How do colors make you feel?

Colors! How do they make you feel? What do you think of? How do we use color? How do animals use color? These are all questions you should feel comfortable discussing after last week. 

Last week we talked about how certain colors make us feel. For example, we looked at a color, like green, and thought about these questions. 

What do you think of? Why?

I think of (thing, place, event, etc.)…

2. Who do you think of? Why?

I think of (person…..)

3. How does it make you feel?

It makes me feel…(emotion(happy, sad, hungry))

4. What memories does it evoke?

It reminds me of… 

Colors can make me feel an emotion, remind me of a person or memory and even make me think of a smell. What do colors do for you? What does green make you feel? 

We also discussed how businesses use color. Red-LG, blue-Hyundai. But no one uses color like Apple. They make their products look cool and fun with color. For me, the own white. Check out this video. See you next class!

What color are you?

Hello class!

First be prepared to tell me about your weekend plans.

What will you do this weekend?
This weekend I will hang out with my friends and drink!

Remember use the future tense!

Today we will mostly be discussing colors. We will talk about how colors remind us of something. A mood, a class, a person, a smell, a season or even a memory. Be prepared to think about how you would express your feelings about the color pink for example.

What does pink remind you of?
"Pink makes me think of candy. It reminds me of a sweet smell. I think about the lollipops that I used to get from the store." 

We will also listen to an audio track about colors and animals. This will prepare us for the listening exam. Do not forget to finish your vocabulary log. You will hear many of these words today in our listening exercise!

Here are today's goals!

1.What are your weekend plans?

2.Speaking- Discussing colors with your partner.

3.Listening- video on colors

4.Speaking- vocabulary discussion and review

5.Listening- "The Colors of Nature"

6.Speaking- What color are you?

How can colors be useful?

Today we started class with a review on fashion. We discussed why people might agree with school uniforms and why others disagree. I wanted you to see the debate from both perspectives. 

Do you understand irony?

Those who supported school uniforms talked about how uniforms are cheaper, make life easier, allow students to focus on school work and how uniforms create a sense of school community. 

Those who were opposed to school uniforms talked about how students did not have freedom, independence and how uniforms were uncomfortable. 

See what other people think here.

As it says on page 15, "consider the ideas." Be sure that you feel comfortable talking about both positions (agree and disagree). You might be asked to debate this issue on the midterm speaking exam. 

Finally, we started Unit 2. The main question here is "How can colors be useful?" We talked about how colors can be symbolic, affect our mood, organize our lives, help animals blend in and can attract attention to important things. We then familiarized ourselves with the vocabulary on page 23 by doing the exercise and then starting a vocabulary record. Please be prepared to show the teacher your record next class.

What animal do you see?

I look forward to seeing you at the next class!!

What is your favorite social networking site?

In our second class this week we interviewed our partners on their personal fashion.

Describe your favorite item of clothing?

What kind of haircut would you never have? 

We got comfortable talking about our fashion and our opinions of fashion. By now you should easily be able to talk for 2 minutes about fashion.

Next, we started writing. We talked about main ideas of paragraphs.

*Remember: main ideas are the main thing the writer wants to get across to the reader.*

We looked at 6 paragraphs and figured out what the main idea was for each paragraph. Sometimes the main idea is the first sentence of the paragraph, but sometimes you have to read more of the paragraph to understand the main idea.

In our writing we want the first sentence of our paragraph to state the main idea plus two subtopics. For example:

Yeungnam University is a great university because of its excellent opportunities and fantastic teachers. 

From the beginning, I know this paragraph is going to be about how the opportunities and teachers make YU a great university.

Another example:

I love my mother because she is kind and a great cook.

From this sentence I know you are going to talk about how you love your mother because she is nice and cooks well.

Next week we will look at our outlines you did for homework and try to start organizing our paragraph about our favorite social networking site.

Until then...have a great weekend!!!

Topic Sentences

In our next class we will take a look at writing the first sentence of a paragraph. This sentence(usually the first or second) is called a topic sentence. This sentence is made of two parts: a topic and a controlling idea.

The topic sentence has two parts: the topic and the controlling idea.

The topic should be the subject of your paper. The controlling idea should be what you are going to focus on about your topic. Let's look at some examples.

TOPIC                                    CONTROLLING IDEA

         Whit teacher                                                            keeps a blog.

Topic sentence= Whit teacher keeps a blog.

I am the main topic: Whit teacher. The controlling idea is my blog. The rest of the paragraph will be about my blog.

Let's look at another example:

          TOPIC                                    CONTROLLING IDEA

             Daegu                                                                      is a great city.

Topic sentence= Daegu is a great city.

Daegu is the main topic. The controlling idea is "a great city." The rest of the paragraph will be about why Daegu is a great city.

Make sure that the rest of the paragraph supports the controlling idea.

Acceptable sentences for: Whit teacher keeps a blog.

His blog is helpful because it helps us review our classwork.  

The blog has a nice design and is fun to read. 

These sentences above are good because it stays on the topic and the controlling idea: my blog.

Unacceptable sentences for: Whit teacher keeps a blog.

Whit teacher is from America.

English class is difficult for me. 

These sentences above are not good because they do not say anything about my blog.

Can you think of two examples of acceptable sentences and two examples of unacceptable sentences for "Daegu is a great city."??? If you can, write them in your notebook and I will give you 7 extra points for reading this blog and doing the assignment!

Be prepared to do some writing in class tomorrow. Bring your READING AND WRITING BOOK and your JOURNAL/NOTEBOOK!

Still not clear? Try watching this explanation. Only 3 minutes!

The Popularity of Social Networks

What a beautiful Monday afternoon! It was great to see so many smiling and warm faces. Here is a recap of our class yesterday.

Yesterday in class, we started with talking about our weekend. Many of you told me all about what you did last weekend.

"I ate at a restaurant with my friends."
"I slept."
"I watched T.V."

See the previous blogpost for more tips on how to answer this question!

"Are you studying for English class tonight?"

We also reviewed present continuous with a mingling activity where we had to find someone that was doing something "around now" and you were to ask some follow up questions.

1-"Are you watching T.V. this weekend?"
2-"Yes, I am watching T.V. this weekend."
1-"What are you going to watch?"
2-"I am going to watch Criminal Minds."
1-"What time are you planning to watch it?"
2-"I am going to watch it around 9PM."

After we mingled we began looking at Unit 1 in our Reading and Writing books called, "Why does something become popular." We brainstormed about why social networking sites are popular. We decided that they are convenient, cheap, help us keep in touch, see our friend's lives and experiences and allow us to share our own lives.

"Psst, Hae Sik, what's the answer to number 3???"

Finally, we read an article titled, "The Popularity of Social Networks" and answered questions on a practice reading exam about the article. Remember we must answer the short answer questions in full sentences and make any false statement true! DO NOT FORGET TO BRING THIS SHEET BACK TO CLASS COMPLETED!

Read the next blogpost for a preview of the next class!

What did you do this weekend?

One thing you can always plan for on Monday is that I (Mr. Whit) will ask you what you did over the weekend. It is a very common question on Monday in any culture. So how should you answer? In simple past.

I hiked with my family this weekend.

Whit: What did you do this weekend?

You:

I slept. *yawn*

I exercised.
I hiked.

I ate.

I watched a movie.

I drank.

These are all acceptable answers. But remember, I always ask a follow up question. Generally, I want to know where you went, who you went with and what exactly you did.

For example: 

Whit: What did you do this weekend?

You: I slept.

Whit: Really? All weekend? Like a hibernating bear? What else did you do?

You: I ate.

Whit: Okay. What did you eat?

You: Samgyeopsal.

Whit: Yum! My favorite. Who did you go with?

You: My family.

Whit: Where did you go?

You: Downtown.

Always be prepared for the who, what, when, where, why, how questions. Here's a tip. If you want me to not ask too many questions then offer information.

That might look like this.

Whit: What did you do this weekend.

You: I slept and ate samgyopsal with my family downtown. 

Whit: Oh. Great! 

FINISHED!

*And remember* you are in college now, you would say "I hung out with my friends." Only rarely would you "play" with your friends. You'd play games with your friends. But coffee, drinking, chatting, etc...now you call that "hanging out."

Want to know what I did this weekend?

I hung out with my family, ate samgyeopsal in Orange Town and rode my bike on Sunday. It was great!

Follow-up questions

Hello students!

How was your day today? 

It was okay. Not good, not bad.

Really, why?

To be able to ask follow-up questions it is very important to listen. It can be difficult when you are trying to think of what to ask next, but often listening can help you.

Which celebrity do you like to dress like? 

Won Bin.

Really, why?

See what happened there? When in doubt you can almost always ask the speaker"Why?"

However, "why" isn't always an option. So think about the other questions. "Who," "What," "When," "Where," and "How?"

A few follow up question options for the above conversation :
"Won Bin? Who's that?"
"What is Won Bin famous for?"
"When did you start liking Won Bin?"
"Where can you see Won Bin? Movies, TV, sports?"
"How does Won Bin dress?"

Don't fell constrained by the first question either! Conversations are meant to feel natural. Maybe you love Won Bin too. Offer information!!

Which celebrity do you like to dress like? 

Won Bin.

I like Won Bin too! He was great in "Taegukgi!"

Yeah, he was good in that, but I liked him in "Mother" more.

You've moved away from the original question, but sometimes that is what happens in natural conversation. Don't be afraid to speak freely. Try to answer the question, but sometimes you just can't keep talking about the original question.

Remember:
1. Ask the question.
2. Listen.
3. Ask a follow-up question OR offer information.
4. Speak freely and naturally.

Why do you wear the clothes you wear?

Yesterday in class we talked about fashion trends. We tried to understand why people follow fashion trends and what some popular fashion trends you can find in Korea today.

We decided that many people dress in certain clothes because their friends do. Or because we must buy the clothes that the store provides. Or we dress in certain clothes because we want to look nice.

But have you ever thought about looking different? Setting your own style?

Who determines what looks good? Celebrities? The stores? You??

Don't forget that we will talk about school uniforms in the next class. See pages 15-17.

Have a great day!!
 

What do you do in the evening?

I sure love to mingle, don't you? Having the opportunity to interact with strangers and people from new places sure makes life interesting. It allows us do develop new relationships and make new friends. Every class I hope that we get some time to mingle and interact with our classmates. 

"I hang out with friends in the evening!"

For our second class we got to know each other a little more intimately. We learned about things we did in our past(Find someone who...) and things we do more regularly (simple present). I learned that many of you hang out with your friends, study, drink, watch TV and play computer games often in your daily life. I even learned the meanings of 치실 and  칫솔!

"I hide from teacher when he takes my picture!"

To give you some examples about regular activities with all pronouns here are a few examples.

I run in the morning.
You study with me every Monday. 
Eun Bee sleeps every evening. 
We study English twice a week.
You speak English very well!
They go drinking on Friday nights. 

For even MORE explanation. See the rest of the blog!

Have a great weekend!!!!


Credit:  http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

[VERB] + s/es in third person

USE 1 Repeated Actions

Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

Examples:

• I play tennis.
• She does not play tennis.
• Does he play tennis?
• The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
• The train does not leave at 9 AM.
•  

USE 2 Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

Examples:

• Cats like milk.
• Birds do not like milk.
• Do pigs like milk?
• California is in America.
• 
  

USE 3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future

Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.

Examples:

• The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
• The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.
• When do we board the plane?
• 
  

USE 4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.

Examples:

• I am here now.
• She is not here now.
• He needs help right now.

"Why am I here?"

On the first day of class we played an ice breaker game where we made questions beginning with who, what, when, where and why. One of my favorite questions was "Why am I here?"

It's a great question. One we don't think about too often or too hard. Maybe your here because your parents made you. Or maybe you are here because you think you must be. Or maybe you are here only here to get an A+.

But since you are here, let's figure out why we are here. Let's come to class with a purpose, with a goal. "Today, I am here to be more courageous!" "Today, I am here to learn some new words!" "Today, I am here to improve my writing skills!"

Everyday in class we should think hard and know exactly, why we are here.

Welcome Spring 2014 Students!

Welcome to Spring 2014 semester at Yeungnam University!

My name is Whit. I will be your teacher this semester. I come from the United States and have taught in Korea for 5 years. I love reading, running, being outside, Korean food and, most importantly, my family.

I will work hard to teach you. I hope that you also work hard to improve your English skills! We can work together to be better teachers, students and citizens of the world.

Your effort will ultimately determine how well you do in this class. Students who attend class, make an effort to speak English and participate in class generally get the highest marks in class. My class can be fun if you participate and study.

야!! Don't do that!

Please come to class. Participate. Ask for help if you need it. And come see me or e-mail me if you need extra help. I am here to teach and help you. I can be available outside of the classroom!

So now that you are here, you have your textbook and a positive attitude....Let's get started!!

Syllabus-Spring 2014-ECI-1(N)

Spring 2014

Yeungnam University

ECI-1(N)

Your teacher:            Whitney P. Altizer    

                        Email: mrwhitteacher@gmail.com

                        Blog: http://whitsclassroomcommunity.blogspot.kr/

                        Office: FLI 221

                        English Help Desk: Monday, 9:00-10:30

Course Description: This is an integrated skills course that aims to improve students’ speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities in English. Through varies themes, students will be practicing these four skills. This course is at the low-intermediate level and is rooted in the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methods. The focus is on assisting students to activate their language in an engaging and meaningful way.

Required Texts:

Q: Skills for Success-Listening and Speaking. Margaret Brooks. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Q: Skills for Success-Reading and Writing. Joe McVeigh and Jennifer Bixby. Oxford University Press, 2011.

*Please get your own copy! Do not share books!

Grading Breakdown:

Attendance                                                     10%

Class Participation and Homework:               20%

Midterm Exam (Written):                               15%

Midterm Exam (Oral):                                    15%

Final Exam (Written):                                     20%

Final Exam (Oral):                                          20%    

Attendance:

Come to class and be on time!

You will lose marks if you are late or absent. You will fail the course if you get 8 or more absences. No exceptions!

Class Rules:

·         Be brave!

·         English only.

·         Ask questions.

·         Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

·         Pay attention.

·         Relax, enjoy, participate!

ECI-1 Course Schedule
Week 1	Introduction; Writing complete sentences	Week 9	R - Unit 3; W - Supporting Sentences
Week 2	Unit 1 L/S	Week 10	Unit 4 L/S
Week 3	R Unit 1; W Formatting and Punctuation	Week 11	R - Unit 4; W - Concluding Sentences
Week 4	Unit 2 L/S	Week 12	Unit 5 L/S
Week 5	R Unit 2; W - Writing Topic Sentences	Week 13	Unit 5 R; W - Opinion Paragraph (Unit 4)
Week 6	Unit 3 L/S	Week 14	Review
Week 7	Review/ Written Exam	Week 15	Make up Week/ Written Exams
Week 8	Midterm Oral Exams	Week 16	Final Oral Exams

How to get a good participation grade.

Here are three important things to say about your participation grade:

1.      Your participation score is your responsibility! Your teacher does not “give” you this grade – you earn it.

2.      Working hard in class is really important, but…

3.      To get an A for participation, you need to work hard outside of class, too!

In this class, your teacher will give you points for the work you do both in class and outside of class.

At the end of the semester, you can add up your points to find your grade.

Points	Grade
180+	A+
150-180	A
120-150	B
90-120	C
80-90	D
Less than 80	F

In class points:

Task:	Points Reward
Buying an English-only notebook within the first two weeks of term:	10
Come to class on time, with all your English books and a pen	1 per class
Use English only	1 per class
Don’t use your phone (teacher should not see it or hear it!)	1 per class
Complete assigned homework	1 per assignment
Winning Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal for participating in class (for example, answering questions, helping team members in English etc)	3, 2, or 1 per class

Outside of class points:

(For the first 2 of these, you must write a 50 word minimum summary in your notebook).

Task (see overleaf for examples):	Points Reward
Visit the English Help Desk, with a partner, for 15 minutes	7 per visit
Complete a learning activity online (see the back of this paper for more details)	7 per time
Read and write a review about an English language book or article	7 per time
Watch and write a review about an English language movie or TV show	7 per time
Write an article on a topic of your choice (examples overleaf)	7 per time
Complete a vocabulary record for each class	1 per class

Here are some examples of outside-of-class tasks:

Visit the English Help Desk: The Help Desk is near Mountain Coffee in the FLI Global Lounge. It is open every day from 9am – 4.30pm, and you can go any time. It is there to help you practice your English. You should not only go if you have a problem! It’s a fun way to practice.

You must:

1.      Choose a topic which you want to talk to a professor about, together with your     partner – any topic is ok. Films, TV, music, foreign culture, how to improve your English… etc.

2.      Write a 50-word (min) summary of your conversation, including the time you     went and the name of the person you spoke to. For example:

I went to the Help Desk on Thursday 33^rd Octember with..., and had a conversation with Professor Jimmy about…. I told Jimmy that… He said… It was interesting/fun/boring because… I felt good/nervous/confused because… I learned…

Complete a learning activity online: There are loads of great learning resources online. Here are some:

Learn English: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/

Learn English Teens: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/

Breaking News English (for reading): http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1402/140224-security-guards.html

Listen-and-Write (for listening): https://www.listen-and-write.com/

Cambridge English Online (language games!) http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/

BBC Learning English (everything!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

You need to write a 50 word summary of this! What did you do? When? What did you learn?

Reviewing books, articles, movies, or TV shows: Anything is ok to review, as long as it is in English (for TV/movies, you can use Korean subtitles to help you).

You need to write a review of 100 words or more. The review should have two parts:

1.      A summary of the book/article/movie/TV show (what was it about?)

2.      Your opinion about it (Did you like it? Why, or why not?)

You should write the two sections in two different paragraphs.

Write an article on a topic of your choice: Tell me your opinion about something. Anything is fine. For example, write an essay about Kim Yuna; or describe your feelings about coming to university. Try to write at least two paragraphs; minimum 100 words.

Complete a vocabulary record: In your notebook, make a note of new words that you learn in class. Your vocabulary map will help you with this. You should include (as a minimum):

l   The word in English

l   The Korean translation

l   The word’s part of speech (noun, verb, adjective etc).

l   An example sentence including the word

l  The meaning in English

Good luck – I hope you all get A+!