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Important Issues in ESL at www.elcivics.com 
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ESL Teachers' Blog of SubstanceYou are welcome to email me with your questions and ideas.
Angelina Jolie's Double MastectomyMay 19, 2013Just read about Angelina's double mastectomy. Genetic testing showed that her risk for breast cancer was 87 percent. I think she made the right decision, considering how high her risk was even though she doesn't have the disease at the moment. Testing also shows that she has a 50 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer. Jolie's mother died from it when she was just 56 years old. So Jolie might be getting her ovaries removed too. I wonder if the Affordable Care Act, which starts in January of 2014, will cover such testing. I'd love to be able to take preventative measures. Hats off to Angelina for going public with this information. Now, more women will learn about their options. Twelve percent of women will get breast cancer. That's a lot higher than I realized.
ESL Lesson about Types of TV ShowsMay 17, 2013If you're looking for some light end of the year lessons, I created a lesson about types of TV shows. It includes image and information about newscasts, game shows, singing contests, love stories, nature broadcasts, cooking shows, etc. It would be a fun lesson to use as the year winds down and CASAS testing is over. Time to have a little fun.
ESL Mother's Day Lesson w/ WorksheetsMay 10, 2013Mother's Day is this Sunday. I have a Mother's Day lesson on this website. You can find it if you go to the home page and look under the section titled Holiday Lessons. It's designed for beginning to intermediate ESL students and it includes free worksheets.
Senate Rejects Expanded Background ChecksApril 18, 2013Obama called it a shameful day for Washington. The US Senate rejected a plan to expand background checks for guns purchased online and at gun shows. A father who lost his son four months ago at Newton said, "Any dad in America could be in my shoes." He called it unspeakable grief.
American Icon DiesApril 4, 2013Annette Funicello died this week and a part of American history died with her. She was the most famous of the famous Disney Mouseketeers and one of the original kids to handle the role. Annette was a classy lady to the end. I'm reminded of the song the Mouseketeers sang at the close of each show:Now it's time to say good-bye to our company. M-I-C (See you real soon) K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you!) M-O-U-S-E Good-bye, Annette. May you have a soft landing and be greeted warmly in heaven. RIP.
Voted in Mayoral ElectionApril 10, 2013I did my civic duty by voting in the Rockford, Illinois, mayoral election yesterday. I voted for Mayor Larry Morrissey because he has kept the budget balanced despite hard economic times. When things get better, we won't have a lot of loans plus interest to pay off. There are 87,073 registered voters in Rockford and according to WREX, 19,313 ballots were cast in this election. So, 22.18% of registered voters voted. The population of Rockford is 152,222 (2011).
April Holiday LessonsApril 9, 2013Earth Day, Secretary's Day, and Arbor Day are coming up. I have ESL lessons for each of these holidays. You can find the links to them on my homepage under the holiday heading in the center of the page. I still need to create a lesson about Tax Day which is April 15. I hope you did your taxes already. I finished mine on time and sent them in ahead of schedule. Lesson suggestion: Make copies of the tax worksheet on the IRS website and have upper level students complete the form using information from a fictitious person.
April Fools DayApril 1, 2013I don't have an April Fool's Day lesson for ESL students on this website because I couldn't think of how to create one. I'll have to hop on it and see what I can come up with. I couldn't find nine photos of jokes, but I'm going to try to create my own images of jokes. I promise to have something ready for next year.
Weasle WordsMarch 21, 2013Weasle Words - I found this definition for weasle words on Wikipedia. It would be a good concept to teach upper level ESL students. The term means: Vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information.
Presidential Secret Service Code NamesMarch 18, 2013Presidents have code names that the Secret Service uses to identify them. Reader's Digest published a list of some of the presidents' secret names:Barack Obama / Renegade George W. Bush / Tumbler Bill Clinton / Eagle George H. W. Bush / Timberwolf Ronald Reagan / Rawhide Richard Nixon / Searchlight John F. Kennedy / Lancer Dwight D. Eisenhower / Scorecard
Saint Patricks Day Lesson for ESLMarch 16, 2013Saint Patrick's Day is tomorrow. Here is a three-page St. Patrick's Day lesson I created for ESL classes. It has nine photos, free downloadable worksheets, and some easy holiday facts. I also found this Irish Blessings that you can share with your class. You might want to write it on the white board.An Irish Blessing May your troubles be less, your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.
Should ESL Classes Talk about Pope Francis?March 14, 2013Congratulations to Pope Francis I and to Argentina. I'm a strong supporter of the separation of church and state, but we can still teach our ESL students about current events and include a short lesson on the new pope and on Argentina. Many of our ESL students are catholic and will be interested in learning more about him. Those that aren't catholic will benefit from keeping up with current events.
US Economy Compared to FinlandMarch 13, 2013These facts are from the CIA World Factbook website. You can go to their site to learn more. I just wanted to take a peek at the healthcare costs and compare them. This is a great site for ESL students and teachers.Finland GDP - $36,500 Per Capita (2012) Unemployment - 7.3% (2012) Life Expectancy at Birth - 79.41 yrs. Health Expenditures - 11.7% of GDP (2009) Education Expenditures - 5.9% of GDP (2007) USA GDP - $15.66 Trillion - Largest World Economy GDP - $49,800 Per Capita (2012) Unemployment - 8.2% (2012) Life Expectancy at Birth - 78.49 (2012) Health Expenditures - 16.2% GDP (2009) Education Expenditures - 5.5% GDP (2007)
Women's History MonthMarch 12, 2013March is Women's History Month. Women make up 49% per of the US workforce and men make up 51%. Thirty-six percent of women from 25-34 years old have a college degree while only twenty-eight percent of men do. The IQ scores of females are higher than that of males for the first time since testing started. Unfortunately, only 4.2% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are female.
History of Daylight Savings TimeMarch 9, 2013This is a short history of daylight savings time. It sums up all you need to know about why we will turn out clocks forward tomorrow at 2:00 AM. I also have an ESL lesson on daylight savings time. You can find it from my home page. Just click on holidays and look under the March heading.
Daylight Savings Time LessonMarch 6, 2013I updated my Daylight Savings Time Lesson for 2013. Be sure to remind your ESL students that they need to turn their clocks forward one hour on Sunday, March 10. I'm looking forward to spring! Spring forward and fall back.
ESL Exercise on the EconomyMarch 3, 2013Inflation for 2012 was 1.7% which is a lot lower than the 3% it was in 2011. This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gas in 2012 increased 1.7% after having increased 13.8% in 2010 and 9.9% in 2011. Food went up 1.8% in 2012 and 4.7% in 2011. These numbers would provide a nice lesson for ESL students. Teacher could have students add and subtract them to compare the measures. It’s always fun to use real examples that are related to our everyday lives. It seems to me that food prices are going up a lot this year. It would be fun to survey your class and see what they think.
US Presidents on Cover of TIME MagazineMarch 3, 2013Richard Nixon was on the cover of TIME magazine 47 times, Ronald Reagan 38 times, Bill Clinton 37 times, George W. Bush 33 times, and so far Barack Obama has been on the cover 31 times. I think Obama might beat Nixon because he has four more years as president and I predict he will still be making news after he leaves office. This information was taken from an image chart in TIME magazine this week. The news magazine just turned 90 years old.
Google Invited Me...!April 12, 2011Google has invited me to an AdSense conference in Irvine. I'm thrilled. It's from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. They discuss how website owners can improve traffic and ad income. The neatest thing is that they also give one-on-one customized SEO recommendations for one of your sites. I imagine they will have some great suggestions about ad placements and colors. I think they are also interested in signing people up for their Double Click program. The notice they sent said that 400 people in Southern California attended last year's event. It's invitation only, so I'm glad I made the list. Can't wait to hear what they have to say.
ESL Teachers Applying for UnemploymentJune 25, 2010Like many other ESL teachers, I'm off for the whole summer this year. Bummer! I usually work summer school, so I'm going to miss the income. I filed for Unemployment and had my phone interview on Tuesday. I filed using the online form on California's official website. You can go to www.ca.gov and click on the link near the top that says "Jobs" and then select "Unemployment and Disability".If UI denies your case, be sure to appeal. I was denied benefits last year, but I won on appeal. I cited a California legal case called Cervisi et al. v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. You can look up this case online and learn more about it. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't want to mislead anyone. Here's a quote: "The Superior Court concluded that "under the statute, an assignment that is contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes is not a 'reasonable assurance' of "employment." The Court of Appeal adopted the Superior Court's findings and held that a contingent assignment is not a "reasonable assurance" of continued employment within the meaning of Section 1253.3." Hope this helps. I'm glad we live in a country where the courts protect our rights. (I'm going to leave this blog post up so that you can find it next summer.) |
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Copyrights to the pictures and photos on this ESL and EL Civics website belong to individual photographers. We have purchased the rights to use them. Do not copy the pictures and photos on this site. Permission is granted to copy any of the worksheets for classroom use. Permission is granted to link to any page of this website. Contact Christina Niven, Web Developer, at christina@elcivics.com. Please send corrections, comments, greetings, and requests for new lessons. Copyright © Christina Niven, 2007. |
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