Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Active & Passive Voice Practice

Active and Passive Voice is difficult to understand but this website explains it very clearly. The passive voice is important to use when writing an academic essay. You can also do a quiz here. Good luck. 

Animal Liberation Front-Part 4

Friday, March 27, 2009

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Summarising

Here is a great website that exlpains how to summarise a news story.

Animal Liberation Front-Part 3

Are we stimulating you?


Does this picture look like your classroom. Many educators believe that learning only happens when students are engaged and stimulated.

This story exlplains why this is important and how it can be done. Listen to the story here, take notes, then write out a summary of the story.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

What is DHMO?











This website will teach you about DHMO. Read the questions on the left side then read the text to find the answer.

Animal Liberation Front-Part 2

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Animal Liberation Front-Part 1

The Animal Liberation Front is a highly controversial organisation. Watch these movies to find out more.




I will continue to post the other parts of the documentary in the future.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Frankenfoods?



Have you ever heard of the character Frankenstein? How does it relate to food?


Read this story and find out.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Australians and The Great Depression


What was the Great Depression? Listen here and answer the following questions.

How were Australians healthier during the Great Depression?

Why were they healthier during the Great Depression?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sick Around the World


I saw this documentary a few months ago. It compares the Health Systems of five different countries around the world. It is great to see how they compare to each other.

Which one is most similar to your country?

Which one do you think is the best system?

Monday, March 9, 2009

Word of the Day 1

About Word of the Day

I will be giving you a Word of the Day every week day. 

Your job is to:
  • Listen to the word. 
  • Find it in the dictionary.
  • Read the meaning.
  • Practice pronouncing it.
  • Add a comment using the word.

Why do stars twinkle?


Read or listen to this story to find out the answer.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Global Cities

Here is a great piece of audio form The Economist on global cities.

Before listening, you should start by asking yourself; what is a global city



What did you learn about global cities?

Friday, March 6, 2009

Grammar and Movies?


Here is a great blog that combines movies with grammar learning.

You might find the following categories helpful:

Passive Voice

Verb Patterns

Conditionals

Thursday, March 5, 2009

A great read with Three Cups of Tea


Three Cups of Tea is one of the most high acclaimed books in recent years.

Here is a summary from wikipedia:

In 1993, Greg Mortenson, to honor his deceased sister Christa's memory, attempted to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain, in the Karakoram range of northern Pakistan.[5] After more than 70 days on the mountain, Greg and three other climbers had their ascent interrupted by the need to complete a 75-hour life-saving rescue of a fifth climber. The rescue took too much out of Mortenson, forcing him to accept failure and descend the mountain. After getting lost during the descent, he became weak and exhausted, and by chance alone, instead of arriving in Askole, where his porters awaited, he came across Korphe, a small and unremarkable village built on a shelf jutting out from a canyon. He was greeted and taken in by the chief of Korphe, Haji Ali.[6]
To pay the remote community back for their compassion, Mortenson promised to build a school for the village. After a frustrating time trying to raise money, Mortenson was introduced to Jean Hoerni, a Silicon Valley pioneer. Jean, who climbed mountains in the region as a younger man, donated the money Greg needed for his school. In the last months of Hoerni's life, he co-founded the Central Asia Institute, endowing the CAI to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.[7]
Co-author Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson argues that extremism in the region can be detered through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls.[8]
Mortenson faced daunting challenges in his quest to raise funds for the building of more than 55 schools in Taliban territory, including death threats from Islamic mullahs, long periods of separation from his family, and being kidnapped by Taliban sympathizers. Relin, an award-winning journalist, describes how Mortenson became a one-man mission with the goal of bringing educational structures and resources to young girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[9]

This website is an e-book version of Three Cups of Tea. You can look at the text and listen to it at the same time.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Gallipoli: Where Australia found it's identity


Gallipoli, a beach in Turkey, is the most famous place in Australia's wartime experience. All Autralians know how important it was in defining Australia's national identity.

There is a great movie about Gallipoli. You can visit this website and see some clips from the movie.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should!
If you are from Turkey, I would love to hear your feelings about our shared history at Gallipoli.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Souuunnnndz, STRESS!!! and INTONation...



This is the BEST website of seen on speaking. It might look like a kid's game but it is great! Click on the section you want to practice. Then use the controls to practice. You MUST repeat after the website speaks (otherwise you aren't practising your speaking!).