Global warming and climate change refer to an increase in average global temperatures. Natural events and human activities are believed to be contributing to an increase in average global temperatures. This is caused primarily by increases in “greenhouse” gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
A warming planet thus leads to a change in climate which can affect weather in various ways, as discussed further below.
February 7th, we’ll watch and talk about a few movie trailers and then discuss technology. Here’s an interesting and current article that I annotated for you (though it says ‘Ricardo,’ I’m the one who made those comments… that’s technology, not always as flexible as we would like), as well as some questions that we’ll consider in our discussion.
This week’s theme is music. Music is a great topic because song lyrics include lots of creative vocabulary and idioms that non-native English speakers may have trouble understanding. If you have questions about lyrics you’ve heard, please feel free to ask about them in class.
I have planned several activities involving music that will focus on oral and listening skills in English. I will also do a presentation on New Mexican music that I hope you will all find interesting. Here are some links on this topic that you might find interesting:
Lesson Plan for Oral Fluency Class, November 23rd, 2010. The theme for this week’s class is food. Many of you indicated on the class survey that you were interested in food and that is why I chose this theme. To be honest, I also chose this theme because next week is Thanksgiving in the United States; it is a holiday that is synonymous with food, overeating and football (not soccer)! I have planned a series of activities that will allow everyone to practice their English and learn! Below is an outline for next week’s class.
First, In the spirit of Thanksgiving I am posting some links that will allow you to learn a lot about this important holiday in the United States. One link is to the History Channel website where you can learn about Thanksgiving by reading articles or watching videos: http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving
The next link is to The Food Network’s website. This week they are featuring lots of articles and recipes for Thanksgiving: http://www.foodnetwork.com/
I think you will learn a lot about American culture by taking a look at these websites.
Second, I would like for you to read the article I discussed in last week’s class and try to answer the questions below:
1. If you had to explain what the Balloon Fiesta to someone who couldn’t look at pictures, how would you explain it?
2. What is the altitude of Albuquerque, New Mexico?
3. Which of the special shaped balloons seems the craziest?
4. When does the Balloon Fiesta take place?
5. What is “The Albuquerque Box?”
6. For the 2009 Balloon Fiesta, how many spectators attended? How
many balloons took flight? How many countries were represented?
7. How many of the following words can you define? Smooth, cobalt blue, coyly, acknowledge, hovering, Oohs and aahs, no wonder chipmunks, clownfish, ‘balloonatics,’ raucous, drizzle, scrubbed and crew.
Third, on Tuesday we will do several oral activities based on the theme of food: A survey on your attitude towards food, practicing idiomatic expressions involving food, describing your favorite recipes, and a comparison between American (U.S.A) and Spanish table manners. Just come prepared to talk and perhaps get a little bit hungry!
Lesson Plan for Oral Fluency Class, November 16th,2010. This week’s
class has atheme, travel. Everyone indicatedon the class survey that
they were interested in travel and that is why I chosethis theme. Some
of you alsorequested some light homework so I included a short reading
with somediscussion and comprehension questions. If you have trouble
completing the reading, please still come to classbecause you will
surely benefit from all the oral activities I have planned.
I. Warm-upQuestion: Why do you travel? What is to be gained by
traveling? What is the point?
II. SpeedDating Exercise – questions relating to travel. This is a
fast-paced, highly interactive exercise that willallow you to
communicate in English with almost all of your classmates.
1. If you had to explain what the Balloon Fiesta isto someone who
couldn’t look at pictures, how would you explain it?
2. What is the altitude of Albuquerque, New Mexico?
3. Which of the special shaped balloons seems thecraziest?
4. When does the Balloon Fiesta take place?
5. What is “The Albuquerque Box?”
6. For the 2009 Balloon Fiesta, how many spectatorsattended? How
many balloons tookflight? How many countries wererepresented?
7. How many of the following words can you define?
Smooth cobaltblue coyly acknowledge
hovering
Oohs and aahs nowonder chipmunks
clownfish
‘balloonatics’ raucous drizzle
scrubbed
crew
IV. Dialoguesin travel situations – In pairs, you will be assigned a
context (e.g. ‘at thehotel, in a restaurant, etc.), and you will make up
a dialogue about thissituation.
Curso Afianzamiento B2 