Writing about YOUR LEARNING in Term 4

This term we will reflect on learning in a structured way. This means you will write about what you learnt during the week, including:

1. how you participated in class;
2. what you did outside class to practise your English;
3. What you learnt that was most useful to you and why;
4. what you need more help with; and
5. what feedback you would like from your teacher.

I would like you to write at least four times in Term 4 about these aspects of your learning.

You can write these reports in your Learning Journal or on the document 'Structured Writing about learning' and then share them in posts at your Kidblog page.

Here is a sample Learning Journal 'post'.

SAMPLE: writing about my learning this week

Here is the document 'Structured Writing about Learning' to help you keep track of your weekly activities.

Binomials and Trinomials

We're looking at those two and three word phrases that are worth learning - like husband and wife (or man and wife in wedding ceremonies), and sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. (In fact, Rock and Roll is a binomial in itself.) 

Make sure you learn the correct order as well. (You can't say: drugs, rock 'n' roll and sex...)

More examples and a short explanation can be found here. Can you find any other websites with trinomials?

Review of Prepositions following adjectives

Here's a review of prepositions which follow adjectives: as with the first Prepositions Review slideshow, you can test yourself by reading the sentences out loud and choosing a preposition to fill the gap.

Then press Enter to move to the next slide to check your work. Read the sentence again with the correct preposition.

 

Practice with prepositions part 2 from Jill Koppel

Term 2 / week 7 - 8: East West Tunnel - Arguments Against

• What do you know about the recent State government decision to build an East West Road Tunnel Link?  
• What is your opinion?

Yarra Campaign: Trains not Tolls

City of Yarra is supporting the community campaign against building the East West Tunnel Toll road.

Researching the Arguments AGAINST the Tunnel

• Read the text: 10 Reasons not to have the Tunnel and the information from the above leaflet at the Yarra Council website to understand the main arguments AGAINST the Tunnel
• View the videos below to help you research the Arguments AGAINST the tunnel.
• Use the Handout: Prepare to write a Discussion about the proposed East West Tunnel to summarise your arguments.

Video from our protest 12 June 2012

Guest speaker, Adam Bandt, is the Federal Member for Melbourne in the Australian Parliament. Listen to his speech. What is Adam Bandt's view of the East West Tunnel?


Community protest at East West Link geotesting site, June 2012 from Carlton NLC on Vimeo.

Speech in Parliament about the East West Tunnel

In May this year, Adam Bandt gave his opinion about the East West Tunnel proposal to the Federal Parliament. He says:

'Building more roads to relieve traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.'

Practice with Prepositions Part 2

Here's a review of prepositions which follow adjectives: as with the first Prepositions Review slideshow, you can test yourself by reading the sentences out loud and choosing a preposition to fill the gap.

Then press Enter to move to the next slide to check your work. Read the sentence again with the correct preposition.

 

Practice with prepositions part 2 from Jill Koppel

Term 2 / week 6 - Dictation and some Practice with Prepositions

Write a Discussion on the topic of Graffiti

You can choose one of the following topics:

1. Graffiti should be legalised.
2. Graffitists should be put in jail.
3. Local councils are losing the battle to prevent graffiti.

Your introduction must include your opinion and some supporting sentences, based on experience or facts. This should be interesting enough to invite the reader to read more!

Use the Discussion Plan to start writing more arguments to support your view. Don't forget to discuss the Arguments AGAINST your view and what you think of them.

State law regarding Graffiti

The Victorian Graffiti Prevention Act 2007 recognises graffiti as a crime and acknowledges its potential severity through tough penalties. The offence of marking graffiti attracts maximum fines of more than $29,000 and up to two years imprisonment.

Under this Act, it is illegal in Victoria to:

• mark publicly visible graffiti on property without the owner’s consent
• sell spray paint to someone under the age of 18 unless they have proven it is needed for employment purposes
• possess a graffiti implement with the intention of marking unlawful graffiti
• possess, without lawful excuse, a spray paint can while on or adjacent to public transport property, or when trespassing
• advertise spray paint cans for sale, if the advertisement is likely and intended to incite or promote unlawful graffiti.

The Act outlines what councils can do to remove graffiti from private property and what police can do to investigate alleged graffiti offences.

 

Strategies to prevent graffiti

Which graffiti prevention strategy has been used in the construction of this tram stop shelter on the corner of Johnston Street and Nicholson Street?

Dictation: Graffiti or Street Art?

Here's a dictation to review our vocabulary and prepare to write a Discussion about Graffiti.


Listen to the text three times and check your writing. When you can't improve your writing any more, you can check your work by looking at the Transcript here.

Practice with Prepositions

Here's a review of work we did last term: maybe you have removed these Grammar worksheets from your folder to make space for new work. So, here is a slideshow for you to revise which preposition to use with particular verbs or adjectives.

You will need to click the Next button to check your answer and then go to the Next Slide.

Practice with prepositions from Jill Koppel

Week 1: Holidays and prepositions

This week we used a lot of nouns describing camping equipment, plants, animals and land features. Did you write these things in your notebook?

We listened to Jill's narrative of her holiday and viewed her photos.

Dictation: Jill's camping trip to East Gippsland

Here is the dictation we did to recycle the camping holiday words. It features some prepositions. Listen to the recording three times. You can pause it at any time to write as much as you can of what you hear. Leave a space for any word that you don't understand and try to spell words as well as you can.



Here is the text for the dictation - but don't look until you're absolutely sure you can't do any more!

Grammar corner - extend yourself

Using 'would' for the habitual past  

We practised using 'would' to describe things that you did regularly in the past. It does the same job as 'used to'. Here are some activities to practise using 'would' for habitual past. You can test yourself with the Quiz after watching the video. 

Video: English Grammar – “Would” in the past · engVid

Prepositions: choosing the correct one

At English Current there are five groups of exercises to practise choosing the correct preposition to fill the gaps in the following sentences. 


Would you like to print out the sentences and write your prepositions instead? Here is the document.

 

Are you bored or boring?

Here at 5 Minute English is a really easy-to-understand explanation.