Thursday, May 28, 2015

150 Years since Abraham Lincoln Assassination

The assassination of Abraham shocked the United States.  The most bloody and vicious war had just ended, the United States was just getting back to the work of reconstruction and then the victorous leader was dead from a bullet.  We had an old photograph of Abrham Lincoln hanging in our den.  I used to look at it and get inspiration to keep up and do what is right.  He was not only a symbol for the abolution of slavery but also to do the right thing.


Read this article and discuss it with your English teacher
 http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/americans-remember-lincoln-assassination-150-years/2717607.html


Questions
What is the legacy of Abraham Lincoln?
Why is Lincoln thought of as America's President?
What was Lincoln's greatest accomplishment?


How does your head of state compare with Lincoln?


Tuesday, May 26, 2015

How did Water get to the Earth - E

When I was a child, instead of having pictures of rock stars on my wall, I had a chart of the solar system, with all the facts about the solar system, how far the planet was away from the sun, how big each planet was, The poster was yellow and black and it is too bad that I never took a picture of it.
There was one thing that I was always curious about.  Why does the Earth have so much water when all the other planets are dry? Where did all this water come from?


Well, now there are a few theories.  Read this blog post and discuss them with your English teacher
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-water-come-to-earth-72037248/?no-ist


Key Terms
morning dew
roaring falls
evaporation
condensation
typoons
the sound of one hand clapping
solar system denizens
transmuted
primordial constituents
jostled
atomic nuclei
propitious start
spew 
epochs
conundrum
each has been fingered
 high ambient temperatures


Questions
Which theory of how water got to Earth do you think is the best? 
How many comets do you think have actually hit the Earth? 
Did they have enough water in them to supply the oceans? 
How did the Earth's gravity capture the water? 
How could have the astroids dropped water to Earth? 


Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher 

Monday, May 25, 2015

Facebook Scam English conversation lesson

If  you are heavily into Facebook and really care about your data there then you have to be very careful about the scam that is going around there now. The page is not even in good English and is confusing to read. Never imput your credit card information to unknown sites. 

 Beware if you get this http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/facebook-recovery-scam/620697 


Key Terms 
scam
payment page
abuse of account
credentials
ignore
warning
monetary compensation

Questions
Have you ever been the victim of a scam? 
What did you do? Did you have to pay money?
What do you think about Facebook in general?
What can be done to stop these types of scams? 



Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher 




Thursday, May 21, 2015

Like taking photographs? Not on a plane! English conversation lesson

I enjoy taking pictures but after reading this blog post I am not going to take pictures on a plane ever again!  See what happens when there is no hard and fast rule?



Read this page and discuss it with your English teacher
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-take-picture-plane-until-you-read-story-christopher-elliott

Key Terms
snapshot
law-abiding citizens
unleashes 
shutterbugs
 hung up on it.
combative
my travel record
frequent flier
prohibitions
soft-spoken
medically cleared
professional judgment
larger debate
 misconduct
legitimate
travel schedule
losing proposition

Questions
According to the article, what is the problem with taking picture of airplanes? 
Why are the airlines upset about taking pictures? 
What kind of pictures are ok to take? 
Why do the airlines allow their employees to stop people from taking photos? 
What kind of photograph would you be permitted to take on an airline? 
Would you change your photographing habits after reading this article? 
If you were an airline, what types of photographs would you permit? 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

How to study for BULATS Reading test in English

The Bulats reading test is very useful if you need an evaluation of your reading ability quickly. this is he offical website:  http://www.bulats.org/  This test evaluates your abilty in Business English.  One of the main differences is that you can take this test on the Internet, without leaving your home or office!

The different parts of the test test different skills. The reading test as two parts:

 Part 1 of the test gives you a text of 250 words, and comprehension questions at the bottom of the page.  Make sure that you understand the text so the questions will be easy. In order to do well on this part of the test, practice by reading short essays, and news reports.  http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/ , make sure that you pick Grade 6 articles and about half way down the page are reading comprehension questions for Student A and B answer both sets of questions.

Part 2 is a cloze exercise.  It tests your ability to recognize idioms and common phrases in English.
You will be given sentences with blanks in them.  One section you get to pick from four alternatives, but the other part you have to type in the correct answer.  http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html This is a good site to practice your idioms.  Do 5 each day so that you will learn them well.

The whole test lasts an hour and you get your score right away.
If you need help to prepare for this test, contact me and we can set up a time to study together. 

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Body size in animals is a function of how it finds its food - Science English lesson

The question of how animals find their food is very important for our understanding of the future of food on our planet.  In the past, scientists looked at food gathering by animals from a eco-system viewpoint.  But now a group of UCLA (my alma mater) researchers have found a new dimension in food gathering.



Read this article and discuss it with your English teacher.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-life-scientists-view-biodiversity-234522

Key terms
 krill, shrimp-like creatures
feeding rate — the overall amount of food they consume per unit of time
 three-dimensional space
two-dimensional space
savannah
sea bed
spatial dimension
extra resources
consumer size
denizens
ostensibly inferior existence
biodiversity 
crucial differences
boom-and-bust cycles


Questions
What do you already know about this subject?
What do the previous theories have to say about feeding rates and body size? 
How did the Blue Whale evolve to be so big? 
What was interesting about the way that this study was conducted? 
What do you think about the interaction between body size and feeding rate? 
How many dimensions would you want to search in for food if you were an animal?
How can the mathematical model of "Flatland" help us to understand the 3D world we live in? 
How does three dimensions help us to understand the "boom and bust" availability of food, and how can we relate it to our modern world? 


Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English Teacher

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Will/Won't Future tense English Grammar

Will and won't are one way that is used to signify the future tense in English

Example: Will is for positive events about the future

I will go to Paris next month.

Won't is used to negate an event in the future.

I won't eat meat, I'm a vegetarian!



Exercise:
Will/won’t  fill in with the correct word

  1. My friend ________________________ send me an e-mail, he doesn’t have a computer!

  1. They _____________________ ride bicycles tomorrow, it’s going to rain!

  1. I love to play tennis, tomorrow I ___________________ play with Tom.

  1. Dan and David are going to play soccer, but I broke my arm so I ____________________ play.

  1. I ________________________ kick the ball to win the game!

  1. Yossi is sick, he _____________________ go skiing tomorrow.

  1. How can you ride a bike with a broken arm? Don’t worry I ___________________.

  1. They _____________________ go to the movies today, there is too much homework!

  1. She ______________________________ go to the doctor because she is sick!

  1. He ___________________play computer games tonight, he has to study!

11. Marcie __________________ study at the library tomorrow.

12. Jan __________________ get a new phone, his just fell into the sink.

  13. I ________________ write a new blog post next week.

14. _______________ you come with me to the party?

15. Clean up your mess! Ok, I _________________!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Vocabulary Review of things you can do in your spare time!

Review of Vocabulary words having to do with what you do in your free time.

Name__________________________ Date______________________
Part 1: Translate from English to Hebrew.  
Board games_________________         Riding a bicycle_________________


Chess club__________________           For sale____________________


Free time__________________             Fantastic game_______________


Reading a book_______________          Indoors __________________


Outdoors ______________      Gym_________________


Playing soccer________________           Listening to music________________


Join the club_________________      White snow________________


Great music_______________

Part 2: Fill in the missing words from part 1.   
1. Let's listen to Israeli _____________


2. __________ the chess club. It will be fun!!


3. Because it rains outside we'll play _______________


4. Chess is a fantastic ______________ game.


5. ____________ a bicycle can be a bit dangerous.


6. I listen to music in my ____________   _______________


7. What _____________ games do you know? Can you play Shesh Besh?
8. I am very busy. I don't have ______________  ____________


9. A _____________ game usually takes 90 minutes.


10. There are many things __________    __________ at the mall.

Write your own sentences using theses words 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




Sunday, May 10, 2015

May 10 is clean up your room day! Write your own essay!



Name_________________  Date____________________

Clean up your room day!


May 10 is clean up your room day! Think about your room. How is it organized? Where are your clothes? Where do you keep your shoes? Your school supplies?

You can use these vocabulary words:
clean, tidy, organize, shoes, dresser, closet, books, CD's, phone, charger, desk, sweep, mop, floor, shelves, table, chair, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush,

Write a paragraph about your room.   Write 100 words

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you want me to correct your essay, put it in the comment section below and I'll correct it for you!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Lag B'Omer cloze exercise English Vocabulary

בס"ד
Lag B'Omer is coming up soon, so here is a worksheet that you can give to your students on that day!


Name________________________________
Lag B'Omer


According to the Talmud, (Tractate Yevamot 62b)

Use these words to fill in the blanks
Hair, weddings,  music, reason, improve,  died,  count,  time, respect,  24,000

, ______________students of Rabbi Akiva died in one
short period, because "they did not show proper
__________to one another!" And all of them
__________ between Pesach and Shavuot as a result
of a plague during the days of the Omer counting. For
that ____________, we  observe a customs  during
this time, 16 Nissan - 5 Sivan,   during the whole
month of Iyar, (with one exception),
when_______________ are not held,___________ is
not cut, and __________ is not heard. Some do not
shave during this entire period.
Some  __________ the mourning period from Pesach
to Lag B'Omer. Others go from Rosh Chodesh Iyar to
Shavuot. This period is a ____________ to reflect
upon our middot and _____________ our relations
with others.

 

Sunday, May 3, 2015

General News Lesson English Conversation

Purpose of the media  Lesson for general purpose and can be used with any news stories that are popular right now.



What is the purpose of the meida? 

What do you think the main purpose of television news is? To inform, entertain or influence?

 Do you think people generally take the news at face value?

What are some of the differences between television news and the news in the newspapers?

What makes a good news story, in your opinion. For example, celebrities and their cars, a

general election, the discovery of a cure for a bad disease etc

Have you ever been at the location of a big news story? Were the television reports true? If

not, what does this make you think about the reliability of television news?

How much news do you get from Facebook?

Is the news on Facebook more reliable than the TV? or newspapers?

What about other social networking sites, do you trust these sites to get the news?



Three News Stories


Think of three news stories from your lifetime. One from the current month, one

from the year and one from any period.

 Answer the following questions about each news story:

 What news story have you chosen?

When did it happen?

What happened?

 Where were you when you heard the news?

 How did you find out?

How did you feel about the event when you heard about it?




Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach-Professional English Teacher 

Baby Shark Game like Hangman. . .

This is an example of how I played the game today with a student:  You can print this or play it using Zoom! I think of a word from the less...