Links to our WebQuests

1. Shaya Barnett: 1920's Slang

2. Courtney Shelby: Drug Slang

3. Dana Stute: 1920's Slang

4. Danielle McCarty: 1920's Slang

5. Jordan Glodich: Prison Slang

6. Ashley McGillis: Prison Slang

7. Chris Lacy: Baseball Slang

8. Sam Jolly: 1960's Slang

9. Angela Wille: Prison Slang

10. Stephanie Schofield: 1960's Slang

11. Eric Yearian: Basketball Slang

12. Laura Melfi: 1960's Slang

13. Heather Schultz: 1920's Slang

14. Logan Malloy: Basketball Lingo

15. Michara Canty: 1920's Slang

16. Liza Tressler: 1960's Slang

17. Rosalind Whitley: The Language of Fashion

18. Lila Adkins: Prison Slang

19. Stefani Pittman: Prison Slang

Mini Lesson: That vs. Which

This lesson is for 10th grade students.

Engage: The students will be engaged in this lesson by viewing a short video featuring Jane Straus discussing some rules of THAT vs. WHICH.

Video 1

Video 2


Explore: Students will explore the usage of that and which and their relationship to restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

Explain: I will explain to the class the correct way of attacking THAT and WHICH. 

Expand: Along with the grammar guidelines, sentences of examples will be used to help understanding. 

Evaluate: The class will finish the lesson with a quiz in order to evaluate their comprehension.

E-Search:  Students will be asked to write six sentences for homework; three using the correct form of that and three using which.

Mini Lesson on The Apostrophe

Engage: The students will be engaged by viewing a video about the use of the apostrophe.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-use-an-apostrophe

Explore: The students will explore the correct and incorrect ways to use an apostrophe.

Explain: I will explain to the students that oftent times, people missuse the apostrophe. I will also explain ways to remember the correct uses, and also how to proofread for apostrophes.

Expand: After the rules of the apostrophe are examined, specific examples of correct and incorrect uses will be given.

Evaluate: Once the students have learned the rules, they will take an online quiz about the use of the apostrophe. We will do this activity as a class.

E-Search: For homework, the students will be expected to go back to the online quiz, and take Level C. They will print out their results and bring them to class the next day.

Mini Lesson: Semi-Colons & Colons

Mini Lesson is for 11th grade students.


Engage: The students will be engaged in this lesson by viewing an introductory video on the topic at hand.

Video

Explore: We will explore the many different uses and rules for incorporating these two punctuation marks into sentences.

Explain: I will explain to the class the correct/incorrect ways of using semi-colons and colons through examples.

Expand: In addition to the rules, specific examples pertaining to the rules will be given in order to enhance comprehension.

Evaluate: Once informed, the class will take a quiz covering the basic rules and functions of the colon and semi-colon. We will do this activity as a class.

E-Search: After the quiz, students will be asked to complete homework, covering the rules of semi-colons and colons.

Mini Lesson: Tenses

 This lesson is for 6th grade students. 

Engage- I will ask students how many tenses they know. Then students will watch a short video on tenses to get their attention. Students will be introduced to the basic meaning behind each tense (past, present, and future).

VIDEO

Explore- We will explore the different rules of each tense, and when each tense should be applied. 

Explain- I will explain each of the twelve tenses. The uses and forms of of each tense will be explained to the class through examples on the power point.

Expand- Students will take an online quiz as a class on tenses. This allows for student participation to make sure students understand each tense.

QUIZ

Evaluate- To help students further understand tenses, for homework, they will be asked to write five sentences using five different tenses.

E-search- For homework, students must also go online and research one tense. After they have collected as much information as they could, students should create a short story. This story should be eight to ten sentences, and be written in the tense they researched. 

Esperanto: The Language You Weren't Supposed to Know Exists

Esperanto: The Language You Weren't Supposed to Know Exists

Esperanto (n) a planned international language which has been taught and learned for over a century, but which has been beat down from schools by the Man.

Esperanto's purpose served to free learning from the inconsistencies of European languages, and subsequently had "language awareness effects, including awareness of linguistic inequality, linguistic structure, and the sociocultural functions of language." Through the results of experiments after WWI, Esperanto is also considered "modern Latin", a language for other languages to build upon that tied it all together. Studies in Manchester, England revealed that not only did learning Esperanto aid the process of learning other languages, learning one year of Esperanto was the equivalent of learning four years of French, and also had a positive, propadeutic effect on their knowledge of English. Similar results were found on a broad range of languages. Granted, there are various limitations that apply to these findings that apply to most scientific studies.

Esperanto is distinguishable from other languages through its small number of rules and morphemes which "allows students to freely employ both convergent and divergent forms of reasoning, and thereby stimulates linguistic confidence and creativity." The language is built to stress multilingual awareness. 

It all sounds good, so why didn't/doesnt the language flourish?

Esperanto experiences the same prejudices as AAE and American Sign Language. Teachers also play down suggestions that it might lead students to question existing linguistic hierarchies, but this is exactly what the language is designed to do. 

What do you think of Esperanto? 

Have you heard of it before? 

Should Esperanto be taught in schools? 

Does the world, centuries later, still need an international language or has English taken this role, as the article suggests in its conclusion?

It is argued that the fact that Esperanto lacks a culture is a hindrance? Is it?

Mini Lesson: Either/or, Neither/Nor, Not only/But also

Engage:   The students will see a glue bottle meant to grasp their attention because it is particularly odd. The glue bottle will be used to introduce the topic as well as provide a glimpse into the purpose of correlative conjunctions.

Explore:   Students will be given a short list of the common correlative conjunctions and then asked to recognize them in three quotes.

Explain:   I will explain the rules and the function of correlative conjunctions to the class. These rules and functions will be mixed with examples to show the right and wrong way to use correlative conjunctions.

Expand:  Students will be asked to construct a sentence as a class using parts of a sentence cut out on construction paper. To expand on the topic some more we will visit an online site to further the students understanding of the use of correlative conjunctions.

Link to Quiz

(http://esl.lbcc.cc.ca.us/eesllessons/correlative%20conjunctions/corconmc.htm)

Evaluate:  The activity online that is used to expand on the subject will give me a glimpse into how well the students understand the topic. To further evaluate their progress they will be asked to construct three sentences using specific instructions for homework.

E-search:  The students will be asked to go home and search for information on correlative conjunctions. Using the information they find they should construct a five-question quiz about correlative conjunctions.