Friday 30/3 - Difficult sentences + reading comprehension

Hi!

On Friday we'll:

1. Do the thing with the sentences you wrote, where I try to dechiper them. Check this blog if you don't know what I mean. Bring your sentences!!

2. Work in groups with reading comprehension. The aim here is of course to improve your skills in this area, and to further improve it by helping others understand and discussing problems that arise in your group in order to find different ways of solving said problems. Instructions will be given on Friday.

You'll find the different parts of the test here:

http://www.nafs.gu.se/prov_engelska/exempel_provuppgifter/engelska_b_exempeluppg/

Friday March 23 - What is quality writing?

Aim: Improved understanding on quality in written English. Preparation for National exams.

1. Check FC for email called 'Example texts....' Read said texts (work in pairs or groups of 3) and determine the quality of each text. The important thing here is NOT ranking the texts, and I do NOT want you to grade them (G, VG etc.). Instead I want you to identify what raises/lowers the quality of each text, or to simplify, WHY each text represents a certain quality of writing. Take notes, as we will discuss this later on.

Note: We'll leave the Break me! assignment for next week, since I feel the need to clarify certain things about this.

Wednesday Mar 21 - Break me!

I'm not here today either. We have a PUFF-day.

Assignment as follows:

This is a challenge. I want each and everyone of you to write ten (10) REALLY DIFFICULT sentences, using your computers (write in Word). Bring these sentences to class on Friday. I will then (without having seen them before and without aid) try to dechiper what you've written. If I can 'translate' all of your sentences into more basic English, and correctly guess the general meaning, I win. If not, you win. There are a few simple rules:

1. This is an individual exercise. Work on your own. Use dictionaries/computers at will.

2. Each sentence has to make some sort of sense and be grammatically correct.

3. You can't 'borrow' sentences from the Internet. That's cheating and will be punished as such. I will google every single sentence afterwards.

4. You need to know what you've written actually means. Be 100% sure that you do.

When you've finished this, you can (if there's need) continue working with things you've failed to hand in from before (check list here in my blog, Friday 16/3).

Laters!

Friday 16/3 - Book reading, catching up, feedback on Holiday texts

Hi! I'm not here. This is what I want you to do:

1. For those who've written their Holiday texts - check your feedback (in your blogs/email)

2. Read and/or work with book.

3. Catch up. Quite a few of you haven't finished the abovementioned Holiday texts. Do that. Some may even have other things to work with. Check list below on what you're supposed to have handed in.

A: Short story (check my blog Friday Sep 23 for instructions)

B: Character comparison League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (my blog Wed Oct 12)

C: Shakespeare summaries (my blog Fri 28/10)

D: Evaluation of Shakespeare exercise (my blog Fri Dec 9)

E: Prepare poetry presentations (my blog Fri 10/2 and Wed Feb 15)

F: Holiday text (my blog Fri 2/3)

If you finish it all, you're free to go.....

Friday 2/3 - Feedback and Writing assignment

So, two things today...

A. Feedback on your poetry reading

Before I give you your feedback, I want you to answer the questions below.

1. Consider the aims for this assignment (working with tempo, pronunciation, intonation, voice level, body language, 'extras'), and tell me about the strenghts, the good things, from your presentation. Name at least one.

2. How should you work in order to improve on these strong points? Try to be specific.

3. Do you think that the layout of the assignment was well suited to its goals? Why/why not?

B. Writing assignment

Aim: Practicing future tense, and practicing how to describe settings and feelings.

Write a post in your blogs where you tell me about your upcoming holidays. Write it in the future tense (I will.....), and go overboard, and I really mean overboard, when you describe settings (the glittering white, virgin snow in the sun-drenched, ultra-challenging slopes where you'll do your skiing) and feelings (the exuberant happiness born from freedom, coupled with the almost melancholy longing to see you teachers again). You've read and/or written poetry. Now it's time to use it in practice.