Today we will prepare for the writing part of the National Test.
There is a subject or several subjects and you get to choose
one of two kinds of essay.
1. Factual- Presenting a picture or facts about something
2. Subjective- Where you give your opinions about something. For/against or both!
You need to decide which subject to choose and then start to write down your ideas.
An essay should consist of :
1. An introduction
2-4 paragraphs where you present your ideas
5 A conclusion
So the minimum should be 5 paragraphs where every paragraph
expresses a clear idea.
Write your essay and then check your language (see document from
last lesson)
We will see this in action today by going into the link from two lessons ago.
Click on writing and then see the subject and the possibilities.
See how the essays were graded....
Now it's your turn!!!
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Clean Sweep Ignatius and NP "Writing"
Today we are continuing with our study of the short stories "Twist in the Tale" by Jeffrey Archer. If the story of "The Perfect Murder" was the longest short story in the collection the one we are going to study today is very short. We are going to listen to "Clean Sweep Ignatius" here in class.
Jeffrey Archer may not be a literary genius but he is a very good storyteller. In all these short stories (noveller) there is a nearly always an obvious "twist" - something unexpected which we are not ready for. In the Perfect Murder it was the fact that the man who killed Carla becomes the foreman of the jury and tells another man that he is "guilty" although he is innocent.
With one or two exceptions many of Archer's main characters don't have too many scruples and some are amoral/immoral.
Archer is a very good storyteller and uses lots of devices to create good stories.
As usual there is an area of specialized vocabulary.. Banking and Corruption. I want you to fill in these words please and mail them to me. Don't forget to write your name on the document and in the file name!
The second thing is to do the worksheet. You can work on your own or in pairs.. Don't forget the HOMEWORK!!!!!!!
The worksheet is to be done during the lesson. (These worksheets are compulsory and form a part of your final grade)
Finally I want you to complete this list of idioms form the story of "Clean Sweep Ignatius" with five more!
Clear out Nigeria’s Augean Stables
Clean Sweep Ignatius
The new broom
Mr. Clean
Breath of scandal
With regard to the preparation for the Writing part of the National Test here is a general document to get you started.
Good luck!
Jeffrey Archer may not be a literary genius but he is a very good storyteller. In all these short stories (noveller) there is a nearly always an obvious "twist" - something unexpected which we are not ready for. In the Perfect Murder it was the fact that the man who killed Carla becomes the foreman of the jury and tells another man that he is "guilty" although he is innocent.
With one or two exceptions many of Archer's main characters don't have too many scruples and some are amoral/immoral.
Archer is a very good storyteller and uses lots of devices to create good stories.
- Puns- plays on words...... Tale/Tale is a good example
- Idioms- idiomatic expressions which say something else than the words mean literally, for example "Raining cats and dogs"
- Locations- In The Perfect Murder" Archer puts us in London where all of the locations are well-known. This creates a sense of reality and familiarity for the reader. However, suddenly places and people appear who are fictitious (påhittade).
As usual there is an area of specialized vocabulary.. Banking and Corruption. I want you to fill in these words please and mail them to me. Don't forget to write your name on the document and in the file name!
The second thing is to do the worksheet. You can work on your own or in pairs.. Don't forget the HOMEWORK!!!!!!!
The worksheet is to be done during the lesson. (These worksheets are compulsory and form a part of your final grade)
Finally I want you to complete this list of idioms form the story of "Clean Sweep Ignatius" with five more!
Clear out Nigeria’s Augean Stables
Clean Sweep Ignatius
The new broom
Mr. Clean
Breath of scandal
With regard to the preparation for the Writing part of the National Test here is a general document to get you started.
Good luck!
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Practising Reading and listening!
The National test we did before Christmas is now just a memory but today we are going to work on this.
If you press this link you will come to a site where you can practise all aspects of the national test.
If you don't have your computer with you then you can work in the "Improve your Reading" books.
To practise listening I recommend Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
When you are in the site from Gothenburg University check out the information about the writing. We will be coming back here in a week's time and in two weeks' time you will be doing a similar exercise.
Don't forget to read The perfect Murder by Thursday and also do the questions (see last blog post) and the words to do with the Judiciary (also on the blog from last time).
If you press this link you will come to a site where you can practise all aspects of the national test.
If you don't have your computer with you then you can work in the "Improve your Reading" books.
To practise listening I recommend Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
When you are in the site from Gothenburg University check out the information about the writing. We will be coming back here in a week's time and in two weeks' time you will be doing a similar exercise.
Don't forget to read The perfect Murder by Thursday and also do the questions (see last blog post) and the words to do with the Judiciary (also on the blog from last time).
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Welcome to a New Term!
Today we start off by going through the term planner together. It's on the right hand side of the blog for easy access.
After that we are going to do an introduction to Jeffrey Archer.
The BBC has compiled a lot of information about him. Here is the link.
The question is who is Jeffrey Archer?
Archer can be compared with the characters in his own stories. We will watch the three short clips to give you an idea about what I mean (sorry about the quality of the pictures!)
To make life easier here is a short document telling a bit about the life of Jeffrey Archer.
Our first story in the book of short stories called "A Twist in the Tale" is The Perfect Murder.
Your homework for next Thursday is to do the following two worksheets:-
1. Some general questions about the story
2. As I explained before Christmas each story has a theme and an area of vocabulary.
In the case of The Perfect Murder many words are to do with the judiciary (rättsväsandet).
I want you to complete the worksheet I gave you last time.
The interesting thing about the story is the fact that it is quite autobiographical.
There are many parallels between the narrator in the story and Jeffrey Archer.
Try to find three parallels.
Well that should be enough for today. Next time we will be working with the Reading and listening parts of the National Test. I will give you some tips and material to use for practising these important areas.
After that we are going to do an introduction to Jeffrey Archer.
The BBC has compiled a lot of information about him. Here is the link.
The question is who is Jeffrey Archer?
To make life easier here is a short document telling a bit about the life of Jeffrey Archer.
Our first story in the book of short stories called "A Twist in the Tale" is The Perfect Murder.
Your homework for next Thursday is to do the following two worksheets:-
1. Some general questions about the story
2. As I explained before Christmas each story has a theme and an area of vocabulary.
In the case of The Perfect Murder many words are to do with the judiciary (rättsväsandet).
I want you to complete the worksheet I gave you last time.
The interesting thing about the story is the fact that it is quite autobiographical.
There are many parallels between the narrator in the story and Jeffrey Archer.
Try to find three parallels.
Well that should be enough for today. Next time we will be working with the Reading and listening parts of the National Test. I will give you some tips and material to use for practising these important areas.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)