We are focusing our conversation this week on politics. This week, Trump's impeachment trial which kicks off this week.  Who are the players, the evidence, the charges.  What do we predict will happen?  

Next week we will be discussing the other side, the upcoming Democratic primary elections in New Hampshire.

Listening:
Learners should try an audio from VOA English called Historic Impeachment Trial begins or US Supreme Court Justice will Impact Impeachment.

For original version listening, I recommend the podcast Trump, Inc.

Reading:
Check out an article adapted for learners from Breaking News English about impeachment.

For original version, try some articles from the BBC: Impeachment explained, A Very Simple Guide, Who is Who in the Trump Impeachment Trial.
 
Writing:
Please write an article this week outlining what is happening with impeachment.  Do you have an opinion or a prediction about what will happen?
Best,
Kelly

This week we discussed restaurants, ordering out, and how to decipher the complicated descriptions on modern restaurant menus.

Listening:
Learners can first try their hand at some adapted listening exercises such as Eating out or Ordering food in a café.

For original version listening, check out some episodes from Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations: Spain, Mexico
 Paris.

Reading:
Learners should try an activity from British Council about ordering while eating out.  Then you can try, What a British Person Should Know when Eating Out in America.

Read some original version menus from Portland, Oregon: Le Pigeon, Cheryl's on 12th, 

Writing:
This week, write a menu of your own restaurant, thinking of evocative descriptions of the types of meals you tend to cook at home.
Best,
Kelly

Welcome back to class in 2020! I hope you enjoyed the holiday break, and had some time to relax and celebrate with your friends and family. Now it's time to get back to our English practice!

In honor of the new year, and in a spirit of optimism that we will stick to those new year's resolutions, we talked about how to form good habits and how to break the bad.

Listening:
Learners can try something from the listening lab --Smoking: Kicking the Habit

For original version, try a recent podcast episode from Hidden Brain called Creatures of Habit: How Habits Show Who We Are -- And Who We Become.

Reading:
Learners can try the reading comprehension article Make Health a Habit.

For original version, check out the article How Culture Molds Habits of Thought. Or try an article from the Guardian, Is It Weird to Eat the Same Sandwich Every Day?

Writing:

1. What do you consider your worst habit to be? Describe it in detail, including how and under what circumstances you engage in it.
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2. Perform a word association exercise with the name of your habit. Then, freewrite for ten minutes about all of the concepts and images associated with it.
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3. Why do you consider this habit “bad” or “worst”? What negative consequences come with it, for you and for those around you?
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4. When you do whatever this “worst” habit is, in what ways do you punish yourself? Or do you? How does having this habit affect your self-image and esteem?
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5. What essential inner need does your habit fulfill? In other words, in what ways does indulging in this habit work for you; what are its positive aspects? Think about when you first began this habit. What were it’s positive aspects then? What did you achieve for yourself by doing it?
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6. What is the opposite of your habit? For example, whether your habit is to procrastinate, to drink, or to bite your nails, what do you consider its opposite to be? Freewrite for ten minutes about this opposite quality or habit and what you think your life might be like. Do you feel resistance to your habit’s opposite? Write about the resistance. Who and/or what events does it remind you of?
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7. Write about what your life would be like without your habit. Would you prefer a life without it? If so, make a list of five things you’d need to do to change it. If not make a list of five things you’d need to do to find more acceptance from yourself and/or others.

Best,
Kelly

This week was our last week before the Christmas holidays and we took the time to discuss the last decade in review and our plans for the year ahead.

I am taking advantage of this opportunity to thank you for another wonderful year at Meetinghouse. Enjoy your holidays of your friends and family and we will see you again in 2020!
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Don't forget that we follow the school calendar, which means that our first day back will be Wednesday January 8th.

 This week we used a recording of my friends Brendan and Carrie and talked about their amazing adventure crossing the Atlantic.  You can check out their website and instagram.  Long live SV Creeky! 

Listening:
Learners can try an activity called Remembering a Life or the Great Ship Adventure. For something a little harder, try A Survival Story listening comprehension exercise.

For original version watch a video about a family that is sailing around the world or an excerpt from This American Life called When May Day Comes in April.

Reading:
For learners, try a short text about Sailing from the British Council or about a teenager who broke the world sailing record.

For original version, read the article from the New York Times entitled 2 Tots, a Sailboat and a Storm Over Parenting or an article about Greta Thunberberg crossing the Atlantic.

​Writing:
This week for writing please write an article detailing the adventure of the SV Creeky. Or write a creative poem about their trip!

To practice vocabulary, write a shopping list for provisioning.

Best,
Kelly

This week we tackled the topic of the human body, looking at a lot of vocabulary about different body parts and amazing facts about our human body.

Listening:
This week learners can try any of the several activities available on the British council website that talk about the human body, for example that listening comprehension exercise amazing facts.

For original version, check out any of the videos on the Ted playlist entitled weird facts about the human body. if you're like me, and you want to practice some yoga to get your body moving, I recommend the yoga with adriene YouTube channel.



Reading:
Learners can try a b2 reading comprehension activity about acupuncture and the human body.

For original version read some articles from national geographic about the amazing human body or any of the articles available at the BBC about the human body and mind.

​Writing:
This week for writing, please write a composition responding to one of the following writing prompts:

1. Think about what your life would be like if you didn’t have fingers. Some people already go through life without them. How would your life be different? What kinds of tools might you use to do the tasks you already do now with your fingers?
2. What would it be like if humans breathed through gills instead of lungs?
3. If you could absorb your food through your skin instead of eating it like you do now, would you do it? Why or why not?
4. What kind of hairstyles would exist if all humans grew hair all over their body like dogs or bears?
5. Imagine you have shrunk to the smallest size possible and you take an adventure through the human body. What would it be like? What would you see? How would you move from system to system?
6. Think about all the ways humans use their bodies to communicate. Body language. Describe as many different ways you can communicate without words as you can.
7. What are the best ways to keep your body in top shape?
8. If you could give humans a physical ability they currently don’t have, what would it be?
9. Are there any unnecessary body parts? Make a list and explain why they aren’t needed.
10. Compare and contrast the human body to another animal.

Best,
Kelly-
Learners can try a b2 reading comprehension activity about acupuncture and the human body.

For original version read some articles from national geographic about the amazing human body or any of the articles available at the BBC about the human body and mind.
This week for writing, please write a composition responding to one of the following writing prompts:

1. Think about what your life would be like if you didn’t have fingers. Some people already go through life without them. How would your life be different? What kinds of tools might you use to do the tasks you already do now with your fingers?
2. What would it be like if humans breathed through gills instead of lungs?
3. If you could absorb your food through your skin instead of eating it like you do now, would you do it? Why or why not?
4. What kind of hairstyles would exist if all humans grew hair all over their body like dogs or bears?
5. Imagine you have shrunk to the smallest size possible and you take an adventure through the human body. What would it be like? What would you see? How would you move from system to system?
6. Think about all the ways humans use their bodies to communicate. Body language. Describe as many different ways you can communicate without words as you can.
7. What are the best ways to keep your body in top shape?
8. If you could give humans a physical ability they currently don’t have, what would it be?
9. Are there any unnecessary body parts? Make a list and explain why they aren’t needed.
10. Compare and contrast the human body to another animal.

Best,
Kelly

 This week, in honor of our Thanksgiving feast in the US, we talked about food, using cookbooks, food magazines, and cooking apps.

Listening:
This week learners can start with something easy like Gourmet Cooking from Randall's ESL Lab, or kitchen capers or any of the many food related videos at ESLVideo.


For original version try any of the videos from J. Kenji López-Alt.such as Tips and Tricks.

Reading:
Learners can test their food vocabulary with Food and drink 1 and 2. if you're ready for a reading exercise, try an article from breaking news English about British food.

For original version try any of the long journalism articles available on longreads.org about food, cooking and cultural identity through cuisine.

Writing:
This week for writing, please write a description about what comfort food means to you. What is a dish that reminds you of home and makes you feel cozy? How is this dish prepared? Make a description of the ingredients and the process to prepare your favorite comfort food.

Best,
Kelly

This week we discussed sleep and many topics around sleep: insomnia, dream interpretation, sleeping in on the weekend.

Listening:
This week learners can try an activity from British English called A Good Night's Sleep. or fromRandall's Listening Lab> Sleeping Problem.

For original version try something from one of my favorite podcasts, Radiolab: Sleep, When Sleep is a Battlefield, Sleep Deprivation. 

Reading:
Learners can an article from ESL Voices: Sleep, orBreaking News English: Sleep.

For original version try A Sociology of The Smartphone, Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? or How App Developers Keep Us Addicted..

​Writing:
This week respond to one of the following creative writing prompts:
1. You have been tossing and turning all night and you can't seem to go to sleep. You go over to your desk and begin writing your insomniac thoughts in a stream of consciousness style. Detail that account and everything that's going on around you.
2. Talk about the first time you had to sleep in bed with someone else. Whether it be a sibling you had to share a bed with, a significant other, or just an awkward situation. How did you adjust to having someone else in there with you? If it wasn't a big deal, imagine that it was for you or the other person and run with it.
3. Discuss a recurring dream that you've had at some point in your life. Did you ever figure out the meaning? Write out all the details you can think of about the dream and then write out the possible meanings for it.
4. You have a big test the next day and you can't fall asleep because of the noises coming from the next door neighbors. Talk about your frustration, your walk over there, and the results that occur.
5. Sleep deprivation. It happened during school and it still happens in life. Talk about your attempts to survive on very little sleep and how effective they were/are.
6. Detail a day in which you've decided to stay in bed from top to bottom. You on and off sleep the entire time, waking to little interesting scenes of other people in the house with you. Talk about this crazy, lazy day.

Best,
Kelly

This week I used my own personal experiment of getting rid of my smartphone as an introduction to talking about cellphones and their pervasive presences in our current lives.

Listening:
This week learners can try a video from the BBC Learning English website: How to Talk About Smartphone Addiction in 6 Minutes.

For original version try one of the thought provoking episodes from the podcast Note to Self: Why Everyone is Talking About Digital Minimalism or Note to Self is Back and We Start with The Big One: Kids and Screens.

Reading:
Learners can try some reading from VOA English such as Smartphone Use May Lead to Addiction, Loneliness.

For original version try A Sociology of The Smartphone, Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? or How App Developers Keep Us Addicted..

​Writing.
This week for writing, please write an article analyzing how technology has been incorporated into your life in ways that you are happy with and others that you would like to change. 

Best,
Kelly