2016.11.30 - Class 8

Work in our book

Riding through the urban landscape of the Walking Dead

We worked through a few pages of the book today, namely pp.21-24, which included:

1. vocabulary (p.21, p.23 (phrasal verbs), p.24)
2. listening
3. speaking
4. reading

We also watched a few clips from films and TV that had to do with this vocabulary and the theme of survival, which we began last class.

After the break, we used went to the computer room, where you became members of our Quizlet class and added a new list with some new vocabulary.

You then tried an interactive fiction game called 50 Ways to Be Killed by Zombies. In the 20 minutes or so that you played, no one managed to survive, but I encourage you to keep trying!

Homework

• Continue with the goal of having 75 minutes of contact with English per week. You can do this however you wish, but here are some suggestions given that you will have more time than usual next week:
• Continue with 50 Ways to Be Killed by Zombies - try to survive! It might be useful to keep track of how you do it. If you really want to go crazy, you could write your own walkthrough for the game. If you do, please share it with me.
• You could also try some other similar game/stories (Interactive Fiction). See the blog entry below (Interactive Fiction - a list) for more possibilities.
• Watch a film or a few episodes of a television series in English. Especially if you don't already do this, this would be a great thing to do next week when you have a bit more time.
• Read a short story. If you can't find one, there are quite a few at COMMONLIT. Or, if you prefer, read a few poems at the Poetry Foundation.
• Whether you read or watch a video of some sort, write a short reaction to what you read or watched. I'll post an example below to give you an idea of how to do this - though use your own ideas!

Example of reaction to a film

I watched Captain Fantastic, a film about a father and his children who live in the wilderness. Years ago, the father and his wife decided to take their kids to bring them up in the wilderness. The kids were educated with the books they had in their library, but they also learned how to live in the forest as well as lots of practical physical skills such as hunting, rock climbing, etc. After a short time, we learn that the children's mother, who has been in a hospital, has died, and they want to go to her funeral. The father is reluctant to go because he knows his wife's parents are going to make things difficult for them, but the kids insist and they go. The biggest part of the movie is about the adventures they have and what happens when these kids experience the 'normal' world that the rest of us live in. Will they stay with their grandparents? Will their father be arrested for child abuse? Can these kids adapt to the life that the rest of us lead? Watch the film and find out.