Welcome Pimmit Students

This song is fast, but I want you to hear how "meet you" can sound like "me chuh."

I really enjoyed meeting you.  We talked.  We wrote.  We started setting goals.  See you tomorrow!

What are you doing this weekend?

I'm working.  I'm writing.  I just talked to other teachers about how to make classes interesting.  What are you doing?

September 25 Review and Expansion

Today was goal day!  We wrote "SMART" goals

"That's My Goal" Vocabulary:

Foolish -- stupid, silly, not smart or wise
Make it Clear --say something so that it's easy to understand
Worth -- value
Giving up -- Quitting.  Stopping because it's too hard

We practiced making introductions.Real English Video
Adjectives:  Gracious, hospitable, witty, intelligent, athletic, satisfactory, loveable
An adjective is a description word.  We use adjectives to describe people, places, things, and ideas.
Schoolhouse Rock Adjective Cartoon (very fast, but the pictures show meanings)

We practiced using "can".Real English Video -- Can you....?

Can+base verb
a base verb is the simple (often present tense with I) form.  NO ING, ED, S, or TO.

Example:  I can dance.  NOT  I can dancing or I can danced. or I can to dance.

What does SMART mean?

Specific
Measurable
Attainable or Agreed upon
Reasonable
Time-limited

We talked about using articles.  "The" comes before specific nouns.  I use it when I think you know which noun I'm talking about.  We use "a" for one of many, or if we don't care which one.

Practice a vs. the Learn English Feel Good A vs. The,
                           http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/articles-a-the2.html

Please describe someone

Most people in our class are married.  Can you describe your spouse in English?  Spouse means wife or husband.  Describe means show with words.  If you prefer to describe a child or a friend, that's OK.  If you can add a picture to the description, that would be great!

Example:  My 16-year old son Peter looks like a grown man with a baby's face.  He is tall -- about six feet tall.  He has wide shoulders and muscular arms.  His hair is short and very blonde.  His skin is red from working outside most of the summer.  He has bright blue eyes.  He loves to joke around -- his face is usually smiling or twisted in a silly way.  He wants to grow a mustache, but the thin little bit of blonde hair really doesn't show unless it reflects the sun.  He usually wears blue jeans and a t-shirt.  He has a very deep bass voice now.  He loves to sing.  He sings in the shower every day.

Pictures--short and enjoyable

Can you bring or email me pictures -- LJScheible@fcps.edu--that show something short and/or something enjoyable?

How do you cook fish?

Most people in this class really like to eat fish.  How do you prepare it?

Do you like to listen to music?

Do you like to listen to music?  What's your favorite song?  Who's your favorite singer?  Do you have any favorite songs with English words?

The fill-in-the-blank cloze I gave you today was Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."  Here's the video:

What do you want to learn?

Are there any specific things in English you really want to work on?

One student said she wants to learn vocabulary about going to the hairdresser.  Another student wants to practice for citizenship.

When do you really want to speak English really well?

Can you tell me a story when you wish you had better English?

When my friend was in college, she went to the financial aid office to ask for a loan.  (A loan is money from the college or a bank or the government that you pay back with extra money called interest.) She got mad and left when the people in the office tried to give her a scholarship instead.  She was sad that she had said "no" when she learned that a scholarship is a gift of money for education that you don't have to pay back.

What do you enjoy?

I enjoyed meeting you tonight.

I often enjoy listening to music.  I usually enjoy talking.  I always enjoy listening to stories.  I enjoy eating.

What do you enjoy?  (If you say an action after "enjoy," use "ing."  Don't use "to") We enjoy eating.
I enjoyed meeting you.  (Not I enjoy to meet you or I enjoy meet you.)

Welcome to Class! (Evening, Fall 2013)

Today is the first day of fall.  It's also the first day of a new class.  My name is Laurie.  I've been teaching for more than twenty years.  I love to teach.  I hope you learn a lot of English quickly while you have fun.

We introduced ourselves.  We found people who like soccer, cook, and have spouses.  We used present tense to describe things we do every day.  (I eat every day, not I'm eating every day.)  We listened and filled in the missing lyrics for "Wonderful World."  We talked about habits that can help make learning English go faster.

Vocabulary we talked about included:  enjoyable, during, short, prefer, bloom, sacred, grow, and goal.
--What do you do?/What are you doing?/ How do you do?
--I am cold/I have a cold
--I've lived here for ten years./I've lived here since 2003

--Pronouncing A,E,I,O,U  (Difficult for some people when they spelled their names to their classmates during the "Find someone who..")

Click here to listen and practice saying abc's in English

This video shows some pretty pictures of trees in the fall with relaxing music.  There's no English content.  I want you to have a happy fall and remember what this season looks like in the USA.

Please tell me at least three things about yourself.  You may want to use the three things you told your group that you love.

Example:  My name is Laurie.  I am married to a very nice man.  I love him and my children.  I have five children.  They are teens.  I also love to talk, read, eat, go outside, and listen to music.  I don't like to forget names or smell old fish.