Summer fun and learning

For those of you who want to "work on their English" during the summer vacation- I've posted some ideas under "stories", "fun links" and "Bagrut & unseens". I also added links to the "grammar" page.

If you need anything else or if you want to add something - you're welcome.

Remember that I'm always just one e-mail away.

Purim

"IT'S THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY"

Purim is one of the holidays in the Jewish calendar. On this holiday it is customary to wear costumes, read "Megilat of Ester" (the scroll of Ester), give gifts of food to poor people and to friends and most of all – to be happy.

Here is a musical and humoristic tale of the story of Shushan on Purim: (The sound is not so good, but captions start at 0:37sec)

Many other cultures have festivals in which they wear costumes and have fun. Can you think of other holidays around the globe which have similar features?

Rosh Hashanah

Ground Rules

This blog is planned to use as an additional communication channel for our class' community.

What will you find on the blog?
I will post some of the instructions for assignments you get.
Additional exercises may be given here for those who need them.
Links to useful / interesting sites may be added. (Recommendations are welcome.)
Some of the products of your work may also be posted here.
You cannot add attachments to the blog, but in some cases, you may be able to comment (and even asked to do so).

Safety:
Remember that this blog is not protected by a password, so that every one can read what I post and your comments.
For protected communication, you have my e-mail ( @ hotmail.com).

I wish us all a fruitful usage of the Internet

807-MJH

To verify (=לוודא) that you read this message, post a comment at the bottom.
How do I post a comment? -Simply press the word comment at the bottom of the message
What should I write? -The title of your comment should be "807-your full name".

Using this communication channal - What? Why? How?

Modals - Revision

Modals-explanations
Want to revise your modals?- In the following sites you'll find explanations and exercises that could assist you.

http://www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html (+ exercises)

http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch10.html (+ exercises)

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/hilfsverben2.htm


Exercises
Need some more exersing? check the folloing sites:

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/exercises/exgrammar/helpingverbs.htm

http://www.esoeonline.org/main-index/index-exercises/grammarexs/adv/modalsa1.htm

http://www.esoeonline.org/main-index/index-exercises/grammarexs/adv/advmodals.htm

http://english.baladre.org/sedaviwebfront/mustshould.htm

http://english.baladre.org/sedaviwebfront/modalmixed.htm

http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei007/esl-test.php

Passover fun animations

In the following address you can find a fun animation for Passover
(earphones or speakers are required).
http://www.passovergreeting.com/
Attentions!It is a commercial site.I don't know the book that they are
promoting (=מקדמים מכירות), but the animation is fun.

Want to see more animations for Passover? Go to:
http://shabot6000.com/sedaclub/
http://shabot6000.com/elijah/

BTW (By the way): The language used in the animations is pure American slang!Not to be used in class :-)

If you enjoyed it, please share it with your friends and family and raise a smile on their faces too.

Your assignment for the Passover holiday:

- Read part one of the story "His Wife's Deceased Sister" (pages 64 – 65 in your book) and answer the questions on p. 65.

- Read part two of the story "His Wife's Deceased Sister" (page 66 – 67 in your book) and answer the questions on p. 67.

- Read the story "A free Meal" (pages 84 – 87 in your book), answer the questions on p. 87 and do the One Step Further on page 87.

- Read the texts on p. 92-93 in your book (Part C. - texts 1+2+3).

Read about "The History of Computers" on page 62 of your Workbook and do the assignments and the exercises on pages 62 and 63.

On April 23 (the first lesson after the vacation) you will be tested on the content of the above.

Enjoy your vacation

Book Report for 19/3/06

Your book report should include:

The title of the book.
The author's name.
The number of pages in the book and where you took it from

Answers the following questions: (Write full answers).
When did the story take place?
Where did the story take place?
Who are the main characters? – Write their names and a short passage about the main character(s).
Who is your favourite character? Why?
What happened in the story?
Why did you choose this book?
How did you feel when you read the story?
While you were reading…
– Did you have to use the dictionary many times?
– Was it easy for you?
– Did you get assistance from another person?
– Were you able to understand the story line?

Car accidents

Today, you will read articles from the newspaper, discussing car accidents
which happened in Israel over the last few months.

Your mission (in pairs or trios) is:
1.) Read the stories and choose one of the accidents or another accident you've heard or read about.
2.) Write (in English) how it happened and, if possible, add who is responsible for the accident and what he could do to prevent the accident. You may use the following question words to assist you: When? Where? Who? What? Which? How? In your writing, pay attention to Capitalization, Punctuation, Sentence structure, spelling and the proper usage of the past/present tenses.
3.) Show your draft to your teacher/send it to her by e-mail.
4.) Correct your work and get prepared to present the story in front of the class.
5.) Present your work to the class. In your presentation, include visual aids such a model or a map, as shown in class.

If you have any difficulties, ask your teacher for assistance.

In your work, use the following check list, which reflects the criteria for evaluation which will be used in grading your work:

We worked well within the group + followed all the steps. (10%)

We included all the relevant facts about the accident. (10%)

We used the proper vocabulary. (10%)

We didn't make spelling mistakes.(10%)

We used correct sentence structure.(10%)

We used the correct form of the Past Simple + the Present Simple, when needed. (15%)

We used correct punctuation+ Capitalized when needed. (10%)

We handed in the work on time. (5%)

We presented our written work aesthetically.(5%)

We corrected the mistakes in our first draft. (5%)

We presented the work in front of the class. (10%)

Our presentation included relevant visual aids. (5% Bonus)

Total:105

The Simple Past and Past Progressive

Do you need more practice?
You can find it in the following links:

Simple or progressive?- exercise

past-progressive/exercises/positive sentences

tour/las-vegas-revision

Review for the quiz

On 16/3/06 you are going to have a quiz.

As you were told in class, you will be asked to demonstrate your knowledge in the past simple/progressive and the present simple/progressive.
All the rules are in the grammar appendix at the end of your course book,

If you want to read the rules of the past progressive, you can find it also at: http://www.ego4u.com/en/business-english/grammar/past-progressive
For the other tenses you may go to:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/business-english/grammar

Those of you who need more exercising, may use the following sites: http://www.english-4u.de/past_prog_ex1.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/past_prog_ex5.htm
http://www.english-4u.de/past_prog_ex4.htm
http://home.wanadoo.nl/ijmvermeer/Verbs/VerbsPastSimplePastCont.htm

See you on Thursday, March 16th , 2006

Don't buy it!

Today, we're going to deal with how do get media smart – Ways of fighting the effects of media on the society.
Go to:
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/whatyoucando/
Click on " Meet some Teen Heroes"
Read the introduction and answer:
Who are the teen heroes? What did they do to deserve the title?

On the right side of the screen you'll see a list of names.
Choose one of the following people and answer the questions below about them.
Nick Salter
Danielle Shimotakahara
Kat Bauman
Jamie Wheeler
Girls Editorial Board at New Moon Publishing

1.- Whom did you choose to write about (Name and personal details)?
2.- What is he/she fighting against?
3.- Why is he/she against it?
4.- How does he/she fight it? What does he/she do?

You have 10 minutes for this activity.

At home –
In the following URL's you'll find interesting and fun things connected to shopping and advertising.
You don't have to enter those sites but that could definitely be an interesting activity for the cold days ahead.

-Teen consumer's scrapbook
http://www.atg.wa.gov/teenconsumer/pages/buyingG&S/buyingG&S.htm
Here you can find information and consuming tips about various products.

-Interested in Food advertising tricks?
Go to http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/ and find out interesting things, such as: advertising tricks, detecting ads, how to design a droduct…
You can also "create your own ad"

לא קונים סתם

.באתר שבו אנו עוסקים, יש דברים שקשורים ל- פרסום
.הכנס לאתר הבא
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/foodadtricks.html

:שם תמצא כל מיני טריקים של פירסום
:פתח מסמך וורד וכתוב בו את תשובתך לשאלות הבאות

?על אילו טריקים של פרסום מספרים לנו באתר
?אילו מוצרים
?מה הטריקים שבהם משתמשים כדי שהמוצר יהיה יותר מושך

.כשתסיים, חזור לעמוד זה והמשך

פתח את הקישור הבא
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/createyourownad_flash.html
.ועצב לך מודעת פרסומת

לאחר שתסיים, תוכל לשוטט באתר -
.http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/ ולהנות מדברים שונים שתמצא בו
?אילו דברים מעניינים מצאת

The Holocaust and Yad Vashem

A. The following text summarizes what we have discussed in class today.
Read the text and answer the following questions in your notebooks:
(Don't forget that there is a part B. to this mission)

The holocaust
"Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire."
The holocaust was the murder of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War 2.
"The National Socialist German Workers' Party" or NSDAP, known as the Nazi Party, controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. The Nazis believed that Germans were "racially superior"
It was the aim of Hitler's government to create a European world both dominated and populated by the "Aryan" race. The Nazis wanted to get rid of millions of people they considered undesirable and "unworthy of life". Some people were undesirable by Nazi standards because of who they were, their genetic or cultural origins, or health conditions. Others were Nazi victims because of what they did.
The Nazis targeted groups of people because of their "racial inferiority". They persecuted Jews, Gypsies, the handicapped, the mentally and physically disabled and Colored people. Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and other political enemies. How were they killed? Some of them were passively killed by starvation and widespread disease.
Mass killings began in June 1941 with the shooting of Jewish civilians during the German invasion of the Soviet Union(ברית המועצות). At the end of 1941 the Germans began deporting (=transferring) Jews to extermination (=death) camps in occupied Poland.
The Nazis killed approximately (=around) 11 million people.
In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. By May 1945 about two out of every three Jews in Europe had been murdered.
World War II ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of German armed forces in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945.
Auschwitz was liberated on January 27th, 1945.

הקרבה
משתפי פעולה
גזעי
נשלט
מאוכלס
סימנו למטרה
נחיתות
נכים
רדפו
התנהגותי
רעב
מחלה
אזרחים
רעב
גירוש
השמדה
ללא תנאי
כניעה

1. What is "The Holocaust"?
2. When did it happen?
3. Where did it happen?
4. Who did it?
5. Whom did they do it to?
6. Why did they do it?
7. What is the difference between the Holocaust and other mass murders?

B. Next week, you're going to visit "Yad Vashem"
Go to "Yad Vashem"'s site: at - http://www.yadvashem.org/
Try to find answers to the following questions and bring them to class.

1. What is "Yad Vashem"?
2. Where is "Yad Vashem" located?
3. What can you find there?
4. Why was it established?
5. When was it established?
6. What can we find there?

All this information and much more could be found on the site.

Adverbs

We learned about adjectives and adverbs in class.
Today, we'll practice what we have learnt.
· How do we form the adverbs? – I know you know it, but here is a chance to practice it again Form of adverbs (Just click on the link and Fill in the blanks. When you finish, check your answers and call your teacher –politely- before moving on.)

· In the following link you'll get a chance to show and check your knowledge on what should you use, An adjective or an adverb? (Follow the same instructions as before)

Since you master the comparison of adjectives and you know how to form adverbs and when to use them, I'm sure comparison of adverbs would be easy for you, simply "a piece of cake" (eating it not getting rid of the extra weight).
Comparison of adverbs (Just follow the same drill)


Now, you are ready to use your knowledge and read a short text about the Niagara-falls . Read the text and do the short exercise at the bottom.
When you finish, you know whom to call to check your work!

Enjoy and learn

The Holocaust

"Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire."
The holocaust was the murder of six million Jews and millions of others by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War 2.
"The National Socialist German Workers' Party" or NSDAP, known as the Nazi Party, controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. The Nazis believed that Germans were "racially superior"
It was the aim of Hitler's government to create a European world both dominated and populated by the "Aryan" race. The Nazis wanted to get rid of millions of people they considered undesirable and "unworthy of life". Some people were undesirable by Nazi standards because of who they were, their genetic or cultural origins, or health conditions. Others were Nazi victims because of what they did.
The Nazis targeted groups of people because of their "racial inferiority". They persecuted Jews, Gypsies, the handicapped, the mentally and physically disabled and Colored people. Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and other political enemies. How were they killed? Some of them were passively killed by starvation and widespread disease.
Mass killings began in June 1941 with the shooting of Jewish civilians during the German invasion of the Soviet Union. At the end of 1941 the Germans began deporting (=transferring) Jews to extermination (=death) camps in occupied Poland.
The Nazis killed approximately (=around) 11 million people.
In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. By May 1945 about two out of every three Jews in Europe had been murdered.
World War II ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of German armed forces in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945.
Auschwitz was liberated on January 27th, 1945.

הקרבה
משתפי פעולה
גזעי
נשלט
מאוכלס
סימנו למטרה
נכים
רדפו
התנהגותי
רעב
מחלה
אזרחים
רעב
גירוש
השמדה
ללא תנאי
כניעה

A story in the news

The following work may be done in pairs (get you teacher's approval for your pairing)

Read the following article about Emily's journey .

You are expected to answer questions about the article.
The questions could be found at:
W: - English_8th_grade-merav - Emily's journey.

Save your answers on the school's net in W: under your name(s)
Be prepared to answer the questions in class.

High-School options – A class project - Introduction

Dear students!
In a few months you will have to choose the high school you want to attend in the next year.
In order to assist you and your friends in making the decision, our class will explore the different educational options that are open for Ramat-Gan's high-school students.
Your findings will be shared with the whole class and the other 8th graders in your school and will, hopefully, assist you in making this important decision.
This is a group project (2-3 members in ach group).
Each group will be assigned a school.
You will conduct a research about the school and your findings will be submitted in writing.
In your project you will include an opinion about the school – a student's/ teacher's / a parent's opinion about the school you've researched.
Pictures, showing activities in the school will also be included.
At the end of your project you will also include your personal opinion about the school you've researched.
The project will be done in steps.
Following the steps carefully will make your work easier.

Now, read carefully Step 1 and follow the instructions.

Merav