According to a recent study done in the UK, posting too many selfies on Facebook and other social media may not be so good for your relationships. "Wait", you may ask, "what exactly is a selfie?" A selfie is a photo you take of yourself, simple as that! Read more about it here in this Wikipedia entry.
And for more see"What is a Selfie" explanation here:
For this first part of a 2 part lesson on the above-mentioned UK study on selfies, the students did this exercise below (thanks to Breaking News English for word list!):
See how many of these words you can use in a sentence. Work
in pairs.
study / social networks / relationships /
photograph / photo sharing / close friends / Wikipedia / popularity / buzzword
/ shocked / control / flattering / supportive / opposite
After students had time to go through the list with their partner, many students had the opportunity to share a sentence with the rest of the class. Here are few:
A study shows that posting too many selfies on Facebook might not be a good thing.
Facebook is the social network I use most often.
If you post too many selfies, you might hurt your relationships.
Taking a photograph of yourself is called a selfie.
One photo sharing app is Instagram.
I like sharing things with my close friends.
If I want to know something, I sometimes look it up on Wikipedia.
I was shocked when I saw Miley Cyrus dancing the other night on TV!
Don't post so many selfies. Try to control yourself!
My parents are very supportive people.
Good is the opposite of bad. Posting too many selfies: bad. Not posting too many selfies: good.
You may notice there are a few words missing from this list of sentences. The reason is because some of the words proved difficult to make sentences with. Below are those words, with definitions and sentences provided by The Free Dictionary
Popularity: the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after; "his charm soon won him affection and popularity."
Buzzword: A stylish or trendy word or phrase. "[Selfie] is the new buzzword."
Flattering: To portray favorably: "That photograph is flattering to you."
For a humorous look at selfies, here's a Selfie Song for you:
Coming up next week: Should there be rules to Social Media? What photos do you think are OK to post on Facebook? Which do you think are not?
This was the first week of classes for CSW. It was good to see the
returning students after the long summer, taller, rested, and ready for a
new school year! We welcomed two new sections of eager TTO students. I caught my first glimpse of them during their lunch break,
taking a look at their new iPads, which will be used in most classes (see photo on left).
As an introductory lesson for a new year of English Fluency lessons, the students learned I only have one rule in my class: RESPECT. Respect yourself, each other, and (of course!) the teacher. Respect means to have consideration for. What does respect look like in a classroom setting?
Here are some words with the root word respect:
respected
respecting
respectful
respectfully ...
Can you think of others? What is the opposite of respect?
During this first class, we spent time interviewing each other, using a list of some very thought-provoking questions (thanks to Institute for Research and Reform in Education for these suggestions). Here are a few from the list:
What is your favorite thing you did this summer? Why?
What books have you read lately? What was something you found particularly interesting in them?
What movies have you seen recently? How do you feel about the level of violence depicted in movies today?
What do you like to watch on TV? Is this a show you feel is appropriate for young children to watch? Why or why not?
Who are the members of your family? Who are you closest to? Why?
Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest child in your family? How do you like that position in the family?
What do you look for in a friend? How easy or difficult is it to find these qualities.
What is one thing you like about this school?
What is one thing you would change about this school?
How do you usually act when you're in a new group?
Students were divided in groups of two and spent time interviewing each other and discussing the questions and answers on their own. Then, some of the pairs came up to the front and conducted the interview with the rest of us as the audience in a Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon style!
And to close, just one last word on R-E-S-P-E-C-T by the great Aretha Franklin!
Scientists in Japan have been doing extensive research, using brain scans, to try to determine what a person is dreaming. The video below will give you more information about this study and how they are conducting their research:
This brain research is part of a larger study which hopes to find the way to read people's thoughts. What might be the ethical considerations of having the ability to read minds? Would you want to always know what people are thinking about? And, if so, what would you most like to know?
In our classes, we did a survey to see what our students would most like to know about another persons' thoughts. Here are the top two rankings:
#1. Their feelings about you.
#2. Their level of honesty (whether or not they're telling the truth).
What Do People Dream About?
These are some of the most frequent kinds of dreams. Which ones to you have most often?
1. Dreams about falling
2. Dreams about being chased
3. Dreams about teeth falling out
4. Dreams about flying
5. Dreams about being naked in public
6. Dreams about being lost or trapped
7. Dreams about missing a plane or a train
8. Dreams about failing an exam or test
9. Dreams about Spiders
10. Dreams about Death
Here are some of the things we've been dreaming about!
There was a really, really big spider and we all wanted to escape from the spider but we couldn’t move. Why I don’t know. I was in my bedroom and the spider was downstairs. It was very scary because the spider moved slowly upstairs. But there was one moment that I could move, so I jumped out of the window. When I almost touched the ground, I woke up. ~Daan
I had a dream that I was in
the space, in the universe. I was there with my family and it
was our holiday. We went there with a rocket and a guide was waiting for us.
There were more people on holiday in the universe. You could just walk over the
earth in your own clothes. You could fly too. The guide brought us to a few
special rooms. We were standing on a plant and the view was great. There were open
rooms and they were just flying in the universe. The rooms were very special
and famous, because there were a lot more people looking at the rooms. The
rooms were very different. In the first room there was a boxing ring and there
were woman who boxed against each other. One woman was hit so hard that she
flew away and never came back. In another room there was just a bed with
someone who was sleeping, it was a little girl and she was very cute. There were
a few more rooms but I didn’t see that anymore because then I woke up… ~Amber
When I was about 6
years old, I always dreamed that the police arrested me. I was sleeping and the
police woke me up and took me to the police office. I woke up. ~Micha
I dreamt that I flew in the sky and landed on a mountain. On
the mountain there were animals and they were friendly. But suddenly a dinosaur
came and tried to attack me. The sky became darker. I tried to fly away, but
when I jumped off the mountain, I couldn’t fly anymore and I fell down. I fell
in the water. Then I woke up. ~Davy
When I was young I dreamed that I woke up
and then I stood on my bed and I kind of jumped and then I could fly! I flew
back and forth in my room! And then when I stopped flying I went back to sleep
and when I woke up (for real) I wanted to stand on my bed and fly! But
then I jumped and then I landed on my feet… I had this dream a few times when I was
young. ~ Tara
When I was a little kid, I always had a dream. It was
the dream about ‘Finding Nemo’. You also can call it a nightmare.
I was a little fish, in a bid ocean. Alone. Nobody
around. And then, suddenly, Bruce came. The big shark named Bruce. He was very
creepy, with big white sharp teeth. I swam away, very fast. And then, he almost
eat me, I woke up. It was very scary, but now I can laugh about it... :) ~Miriam
I walked with Veerle around a funfair, and then we went into a big house! Then Veerle almost fell down and she stood up and ran through the toilets and began to vomit. I ran to her and said, "Verle is everything OK?" But she walked out of the toilet through the door outside. Then Mara came and both they walked away! I screamed: "BYE!" and they heard it but they didn't look at me and avoided me and walked away. Then I woke up. ~Iris
A long time ago I dreamed that their were people who wanted to kill me and it was very strange because I knew I was dreaming and I thought, "Wake up!" But I didn't wake up; that was so strange! But all the people didn't see me and I was sitting in a corner and I thought again, "Wake up! I know I'm dreaming and this is so strange." But then finally I woke up. VERY STRANGE! ~Mara
When I was young I dreamt that I met fairies. They showed me their ‘world’
and I became a fairy also… but... it doesn’t happen in real life
--haha!
I once
dreamed that I dreamed. In that dream I dreamed that I knew I was dreaming.
Then I woke up in my dream. Then I thought I was finished waking up. But I woke up
again, this time I really woke up. ~Sanne
I had a dream about that I couldn't move
forward and that someone was following me and that he was faster than I was. My
legs were like concrete. ~Richard
I dreamed that Eijse was hit by Boo (a little girl from
Monsters&Co) and when he was hit, he fell off a big building.
My dream is about going to the beach. One day
I was standing on the dunes and I had a body board in my hands. I held it and I
flew away and I landed right in front of my beach house. ~Yannick
I dreamed that I was
in the garden with little baby birds. My mother picked up a vacuum cleaner and
wanted to suck the babybirds in.I was
really angry, and I jumped between the baby birds and the vacuum cleaner. But my
mother didn’t see me. She sucked me up… After that –thank god- I
woke up!
~Joy
When I was young, I dreamed many times. If I had a dream or
a nightmare, I always went my parents' bed. Then they would ask me,“What did you dream this time?” And strange enough, I always had the same answer,
even if I dreamed something totally different. I always said that I dreamed
about a giraffe, which was on our roof of the house. The giraffe was going to
kill me. I always had that as answer. I think I dreamed that maybe one time,
but I always said that to my parents.
A few nights ago I dreamt that I had my exams for snorkeling and that I was too late and forgot my stuff. I had to swim lanes but the others were 5 ahead of me. After that we had to ice skate in the swimming pool and it was cold and there were mountains.
Being at my grandma’s house and going to the bathroom and shooting off of the toilet like a rocket launcher and ending up in some random place. ~Mees
I opened my eyes
and it was dark. I think I was in a house, but I am not sure. Then I walked outside. I opened the door, I didn’t see much. So I thought why shouldn't I walk around
the house and see if there is something. I did. There wasn’t much of anything special. There were
only trees. I walked back to the door and I stepped inside. I fell into a big
black hole. Then I woke up… ~Wanne
I dreamt that a wanderer
want to kill me with a knife. I was lying on the ground
and then I woke up.
~Rosalie
Once I dreamt about the end of the world. It wasn’t a long dream because al the people died in less than 2 seconds. ~Sander
I dreamt that I was an astronaut and I went to the space and it was very cool and nice. I found it very nice because I want to be an astronaut. ~Veerle
I dreamed that I was
Superman; I could fly over the world and see all. When I heard any cry of
distress I flew to Earth and saved him or her. But all that saving of lives
became too much for me and I was exhausted-- and then eaten by a Dinosaur. ~Nathan
What I would like to dream is that I am on a white beach with a blue sea with a temperature about 27 degrees, and just chill out with friends and drink milkshakes-- without school or schoolwork.
That would be a awesome dream. ~Boaz
Here are two of my dreams:
1. I was the boss
of a factory making mermaid paté.
2. I was a fly in
the room of my parents and there was a dinosaur there too. ~Josef
(A dream I'd like to have!) Iwas
walking in NYC and Sean o’Donnel comes up to me like,“ Hey
shall we go on a date?” And of course I
said: “yes!!!!" So we
went on our date and he asked if I want
to marry him and I said yes. And
then we lived happily ever after. ~Emma
One day I had a dream about an egg. The egg was very big--
almost as big a my house. I got into it and
found another egg in the egg. That egg was very
small. And a
chicken came out of it. Then I woke up. ~Wim
I had a dream that there was an epic golden
eye! Real gold! So I went to that eye to touch it and grab it and take it with me. When I
touched it, it became red and the sunny weather changed into rain and thunder! I ran away to my house, just one street
away, and when I came there… My house was crushed! My lawn was on fire and my
pond was not water anymore but only LAVA!!!! Then when I wanted to go inside to
look what was happened there… I woke up. And I needed to go to school…
~Marnix
Once I dreamt about the end of the world. The
world split up into 2 pieces and we all fell in the middle of the earth where we
burned.~Eijse
This week, the Fluency Class talked about Spelling Bees. We began with these questions:
What is a Spelling Bee?
It's a contest where contestants, children aged 11-16, are asked to spell words. In the National Spelling Bee, the winner can take home up to $40,000 in cash and prizes. Read about the past winners and their winning words.
Why is is called Spelling Bee?
The word "bee" has long been used to describe a busy gathering of people
who come together for a special purpose, such as quilting, spinning,
logging, or raising a barn. "Spelling bee" in particular is an American
term that came into use around the 1870s.
Sierra Shoemaker
Then we read the story of 12 year old Sierra Shoemaker (shown above), the savvy speller, who out-spelled the judges! What was the word she spelled correctly? How did the judges' master have it spelled on his sheet? Why did Sierra appeal the judges' decision?
You may be interested in watching a movie about this topic, called Akeelah and the Bee. It's about an 11 year-old girl who works hard to make it to the National Spelling Bee. See the winning moment below:
Before beginning our own Spelling Bee, we tried our hand at a bit of spelling with this Spelling Bee game. These are challenging words, so be careful!
We ended the lesson by having our own Spelling Bee. Everyone did an excellent job, and prizes were given out to all! Below is the Spelling Bee list for ages 12-13. Which words are easy for you? Which are the most difficult? Why not get a few friends together and hold your own Spelling Bee just for fun!
