The First Total War by David Bell: Book Review (Scripted)

Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-total-war-by-david-bell.html

Time for another installment of Hey! I know that guy!

I've been following Hugh Dellar on Twitter for a while now.  

You  won't know Hugh Dellar if you're not in ELT, but within ELT circles, he's relatively well-known.  Mostly for being a proponent of the Lexical Approach.

So imagine my surprise when I saw that Hugh Dellar was talking about a former co-worker of mine on Twitter!

One recurrent theme that comes up in discussions with those who are angered by posts about native speakerism is that the desire to see non-native speaker teachers treated equally is some of 'Commie' or 'Socialist' plot . . . pic.twitter.com/aBQCRS6oDa

— hugh dellar (@hughdellar) October 30, 2020

Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography by Francis Wheen: Book Review (Scripted)

Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2009/04/marxs-das-kapital-biography-by-francis.html

Lesson on Giving Advice

(TESOL Worksheets--Giving Advice, CELTA Style Lesson Plans)
Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Lesson plan: docs, pub
Sorting Activity: drive, docs, pub
Other Worksheets: docs, pub
[Notes: Elements of this lesson are based on this lesson here, which in turn is modelled on a lesson a colleague of mine did.  
The Semi-Controlled practice (which comes from the lesson my colleague did) is based on the particular circumstances of my class, and will need to be modified if someone else uses it.
This lesson is based off of Q: Skills for Success: Listening and Speaking 5 , and the target language comes from the textbook.  That being said, I think this lesson could be used independently of that textbook.  (In the lesson plan, the textbook is only used for the students to check to confirm their answers.  But this could be adapted by having the teacher confirm the answers without the textbook.]

Napoleon's Egypt by Juan Cole: Book Review (Scripted)

Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2009/03/napoleons-egypt-by-juan-cole.html

Getting What You Came For by Robert L. Peters: Book Review (Scripted)

Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2009/03/getting-what-you-came-for-smart.html

Paraphrasing

(TESOL Worksheets--Speaking, Writing, English for Academic Purposes)
Google Drive Folder HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub
Worksheet: docs, pub
[Notes: This lesson makes use of the Youtube video: How To Paraphrase.  I also make use of the content from the video British Council IELTS tips #6: Top five paraphrasing techniques, but I don't play that video in the class because the music is loud and annoying.  Instead I've just taken some of the example sentences form that video, and integrated it into the lesson. Some of the other examples in the lesson come from Q: Skills for Success 5 pages 194-195.  The slideshow accompanying this lesson is mostly for my own reference, and I didn't actually use it in class when I taught the lesson.
Procedure: Hand out the questions from the first page of the worksheet.  Play the video "How to Paraphrase".  Students answer the questions.  Class feedback.
Hand out worksheet page 2.  In pairs, students analyze the worksheet, and talk together about how the sentences are paraphrased.
Hand out worksheet page 3.  Students match the description of paraphrasing to the sample sentences on worksheet 2.  
Next, hand out worksheet page 4.  (This is a paragraph taken from the Wikipedia page on Vietnam.  I used this because I was teaching in Vietnam, and the content was familiar to my students.  Teachers in different countries may want to change the subject.)
In pairs, students work to complete the table and paraphrase each sentence.  (Note: in my morning class I gave them the table.  In the afternoon class, they had no table.  The afternoon class did more paraphrasing by combining ideas from sentences because they did not have the sentence-by-sentence table.  So it's possible the table may hurt students more than help them.)  Then, I give my sample answers (worksheet page 5).  Students compare my sample answers to their answers.
Next, students are put into 4 groups.  Each group is given another paragraph from the Wikipedia page on Vietnam.  In groups, students must paraphrase the paragraph. After they prepare in groups, we then switch the groups. students are put into new groups with new partners, and have to present their paraphrase to the new groups.
The final activity makes use of pages 8-11 of the worksheet, which contain famous quotes.  These famous quotes are taken from this website here.  Each student is given a strip of paper with a famous quote on it.  Then there's a mingle activity, where they have to find a partner, and paraphrase that quote to their partner.  (Without showing their partner the original quote.)  The partner then gives them a paraphrase of their own quote.  Then, they take the quote that their partner has said, and find a new partner to say their new quote to, but they must paraphrase what their partner has said. 
Each time they meet a new partner, they trade quotes, but each time, they must paraphrase what their partner has said.
At the end of the activity, in open class feedback students tell the paraphrased quote that they ended up with, and the class tries to find out who had the original quote it was based on.

Video Questions:

1. What does “paraphrasing” mean?

2. What do you start with?

3. What is a bad way to paraphrase?  Why?

4. What is an okay way to paraphrase?

5. What is the best way to paraphrase?

6. What are some phrases that you can use to make the author an active part of your sentence?

Video Questions:

1. What does “paraphrasing” mean?

2. What do you start with?

3. What is a bad way to paraphrase?  Why?

4. What is an okay way to paraphrase?

5. What is the best way to paraphrase?

6. What are some phrases that you can use to make the author an active part of your sentence?

What techniques are being used to paraphrase here?

A	The diagram below shows the process by which bricks are manufactured for the building industry.	The diagram below illustrates the way by which bricks are made for the building industry.
B	The line graph below shows the consumption of four kinds of meat in a European country from 1979 to 2004.	The line graph below shows how one European country consumed four kinds of meat from 1979 to 2004.
C	The real estate developers invested over 40 million USD into the development of a new senior living community.	40 million USD was invested in the development of a new senior living community.
D	The line graph below shows the consumption of four kinds of meat in a European country from 1979 to 2004.	The line graph below shows how four different kinds of meat were consumed over a 25-year period in one European country.
E	The discovery of the nomadic group surprised them.	The discovery of the nomads was not expected.
F	We were at least listened to.  I’m encouraged by this.	She said she felt encouraged because at least the government listened to them.
G	Mongolia’s geography, a boundless wilderness with soil that can’t sustain agriculture, forces people to embrace the nomadic life.	The narrator explains that Mongolia has vast lands, but it is impossible to grow food there.  As a result, a nomadic life is necessary.

Match the letter to the paraphrasing technique:

____ Change positive to negative forms

____  Break a long sentence into two sentences.

____ Use synonyms

____ change the word order

____ change from active to passive

____ Use a different word form

____ Combine sentences and ideas

Match the letter to the paraphrasing technique:

____ Change positive to negative forms

____  Break a long sentence into two sentences.

____ Use synonyms

____ change the word order

____ change from active to passive

____ Use a different word form

____ Combine sentences and ideas

source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam

Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. The long-form name of the country is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The neighboring countries of Vietnam are China, Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam is one of five remaining countries that believe in communism. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. The biggest city is Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). There are about 94,444,200 people living in Vietnam.

How could you paraphrase these sentences?

Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia.
The long-form name of the country is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The neighboring countries of Vietnam are China, Laos and Cambodia.
Vietnam is one of five remaining countries that believe in communism.
The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi.
The biggest city is Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
There are about 94,444,200 people living in Vietnam.

What techniques are used to paraphrase these sentences?

Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia.	One of the nations in Southeast Asia is called Vietnam.
The long-form name of the country is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.	Vietnam can also be called by a longer name, which is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The neighboring countries of Vietnam are China, Laos and Cambodia.	Vietnam is bordered by Cambodia, China and Laos.
Vietnam is one of five remaining countries that believe in communism.	There are only five countries left in the world that are still officially communist, and Vietnam is one of those five.
The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi.	The government of Vietnam is located in the city of Hanoi.
The biggest city is Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).	Saigon (which is now known as Ho Chi Minh City) is the largest city in Vietnam.
There are about 94,444,200 people living in Vietnam.	Vietnam has approximately 94 million people.

How To Paraphrase

British Council IELTS tips #6: Top five paraphrasing techniques

English World 1 Unit 10 Grammar in Conversation p.105

 (Supplementary Materials for Specific Textbooks--English World 1)

Google Drive HERE
Google: docs, pub

Match the words to the blanks:

go, listen, look, stop, wait

Can we cross the road?

No! _________!

OK.

Then _________!

OK.

Then _________!

OK. Can we go now?

No! _________!

Oh! A car.

All right. Now we can _________!

Answers

Can we cross the road?

No! Stop!

OK.

Then look!

OK.

Then listen!

OK. Can we go now?

No! Wait!

Oh! A car.

All right. Now we can go!

Riddles and Brainteasers

(TESOL Worksheets--CLIL, Comprehensible Input)
Google: slides, pub
[Notes: I was teaching a unit out of a textbook that was focusing on brainteasers and problem solving, so for added practice, I went through my all 3 of my joke collections (part 1, part 2, part 3) and pulled out all the riddles and brainteasers from those slideshows.  I did my best to try to ignore the puns, and only focus on the riddles that involved logic, but I couldn't resist leaving a couple puns in there.
I'm unsure as to how to classify this.  It was supposed to be teaching critical thinking skills, so I guess I'll index it with my CLIL materials (under critical thinking) and also my comprehensible input materials.

Abandoned: Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener (I've actually read this book once before and reviewed it here.  But I am abandoning my re-reading of it.)

Started (re-reading): June 10, 2019
Back in June, 2019, I was brought in to the Teacher Training Department at my school to train new teachers in a CELTA equivalent course.  (It wasn't a certified CELTA course, but I was working with certified CELTA tutors and using the CELTA methodology).
Since I was new to teacher training, I was trying to do my best to catch up to the other tutors.  
On the bookshelves of the Teacher Training department was The CELTA Course Trainer's Manual by Scott Thornbury (A).  I asked if I could borrow the book and read it at home.
"You could," said the more experienced tutor.  "But if you really want to study the methodology we use, you'd be much better of just reading Learning Teaching.

I'd read Learning Teaching already, but I figured I was due for a re-read.  Especially since the book was so full of teaching techniques and ideas that there was no way I could carry all the advice around in my active memory 6 years later.
So I started re-reading.  
I already had a review of this book written up on the blog, but I figured I would do a supplementary video review when I finished re-reading it (much as I had done for my re-reads of Beyond the Sentence, How Languages are Learned, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, The English Verb and The Language Teaching Matrix.)

For the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time re-reading Learning Teaching, even though my progress through the pages was slow.  (Scrivener writes in an easy to read style, and yet it takes me forever to work through his book.  This is something I remember that from the first time I read it.  Probably because the book is so packed full of ideas, it takes a while to digest).  But I did make it through most of the book re-reading it.  (I got up to chapter 15--324 pages out of 380--not counting the appendices.)
But then in August, deadlines started looming for Delta Module 3, and I felt like I needed to drop this book and get working on my Delta Module 3 reading.  
At the time, I fully intended to come back and finish my re-reading of this book.  But I never did.  Now, over a year later, it's time to admit to myself that I've abandoned this book, and take it down from my "Currently Reading" section on the sidebar of this blog.

I will eventually do a video review of it, however.  Once I work my way around to it on my scripted book review project.  And maybe at that time I'll try to synthesize some of the stuff I remember from my re-reading into the scripted review.

Update: Video Review below:

Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener [Second Edition]: Book Review (Scripted)

English World 1 Unit 10 Grammar p.104--Can/Can't

(Supplementary Materials for Specific Textbooks--English World 1)

Google Drive HERE
Slideshow: slides, pub

Worksheets: docs, pub
[Note: Much of this is actually based on the text on the previous page, but I used that as a lead-in the grammar on page 104.]

1. What is fantastic?

2. Can the rocket fly to the moon?

3. Is King Tub happy now?

4. Why can’t King Tub go to the moon?

1. What is fantastic?

2. Can the rocket fly to the moon?

3. Is King Tub happy now?

4. Why can’t King Tub go to the moon?

1. What is fantastic?

2. Can the rocket fly to the moon?

3. Is King Tub happy now?

4. Why can’t King Tub go to the moon?

1. What is fantastic?

2. Can the rocket fly to the moon?

3. Is King Tub happy now?

4. Why can’t King Tub go to the moon?

Match the words to the blanks:

can, can’t, fly, go, I, it, yes, you

Look at the rocket!

It’s fantastic.

______ ______ ______ ?

______ , ______ ______ .

______ ______ ______ to the moon?

______ , ______ ______ .

______ ______ ______ with you?

______ , ______ ______ .

Hooray!

Come here, King Tub!

Jump in! Sit down!

______ ______ ______ to the moon.

Are you happy now?

No, I’m not.

What’s the matter?

______  ______ ______ to the moon.

I haven’t got a space suit.

Oh, no!

Answers:

Look at the rocket!

It’s fantastic.

Can it fly?

Yes, it can.

Can it fly to the moon?

Yes, it can.

Can I go with you?

Yes, you can.

Hooray!

Come here, King Tub!

Jump in! Sit down!

You can fly to the moon.

Are you happy now?

No, I’m not.

What’s the matter?

I can’t go to the moon.

I haven’t got a space suit.

Oh, no!

Latin and Greek Roots

(TESOL Worksheets--Prefixes Suffixes and Root Words)

Google Drive Folder HERE
Worksheet: docs, pub
Crossword: drive, Crossword answers: drive, Crossword puzzle questions: docs, pub
[Procedure: I give out the first page of the worksheet.  Students, in groups, try to identify the meaning of the Latin or Greek root words.  Answers are confirmed either orally in class, or by handing out the second page of the worksheet.  (Pages 3 and 4 of the worksheet--the example words--are for teacher's reference only.)  Then, the class is given 3 minutes to make as many words as they can out of the combination of Latin and Greek roots.  At the end of 3 minutes, the group which has the most words is the winner.
Then, the crossword is given out.  Students work on it in groups.
Crossword was made using https://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/.  The students are instructed that each answer will show up twice, because for each word both the dictionary definition is given as well as the root word combination.  (e.g. television is both "far+see" and "a piece of equipment, with a screen on the front, used for watching programmes")
I may have overloaded the crossword, because all of the words show up really small. I enlarged this crossword on to large A3 paper, and handed it out one per group in my classes to try to alleviate this somewhat.  However, students still mentioned that the type was small.  If I do this again, I may try to do a crossword on small paper.
Also: students were confused by the fact that I had two roots meaning "write" ("graph" and "script").  If I do this again, I may want to elimate "script", but I can't do it at the moment without re-doing the crossword.

What do these root words mean?

auto= bene= bi= bio= contra= -cracy= cycle= demo= dict= fact= hydro= geo= graph= mari= micro= meter= mobile= -ology= pre= port= post= psyche= trans= tele= therm= phobia= phone= satis= script= sub= techno= vis=

answers

auto=self bene=good bi=two bio=life contra=against -cracy=rule, govern cycle=circle demo=people dict=say fact=made, done hydro=water geo=earth graph=write mari=ocean, sea micro=small meter=measure mobile=easy to move -ology=study pre=before port=carry post=after psyche=mind, spirit trans=across tele=far therm=heat phobia=fear phone=voice, sound satis=enough script=write sub=under techno=art, skill vis=see

examples

life+write= biography

life+study=biology

far+see=television

far+voice=telephone

self+life+write=autobiography

across+carry=transport

two+circle=bicycle

people+write=demographics

people+rule=democracy

earth+write=geography

earth+study=geology

water+fear=hydrophobia

under+ocean=submarine

earth+heat=geothermal

self+rule=autocracy

heat+measure=thermometer

mind+study=psychology

skill+study=technology

self+easy to move=automobile

easy to move+voice= mobile phone

far+write=telegraph

small+life+study=microbiology

under+write=subscript

after+write=postscript

skill+fear=technophobia

across+fear=transphobia

people+fear=demophobia

small+fear=microphobia

people+study=demology

skill+rule=technocracy

mind+writing=psychography

small+sound=microphone

fear+writing=graphophobia

before+say=predict

after+say=postdict

good+say=benediction

against+ say=contradict

good+ done=benefactor

enough+ done=satisfactory

water+sound=hydrophone

far+ carry= teleport

life+ fear= biophobia