WEB QUEST 1: LONDON

Continuous Assessment 2 is the first of two webquests we’ll have this term.

Instructions:

You are going to spend a week in London evaluating tourist locations for an end of year study trip.

Here is a list of things you want to do while you are there.  Follow the links and fill in the table.

Half Day Outings

London Eye

http://www.londoneye.com/

The British Museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

The Tower of London

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ (including Crown Jewels)

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

http://www.madametussauds.com/london/

The Natural History Museum

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

The Tate Modern Art Gallery

http://www.tate.org.uk/

Full day

Kew Gardens

http://www.kew.org/

Camden Market

http://www.camden-market.org/
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You can find zones here:

London Tube Map: 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

For each location say:

What day you will visit,

How much you will have to pay to get in,

Which Tube station you will travel to (nearest to location), and the zone it is in.

What will you do on the other days? (2 full days / 4 half days / 1 full day / 2 half days)

Search the web for other things to do in London.

What is the total cost?

POST 7: DREAMS

“I have a dream...” This is something I have heard many times in my life: these were the words that Martin Luther King repeated in his famous speech for racial equality back in 1963,  they were the words that Abba used to sing on every radio station when I was a university student, and they are the words people say when they talk about a recurring dream (“I have a dream that repeats over and over  again...” ).

This week you have chosen to talk about both kind of dreams, those you have when you are sleeping and those that come to your mind when you are awake .

Here are some questions to guide you to write your post.

1) What are dreams? Are dreams messages sent from our unconscious, predictions of the future, or what?

2) Do you usually remember your dreams? Do you usually dream in black and white or in color? Can you tell us about a recurring dream you have or the nicest dream that you can remember?

3) Do you ever daydream? Do you think you can achieve your dreams or  do you think that having dreams and aspirations is a waste of time?

4) If you had lots of money or political power what would you do with it?  What is your dream for the future?

Please read my sample post and make sure to leave a comment on 3 of your classmates’  posts and to write 170 words.

Dreams, dreams, dreams…

 “I’m dreaming my life away…” went a song that I used to listen to when I was a child. To me dreams are mainly representations of my hopes and fears, and also answers to my questions. So I pay a lot of attention to my dreams.

My dreams are usually very colourful and very well defined, sometimes they are  like short stories or films with characters, costumes, and  a plot. I rarely have black and white dreams, -unless my dream is about a silent movie!

I used to daydream a lot when I was younger, I used to spend hours thinking about the things I wanted to have, the places I wanted to visit, and the things I wanted to do. I think daydreaming is not a bad thing, provided that you start planning and begin doing things to make your dreams come true. The formula “dream + action”  has proved very useful to me.

If I had millions of dollars I would visit more places and buy beautiful things for me and people I love, but I would also help people to refurbish their houses so that they could improve their living conditions and I would run high-quality schools in poverty-striken zones with really committed teachers to help breach the gap between rich and poor people in our country –to begin with.

POST 6: A PHOTOGRAPH THAT I LIKE

Say Cheeeeeeese!

Taking photographs is one of my hobbies and I’m pretty good at it, or so they say. I started to take photos when I was in my twenties with an old analog Zenit camera that someone lent me, so by now I have around ten albums with old prints, plus the photos I have taken with my digital camera. I couldn’t afford a good camera when I was young because they were so expensive, but nowadays they are a lot cheaper. I have had five cameras so far, and the latest is a digital one which allows me to take as many pictures as I want to, so I’m very pleased with it.

Do you enjoy taking photos? Do you have a camera? Do you collect printed photos? Are you a photolog freak?
This week you are expected to write about a photograph that you like. Make sure to include the following in your post:

·                     Who took it

·                     What it shows

·                     When it was taken

·                     Why you like it

Don't hesitate to include any other information you think is important.
Write at least 170 words.
Finally, add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

Please, have a look at my sample post below.

Snap shooting around London.

I took this photo on my last trip to London, in July 2011, when I went to Camdem Town Market Place, which is a large market where you can find lots of things, such as handcraft, clothes, ethnic food, paintings, jewelry, rugs, antichs, -you name it-, therefore there are lots of things worth  a click.

This photo shows a very eclectic shop there, where, as you can see, they sell vintage clothes and  old pieces of furniture, along with some typical English pastries and beverages, and I took it while I was having a nice cup of tea.

I know that this is a rather simple photo, but I like it since it reminds me of the good time that I spent in that city and in that cafe, which is a very special place with a very pleasant atmosphere where they  play music from the 50s to the 70s, and where sometimes one of the owners plays beautiful tunes in the piano.

POST 5: MY FAVOURITE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

My friends have been absolutely superseded by my computer! When I was a kid our old TV set was the technologycal device I loved the most and I I used to think that nothing would replace it as a source of entertainment. However, my computer has now turned into my favourite piece of technology to have fun with, so I spend more time sitting at my computer than being with my friends.

I got my first computer around fifteen years ago and I thought that it was like a magical, miraculous instrument. I just couldn’t believe my eyes: it was able to do complicated things, like counting words, arranging things alphabetically, or copying long texts in  a second or two!  This is the third computer I have had, I bought it some three years ago and I´m very pleased with it.

I usually use my computer to look for information, to find and prepare material for my classes, to watch things on Youtube, to send e-mails, to find out what my friends are up to, and a long etcetera, and I think I’ve been using it on  a daily basis for quite a few years.

I especially like my computer because every time I have a doubt I just google for it and generally find the answer. Consequently, it has helped me solve many problems, like what printer and photographic camera I should buy, how to improve my TV reception, where to find things I need to get, etc.

For all the things I’ve mentioned and many more, I guess my life without my computer would be a lot more complicated and a lot less fun.

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This week's blog assignment is to write about your favourite piece of technology. When writing your post be sure you say the following:

-What it is.

-When you got it.

-How you use it.

-How often you use it.

-Why you like it.

-What life would be like without it

Make sure to write a minimum of 150 words and comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

This time I would like you to include a picture to make your post more appealing.

THEMED POST 4: JAPANESE ANIME

The world should be divided into two groups: the people who like Walt Disney’s cartoons and those who enjoy Japanese animation.  I belong in the former  group, (so you can easily tell how old I am, ha, ha).  I know very little about Japanese anime but I know it has had a big impact on some younger Chilean people who have become fans of Japanese culture after watching such animations.

I guess my favourite anime is Marco, which is about an Italian little boy whose mother has left Europe for Argentina to look for a better job. The anime shows all the adventures and misfortune that Marco goes through in search of her mother. The story is based on a book by Miguel de Unamuno, and it’s a very sad one because when Marco finally finds his mother she dies soon afterwards.

I can’t say that japanese anime has influenced me in any way, but Walt Disney surely made a significant impression on me as a child, because it developed my imagination and my interest in reading, but, on the other hand, it filled my mind with much confusion.

What I liked the most about this anime is the soundtrack.  Even though the main song is a very sad one, it’s very beautiful and moving. I don’t remember any other Japanese anime song, but I know many songs from Walt Disney’s movies.

One of the first animes I ever saw was Cinderella, by Disney, -you all know what the story is about, and I remember I went really crazy about it,  so crazy that I bought the DVD a few years ago because I was craving to see it again.

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 This week you have chosen to write about Japanese animation, so here you have some questions to guide you when writing your post.

1) Do you know what anime is? If yes, explain.

2) - If you have watched anime in the past do you have a favourite? Tell us about it.
  
3)  Has anime influenced your life in any way? For example, has anime made you interested in other areas of Japanese culture?

3)  -Have you ever bought/listened to any songs from anime soundtracks? If so, which ones?

4) What was the first anime you ever saw? What was it about?  Did you enjoy it?

Remember:

-You have to leave a comment on 3 of your classmates posts.
-The word count for this post is 140 words.

POST 3 CAREER-RELATED WEBSITE or AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD

Since in order to write today’s post you can choose ONE of two options, I have written two sample posts to guide your writing (See below).

Post 1 (Instructions).
Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You should:
- provide a link
- describe the website (sections, features,etc)
- say how often you visit the site
- explain why you like the site.

Make sure you add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ posts.
-Word Count: 130

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Post 2 (Instructions)
Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:
-Who she/he is.(short biography)
-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> About 130 words
Remember to add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ posts

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The BBC English learning website.

Whether you’re a student or a teacher, you should visit BBC Learning English. To me,  it’s one of the best sites to look for different kinds of information related to teaching and learning English as a second language.

But it’s not only about learning, it also has lots of articles related to culture. It’s a great site where students can do exercises, read pieces of current news, practice their listening skills, improve their pronunciation, and even have fun playing games, watching videos  or chatting with people from all over the world.

If you are a teacher, you also have lots of options, for example you can download up to date material for your classes, that you can adopt or adapt,  get new ideas to improve your lessons or exchange information with other teachers.

Some of its regular features that I like include, among others,: “Words in the News”, which contains written and video stories; “Express English”, in which people are asked about their opinions on different things -Each week there’s a new topic and the interesting thing is that you can also join the conversation; “Quiznet”, which gives you the chance to increase your vocabulary on different topics; and I also like “6 Minute English”, a short radio programme that helps you improve both your listening comprehension skills and your vocabulary while you learn about an interesting issue.

I like this site because everything in it has been carefully done by very professional people, it’s very user-friendly, so you can find things easily, and everything is interesting and down-to-earth, I mean , it is related to real life.  For all these reasons I visit this site on a regular basis and I strongly reccomend it to you. The address to this website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

An expert that I admire

“What a great activity! It’s interesting and fun to do”. This is what I usually say when I see English text books that have been written by Penny Ur.  But Penny is more than an experienced  text book writer, she´s a remarkable English Language Teaching author who has helped teachers develop their teaching skills, that is to say, she teaches teachers to teach.

 I don’t know much about her personal life, all I know is that she is Israeli or American and that she studied at Oxford and Cambridge  Universities.  I also know that she has travelled extensively giving conferences worldwide and has written lots of papers, which are very teacher-friendly, I mean, it’s very easy to understand what she is trying to communicate and her tips are really helpful.

Some of her most prominent books, among others,  are: Five Minute Activities, A Course in Language Teaching , and  Grammar Practice Activities. When I was studying in London I used one of her books, which was called Proficiency in English, if I remember well.

Although her books are more concerned with the teaching of grammar than on improving your communicative  skills, I like her because she is able to teach structures in an interesting and meaningful fashion, which is something that not many writers are able to do. Finally, there are writers concerned with Teaching English as a Foreign Language who have written long, boring and hard to understand papers. Instead, she has written short and clear documents that say more than a million pages.

POST 2: A SINGER/BAND YOU LIKE or A CONCERT/EXHIBITION YOU'VE BEEN TO.

How can you mend a broken heart? I don’t mean to ask you this question, this is  just the title of a song that one of my favourite groups used to sing back in the early 70s. This band was called The Bee Gees. Have you ever heard about them? Maybe you have listened to some of their disco music songs that were included in the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever”, with John Travolta in it.

This British band was made up of three brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.  During the late 60s and early 70s they sang brilliant pop music songs, but in the late 70s their style evolved into disco music. The songs they played that I like the most were recorded before they started singing with a “falsetto”.

I like this band because their songs have beautiful lyrics and the harmonies they produced were breathtaking for me when I was a teenager. It’s hard to say which of their songs is my favourite, the list is long because they are all so beautiful in their own right: To Love Somebody, Massachussets, My World, Melody Fair, Run to Me, etc. Wow! I’m starting to feel nostalgic…
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This week you have two choices to write about:
- A singer/band you like.
Or:
- A concert/exhibition you've been to.

 Please, include the following:

 

band / singer >>
- name
- what do you know about them?
- what type of music do they play?
- why do you like this artist/band?
- what's your favorite song? why?
- publish a picture or video
Remember to write 120 words minimum and make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

concert/exhibition >>

- what was it?
- when did you go?
- where was it?
- why did you like it?
- mention more details about it
- publish a related picture or video

- Make sure to write 120 words minimum and make 3 comments on your classmates posts.