Field Trip Friday April 29: Honest Ed's and Koreatown

Eight months before it's all over, we'll be visiting one of Toronto's most interesting institutions, Honest Ed's (flyer), and its closest neighbourhood, Koreatown.

Let's arrive by 10:30 a.m. at the Bloor and Bathurst entrance and leave for lunch in Koreatown around 11:30 a.m. from the Markham Street exit. Be sure to be in the photo session at 11:35.

Please arrange with your classmates to ride the subway there! Those leaving from Don Mills Station should board the 9:38 a.m. train. If you are joining those going for lunch, we should finish no later than 1:30 p.m. and could get back to Don Mills from either Bathurst or Christie station.



What are you most excited to find out? What are you most hungry for?

Post your comments below!

Thursday's Assignment

Are you excited about the field trip tomorrow? Who's going with you? What time are you meeting and where? Listen to the following video and see how much you can transcribe.

Here are your tasks:

1. Reading: Find out 3 places in the vicinity of Bathurst Subway Station
1. Check out the Honest Ed's flyer for the week, and tell a partner what interests you.
2. Decide on a good place for lunch for the whole class. What's the budget? Then nicely knock on Hala's door (Level 5-6 Workplace English) and ask to recommend it to them.
2. Role play: Learning to Ride the Subway
1. Record with a partner.
2. Help those who need help with their blogs or recordings.

Haha here you go ... Can you say strike?

http://www.blogto.com/city/2016/04/all_of_torontos_libraries_might_shut_down_next_week/

Wednesday's Assignment

What do you do when you wake up one day for a field trip and find out that public transport workers are on strike?

Well, you check the blog. That's what you do!

Here are your tasks:

1. Role play: Dealing with a Mass Transit Strike
1. View these pictures: 1, 2, 3
2. Discuss them with a partner, and then practise the dialogue.
3. Record your dialogue on Audioboom.com with the partner role playing Homer not looking at the words.
2. Reading: First 2 paragraphs of this Toronto Star article
1. Find at least 5 new words/phrases to learn for meaning and pronunciation.
2. Then read to 2 partners to check for meaning and pronunciation before letting your instructor know you're done.

Tuesday's Assignment

Now that you've been in the Toronto area for a while, are you pretty familiar with the public transport system?

So, have a look at the map and find the nearest station from here:

If you need help, try clicking here. You might like to also enter a specific day/time or see the PDF.

Here are your tasks:

1. Vocabulary: Getting Around without a Car
1. Learn the meaning and pronunciation of the words in bold.
2. Read them to a partner who speaks a different L1 than yours.
2. Role play: Reading a Bus Schedule
3. Find two field trip venues for the summer using Google Maps.
1. For one trip, find out how much and how long it takes to get there and back on the TTC.
2. For the other trip, do the same thing, but include a GO train journey.
3. Give reasons for each of your choices.

Monday's Assignment

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Here are your tasks:

1. From the video above, write down a list of adjectives and nouns.
1. From the adjectives, find the noun forms and other forms; and likewise for the nouns, e.g. "performance" > perform, performing, performer.
2. Choose 10 of those forms and make sentences with them, e.g. "The performance of performing elephants included a child dressed as a ballet performer."



How funny is this cartoon? Would you like to see more of these?

3. Read them to a classmate, who will help correct them before publishing.
2. Vocabulary: Getting Around
1. Learn the words in bold for meaning and pronunciation.
2. Read them and have a partner check for pronunciation, and then record those words in sentences.
3. Role play: Selecting a Neighbourhood
1. Add 2 more lines, one from Jeremy and one from Leona, to end the conversation on a funny note.
2. Practise with a partner, and record the whole conversation together, including your 2 additional lines.

Shadi's Lesson Plan

1. CBC News Article
2. New Words

Youtube: Click Me

Best Cities To Invest In Real Estate? Those Would Be Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary

The Huffington Post Canada

By Daniel Tencer

Canadian cities top the world for the real estate markets that make the best bet for long-term

investment, according to a study from U.K. property developer Grosvenor — but they may not be

such a great investment in the short term.

Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary took the top three spots, respectively, on the survey that aims to

measure which real estate markets are the most resilient, and therefore make the best long-term

investment.

"Canada, as a whole, is doing exceptionally well in developing resiliency,” Richard Barkham, group

research director at Grosvenor, said in a statement.

But the study doesn’t put to rest the argument that Canada may be facing a housing bubble, as it

doesn’t look at what could happen to real estate markets in the short term. Of the rankings’ top 20

markets, eight are in the U.S., whose housing markets are just now recovering from the bursting of

last decade’s bubble.

In fact, in the short term, Canada’s real estate markets are more prone to ups and downs than

average, Grosvenor suggested.

"If you are investing with a short-term perspective, a portfolio of the resilient cities won't necessarily

be less volatile; in fact you would have a more volatile portfolio if you only invested in the top five

cities,” Barkham said.

To determine a real estate market's long-term strength, the study looked at “environmental and

social vulnerability and adaptive capacity,” covering areas such as infrastructure, environment and

climate.

“In our view, environmental sustainability, community liveability and economic prosperity are all

necessary components of long-term city resiliency,” Urban Land Institute CEO Patrick Phillips said.

Thursday's Assignment

Besides diet, flossing, and annuals, what else is essential to a healthy lifestyle?

Does anyone else you know exercise so vigorously? What other great ideas on physical exercise can you find here?

Here are your tasks:

1. Reading: Find clues here as to what Her Majesty the Queen does for exercise. Discuss your answer with a partner.
2. Vocabulary: Walking or Running as Exercise
1. Learn 5 words or expressions for meaning and pronunciation.
2. Make sentences with them, and have a partner check your reading of those sentences.
3. Record them on Audioboom.com, and check at least 5 other classmates' recordings.
3. Role play: Childhood Fitness
1. Practise aloud by yourself, and find 5 words that are most commonly mispronounced (e.g. "Ob City" or "opposite," instead of "obesity.")
2. Practise with a partner, focusing on correct pronunciation of those 5 words.
3. Record with your partner on Audioboom.com those 5 words, followed by the whole dialogue.
4. Write a list of 10 Dos and Don'ts on exercise and fitness for your family. For example:
• Wear good tennis shoes to avoid getting blisters.
• Don't do high-impact workouts to avoid getting shin splints.

Wednesday's Assignment

Another way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to go for annual checkups with one's doctor. Do you agree? Do you do that?

Did you chuckle at this cartoon? What else tickles you on this search?

Here are your tasks:

1. Vocabulary: A Visit to the Doctor
1. Pick 5 words or expressions to learn for meaning and pronunciation.
2. Practise saying them in sentences, and record your sentences on Audioboom.com.
2. Role play: Doctor-Patient Confidentiality
1. Pick 5 new pronunciations you never knew before.
2. Practise saying them, and read them to a partner, who will check your pronunciation.

Tuesday's Assignment

Now that we've taken a bite at dieting, let's chew on the topic of dental hygiene.

Where's the humour in the cartoon? Can you find a funnier cartoon from among these?

Here are your tasks:

1. Role play: Taking Care of Your Teeth
1. Publish your audioboom.com recording with a partner.
2. Then take dictation of the longest sentence as a Comment on a partner's blog.
2. Using yesterday's nutritional triptych as a guide, write a dialogue between a patient and a dental hygienist:
1. Work in pairs, with a partner.
2. Have the patient tell the hygienist about battling plaque.
3. Then have the patient wonder if that was a full-fledged hygienist.
4. Create a happy ending if you're on the east side of the room, or an unhappy ending if you're on the west side.
5. Publish and perform your dialogue to the class and then as a recording.
3. Read the headline of this article and then look for 5 words or expressions that you've recently learnt.

Monday's Assignment

Welcome back! Did you eat a lot this weekend? Any big buffets or parties?

There's a popular saying that goes, "You're what you eat." Do you agree with it? Talk to a partner about it.

Do you like the above cartoon? What are your 5 most favourite cartoons here?

Here are your tasks:

1. Vocabulary: Fad Dieting
1. Copy out key phrases and words, and use them in sentences.
2. Record those sentences on Audioboom.com.
2. Role play: Eating Unhealthy Foods
1. Practise alone and then with a partner.
2. Record your work.

Friday's Assignment

Welcome back from the field trip yesterday! What a concert, eh?

This morning we have a special information talk on Cancer Prevention from Toronto Public Health Nurse Joanne Mercer, and we'll be joined by our Workplace English friends.

While waiting to start, we have some pictures from yesterday. Be sure to connect via Facebook and post your comments there!

This afternoon's work:

Now that we are at the end of a week on the theme of investments as well as in a month of tax returns, what do you think are some ways to avoid paying too much to the government?

Here are your tasks:

1. Google for news on "Panama Papers," and discuss your thoughts with a partner.
2. Role play: Hiding Money Offshore
1. Practise aloud by yourself and then with a partner.
2. Record your conversation, adding some personal thoughts about the Panama Papers.
3. Pre-pick a number or two from a list of 25, study that point, and prepare teach it to a small group of about 5 classmates.
4. Interview at least 3 classmates, and write 10 sentences about yesterday's field trip.
1. Check out our Facebook page as well as Helen Huang and Ashley's pages for some amazing pictures and videos.
2. Write comments on their Facebook pages.

Thursday's Field Trip

RESPONSES TO COMMENTS (copy your comments back over to your blog and add a Version 2 for corrections)

1. Ling Cao, what a great start! How about the other 10 questions?
2. Ling Li, what a path blazer! Great work! For words where the noun exists, you could just use the noun rather than create a gerund, e.g. piano performance (not performing) and enjoyment (not enjoying). Also, the sentence about the museum seems to need a verb.
3. Bing, super work! The 3rd rule of etiquette should be, Do not applaud until the end of a piece, not at the end of each movement within a piece. A good way to know is to wait for the educated people to applaud first, LOLs, or people who seem educated! How did you get "violin and cello" in there?
4. Cheng, that's a good start. A little skimpy on the answers, though, as we had 10 questions. ... Oh wait, it's down below: that's a pretty good shot! Be sure to find out some of the answers from friends!
5. Gacia, "wearing good dress" may not be a rule for this free lunchtime concert. Something normal for downtown travel would be sufficient, as a rule. I hope the concert doesn't start as late as you reported! Great work!
6. Nice work, Angelica! Where's your 3rd rule of etiquette? Please tell Fottima to leave by 10 a.m. to be on time. There's usually a long line to get in, and that's why we need to get there early.
7. Emma, you nailed it! The most important rule is to keep quiet! Many think they can whisper or rustle their program sheets, and the result is irritating. Do check with your classmates about the concert details!
8. Olivia, you, too! Yeah, a classical concert is different from a buffet, where you can yak and jabber and whisper with impunity. If you leave Don Mills at 11:30, you'll be waiting outside the concert area until we finish as seating is limited. You should arrive around 11 a.m. so that you'll be among those in the front of the line.
9. Brilliant answers, Hamed! Good thinking, except for departure time from Don Mills. Do you think you could be ushered in and seated in time for the performance at 12 noon?
10. Ani, I'm so sorry your answer disappeared. It happens, sadly, when something goes wrong through human or technological error. Better results next time!

How about everybody find a place for lunch together so we can all be friends and get to know one another?

This Thursday's field trip is to a free concert at Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts above Osgoode Station.



Please meet at 10:00 a.m. on the Westbound Platform of Bayview Station or 11 a.m. at the entrance of Four Seasons. The itinerary includes Queen Station, PATH Underground City, Nathan Phillips Square, the former and present City Halls, and Osgoode Hall.

Here are your pre-trip activities, to be answered in Comments, below:

1. What are three rules of etiquette at any concert?
2. What instrument or performance would you expect to see at the concert?
3. What time does the concert begin?
4. Who's the performer?
5. What do you hope to take away from the free concert?
6. Who's leaving from Don Mills Station on Thursday, and at what time?
7. Which of the other places on the itinerary interests you, and why?
8. What's the weather going to be like on Thursday?
9. What would you advise your classmates to bring on Thursday?
10. Who's your lunch partner on Thursday?

Wednesday's Assignment

Here's the editing work for this afternoon.



Today, we have another special lesson from Gaby! Here it is:

http://gabylearning.blogspot.ca/

Tuesday's Assignment

Good morning! Do you like private treatment at the bank rather than lining up for a teller with everybody else? What do private bankers deal with?



Here are your tasks:

1. Rearrange each sentence, and then put the sentences in the correct order to find out what it's all about:
1. Abuyahya Yusuf
2. St., Toronto 8Y9 M2J Yonge 660-145 ON
3. cheque registered Please address. the to my send 
4. holder account I'm a policy of RRSP investment #90245, and I cancel would away. like to the policy right
5. 2016 12, April
6. you. Thank 
7. CANCELLATION RRSP WITHDRAWAL AND
8. Broker, Dear
9. regards, Best 
10. Home a I need under Buyers' Plan. it for deposit the
2. Now write a note to an insurance company to cancel or change a policy and to request a refund.
3. Check your classmates' notes before and after they publish.

Monday's Assignment

Good morning! Which way do you think the market will go this week? What's this picture all about?

Did you laugh? What's the meaning of "to break even"?

This week's theme is on Banking and Finances--Loans, Mortgages, and Investments. To begin with, we're going to have a look at sentence structure and an article on online brokers.

Here are your tasks:

1. Watch this simple and harder video on sentence diagramming.
1. Outline the 1st sentence of this article, "It's not ...."
2. Outline the 2nd, “The dozen …."
3. Compare your sentence outlines with at least 3 partners.
4. Looking at the table of “Broker and Final Grade,” learn all new words/expressions and write 5 T/F statements.
2. Role play: Stock Market
1. Listen, and then practise out loud in pairs.
2. Publish your audio recording on your blog.

Friday's Assignment

After you see today's assignment, you might exclaim, TGIF!

Think about your view of Canada before coming here. How was it similar or different from this:

How different is your view of the world from the Americans'?

Here are your tasks:

1. Role play: Reading a World Map
2. Read this article, and in your own words write down 10 facts that you learnt from it.
3. Scanning: Looking for patterns
1. Google and then click News for "Canada" and "USA." Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
2. Google and then click News for "Canada" and the name of another country. Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
3. Google and then click News for "Canada" and "United Nations." Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
4. Google and then click News for "Canada" and "mountains." Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
5. Google and then click News for "Canada" and "lakes." Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
6. Google and then click News for "Canada" and "oceans." Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.
7. Google and then click News for "Canada" and any other search item! Look at the results on the first page and tell a partner what's most prominent.

Thursday's Assignment

Good morning! This morning, we start off by recording our feedback on the following exercise last week:

Under Comments (below), write your answers to:

1. What did you like about the exercise?
2. What did you dislike about the exercise?
3. What did you learn from the exercise?
4. If you had a chance to do the exercise again, what would you like to do/learn?
5. Would you like to do the exercise again? If so, what other topics would you like to do it on?

When you have finished, you may proceed to the following tasks:

1. Role play: Enjoying Nature



What is this funny-shaped place?

1. Listen to and practise speaking the dialogue by yourself and then with a partner.
2. Discuss with your partner which parts of the dialogue apply to Canada or your country or countries of origin. Then, with that in mind, record your dialogue on Audioboom.com.
3. Write a paragraph of about 50 words using a few words from the dialogue to contrast the outdoors in two different countries.
2. Reading: Google for the name of this city, province, and country, and then click on News for each one.
1. Find two news items relating to its geography.
2. Compare and discuss your results with your partner.
3. Fill in this table:

	Headline	URL	Your comment
City
Province
Country

Wednesday's Assignment

Good morning! This morning, we're starting off by visiting Gaby's blog:

http://gabylearning.blogspot.ca/ 

Tuesday's Assignment

Charity begins at home, and so does geography! Our first area of focus is our own city, the big T.O.!

Good morning! Here's your "breakfast"--Breakfast TV! Enjoy it for a few seconds!

Where's Wally?

Here are your tasks:

1. Check out the grammar in the first paragraph of this Wiki article.

1. Identify all the passive verbs there.
1. Discuss with your partner why the verbs are in the passive.
2. Compare them with the actives.
2. Now identify all the prepositions there.
1. Discuss what each preposition is used for.
2. What verbs are associated with each preposition?
3. What nouns come after each one?
2. Check out the meaning and pronunciation of the paragraph.
1. Write down and discuss your list of the 10 hardest words to read/understand with a partner.
2. Write down and discuss your list of the 10 hardest words to pronounce.
3. Take turns reading it to each other.
4. Write a True/False quiz of 5 statements on your blog.
5. Have your partners put their answers in the comments.

Monday's Assignment

Monday Evening:

Did you like the exercises for giving directions?

Here are more puzzles! Look at each picture and then close your eyes to imagine: What would Joseph say? How would he say it?






Monday Afternoon: Meet Wally!



Find Wally in this picture:

1. Write a short list of directions on how to find Wally.
2. Sit with a partner and give directions on finding Wally in these pictures.

Who usually asks for directions in your family, the husband or the wife? Who makes the other ask for directions? Have you asked or been asked for directions in English?

If you were the GPS, where would you locate this car?

Here are your tasks:

1. Vocabulary: Asking for Directions
1. For each utterance, practise saying it in your L1, and quickly follow that by saying it in English.
2. Then do it again, all in English.
2. Role play: Getting Directions and Parking Instructions
1. Practise it by yourself, and then with a partner.
2. Repeat, taking turns having one partner not looking at the words. You may paraphrase using correct equivalents.
3. Record it with one or both partners not looking at the words, but make sure to introduce yourselves and what you're doing before role playing.

Friday Afternoon's Assignment

Here are your tasks:

1. Publish your handwritten O Canada dictation papers.
1. Include an audio of your singing by yourself.
2. Include an audio of your choir.
2. Vocabulary: Negotiating Salary
3. Role play: Making and Receiving a Job Offer