Needs Assessment, GSL

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

This week we are getting to know our Language Companion binders, writing our stories, talking about goals for English, and doing a needs assessment. We are between topics.

Needs assessments are not new to you. We've been doing those since I first became your teacher. You know what? It's not easy for a teacher to come up with interesting modules week after week when the makeup of the class doesn't change! Some of us have been together for four years now, I think! Other teachers can recycle old material every few months.

Anyway, while we figure out what we want to tackle next, I would like to address everyone's goal of mastering the English needed for everyday life in Canada. Have you ever heard of the General Service List?

That is a list of the 2,000 most common words used in English. If you can understand those, you are well on your way to understanding 90-95% of spoken English and about 85% of written English. So let's see how many of them you already know. I have an activity to help you learn a few of the ones you haven't already mastered.

Here is a new expanded GSL with frequency ranking numbers!

Free and Low-cost Things to Do in Windsor and Essex County

What	Cost	How do I get there?	Details
Ojibway Nature Centre	free admission, free parking	South Windsor 7 bus goes there.	Watch this movie
Windsor Folk Music and Arts Society	donation appreciated	Transway 1C, Crosstown 2	First Friday of every month at MacKenzie Hall (Sandwich)
Lee Lee Hats	free	Library	Help make hats for hospitalized babies.
Knit Night at Levigator Press	free - tea and snacks	Crosstown 2
Riverside Chess Club	free	Riverside Library, bus 2
DWCC Bike Clinics	free	Wigle Park, Bruce Park (downtown)
Community Gardens	free	Wigle, Bruce, Glengarry (downtown)
Women's Drop-in Coffee and Social (Games, etc.)	free	Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative
English Practice	free	Central Library, 1A	Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m.
Life After Fifty (Seniors Centre)	Yearly membership + class fees	Transway 1C, Dominion 5 bus	Variety of activities, many of them free after membership
City of Windsor Activity Guide	cost varies	locations vary	See catalog.
Windsor Summer Festivals	Some free, some free for seniors
Windsor PublicLibrary	free	downtown, 1A	books, DVDs, periodicals, audiobooks, etc.
YMCA classes	subsidized memberships available	downtown, bus 2	See schedule.

Remember to check the bulletin board at the library for lots more free stuff happening every month!

NAYDO Conference

Hello!

Please try again to watch the NAYDO Philanthropy Live video starring YMCA students!

CLICK HERE.

Stewards of the Earth

It's Earth Month! April 22 is Earth Day. Not only that, but YOU told me that you want to learn more about Canadian culture. You want to fit in here and you want to know what is polite and what is rude in Canadian society.

So this week we talked about cultural norms in our first countries versus Canada with regard to waste disposal. Where can we put our gum? Where can we spit? Can we put a wet tea bag in the blue bin?

We shared answers to these and other discussion questions in small groups. The next day, we tackled these guidelines.  We made sentences:

_________ go/goes in the red box.
_________ go/goes in the blue box.
You can't recycle _____________.
You have to take ____________ to the drop-off depot.

Someone asked what the drop-off depot is. We looked at it on the map and watched this video explaining how to drop stuff off. We also learned that you can get FREE paint at the depot--but you can't be very picky about what colour you get!

Here is an easy conversation about recycling.
Here is an easy conversation about Earth Day.

Friday we read about Dan Phillips, a Texas man who helps build affordable houses from reclaimed materials. This is a great example of RE-USING. Here is his TED Talk. You can choose subtitles in your language to help follow along.

Our Gardens

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

Spring is here. Many of us have gardens. Some of us have container gardens on our balconies. Others of us have backyard gardens. I have a narrow vegetable garden in my front yard; I also grow herbs in pots on my deck. Finally, many of us have plots in nearby community gardens. We enjoyed exchanging open pollinated, heirloom seeds this Thursday.  I am excited about that!

We recently learned that the downtown branch of public library has a seed exchange.

Listen and learn these words relating to the garden / yard.

Here is a short listening text about gardening.

Here is another listening text about a garden. How much do you understand?

Do you know the names of all these vegetables?

What about these herbs? I use all these in my cooking. I grow them on my deck.

Here are some more herbs. I use all these in my cooking.

Do you know all these fruits? (Yes, the plural of fruit normally does not take an -S, but in this case I mean varieties of fruit. So it takes an -S ending.)

Here is a video to give you a brief overview of some basic gardening terms.

These are some terms we discussed on Thursday. The last frost date for our area is April 25. We are in hardiness zone 6B. That means THIS WEEKEND is good for starting seeds indoors. Have fun!

Shopping for Food

Hello!

This past week or so we have been learning to ask where to find things in a supermarket. We have also done some comparison shopping using store flyers.

This is a very comprehensive audio / text lesson about grocery shopping.

Here is a good site where you can listen and study new vocabulary.

Watch this video of supermarket dialogues. I am a new fan of EnglishClub.com!

Do It Yourself

Our projects look great!  On Thursday students from other classes will come see your posters and ask you questions about them. Good job, everyone!

Here is a listening lesson to do with home repairs.

Can You Fix It?

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

We have someone auditing our class now. His name is Baigen (Bernie), and he is following our class from home. For this reason, I will try always to provide links to the worksheets and audio files that we use in class.

This week's topic is the DIY (Do It Yourself) movement, which is part of Canadian culture. We are using worksheets from LINC 2 Classroom Activities - "Can You Fix It?"  "How to Keep Out the Cold," and "An Expensive Weekend."

To see just how far you can take the DIY idea, we watched a short video about a young man in California who bought a tiny house for $950 and lives "off the grid" with no bills at all! That's amazing. He's only been doing that for four months. I wonder if he can keep it up! What do you think?

Also we listened to this audio on Tuesday; you have the worksheet with the questions.


Voice Recorder >>

Our assignment for next week is to team up with another student (if you wish) and teach others how to make something that saves you money and/or helps save the planet.  Reduce, re-use, recycle!

For example, Mei and her husband have made a wi-fi amplifier from an aluminum can.  Kelly knows how to make a mouse trap from a plastic bottle, chopsticks, two rubber bands, a paper clip and some thread. It really works! SaiYing and YueChen know some good recipes for earth-friendly, inexpensive household cleaning products.  Xiumin has a sewing machine. She could easily make a door draft stopper that looks like a cute animal.

Here are some ideas:
Re-Use Ideas
Upcycling
Upcycle Ideas
Upcycled products
Creative Ways to Re-use Plastic Bottles

Each student must list the materials needed and must describe the steps to follow.  Also, please add at least one photo or drawing. I can help you find good pictures on the Internet.

Good luck!

Snow Day

Hello, students!

Only five students were able to make it to class due to the snowfall.  We decided to deviate from the plan and instead studied weather forecasts.

We listened to this audio:


Record audio or upload mp3 >> ..
The script and questions can be found in this PDF document, LINC 3 Classroom Activities, page 106.

REMEMBER: There is no morning class on Monday, February 29th.

Stress and Vowel Quality

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

Since we had only a four-day school week and Fridays are special, we didn't tackle a new topic. Rather, we focused this week on making our stressed vowels longer, louder / higher in pitch, and clearer.

We reviewed the difference between CONTENT WORDS and FUNCTION WORDS.

English is a stress-timed language.  We practiced the rhythm of many sentences.

Here is a great video on this topic.

Invitation to a Dinner Party

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

This week we learned a lot about invitations in Canada. We learned how to issue them, both verbally and in writing, how to accept them, and how to decline them politely and more directly.

Watch this video from English in Vancouver about a party invitation.

 To watch with interactive quiz, go HERE.

To print out the listening activities, go to my website's FREE RESOURCES - Canadian Culture and scroll down to find the link.

Just for fun, send a valentine to a buddy.

Invitations

Hello, students!

This week we learned about Valentine's Day and also about issuing, accepting and declining invitations to parties and other events. Next week we will work on our Valentine's party invitations and plans.

Here is a listening lesson about invitations.

Here's another one.

There are MANY dialogues here about inviting people to parties and so on.

Here is a little history of Valentine's Day. Listen and answer the questions below the video.

Have fun!

Our First PBLA Module

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

Over the past two weeks we have begun talking about setting goals. Our module from January 11 to January 22 revolved around expressions used in common, everyday social situations.

On Monday we will reflect on what we learned over the two-week period. We will each journal about it. I will also journal!

Here are some links to help you extend the learning.

Ways to ask and answer, "How are you?" (video lesson)

English in Vancouver - At a Coffee Shop

Setting Goals

Welcome back, students of the seniors' class!

I hope you enjoyed your break.

This week we have been exploring SL learning strategies and setting goals.

One strategy for learning a language is to use flashcards. This is a flashcard set on Quizlet.

Here is a short overview of the different kinds of strategies.

On Monday we'll talk more about goals. We want to set SMART goals. "SMART" goals are:

• specific
• measurable
• attainable
• realistic
• time-bound

Small Talk

Hi, students of the seniors' class!

This week we are learning to make small talk. This will help with your goal of social integration.

First, we studied the grammar of TAG QUESTIONS.

Next, we looked at these conversation starters.


Take the quiz.

Price Adjustments and Price Matching

Well, guess what we stumbled onto!  While reading The Bay's returns policy, we discovered that we are VERY interested in something called "price adjustments." This is when something you bought goes on sale right after you bought it. Often, the store will allow you to bring that item back with your receipt for a refund of the difference.

Another concept I'll bet you're going to love is called "price matching." We'll talk about that soon.

Our interesting true story for Friday is about "wardrobing." Click this link and look for the word LISTEN in the top menu.  Play the MP3 file to listen to the story.

Returning Faulty Merchandise (Continued from last week)

Hello, Xi Wen Bi!

Thank you for calling. It was nice to hear your voice. We miss you.  I hope your ankle completely heals soon so you can come back to class.

This week we are going to do some role plays using real store return policies. Also we will fill out some slips of paper about the purchased items.  Our class will divide into clerks and customers.  Each customer will have two or three of those slips of paper with information about a purchase.  Each clerk will have one of the store policies.

The language of the policies is very difficult, so we have spent this week studying them in teams, helping each other to break down the language.

If you want to print out those sheets, you can go to the Commercial Services page of my website. Scroll down do "Shopping - Returns" and click the link.  Print that document.

Cheers!  -- Kelly

Returning Faulty Merchandise

Hello, students!

This week we are learning how to return something to a store.

LISTENING

Store returns listening lesson with quiz

Returning a radio (1)

Returning a radio (2)

Exchanging a DVD Player

English in Vancouver - Watch, listen, do activities on Returning a Faulty Product

Enjoy!

Credit Calculators

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

This week we finished our unit on credit cards and credit. We used English for Financial Literacy materials and audio files found HERE.

Today after our group presentations, you showed interest in credit calculators. Mr. Yi wants to know what the income tax rates are in Canada, so I've added links for that, too.  Happy learning!

TD Bank - Mortgage Calculator

Personal Tax Calculator - Canada
Canada Revenue Agency - Tax calculators

To continue our pronunciation lesson, you can visit Rachel's English for her video on vowel lengthening before voiced consonants.

Credit in Canada

Hello, students of the seniors' class!

These past two weeks we have studied credit cards and credit in Canada.

Here is a listening lesson on CREDIT HISTORY with a quiz.

Here is a quiz on reading a credit card statement.

Click here to go to the FCAC website. They have a lot of educational information about credit cards. They also have information about credit and loans.

Try this CREDIT CARD SELECTOR TOOL.