Lesson for Tuesday April 7th: Reading: Thunder and Lightening

Hi class,

Let's do a reading about thunder and lightening.

I emailed you pages 44-45 from our workbook. You can also see them below and look at the answers.

Read here for some information about thunder and lightning.


Here is another website with easy English about thunder and lightening.

Check your answers to page 45 here:

Do you enjoy thunder storms ? I grew up near Washington D.C. There are often thunder storms in the spring and summer there. I think they are exciting and fun to watch....if you are inside !

This video has the sound of thunder and rain...some people find it helps them sleep !

Unit 4 Lesson 1 Listening Link for pages 66-67

Hi class,

I already emailed you this lesson and the audio file but I'm posting the audio file again in case the one I emailed you is hard to open.

Listen here for track 22.

Face masks by Akiko !

Akiko has already made some new face masks: See below for her instructions.

How to make a face mask:

(1)  I make a pocket of 5  x 7  cloth  and  sew the 2 sides and the bottom

(2)  I take the mask's cloth about 8x9 inches and on both sides gather the material and sew it more one time

(3)   I put elastic or rubber bands on both sides of the mask and attach it

(4)   I cut a vacuum cleaner's bag a little smaller than the pocket, about  4x6,

         and I sew it on each side. I use about 5 layers of the vacuum cleaner bag material inside the mask.

Unit 3 Listening Test

Click on the links below to listen to each part of the test.
I'll email you a PDF of the test and script so you can look at it while you listen.
Don't look at the script until after you try the test questions several times !

Listening 1:

1. track 19
2. track 20
3. track 21

Listening 2:

4. track 22
5. track 23

Listening 3:

6. track 24
7. track 25
8. track 26

Followup to yesterday's class

Hi class,

Thanks for coming to the Zoom meeting yesterday ! Enjoy your weekend !!!

Listen again to the dictation we did here.

Here are the sentences:

1. Everyone is supposed to stay home until April 30th.
2. People are only supposed to go out for essential activities.
3. Restaurants, stores and all other non-essential businesses are closed.
4. Before, people who weren't sick were not supposed to wear face masks.
5. Now, we read that people should wear face masks.
6. Many people will learn to make face masks from t-shirts or other kinds of fabrics.
7. When you go shopping, you are supposed to stay six feet away from other people.
8. In fact, everywhere you go, you are supposed to stay six feet apart from others.
9. This is called social distancing.
10. It seems that the shelter-in-place order is helping San Francisco have fewer covid-19 cases.

Here are a few videos about wearing and making face masks.

You can read about the video here:

Here is another one:

Friday April 3 Lesson

Hi everyone,

I always get the New York Times newspaper on Sunday. Every week in the Sunday Styles section, there is a column called Social Q's where people can write about a problem that they have and ask for some advice. This past week, a few people wrote about different problems they are having now because of the pandemic.

Here is what one student wrote:

Seeking Privacy in a Pandemic

I am a European student enrolled at an American college. When we were asked to leave campus for the rest of the semester, a good friend invited me to stay with her family nearby. I agreed, and I’m extremely grateful to her. The problem: We share a bedroom and stay together for most of the day. The lack of privacy is killing me. Is it rude to ask for time alone? I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

Can you think about her problem and give some ideas for advice ? We can discuss this tomorrow when we Zoom !

Note: "Social cues" ("cue" is pronounced like the letter "Q") are the signals people send through body language and expression that show how they are feeling.

Thanks to my colleague Kevin Cross for suggesting this activity !!!

A Favorite Place in San Francisco

Hi class,

Let's try a writing activity. Write about a place in San Francisco that you like. Where is it and why do you like it ? What do you know about that place ?

If you can email me a picture of you in that place, that would be great. But, if you don't have a picture with you in it, any picture of the place is fine.

Today, I'm going to write about one of my favorite places in San Francisco. It's called: Crissy Field. Are you familiar with Crissy Field ?

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Crissy Field. It's located right next to the bay in the Presidio. It used to be an airfield for military planes. For many years, it was closed and not very clean...and then the city of SF decided to restore it and open it to the public in 2001 as a park. Now, it is one of the most picturesque places in the city with a fantastic view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a walking path and many people run, ride bikes and walk their dogs there. Some people like to go to the beach there. Many tourists come to take pictures...and some people go fishing off the pier. There is a cafe/store called the Warming Hut where you can buy coffee, sandwiches and snacks and souvenirs. I usually buy things there when I visit.

The picture above is from 2012. I decided to have my birthday party there. I invited friends, colleagues and neighbors. You can see me in this photo with some of my neighbors. It was a really special day and I'm glad I have some photos to remember it ! I hope you can go visit Crissy Field when you get the chance. If you walk all the way toward the bridge, you'll see a big brick building on the left called Fort Point. Now it is a museum and it's an interesting place to walk around inside.

Here is Fort Point: It's fun to walk to the end of the path and watch the surfers under the bridge.

What special place do you like in San Francisco ? Email me a short paragraph and a photo and I'll post it to our blog ! This is your homework for Thursday April 2. Have a great day today !

Here is a picture from Emelie:

This is Kirby cove, located across the Golden Gate Bridge, it is one of my favorite places in the city to visit. Mostly because it’s quiet and still with the waves crashing on the beach, and of course the beautiful view of the bridge and city (when Carl isn’t around).

Note: Sometimes people call the fog in the bay area "Carl" !

Here is a picture from Brahiam:

This picture was taken during a Thursday sunset on 16th and Quintara street in the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood, just above one of the few secret stairs located throughout this lovely part of the city. It's an amazing place to walk, exercise and appreciate nature due to it's lush flora and quietness. One of the reasons I like to go there often is because from there I get the chance to contemplate the ocean... watching the waves crash and catching the sunshine on the water's surface makes me feel present and endless. I must confess as well that I'am a total sucker for the sunsets and since I came here it's become my favorite and sort of intimate moment of the day.  

Brahiam Sanchez-Villegas

Here are two photos from Cindy:

Here are the two pictures I took at Stow Lake. I walk there every day because it's very close to my house. 

Stow Lake is located between John F. Kennedy Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive - west of the Japanese Tea Gardens. There is a road that wraps around the lake where you can park. There are also footpaths up to the lake and over the bridges to the island in the middle of the lake. I walk around the lake, climb the hill on the island, and check out the waterfall all the time. I sometimes feed the ducks and see a turtle or swan or two. It's a quiet and relaxing place. 

In the first picture, you see a bright red Chinese pagoda - a gift given to the park from San Francisco's 'sister city' of Taipei.

Sveta writes about her favorite place:

My favorite place in San Francisco is  Sutro Heights Park.

         I grew up in Kazakhstan, then studied in Russia and then lived and worked in the Czech Republic, I never saw the ocean before I arrived in San Francisco.
        I really love the beautiful park where you can walk among the trees, climb the highest point and from there see the Pacific Ocean, so endless and incredible. I like to watch the beautiful blue sky and soaring eagles above my head and breathe fresh air.
     Currently, there are few people resting in this park, but once in history this was a favorite resting place for citizens, when Alfred Sutro built the famous baths and the railway.
       There is a wonderful Cliff House restaurant serving California cuisine, my husband and I haven’t been there yet, but I hope that we will go there.
   I recommend everyone to see the info about this beautiful place in San Francisco and visit it.

Here is a photo and some information from Akiko:

Yes, all these  plants are in my garden.

I don't know how many plants I have,I have never counted them but I love trees and plants and I have bought and planted them and watched them grow.

Let me see now, I am confused about what kind of plant to introduce first. But, I decided to show you the the biggest and oldest  tree in my garden. The name is California red wood. (popular name)

The scientific name (or botanical name) is Sequoia sempervirens.

This tree is faced with the threat of extinction. It grows in the coastal forests of Northern California and is known for being the largest tree in  the world. (WIKIPEDIA)

It is a living fossil species.

But now it has been placed under protection and It has been planted extensively in arboreta or botanical gardens worldwide where it has proved to be popular and fast-growing.

Sometimes I have touched and prayed to this tree.That is my symbol of peace of mind .

The tree's name is James, he is a boy.

These pics are from Vanusa:

Here are the photos from one of the places that I like in SF.

It is hard to choose a picture because I have been in many places here and love all new place that I visit.

The first picture was on the Golden Gate Bridge. I love this photo because I imagined  myself on this bridge but I didn't imagine that it was going to be soon and I would be living in California. 

The second image is in Bernal Heights where I went with my friends and I loved the view.

Have a good day teacher.

And, these pics are from Joao:

One of my favorites places in San Francisco is Twin Peaks. Not in the area where a lot of tourists use to visit but on the top of the hill. It doesn’t matter if you climb to the first or the second one, both of them have unique views. You can choose if you want to admire downtown and beyond or if you want to contemplate the ocean. As you can see in my pictures, the sunset, when we don’t have fog, is stunning. 

 

Just as a reminder, Twin Peaks is the second-highest point in San Francisco, after Mount Davidson. So, most of the time, it is really windy. Bring your coat and enjoy yourself with the diversity of colors and mesmerizing views.