What Winter Means in My Family

Not everyone celebrates Christmas or Chanukah, Chinese New Year or Kwanzaa - but many people all over the world celebrate during the winter for their own reasons. Because of these different celebrations, winter can feel special. In 3 paragraphs (indented with correct punctuation and edited for spelling) describe what winter means in your family. Post the result in your blog. Use many details and adjectives to help us understand!

Podcast Project

Now that you know what a podcast is, it's time to make one yourself!

1. Choose a partner
2. Open a new Google Doc, share it with your partner and Ms. Lorch
3. Plan and write your ideas for your own podcast

• teach people something about learning English
• teach people something about going to school at Furness

4. Click on the start button, type in sound recorder, click on it to record your podcast
5. Convert the WMA file to mp3 at www.zamzar.com (they will send you an e-mail)
6. Open you e-mail and download each file (You will find your files in the download folder - start > computer > downloads
7. Edit your clips at www.mp3cut.net
8. Join the clips together and publish on www.podomatic.com (you will need to create an account)
9. Send the link to Ms. Lorch and your partner!

HAVE FUN!

Podcasts

Please do some research about podcasts. Open a new e-mail message to me and tell me what a podcast is. Then, find three podcasts that your find interesting on the internet. One can be in your native language, two should be in English. Then, answer the following questions about EACH of the THREE podcasts:

1. What is the link to the podcast?
2. What is the title of the podcast?
3. Who is the target audience (for whom do you think the podcast was created?)
4. What  topic are they speaking about?
5. What is something about the podcast that you liked?
6. What is something about the podcast that you would do differently?

Evaluate Yourself!

Please describe your experience in the first marking period of this year, that ends today. Analyze your performance in your classes. What do you think you did well? What could you have done better? What changes do you plan to make to ensure your success next marking period?

I will grade your blog using the following rubric. Please make sure to ask questions if there is anything you don't understand!

This year the ACCESS test is online! That means the reading, writing, speaking, and listening will all take place with the computer, keyboard, microphone, and headphones. Don't let the technology interfere with your score! You all have worked hard since last year to improve your English!

Practice the exam here, and make sure you feel comfortable with the process!

ESOL Dictionary

Please use this site for looking up words that you want to learn:
http://www.ldoceonline.com/

Technology Vocabulary

Alignment - It is a line that you cannot see, which is where words begin and end on the page.

Alt – a key that changes (alternates) the use of other keys, used with other keys, not by itself.

Apps - The list of applications associated with your gmail account

Ascending - going up, from lower to higher (in Google Spreadsheet A-Z, for example, or 1-10)

Attachment - The files you add to any e-mail you send, the picture, song, video, or document that you attach to an e-mail.

Autocorrect – when Microsoft Word automatically fixes your spelling and capitalization mistakes on common words

Example: you type teh and the computer fixes it to the without you having to change anything.

Backspace - moves to the left, erasing letters on the way

Bold – a way to make the text darker, blacker – used for information that is extra important

Example: This is in bold print.

Blog - Online diary, organized by date, it can be about any topic.

Example:

Bullet Points - small dots, circles, which help to organize information for presenting.

• Be Prompt
• Be Prepared
• Be Proactive

Button - icons/the pictures and words that you can click in Microsoft Word to start and stop different things that the program can do

Cell - one, single box of information in Google Spreadsheet

Column - The vertical (up and down) information in Google Spreadsheet

Copy - makes a copy of whatever you select, you can now use it somewhere else (Ctrl - C)

CPU - Central Processing Unit, the brains of the computer

Cut - when you want to take away text you selected. It can be gone forever or you can paste it somewhere else. (Ctrl - X)

Data - information, numbers

Descending - going down, from higher to lower (in Google Spreadsheet A-Z, for example, or 1-10)

Desktop - the starting point when you turn on your computer

Drive - Google's Cloud application for creating, saving, and sharing your files (you can get these files from any computer with Internet access because it's saved in your gmail account)

Double Click - When you click two times fast on the mouse, a word is highlighted.

Edit - to change, fix, or make your document better

E-mail - e-mail is an electronic letter, which you send with your e-mail address.

Example: mrsbhavnani@gmail.com

Enter - moves to the next line, or enters information into a field

Escape - exits out of a window (like when you are watching youtube full screen, or giving a presentation

Find - it will find a word or words that you are looking for in the document.

Flyer - A one-page advertisement, to inform or try to get new customers. It gives the address, website, and phone number of a business or organization and important information about what they do.

Font -The style of the letters on the page, how they look

Grammatical Errors - A mistake, something that does not work in English (NOT spelling). MSW uses a green squiggly line to show you that there is a problem. 

Hardware - all the parts of a computer that you can physically touch

Example: CPU, mouse, keyboard, monitor

Header - The top of the page, any information that is written here repeats on every page. To get there double-click at the top of the page.

Icon - it's a picture that you click and it does something (like open a program, or change font, etc.)

Indent - The space before the words start in your paragraph, you can increase (make bigger) or decrease (make less)

Internet - a way for all computers to connect to each other, and to share information (can be programs, pictures, music, documents)

Keyboard

Margin - the white space around the document

Maximize - Makes your window get bigger, to cover the screen. (The middle box.)

Microsoft Word - 

A program used for creating documents and writing text. 

Minimize - 

Makes your window get smaller and go down in your ribbon at the bottom of the page. (The left box.)

Monitor - screen

Paste - you can insert cut or copied text and pictures from other places (after you used the cut or copy function.) (Ctrl - V)

Program - Software on your computer that does a special job for you.

Replace - It puts one thing in the place of another. It changes the words.

Row - the horizontal (left to right) information in Google Spreadsheet

Save - If you click this button it will save your document wherever it is right now. BE CAREFUL when you open an attachment from the Internet that you choose the right file location (Desktop/folder with your name) so that you can find it again.

Save As - When you want to make a copy and make new changes WITHOUT changing your first document, you can Save As and give it a new name. This is especially useful when you're saving from the Internet

Scroll - to move up or down the page of a website or computer screen

Select Text - When you select words or sentences, and they become blue. Now you can do something with them.

Share - The link you click to allow others to see your Google Drive documents

Software - Programs, data, and instructions for the computer that helps you do different jobs. You can see it, but not touch it. It is on your computer or a CD.

Example: Crossfire, Temple Run, Microsoft Word

Sort - to choose the order of information in Google Spreadsheet and decide which information is most important

Spell Check - Checks your work for spelling mistakes and tells you how to fix it.

Spelling Error - A mistake, something you did not spell correctly. MSW uses a red squiggly line to show you that there is a problem. 

Example: homeworks 

Spreadsheet - information that is organized into rows and columns

Tab - The menus at the top of Microsoft Word that shows you your different options. (Home, Insert, Page Layout, etc.)

Tab Key - The key on the keyboard that moves your cursor to the place where the tab alignment is set

Technology - New machines, equipment, and ways of doing things that are based on modern knowledge about science and computers

Examples: Cell Phones, Tablets, ipods, computers, machines

Text - the words on a page

Text Wrapping - Tells Microsoft Word how close to the picture you want the text (words). To get to text wrapping RIGHT-click on the photo.

Track Changes - The button in the Review tab that starts and stops the document from showing you all the changes that you or someone else make to your document.

Underline - to draw a line under the words to make them seem more important

Example: This is underlined.

Watermark - puts words or images in the background of the page lightly, so you don't see it very strong. 

It's on the page layout

Webquest -  a webquest is an online project that students need to use the internet to find, think about and use information to complete.

Example: Call Me Maria Pre-reading Webquest

Website - A place on the Internet, an address (like a house)

Example: mrsbhavnani.webs.com, khybertv.web.com, cctv.com

Web Page - pages of your website, like a room in your house

Example: on website mrsbhavnani.webs.com one page is for ESOL II only, so there is a link from the home page and you will find information there for ESOL II.

Wiki - A web page that can be edited by a limited number of people, or everyone.
Example: esolicdl.wikispaces.com