Let’s Communicate in English

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we read about a tragic accident that happened at a clothing factory (The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory) in New York City in 1911. This accident helped to change the labor laws in the U.S. so that workplaces would be safer.

I thought you might be interested in seeing more information about this so I have included a few links below.

A website about the Triangle fire from Cornell

Photos of the Asch Building during and after the fire

Leap for Life, Leap of Death

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire – Wikipedia

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire – HistoryBuff.com

A History of the Asch Building

Hello,

Tomorrow our school is closed in remembrance of Cesar Chavez. He was a man who helped organize farm workers in the United States so that they could have fair working conditions. He is remembered as an important labor leader in the United States. Do you know where the street “Cesar Chavez” is in San Francisco? Here is some information about Cesar Chavez:

The Story of Cesar Chavez

Hi everyone,

Remember the website I showed you at :    www.usalearns.org ?

Go to that website and click on Start Now.

Then click on the 2nd English Course – Low Intermediate English Skills.

Next, click on the part that says: Housing and Family Life.

After that, click on part 5: Managing Family Life.

Start with the Let’s Watch part and continue from there.

You will learn about the modals “have to” and “must”.

Enjoy !

Here is another website with some good explanations and exercises to help you practice using modals.

englishpage.com

If you are interested, you can click on one of the links below to hear President Obama interviewed on 60 minutes last night.

Obama on 60 minutes – March 22, 2009.

Obama on 60 minutes with interview transcript

There was also another interesting story on 60 minutes last night about a musician named Nathaniel Ayers.

Here is the link for that story.

Here is a link with some more information about modals from Long Beach Community College. Long Beach is near Los Angeles.

Everything About Modals

Hi everyone,

I wanted to show you a website at www.voicethread.com

You can go to the website and register with your email address and then start creating your own voicethreads for free. What is a voicethread ? It’s a website that allows you to upload photos and then comment on them with audio and text. Then, other people who are registered with voicethread can comment with audio and text about your pictures. Let’s try it. I created a quick voicethread today using some photos I took at the march in Sacramento.

Voicethread about Sacramento march

Hello,

Here are the photos I took of our trip to Sacramento. Enjoy !

Diane

Hi everyone,

I started a Talkgroup so we can share online speaking for our Social Communication class. Here is the link:

The March for Education in Sacramento on March 16, 2009

Hi everyone,

I got an email tonight from a website at:    www.voxopop.com

You can register with your email to open an account at voxopop and start a discussion group or you can just log on and listen to other discussions.

Click here to listen to my first test recording.

I think this could be an exciting way to practice listening and speaking in English !