Blog Archives

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Tuesday, September 10th, 2013

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 | https://www.mr.danoff.org/cociep200

Fall Trimester 2013 Block 3 Lesson 2

Links and book information indicated by brackets [1] is available in notes at bottom.

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:43 | News Hour
a1 | We had a brief discussion about the two articles in today’s RedEye covering the USA debates regarding action in Syria
a2 | Students completed a worksheet on the Man’s Boots Help Him Survive 12 Hours in Ocean[1] News for You article

b | 10:53 – 12:00 |NorthStar 2 Listening and Speaking Third Edition[2]
b1 | Completed activities on pages 20 – 22

c | 12:45 – 14:00 | Grammar in Context 1 Fourth Edition[3]
c1 | Completed a worksheet introducing infinitives and did the reading on page 264

d | 14:00 – 15:00 | USA History Elective

HOMEWORK

1 | Study for the Quiz 1; News Vocabulary words are: suspicious, verse, joke, calf, conserve, contract and floated
2 | Finish Grammar in Context exercises 1 and 2 on pages 265 – 266

3 | Pick a topic for this month’s survey essay project

NOTES

1 | http://www.newsforyouonline.com/stories.asp?ID=1431
2 | ISBN 978-0-13-240988-9
3 | ISBN 978-1-4130-0736-7

Copyright © 2013 by Charlie Danoff (contact@mr.danoff.org)/Mr. Danoff’s Teaching Laboratory (http://dalab.cc).
Rights given a CC Zero 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

Posted in COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Wednesday, September 4th, 2013

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 https://www.mr.danoff.org/cociep200

Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 14

Links and book information indicated by brackets [1] is available in notes at bottom.

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:40 | News Hour | U.S. fast-food workers stop working (1st September, 2013)[1]

b | 10:50 – 12:00 & 12:45 – 13:20 | Grammar | Reviewed all of Lesson 8 on the Simple Past

c | 13:20 – 13:45 | Reviewed Quiz 3 and Prepared for the Final Exam with the Final Exam Study Guide

d | 13:45 – 14:15 | Jungle Love[2] | Finished Chapter 10

e | 14:15 – 15:00 | IEP Elective

HOMEWORK

1 | Study for the Final Exam
2 | Finish your presentation slide deck

NOTES

1 | http://breakingnewsenglish.com/1309/130901-minimum-wage.html
2 | ISBN 978-1-4130-0736-7
3 | ISBN 978-0-521-75084-9

Posted in COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Monday, September 3rd

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 https://www.mr.danoff.org/cociep200

Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 13

Links and book information indicated by brackets [1] is available in notes at bottom.

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:15 | News Hour | Busiest Death Penalty State Is Running Out of Execution Drug [1]

b | 10:25 – 12:00 & 12:45 – 14:00 | Jungle Love[2] Pages 56 – 61

c | 14:05 – 15:00 | IEP Elective

HOMEWORK

1 | Study for the Final Exam by reviewing the Quiz 3 study guide; studying the new vocabulary words from the News for You article: death penalty, running out of, execute, inmates, death row, scramble, and clamped down; and reading pages 254 to 255 of the Grammar Textbook
2 | Finish chapter 10 of Jungle Love
3 | Make the second draft of your presentation slide deck

NOTES

1 | http://newsforyouonline.com/stories.asp?ID=1429
2 | ISBN 978-0-521-75084-9

Posted in COC, COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Wednesday, August 28th, 2013

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 https://www.mr.danoff.org/cociep200

Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 11

Links and book information indicated by brackets [1] is available in notes at bottom.

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:40 | News Hour | First photos of Prince George (28th August, 2013)[1]
a1 | Played the audio recording of the story and had students take notes, then identify the main idea and supporting details.
a2 | Students completed the comprehension question, True/False and Synonym Match activities

b | 10:40 – 12:00 & 12:45 – 13:05 | NorthStar Listening & Speaking 2 | Unit 1[2]
b1 | Students pretended to have a jobs workshop where two leaders helped people with offbeat jobs find new employment that fit their skills.

c | 13:05 – 13:30 | Fast Listening[3]
c1 | Students took notes on the listening recording, then answered the following questions:
1 | Why does he think airplanes are amazing? (They are very heavy but can get off the ground.)
2 | What does he like to do on airplanes? (Use the entertainment system.)
3 | What does he ask other passengers for? Why? (He asks for their extra dessert or rolls, because he thinks airplane food is delicious.)
4 | What doesn’t he like about airplanes? (Turbulence)

d | 13:30 – 14:00 | Reviewed Quiz 2 and Prepared for Quiz 3 with the Study Guide[4]

e | 14:05 – 15:00 | “Friends” American TV Show Elective[5]

HOMEWORK

1 | Study for quiz 3
2 | Give your survey out to 20 people

NOTES

1 | http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1308/130828-prince_george.html
2 | ISBN 978-0-13-240988-9
3 | http://listenaminute.com/a/airplanes.html
4 | http://www.danoff.org/leftinfront/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/08/IEP-200-Fall-Trimester-Block-2-Quiz-3-Study-Guide.odt
5 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_RAjGxNeSs

Posted in COC, COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Monday, August 26th, 2013

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 | Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 9

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:38 | News Hour | | Supreme Court rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional
a1 | Students took notes while listening to the audio recording of the news three times
a2 | Students answered True/False questions using their notes
a3 | Students completed a gap fill exercise while listening again and then checked answers to it and the T/F with partners
a4 | In the article the lead researcher points out how more work needs to be done to prove volunteering causes happiness, and not that happy people are the ones who volunteer. To illustrate this idea I explained to students the difference between correlation and causation.
a5 | Students completed the Synonym Match and Comprehension Questions then checked answers with their partners

b | 10:48 – 11:00 | Discussion about everyone’s weekends

c | 11:00 – 12:00 | NorthStar Listening & Speaking 2 | Unit 1
c1 | Pages 12 to 14, PRONUNCIATION: Stress exercises 1 to 3

d | 12:45 – 13:50 | Fast Listening
d1 | Students completed a gap fill exercise for the “Advice” Listen A Minute.com recording http://listenaminute.com/a/advice.html
d2 | Students wrote 5 questions about advice and then surveyed eachother (p. 7 of the PDF http://listenaminute.com/a/advice.pdf)

e | 11:40 – 12:00 | Fiction | Jungle Love
e1 | Students answered the following questions as a pop quiz to see if they’d done their homework and read Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Questions

1 | TRUE / FALSE    Jennifer painted a picture sitting on the Jetty.
2 | TRUE / FALSE    Lisa gave Jennifer the message before Mary.
3 | TRUE / FALSE    Jennifer does not want to break up with Pete.
4 | TRUE / FALSE    Mary wants to study at University in the USA.
5 | TRUE / FALSE    Jennifer was happy she kissed Ian.
6 | What was the game Mary had them play with oranges?

f | 14:00 – 15:00 | IEP Elective
f1 | We completed Lesson 15 on pages 69 – 72 of “English Pronunciation Made Simple” on the diphtong /aʊ/ commonly used in words like out, cow, how and loud.

HOMEWORK

1 | Study NorthStar & news vocabulary for Thursday’s quiz 3 (New words from today’s news article: sense, boosts, establish)
2 | Read “FUNCTION: Small Talk” on page 14 of NorthStar 2 Listening & Speaking and complete the exercise on the top of page 15
3 | Finish up any missing homework (e.g. 10 sentences using vocabulary words from quiz 2)

Posted in COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, Jungle Love, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class Today, Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 | Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 7

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 11:14 | News Hour | Red Panda Escapes the Zoo, Explores the City of D.C.

b | 11:24 – 12:00 & 12:45 – 50 | NorthStar Listening & Speaking 2 | Unit 1

c | 12:50 – 13:40 | Quiz 2 Prep
* We reviewed the study guide outlining everything the students need to prepare for tomorrow’s quiz

d | 13:40 – 14:00 | Fast Listening
* Reviewed the fast listening homework making questions for the “advertising” recording

e | 14:00 – 15:00 | Fluency Elective

HOMEWORK

1 | Study for Quiz 2
2 | Fix the mistakes in your survey questions

Posted in COC, COC IEP 200, ELT, ESL, TESL, TESOL

What we Did in Our COC IEP 200 Class on Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

COC IEP 200 | Fall Trimester 2013 Block 2 Lesson 6

WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS

a | 09:30 – 10:42 | News Hour | Good grammar means more money (20th August, 2013)
http://breakingnewsenglish.com/1308/130820-grammar.html
* The three vocabulary words we will focus on from this article for Thursday’s quiz are: text, profitable and campaign.

b | 10:52 – 12:00 | NorthStar Listening & Speaking 2 | Unit 1
* Reviewed last night’s vocabualry homework, then spent a while digging into each of the words.
* Completed the vocabulary activity on pages 9-10.

c | 12:45 – 13:55 | Fiction | Jungle Love (pp. 42 – 43)
p. 42 | QUESTION: What was like a bomb exploding? | ANSWER: The pelican diving into the sea to catch a fish.
p. 42 | Q: What is a jetty? | A: British word for dock.
p. 42 | Q: Does Lisa really like birds? (look at page 7) Why do you think she tells Ian she likes birds? | A: No, she does not like birds. She probably tells Ian she does, because she wants to talk to him and attract his attention.
p. 43 | Q: Why is Lisa jealous of the pelican? | A: Ian seems more interested in it than her.
p. 43 | Q: Why does Lisa frown? | A: Because Ian made a comment about her eating too much that made her sound greedy.
p. 43 | Q: How is Caroline boring to Ian? | A: She always worries about what she eats and if it’s too much fat.

d | 13:55 – 14:06 | Grammar
* Reviewed Monday’s grammar homework.

e | 14:06 – 15:00 | Elements of Style Elective

HOMEWORK

1 | Study NorthStar & news vocabulary for Thursday’s quiz 2
2 | Take notes on the Listen a Minute Advertising exercise and write 6 discussion questions
3 | Finish up any missing homework

Posted in COC, COC IEP 200, ELL, ELT, ESL, Grammar in Context 1 Fourth Edition, IEP, IEP 200, Jungle Love, NorthStar: Listening and Speaking Level 2, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in our COC IEP 200 Class on Wednesday, May 22nd

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

Spring Trimester 2013 Block 3

Lesson 3: (May 22)

In Class

News Hour: Began by having the students look for the IPA sounds we are studying this week in the “Experts Wonder What Happened to Monarch Butterflies” News for You article. Read “Lawsuit Says Anheuser-Busch Beers Are Even More Watered Down Than You Think” article from TIME Magazine’s website and completed a worksheet prvided by Emily Kiang.
NorthStar 2 R&W: Reviewed student’s work on pages 162-3.
Grammar in Context 1: Reviewed student’s work on page 135.
Documentary Project: Outlined the time schedule students will have to follow as they develop their documentaries.
Review Ordinal Numbers and Go Over General Number Pronunciation
Short Story: Read pages 56-7 of the “Sweetie” story from Frozen Pizza and other slices of life

For Next Class

To Read

To Do

NorthStar 2 R&W: “READING TWO: On the Road with John Madden” on pages 163-4 and “STEP 1: ORGANIZE” on pages 164-5.
Grammar in Context 1: “5.3 | Questions with Whose Exercise 4” on page 136
Documentary: Contact 1 person/place to interview
Study for Quiz 1 on Thursday: Download Study Guide (28 kB .odt file from danoff.org)

COPYRIGHT NOTES

Please respect the copyright plus terms and conditions of all links, books and media not by Charlie Danoff.

What we Did in our COC IEP 200 Class on Tuesday, May 21st

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

Spring Trimester 2013 Block 3

Lesson 2 (May 21)

In Class

News Hour: “Read the Fast-Thinking Helpers, Hospitals Save Lives of Boston Bombing Victims” then completed the Teacher’s guide having students search for “sh” = /ʃ/ | “ch” = /t/ | “j” = /ʤ/ | and “z” /z/ sounds. I matched them with their corresponding IPA sound and had the students do the same. These symbols will be part of the student’s quizzes and tests this block.
NorthStar 2 R&W: Read the passage on page 160 about “The Climate Train” and reviewed student’s work on page 161.
Fast Listening: We completed the Space Radio Theater and A Visitor from Space listening quizzes.
Homework Check-in
Movie Project: Students discussed their ideas for their documentaries with one another.
Short Story: Read pages 60-61 of the “Sweetie” short story from Frozen Pizza and other slices of life.
Twilight Zone: Watched episode 3 of season 1 about a town drunk who finds his way out of the pit.

For Next Class

To Do

NorthStar 2 R&W: “READ FOR DETAILS” on page 162; “MAKE INFERENCES” on page 162; and “EXPRESS OPINIONS” on page 163.
Grammar in Context 1: “5.2 | Possessive Adjectives Exercise 3” on page 135
Documentary: Find 3 people or places to interview
Study for Quiz 1: NorthStar Unit 8 Vocabulary, story line, theme, genre, literal meaning, figurative meaning, and sections 5.1 & 5.2 of Gramar in Context

COPYRIGHT NOTES

Please respect the copyright plus terms and conditions of all links, books and media not by Charlie Danoff.

Posted in COC IEP 200, ESL, TESL, TESOL, The College of Chicago

What we Did in our COC IEP 200 Class on Monday, May 20th

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory

Spring Trimester 2013 Block 3

Lesson 1: Introducing Possessive Form of Nouns, Travel Vocabulary, Butterfly News & Short Story Reading Practice (May 20)

News Hour | Reading Learning Objective(s): Comprehending main ideas and some details from a news article. |Read “Experts Wonder What Happened to Monarch Butterflies” News for You article and then answered the comprehension questions from the “Teacher’s Guide.” Had a discussion about why the butterfiles were called “Monarchs,” turns out it “was first published in 1874 by Samuel H. Scudder because ‘it is one of the largest of our butterflies, and rules a vast domain;’ however, the name may be in honour of King William III of England.” (via Wikipedia).
NorthStar 2 R&W | Vocab Learning Objective(s): Use context to infer meaning of new vocabulary. | Pages 155-9.
Grammar in Context 1 | Grammar Learning Objective(s): Introduce Possessive Form of Nouns | Pages 131-4.
Introduce this Month’s Syllabus and Calendar
Movie Project | Went over their homwork for tonight and that they will be able to choose between
Short Story | Reading Learning Objective(s): Students practice independent reading, so they will be comfortable doing it on their own time. | Read pages 58 to 59 of “Sweetie”

For Next Class

To Read

This Syllabus

To Do

What do you want added to the syllabus? How would you like it changed? (Write answers in your notebook)
Movie Project: Brainstorm and write 3 ideas for a short film or 3 ideas for a documentary on your blog.
Grammar in Context 1: “5.1 | Possessive Form of Nouns Exercise 1″ on page 133 and “Exercise 2″ on page 134
NorthStar 2 R&W: “READING ONE: The Climate Train” on pages 159-60 and “READ FOR MAIN IDEAS” on page 161
Study Vocabulary from NorthStar 2 Unit 8 for Quiz 1 on Thursday
Bring your laptop to school on Tuesday

COPYRIGHT NOTES

Please respect the copyright plus terms and conditions of all links, books and media not by Charlie Danoff.