Adopt Higher Order Thinking Skills

Recently baby abandoning issues have been highlighted tremendously in our local dailies. Various contributing factors have been debated. Still,there is no light at the end of the tunnel. My simple advise... Always impart higher order thinking skills in whatever you are engaged in... I dedicate this self made video using Windows Live Movie Maker to the departed souls....

Daily Dosage!

SITUATION 2

Higher Education :

A. = Adjective ADV. = Adverb IDM. = Idiom N. = Noun V. = Verb
apprenticeship	N. training in an art or a trade This word is also sometimes used to describe educational training programs, common in Europe and much of the world, in which young people learn their profession through on-the-job training in companies and organizations. Often this includes one or two days a week of in-class training. This kind of education is uncommon in the United States.
to be funded	V. to be paid for, to supply the money for
a degree	N. a title given by a university
facilities	N. services or conveniences
to major	V. to specialize in (a particular academic field)
a major	N. the main field of study in which a university student specializes
to minor	V. to have a secondary specialization in (a particular academic field)
a minor	N. the secondary field of study in which a student specializes
to stand for	V. to be the short form of, to represent, to mean
terminology	N. specialized words or expressions used in a particular field, activity, job, science, etc.
to transfer	V. 1) to change schools 2) to move from one place to another said of people or things
B.A.	N. Bachelor of Arts, an undergraduate degree in a humanities-related subject
B.S.	N. Bachelor of Science, an undergraduate degree in a science-related subject
master's	N. the graduate degree after a bachelor's and before a Ph.D. There are also different kinds of master's, including M.A. (Master of Arts), M.S. (Master of Science), M.B.A. (Master in Business Administration), etc.
Ph.D.	N. doctorate, highest graduate degree Although Ph.D. stands for Doctor of Philosophy, it is commonly used to refer to a doctorate in any field.

Adapted and edited from (23/08/2010): http://www.englishpage.com/vocabulary/interactivelesson2.html

Daily Dosage!

Here are some commonly used words in daily life situations.... Get to know these words so that you don't have to blink your eyes anymore...

SITUATION 1

Ordering in a Restaurant :

A. = Adjective ADV. = Adverb IDM. = Idiom N. = Noun V. = Verb
an appetizer	N. a small dish at the beginning of a meal, a starter
a chef	N. a skilled cook
chives	N. a small onion-like herb commonly added to potatoes
chowder	N. a kind of soup usually containing fish and vegetables
to come with	V. to include (in a meal)
dressing	N. a sauce added to salads
an entree	N. a main dish
a menu	N. a list of dishes available in a restaurant
salmon	N. a large fish with silvery skin and pinkish meat
rare	A. very pink adjective used to describe a way of cooking meat
medium-rare	A. slightly pink adjective used to describe a way of cooking meat
medium	A. normally cooked adjective used to describe a way of cooking meat
well-done	A. fully cooked adjective used to describe a way of cooking meat

Adapted and edited from (23/08/2010): http://www.englishpage.com/vocabulary/interactivelesson4.html

Example of Secondary Level Lesson Plan

I think this will be a useful one to pre-service teachers(trainee teachers).

LESSON PLAN

Date :12/07/2010

Time : 60 minutes

Class : Form 4 Alpha

Numbers of students :40

Level of proficiency :Intermediate

Theme :Grammar

Topic :Chocolates

: Different grammar inflection in English.

(The way grammar words are changed by the addition of the different ending)

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the lesson students should be able to :

1.0 The skill of listening:

1.1 Listen to and repeat accurately the correct pronunciation of words and the correct intonation and words stress in phrases, expressions and sentences.

1.2 Listen to and follow simple instruction and direction accurately.

2.0 The skill of speaking

2.1 Speak clearly by pronouncing words accurately

2.2 Ask questions politely to obtain information and clarification

2.3 Give relevant information politely in response to enquiries made

3.0 The skill of writing

3.1 Spell correctly and take dictation.

3.2 Give accurate information about inflexion.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to :

1.0 Give response to the conversation and understand better about the topic

2.0 Give outcomes based on evidence in the text

3.0 Convert information into a table from the text

4.0 Listen or get the clear picture of what they are doing and able to express their opinion in both spoken and written form

Educational Emphasis:

v Thinking skills

§ Express Opinion

§ Gather Information

§ Solving Problems

v Multiple Intelligences

§ Interpersonal visual spatial

Resource Materials : Language Reference and non-authentic materials

Moral Values:

v Time Management

v Rationality

• Civic mindedness
• Mod creation
• Responsibility

Stage/time	Content	Teacher’s / Students Activities	Rational and Material
Stage 1 Set Induction (10 minutes)	Ø Teacher sets the theme by introducing the topic of chocolates Ø Teacher chat a few minutes about the topic “Chocolates are one of the most favorites food of everyone…” Ø Teacher tells about the types, contain and benefits of chocolates Ø Students listen and gives response to the teacher		Ø White board Ø Pictures Ø Chocolates Rationale: To introduce topic To get student interest to the topic that they going to learn
Stage 2 (40 minutes)	Ø Teacher starts to teach the students and introduces the topic (Inflection) Ø Teacher gives some examples of the Inflexion words which end with –ing , -ed and - ly	Ø Students take notes while teacher teach	Ø White board Ø Text
Stage 3 (40 minutes)	Ø Teacher gives a text to each students about Chocolates Ø The teacher ask the students to identify the words that have been used in the text Ø Teacher gives 5 minutes to the students to complete the task Ø Teacher will discuss the answers with the students	Ø Students have to identify the Inflection words that have been used in the text and underline it Ø Teacher will gives 5 minutes to finish up the exercise Ø 5 minute later the teacher will discuss the answers with the students
Stage 4 Evaluation	Ø Teacher ask the students to form groups Ø There must be 5 students in a group Ø The teacher ask each group to create a short passage which must contain at least 5 Inflection words which end with –ed, -ing, -ing and -ly Ø Teacher gives 5 minutes to complete the task Ø 5 minutes later one person from each group must come out and read their passage and write the inflection words on the white board Ø If there are any mistakes teacher immediately correct it	Ø Students have to form groups which have 5 members in each group Ø Each group must come out with a short passage which contain at least 5 inflection words which ends with –ed, -ing and –ly Ø Students given 5 minutes to complete the task Ø One student from each group must come out and read their passage and write the inflection words on the white board Ø Students will learn their mistakes, if they made any mistakes	Ø White board
Stage 5 Closure (5 minutes)	Ø Teacher recall the inflexion words that ends with –ed, -ing and -ly	Ø Listen intensively to the teacher	Ø White board

Anwers

Hello again people.. hope you people have tried the quiz and learnt something useful... Here is the answers... Check yours...

1. A Gaped

2. B Gazed

3. C Glared

4. C Gloat

5. A Glimpse

6. D Goggled

7. B Ogle

8. B Peep

9. C Peer

10 D. Obser­ving

11. B Glowering

12. A Squint

13. C Glan­ce

14. B Stare

15. B Browse

16. C Browsing

Should they or shouldn't they???

The Government had proposed the idea of scrapping 2 public exams ie UPSR & PMR. As usual, certain parties bowed down and welcomed the move while others feel that the examinations should stay. People, what is your take on this suggestion?

Build Your Vocabulary!

Many different words can be used to describe the way we look at things. Test your vocabulary skills with this exercise. Have fun! (By the way people,answers will be provided tomorrow...)

1. The children______in amazement at the giant ice-cream in the fun-fair.

A. gaped B. glared C. gloated D. peeped

2. The astronomy students____at the twinkling stars in the dark sky.

A. glanced B. gazed C. glared D. glimpsed

3. She _____at her students who were talking during her lesson.

A. peeped B. gloated C. glared D. gaped

4. A winner likes to______ over his success.

A. glare B. glance C. gloat D. gape

5. The opulent palace gives us a________of the rich life-style of the sultan.

A. glimpse B. glare C. gaze D. gloat

6. He_______in bewilderment when he saw some cows trampling on his vegetables.

A. glimpsed B. peeped C. peered D. goggled

7. Dave likes to_______ women who are attractive.

A. gaze B. ogle C. gloat D. peer

8. I took a______into her room out of curio­sity.

A. gape B. peep C. peer D. gaze

9. We have to_______at the exhibits on display under the dim lights of the museum.

A. peep B. glare C. peer D. gloat

10. I saw my sister______her cats basking in the sun.

A. peering B. ogling C. glowering D. observing

11. My uncle is_______with anger because his lap top has been stolen.

A. gloating B. glowering C. glancing D. ogling

12, The bright sunlight made me _______as he took a photo of me.

A. squint B. peer C. glare D. stare

13. I took a quick ________at the car parked outside my house.

A. glare B. stare C. glance D. ogle

14. When people dress bizarrely we always _______at them.

A. gloat B. stare C. squint D. observe

15. Every morning I______through the newspaper before I go to work.

A. gaze B. browse C. gape D.observe

16. I enjoy_______around in bookstores.

A. staring B. glancing C. browsing D. squinting

Periods of Time

CAN you identify which sentence is correct?

1. When we are home, it’s midnight.

2. When we are home, it’s going to be midnight.

3. When we are home, it’ll be midnight.

4. Do we say “I will arrive in 5 minutes time or 5 minutes’ time”?

The correct sentence is 3) “When we are home, it’ll be midnight.” But it would sound better if you wrote: “It’ll be midnight when we are/get home.”

We say: “I will arrive in 5 minutes’ time”. When we mention a period of time, followed by the word “time” and some other words, the “time” word (i.e. minutes, hours, days, years) has an apostrophe after it if it is plural and an apostrophe “s” after it if it is singular. For example, we say:

“I will go in two days’ time.”; “I will arrive in an hour’s time.”; “I’ve taken two days’ leave.” “Top professional footballers get paid more for a week’s work than most people for a year’s work.”

Troublesome Words

– administer: Not administrate.

– affect, effect: As a verb, affect means to influence (“Smoking may affect your health”) or to adopt a pose or manner. Effect as a verb means to accomplish (“The prisoners effected an escape”). As a noun, the word needed is almost always effect (as in “The damaging effects of war”). Affect as a noun has a narrow psychological meaning to do with emotional states.

– as to whether: Whether alone is sufficient.

– a while, awhile: To write “for awhile” is wrong because the idea of “for” is implicit in awhile. Write either “I will stay here for a while” or “I will stay here awhile”.

– bereft: “Many children leave school altogether bereft of mathematical skills” (The Times, cited by Kingsley Amis in The State Of The Language). To be bereft of something is not to lack it but to be dispossessed of it. A spinster is not bereft of a husband, but a widow is.

– Big Ben: Strictly speaking, is not the famous clock on the Houses Of Parliament, but just the great hour bell. The formal name of the clock, for what it is worth, is the clock on St Stephen’s Tower on the Palace Of Westminster.

– compel, impel: While both words imply the application of force leading to some form of action, they are not quite synonymous. Compel is the stronger of the two and, like its cousin compulsion, suggests action undertaken as a result of coercion or irresistible pressure: “The man’s bullying tactics compelled me to step forward”. Impel is closer to “encourage”.

– comprise: Comprised of is a common expression, but it is always wrong. Comprise means to contain.

– discreet, discrete: The first means circumspect, careful, showing good judgement (“He promised to be discreet in his inquiries”). The second menas unattached or unrelated (“The compound was composed of discrete particles”).

– dos and don’ts: Not do’s.

– each and every: avoid using each individual.

– embarrass, embarrassment: Both are quite often misspelled.

– first and foremost: Choose one

– forbear, forebear: The first is a verb meaning to avoid or refrain from. The second is a noun and means ancestor.

– forever, for ever: In American usage forever is always one word. In Britain traditionally it has been two words (Fowler insisted on it), but more and more dictionaries give forever as an alternative or even first choice. The distinction between for ever (meaning for all time) and forever (meaning continually).

And since I love Penang I choose to conclude by hoping to clear the (unnecessary) confusion in many quarters (I hope they are reading this!)

– George Town, Georgetown: The first is capital of the Cayman Islands and the principal city of the island and state of Penang in Malaysia (my emphasis). The second is capital of Guyana and a district and university in Washington, DC.

A Matter of Choice...

British and American English have some distinct differences.
WHILE there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two that are taught in most ESL/EFL programmes.
Generally, it is agreed that no one version is “correct”, however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage.
If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour – color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy – or possible.
The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.

Use of the present perfect
In British English, the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example: I’ve lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English, the following is also possible: I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In British English, the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English.

Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.
British English:
I’ve just had lunch. I’ve already seen that film. Have you finished your homework yet?
American English:
I just had lunch. I already saw that film. Did you finish your homework yet?

Possession
There are two forms to express possession in English - have or have got.
Do you have a car? Have you got a car? He hasn’t got any friends. He doesn’t have any friends. She has a beautiful new home. She’s got a beautiful new home.
While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn’t got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn’t have etc.)

The verb ‘get’
The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English.
For example: He’s gotten much better at playing tennis. British English: He’s got much better at playing tennis.

Vocabulary
Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties.
For example:
Mean: (American English – angry, bad humored, British English – not generous, tight fisted)
Rubber: (American English – condom, British English – tool used to erase pencil markings)
There are many more examples. If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term.
Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.
> American English – hood
British English – bonnet
> American English – trunk British English – boot
> American English – truck British English – lorry
Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.
For a more complete list of the vocabulary differences between British and American English, use this British vs. American English vocabulary tool at http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm.

Prepositions
There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:
> American English – on the weekend British English – at the weekend
> American English – on a team British English –in a team
> American English – please write me soon British English – please write to me soon

Past simple/past participles
The following verbs have two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both American and British English. However, the irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.
> Burn (burnt OR burned)
> Dream (dreamt OR dreamed)
> Lean (leant OR leaned)
> Learn (learnt OR learned)
> Smell (smelt OR smelled)
> Spell (spelt OR spelled)
> Spill (spilt OR spilled)
> Spoil (spoilt OR spoiled)

Spelling
The best way to make sure that you are being consistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (if you are using the computer, of course) and choose which variety of English you would like.
Most dictionaries include both spellings and will make note of the two spellings. Usually the differences are noted in one of two ways:
In many US dictionaries the difference is included in the headword with the variation in parentheses ( ):
For example: colo(u)r
In British dictionaries, the dictionary makes note of the difference in brackets immediately after the headword i.e. colour (US color)
There are some general differences between British and American spelling. In British spelling, -our (honour), -re (centre), -ogue (dialogue), -ence (defence) and -ise (recognise) is used.
For American words, it is -or (honor), -er (center), -og (dialog), -ense (defense) and -ize (recognize).
American English spelling sometimes does not double the consonant at the end of a word, while British English spelling does, especially when the consonant is an ‘l’.
For example: travel, traveller, travelling (British) and travel, traveler, traveling (American). Also, jewel, jewelry (American) and jewel, jewellery (British).

Conclusion
In Malaysia, when writing or speaking in English, many people mix British English with American English (clearly heard from their pronunciations) and this include also statements heard or seen on TV, newspapers, magazines, books, labels and in notices almost everywhere including the various government departments.
Some common mistakes include using ‘practicing’ (American English), instead of ‘practising’ (British English).
Many write ‘color’ (American English) instead of ‘colour’ (British English) and ‘minimize’ (American English) instead of ‘minimise’ (British English).
Even many university and college students mix British English and American English when writing their thesis, dissertations, working papers, coursework, etc. and their lecturers don’t seem to care!
I think it would be good if Malaysians stick to British English.

Learn Life Long... Never give up!

Education (in this context,information to update/elevate oneself) should be considered as a continuous life long process. This process should start at a very tender age. Parents do have vital role to play. Simple habit like reading newspapers everyday will do i think....Not to mention teachers... We must always encourage our young ones especially, to always update themselves with sufficient information or knowledge. Things seems to be easier in this digital era.... ( KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! you know.....) The old ones also not to be forgotten. You dont have to be young and vigurous to seek knowledge. For me, education and educating should be highly considered in a hollistic manner. Teachers especially need a paradigm shift in their Teaching & Learning activities. Gone are the days where teacher dominates and feed informations to pupils. The globalised pupils need to be thought in different perspective.(I will discuss further in future posts). So people! Get start and dont give up.... Always be motivated!

Teaching and Learning English.

This blog also will serve as a medium for those who are in field of teaching and learning English especially as their second language. I will provide useful notes,links, etc to students as well as to teachers. You to can make this blog a better one by providing materials that are related and giving building comments. Gud day! :-)

I'm Blogging!!!

Hi guys! Welcome to my blog. I will share my experiences as well as providing useful information on this blog. So, fell free to drop by and give comments!