The Government

Hello, LINC 2 students!

This week we are studying the government.

First watch this short video about the levels of government.

To practice spelling the words, click HERE.  Don't forget: you can play games, too. The green ones are free.

GRAMMAR

Here is a quiz on possessive pronouns.

Here's another one.

Here is a quiz on possessive adjectives.

You may also use ELLIS software.

--K

Confederation

Hello, LINC 2 students!

This week we learned about Confederation.

Practice spelling HERE.

Unscramble the sentences.

Play a game.

GRAMMAR

Here is a quiz of basic tenses we have studied.

HISTORY

Watch a 1-minute video about Sir John A. Macdonald.

Laura Secord

Hello, LINC 2 students!

CANADA

If you want to practice spelling, click HERE.

To unscramble the sentences about Laura Secord, click HERE.

Here is the 1-minute video about Laura.

GRAMMAR

Try this QUIZ about adverbs.

Here you can practice present continuous.

Or you can practice with Mr. Bean.

Have fun!

Early History

Hello, LINC 2 students!

Here is a short video about Canada's name.

If you want to practice spelling this week's words, click HERE.

After spelling, play a game or unscramble the sentences.

Can you answer these questions? If you're not sure, click the link.

Who was John Cabot? What did he do?

Who was Jacques Cartier? What did he do?

Who was Samuel de Champlain? What did he do?

Learn and have fun!

Canada - Geography and History 1

Hello, LINC 2 students!

This week we learned some quick facts about Canada. Wednesday we began studying a little about the first people to live here.

SPELLING
Practice spelling some words from our lessons.

GRAMMAR
Here is an easy quiz on the present continuous.
This one is also not too difficult.
This quiz is a little harder.
This one is fun, too.

Present simple or present continuous? Try this quiz!

CANADA
Do you know where all the provinces and territories are? Try this quiz!
If you want, you can watch this 10-minute video about the Aboriginal Peoples.

Dear Teachers

Thank you to those who stayed till the end and those who gave up and left early but who are now trying to create a blog from home. Please don't hesitate to call on me if you get stuck or can't figure something out.

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation.  Having things not go as planned is a (recovering) perfectionist's worst nightmare. So thank you for making it easier on me by so graciously rolling with the punches.

I hope you have a wonderful time exploring these links and creating your own site.

Please leave me a comment here and let me know where I can come peek at your new web log.

Happy blogging!

Kelly

A Classroom Blog for Beginners

What is a web log (blog)?

A blog is a personal website where one may regularly record opinions, activities and experiences for others to read and, optionally, comment upon.

There are many free online blogging platforms with tutorials to help you get up and running quickly.

What prompted me to start using a blog in LINC classes?

• I wanted a place to park links to sites I would use again and again
• I wanted computer lab day to be less stressful for me
• I wanted to make students' experience in the lab stress-free
• I wanted to empower students, make them more self-sufficient in the lab, able to choose among activities and set their own pace

What are some other reasons teachers use web logs?

There are as many reasons for blogging as there are teachers and classes. Here are some ways you may wish to use a web log:

• to speak to your peers, as do Jennifer (Cultivating Learning) and Rp (ESL Learning Journal)

• to make resources available publicly, as Susan Bates does on English in Vancouver

• to make computer lab day easier, as many of my colleagues have done (see sidebar), and as I have done for my seniors and for my literacy class

• to give your students a forum for expression, exploration and collaboration

How will you use your new blog? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Canada's Geography

Hello, LINC 2 students!

This week we studied Canadian geography.

Watch this 10-minute tour of Canada's festivals and highlights.

Please practice your Canadian map skills HERE.

Practice spelling the provinces and territories HERE.

GRAMMAR

We also learned "be going to" for future.

Watch this video to revise the grammar.

Take a quiz HERE.

Helping Your Child Succeed

Hello, LINC 2 students!

This week we learned these adjectives to describe people. We used these words on the Ontario report cards that we made for four students: Sarah, Todd, Tommy and Mary.

Have fun with them. Spell them and play games.

We reviewed comparative and superlative.  Take this quiz to practice.

Then we watched a video about newcomers with children. How can we help newcomer children succeed in school? You can watch the video again in English, or in Chinese, Arabic or French. I'm sorry it's not in Karen.

-K

School

Hello,  LINC 2 Class!

I am happy to be your teacher now. You are good students!

Here are your links for this week:

Vocabulary (words)

•  Click here for vocabulary
•  Take the vocabulary quiz.
•  Here's more vocabulary.
•  This vocabulary test is harder.
•  Here is a vocabulary game.

Reading and Listening

• Listen and read.
• Listen and read - a parent talks to the teacher (Level 3)

Spelling

• Practice spelling.
• Take the spelling test.
• Play a game with the spelling words.
• Play word unscramble.

Grammar

• Watch a fun video about NOUNS. (Lyrics are HERE.)
• Unscramble the sentences.
• Study possessive nouns with this video.
• Here is a past simple quiz.
• Another past simple quiz.
• You can do another past simple verb quiz here.
• And finally here is an object pronouns quiz.

Some Helpful Videos

Hello, Seniors!

During our unit on health, medicine and talking to our doctors, the videos on this web log should help us a lot.

Kelly

Talking to Our Doctors

Hello, Seniors!

Well, we've just completed another needs assessment and have found that the topic you most want to study is health / medical. You want to be able to talk to your doctors, especially the specialists who do not speak your first language.

After we learn the parts of the body, we'll be listening to some patients communicating with receptionists, nurses and doctors.

Cheers!

Telephone Talk

Hello, Seniors!

Unscramble these sentences.

Kelly

Telephone English

Hello, Seniors!

Before the winter break, we started our unit on telephone English. During our first week back, the majority of students stayed home due to record-breaking frigid temperatures. Therefore, we did not continue with our lesson on telephone English right away.

Now that everyone is again coming to class, we have resumed our unit on telephone English.

Here is a video about taking messages.

And here is one about leaving messages.

We might watch these in class, in the lab, or from home.

Our Needs Assessment

Dear Seniors,

At the time that we did our last needs assessment, I failed to log it here. I'll do that now.

We voted to study all types of safety, and indeed we have spent the past month or more on the safety of the flu shot, safe food handling, cell phone safety, safety on the internet, and safety in our community.

Our second area of study is to be telephone skills followed by Canadian law. You said you wanted to learn about the Canadian courts and penal system.

Tied for third and fourth were food and nutrition (including how to read a nutrition label) and customer service (how to return an item to the store, how to make complaints).

Tied for fifth and sixth were immigration (how to sponsor a relative, culture shock, acculturation, etc.) and community and government services that are available to you such as legal aid, food banks, etc.

The least popular of the topics were the environment, holidays and celebrations and shopping.

I did not include the topics of crime, health/doctor or Canadian civics because those had been covered recently. However, one of the new students has expressed a strong desire to learn to talk to his doctor. So we will put that up for a vote and see if we can integrate that topic again. After all, it has been many months since we last covered it.

Tornado Safety 1

Hello, students.
Monday we begin learning about the best way to stay safe when a tornado is in the area. We will watch the first part of this video.

"What I Learned" Essays

Thank you, students, for the wonderful essays you wrote summarizing what each of you learned during our week studying radio frequency (RF) energy and our health (see previous post). I have put your "each one teach one" posters and the compositions up in the lab for all to see.

Already we have received compliments! If you have time, take a look at your classmates' papers.

The Two Types of RF Energy and Your Health

Hello, students!

This week we are talking about cell phone safety.  We are learning about ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. This video also explains a bit about it.

Let's watch this short video that explains how ionizing radiation can harm the body.

This is the kind of radiation that comes from x-rays, nuclear medicine, the sun's rays, and cosmic background radiation.  It is NOT the kind of radio frequency energy emitted by cell phones.

We looked at that in class. Before reading the text, we explored the new vocabulary. Each pair of students was responsible for teaching two words.

Free Cooking Class at the Downtown Mission

Three students from our class took part in a free cooking class at the Downtown Mission recently. Here are the photos from that night. It looks like everyone had a great time, and I hear that a slow cooker was raffled off!

Qin Si, Hana, Miajuan

The Flu Vaccine

Hello, students!

Here is a great little animated video to help you understand the safety of the vaccine.

Enjoy!