Animal Farm

Grade 10 are getting stuck in to Animal Farm, or as Orwell originally titled it, Animal Farm - A fairy story. Some excellent blog entries have been posted in response by a number of students.

Class materials and homework assignments and dates are all recorded here.

Language in cultural context: language and gender

This week we tried to look at the male point of view. How does language define us in terms of gender? How much does it confine us to predetermined roles? Who will benefit if the 'man box' is taken apart?

Find out here.

Things Fall Apart on the BBC

Grade 11 Literature: Things Fall Apart

Listen to BBC Radio 4 Extra's dramatisation of the complete text of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=things%20fall%20apart

Grade 10 Language Arts

This week we revised and practised the present simple and present continuous. 

For extra revision notes click below:
Stative verbs
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/stative-verbs

Present tense - all forms and uses
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/present-tense

Present simple
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/present-tense/present-simple

Present continuous
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/present-tense/present-continuous

Try further practice exercises here:

present simple and continuous, action and non-action verbs

http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file01/nef_int_grammar01_a01?cc=pe&selLanguage=en  

present simple and continuous, action and non-action verbs

http://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/intermediate/a_grammar/file01/nef_int_grammar01_a02?cc=pe&selLanguage=en

Present Progressive - statements - long forms

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/present_progressive_statements_long.htm

Simple Present / Present Continuous

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs1.htm

Simple Present / Present Continuous in narrative

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs2.htm

Language Arts

We are revising the correct form, spelling and uses of the past tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect. You can revise the grammar in Matrix, Unit 3, page 32 - 34. The grammar rules are on page 134.

We also learned vocabulary to talk about nutrition and historical changes.

Visit these websites for extra revision:
Irregular verbs in past simple
Using past simple with past continuous
How and why we use the past perfect

Visit these websites for games and extra practice:
Past tenses - practice
More past tense practice!
Practice the past perfect.

Composition

Today we looked at the title of our first essay question:

TITLE:

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." (Einstein)

Research current world events and describe in detail the possible causes of the next global conflict. Concentrate on a current situation of tension or conflict, describe the main arguments or events that create a problem, and explain why these arguments or events could cause a world war.

We discussed what we will have to do for this essay: research, describe and explain on an issue that is in the news at the moment.

In different groups, we researched an example (North Korea's problems with the United States) and tried to find out who is involved, what has happened and why the problem started.

Group A are reading, "U.S. officials warn N. Korea after it scraps armistice" by Anne Gearan and Chico Harlan, March 11, 2013
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-11/world/37606561_1_kim-jong-eun-armistice-pyongyang

Group B are reading, "US to reinforce missile defences to counter North Korea 'provocations'"  by Chris McGreal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/15/us-strengthen-missile-defence-north-korea 

Group C are reading, "Learn to live with a nuclear North Korea" by Ted Galen Carpenter.
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/learn-live-nuclear-north-korea

In our own time we will think of a current issue that we are interested in and do our own research. We will start to work on the essay on Wednesday 3rd April.