CLB3LS Shopping: Men's, Women's, and Children's Departments

Can you say "the exit sign"?

Culminating a day on the theme of employment, the spotlight goes on retail jobs. These LINC 2 students have a go at Dictation Triptychs on the theme of giving and getting directions in a mall.

Here they go, after the jumping exercise:

• Jessie and Partner
• Nui and Partner
• Lin Xue and Partner
• Lynne and Joyce
• Gina and Yao Fu
• Jessie and Yao Fu

Level 2 Ordering Coffee

Cafe talk: McDonalds, Timmies, Timothy's

Good to the last drop!

Advanced extension: CLB 3 reading of a note to a friend/employee

1. Hui Hui and Lynne
2. Joyce and Angie
3. Jessie and Shurniss
4. Hui Hui and Gina - advanced artefact
5. Amy and Shirley
6. Yao Fu asks a question.

CICS level 1 artefacts

Selected artefacts after a hard day's work, building on a previous day's foundation on TTC schedules, travel directions, compass points, intersection terminology, etc.:

• Pair 1: Yan and Wang http://chirb.it/Ia2xNf
• Pair 2: Zhuanhao and Fei Fei http://chirb.it/vP37fk

All a prelude to the Dictation Triptych activity ... tomorrow!

CICS Level 3 Audio Artefacts

Dictation Triptychs Conversations on Health and the Weather

CLB4S Greet a neighbour, ask about his/her health, and talk about the weather. Extend the conversation by asking questions.

Did you have fun with the exercise? How did it help you to learn English? Leave your questions and comments below!


Preselected Conversation

1. Hawa and Simon http://chirb.it/bNgvGH
2. Harout and Tina http://chirb.it/p98EBG
3. Fiona and Daru http://chirb.it/OOEmKB
4. Irfan and Fehmida http://chirb.it/Gbf4gF
5. Loucin and Harout http://chirb.it/8811z5
6. Renjie and Jun http://chirb.it/Mc17zp

Randomized Conversation

1. Hawa and Irfan http://chirb.it/54LGkL
2. Fiona and Harout http://chirb.it/htxrN0
3. Lucy and Tina http://chirb.it/cbx72M
4. Jun and Renjie http://chirb.it/DDMA4g
5. Daru and Renjie http://chirb.it/hh9x7h
6. Fehmida and Simon http://chirb.it/NmDvK1

Selected Parameters for Assessment Rubric (from CLB2012 p. 46)
 Use a range of courtesy formulas and some casual small talk in short, one-on-one or small group interactions. [Interlocutors are familiar and supportive.]
 Opens and closes a short conversation.
 Uses non-verbal communication (such as eye contact and nodding) to show interest and encourage conversation.
 Uses a range of small talk phrases and expressions.
 Indicates comprehension and communication problems verbally, if needed.

Field Trips for Jan - Feb '17

Mar 3 Field Trip to IEP Conference < Still on: Hope to see you there!

Online registration is open. Click here to register.

Wonder who was the crazy fellow who photobombed at 4:23.

Here's the map there from Don Mills Station.

Mar 8 Encore Field Trip < Suspended due to MiscroSkills' Closure

Thank God for another chance at the snow! Before we leave for March Break, we get to enjoy Earl Bales Ski & Snowboard Centre again.

Same map, different date :)

If you missed the first trip (pictures here), don't worry! There's one more!

In case the cafeteria doesn't open, be sure to pack your own coffee and lunch. And take lots of pictures!

And don't get lost this time:

Friday's R Assignment

Today we go from clicks to bricks, from smileys to smiles, from the online to the face-to-face network. Why do we need to do that? How can we do that? Tell a partner.

Your tasks:

1. Use Google, Kijiji Networking, and Meetup.com to uncover a list of 10 top business networks relevant to you in Toronto.
1. Keywords include your areas of interest, experience, ethnic association, beliefs, etc.
2. Embed your list with direct URL links.
2. Read your classmates’ lists and suggest more connections/ideas under Comments.

Thursday's RW Assignment

What are your networks online? How many people are you connected with? Discuss with a partner.

Your tasks:

1. Setup your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts.
2. Read the top 10 tips on this page (p. 2).
3. Connect to your classmates.
1. Publish pictures and posts about our upcoming field trips. 
2. Or create a Facebook event and invite your classmates to it.
4. Comment on your classmates’ posts.

MICROSKILLS "CLOSED IMMEDIATELY"

Sorry, guys. No more school!

MicroSkills has gone bankrupt.

Please stay in touch for any updates via Facebook.

Wednesday's Celebration: It's National Flag Day!

Check this out!

Tuesday's Preview

If you have your Toronto Public Library card ready, check out these Lynda Courses:

1. Login to TPL
2. Click on one of these;
1. Prioritize Your Networking
2. Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Monday's W Assignment

Today we begin a week on the theme of business networking. Tell a partner your experience in business networking. Where and how did you grow your network?

Your tasks:

1. Register for IEP Conference. Forward your instructor your confirmation email.
2. Listen to this podcast, and write down 10 new expressions/words. Make sentences and check them with a partner.
1. Imagine that Marissa gave Ian her card. What would Ian write in an email to get an appointment with her?
2. Write an email of 80 words from Ian requesting a meeting. Include the language you have learnt.
3. Publish!

Thursday's R Assignment

Have you ever written your dad a Father's Day card? Or have you ever received one?

Your tasks:

1. Rewrite the above cartoon with the correct spelling. Check with a partner.
2. Read this article about fallen fathers.
3. Take notes, and record some words of comfort in 30 seconds you could give to their children.

Tuesday's L Assignment

What are your most and least favourite household chores? Why? Tell a partner now.

Made with Storyboard That

Your tasks:

1. Do this listening exercise.
1. Write down a new list of 10 chores.
2. Role play, record, and publish your parent-child dialogue with a partner.
2. Have 3 classmates listen to your recording and list those chores in their comments.

Friday's S Assignment

Now you have decided to organize the trip to Peterborough Liftlock. It was a beautiful drive from North York, and you arrive on time. Some friends are there already. You're all excited about the winter activities there. But some of your group are missing.

Your cellphone rings. You excuse yourself from your friends and take the call.

Your task:

1. Jake, a friend hoping to meet you at the Liftlock is lost outside a synagogue at 775 Weller St in Peterborough. Check that location on Google Maps and give directions over the phone.
2. Record and publish your Google Map and Chirbit.

Wednesday's R Assignment

We know where to go summer, spring, and fall! There's fall leaves, summer boating, spring blossoms, but what about the snow season?

What can you do when the winter is long, and the summer dreams start fading away?

What about Peterborough's most famous canal lock in the winter. Would you drive all the way there? What would you do?

Your tasks:

1. Watch the above videos, and plan a drive to the Liftlock using Google Maps.
2. Using a table in MS Word, contrast 2 driving routes listed in terms of time, distance, tolls, intersections, traffic conditions, scenery, etc.
3. Publish your Google Map and completed table!

If you need help calculating the toll, here is a calculator:

Tuesday's W Assignment

Dashcams are wonderful things! They document everything in front of you while you are driving. This includes bad driving habits.

Your tasks:

1. Learn the following terms: road hog, pull over, watch out for, dead end, tailgating, get over here, swerve, run a red, abruptly, honking, braking, signalling, dangerously.
2. Watch the above video with a partner from a different country of origin than yours, and write a paragraph listing the 3 most dangerous driving habits you see in the video, comparing them with driving habits in another country you are familiar with.
1. Use any of the terms you learned if suitable.
2. Include a direct quote from your partner.
3. Use full sentences, and correct for yourself and each other using your 9-point editing checklist.

Monday's L Assignment

Good morning! Some of you have many stories to tell about driving in Ontario, our theme for this week. Tell a partner about some interesting conversations and sights you've had driving around in a car.

Have you ever wondered what it sounds like in someone else's car? How about listening to this super long English conversation:

Your task:

1. Discuss with a partner what this table is about.
2. Listen to the above video from the beginning. 
3. Then add/edit at least 10 notes on this table. Ask your classmates to check your transcripts.

Thursday's Assignment

You already know what you can do with your house. But what can you do with your car?

What do you think is happening on the right lane? Discuss with two partners.

Here are your tasks:

1. L Take dictation of 9:10 - 9:55 of Part 1 of the podcast above.
1. What 3 points can you get from it? 
2. Keep listening for opposite points.
2. How likely are you to get into this business? Publish your notes and your audio link.

Transcript below:

Tuesday's Assignment

Have you ever thought of renting out your place for a night or a whole week? What about just a room? Or maybe just your sofa? Share your thoughts with at least 2 partners.

Here are your tasks:

1. R Explore the 3 kinds of hosting here, and take notes on each.
2. Decide which is the best for you, and record your decision with reasons.
3. Publish both your outline and audio link.

BONUS:

When you finish, find out how "AirBnb" got its name. Listen to 2:15 - 6:35 of this video. Then tell someone who hasn't watched the video the story.

Monday's Assignment

This week our theme is on starting a new business. Have you thought about doing that in Canada?

What concerns do you have starting a food business?

Here are your tasks:

1. W Imagine helping an Aboriginal entrepreneur write a fish and chips restaurant business proposal. 
2. Fill in this online form and send to Print as a PDF file. 
3. Upload the PDF to your Google Drive, and publish the link on your blog.

Wednesday's Assignment

Today we are going to talk about inventors and innovators. To start off with, we have some vocabulary to practise out loud. Try following and speaking out the following lesson:

Here are your tasks:

1. Work on the pronunciation of these words.
2. Write each one out, count the number of syllables, and pronounce it aloud at least twice.
3. Make sentences with them and teach them to a partner.

Friday: Homework Day

School's closed today!

But there's work to be done at home, to be published by 2:30 p.m.!

Here are your tasks:

1. At noon, make sure to watch to the U.S. President's Inauguration and listen to the Inaugural Speech.
1. What was most surprising about the speech?
2. Write out 8 new words/expressions, and find their meanings.
3. Make sentences that bring out those words with their meanings.

New word/expression	Meaning	Sentences



2. Write your About Me artefact (details here) and make a Chirbit.com recording of it. Publish it!
3. Create an Index of Artefacts indicating Level and Skill (e.g. CLBW5), and place it at the top of your blog.

Thursday's Assignment

Welcome back! How was the field trip yesterday?

Here are your tasks:

1. W What did you like the most and the least from the trip?
2. What was the role of technology?
3. Google for the UofT’s world ranking and write a trip report. Check with a partner before publishing.

Tuesday's Assignment

Another leader who was responsible for today's University of Toronto and another university was Egerton Ryerson. What was the other university?

Here are your tasks:

1. L Listen to this recording and take notes.
2. Do this exercise. And check your answers here.
3. Whose name gets consistently mispronounced?
4. Record and publish what you learnt from the listening.

Monday's Assignment

One of the streets in Toronto is named after a famous educator in Canada. It's also one of the hardest to pronounce.

What was Strachan known for?

Here are your tasks:

1. R Read this Wiki with your teacher by the paragraph, 1-2-T-2-1.
2. Create a cartoon about what Strachan might have said.

Friday's Assignment

Our month-end field trip takes us to a mall that never sleeps all year. But it is going to be especially exciting at this time of the year. What celebration could that be? Where are we going? Here's a blast from the past:

More pictures and posts here

Here are your tasks:

1. Review these Pacific Mall deals and Pacific Mall’s hits with a partner.
2. W Then write a formal invitation for a group function (such as a field trip to a special mall). Include key details as well as secret places to eat, shop, relax, learn, etc.
3. Ask yourself the following questions, and write your response below your formal invitation:
1. Did you convey the intended meaning?
2. Did you use language and content appropriate and relevant to the situation?
3. Did you express main ideas and support them in some detail?
4. What was the hardest thing about this task?
5. What did you learn from it?
6. Any other comments?

Thursday's Assignment

Our next vacation happens next month. What is it about? Watch the following video, and discover the donation asked:

Here are your tasks:

1. Read this article and write down the things to do or eat around Family Day. Discuss your findings with a partner.
2. S Give advice to a close friend on how to deal with an unruly child over the Family Day Week vacation. Record and publish your advice.
3. Watch this video, practise the expressions, and record yourself again giving the same advice. Publish the new recording as Version 2.

Wednesday's Assignment

Do you know any country that takes a day off to celebrate its flag?

Here are your tasks:

1. R task: Preread and convert this transcript to pictures, choosing to draw any 3 of the following:
1. Video montage of several images featuring the Canadian flag.
   Music is playing during the video.
   Zoom-in to a Canadian flag flying in front of the clock on the Peace Tower.
   Five employees of Parks Canada are posing in front of a mountain while holding a Canadian flag.
   Low angle shot of a young boy proudly holding two flags.
   Two young girls are sitting on a rock while holding a flag of Canada.
   Among a small crowd, one man is holding the Canadian flag in the air.
   Picture of a woman smiling and running while holding a flag of Canada.
   Close-up of a woman wearing a tuque with “CANADA” written on it. There is a Canadian flag behind her.
   Two children are smiling and each holds one small Canadian flag.
2. Publish and compare with peers' pictures and the original video.
2. Chiasmic reading: 1-2-T-2-1
3. Take the “Share your moment with the flag” Challenge.

printed transcript 

Tuesday's Assignment

Let's try out an app today!

But first, please look through this presentation, and look for any typos or other errors or problems:

1. What were 3 problems you found on the presentation?
2. Would you be interested in participating in a GPS location-based field trip based on your knowledge so far?
3. What 3 suggestions do you have for such a trip?

Discuss your answers with a partner, and then write them below in the Comments.

Monday's Assignment

Here's the link to the edited posts.

Welcome back! Have you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year's Day?

Canadians love to celebrate, don't we? So we continue this week on the theme of celebrations.




Here are your tasks:

1. L task: Listen twice to PM’s speech.
2. Note 5 achievements of 2016 that were mentioned. List them in order of importance, and discuss your list with a partner.
3. Record your partner’s list and your view of it. 

Welcome Back Monday Jan.9

See you on Monday January 9, 9 a.m., bright eyed and bushy tailed.