Week III-- Writing Exam I, Translating, The Harbinger Quiz 1

Well sports fans, here we are already in Week 3! This week will be short but tough. I have corrected your first essays at least once (for some of you up to three times!) but you are all getting there! 

Tuesday, we'll do our last listening activity from Schoolhouse Rock, then we'll read a chapter of "The Harbinger", and finally you'll work in groups translating recipes from Spanish to English. There will be homework, but it should not take too long.

Wednesday, we'll have our first listening activity from the Copy Packet, then read a chapter of "the Harbinger"(you'll have a quiz via email due Monday September 2nd), then we'll talk quickly about outlines for the Exam on Thursday and finally we'll play Scattergories...

Thursday, you may present in whichever hour works best for you. 3pm, 4:15pm, 5:45pm or 7pm.  Do not be late! I lock the door and do not open it until people begin to finish.

This week on the blog I want you to share travel experiences or wishes OUTSIDE of Mexico. Tell us where you've been, what you liked best and least, whether you would go back... If you haven't left yet, tell us where you would like to go and why, what you'll do when you are there. 

Week 2- World Trade Center, The Harbinger and Poetry

During week 2 we will finish WTC-the movie, begin reading The Harbinger and take a brief look at writing poetry. If you were in my 700 groups then you have already written some poetry in English, you need to review the poetry in the copy packet, we will listen to some poems as read by the poets on Wednesday you will write a couple of poems and on Thursday you will share one of them with your class.

For your posting here: Please write a short reflection, answering the following questions: 

1.) Have you ever done anything heroic? 

2.) Have you ever felt driven to help others after a natural disaster? e.g. hurricane, tornado, earthquake, tidal wave

3.) In the movie, when officer Jimeno learned that it would be hours before they could dig out his sergeant, because they had to dig his leg out from under the rubble-Jimeno told the rescuers to cut off his leg. Could you do such a selfless act to save the life of a coworker?

4.) Many people around the world dislike the politics of the United States; this semester you'll have the opportunity to learn a lot about American history and maybe gain a better understanding of how we think. Do believe that terrorism is a world problem or that it only affects the places which are attacked?

Please do not forget to be correcting each other's errors.

Welcome to English 800, Fall 2013

This is the forum where all of the 800 students from my two groups will participate in discussions. The things to be discussed will be posted each week on Monday evening and all students will have one week or until Sunday night at midnight to post without losing grade points. Participation here is for 10% of your final grade and late comments will not be counted.

The purpose here is to help each of you learn through self and peer correction. Do not use language that is inappropriate and please avoid the use of slang. This class is to improve your level of academic language and prepare you for your professional use of English. I will be reading your posts, but I want you to correct the errors of your peers and in the process you will be improving your level of English.

Things for discussion: what you are learning or struggling with in class, the book we are reading, the activities we do,  the LOST series we are watching, movies we see; basicly anything that goes on in class!

Please begin by introducing yourselves, what you are studying and what you plan to do with your English skills.