to class. We'll use this as a writing prompt. 
• E-mail Sara (syuen@vcc.ca) so she has your correct e-mail address. Write about your expectations for this class, your strengths and weaknesses in reading and writing, and ask anything you want about the course.
• Buy a blank notebook to use as a journal (freewriting). If you prefer, you can create a blog (I like wordpress.com or blogger.com) to use as your journal.