Cause and Effect Speaking Assignment

For the spoken portion of your online portfolio (blog), you will create a spoken discussion of your Cause and Effect topic.  While this can be similar to the introduction of your essay, this has some different elements and serves a different purpose; thus, do not simply read your introduction for this assignment.

The purpose of recording an oral piece for your portfolio is to introduce yourself, your topic, and your ideas to your audience.  Because this will be a well-rehearsed recording, your grammar should be accurate as well as your pronunciation.  To be sure that you have used correct grammar, pronunciation and intonation, you will write your oral portion first.  We will practice reciting them in class and, perhaps, on Google Voice.  The final recording will count as a test grade.

This should be about 1 ½ to 2 mins and will be something we put into a video for your online portfolio. 

Word Doc version

Is American Education Failing or Innovative?

From the reading we did in class, I would like you to write a response to the ideas in the text and from class discussion.

This should be one to two paragraphs in length and should show the same qualities of focus, coherence and development we've discussed all quarter.


Address the following in your blog post and publish it by Aug. 1.

1. Paraphrase the main idea from the reading. 
2. Paraphrase another provocative idea from the reading -- this can be something that is interesting to you, confusing or overall just something that caught your attention. Explain why it was provocative!
3. What did at least one of your classmates say about the question of America being innovative?
4. Finally, what is your response to the text and your classmate(s)? Do you agree, disagree, something inbetween?

Reading Log 1

For your first reading log you will need to find an article that is related to the topic you chose for your Cause and Effect essay. Below the jump are the prompts you will need to fill out. ...

Also, from this reading you will want to chose FIVE vocabulary words for your word study.

 Please post your word study and reading log in on a blog post by Friday, June 29.

Word Study Guidelines for Blog Posts

Similar to Vocabulary Cards, we will be making blog posts where we learn new words related to our study topics. After the jump is an example of how this looks and a template you may use to fill yours out. 

Word Doc version

Our Portfolio Project: Bringing It All Together

Part of learning a language is immersing yourself. This means surrounding yourself with that language and using it rather than memorizing and translating it. To accomplish this goal, we have combined projects in our classes to assure what you’re learning and working on in one class continues in your other classes. 

This immerses you because you use your background knowledge, language skills and vocabulary in reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar, which are the main ways we learn and use language – and the core classes you’re taking at the ELC.

Below are descriptions of the various projects you’ve completed and will revise and package for your “Portfolio Project.” We will host this portfolio on our blogs and link all the pieces together to make it coherent. All elements are tied together to the topic/issue you’ve done for your argument paper, so in effect you are presenting your knowledge on that topic using the various assignments we’ve done in class.

Word Doc Version

Environment vs. Economy?

Image from http://www.slopemedia.org/

Based on our discussions and the class readings (including the reading we did in class), answer the prompt below. Be thoughtful and thorough, and, of course, write well to aid your communication efforts.

PROMPT:

"People often think that it is the Environment vs. the Economy. Meaning, that in order to have a strong economy a country has to make policy that promotes using resources rather than sustaining them. Do you agree with this idea? Can a government balance its 
economic and environmental needs?"

Bookclub Assignment: Persepolis

Now that we’ve read the book, it is time to respond to the ideas in it. One of the things I really enjoy about this text is how we can relate to so much of what we read in Persepolis simply because we grew up. However, since we’re international students we also have a lot of experiences with the difficulty of adjusting to a different culture, difficulties in communicating in a second language and many others.  You may have even witnessed political/societal changes that helped influence the person you’ve become.

Word Doc Version (includes graphic organizers)

Analyzing Your Favorite American Meal: Level 3 PowerPoint Speech

For this speech you will be describing your favorite American meal, discussing its nutritional value and analyzing whether it is healthy or not. 

Your speech needs to be at least FOUR to SIX minutes and use powerpoint as a visual aid and organization tool.

We will be giving our presentations on Monday, May 14. So be ready!!!

Word doc version
Vince's PowerPoint
Nikkie's PowerPoint
Power Point Principles (Good PowerPoint PPT)

Daniel Luna's Paintings: Our Interpretations!

DU ELC students imagining a Daniel Luna painting

For this assignment you’re going to write about one of the Daniel Luna paintings we saw at the Museo de las Americas field trip. You can use any of the paintings I provide here, or a picture of one you took while at the Museo. We will post our writings and pictures on our blogs after going through a writing process. 

You can do this assignment one of two ways. One option is you can write a story. Remember when the tour guide told us the stories Daniel Luna imagined when creating the painting? 

Do you also remember that part of his art involves you, the viewer? Well, tell us that story. 

Daniel Luna wants us to participate and imagine for ourselves what the story of the painting is, and with this assignment you have your chance to do just that.

Use the people you see in the painting and tell us who they are, what they are doing and why. I wrote my own version here. Mine is a bit long, though yours can be shorter or longer. Your goal is simply to tell the story of the painting. 

If this method doesn’t suit your style as a writer, then you may use the second option: write a letter to Daniel Luna (and I will do my best to make sure he receives it) about what you see in the painting. Rather than tell a story, you can simply explain what the painting means to you. 

Either option should be at least one fully developed paragraph.

This is a writing assignment, so we need to make sure it communicates well using coherence (a focused main idea with logical sequencing and transitions) and strong command of English grammar. 

However, I also want you to have fun with this. Yes, this is a graded assignment. But this is also a chance for you to use your imagination and write in a way that suits your interests and skills. 

Happy writing!
~vince

p.s. here is a slideshow of our trip to the Museo. These pictures aren't too great because my camera isn't too great. But the trip was great! :-)