Klondike - Rush for Gold In the summer of 1897 two ocean going steamers landed on the west coast of the United States. One ship, The Excelsior, landed in San Francisco and three days later The Portland landed in Seattle. Down the gangplank of these two ships went a rag-tag group of men and women carrying sacks of gold. Some walked down the docks with $5,000 worth of gold while others had over $100,000 worth. The miners told of the rich claims they had staked one year earlier on a series of small creeks flowing into the Klondike River. The Dawson City Museum presents a glimpse of the journey to the harsh north country of Alaska and Yukon.
English Success Story: Nicola at Berlin and Other Stories - English Outside The Box As this year comes to an end and a new year is quickly approaching, you may be one of the people making New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions are the promises you make to yourself that you’ll make effort to do/change something that you now you should do/change. These are common in the new year, and often include promises about weight loss, exercise, education, and other self-improvements. So think about some long-term goals you have for your English skills. To help motivate you, and show that success in English is possible when it’s not your first language, I’d like to share an interview with you from Nicola. How did she accomplish this? Before you start the video, don’t forget your pen/pencil and paper. Listening Comprehension Practice Now that you’ve listened to the interview and taken notes, it’s time to test your listening and note-taking skills. When did Nicola start learning English? Remember, try and answer these questions on your own first. English Success Story: Nicola About Nico:
You Have The Power Understanding energy and energy solutions is necessary if current and future generations are going to help solve our energy challenges. Being armed with a greater understanding of energy allows us to be better decision-makers and to make wiser choices in our personal lives, as well as in our communities. Energy-related decisions usually require the work of many experts to address economic, political, environmental, social, and other factors. But in this interactive, the decision belongs to students. Use or adapt these prompts to engage your students in the interactive: What does it mean to make an informed energy decision?
GeoGames GeoGames challenges players to Build Planet Earth and Map Countries and Cities using fun graphics and sound effects on an animated 3D globe. The game focuses on cognitive concepts, such as spatial relationships (where the continents are in relation to each other and to the oceans), nesting (how a city is a unit within a country, a country is a unit within a continent), and how countries, continents and oceans have vastly different sizes (scale.) Designed to help educators teach and assess students' geography mapping skills, GeoGames can be played as a group activity or individually. Each level of the game is graded easy, medium, or hard. Players can track and record their completion times using the automated game timer as well as print customized maps that reflect their progress at each level. GeoGames is also available as an app. For recommended practices on using GeoGames in the classroom, click here.
Lost Luggage – Speaking Activity – Mike Astbury – Teaching Games This is a practical speaking activity, designed to be part of a task based learning style lesson for a strong intermediate class. The material is adaptable for a variety of levels. [CLICK HERE to download the handouts.] Lead in Students discuss in pairs: “If you lost your luggage on holiday what would you miss the most, and why?” Open class feedback – have any of the students had this experience? Preparation Students are told they are going to lose their luggage. Each student is given a luggage card and a ticket. They need to make notes so that they can give their personal details, and the details of their missing luggage, to the staff at the airport. Students put their notes aside and are each given the ‘lost luggage form’ that the airport staff will use. Students work in pairs and write down, in their notes, what questions they will be asked to get this information. Monitor and assist where necessary so students have correctly worded questions. Role-play Pairs are divided into ‘A’s and ‘B’s.
Literacy and Leadership Through Digital Gaming Read to Lead is unlike any other literacy supplement for your curriculum. First, it’s amazingly engaging for students! Even struggling readers who wouldn’t open a traditional book are eager to try our interactive fiction, given that it offers them the empowerment, agency, and feedback so often experienced in great video games. Second, Read to Lead seamlessly combines literacy instruction with opportunities to develop 21st-century skills such as leadership, adaptability, and accountability. Students not only improve their reading and writing, but also apply these skills to realistic professional scenarios that prepare them for the workplace! Finally, we hear again and again from educators that the respectfulness, diversity, and cultural relevance of Read to Lead is most welcome.