Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Health and Well Being

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VU21343 Undertake a simple investigation of health and well being

Our second elective this semester is about Health and Well BeingDiscussion: What is a healthy person? What is well being? What common illnesses and conditions challenge health and well being? 

This term we are using the kit, "Understanding Good Health", (NSW AMES, 2011) to explore some of the issues.

You can freely download the book (PDF) and listening files (MP3) to your computer.)




ASSIGNMENT 1 - UNDERSTANDING GOOD HEALTH - (Assessment Task)
In Term 1 we studied the sections Eating DisordersTeeth and Smoking as a group.

In Term 2 you will independently investigate one of three other health issues as part of your assessment for this Elective

Procedure ... (I will need evidence that you have completed the following exercises)

Exercise 1 (Read and Print):  Choose one of these three health issues from the book.

Stress
Heart disease

 
Alcohol

You can download the book "Understanding Good Health" (PDF) here
(only print the pages on the health issue of your choice)

Exercise 2 (Listening):  Do the listening exercise for your chosen topic

Stress (mp3)

Heart disease (mp3)

Alcohol (mp3)


Exercise 3 (Research): 

*Go to your local library and/or use Simple Wikipedia (and any other website or resources) to collect a bit more information. 
Simple Wikipedia :  
Heart Disease
*What are the signs or symptoms of the health issue or illness?
*What can you do to help manage the health issue or illness?

Simple Wikipedia : Stress
*What are the signs or symptoms of the health issue or illness?
*What can you do to help manage the health issue or illness?

Simple Wikipedia : Alcohol
*What are the signs or symptoms of the health issue or illness?
*What can you do to help manage the health issue or illness?

Exercise 3 (Presentation): Prepare to talk to the class/teacher/partner for 2-5 minutes about the issue. 



HEALTHY EATING Reading: Look at the Healthy Eating Pyramid. Do you agree or disagree with the foods it suggest you should the most / moderately / only in small amounts?

Speaking/Survey :
Download the Find Someone Who exercise (Word)








Speaking: A Conversation with the Doctor

Listen to Dale and Paulin's role play (MP3, 2 meg) / Can you create a similar dialogue?

Reading and Exercise: Conversations at the Doctors' (Easypacelearning.org)

Grammar: Using the Passive Voice




Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Australian Art

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VU21473 Investigate Australian Art and Culture

What is Art? Where do you find it? Who is Art for? Is it important? What is a gallery? What is street art? Do you know any famous Australian artists? Do you know any local artists?

Photo: This paste up by local artist, Baby Guerrilla, is just across the street from our community centre in Duke Street, Sunshine.

We started our investigation by looking at the work and ideas of Baby Guerrilla. Visit her website.

Assignment 1: Baby Guerrilla (Duke St students only)


Online Lessons About Art (Source: Breaking News English.com) ...

Pensioner Attacks Famous Work of Art (an interesting lesson about opinions with listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar activities-

The Louvre is the Most Visited Art Gallery (about the famous gallery in Paris, different types, styles of painting - 40+ activities)




Australian Artists : Art Trails (Source: Art Gallery of NSW) / Talking about works of art

Artist/ Title/ Year/ Materials/ Dimensions/ Location

Can you remember how to form questions for describing works of art?
eg. Artist = What is the name of the artist who made this work of art / painted this picture?

These trails were made for kids visiting the Art Gallery of NSW. We can use them too.

1) Follow the art trails below (click on the links)
2) Click on the paintings and make a note of the Artist / Title / Year / Materials / Dimensions / Location

Australian Beach Pattern  / Desert Landscape  / The Red Shawl / First Class Marksman

3) With a partner talk about the works of art


Listening: Tom Roberts, The Golden Fleece (1894) - (Source: Art Gallery of NSW)

1. Download the MP3
2. Download the Comprehension worksheet

3. Listen a few times
4. Download and check your answers

You can look at the painting by Tom Roberts here


Grammar: Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses

eg. Tom Roberts is the Australian artist who painted The Golden Fleece in 1894.
eg. I really like that painting which we saw yesterday.

Review and complete these online exercises (Source: E-Grammer.org)

If you are still unsure, watch this video ... (source: engVid.com)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Benefits, Risks, Dangers, Relationships

 VPAU 505.4 - Write a descriptive or narrative text 



Exercise 1 - Viewing/Discussion : Watch the video. What is "Le Parkour" or "Free-Running"?

(In class or with a friend at home) make a list of its ...

BENEFITS (eg. develop fitness)
RISKS/DANGERS (eg. break bones)

Review : Giving advice

What advice would you give to someone interested in starting this activity?

Practice using these openers in your discussion ...

*If I were you ...
*You should/shouldn't ... / You ought to / oughtn't ...
*It would be a good idea ...
*Don't ...
*Remember to ... / Don't forget to ...

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Exercise 2 - Listening/Dictation/Vocabulary: About Free-Running

1) Download the fold/listen/fill the gap worksheet (fold the answers out of sight)

2)  Listen to the dictation "Free-Running" (Mp3 - 400k) here

3) Fill in the gaps
4) Check your answers on the fold/listen/fill the gap sheet

(Remember: you can right click on the Mp3 link to download the dictation to your computer. Keep it in your own listening text collection for future use)

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Exercise 3 - Reading : Free Running (from New Headway, Oxford Uni Press)

In class we read a story about one of the pioneers of Free Running or 'Le Parkour'. If you missed the class, ask me for a copy of the one-page story.

Download my Reading Comprehension Questions here

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Exercise 4 - Writing (Opinion): 

What do you think about Free-Running (First draft)


Write a first draft in class. Use your Benefits/Risks/Dangers list (Exercise 1) as well as your completed worksheet (Exercise 2) to help you.

Bring your draft to class for the writing workshop. You can then write your final copy and choose how you submit it to me.
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Grammar : Order of Adjectives


eg. A talented, French free-runner
eg. A beautiful, antique, mahogany wardrobe
eg. An eerie, dark Winter's night

Do you remember the general rules for ordering adjectives in English? (See Murphy, Grammer in Use, 3rd Edition, Unit 99)

Knowing about this order of adjectives can help with writing descriptions.

The best rule is to keep your descriptions simple - no more than 2 or 3 adjectives when describing a person, thing or situation.

Activity:

Play games and exercises to review this grammar (British Council)

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Speaking: Describing People 

Discussion : With a friend spend a few minutes ...

...describing yourself

...describing your partner or a friend

Viewing(Real English)

Watch the video ... what do people say about each other. Focus on one or two couples only



Exercises : Complete the comprehension exercises for this video at the Real English website

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JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP!!!

If you are an ESL student you can apply to join Dale Pobega's Free ESL Club Facebook Group

This is what has been going on recently ...


Friday, November 8, 2013

Raising Children / Accidents / On the Road

 VPAU 505.4 - Write a descriptive or narrative text / VPAU 505.3 - Follow a set of written instructions on a familiar process

Descriptive Texts / Narratives (VPAU505.4)

This story was written for children in 1831. What does it try to teach children? 



Reading/Writing:

Do you think children are as kind and obedient as they were in the past? What is the best way to raise children?

Read the opinions of other ESL students from around the world (Topics Online Magazine, Issue 10)

Practice Assessment Task:

a) Complete a first draft in class and get a native English speaker (or your teacher) to check your work.

b) Write up a final copy and bring it to class for discussion and sharing.

Your teacher will explain to you what she or he expects to see in the assessment task you will complete in the coming week or two

Assessment Task (505.4) - Write a descriptive or narrative text

Click here or on the link to go to the back issues page of TOPICS MAGAZINE

Choose a topic from Topics Online Magazine

a) Read the opinions of others
b) Write your own opinion on the topic
c) Show your teacher the first draft
d) Bring your final copy to class for your teacher to assess)

















Grammar - Adverbs of Degree

This week we were reviewing Adverbs of Degree. Watch the video and complete the exercises as you watch

 

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Accidents / On the Road

VPAU 505.3 - Follow a set of written instructions on a familiar process



What do you do if you have an accident -- or if someone damages your car?

Spelling/Vocabulary:

insurance / registration / cover / third party / comprehensive / compulsory / property / policy / premiums / excess / accident / damage / police /

Watch the video and discuss or answer the questions ...

Questions

1) What do the drivers exchange?


2) Does car registration cover the driver for damage to another car?

3) What does Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance cover? What doesn't it cover?


4) What is Third Party Property (TPP) insurance? What does it cover? What doesn't it cover?

5) What does Comprehensive Insurance cover?


Listening / Dictation - An Accident (based on the video above)

1) Download and print the fold / write / check worksheet from here

2) Listen to the dictation A Car Accident. Complete the dictation.

Grammar/Vocab: Reference for self study: English Vocab in Use (Unit 30 - On the Road)

Role Play / Writing

Let's act out the accident situation above.

A. Write a similar dialogue with a friend.

B. Record your dialogue at Dale's TalkGroups in the discussion, A Minor Car Accident (voxopop.com) or on my ipad if you prefer


Games - BBC English - Instructions


Delivery Driver BBC English Game


Read the instructions and have a go! Lots of fun! 

Also try "Destination Impossible" to practice following and giving instructions in English.

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FACEBOOK

What are we talking about on Facebook? Are you an ESL student?

 Join the 45 members of Dale Pobega's Free ESL Club














Friday, October 11, 2013

Taking Care of Things / International Current Affairs

VPAU503.3 and 505.3 : Follow (spoken and written) instructions

Taking care of Things

Do you have some dishwashing liquid, some ammonia and a bottle of vinegar? You can make your own carpet cleaner! What cleaning "secrets" do you have? How do you get your windows squeaky clean? What do you use for cleaning your kitchen benchtops? Graham Haley has lots of great ideas ...



Download the worksheet for this video

Vocab Exercise 1- Cleaning the House (learnenglishfeelgood.com)
Vocab Exercise 2 - Cleaning the House (learnenglishfeelgood.com)

A whole lesson about housecleaning (Listening/conversation/vocab/activities (learnESLwithDrew!)

Grammar:

This week we are looking at Unless / As long as / Provided/Providing that
(Murphy, English Language in Use, Unit 115)



Elective: 560.2 - Current Affairs (International)

You have probably seen the terrible images on TV. Sadly, wars are always in the news.

Watch the video and read more at the UNICEF WEBSITE - SYRIA.



Discussion

What do you know about Syria?
How many children have been affected?
What does the little girl say?

Listening : 1 Million Syrian Child Refugees (Sean Banville, Breaking News English.com)

Download and print off the complete lesson (Comprehension/Matching/Fill the Gap/ etc - pdf)

This term we start the second part of our Current Affairs Elective (VPAU 560.2 - Explore a current issue of international significance).

This term you will keep an 8 Week Collect, Watch and Tell Diary - VPAU 560.2 (Assessment Task and Diary download) (Note: I will send you the link by email)

Each week you will collect articles and images from newspapers, magazines and the internet, watch news programs and videos, tell your teacher and class members about your project.

You can choose to follow one (or a mix of all three themes if you like). Use Dale's examples to guide you. Look for photos in newspapers or on the internet, print them and attach them to your diary entries. (Get your teacher or a friend to help you if you do not know how)

*War - Example 1

*Celebrities and Movie Stars in the News - Example 2

*Natural Disasters - Example 3

(Available from me in class only)



Perhaps you know that Prince Harry came to Australia recently.  What do you think about celebrities, Royals and rich people? Why are we so interested in them?



And then there are natural disasters - earthquakes, typhoons, tornadoes, tsunamis and bush fires.

Can you think of other sorts of natural disasters?

Check out this map of the latest natural disasters.

Exercise 3: Take some notes from the Recent Natural Disasters website and tell your class about a recent natural disaster. Where did it happen? Was anyone hurt? Was there damage?

Grammar: Talking about the Future

In class we studied 6 ways in English we can talk about the future. There are really three forms though that we use most of the time ...

Will +verb (definitive / strong)

Going to +verb (intention)

Present Continuous for the Future (plans)

If you want to study more read: Murphy, English Grammar in Use (3rd Edition), Unit 19

Still confused? Watch this ...



Try these exercises ...

Exercise One: A Dialogue Between Friends (Englishexercises.org)

Exercise Two: 100 Sentences! (Language Worksheets.com)

We also looked at the use of So vs. Such

so +adjective ... Madonna is so good
such +noun ...Madonna is such a good singer

but it get's more complicated ...

Watch this video ...


If you want to study more read: Murphy, English Grammar in Use (3rd Edition), Unit 102

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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Micro Living

SPEAKING: MICRO APARTMENTS
VPAU560 Current Affairs

1) Watch the video   2) Download this worksheet and work with a partner to answer the questions



READING (Level 3): Read this article about micro-apartments in Melbourne (The Age, August 19, 2013)

What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the main criticisms? Would you buy a micro-apartment?

DISCUSSION & DICTATION : Australia Votes for a New Government (VPAU 560.1)




Read the full text and listen (from ESL News New Zealand)

READING: Expectations

Did you expect the Coalition to win? Did you expect the Labor Party to lose? What were the big issues in the election?

Compare the information on this graph.

How many seats did the Liberal Party expect to win?
How many seats did the Liberal Party actually win?
What about the Labor Party?









VOCABULARY : to expect to / to suppose / to suppose to / to actually +verb




DICTATION/LISTENING : SWEDEN TOPS ENGLISH SPEAKING LIST


Source: "Sweden Tops English Speaking List" from www.NewsEnglishLessons.com

1. Print the Gap Fill exercise (or do the listening exercise totally online)
2. Listen to the story
3. Check your answers by reading the full story here

4. Do the follow up exercises - download the whole lesson here


Listening and Speaking (Level 3): Instructions (Assessment Task) VPAU 503.3


1) Comprehension: Download the assessment task, complete and either give me or email me your task (Duke Street Access 3 students only)

In class ...

2) Speaking: Bring a tie to class (and be able to give clear instructions about how to tie a full Windsor Knot)

Silent Films (Level 3 VPAU 505.4)

Today in class (level 2) we watched this silent film.

Where is it filmed? Who are the characters? What happens : how does it start? what happens in the middle of the film? how does it end? Does the film have a message, meaning or lesson to teach us? Did you enjoy it or didn't you like it - why?

Exercise 1 : Ask yourself these questions as you watch the film again. Can you answer the questions?

Download the Silent Film Reading worksheet to see Dale's notes. 

  

Exercise 2 :  Here is a link to many other short, silent films on YouTube.

Use the worksheet to take notes on another silent film. Use Dale's notes as a model.

Bring your notes to class to share and show your teacher. We will write a review together.

Can't find a film? Try taking notes and writing about this short, silent film ...




Listening : Making A Film (Level 3)


Jeff and his brother made a film about their journey across India in a motor-rickshaw.

Listen to his story. Complete the vocab and comprehension quizzes.

Watch the film and read more about Jeff's journey across India in a motor rickshaw here!


GRAMMAR:  

WRITING NARRATIVES using Past Simple and Past Continuous (VPAU505.4)

 In class we looked at the possibility of using the past simple and past continuous together, especially when we are writing narratives or sentences with two actions occurring.

Try these exercises: Past simple and past continuous, by lovinglondon

Find this and other past continuous exercises in English Exercises .org

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Australian Stories

VPAU 560: Explore a current issue of significance in Australia / Explore a current issue of of international significance
VPAU505.4: Write a descriptive or narrative text



 WRITING:  Watch the video with a friend.

Exercise 1: What is the story about? Who are the characters? When was the video made? What is the attitude to refugees? (Talk about this)

Exercise 2: Watch the video together again and correctly order the sentences and phrases ...

and the Australian way of life.
changed everything.
Ali arrived in Australia nine years ago
before the civil war
Ali's wife...
and dream of owning their own farm.
He once owned his own farm.
Ali and his wife have worked hard...
Refugees...
A new country...
actively contribute
They are saving money...
to Australian communities
makes for new challenges.
to make a new life.
is one of the town's doctors

Exercise 3: Write the phrases into a story (without looking at the video)


GRAMMAR: The First Conditional




Worksheet: Review the FIRST CONDITIONAL (if + present simple + will/may/might

LISTENING / VIEWING COMPREHENSION / DISCUSSION:

Should Quad Bikes Be Banned?



Discussion Questions

1. What was the main point raised in the Quad Bikes story?

2. Most people who ride quad bikes live:
a. Near the beach
b. On farms
c. In the city

3. What are the benefits of having a quad bike on a farm?

4. How many people died from quad bike accidents in Australia last year?

5. Kids of any age are legally allowed to ride quad bikes. True or false?

6. There are no laws saying that kids have to wear __________ while riding a quad bike.

7. Why do some people want to see changes to the way quad bikes are designed?

8. Give some examples of improved quad bike safety.

9. List the arguments for and against making stricter rules for quad bike riders.

10. What do you think should happen next?

Transcript of the video

Download the entire ABC TV Activity Unit - Persuasive Texts

  GIVING AND ASKING FOR DIRECTONS : VPAU 503.3/503.4

                                                                                                          X You are here

Exercise 1: With your teacher or a classmate, give and ask directions using the map

Exercise 2: Complete these online exercises using the same map (from englishonline.org)


GRAMMAR 2 : Something made of/in/from / Something used for (Passives and Past Participles)

Download this board game and play with a friend (you will need dice and a coin) - From ESL Tower




Vocabulary: Crossword Puzzle "What is it made of?" (Download the puzzle and answers)