ESL online learning project#1: Where were you?

Welcome to the first online learning project for ESL learners. This series of blog posts will focus on the theme of media and information and will be delivered using online resources and web tools.

Grammar Focus: Narrative tenses, transitional phrases

Online Activities:

Accessing Information Online: Service Canada Website Activity 1

Vocabulary: blog, twitter, tweet, tags, @channel, #hashtag, blogroll, search terms, search engine

Phrases:

go off (siren)    We were waiting for the siren to go off. 

headed off (in car)    We headed off to higher ground.

mother nature

Examples of Narrative Sentences:

I went back inside a minute or two after the shaking had started.

The police were coordinating where peope were going along the tsunami evacuation route.

Had I known that there was a tsunami warning, I would have left town for higher ground to wait it out.

We were running out the door when the shaking suddenly stopped.

A lot of people were following Twitter moments after the earthquake hit.

News Media Research 1. Where were You? 

This topic explores the students’ stories about what they were doing just before, during and after the earthquake that hit last week. 

• Students will generate a list of search terms to use for online searches. 
• Next, the students will explore Canadian news sites like CTV and CBC for articles, photos, diagrams and videos, and view and review the phrasing and vocabulary used for reporting on these significant events. 
• Students will also search for and review public commentary about the event, and note down terms and collocations (word combinations and word phrases) used for explaining situations.
• Following the review of the news videos, articles, and tweets, students will compose a Tweet and post to the ESL class twitter feed.
• In addition to the tweets, the students will add links to the class blog  briefly summarizing the online resources used.
• Students will also compose a short summary of the events they experienced during the earthquake, and post them as blog posts on the class blog.