Task 5: Week 29 March - 4 April: About Book Blogs

Dear All,

how are you? Hope things are more or less all right under the circumstances. What I would like us to discuss this week is what you have been reading individually in English either in the course of General English or smth you have been reading for pleasure.

What you need to include in your blog post is the following details:

a) The author, the title, and a picture of the book cover

b) Explain why you have chosen to read the book and compare how your impressions about it compare with what you have read on the book cover:
-how does the book cover information compare with your own impressions about the book: does the book content matches or is different from the information on the book cover? Explain

c) Choose one of the issues the book is devoted to and explain the following things in your post
- what the issue is?
- why are you concerned about it?
- how is this issue addressed in the book?
- your thoughts about how a certain issue is addressed:
-do you agree with how it is addressed: if yes, explain why
-if no, explain what should/could have been done differently

d) Explain whether you think your peers could be interested in reading the book you have chosen and why

e) Read a post written by one of your peers and comment on it:
-Would you like to read the book your peer has chosen?
-Ask 2-3 questions to learn more about one of the issues the book addresses


Your post should be 250-300 words

Your deadline is March 5

Task 4: Week March 22-28: Connecting to the World Today

Dear All,

How're you? Hope you are doing fine, though maybe you want your daily routines to get back to normal. Do you?

I thought it'd be interesting for us to share our ideas about creative ways to link the classroom to the world. 

First think about between an image and an event in history. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/learning/freedom.html

Share your suggestions in the thread first and then read the opinions of your peers and comment briefly on their opinions.

Next read from a selection of opinions about the connection between the images other teenagers have expressed: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/learning/freedom.html#commentsContainer. Choose 1 or 2 that you either (strongly) agree or disagree and explain why. 

After that, you should read the article in the NYT (https://nyti.ms/2UADdNp), in which 50 teenagers shared their ideas about the connection well-known classical texts have with today's world. Choose one that you have read or are familiar with and write a post in which you will express your opinion about the chosen book.

Alternatively, you can choose some other classical book and share your opinion about its connection with today's world. Publish your explanation in the thread of the blog or if you prefer in your own blog (in this case publish the link to your post in the thread below).

Altogether then you first explain the connection b/w the images above; then write the 2nd part of your post in which you discuss the connection between the book from those mentioned in the article or one of your choice and explain its connection to today's world. The genre of your piece is Opinion. The word limit for this task is 300 words.

Task 3: Videos with questions

Dear all,

I'm sure you have a faviourite Youtube clip. Can you share it with us and explain what made it one of your favourites.

Next, prepare a question your peers need to answer after watching this clip. The clip should be short, about 2-3 min maximum because the main purpose of it is to use it as a trigger for discussion of some issue you're concerned about.

I'm not quite sure how the task above will work, so here is an alternative path. It's the NYT Learning Network list of topics for discussion and suggestions about possible aspects of the problems to discuss:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/over-1000-writing-prompts-for-students.amp.html

If you choose to follow this path, then you should choose one  

of the prompts and develop your first essay draft devoted to its discussion

The topic I got interested in investigating is whether The SocialMedia Making Us More Narcissistic? - The New York Times
h //learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/student-question-is-social-media-making-us-more-narcissistic/?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Flearning-student-opinion

If you are interested in this topic, you should read the discussion in the NYT and then develop your essay on this topic, using the materials from the discussion in the NYT to develop your essay