Joel Swagman (Reviews / TESOL): 01/01/2024

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney: Book Review

(Book Review--Children's Books, Comic Books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series)

Started: January 30, 2024

Finished: January 31, 2024

(This is my first time reading this book, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney: Book Review

Addendum: One thing I dropped the ball on in this review--according to Wikipedia:

Kinney commented that he enjoyed writing the book because "there’s so much humor to be mined in the world of middle school romance."^[2]

I should have talked more in my video about the school dance and the angst about getting a date which was the focus point of much of this book, but I didn't.

If I had talked about it, however, my commentary would have been much the same as the rest of the book--i.e. some of it was funny, but mostly the situations were pushed too far so that it took me out of the book.

Coming Up for Air by George Orwell: Book Review (Complete)

This video was originally published in two parts:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/G9fXc4-C38k

Part 2: https://youtu.be/DaIIN51V4wY

At the time, I didn't have access to editing equipment, so I just uploaded the videos separately. But now I've combined them into one video.

From this old blogpost:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/12/coming-up-for-air-by-george-orwell.html

Peer Editing Checklist for Formal Essay

(TESOL Worksheets--Writing, English for Academic Purposes)

Google: docs, pub

[I was recently teaching an English for Academic Purposes class in which students had to peer-edit each other's essays, and so I repurposed my IELTS Writing Task 2 Peer-Edit Check List and turned it into a Peer-Edit Checklist for essays in general. It is mostly the same checklist, but I've made some small changes to make it less focused on IELTS, and more focused on general essay structure.

For an older version of this same idea, see my Peer-Edit Guide from 2014.]

Writing Portfolio Peer Editing Checklist

Paragraphing:

Your partner’s essay should consist of an introduction, a conclusion, and either 2 or 3 body paragraphs, for a total of either 4 or 5 paragraphs.

	Yes	Need to fix
Is your partner’s essay divided into clear paragraphs (with line breaks in between the paragraphs)?
Does your partner have an introduction?
Does your partner have a conclusion?
Does your partner have between two or three body paragraphs?

Introduction Paragraph Structure:

Your partner’s introduction should start with a general statement about the topic. Then the next couple sentences should transition from the general to focus on the specific idea of the essay. (The exact number of transition sentences is flexible. In most essays, it will be somewhere between 1 and 2). The final sentence of the introduction should include the main idea of the essay, and also the main points from the boyd paragraphs.

	Yes	Need to fix
Is the first sentence a general statement about the topic?
Following the general statement, does your partner transition to the specific idea of the essay?
Does the final sentence of your partner’s introduction contain a thesis statement containing the main idea of their essay?
Does the thesis statement also contain the main points from the body paragraphs?

Body Paragraph Structure:

Each body paragraph should start with a clear topic sentence, which gives the main idea of the paragraph. Every other sentence in the paragraph should support the topic sentence. Any sentences in your paragraph that are not on the same subject as your topic sentence should either be deleted, or moved to a separate paragraph.

Typically an formal paragraph will follow this structure:

Topic sentence

1st supporting idea

Example of 1st supporting idea

2nd supporting idea

Example of 2nd supporting idea

Concluding Sentence

First Body Paragraph	Yes	Need to fix
Does the first body paragraph start with a clear topic sentence, which give the main idea of the paragraph?
Does every other sentence in the paragraph relate to the main idea in the topic sentence?
Is the topic sentence supported by supporting ideas and examples?
Does the first body paragraph end with a concluding sentence?

Second Body Paragraph	Yes	Need to fix
Does the second body paragraph start with a clear topic sentence, which give the main idea of the paragraph?
Does every other sentence in the paragraph relate to the main idea in the topic sentence?
Is the topic sentence supported by supporting ideas and examples?
Does the second body paragraph end with a concluding sentence?

Conclusion:

	Yes	Need to fix
Does the conclusion contain a sentence summarizing the main points from the body paragraphs?
Does the conclusion contain a sentence stating your partner’s opinion about the topic and explaining why?
Does the conclusion contain a sentence talking about the future?

Grammar:

Go through and check your partner’s essay for grammar mistakes. Underline any grammar mistakes you see. You will talk to your partner later about these mistakes.

Readability:

Do you understand your partner’s essay? Underline any sections or sentences that you have trouble understanding. You will talk to your partner later about these sections.

Your name_________________________________________

Your partner’s name_________________________________________

Finished: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney: Book Review

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Started: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Monday, January 29, 2024

Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3: Knightsend: Book Review

(Book Reviews--DC Comics, Comic Books)

On My Shelves: January 07, 2024

Started: January 11, 2024

Finished: January 28, 2024

(This is my first time reading this book, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)

Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3: Knightsend: Book Review

Links to reviews mentioned:

* Batman Knightfall Volume 1: Review: https://youtu.be/oKt2YpP7h9E

* Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2: Knightquest: Book Review: https://youtu.be/oAci7vvLoQI

* DC Universe: Inheritance by Devin Grayson: Book Review: https://youtu.be/vjmZxkvfsaQ

Weekly Reading Vlogs:

January 14, 2024 p.1-232

January 21, 2024 p.232-468

January 28, 2024 p.468-647

Playlist HERE:

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Teaching Unplugged by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury: Book Review (Complete)

This video was originally published in two parts:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/lkp_XsWNT_E

Part 2: https://youtu.be/x8Nm1yURrFE

At the time, I didn't have access to editing equipment, so I just uploaded the videos separately. But now I've combined them into one video.

From this old blogpost:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/10/teaching-unplugged-by-luke-meddings-and.html

Weekly Reading Vlog 143: Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong p.1002-1158, Deutoronomy 31-34, Joshua 1-7

(Weekly Reading Vlog)

Books (122 pages this week--the goal is 200 pages)

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (finished) (reviewed)

Three Kingdoms Volume 2 by Luo Guanzhong p.1002-1104 (102 pages) (from Three Kingdoms) (finished)(reviewed)

Three Kingdoms Volume 3 by Luo Guanzhong p.1153-1158 (5 pages) (from Three Kingdoms)

Deuteronomy p.222-228 (Deuteronomy 31-34) (From The Bible) (6 pages)

Joshua p.229-238 (Joshua 1-7) (From The Bible) (9 pages)

Comic Books (Comic Books don't count towards weekly page counts)

Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3: Knightsend p.468-647 (finished)

Podcasts:

Revolutions Season 8: The Paris Commune From 8.2- The Franco-Prussian War Finished 1st Listening. Started 2nd Listening To: 8.4- The Siege of Paris (from Revolutions Podcast)

Duolingo:

From: Section 2, Unit 6, Level 1, Lesson 2 To: Section 2, Unit 6, Level 5, Lesson 3 (My Duolingo profile is here. Here is the quizlet I use to practice all of the vocabulary I've learned in Duolingo, and here is a smaller quizlet I use to consolidate the new or difficult vocabulary.)

Videos From this Week:

* The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel: Book Review: https://youtu.be/7zJBEMjUCwE

* Deuteronomy (The Jerusalem Bible): Book Discussion: https://youtu.be/OvBacer89kM
* Three Kingdoms Volume 2 by Luo Guanzhong translated by Moss Roberts: Discussion: https://youtu.be/m8jIM3kmvJg

For more information about what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE.

Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo: Storytime and Writing Prompt

(TESOL Materials--Time Fillers, Writing, Storytime, Cause and Effect)

I have previously posted my reading of Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo.

Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo! by Dr Seuss: ESL Listening Storybook

But I was thinking that it would also make a good writing prompt, and so I've converted into a Storytime and Writing materials.

Google Folder HERE

The Storytime slides are here: slides, pub. (The images come from this website here.)

The follow-up writing prompt is here: docs, pub

Now, write your own story:

You may not believe it, but here’s how it happened. One fine summer morning _______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________