Changes in India

Education

We've seen from our discussions that education systems in different countries are both similar and different. All of our school systems teach the basics such as math and the country's national language, but some of us studied a variety of subjects and others studied a specific set of subjects. Also, we found that the rules about uniforms, tuition, and books can be different country to country.

Now that you finished the first part of your handout and you learned about the graduation rates in different U.S. states and different countries, I'd like you to research information about some Chicago schools. This will help you see how Chicago schools compare to the school systems you learned about on your handout. Even if you don't have children in school, this is good English practice.

Groups:

Rosalia, Jeoung, and Margarita: Northside Collge Prep

Mary and Christine: Amundsen

With your partner, you will research the school next to your names.

Click on this link http://www.cps.k12.il.us/Schools/hsdirectory/HS_Directory.pdf and it will take you to the Chicago Public School's website. On the left there will be a list and a scroll button. Scroll down until you see "North/Near North School Profiles". The schools are listed alphabetically starting with Amundsen. Scroll down until you find the name of the school you were assigned. Use the profile to answer the rest of the questions on your handout.

Once you are finished, you are going to compare your information with another group. Tell Joanna that you are finished and she will pair you with another group. You will create a poster that compares the information you found for the two schools. Then you will present your information.

Families

We've been talking about family reunions this week and using present perfect to talk about changes that have happened recently. I have a small immediate family and a large extended family. Growing up, my immediate family included just my mother, my father, my brother and me, but I had 9 cousins, 8 aunts and uncles, and 4 grandparents in my extended family. All of us lived in Michigan.

However, things have changed since I was a child. My brother has gotten married and he has had 3 daughters. He has been married for 8 years and his daughters are 7, 6, and 2 years old. Two of my nieces have started violin lessons recently. My youngest niece has learned how to walk and she has started to speak in full sentences. Also, all of my cousins have gotten married and have had children. Now I have over 40 people in my extended family. In addition, 3 of my grandparents have passed away. I have only one grandmother and she is 99 years old. Finally, some of my family members live in Michigan and some of us have moved to different states. We moved because of better job opportunites.

Now I'd like you to describe your family. Also, describe the changes that have happened in the last 10 years. Post your answers and then read your classmates' answers.

1. Describe your family when you were a child.

2. Describe your family now. How has it changed?

3. If you have children, what changes have happened with them recently? (Have they learned to walk, speak English, say their abc's...?)

When you are finished you can go to this reading link
http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=activity1&topicID=3&storyID=154 and read about health insurance for families, or you can go to these grammar links and practice "since/for" http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/and "present perfect"http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/medium.html. If you like singing and learning songs, go to this youtube link http://youtube.com/watch?v=ea2Eh6GWc_U and learn the song "We Are Family".

Have fun!

Safety Programs

Today, you are going to work with a partner. Find your names below and click on the link. Then complete the handout. When you are finished, come back the blog and write your answers to the questions.




Jeoung and Christine http://www.chicityclerk.com/kidsidprogram.php

Marta and Dilcia http://199.253.140.81/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?blockName=Promo+Item&channelId=-536879036&programId=536880019&topChannelName=Government&contentOID=11363&Failed_Reason=Session+not+found&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=%2fwebportal%2fportalContentItemAction.do

Yan and Margarita http://usa.safekids.org/tier2_rl.cfm?folder_id=3124

Song and Mija http://www.chicagoredcross.org/general.asp?SN=483&OP=502&SUOP=514&IDCapitulo=VF223FBDFD

Conception and Mary http://www.chicagoredcross.org/general_calltoaction.asp?CTA=2&SN=246&OP=919&IDCapitulo=VF223FBDFD

1. What is the name of the organization?

2. What is the name of the program?

3. Who do you think it is for (children, adults, teenagers, families…)?

4. Describe the program. What do they do?

5. Does it have any activities? If yes, when and where?


Now read the posts your classmates wrote about the programs they found. If you have time, click on the other links so that you can read about these programs. If you run out of time, ask Joanna to help you print a copy of the websites addresses so that you can go to them in your free time.

Health

We are almost finished talking about health. I hope everyone has learned a lot about staying healthy and talking about health issues in English.

After you finish your handout for the Family Doctor website, I'd like you to click on the health link on the right so that you can do some listening practice. First, choose which topic you want to do first: nutrition, diabetes, or high-blood pressure. Then click on the word "English". Listen to the information and then do the quizzes. After you finish one of the listening exercises, you can read the information by finding the same topic at the bottom of the page and clicking on "English". Don't do the quizzes for the readings because they are the same as the ones you did for the listening exercises.

Have fun!

Comparing Cities

Please share the information you found about the cities you and your partner researched. First, tell us which cities you compared. Then describe these things:

- Which city has a larger population?

- In which city do people earn more money?

- Which city has a higher sales tax?

- Which city is colder in the winter?

- Which city is warmer in the summer?

- Which city is more dangerous?

- In which city are homes more expensive?

- Which city do you think is a better place to live? Do both of you prefer the same city or do you like different cities? Why?

We're back!

Welcome back to computer class. I hope you had a great Memorial Day and I hope you had fun at the Community Fair.

Now that we are back, you are going to finish learning about email. Joanna is going to teach the class how to send messages so that we can use it for some projects. If you already know how to use email, just be patient and do the activities with everyone else. Or you can help your friends if they get confused.

While you wait for Joanna to finish setting up email accounts for the students who were absent during the last class, please go to the first link on the right titled "You Tube". You can search for videos about natural disasters. In the search box, type words like tornado, hurricane, drought, or any other word we studied last week. After you watch a couple of videos, come back to the blog, answer the following questions, and read your friends' comments.

1. What natural disaster did you watch?

2. Where did it happen?

3. Who was in the video?

4. What happened during the video?

5. Have you ever experienced something similar? What happened?