This is where you will find information about our classes.
January 7, 2013
gas, not gaz
to do business
match is more commonly used for tennis, but it's okay for football (game is more typical)
if I lived
I am interested, I am interesting
Tex-Mex
well-known
Central Texas (my error!)
to be ranked
run-on sentences
the 14th largest economy
countryside = campagne
Iraq
life would not change if I moved from France to Texas
The Alamo
Huntsville, "The Death Penalty Capital of the World"
his size (use its size for Texas)
if Texas were, if I were (conditional)
cheerleader
December 13, 2012
Test Monday on Texas! Be sure you understand the document we studied in class. Be able to write about Texas. I will include questions about things we discussed in the document, George W. Bush (the son) and Texas football.
Summary about Texas football:
In Texas, many people live and breathe football in the fall. People build their social calendars around the football schedule. Young boys dream of becoming the star player on Friday nights... Some say people in town with football mania have misplaced priorities. Others appreciate the excitement the games bring to their towns and cities.
December 13, 2012
Texas Football
In Texas, football is king. Young boys begin playing in leagues when they are five or six. By the time they are in high school, the game is serious business. On Friday nights, teams sometimes travel great distances for games that also involve performances by the school's marching band, drill team (dancers), twirlers and cheerleaders. Parents, teachers, school administrators and townspeople attend games to support their home teams, sometimes even in the rain... Games are often aired on the local radio stations and if the high school has a video crew, they might tape the game for them.
Friday Night Lights was a non-fiction book written by Pulitzer Prize winner H. G. Bissinger. The 1990 book follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, Texas as they tried to win the Texas state championship. The final book ended up being critical about life in the town of Odessa, complete with portraits of what Bissinger called "the ugliest racism" he has ever witnessed, as well as misplaced priorities, where football conquered most aspects of the town and academics were ignored for the sake of championships.
The role of Permian football in the town is examined. The Panther booster club is one of the largest social groups in the city. Many school children look up to the players and hope to play for the team one day. Many high school girls hope to become Permian cheerleaders, but the competition is fierce. Others become "Pepettes" who are assigned to one football player. Peppettes bring their assigned player gifts every Friday, are in charge of pep rallies, and personally decorate the exterior of the homes of their assigned player.
Bissinger was a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. After he received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, he searched for a community where high school football was paramount. He settled on Odessa, Texas. Permian High School and its football team, the Permian Panthers, had a long, rich history of winning in Texas' 4A and 5A division, winning championships in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Bissinger moved his family to Odessa and spent the entire 1988 football season with the Permian Panther players, their families, their coaches, and even many of the townspeople in an effort to understand the town and its football-mad culture.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
The book became a movie starring Billy Bob Thornton (ex-husband of Angelina Jolie) and was later made into a TV series that aired for five seasons.
(Watch the clip from the movie on the home page.)
In college, games are often played on Saturdays. These will be aired on local radio stations and for noteworthy schools, games will be televised regionally or nationally. At Texas A&M University, one of the largest universities in the United States, game attendance averages more than 85,000 people for a home football game.
This year, the top prize for a college football player, the Heisman Trophy, was awarded to Texas A&M's lead player. Quarterback Johnny Manzeil is Texas' newest hero. He is being interviewed all over the country in newpapers, magazines and on late night talk shows.
(Watch the video on my home page.)
Questions
1. Do you think it's acceptable for football to play such a large role in Texas high schools?
2. How does football train its stars to be future leaders outside the stadium?
3. Many players want to get scholarships to go to college. Talk about the pressure this creates for them on game day.
4. Is a person like Johnny Manziel a hero to you? Why or why not?
November 27, 2012
George W. Bush's presidency began and ended in ___________ and took place during one of the most _____________ periods in U.S. _____________. Bush was the 43rd _____________ of the United States, and he is a _______________. He led his country's response to the ________ attacks in 2001 and initiated the ___________ in 2003. He ___________ won the ________________ vote in 2000, defeating Al Gore, the ________________ candidate. Before his presidency, Bush was a businessman and served as ______________ of Texas.
The Bush family had been involved in business and politics since the 1950s. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a former Wall Street banker and progressive Republican senator from Connecticut, and his father was a businessman, diplomat, and vice president and president of the United States.
Young George spent most of his childhood in _______________, attending school there until the seventh grade. The family moved to Houston in 1961, and George W. Bush was sent to Phillips Academy in __________________, Massachusetts. There played baseball, basketball and football. He was a fair student and was an occasional troublemaker. Despite this, family connections helped him enter Yale University in 1964.
In 1968, George W. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard. The Vietnam War was at its height. He earned his fighter pilot certification in June of 1970. Bush was honorably discharged from the________________ on November 21, 1974.
In 1977, at a backyard barbeque, Bush was introduced by friends to Laura Welch, a school teacher and librarian. After a quick three-month courtship, he proposed, and they were married on November 5, 1977. Prior to marriage, he had several embarrassing episodes with ______________. Soon after marrying Laura, he joined the United Methodist Church and became a ________________________. He and Laura have two daughters, Jenna and Barbara.
Use these words: Electoral College, governor, alcohol, Democratic, narrowly, born-again Christian, war in Iraq, president, dramatic, controversy, history, 9-11, Republican, Midland, Andover, Air Force Reserve.
October 25, 2012
Holiday homework: write 75-100 words about a web site you use regularly. Please avoid Google, Youtube, Yahoo and Facebook. Tell why you think it's a good site, how you use it and explain the site's target audience.
SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING CLASSES:
Please note there will be a bonus for the test. Study these words!
key vocabulary:
blog: (web log)
blogger: blogeur
bookmark: signet
browser: feuilleteur
click: cliquer, clic (option-clic, commande-clic, majuscule-clic)
diskette: disquette
download: télécharger
Email: courrier electronique (CE), Message
Email address: adresse de courrier (électronique) ou ACE, courriel
October 22, 2012
On Thursday when we return (November 15) you will have a short essay test on technology. I will ask you about four questions related to technology, and you will need to answer in 50-75 words each... On Thursday, this week, we will write together and do some oral reports. My apologies that I had the dates wrong.
October 14, 2012
Check your keywords
1. One of the goals/aims of reality TV shows is to gain the best media coverage possible.
2. People often accuse the media of manipulating TV viewers and listeners in order to have good ratings.
3. The show/program that was broadcast/aired last night targeted young people, but it didn't reach its goal, nor did it convince journalists.
4. Many programs for young people form the opinions of easily-influenced teenagers and aren't reliable.
5. The anchorwoman will be on the air tomorrow evening at 8 p.m.
6. The minister's divorce made the headlines in the tabloids.
7. Some shows only try to amuse viewers, while others convey a message, inform the public and raise awareness about real issues.
1. unbiased, impartial, biased
2. mistrust, se méfier de, trust
1. sensational
2. denounce
3. series
4. channel
5. journalism
6. propaganda
common errors on this assignment
which notwich or witch (sorcière)
broadcasted
diffused aired, diffused is for other things that are spread
yesterday night last night
easily-influencednot influential
common errors on your essays
program(me) notprogramm
reality TV
quite/quiet
secrets talents
there are/they are
dependson
watcher viewer
lifes lives
wanna too informal
October 11, 2012
You will have a test on Monday, October 22 over the irregular verb list I gave you. You will get the same chart, and there will be many blanks to fill in.
October 8, 2012
October 7, 2012
From your tests:
the bonus: one plane hit the Pentagon
informations
were vs. was "If I were" "if that were broadcast today"
program (US) or programme (UK) but notprogramm
interestings shows and interesting, not interresting
believe (many of you copied this word from the text and didn't check the conjugation)
example
medias
note the difference between currently (at this time) and actually (truly, really)
the Internet
depends on
Iam not don't agree
reality TV, not TV reality
accents are rare in English
panick (panicked when used as a verb in the simple past or past participle)
on TV, on radio, but in the newspaper, in the press
Review less and fewer... both words are used as comparatives - fewer meaning "a smaller number of", less meaning "a smaller amount or quantity of."
one of the __________s. Many people forgot the "s." one of the world's greatest players
to air a program, not diffuse
the Minow speech or Minow's speech, not the Minow's speech
channel
sitcom = situation comedy
all of the people = everyone
The program isboredom boring.
still vs. again Both can be encore in French but we use still when we mean up to and including a point in time (It is still raining.)
September 24, 2012
Test on Friday, September 28, 2012: The cost of university (essay and vocabulary)
Notes from your essays:
Note the differences: to, too, two.
Note the differences: their, they're, there.
Note the differences: we're, were, where.
Spell it McDonald's (not MacDonald's)
For all people = use "everyone."
Wich is not a word... it's which
Avoid fragments and run-on sentences!
Don't forget articles in English: a teacher, an astronaut
Access doesn't often need "to."
Correct: I've got a job.Incorrect: I've got a work.
It should be "depends on," not "depends of."
Avoid using the same noun 2x in the same sentence if you can.
Information never has an "s" in English.
Be consistent. If you begin writing, "You need a university degree..." don't continue by saying "people should..."
Don't forget we don't add an "s" to adjectives like we do in French. ("others universities")
Never write, "She hasn't a degree." Write, "She hasn't got," or "She doesn't have" a degree.
Essay for Thursday, September 27, 2012:
Reality TV.......
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
January 7, 2013
gas, not gaz
to do business
match is more commonly used for tennis, but it's okay for football (game is more typical)
if I lived
I am interested, I am interesting
Tex-Mex
well-known
Central Texas (my error!)
to be ranked
run-on sentences
the 14th largest economy
countryside = campagne
Iraq
life would not change if I moved from France to Texas
The Alamo
Huntsville, "The Death Penalty Capital of the World"
his size (use its size for Texas)
if Texas were, if I were (conditional)
cheerleader
December 13, 2012
Test Monday on Texas! Be sure you understand the document we studied in class. Be able to write about Texas. I will include questions about things we discussed in the document, George W. Bush (the son) and Texas football.
Summary about Texas football:
In Texas, many people live and breathe football in the fall. People build their social calendars around the football schedule. Young boys dream of becoming the star player on Friday nights... Some say people in town with football mania have misplaced priorities. Others appreciate the excitement the games bring to their towns and cities.
December 13, 2012
Texas Football
In Texas, football is king. Young boys begin playing in leagues when they are five or six. By the time they are in high school, the game is serious business. On Friday nights, teams sometimes travel great distances for games that also involve performances by the school's marching band, drill team (dancers), twirlers and cheerleaders. Parents, teachers, school administrators and townspeople attend games to support their home teams, sometimes even in the rain... Games are often aired on the local radio stations and if the high school has a video crew, they might tape the game for them.
Friday Night Lights was a non-fiction book written by Pulitzer Prize winner H. G. Bissinger. The 1990 book follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, Texas as they tried to win the Texas state championship. The final book ended up being critical about life in the town of Odessa, complete with portraits of what Bissinger called "the ugliest racism" he has ever witnessed, as well as misplaced priorities, where football conquered most aspects of the town and academics were ignored for the sake of championships.
The role of Permian football in the town is examined. The Panther booster club is one of the largest social groups in the city. Many school children look up to the players and hope to play for the team one day. Many high school girls hope to become Permian cheerleaders, but the competition is fierce. Others become "Pepettes" who are assigned to one football player. Peppettes bring their assigned player gifts every Friday, are in charge of pep rallies, and personally decorate the exterior of the homes of their assigned player.
Bissinger was a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. After he received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, he searched for a community where high school football was paramount. He settled on Odessa, Texas. Permian High School and its football team, the Permian Panthers, had a long, rich history of winning in Texas' 4A and 5A division, winning championships in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Bissinger moved his family to Odessa and spent the entire 1988 football season with the Permian Panther players, their families, their coaches, and even many of the townspeople in an effort to understand the town and its football-mad culture.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
The book became a movie starring Billy Bob Thornton (ex-husband of Angelina Jolie) and was later made into a TV series that aired for five seasons.
(Watch the clip from the movie on the home page.)
In college, games are often played on Saturdays. These will be aired on local radio stations and for noteworthy schools, games will be televised regionally or nationally. At Texas A&M University, one of the largest universities in the United States, game attendance averages more than 85,000 people for a home football game.
This year, the top prize for a college football player, the Heisman Trophy, was awarded to Texas A&M's lead player. Quarterback Johnny Manzeil is Texas' newest hero. He is being interviewed all over the country in newpapers, magazines and on late night talk shows.
(Watch the video on my home page.)
Questions
1. Do you think it's acceptable for football to play such a large role in Texas high schools?
2. How does football train its stars to be future leaders outside the stadium?
3. Many players want to get scholarships to go to college. Talk about the pressure this creates for them on game day.
4. Is a person like Johnny Manziel a hero to you? Why or why not?
November 27, 2012
George W. Bush's presidency began and ended in ___________ and took place during one of the most _____________ periods in U.S. _____________. Bush was the 43rd _____________ of the United States, and he is a _______________. He led his country's response to the ________ attacks in 2001 and initiated the ___________ in 2003. He ___________ won the ________________ vote in 2000, defeating Al Gore, the ________________ candidate. Before his presidency, Bush was a businessman and served as ______________ of Texas.
The Bush family had been involved in business and politics since the 1950s. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a former Wall Street banker and progressive Republican senator from Connecticut, and his father was a businessman, diplomat, and vice president and president of the United States.
Young George spent most of his childhood in _______________, attending school there until the seventh grade. The family moved to Houston in 1961, and George W. Bush was sent to Phillips Academy in __________________, Massachusetts. There played baseball, basketball and football. He was a fair student and was an occasional troublemaker. Despite this, family connections helped him enter Yale University in 1964.
In 1968, George W. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard. The Vietnam War was at its height. He earned his fighter pilot certification in June of 1970. Bush was honorably discharged from the________________ on November 21, 1974.
In 1977, at a backyard barbeque, Bush was introduced by friends to Laura Welch, a school teacher and librarian. After a quick three-month courtship, he proposed, and they were married on November 5, 1977. Prior to marriage, he had several embarrassing episodes with ______________. Soon after marrying Laura, he joined the United Methodist Church and became a ________________________. He and Laura have two daughters, Jenna and Barbara.
Use these words: Electoral College, governor, alcohol, Democratic, narrowly, born-again Christian, war in Iraq, president, dramatic, controversy, history, 9-11, Republican, Midland, Andover, Air Force Reserve.
October 25, 2012
Holiday homework: write 75-100 words about a web site you use regularly. Please avoid Google, Youtube, Yahoo and Facebook. Tell why you think it's a good site, how you use it and explain the site's target audience.
SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING CLASSES:
- Monday, November 12, The US Election Results, hand in homework on favorite web site
- Tuesday, November 13, Oral Reports
- Thursday, November 15 Test on Technology (talking about Internet, computers, and cell phones) See bonus info below.
- People were happier when computers and television did not exist.
- Children under 16 should not have cell phones.
- You learn more on the Internet than you do in class.
- Cell phones should not be allowed in class.
- Because of the Internet and television, people don't talk to each other anymore.
- Parents should not let their teens have personal computers in their rooms.
Please note there will be a bonus for the test. Study these words!
key vocabulary:
blog: (web log)
blogger: blogeur
bookmark: signet
browser: feuilleteur
click: cliquer, clic (option-clic, commande-clic, majuscule-clic)
diskette: disquette
download: télécharger
Email: courrier electronique (CE), Message
Email address: adresse de courrier (électronique) ou ACE, courriel
error: erreur
giveaway: cadeau
home page: page d'accueil
icon: icône
ID (User): identificateur (de l'usager), identification, nom d'utilisateur
Internet: l'Internet
keyboard: clavier
link (hyperlink): lien hypertexte
giveaway: cadeau
home page: page d'accueil
icon: icône
ID (User): identificateur (de l'usager), identification, nom d'utilisateur
Internet: l'Internet
keyboard: clavier
link (hyperlink): lien hypertexte
logoff: fin de session, déconnexion
logon: connexion, début de session
mailbox: boîte aux lettres (BAL), boîte aux lettres électronique
mailing list: liste de diffusion, forum électronique
logon: connexion, début de session
mailbox: boîte aux lettres (BAL), boîte aux lettres électronique
mailing list: liste de diffusion, forum électronique
monitor: moniteur
mouse: souris
mouse: souris
network: réseau
news: nouvelles (f.)
print: imprimer
printer: imprimante (f.)
reboot: redémarrage (redémarrer), réamorçage (réamorçer), relance (relancer)
restart: redémarrage (redémarrer)
spam
screen: écran scroll down: dérouler en bas
scroll up: dérouler en haut
search field: champ de recherche
surf: naviguer, surfer
URL: localisateur, adresse URL, localisateur URL
USB key: clef USB
webpage: page web, site web
World Wide Web (WWW): WWW, hypertoile, toile mondiale
print: imprimer
printer: imprimante (f.)
reboot: redémarrage (redémarrer), réamorçage (réamorçer), relance (relancer)
restart: redémarrage (redémarrer)
spam
screen: écran scroll down: dérouler en bas
scroll up: dérouler en haut
search field: champ de recherche
surf: naviguer, surfer
URL: localisateur, adresse URL, localisateur URL
USB key: clef USB
webpage: page web, site web
World Wide Web (WWW): WWW, hypertoile, toile mondiale
October 22, 2012
On Thursday when we return (November 15) you will have a short essay test on technology. I will ask you about four questions related to technology, and you will need to answer in 50-75 words each... On Thursday, this week, we will write together and do some oral reports. My apologies that I had the dates wrong.
October 14, 2012
Check your keywords
1. One of the goals/aims of reality TV shows is to gain the best media coverage possible.
2. People often accuse the media of manipulating TV viewers and listeners in order to have good ratings.
3. The show/program that was broadcast/aired last night targeted young people, but it didn't reach its goal, nor did it convince journalists.
4. Many programs for young people form the opinions of easily-influenced teenagers and aren't reliable.
5. The anchorwoman will be on the air tomorrow evening at 8 p.m.
6. The minister's divorce made the headlines in the tabloids.
7. Some shows only try to amuse viewers, while others convey a message, inform the public and raise awareness about real issues.
1. unbiased, impartial, biased
2. mistrust, se méfier de, trust
1. sensational
2. denounce
3. series
4. channel
5. journalism
6. propaganda
common errors on this assignment
which not
broadcast
easily-influenced
common errors on your essays
program(me) not
reality TV
quite/quiet
secret
there are/they are
depends
October 11, 2012
You will have a test on Monday, October 22 over the irregular verb list I gave you. You will get the same chart, and there will be many blanks to fill in.
October 8, 2012
an IT
expert
to skim
an IT
expert
to go viral
went viral
poll
scrutiny
rant
grounded
to
overreact
hindsight
Yahoo
The video
went viral.
It was a
viral video posted by an angry father in North
Carolina.
Tommy
Jordan shot his daughter’s laptop nine times and posted the video on her
Facebook page.
“The
punishment outweighed the crime.”
From your tests:
the bonus: one plane hit the Pentagon
information
were vs. was "If I were" "if that were broadcast today"
program (US) or programme (UK) but not
interesting
believe (many of you copied this word from the text and didn't check the conjugation)
example
media
note the difference between currently (at this time) and actually (truly, really)
the Internet
depends on
I
reality TV, not TV reality
accents are rare in English
panic
on TV, on radio, but in the newspaper, in the press
Review less and fewer... both words are used as comparatives - fewer meaning "a smaller number of", less meaning "a smaller amount or quantity of."
one of the __________s. Many people forgot the "s." one of the world's greatest players
to air a program, not diffuse
the Minow speech or Minow's speech, not the Minow's speech
channel
sitcom = situation comedy
all of the people = everyone
The program is
still vs. again Both can be encore in French but we use still when we mean up to and including a point in time (It is still raining.)
September 24, 2012
Test on Friday, September 28, 2012: The cost of university (essay and vocabulary)
Notes from your essays:
Note the differences: to, too, two.
Note the differences: their, they're, there.
Note the differences: we're, were, where.
Spell it McDonald's (not MacDonald's)
For all people = use "everyone."
Wich is not a word... it's which
Avoid fragments and run-on sentences!
Don't forget articles in English: a teacher, an astronaut
Access doesn't often need "to."
Correct: I've got a job.
It should be "depends on," not "depends of."
Avoid using the same noun 2x in the same sentence if you can.
Information never has an "s" in English.
Be consistent. If you begin writing, "You need a university degree..." don't continue by saying "people should..."
Don't forget we don't add an "s" to adjectives like we do in French. ("other
Never write, "She hasn't a degree." Write, "She hasn't got," or "She doesn't have" a degree.
Essay for Thursday, September 27, 2012:
Reality TV.......
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oral Reports: “Texas”
Please choose a topic related to Texas for your oral report.
Be creative! Teach us something useful about your subject. Please don’t simply
read to us. There should be some form of visual support (computer presentation,
poster, etc.) Check your USB key in advance to be sure your software works at
school.
Suggestions:
- · One of the major cities (Dallas, Houston, Austin or San Antonio)
- · A lesser-known city or town like College Station, Lubbock, LaGrange, Cut n Shoot, etc.
- · A person such as one of the former presidents from Texas (George Bush senior, George W Bush, Lyndon Johnson), a famous actor or singer, or a person in history like Davy Crockett
- · A food that comes from Texas (Old El Paso Mexican food, Lays Potato Chips)
- · A product that comes from Texas (Texas Instruments)
- · A sports team (Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs)
- · A famous athlete
Reports must be about three minutes (not much more, please!)
and you will be graded on the following:
- · Content
- · Grammar
- · Pronunciation
- · Knowledge about the subject matter
- · Presentation (time and attention given to what you present)
Additional information:
·
If you have questions about pronunciation, don’t
hesitate to ask me or you can check www.dictionary.com and click on the speaker
symbol.
·
Please give me a small sheet of paper with your
name, class and topic as soon as possible.
·
Reports will begin the week of Monday, October 1.
Volunteers may go first; otherwise, we will go in alphabetical order.
No comments:
Post a Comment