Post Semester 2 Task

Dear All,

to complete this semester you need to be ready with the following tasks:

1. A summary of an article with an explanation of why you have chosen it and a set of 3 questions to go with it:
a) What would you like to learn from it?
b) What information from it you knew?
c) What information is /was not clear

Please, choose an article that discusses some urgent/vital/very important/urgent/up-to-date issue

Word limit: 250-270 words

2. An essay: 280-300 words
choose between the options below

a) A for-and-against essay

b) An opinion essay
c) A solution to problems essay

Choose different topics for tasks 1 & 2

3. A reflection note about the activities you have been offered this semester: 

you should comment on the activities you did this semester which should include the following details:
a) smth that you found useful
b) smth that was not that useful
c) smth that you would like to do the next semester
d) suggest a couple of topics for discussion

Word limit: 220-250 words

Don't forget to use the Citation Machine (http://thecitationmachine.net, the Plagiarism Checker (https://edubirdie.com/plagiarism-checker) and the URL shortener (bit.ly).

Don't forget to use the Citation Machine (http://thecitationmachine.net), the Plagiarism Checker (https://edubirdie.com/plagiarism-checker) and the URL shortener (bit.ly).

You need to publish your works in your blogs by May 25 for me to have some time to read and grade your works.

I'll let you know when you can receive your pass for the course a bit later.


Your essays will be graded using the following scale:

1. 10 points Essay content
   10 points Essay organization
   10 points Language
   10 points Mechanics: Grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity of expression.
   10 points Bonus points for a particularly well-developed essay following all the requirements
    
2. Your summary will be graded according to the criteria you can access by following the link https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?sp=true&code=H56W23
3. Reflective note:
4. Follow the link to the Reflective note evaluation criteria https://bit.ly/2GeCWMo
5. Reference List: Electronic Resources  
6. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
7. Reflective note:
8. Follow the link to the Reflective note evaluation criteria https://bit.ly/2GeCWMo
9. Note 1: I'd like to share with you a resource that explains very well what a summary is and how to write it: https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Summary 
10. Note 2  Here too is a very good resource which you can use to revise common essay structure
11. http://academicwriting.wikidot.com/

Post-14: Creative-story-writing

Dear All,

Are you fans of good stories? Can you remember one or two that were particularly memorable? First, I'll give you some time to discuss it and share what you'll have learned from each other in the blog.

After that you'll have a chance to create your own story by using a special tool that will help you to generate your story.

Here is the explanation of what you will have to do.

Follow the link below to access a form with the help of which you will be able to receive all the necessary elements for you to create a story:

http://writingexercises.co.uk/plotgenerator.php

You will get the following details:

The main character
Character 2
Setting
Situation
Theme
Character action

What you need to do is develop your own story using this information. You have 3 attempts at choosing the story elements if you do not like the first or the second one that is generated. Your story should be in the genre of your choice: for example, it could be a love story, an adventure story, a thriller or some other kind of story if you wish. You should be able to finish writing it during today's class and publish it in your blog.

Looking forward to reading your stories.

Dear All,

I'd like to ask you to read somebody else's story at home and comment on it by answering the following questions:

a) Is the story interesting?
b) What did you like about it?
c) Is it well-developed?
d) Is it convincing?
e) Anything else you have a comment about

Task 13: Thesis-Statement-practice-Peer-comment-IATEFL-Writing-conclusions

Dear All,

Today I'd like to discuss with you a number of problems that keep recurring in your writing:

a) Did you have a chance to read one of the posts by one of your peers they wrote about one of the sessions at the IATEFL Conference? Probably, not yet. So, your first task is to choose one, read about it and comment on it by asking a couple of questions.

b) How to formulate a thesis statement

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/thesisexerciseprint.html

c) What you need to remember about referencing the resources

for this task I'll analyse one of your works with you together and then let you add references correctly to one of the works you have recently written:

d) Techniques for writing conclusions: This is your home task for 24.03.19

--http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/thesisexerciseprint.html

--https://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-a-good-conclusion-paragraph/

Post-12: Writing a report

Dear All,

do you ever read any kind of reports in the news or in other resources? Discuss it with each other in small groups and share the summary of your discussion in the thread by providing the following information:

a) What type of reports do you read?
b) Are you satisfied with the quality of information you learn from such reports?
c) Do you check the information you learn from the report in some other resources? If yes, based on what criteria do you choose them? If no, why?

Post-11: IATEFL Conference (Liverpool)

Dear All,

Have you ever taken part in a conference? I am sure some of you have. Have you attended a language conference? Was it a F2F or also an online conference? Today you will have a chance to get acquainted with some materials of the IATEFL conference in that is taking place in Liverpool this week. IATEFL is a large international organisation for teachers of English as a foreign language (IATEFL)? Each year it holds a conference devoted to the discussion of a huge variety of questions associated with language learning and teaching. I have been its member since 2008 and taken part in several conferences throughout these years. Also I was the editor of the newsletter published by the LT SIG. It stands for Learning Technologies Special Interest Group, and this is a way in which IATEFL members are grouped. You can learn more about it at https://www.iatefl.org/special-interest-groups/sig-list 

First, I'm inviting you to watch the clip made yesterday, which can help you feel the atmosphere and the mood of it: https://conference.iatefl.org/conference.html.

Next, I'm inviting you to do is browse through the sessions of the conference that took place yesterday to get an idea about what teachers around the world are doing to make their teaching more engaging and effective. Your task is to read the materials of the chosen session, watch some of the session recording and share the information you will have learned with your peers.

Here is a link to the conference sessions that were presented yesterday:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/events/IATEFL-Online/2019

Choose one of them and do the following: 

Watch the session you have chosen and watch several excerpts from it to get an idea about its content. The sessions are from 30 min to an hour, so I do not expect you to watch the whole session unless you really feel like doing it. 

Please, include the following information in your post:

1. Name of the presenter

2. Session title (with a link to it)

3. Something interesting you have learned from the session with a brief explanation of why you have chosen a particular session

4. Having read about/watched the session, what else would you like to learn about its topic?

5. Your general impression of your experience.

Also, have a look through the activities of one of the SIGs to get more information about their activities.

Here is a link to the LT SIG activities: https://ltsig.iatefl.org/

Here is too to the activities of Global Issues SIG: http://gisig.iatefl.org/

Here is a Collection of Conference Materials prepared by the BESIG (Business English SIG) https://besig.iatefl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IATEFL-BESIG-Conference-Collection-2012-2017.pdf

I've selected these 3 because they are of personal interest to me. You can look through one of them or look through the materials available from some other SIG. One restriction though is that some of the materials are in the Membership Only Zone, which means you can only access this content if you are a member.

Your task is similar: get acquainted with one of the materials available and prepare its summary (300 words long). Share it with us and also answer the question what else would you like to learn about the topic you read about or watched.

Post-10: Review-of-Resources-to-Help-you-To-Improve-your-Writing

Dear All,

one of the important aspects of learning for you to keep learning and be able to do is to gain new knowledge and skills and be able to do it independently. One of the paths to reach this goal is to have a good idea about the tools and resources that are available and be able to use them when necessary. This course will finish in May, but you should continue improving your writing skills to reach the level of mastery. So with the view of this in mind, here is the task for you to do today.

You need to find a website which is devoted to some aspect of Writing in English. It could be a website that contains information about one of the following things

1. The process of writing

2. Some tasks to help you improve your writing

3. A website that discusses the elements of style

4. Some fun stuff that will help you to get motivated to write

5. Some resource about advanced vocabulary for writing

6. Some resource about the Mechanics of writing

7. Some resource about the element of writing of your choice

Once you have chosen it, explain why you found it useful and interesting, give us some details about the website for us to have a clear idea about its content and provide some examples of it.

Add how your peers can benefit from using it.

Post 9: Film review

Dear All,

we've agreed with you in class that for the next time you are going to write a film review for the film of your choice.

Here is what you should do for the next time:

1. Choose a trailer of a film you will be reviewing: https://m.imdb.com/trailers/ alternatively find a trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FilmsActuTrailers/videos?app=desktop
2. Watch it
3, Prepare your review: the length of your review should be about 250-300 words
4. Publish it in your blog and share the link in the thread below

I'm sharing with you a template you should use to write your review