Laughter is the Best Medicine

How do you feel right now? Are you happy? Write down a number on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) that indicates how happy you feel at this very moment... 

Now think about these questions:

• Why is something funny?
• What is the purpose of laughter?
• Why don't we all laugh at the same things?
• Does laughter improve our mental health?
• Did you laugh more when you were a little kid than you do now?
• Can you tickle yourself and make yourself laugh?

Look at the clip from the movie Frozen below (and/or try these Dumb Jokes That Are Funny):

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Again, from a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate your feeling of happiness? Did your score go up? The idea is that is should have if you though this was funny!

Here's what some studies on laughter has shown:

Laughter is good for your health

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

The Benefits of Laughter
Physical Health Benefits: Boosts immunity Lowers stress hormones Decreases pain Relaxes your muscles Prevents heart disease	Mental Health Benefits: Adds joy and zest to life Eases anxiety and fear Relieves stress Improves mood Enhances resilience	Social Benefits: Strengthens relationships Attracts others to us Enhances teamwork Helps defuse conflict Promotes group bonding

Would you agree? Here's a short video about the effects of laughter from National Geographic: Is Laughter the Best Medicine?

And here's the key: Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone!

So, how can be laugh more, be happier, and reap all the health benefits mentioned above?

Create opportunities to laugh!

• Watch a funny movie or TV show.
• Watch your favorite comedian.
• Read some comics.
• Seek out funny people.
• Share a good joke or a funny story.
• Check out your bookstore’s humor section.
• Host game night with friends.
• Play with a pet.
• Go to a “laughter yoga” class.
• Goof around with children.
• Do something silly.
• Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

Also, try not to become bogged down with the negative, and instead focus on ways to lighten up! Here are some helpful tips:

Checklist for lightening up

When you find yourself taken over by what seems to be a horrible problem, ask these questions:

• Is it really worth getting upset over?
• Is it worth upsetting others?
• Is it that important?

• Is it that bad?
• Is the situation irreparable?
• Is it really your problem?

Lastly, here's a fun game to play with a group that will certainly get everyone laughing!

Honey, I love you but...

Goal: To try to make the person who is “it” to smile or laugh –or to not smile/laugh when you’re “it”.

How to Play Honey, I Love You Game:
1. Break everyone into groups of 6 (each group can play the game independently). Have everyone sit in a circle.

2. Have one person from each group start by being “it”. The “it” person tries not to smile or laugh throughout the round. The person on the left of the one who is “it”begins and tries to make the person smile by asking a question or telling a joke. The “it” person can only respond by saying the phrase, “Honey, I love you, but I just can’t smile.”

3. If the person succeeds and makes the “it” person smile/laugh, then they are “it” for the new round. If they don't succeed, the next person attempts to make the “it” person smile or laugh. If the “it” person is able to not smile/laugh throughout all of the remaining people, he or she wins the game.

(Sources: The laughing Brain, Great Group Games, helpguide.org)

Avoiding Filler Words

You know those words...uh, like, um, etc. Those words you use to fill in the pauses while you're speaking. They aren't evil, but you should be aware when you say them, and ask yourself if you are overusing these little fillers--especially if another word will do.Take a look at the clips below:

Justin Bieber says "like"a lot.

Girl on MTV can't stop saying "like"

Natalie Portman um accepts her um Oscar

Even the president of the United States could use some work on his ums!

 Mmkaay Mr. Mackey?

So, how do you kick the “ah, um” habit and avoid these words in natural conversation? First you need to be aware of when you're using these filler words. Here's a game to play that will help:

Goal: Avoid saying the taboo words “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You Know”.

Preparation:
- List of topic ideas 
- Timer

How to Play The Ah, Um Game:
1. Separate everyone into groups of about three or four. A person must talk to their group about a certain topic for one full minute without saying the following taboo words: “Ah”, “Um”, “Like”, or “You Know”. If the person does not say the taboo words in the round, then the person can move to the second round. If they accidentally say a taboo word, then it'll be the next person's turn.

2. Have one person in each group volunteer to be first. Use the timer/watch to track a minute and announce one of the topics listed below.

3. Afterwards, have a different person from each team volunteer to go next and repeat the same exercise as above. The people who avoid saying the taboo words are the winners of the game.

List of Topic Ideas (or come up with your own!)

-Favorite Movie
-Favorite Animal
-Best Gift
-Favorite TV Show
-What did you do last week?
-Summer Activities
-Birthday Party
-What would you do with 10,000 euros?
-What do you want to be when you grow up?
-What is your favorite activity?
-What is your favorite dessert?

How'd you do? Which filler words are you more likely to use?
If you have a problem with "like" here are some tips to help you cut it out of your speaking:

How to Stop Saying Like

Current Event Group Presentations

TTO students are currently researching a news story that they find interesting. Some of topics they are looking into include:

The Boris Nemstov killing in Moscow



Photo: Newsweek.com



 Jihadi John

Photo: BBC

 

 

 

Lost City of the Monkey God discovered in Honduras

 

 

Hundreds of Koalas culled in Australia

 

 

World Cup Qatar Problems

 

 

Students will give oral presentations on their topics. The presentation should include:

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1. News story:

• What happened?
• Who was involved?
• Where did it happen?

BODY:

 

2. Historical Background

• Why is/did this happen/ing?

3. Present Consequences

• Who/what does/did this immediately affect?

4. Future Implications

• Predict the outcomes of this event (your opinion supported by facts)

CONCLUSION:

 

5. Review your original points in the body. Discuss a possible solution

 

 

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION:

• Prepare questions to stimulate audience discussion after your presentation

 

Other Criteria:

• Each person in the group should speak during the presentation.
• Use Video, images (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.)

Part of the final mark will be how actively you participated in your group:

• Did you speak English all of the time/most of the time/none of the time?
• Did all group members share equally in the tasks necessary to put together a good presentation?
• Did the group stay on task and focused during class research time?

                                

 

 

 





Pronouncing Place Names

Part of becoming fluent in English is to be able to pronounce the names of places as the natives do in English speaking countries. For instance, if you were planning a trip to Chicago for a job interview in the United States, and you mentioned to your prospective employer that you would be arriving in Chi-cago (with a strong "ch" sound instead of the "sh") "Illi-noise" early the next morning, it would be clear to them that, although you're speaking English, you are not from the United States.


Test your confidence in pronouncing the names of the states* and their capitals** in the list to the right. Then watch the music video below and see how well you did:

*watch Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Arkansas

** watch Juneau, Indianapolis, Boise, Baton Rouge, Cheyenne.

Now let's make things more difficult. These are places in the UK that most Americans can't even pronounce! Take the place name challenge and try your hand at pronouncing them:

1.     Aberystwyth

2.     Bicester

3.     Cirencester

4.     Derby

5.     Dumfries

6.     Ely

7.     Frome

8.     Gloucester

9.     Hartlepool

10. Llanelli

11. Leicester

12. Leominster

13. Loughborough

14. Marlborough

15. Marylebone

16. Mousehole

17. Reading

18. Powys

19. Slough

20. Tottenham

21. Fowey

22. Islay

23. Gwynedd

24. Ruislip

25. Pontypridd

26. Durham

27. Woking

28. Worcester

 How well do you think you did? Check your answers by watching this entertaining video where a woman from the UK challenges an American to take the UK place name challenge!

 Try finding these places on a map of the UK. It's also fun to use Google Street View to "walk" around these places and get a virtual feel for them!

Impromptu Speaking: Organization

For the last few weeks of the school year, we'll be working on how to how to organize a public speech and stand in front of an audience an give a presentation. The focus will be impromptu speaking. According to the Free Dictionary, impromptu is something "spoken, performed, done, or composed with little or no preparation; extemporaneous." Impromptu speaking is also known as "extemporaneous speaking." An impromptu speech can't be prepared in advance, so the student must learn the skills to quickly organize the topic, and then present that topic with ease and confidence. 

For our purposes, each student will be given a card with a topic written on it. They will then have a few minutes to prepare a speech about that topic. Here are some topic examples

·       My three favorite animals.

·       What you would find in my closet. Make something up.

·       What you'd find under my bed.

·       The best letter of the alphabet.

·       Why your mom/dad is special.

·       A day that stands out.

·       The best surprise ever.

(Find more here)

 Organization

It is important to know how a speech is organized before you begin. The picture to the right is a helpful way to think about your speech.

After you have your topic:

First: Make a mental list of three things you want to say about it, and reasons or examples for each. These three things will make up the body of your speech. Once you have these, the remaining elements of your speech, the introduction and conclusion will be easy!

Here's how you speech will look:

Introduction:

“Hello, my name is_______and today I’d like to talk to you about________.

Body: (your three things)

·     “The first reason/thing …..because……”

·     “The second reason/thing” or “secondly” “….because….”

·     “The final reason/thing” or “finally…..because”

Conclusion

“To conclude” or “in conclusion…these are the reasons/things….”

Use this "map" for every speech, and you will be on the road to giving a successful presentation every time!

  

 

The Comic Page

The Fluency students have created so many great comics (see last post), we've added a few more on this special "Comic Page." So just sit back, relax, and get ready to be entertained! --The first one is a special creation by a student who created his comic by hand, and then did a special animation for it. You'll love it, I promise!!

The Pig Party by Tycho

~by Gisbert~

~by Hugo~

~by Mark~

~by Paul~

~by Thomas~

It's Comical

Reading comic strips is a fun way to improve your English skills. Try it! Here are a few sites to get you started:

• Marvel Kids Comics  Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America and many other heroes!
• Kidjutsu Comics for Kids includes a variety and a lot of anime.
• Go Comics All your favorites including Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Ziggy and tons more.
• King Feature Comics Includes Blondie, Popeye, Denise the Menace and numerous others.

If reading comics is good for language skills, creating your own is even better! For this lesson, we made sure we all knew "comic" vocabulary, for example, comic book, comic strip, speech bubble, story board, etc., and then practiced making our own on comic templates. (For lesson plan and blank comic templates, see here).

The next step was to try our hand at creating our own using tools available free online. Some of the sites the students enjoyed using include:

• Make Beliefs Comix
• ToonDoo
• Strip Generator

Here is the grading criteria for the student-generated comics:
 

Comic Strip Grading Rubric

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Attention to detail	Comic Strip shows exceptional attention to detail.	Comic Strip shows very good/good attention to detail	Comic Strip shows some attention to detail.	Comic strip shows little attention to detail.
Text Creativity	Student used all original ideas and text.	Most of the text and ideas is original.	A few original ideas, but either little text, or recycled text from other sources.	No original ideas used in text, or no text at all.
Organization	Pictures and text are extremely well organized and easy to understand.	Pictures and text are mostly well organized and easily understandable.	Pictures and text are only somewhat organized. Ideas come across as a bit chaotic.	Organization of material is confusing to the reader and comic looks as if it were haphazardly thrown together.
Clarity and Neatness	Comic Strip is easy to read and all elements are clear.	Comic Strip is easy to read and most elements are clear.	Comic Strip is somewhat easy to read and some elements are clear.	Comic Strip is hard to read and few elements are clear.
Spelling & Proofreading	No spelling or grammar errors	No more than 1 spelling/grammar error	No more than 3 spelling/grammar errors	Several spelling/grammar errors
Use of Time (Active Participation Grade)	Used time wisely.	Mostly used time wisely.	Sometimes used time wisely.	Wasted time in class and/or didn’t turn comic in on time.

Grading Table:
24-23 points = 10/9
23-18 points = 8/7
17-12 points = 6/5
Below 12 points = 4/3/2/1

The fluency students came up with some very clever dialogues and characters, and then got to work creating. Below you will find just a sample of the many--Enjoy!

By Danielle and Silvy (part 1)

By Danielle and Silvy (Part 2)

by Tara

by Noah

by Richard

by Rosalie

by Eijse