Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Quiz- The Ancient World- Egypt- April 1

Review:
- all the readings in chapter 4
- idioms
- identifying causes and effects
- identifying feature stories
- vocabulary: 
continuity 

frozen

pharaoh 

pose

recurs

decreed
stability
profile
recurs
stability
falcon
 torso

Structure:

- Questions pertaining to the class readings
- Fill in the blank activity

Monday, March 25, 2013

editing/final thoughts on your essays

In addition, selling artifacts could make more people have chance to know the artifacts in detail, most of time, we watch the artifacts in museum, we just can see the artifacts, but we couldn’t touch it, glass separate the distance with artifacts, we haven’t had chance to know more about artifacts.

Some rich people they like Egyptian art and ancient artifacts. They bought them and save them.

Art plays an important part in our lives. More and more people try to learn about art. That's the reason why I think the work of art, especially Egyptian and ancient artifacts, should be placed in the museums. Every work of art is very valuable. It should be kept in the best environment. By this way, people can approach easier, and this's also the best way to teach the children about history.

So that studying history in school become easier for students.

For safety reasons art should be kept in museums. It can also have a chance of getting damaged.

Final Thoughts
- provide examples that strengthen your argument
- don't forget about a good conclusion
- every sentence has a subject and a verb
- S-V agreement
- tenses

Friday, March 22, 2013

How to leveage social media to get accepted to college)- Listening and Writing Activity- Due Tuesday March 26 before class

Since most of you prepare to go to college, I found this video on "How to Leverage Social Media to get Accepted to College" useful.

Please answer the following questions:
1. What point is being made about your privacy settings in social media?
2. What is one college accepting along with students' applications?
3. What percentage of college admissions counselors "friend" applicants online?
4. Why is having custom settings so useful in social media?
5. Why do you think you were shown this video?
6. What is the main point you take away from this video?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Some Notes on Peer Feedback

Please remember to use specific examples for the feedback. You can check on how your peers provide you feedback or how I or another instructor gives you feedback. Think about how would YOU like to receive feedback? You should point out at least 3 areas for improvement per essay with examples. You can also use the rubrics as a base (the rubric I send you for my feedback, you can see it has areas like content, grammar, vocabulary). Remember, the purpose is to help the writer improve. If you only mention praises or general areas, you are not providing thorough feedback. If you use color scheme, mention your name. Otherwise, I won't know who provides the feedback. Use the feedback I give on your essay as example. Some of your peers also provide detailed feedback. Thus, if you provide one feedback for an essay, that is not enoough. If you just provide feedback for ONE essay only, that is also not enough. Overall, most of you are doing a very good job on the feedback. Have a great weekend, relax, and enjoy the great weather. Here are some guidelines from an earlier post. And another one.
Also, I asked you to meet the deadlines. The deadlines are always posted on the blog. If you can't remember the deadlines, put them on your calendar and send yourselves reminders.  Let me know if you have questions Monday.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Theater Event at the St. Petersburg College

- Theater Production “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)”-  In this exuberant comedy, Constance Ledbelly, a drab and dusty academic, deciphers a cryptic manuscript she believes to be the original source for the tragedies Othello and Romeo and Juliet, and is transported into the plays themselves. She visits Juliet and Desdemona, has a hand in saving them, and finds out what these women are about. In true Shakespearean spirit, Constance plunders the plays and creates something new, all the while engaging in a personal voyage of self-discovery.
- $10 general admission, free for SPC students and staff with ID Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 -9:30 Friday, March 22 at 7:30-9:30 Saturday, March 23 at 3pm – 5pm Sunday, March 24 at 3pm to 5pm (See the attached flyer)

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Summary- Due this Thursday

Please remember that ALL assignments are due BEFORE the class starts. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email or see me after class.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SECOND DRAFT-Persuasive Essay- Egyptian Art should be in museums or it should be auctioned off- SECOND DRAFT- Due March 19th, Peer Feedback Due March 21st, Final Version March 25th

SECOND DRAFT- March 19th
I would like you to revisit the topic for your midterm essay and think about how can you make your persuasive essay better? Check out the handouts on persuasive essay and the questions on your midterm essay. The topic is Do you think Egyptian art and ancient artifacts should be placed in museums or is it ok to auction them off for personal use? Why? Post your second draft as a reply to this blog.

Since you already worked on this assignment before, this version will be the second draft. Post the second draft of your essay by March 19th on the blog (before class starts) AND share your essay with your peer group to get feedback. Please use Google Docs for feedback.


Peer Feedback- March 21st
Your peers should give you feedback by Thursday, March 21st.  Share the document with me so that I can review your peer feedback and give you feedback too.
Click on the insert comment tool that looks like the icon in the middle of this image. Please use the icon INSERT COMMENT from the MIDDLE OF THE TOP BANNER. If you use this function, your name will appear along with the feedback. If you use color code, mention that you are using BLUE and you are (YOUR NAME).


Final essay- March 25th
You will post the third draft (Final) on the blog on March 25th.

Here is the rubric I will use for your persuasive essay:
Academic Preparation 3
Persuasive Essay Rubric

Criteria
Possible Points
Points
Earned
Comments
Essay Structure
·         clear thesis
·         effective  hook/background information
·         clear topic sentences
·         effective conclusion (restates thesis and summarizes)


15





Organization
·         effective use of transitions
·         ideas are organized
·         ideas are clear

10




Strength of Content/Persuasion
·         clear, strong ideas
·         specific examples to support
·         facts (research) that is relevant
·         sufficient/relevant support

25




Language
·         Grammar and vocabulary appropriate for Level 3
·         Research is properly cited (footnotes)
·         Variety of sentence structure present


10






Feedback
(Did you successfully apply peer/teacher feedback?)
7




Format
Spelling
Capitalization
Punctuation
8




                                                              Grade:                          /75                                                

Essay Overall is:       High Level          At Level        Low Level




Final essay-Egyptian Art should be in museums or it should be- March 25th

Post your final essay here.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Questions relating to the videos on Egypt- Due March 18th

Since you are VERY interested in the videos posted on the blog, I thought that we can discuss them in class when you come back from the Spring break. The videos (Nefertiti and the Pyramids) are from an earlier blogpost.

You do not have to watch both videos, however, they are INTERESTING, EDUCATIONAL and CAPTIVATING if you like art and history.

Post five thought provoking questions that relate to these videos (and of course, be able to answer to these questions in class) so that we can have a discussion on these videos when school starts.
Who was Nefertiti?







Do you remember the names of the pyramids?

Monday, March 4, 2013

CURRENT EVENT- Art- Due 03/05/2013 or 03/07/2013 (depending on your number)

Current Event Discussion Outline

Directions: Find a current event related to course content and summarize it by finding the main idea. You will then develop four discussion questions and lead a 10-min class discussion. You must incorporate appropriate speaking strategies presented in this course. You will be evaluated according to the following criteria, which is based upon the TOEFL scoring rubric. This form must be submitted in class before you lead the class discussion.

Also, you need to post your link to the blogpost to demonstrate that you did some research. You can include a link to visuals (photo or video related to your topic) or article (related to your topic). Post the link before the class starts so that your peers can have time to glance over the material. If you plan to use Powerpoint, please email it to me before class.

Course topic (write down one):         
           

Source title:
Source type (circle one):
Newspaper article        Magazine article

Television news           Radio news



Main idea:


Discussion questions:

1.                                                                                             3.

2.                                                                                             4.

Grading Rubric Based Upon TOEFL Scoring

Score

60-69 (rarely or never)
70-79 (some of the time)
80-89 (most of the time)
90-100 (always)
Content
The response…




has well connected ideas




contains good examples




clearly identifies the main idea (summary/paraphrase)




addresses the topic




Language
The response…




Incorporates speaking strategy # 1  & 2




is free of multiple hesitations




Exhibits clear pronunciation




Incorporates effective  vocabulary




Incorporates correct grammar





HHere is Yu Chen's presentation as an example.

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