Video — Gangnam Style (Cover by Jayesslee on YouTube)

We watched Jayesslee's (Janice & Sonia Lee) cover of Psy's Gangnam Style. They are a talented pair of Korean-Australian women from Sydney. Enjoy it again below:

Lesson 3 – SR Chapter 1

RF

We began with speed reading for Reading Fluency (RF). You entered today's time and score on your spreadsheet (RF Log) in Google Sheets. 

Extensive Reading (ER)

Your brought your graded reader to class to practice ER. Every lesson we will have some time to read. However, you will need to read outside of class. You have two weeks to finish your book. 

You will need to read 100,000 words by the end of the term. Keep a record of your reading.



Extensive Reading (ER)
We registered for M Reader. You must take and pass quizzes to get credit for your reading.

M Reader Log In

Some information about M Reader:

• Be sure that the quiz you choose in M Reader is for the version from the same publisher as the version you read.
• You must get 6/10 to pass quiz.
• You cannot take the quiz again for that book if you fail (unless you ask me)
• You can only take one quiz every 96 hours (4 days), so don't wait until the last week to begin taking quizzes.

Near the end of class, we had time to read from our graded readers for extensive reading. ER is meaningful input.

SR

We checked our answers for our SR homework pp. 5-7.

Write and send your answers for C. Consider the Issues on p. 6.  Also, write your answers for Discussion & Writing Task 2 (p. 10).
Follow the steps:

1. Sign in / log in to Google Drive.
2. Click on NEW.
3. Choose GOOGLE DOCS. 
4. In the top left box, give your spreadsheet the title: full name + RW1F L3 (e.g., Taro Suzuki RW1F L3).
5. Share it with me. Use my Rikkyo address (danielbeck).
6. Write your answers.

Due 5/11 23:59

RtF: Previewing

We checked our answers for chapter 2 in RtF (pp. 13-14). We used this skill to preview Chapter 3 (p. 22) in SR.

Next Lesson

To prepare for next class:

• Practice Quizlet 5 minutes (or more!) every day.
• Read from your graded reader every day. You should be at least 1/2 way through it by next week.
• SR: Pages 8-9 (in your book) & 10 (by Google Docs)

Video — Cello Wars (Star Wars parody by The Piano Guys on YouTube)

The Piano Guys are my favorite YouTube artists. They have great music AND great videos. This one is a parody of my favorite movie from my childhood, Star Wars. Now people call it Episode IV (4) or A New Hope, but it was Star Wars to us when it came out. It wasn't until the stupid prequels (Episodes I, II & III) years later that those names were used.

The ideas of lightsabers, fighting ships flying across the screen, laser guns and The Force were all new and very cool. Star Wars was the first real blockbuster movie. If you wanted to see it when it came out, you might have had to wait hours and there were no reserved seats back then. It stayed in the cinemas for over a year.

I have included a modern trailer of the movie below the Piano Guys video. The original trailer was not very good. Enjoy!

Lesson 2 – Reading Fluency & Quizlet

RF
We began with Reading Fluency (RF) practice. Each time you will read a passage for speed and mark your results. You should see your time drop over the term.

RF Log

Follow the steps to set up your Reading Fluency (RF) Log:

We will use Google Sheets (spreadsheet) to keep track of our progress in reading fluency. This makes it easy for me to follow your progress. It also makes it easy for you to see your own progress. You can generate a line graph from the spreadsheet.

Follow the steps:

1. Sign in / log in to Google Drive.
2. Click on NEW.
3. Choose GOOGLE SHEETS. 
4. In the top left box, give your spreadsheet the title: full name + RW1F + RF Log (e.g., Taro Suzuki RW1F RF Log)
5. In the top right corner, click on SHARE.
6. Share it with me. Use my Rikkyo address (danielbeck).
7. In the A column, write the date of your first RF reading.
8. In the B column, write the time of your first RF reading.
9. In the C column, write the number of correct answers.
10. Repeat for each time.

Enter in your RF score every week.

Homework

1. Download and log into the Quizlet app and the Google Sheets app for your smartphone (both are free!) and log in.
2. Read your Graded Reader and bring it to class every week.*
3. SR**: Do the tasks on pages 2-7 in the textbook.
4. RtF: Do the exercies for Chapter 2 (pp. 13-14).
5. Study the NAWL 1 set on Quizlet. We will have a quiz next week.
6. Bring a computer again next week.

**SR = Select Readings textbook

*How to choose a Graded Reader

1. Go to the library.
2. Ask where the graded readers are.
3. Choose any book from the middle level.
4. Open the book to the middle.
5. Read one page.
6. If there are more than 2-3 new words (except for names of people and places), put it back and choose a lower level. If there are no new words, put it back and choose a higher level.
7. If the book seems boring, put it back. If the book seems interesting, check it out and bring it to class next week.

Social Media

You can add me as a friend or follow me by clicking the links below:

GTB on Facebook

GTB on Twitter

GTB on Instagram





You can also follow my wife on Instagram to see her daily illustrations of Carrie, our golden retreiver.

@yumikobeck on Instagram

Video – Tom Sawyer by Rush

As I told you in my self-introduction, the Canadian rock trio, Rush, is my favorite band. Geddy Lee, the bass player, is also the singer and keyboardist; Alex Lifeson is the guitar player; Neil Peart is the drummer and lyricist (writer of the words).

Rush's best-known song is Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is the name of a famous character is American literature. Mark Twain wrote a few novels with Tom as a character who observes human nature. Tom was a boy and had a friend named Huckleberry (Huck) Finn. Huck had his own novel in which he made a raft (small flat boat) and traveled down the Mississippi River with an escaped slave.

In the introduction part of the video there is an animation with characters from South Park (a popular TV show). The characters have their own rock group called Lil' Rush. They start to play Tom Sawyer, but stop to have an argument. It's because the singer confuses Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

In this song, Peart (the writer) thinks of himself as a "modern-day Tom Sawyer". So, this song is really about himself. I have included the lyrics (words) below the video if you would like to read them. Enjoy!






Tom Sawyer
Words: Peart    Music: Lee & Lifeson

A modern day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride

Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
He reserves the quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide

Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades
He gets by on you

No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness, catch the wit
Catch the spirit, catch the spit

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets by on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of the day

Lesson 1 – Welcome!

Introductions
In our first lesson, I introduced myself with a slide presentation. You also introduced yourselves by filling in a form online.

Orientation
We also looked at the syllabus for this semester.

I am looking forward to our classes together this Spring!

Vocabulary Level Test

One of the most important parts of learning a language is vocabulary. And, one of the most important things for a teacher is to know the vocabulary levels of the students. We took a test in class to check our vocabulary levels.

Next Week
Prepare for the next lesson:

1. RtF*: Fill in the Reading Survey (p. 1).
2. RtF*: Read Introduction to Extensive Reading (p.2-3)
3. Bring a computer to class.

*RtF = Reading the Future