Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Video quiz: A Christmas Carol

ESL video with interactive exercise:

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_beginning.php?id=3573




Monday, November 7, 2011

The History of Veterans Day

Veterans Day

vet·er·an noun      http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/veteran 

a person who has served in a military force, especially one who has fought in a war: e.g., a Vietnam veteran.
Videos:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/192402/livemojo-what-is-veterans-day

/topics/history-of-veterans-day/videos#history-of-veterans-day

ar·mi·stice [ahr-muh-stis]    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/armistice

noun-- a temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement of the warring parties; truce: World War I ended with the armistice of 1918.

Related Words for : armistice


Sunday, October 23, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan




Sarah Plain and Tall  
Chapter One and Two Exercises--Nancy Hill

Choose two words you don’t know; try to guess their meanings from their context. Then look them up and write their definitions.

1.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1-- Pages 3-11

  1. Why do you think Caleb keeps asking about his mother and father singing? Why did his father stop singing? (p.4)


  1. What does Anna say Caleb looked like when he was born? (p. 5)


  1. According to Anna, what was the worst thing about Caleb? (p. 5) How long did it take for her to love him? (p.6)


  1. What were Anna’s mother's last words to her? (p. 5)


  1. What did Anna forget to do? (p.5) Do you think this affected Anna emotionally?


  1. What does it mean, “They tried to fill the house but couldn’t”? (p. 6)


  1. What did Papa place an advertisement in the newspaper for? (p. 9)


  1. Where is Sarah from? (p.10)


  1. What is the one question Caleb wanted his father to ask Sarah? (p. 11)



Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Chapter Two:

Choose two words you learned from Chapter 1 and write each of them in a sentence.

1._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Choose two words from Chapter 2 you don’t know; try to guess their meanings from their context. Then look them up and write their definitions.

1.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


1)      There are five things that Caleb worried about on pages 13 and 14—list them here.
a)       

b)       

c)       

                   d)

2)      What does “pesky” mean? (p.13)


3)      What did Caleb always do at night? (p. 15)


4)      How did Sarah describe herself on p. 17?


5)      What did Sarah write at the bottom of her letter? (p. 17)

_____________________________________________________________

Monday, October 3, 2011

I Love Lucy and Harpo Marx Mirror Episode


Lucille Ball and Harpo Marx Mirror Routine--1955


 

Harpo Marx was a comedian during the early days of television."His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate)."


"With a top hat, a blond wig and a bike horn, Lucy transforms herself into Harpo Marx, then meets---and mirrors---the man himself. Why? As usual, the redhead's in a jam: a friend's in town, and Lucy's been fibbing to her about stars with which she hobnobs."


 Assignment: Use the Present Tense to write a few sentences explaining what the previous paragraph is saying. To do this exercise, you may need to use your dictionary to help you understand the following vocabulary words underlined in the text.

Vocabulary Words:
1. wig (noun)
2. to transform (verb)
3. to mirror (verb)
4. redhead (noun)
5. in a jam
6. to fib (verb)
7. to hobnob (verb)
8. the previous
9. the following

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Lesson: August 30, 2011

Idioms:



Rise and shine =
Rise and shine! Fig. Get out of bed and be lively and energetic! (Often a command.) Come on, children! Rise and shine! We're going to the beach. OR Father always calls "Rise and shine!" in the morning when we want to go on sleeping.
idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Rise+and+shine!

Feeling under the weather =
"Under The Weather" (not feeling well... ) To say that someone is "under the weather" is to say that they are not feeling very well. Example: "What's wrong?" Answer: "I'm a bit under the weather."
www.goenglish.com/UnderTheWeather.asp

Better late than never =
Better late than never. Prov. Cliché Doing something late is better than not doing it. I'm sorry I'm late to the party. Better late than never, right?
idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Better+late+than+never

Take it one step at a time =
step by step also one step at a time;  gradually or slowly ...I encouraged him to take it a step at a time. idioms.thefreedictionary.com
Put one foot in front of the other =
Lit. to walk deliberately. I was so tired that I could hardly even put one foot in front of the other. ...idioms.thefreedictionary.com





The Simple Past--Yes/No Questions-- ESL Grammar Lesson  Video

http://youtu.be/kH__Vnj3nbU


Past Simple Regular Verb Endings
Linguaspectrum

Monday, August 29, 2011

Idiom--I've Had the Time of My Life--Song with lyrics




The Importance of Handwashing --Audio Article and Quiz

The Importance of Handwashing

Click on the following link, then take the quiz to test your comprehension:


Quiz:

According to this article:

  1. What is the most effective way to stop spreading disease?

  1. How many lives could be saved each year if people washed their hands with soap often?  ___________

  1. What does the word “spreading” mean?

  1. Hand washing destroys __________ from other people.

  1. When people get bacteria on their hands they can infect themselves by touching their _______________, _______________, and __________________.

  1. The easiest way to catch a cold is to touch your nose or eyes after someone nearby has ______________________ or _____________________.

  1. Should people use a special antibacterial soap? _______________

  1. How long should people rub all areas of their hand? ____________________




Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

English Mania

English Mania

http://blog.ted.com/2009/05/26/the_worlds_engl/

Idiom: To let somone down:
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/let+down

let someone or something down
Fig. to fail someone or something; to disappoint someone or a group. Please don't let me down. I am depending on you. I let down the entire cast of the play.
See also: let
let someone down
to disappoint someone; to fail someone. I'm sorry I let you down. Something came up, and I couldn't meet you. I don't want to let you down, but I can't support you in the election.


Mark Twain

Mark Twain at Stormfield, 1909 (Edison film) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leYj--P4CgQ


"Silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Stormfield (CT) at Mark Twain's estate. Twain is shown walkng around his home and playing cards with his daughters Clara and Jean. The flickering is due to film deterioration, but this is the only known footage of the great author."


Samuel Clemens (Life on the Mississippi Resource Guide) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUwPeldE904&feature=related

Samuel Clemens (Life on the Mississippi Resource Guide) 




Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer and the whitewashed fence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLXuGv9_80A&feature=related

The Prince and the Pauper 1978 (part1/12)


The Prince and the Pauper 1978 (part1/12)

"The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, the novel tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Edward VI of England, son of Henry VIII of England."
The Prince and the Pauper 1978 (part1/12) 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

16-pound Baby Born in Texas

A 16-pound baby born in Longview, Texas holds the new hospital record. JaMichael Brown is more than twice the weight of the average baby--which is about seven pounds.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7373045n#ixzz1TIsxrGjs

Watch the video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7373045n

What does it mean that the baby "holds the hospital record"?

What does "more than twice the weight" mean?

In what state was the baby born?

In what part of the United States is this state?

How long is he?

What was the first thing the mother asked when her baby was born?

How is he being fed?

She can't wait to give her big baby _____________________________________________________.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Adjectives--Feelings; Rolling in the Deep--Youtube Video

Watch this music video and then do the exercises below:


List five adjectives that describe the emotions you think this woman is feeling:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Give two adjectives that express the way you feel after watching this video:
1)
2)

What do you think the throwing the dishes against the wall symbolizes? ___________________________________________________________________________________


Now watch this video and read the lyrics from the song:


--What do you think she means when she says, "We could have had it all"? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

--What is a "scar"? __________________________________________________________________
--What do you think it means when she says "the scars of your love"? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now that you have read the lyrics, write a few sentences explaining what you think the story is about this woman. Try to use some of the adjectives you wrote in the exercise above.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Phone Message Vocabulary Lesson

Watch this video on Youtube and then do the exercise.





Choose your answers from the following choices:
--later than I planned; behind schedule
--can't move
--excited
--to be very happy and excited

According to the video, what does stuck mean? ____________________________________________________________

Fill in the blanks:
--There was a traffic jam, so we were ____________ in traffic for an hour.
--He had so much homework to do that he was ______________ inside until he finished it.

According to the video, what does running late mean? ____________________________________

--Because of the traffic jam, I'm ______________________ today.
--The meeting was _________________________ because they had so much business to talk about.


According to the video, what does psyched mean? ________________________________________

--Our family was _______________ about going on vacation.
--Many people went to the movie theater at midnight because they were so ______________________ about the final Harry Potter movie.


According to the video, what does can't wait mean? ______________________________________

--The children _______________ to go to the beach on Saturday.
--As soon as she gets up in the morning, she ________________ to have a cup of coffee.


Now listen to this phone message for practice in natural English, then answer the questions below.

http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/158/filecollections/833/9F2BDBF9-BF7C-B912-41EF-9A93776CB501.htm

1) Why is she running late? ___________________________________________________________________________________

2) She will be at the restaurant in half an hour if she doesn't _______________________________________________________________________________.

3) Why is she psyched? ____________________________________________________________


Now write one sentence of your own for each of the new vocabulary words:

1)

2)

3)

4)

You call a friend to tell him or her that you will be late for your lunch appointment because you had a flat tire on your car. You get the answering machine, so you have to leave a message. Write what you say to your friend to explain your situation. Use some of the vocabulary words or phrases you just studied.

Thank you, growenglish.com!