Sunday, March 15, 2020

March-April Activities


Dear learners,

These are the last assignments you must complete during this period. Make sure that once you have finished them, you send them to me via e-mail  by April 5th before 11:59pm.  


1. Read the following newspaper article:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/05/chronic-pain-prescribe-mental-health-support-as-well-as-drugs-say-experts?CM

a. Write down five questions and their answers.
b. Read the information on the features of a newspaper article in the following link:
https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/blog/journalistic-writing/features-of-a-newspaper-report-ks2/
c. Complete the following information based on the newspaper article you just read.

Key features of a newspaper article
From e-learning

Headline – usually only four or five words. It tries to attract the interest of the reader by telling them what the story is about, in a short and interesting way.

·       What is the headline for the article?
·       How many words are there in the headline?

By-line – who wrote the article

·       Who wrote the article?

Introduction – It will set the scene and summarise the main points of the article: who, what, when, where.

·       Can you identify these important points in the article?
·       Who is the article about?
·       What happened?
·       When did it happened?
·       Where did it happened?

Body – provides more detail about the event, in particular it answers the questions how and why
·       What else do you know now?

Quotes – sometimes articles will include what a person (like an eye-witness or an expert) has said. These will be in speech marks.
·       Does the article have quotes?
·       What was said?
·       Who said that?
·       How are they related to the event?

Photograph and caption – sometimes articles have a photograph, and a sentence explaining the photograph
·       Does the article have a photograph?
·       What does it show?  Describe what you see.
·       What does the caption say?


d. Choose your own newspaper article from a British, American, Australian or any other English speaking country, and answer the same questions in section c. 


2. Watch the video: "The most important lesson from 83000 brain scans" by Dr. Amen. Please, don't forget to turn on the Close Caption in English.

Afterwards, answer the following questions.
a. What do SPECT scans tell Dr. Amen about the human brain?
b. What happens to unhealthy brains? Tell the name of the diseases mentioned, and describe the images of the brain.
c. What is the main problem Dr. Amen noticed in the way psychiatrists decide on a patient's treatment and prescribe medication?
d. What is the result of undiagnosed brain injuries in patients?
e. If a patient has a damaged brain, what can be done to help him/her according to Dr. Amen?

Do please check the blog this week for assignments 3-5. Thank you.

3. Read about essays, and answer the questions
What is an essay?

Why is it important to do a close reading if you are writing an essay?

How many types of essay are there? Please, explain each one.

What types of expository essays are there, and what is their purpose? Please explain each one’s main features.

What are the main characteristics of argumentative essays? And how do they differ from the expository ones?


Write down the questions and answers in your notebook. Once they are ready take a picture of your answers and send them to me. Please, make sure that the answers are legible.

Read the two model essays and identify their structure


It is your turn to find an essay you like from your books, or you may download it from the internet. Identify its structure and do include the reference or source from where you took it.


4. Read about the main features in Narratives 
https://literarydevices.net/narrative/
https://literarydevices.net/short-story/
https://literarydevices.net/novel/


  • Can you tell what are the main characteristics of narrative texts? What are they?
  • What are the differences between a short-story and a novel?

Please, read Chapters 1-3 from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain in
https://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/literature/prince-and-pauper

Please, do the exercise on reading comprehension.
Now, can you tell what kind of narrative is it?  Please, draw a chart stating the characteristics of this type of narrative text, and an illustrate it with information from The Prince and The Pauper, for example:


Setting
City of London, in the second half of the16th Century
Characters

Plot

Climax

Conflict

Resolution


5. Area 1 students, please read Texts 1 & 2 from Unit 3, and do all the activities including the grammar section (Simple Past & Present Perfect), and the writing sections: introductory and conclusion paragraphs.

In this section, on page 70 you will find the structure of a problem solution essay. Think about a problem and write your own essay. Please, write it by hand. Then take a photo and send it to me.

Area 2 students, please do the activities for Units 3 & 4, except the listenings and pronunciation sections. In addition, read the texts included in the Reading Bank on pages 53-61. Please, do the activities for each reading in your notebook. When you finish, take a photo per set of activities and e-mail them to me.

Finally, you will take a test online in the second week of April.