Revision links

ΟΙ ΠΡΟΤΑΣΕΙΣ ΜΑΣ ΓΙΑ ΕΠΑΝΑΛΗΨΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΞΑΣΚΗΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΠΙΤΙ ΓΙΑ ΟΛΕΣ ΤΙΣ ΗΛΙΚΙΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΓΛΩΣΣΙΚΑ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΑ


Important news:

ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΕΙΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΜΑΘΗΤΕΣ ΜΑΣ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟ ΥΠΟΧΡΕΩΤΙΚΟ ΚΛΕΙΣΙΜΟ ΤΟΥ ΚΕΝΤΡΟΥ ΜΑΣ

ΟΔΗΓΙΕΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΔΡΑΣΤΗΡΙΟΤΗΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΣΠΙΤΙ

International Women's Day seen from a different perspective

* Having watched the short film Sitara: Let Girls Dream on Netflix* 

"Sitara reminds us that every day, millions of young girls are forced into child rape, losing their ability to have a life that so many of us take for granted," Wengoff told Refinery29. "International Women's Day is a reminder of the work to be done to provide a better future for the next generation, before the bias of the patriarchy has claimed them. Our girls and boys can be anything they dream of, we just have to continue to remove the barriers.”

Related links:

- The complete version of the text above was found here, where you can also read the director’s interview: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9514279/sitara-let-girls-dream-netflix-international-womens-day 

-The film’s official website: https://www.letgirlsdream.org 

-What are the universal human rights? - Benedetta Berti on Ted.ed

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgIVseTkuE 

-Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Wants You To Learn Why Activism Is Fundamental

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/02/9436283/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy-activism-fundamental-docuseries-youtube 

- Sad statistics about child brides: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/03/226273/chelsea-clinton-child-marriage-laws-unchained-at-last-essay 

Further practice at home or in the computer room

• Free Rice Vocabulary Game
• British Council: Advanced Vocabulary
• Spotify podcasts: Stuff you should know
• CNN 10
• Voice of America: Learning English
• The Guardian
• The Life Scientific Podcasts
• BBC Radio 4
• Scientific American
• TED videos
• Collection on the school's blog

Revision time!

(Our students can ask to be sent the link to an online folder full of revision material)

Online GCVR test:
http://fullspate.digitalcounterrevolution.co.uk/ecpe-grammar-practice-test.html

Listening practice at home:
http://www.hau.gr/?i=learning.el.podcasts-in-english

Lots of interesting speaking and writing topics on the right-hand column of the blog (desktop view), such as:

http://markaki-literature.blogspot.com/search/label/Culture

http://markaki-literature.blogspot.com/2016/12/volunteerism-refugees-and-immigrants.html


More for our students: Phrasal verbs, prepositional phrases, word lists and mock tests.

Thinking about the death penalty

The C2-level learners of our school who have been attending lessons for some months should be familiar with the story of Troy Davis who was on death row, as it has been brought up in our recent classes. Even though there was no solid evidence against him, this man was executed in the U.S. on 22 September. We now urge our students to read about the whole story here and then find out more about other controversial death row cases.

Keeping all the information in mind concerning both sides of capital punishment, they should try to answer this question: 

When is the death penalty the right answer? Does it constitute an efficient crime deterrent or should it be abolished? 

Here is also a variety of links on the issue along with two interesting quotes that can serve as a springboard for further discussion: 

Capital punishment is a barbaric remnant of uncivilized society. It is immoral in principle, and unfair and discriminatory in practice. It assures the execution of some innocent people. As a remedy for crime, it has no purpose and no effect. Capital punishment ought to be abolished now.
 ~American Civil Liberties Union

I believe that the weight of the evidence--aggregate statistical analyses, evaluations of experiments and quasi-experiments, and studies of individual behavior--supports the view that the rate of crime is influenced by its costs. This influence is greater--or easier to observe- for some crimes and persons than for others.
 ~James Q. Wilson, "Thinking About Crime: The Debate over Deterrence," The Atlantic Monthly, September 1983

Students can double-click on words they do not know on this blog.

Computer room time

1) Visit this post: International Day of Poetry 21st March: Dead Poets’ Society

Also, have a look at this poem: http://markaki-students.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-quiet-life-poem-for-great-classroom.html

Watch the videos, read the two poems and write down your thoughts in a comment, answering the question:

Why do we read and write poetry? How will the inclusion of poetry in the national school curriculum help the development of the young minds?

(Remember to turn the profile you are using for this blog from a Google+ one to a simple Blogger profile if you are currently using your Google+ information to sign in here, as this platform is soon to be shut down. Go to the settings of your account to fix this.)

----------


2) Figures of speech: An activity

Read the definitions and leave a comment with as many example sentences as possible.

----------


3) (if there is still time left) Read this National Geographic article concerning the environment - ECPE Challenge Unit 8 central focus: Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Celebrating Women in Science

The slides we used in class, the title of the amazing iBook we purchased and further suggested reading can be found on our school blog: 

https://markaki-students.blogspot.com/2019/02/celebrating-international-day-of-women.html

Computer room time!

First: Answer all grammar and vocabulary questions (without the cloze and the reading section) of Test 8 on your practice test books.

——————

Now you are ready for your online missions!

1) Click on the link. It is Stephen Hawking’s documentary we mentioned in class and its 20 last minutes illustrate the technology necessary for humanity to venture into space.

“Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking: The story of everything” https://youtu.be/dpma-J68Etc

2) Read the article on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (an enormous area of floating plastic we discussed in class) and click on the underlined words to get their definition.

http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

3) It is Thanksgiving today! Here is a funny video of Friends celebrating Thanksgiving in their own unique way! https://youtu.be/LkeHtognBZA

The death penalty: Where do YOU stand?

The case we talked about (the man wrongfully convicted) can be found here.

Lessons from death row inmates (TED video)

More links on the death penalty

Essays by previous students

THIS IS HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN!

Great videos for advanced or adult learners:

Halloween history 1

Halloween history 2

Funny scene from Modern Family TV series

Top 10 Halloween songs

Girl explains about her Halloween project

 

Related blog posts:

Nightmare before Christmas: The film

This year's Halloween photos.

 

ECPE WRITING

All link collection:

http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2009/11/useful-ecpe-links.html

 

 

Specifically about writing:

 

Scoring system

http://www.cambridgemichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ECPE-Rating-Scale-Writing.pdf

 

Essays corrected by trained raters

http://www.cambridgemichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ECPE-Writing-Benchmarks.pdf

Sample texts and tips:

 

http://michiganecpeprep.blogspot.gr/2010/12/writing-outline-advantages-and.html

 

http://www.grivas.gr/assets/files/samples/ecpe_exams/WRITING_SKILLS_ECPE_St.pdf

 

http://www.cambridgemichigan.org/sites/default/files/resources/Enhanced2014/ECPE-Enhanced-Results-Writing-2014.pdf

 

http://www.learnenglish.gr/index.php/en/resources/ecpe-example-essays

 

http://www.grapsa.edu.gr/UserFiles/lessons_material/english/pr2%20let's%20keep%20writing%20(10-2013).doc

MATERIAL WITH WHICH WE CELEBRATED THE EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

The Council of Europe declared a European Day of Languages to be celebrated on 26th of September each year. The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are:

1. Alerting the public to the importance of language learning and diversifying the range of languages learnt in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding;

2. Encouraging lifelong language learning in and out of school, whether for study purposes, for professional needs, for purposes of mobility or for pleasure and exchanges.

3. Promoting the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe, which must be preserved and fostered;

   

Some language facts:

http://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/LanguageFacts/tabid/1859/language/en-GB/Default.asp

Quiz on language facts:

http://edl.ecml.at/Portals/33/teaching-materials/EDL-school-visit-EN.pptx

Idioms of the world:

http://edl.ecml.at/Portals/33/teaching-materials/IDIOMS%20OF%20THE%20WORLD.edited.pdf

Online activities for students:

http://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/tabid/1516/language/en-GB/language/fr-FR/Default.aspx

Discuss Language and its connection to thought

(From the introduction to George Orwell's "1984", Penguin Reader)

 

Reading:

Linguist on mission to save Inuit 'fossil language' disappearing with the ice

http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2010/08/languages-in-danger-of-extinction.html

 

Videos:

TED talk on endangered cultures

http://markaki-students.blogspot.com/2009/06/about-this-talk-by-ted-with-stunning.html

How languages evolve https://youtu.be/iWDKsHm6gTA

Parody of learning: https://youtu.be/xq8IqZXy1s8

 

Writing:

Several languages die every year and English is becoming used more and more as a world language. Many people feel this is a positive trend and that a world with fewer languages promotes harmony and understanding between people. Analyze both sides of this argument and provide your opinion.

Before writing, also read the notes on globalisation on the Proficiency blog. Doesn't English as the global language contribute to and result in it?

Quick map of ideas:

Paragraph 1: introduce the topic —- English is the global language —- more and more people strive to master it=> both positive and negative aspects

Paragraph 2: the positive effects —- communication, openness to other cultures, open-mindedness, professional needs, companies have the competitive edge, mobility/ travelling, bilingualism/ language proficiency— boosts intelligence and thinking skills

Paragraph 3: results in globalization= homogeneous societies = similar tastes in music/films/ clothes—-> uniformity, no variation , elimination of cultural differences/traditions, limited significance of cultural identity and individual history, indigenous languages / dialects constantly die out/ vanish/ become extinct which means that a civilisation/ culture/ tribe ceases / stops to exist

Paragraph 4: sum up both aspects and say your own opinion, end with a final message

 

Grammar practice: Tenses and stative verbs

Activities on stative verbs

Tenses quiz 1

Tenses quiz 2

Tenses quiz 3

Basic tenses activity

 

Revision time, bloggers!

Online tests:

Free grammar quiz on examenglish.com

Free reading, cloze, grammar and vocabulary tests on Fullspate

Check out all the ECPE links we have collected.

More practice at home!

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO PRACTISE LISTENING

AMAZING EFL APPS

ECPE links

I have categorised as well as updated all ECPE links on our school blog:

http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2009/11/useful-ecpe-links.html

Do take a look! Lots of useful information!

Halloween links you can explore

The Visual History of Halloween

A short text with compehension questions

Video: In 1 minute 20 seconds you can turn the word bat into just that!

Photos of this celebration on The New York Times.

Test your knowledge with a quiz!

Speaking and writing about serious world issues

In class:

A) Slides-> ECPE DISCUSSION TOPICS

B) Online quizzes:

B1. ECPE reading, cloze, grammar and vocabulary tests

B2. Free grammar online quiz

At home:

1) Read articles on common exam topics->

CPE AND ECPE WRITING: BRAINSTORMING

2) Explore useful ECPE links->

http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2009/11/useful-ecpe-links.html

Especially: Sample essays from the writing section: corrected by trained raters

3) Write a blog post containing your thoughts on world hunger and poverty. Remember to use the new vocabulary. Refer to the PROBLEM/ EFFECTS of hunger and elaborate on the SOLUTIONS. 

Next weekend: Write a blog post on tolerance using these slides as a guide: 

http://www.slideshare.net/cm24/opinion-ecpe-essay

Women's Day Links

http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/search/label/Women%27s%20Day

ECPE Links

I kindly remind you to take another more thorough look at this collection of the ECPE links and do the free online tests to get an overall score:

http://markaki-students.blogspot.com/2009/11/useful-ecpe-links.html