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Hi everyone, We had our final lesson for this semester! We won't see each other until September. In today's lesson, we started with speed discussion and then we reviewed opinion giving structure. Please see the slides below for opinion structure. Next semester, we will continue building our opinion giving skills.    After our opinion giving activity, I gave you your presentation evaluations and reviewed the grading criteria. Remember that all our course guidelines are in our syllabus in the Oral English 2 section.
Discussions (2) 40% Presentation 25% Blog Comments 25% Speed Discussion 10% I'll have your grades calculated next week by July 22. If you would like to know your grade, please email me or send me a private message on Line. Have a fun (and safe) summer vacation!
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Hi everyone,
We're finished with presentations!! For our last two classes of the semester, we'll have some "fun" classes, so make sure to come. Presentations: We finished with our second group of presentations in today's lesson. Overall, I was really happy to see a big improvement in eye contact and gestures this week. Also, presenters knew their information well, and didn't need to use their notes very often. Great work! I was happy to see that many presenters used expressions that they had learned from our discussions: "Let's move onto..." and "Are you following me?" Grade for Semester 1: By the end of our course, I will have your semester 1 grade calculated. If you would like to know your grade, please email me and I'll send it to you. For students who do not pass the course this semester, I will contact you and let you know the minimum score you'll have to get to pass both semesters. Your grade includes these activities: a. Discussion Leading & Worksheets (2) 40% b. Blog Postings (12) 25% c. Group Presentation 25% d. Speed Discussion 10% Homework: 1. Blog Comment #11 Blog Question #11: Choose one question to answer. Question for today's presenters: How did you feel about your presentation? What did you do well? What do you have to improve? Question for today's audience: Which presentation did you like the best? Why?
Hi everyone,
We're heading into the home stretch (the "home stretch" is the area between third base and home plate in baseball". This idiom means that you are almost finished something. In this case, we are almost finished out course. Presentations: We finished our first group of presentations today. I was really impressed with your presentation skills, especially since you didn't do presentations in Oral English 1. Overall, everyone made a good effort to make eye contact with the audience, use gestures and presentation language correctly. I was happy to see that many presenters used expressions that they had learned from our discussions: "Let's move onto..." and "Are you following me?" For next week's presenters, it's really important that you speak loud enough. When you speak loud enough, it shows that you are confident about your topic. Presentations Reminders: We start our presentations in next week's lesson. Please remember these points:
Homework: 1. Blog Comment #10 2. Presentation Preparation Blog Question #10: Choose one question to answer. Question for today's presenters: How did you feel about your presentation? What did you do well? What do you have to improve? Question for today's audience: Which presentation did you like the best? Why?
Hi everyone,
Can you believe we have only one more month of classes left? Time has gone by so quickly this semester. Voice Inflection: In today's lesson, we learned about voice inflection. We use inflection to emphasize important words/phrases in our presentation, and also to keep the interest of the audience. There are four types of inflection: a. stress b. stretch c. pause In your presentations next week, you'll need to use gestures and voice inflection. Discussions: We finished our last round of discussions in today's lesson. Overall, there has been a big improvement in conversational style. Your discussions are almost 20 minutes now! When we first started in April, your discussions were only 10 minutes! Next semester, we'll continue with discussions skills. Presentations: We start our presentations in next week's lesson. Please remember these points:
Homework: 1. Presentation Preparation NO BLOG COMMENT THIS WEEK! Hi everyone,
I've returned all your presentation outlines with my comments. If you have any questions, you can email me or send me a message on Line. Gestures: After speed discussion, we learned about gestures. This is a type of body language and is part of "non-verbal communication." Non-verbal language (body language) is just as important (or even more important) than the spoken word. To demonstrate this, I gave a short explanation in French. When I gave my explanation without gestures, NOBODY understood what I said. However, when I supported it with gestures, all of you could understand the main idea of my explanation. You can use four different types of gestures: a. number / sequence b. illustration / location c. emphasis / focus d. comparison Discussions: Overall, discussions were very well done today. I was very impressed that all leaders were checking understanding and had strong conversational style in the discussion part. For our last round of discussions next week, please remember these points:
Homework: 1. Blog Comment #9 2. Discussion Preparation 3. Presentation Preparation
Blog Question #9: Give your opinion on your presentation's social problem and recommend two solutions. Example: In my opinion, suicide is an important social issue facing Japanese society. One reason for Japan's high suicide rate is because of the lack of awareness about mental health issues and the lack of services for those with mental illness. One solution is to ... Another one is to ...
Hi everyone,
It was another busy lesson today, especially since we started learning how to prepare a presentation. Types of Support for your Opinions At the beginning of today's lesson, we reviewed opinion giving structure and the types of support you can use to support your reasons for your opinion. Types of Support: a. personal example b. explanation (e.g. facts) c. statistics d. expert opinion Example: Opinion: In my opinion dogs are better than cats. Reason: This is because dogs are friendlier. Example: When I was a child, I had three dogs and they always wanted to play with me, but my cats usually wanted to be alone. Presentations: We also learned about the different parts of a presentation: (a) introduction; (b) body; and (c) conclusion. Each of these parts have different parts. In the Introduction, there are fourt parts: (a) greeting; (b) topic; (c) outline; and (d) signal for questions. In the Body, you give your main ideas, supporting ideas and details (=suport). And finally, in the conclusion, there are five parts: (a) signal to end; (b) summary; (c) final thought; (d) closing; and (e) invite questions. We also learned expressions for each of these parts of a presentation. All of our presentation materials and today's slide presentation are in the Presentation section of the website. Also, you can find the Presentation Outline template in that section. Homwork: 1. Blog Comment #8 2. Discussion Preparation 3. Presentation Outline
Blog Question #8: Give your opinion on one of these topics. Use the opinion structure from our lesson: opinion: I think ... is better than ... reason: This is because... support: (examples or explanations) Which is better the countryside or the city? Which is better, football or baseball? Which is better, textbooks or tablets? Which is better, ramen or soba? Which is better, Facebook or Line?
Hi everyone,
We had a busier lesson than usual, especially since we started our presentation preparation today. Vocabulary Building: When you learn a new word, you should write it down in your notebook (with its form and a sentence). For example, news words from speed discussion and your group discussions. From today's speed discussion, we had these new words:
Discussions: For our next discussions, remember these points:
Presentation Topics: Before the end of our lesson, we through our presentation guidelines. For your presentation, your group has to choose a Japanese social problem and give two solutions for it. In next week's class, we will learn how to make your presentations, such as presentation structure and expressions. Homework: 1. Blog Post #8 2. Choose presentation topic
Blog Question #8: What do you think about your hometown?
Example: My hometown is Sault Ste. Marie. It's a small city in northern Ontario (Ontario is a province in Canada). In my opinion, my hometown is a great place to live because you can enjoy the outdoors all year around. For example, in the winter, you can go down-hill skiing or snowboarding on Searchmount, a mountain near my city. Also, in the summer, you can go hiking at Hiawatha Park, a big park in my city with many hiking trails, lakes and waterfalls.
Hi everyone,
Can you believe that we're almost half way through our course? I hope you're making progress with your English communication skills. Asking for and Giving Examples: Before our discussions, we had a short activity on how to ask for and give examples. It's important to give detailed information when you give an opinion, so you can give examples to support it. To ask for examples, you can use these questions:
Discussions: For next week's discussions, remember these points:
Homework: 1. Discussion Preparation 2. Blog Post #7 In next week's lesson, you will get information about our group presentations in June. You will get the presentation guidelines and your group members. Blog Question #7: What are the differences between your Oral English 1 course and our Oral English 2 course?
Hi everyone,
What a beautiful day today! I hope you can enjoy the sunshine during your breaks. Showing Interest: Before our discussions, we had a short activity on how to show interest during a discussion. We need to show interest to let the speaker know that we are listening to him/her. You can use these expressions:
Discussions: For next week's discussions, remember these points:
Homework: 1. Discussion Preparation 2. Blog Post #6 Blog Question #6: We have finished our first round of discussions. You have received a lot of feedback in our lessons and on your worksheets. Which three points do you think you have to focus on to improve your next discussion?
Hi everyone,
I hope everyone had a great Golden Week vacation, and you're well-rested for a busy May. Checking Understanding: Before our discussions, we reviewed expressions that you can use to check your group's understanding. You can use these expressions; a. Are you following me? b. Are there any questions? c. Do you understand? Also, when you don't understand during a discussion, you can ask these questions: a. Can you explain that again? b. What was that again? c. What does ... mean? (when you don't know a word) Discussions: For next week's discussions, remember these points:
Homework: 1. Discussion Preparation 2. Blog Post #5 Blog Question #5: What suggestions do you have to stop bullying? Example: In my opinion, I think we should ... (1st suggestion). In addition, we should ...2nd suggestion).
Hi everyone,
Can you believe that it's already been one month since we first started our course? Time flies! Discussions: Before our discussions, we reviewed Conversational Style. As you know, English conversational style is very different from the Japanese one. During a discussion, you can "jump in" at any time to ask a question or to make a comment. You don't have to wait to be invited to speak during a discussion. For next week's discussions, remember these points:
Course Absences: Please remember that if you miss our lesson, you still have to complete the homework, especially if you are a discussion leader. If you have to change your discussion date due to illness, you need to contact me the day BEFORE (on Wednesday) and then give me a medical certificate in the next lesson. If you miss your discussion and do not contact me, you cannot re-schedule your discussion. Homework: 1. Discussion Preparation 2. Blog Post #4 Blog Question #4: What are your plans for the Golden Week vacation?
Hi everyone, In today's lesson we had our first group of discussions. Before we started our discussions, we went through the steps for leading a discussion. Please bring this worksheet to every class, especially if you are a discussion leader. Discussion Feedback:
Today, there were 7 students who did not come to class. If you are not a discussion leader, and you miss class without a good reason, you will lose points from your own discussion. Please attend class so that there are enough group members for discussions. Homework: 1. Discussion Preparation 2. Blog Post #3 Blog Question #3: FOR GROUP MEMBERS: Give yourself a score out of ten for your participation in today's group discussions. Why do you think you deserve this score? Give reasons and/or examples to support your answer. Example: In today's class, I would give myself a score of 8/10 for my participation. First of all, I asked my group leader when I didn't understand vocabulary. For example, I asked the group leader to tell me the meaning of "gun control" and "amendment." Second, I gave examples about Japan's gun control in the discussion. However, I didn't always make eye contact with all my group members, so this is something I need to improve next week. FOR GROUP LEADERS: Give yourself a score out of ten for your performance as a group leader. Why do you think you deserve this score? Give reasons and/or examples to support your answer. Example: In today's class, I was the group leader. I would give myself a score of 8.5/10 for my performance. First of all, I checked my group's understanding about 4 times during my summary. Also, I encouraged all my group members to participate. I asked them directly for their opinions and asked them to make comments the opinions of other group members. However, I forgot to do a pronunciation practice for my vocabulary, so I need to do this for my next discussion.
Hi everyone,
It's almost Friday, so you can say TGIF tomorrow. Do you remember that expression from our lesson? Opinion Giving: We reviewed expressions to ask for and to give an opinion, and also expressions to agree and disagree with opinions. Please review these expressions because we will use them in every lesson. Discussion Schedule: In next week's class, we are going to start our discussions. Each students has to be a discussion leader twice during the spring semester. You got a copy of the schedule in class, but there is also a copy in the OE2 Course Information section on the website. Discussion Worksheet: For the last part of our lesson, we learned where to find articles for discussion topics on the website Breaking News English. We also learned how to complete your discussion worksheet. You'll need to complete a worksheet before you lead your discussion. You can find How to Complete Your Discussion Worksheet in the Discussion section of the website. Homework: 1. Blog Posting #2 2. Discussions (see schedule) 3. Bring the "Opinion Expressions" worksheet to class. Blog Question #2: Choose one of the topics below. Give your opinion on the topic. Use an opinion giving expression, and give a reason and an example to support your opinion. Remember to start your opinion with an opinion expressions (e.g. In my opinion, ... / As I see it, ...) the most annoying thing (In my opinion, the most annoying thing is ...) the best Japanese food (As I see it, the best Japanese food is...) learning languages (If you ask me, learning languages is ...) living in Tokyo (I think living in Tokyo is...) smart phones (In my opinion, smart phones are...) * Write 8-10 sentences. * Use capital letters, punctuation and spelling correctly. * Submit by Wednesday, April 22 by 6:00pm. ATTENTION: Someone from our class forgot their iPhone on the computer desk. It is silver and white. I brought the phone to the Teacher's staff room on the second floor. Please go there to get your phone. Hi everyone,
It was really great to meet all of you today. You're such a lively group!!! I'm really looking forward to our lessons this year. Syllabus and Schedule: We had a short introduction activity and you got to meet your classmates. We then went looked at the syllabus and our course schedule. You can find all of this information in the Oral English 2 --> Course Information section. Opinion Giving: We had a short activity to help you learn some expressions for asking for and giving your opinion. Make sure to support your opinion with a reason and/or example. We also learnt expressions for agreeing and disagreeing. When you want to ask for somebody's opinion, you can use these expressions: 1. What are your feelings on this? 2. What do you think about this? Be careful when you use this expression: Do you agree with...? We use this to ask if another person agrees or disagrees with another opinion. For example: Kana: What do you think about Aogaku campus? Kohei: In my opinion, it's too crowded. Kana: Naoko, do you agree wtih Kohei's opinion? Naoko: Yes, I do. It's always crowded in the cafeteria. Homework: 1. Blog Posting #1 2. Review Opinion Giving Expressions 3. Bring the "Opinion Expressions" worksheet to class. Blog Question #1: Choose one of the topics below. Give your opinion on the topic. Use an opinion giving expression, and give a reason and an example to support your opinion. smoking in public high school uniforms 2020 Tokyo Olympics traveling overseas today's Oral English lesson Aogaku Shibuya campus * Write 8-10 sentences. * Use capital letters, punctuation and spelling correctly. * Submit by Wednesday, April 15 by 6:00pm. |
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