Reporting Verbs in English

Reporting Verbs that are followed by that:

Wordle: Reporting Verbs2

Examples:

Direct Speech: "The report needs to be edited"
Reported Speech:  He said the report needed to be edited.
Reporting Verbs: He found that the report needed editing.

Direct Speech: "I deserve a second chance."
Reported Speech: He said he deserved a second chance.
Reporting Verbs:He insisted that he deserved a second chance.

Direct Speech: "It's my fault the letter was late."
Reported Speech: She said it was her fault the letter was late.
Reporting Verbs:She acknowledged that it was her fault the letter was late.
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Speaking Phrases Unit 7

Write a sentence using your assigned phrase.

We should probably...
Don't you think we ought to...
Let's just...
It seems to me...
Look at it this way...
If we...then...
If we were...

--------------------------------------
ELENA
Look at it this way, I´m sure you would like to know the truth about what happened.

BERTA
It seems to me easier to go to work than stay at home.

JOSE D.
Don't you think we ought to buy tickets for the king´s cup final?
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English Vocabulary Unit 7

Quizlet Games






behind bars
in prison
colleague
co-worker
fundamental
an essential part, basic
get away with
not be caught or punished when you have done something wrong
illegal
against the law
imprison
put in jail
legitimate
lawful, rightful; reasonable;, justifiable
offense
a crime less serious than a felony
outrageous
shocking
punish
make someone suffer because they have done something wrong or broken the law
pickpocket
a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places
gray area
an intermediate area; unclear
red alert
the most urgent warning to be ready for an emergency
as white as a sheet
looking pale, because of illness, strong emotion
on the black market
sold in a way that is not legal
the black sheep of the family
very different from others, less respected
see red
become very angry
abduct
take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom

accomplice
(n.) a person who takes part in a crime

apprehend
take into custody

capture
capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping

charge
file a formal charge against

conduct an investigation
to direct or take part in the operation or management of an observation or study by close examination and systematic inquiry

disorderly conduct
disturbing public peace

hold up
rob at gunpoint or by means of some other threat

kidnap
take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom

kidnapper
people who steal someone away for ransome

law enforcement officials
police

mastermind
plan and direct (a complex undertaking)

prankster
someone who plays practical jokes on others

rob
take something away by force or without the consent of the owner

terrorize
fill with terror

troublemaker
someone who deliberately stirs up trouble

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Incorporate Writing and Vocabulary into Class Wiki

Creating the wiki for my classroom was easy, the harder part was figuring out how to incorporate it into my class.  The first way I used it was to post lesson vocabulary, grammar explanations and resources.  Then I began having students post their writing.  But it was still not achieving what I wanted which was to have students interact more with the wiki in order to learn more.

CRITIQUING EACH OTHERS WORK
One thing that I did was to have students critique each other's work.  I assigned each student a partner and they had to give each other feedback.  I set the rule that they needed to give three comments two compliments and one revision.  The reason to do this is that you don't want students to go overboard on their critiquing and you want it to be a positive experience for the ones receiving the critiques.

At first I had set up a table with students names on it in one column and on the other column the student would enter their writing.  When students critiqued each other they would enter it underneath the student's writing in a different color. It was pretty rudimentary and I was not very happy with it.

The changes I made to this system have made it much easier and more interactive.  First I entered the description of the assignment on a page with the name and date of the assignment.  Then I entered a discussion post giving them instructions how to enter their writing.  Then I checked to Monitor Topic so that I would get emails when the students entered their writing.  It also has a Lock Topic button which is useful if you want to set a deadline for students to enter their work.  

INCREASING VOCABULARY INTERACTION
The other thing I implemented was to have them interact more with the vocabulary we we're learning.  I assigned each student three vocabulary words.  On the Unit vocabulary page I posted a discussion where students had to enter a sentence using each of their words.  This made students review the vocabulary word definitions that I had posted in the wiki, instead of waiting until before the test to review the vocabulary.  In class students shared their sentences and we corrected some of them if they need it.  

Researches say that it takes 7 times for a student to interact with a word in order to learn it and 21 times in order to start using it.  If students only see a word when we first learn it and then when they have to review for the test that is only two times, that doesn't do much to increase their vocabulary.
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Aprendiendo Ingles con Canciones

En estos videos del autor Jason R. Levine, con nombre artistico de Fluency MC usan el rap para mejorar el ingles.  Atraves de canciones el estudiante puede desarrollar sus destresas de gramatica, vocabulary, listening y pronunciacion de una manera divertida. Por ejemplo tiene uno que muestra la diferencia entre "make or do." Lo bueno es que tiene subtitulos de colores, poniendo enfasis en las palabras que desea subrayar. Suelen ser video de 3 a 5 minutos.

Con musica rapera como la de los "Beastie Boys" va rapeando rimas que explican muy bien conceptos gramaticos de una forma que entretiene al mismo tiempo que enseña.  Tambien tiene videos que explican varios modimos importantes ilustrados con fotos. Estos videos tambien intentan que el estudiante se divierta al tiempo que mejora su pronunciacion cantando estas canciones.
Las canciones son pegajosas y cuando las vas escuchando se te va grabando la letra y los conceptos.

Aqui os dejo algunos ejemplos de sus videos.


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Los mejores sitios en Youtube para aprender ingles

English Lessons 4U - la profesora tiene un sentido del humor medio raro, pero sus clases son muy claras y especificas.

English with Jennifer - muy buena profesora. Da muy buenos ejemplos y intenta ilustrarlos lo mejor que se puede en un video.  Aqui os dejo un ejemplo sobre gerundios e infinitivos.


Selva Ingles - muy buen sitio si estas empezando con el ingles pues la profesora hace los videos en español.  Tambien tiene videos para estudiantes mas avanzados.  La chica es muy simpatica y los videos estan muy bien hechos.  Las clases son muy amenas.

Rebecca ESL - un buen sitio si tu ingles es un nivel intermedio, pero aun tienes problemas con el listening, porque los videos son en ingles pero tienen subtitulos.  Me gusta tambien porque usa una pizarra y organiza muy bien las lecciones.

Minoo Anglo Link - estos videos me gustan porque ademas de que la profesora habla bastante despacio, sus lecciones estan bien organizadas y usa pantallas de Powerpoint para ilustrar la leccion.

Seguire apuntando otros sitios en Youtube que te ayudaran a practicar tu ingles al la vez que vas resolviendo dudas que tengas.
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Increase Your English Students Reading Confidence



Increase their reading confidence as well as their English skills.

There is no greater motivator than success.

As part of my reading project I am exploring the use of leveled readers in the acquirement of English.  I have been using them since the start of this academic year.  At first I was unsure how it was going to be received by my students, especially my adult classes. But I spoke to them about the research that I've been doing and how it says that reading can increase their vocabulary and their comprehension.  They reluctantly got on board, but now they are totally enjoying it.  One of the main comments is "I feel great to that I can understand."

As a primary teacher in California I saw every year the progress my students made when they were reading books at their level.  Progressively we increased their level as they got more comfortable with each level and by the end of the year even the students that had come in below grade level had reached grade level or were close to it.

This inspired me to try this in my English language classes. I am very proud to say that my students are doing very well.  One of the important things in this project is to have them choose their own books.  I taught them how to choose the right level for them. They read a page from a book and keep track of how many words they found difficult.  If in the first page they find more than five words that they don't understand and could not decipher the meaning from the context then that book is to hard for them.

As part of the project I have them read in class for 5 minutes, just enough to get them into their book. Then for about 10 minutes in a group of 4 they discuss what they have read in their books so far.  This has a two-fold purpose: one they lead busy lives and sometimes they don't get enough time outside of class to read, but if I allow them to read in class and then discuss it with their peers, they get motivated to make the time to continue reading outside of class.  The other purpose it to get them speaking about something that they are enjoying. An added bonus is that it helps them increase the comprehension of their book.

Once they have completed the book I give them a writing assignment.  I try to have them do creative reports, such as writing a poem about their book or a letter to one of the main characters.  They like it because it is not the typical a summary of the book.  They also have to do a presentation of their book to their peers.  In a homogeneous group of 4, no more than 5 students, they get a chance to share their book.  I come up with different questions for them to answer each time, to keep them engaged.  I go around listening to their presentations and helping them out if they need it.

So far it has been very gratifying to see them respectfully listening to each other, asking to read the book next and sharing details about their book.  I haven't had to ask anyone to move up a level, they have been monitoring their progress and moving up as they feel more comfortable. Some have moved up two levels since we started.
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