Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon Chapter 4 Student Assignment Sheet

Magic Tree House

Afternoon on the Amazon

Chapter 4


Student Assignment Sheet


While Reading Make a chart of the events that happen in this chapter


Background Reading

Army Ants

http://thinkjungle.com/amazon-rainforest-life/amazon-rainforest-carnivores/
Camouflage

Vocabulary
camouflage –Noun coloring of an animal that makes it difficult to see
The arctic hare uses camouflage to hide from the arctic fox.

gloom – noun partial or total darkness
It was a very foggy morning next to the sea, I couldn’t see anything in the gloom.

Pronunciation
slanted say l clearly

gloom say l clearly
Questions
What did Annie and Jack do when they got to the forest floor?

What sound did they hear?
What did all the animals do? 
Where did Jack and Annie run to?

What was missing from the canoe?

Homework

Pretend you are Jack and write a letter to his cousin about the adventures that he and Annie have been having so far. Include any details that you think will bring the story alive!

Example:

Dear Cousin Ida,

I want to tell you about the adventures that I have had in Alice and Wonderland!I first met Alice when she was running after the White Rabbit. He was so funny with his little vest and pocket watch! Then Alice did a silly thing, she saw a bottle on a table and she drank it! It made her very small. Then she went into a garden and got turned into a mushroom! Then, and you will laugh, she went back to a little girl and had a tea party with a Dormouse, and a Mad Hatter! She then played croquet with the Queen of Hearts! But then it was time to go and she woke up. Did you believe the story? It was fun, don’t you think?

Best wishes,

Dorothy



The Word Catch  - English 4 U! 





Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon Chapter 3 Student Assignment Sheet

Magic Tree House

Afternoon on the Amazon

Chapter 3

Student Assignment Sheet



While Reading Make a chart of the events that happen in this chapter.

Background Reading


150 feet is 45.75 meters

Parts of the Rainforest

Explanation of the parts of a Rainforest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/tropical_rainforests_rev3.shtml

Adaptations in the Rainforest

Rainforest ecosystem

Rainfall in the Rainforest


Vocabulary
forest canopy –Noun top layer of the forest
Bats often live in the forest canopy, flying in the twilight.

Understory – Noun second layer of the rain forest
Snakes often live in the understory. Coming down only to drink.


Pronunciation
completely com ple tly

damp – say the p

Questions
Where did the Tree House land?

Why did Jack grab Annie’s leg?

What information did he find out from the book?

What time of day was it?

How do they get down?

What do they find when they get down?

How does Jack feel when he gets to the bottom?

Homework: Annie is very impulsive. Tell about at time that you or a character in a story does something without thinking about the consequences.

Example: Anger

Anger can be a beneficial emotion or it can destroy. If you are angry about social issues then you can use your anger to help society. Seeing many poor people on the street makes me angry that the social services in the big cities all over the world don’t do enough to help them.

I would use my anger to write to the newspaper or write a blog post to help change public opinion and hopefully, maybe in the long run help change this situation.





The word "line" learn it's meaning and pronunciation! 




Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon Chapter 2



Magic Tree House


Afternoon on the Amazon

Chapter 2

While Reading Make a chart of the events that happen in this chapter

Background reading

Bugs of the Amazon
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1604/160425-coral-reef.html


Vocabulary

creepy – Adjective Causing people to be afraid

I heard a creepy noise last night. I made sure that the door was locked!

I don’t get it,” - idiom that means you don’t understand

You are not afraid of the dark, so I don’t get it, you say you are afraid of a small spider?


Pronunciation

plus – say l clearly

Questions

Which book is opened now? 

What doesn’t Annie like about it? 

How does Jack persuade Annie to go there?  

What time of day was it?  

What sound do they hear when the Tree House lands?  

Will a mouse really stay still in a pocket?


Homework:

Research an animal of the Amazon. 
Tell about what part of the rainforest it lives, what it eats, and how it defends itself.
Use this website to help you:






Example:
I saw a Hyrex the last time we went on a hike in Ein Gedi National Park in Israel. They are very cute, and one even smelled my hand, but I didn’t pet it. (Although I really wanted to!)
They eat green vegetation, and live in the mountains in Israel. They have big front teeth so it can bite you if you get too close!

Here is a picture of one:



Watch this video for Pronunciation practice: 



Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Afternoon on the Amazon Chapter 1 Magic Tree House


Magic Tree House


Afternoon on the Amazon

Chapter 1

Student Assignment Sheet


Before reading:

What do you know about the Amazon? Where is it? What is the most important feature of the Amazon? What is the weather there? What kinds of animals live there?


While Reading Make a chart of the events that happen in this chapter.



Background Reading

The Amazon
Tapir
What is a Rainforest?
Amazon River Animals
Map of Amazon Rainforest

Vocabulary

lump – a small piece or mass of something
There was a lump on the floor that turned out to be a rock.

Pronunciation
shining – shi nin

shimmered – shim erd

lump say l clearly

Questions
Where did Jack and Annie go before?
What was exciting about your favorite book?
Would you want to go there yourself?
What would you like to do there?

What are Jack and Annie doing now in Chapter 1?

What are they excited about?

What did they find in the Tree House?



Homework:

Visiting an exotic place. If you could visit any place in the world, expenses paid, where would you go? Tell about your dream vacation place. Where is it? What can you do there? How long would you stay?

Example:

Visiting an exotic place

If I could visit anyplace, expenses paid, I would like to go to an old English castle. I would like to see the Great Hall and how people lived 500 years ago. I would imagine what it was like to live in the Medieval times and pretend to be a knight fighting from the castle ramparts.






Thursday, January 5, 2017

Why Can't I speak English , I have been learning for a YEAR????

According to language learning theory, (from a few theorists)  Language acquisition  takes place in a few stages.  

Let's think of these as a child begins to learn language.  
First there is a passive stage,  that even begins before birth.  This is why some parents like to play Mozart to their unborn babies.  It works as well if you read aloud, or learn a new musical instrument. 
(I learned the saxophone when I was pregnant with one of my kids)  
So, at this stage children are passive on the outside, but inside they are picking up new words and phrases.  When you are a beginning language learner you are also picking up new words if you work on your target language every day. 


This stage lasts until you have a working vocabulary that you can think in sentences in your target language.  

Then, if we go back to the metaphor of a child, at about 1.5 to 2 years, a child begins to speak.  It may be one word at a time, it could be a few.  But they do have the vocabulary, and they are just trying it out.  

The language learner also gets to a point where it seems to fall into place. This is the time when it is very important to use the target language, either reading, listening or speaking every day.  Then you will feel more comfortable in speaking.  

When I was learning Hebrew, I only could read Hebrew with vowels.  But reading the newspaper was too hard because most Israeli newspaper don't have vowels.  There was a day.  Yes, one day that I looked at an Israeli newspaper without vowels and I could read it!  It was one day I couldn't read without vowels and then the next day I didn't need them anymore!!!!  

This process can happen as well with speaking.  One day you can't speak, and the next day, BAM, sentences come out of your mouth with ease!  

Why can't a person speak in the target language after a year of language learning?  Well each person learns at their own pace. 
I have been learning French seriously since July 2016.  I am almost at the end of the Beginner level.  but I can't speak yet.  Am I frustrated?  No, Yes, Ok a bit.  But when I pick up the beginner book, I can understand what I read!  This is a big step since last July. 

So the answer is not to get down on yourself for not speaking yet.  Patience and give yourself a pat on the back for making progress. 

Reward yourself every week, that you can do your target language every day.  

Speak with a native speaker of that language every day.  
Take Language lessons with a Native speaker Fully Qualified Credentialed Teacher. 

Good luck on your language learning! 

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Sunset of the Sabertooth, Magic Tree House, Chapter 5

 Magic Tree House
Sunset of the Sabertooth
Chapter 5 
Student Assignment Sheet

Background reading

http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/documents/1137_01.pdf

Key Terms: 
Art Gallery - a place where important pictures are displayed
Cave Paintings - ancient paintings on the walls of prehistoric caves. 
 sorcerer - a person with magic powers 
 tunnel  - an artificial underground passage 

Questions
Why does Annie think that this place is an Art Gallery? 
What is Jack's answer? 
What information do they find in the book? 
Why did the Master of Animals have on a costume? 
What powers did it give him? 
Why did Jack and Annie have to find the Master of Animals? 
What happened to Peanut? 
Where did she go? 



As you are reading this chapter, listen to this FLUTE  music: written and performed by Rachael Alice Orbach 


Homework:  Write  a play using the dialogue in this chapter.  or Write a play about the boys and their dog and how they found the Lascaux cave.







Sunday, January 1, 2017

English thoughts for a Happy New Year! The Letter C!

English has 24 letters in the Alphabet, everyone knows that.  But what they don't know is that not all of the letters have their own sound.  Some sounds share letters.


C                                                                    C


C                                                                     C



The letter C for example sometimes has the S sound, and sometimes has a K sound.
This site has interesting information about it.

https://www.ultrasaurus.com/2003/08/the-history-of-the-letter-c/

If we look at Hebrew, the third letter of of the Aleph Bet is Gimmel,  which stands for Camel.
This word was taken by the Romans and pronounced G also.   To make a long story short, the Normans came along and took the letter c and pronounced it S before certain vowels and K otherwise.

So we have two ways of pronouncing C because it comes from French.  So if you learn French you will know how to say the letter C.

But for the rest of us, we just have to learn it.

Here is a worksheet for practicing  the letter C

http://www.ontrackreading.com/phonics-program/the-sounds-of-the-letter-c


Have Fun with the letter C

Rahcael Alice Orbach 

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...