"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an 1820 short story by American author Washington Irving. Even though the story is 200 years old, Americans still enjoy telling this story, and there have been popular movies retelling it.
Not only is the story hilarious, but it teaches the concept of ambiguity. Irving leaves it up to the reader to decide what truly happened to Ichabod Crane. Just like a good ghost story, it's up to the hearer to decide what is true and what is not.
The protagonist of the story, Ichabod Crane, is a Yankee schoolteacher who lives in Sleepy Hollow, a Dutch enclave on the Hudson River. A suggestible man, Crane believes the ghost stories and tales of witchcraft he has heard and read. He is particularly impressed by the tale of a spectral headless horseman said to haunt the area. Crane is also a mercenary; he courts Katrina Van Tassel mostly because she is the daughter of a rich farmer and is expected to receive a large inheritance. Abraham Van Brunt (also called Brom Bones) is Crane’s jealous rival, a local favorite, and a rash horseman who often plays tricks on the schoolmaster. Late one night as Ichabod Crane rides home from a party at Katrina’s home, he is suddenly frightened by a ghostlike headless horseman. The ghost pursues him and hurls at him a round object that he takes to be a head but is later revealed to have been a pumpkin. The schoolmaster is never seen in Sleepy Hollow again.
I have taught human rights several times for my social studies classes, and now I will present something to my ESL students. I will pick and choose from my past lessons and apply them to what writing lessons we had learned from our completed textbook Great Writing 1.
My past lessons:
This is a nice introduction to the story of human rights, with an example of China's crackdown on human rights lawyers in 2014, a well as Taiwan's treatment of SE Asian migrant workers. (September 2015)
This lesson is about Identity and Otherness and its relation to human rights using readings about acid attacks on women and the first Muslim mayor of London Sadiq Khan. (July 2016). I'll never forget this lesson because I had them draw identity maps and I was honored with the privilege that in almost every class, 1-2 students disclosed their sexual orientation to me, some even before me telling their parents.
This lesson is a little bit more difficult, having the students discuss with a partner Needs vs Wants. There is a list of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights here with some Mandarin translation. (August 2015)
Introduction: I'll introduce the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights with some of my previous material and corresponding booklets. (Class Handout) Activities:
It's the end of the academic year and we have made it through the entire Great Writing 1 textbook, having ordered it late. I am very proud that we muscled through it. I believe the students' writing has improved the past two years I taught these kids and they are now prepared for their writing class next year with a different teacher.
Our previous lesson, Unit 7 was our most difficult with writing complex sentences using adjective clauses. One of my co-teachers told me they don't learn that until 9th grade. The hardest part of teaching them is weaning them off of relying on writing everything with simple sentences. I have to require using at least one compound and one complex sentence. I told them good English has variety, not repetition. That's very hard to reinforce when they read so little English. I think writing has to be reinforced by reading literature and they just don't have the time the way their curriculum and education system is organized.
May/June 2019
WEEK 1 Reviewing Parts of a Paragraph
Class 1: pg. 208-211
Class 2 pg. 212-214
WEEK 2 Combining Sentences with a Connector
Class 1: pg. 215-218
Class 2: pg.219-221
WEEK 3 Peer Editing
Class 1: pg. 222-224a
Class 2 pg. 224b-226
WEEK 4 Original Student Writing
Class 1: pg. 227 (Activity 22)
Class 2: pg. 227 (Activity 23)
This is our final 9th grade ESL Social Studies Unit for 2019. Since most of my units and themes are interdisciplinary and cross over a variety of subjects, students have already been exposed to environmental injustices when we studied Poverty in 8th grade, and Fast Fashion last semester.
Recently, there has been more exciting dissent in the streets, for example, the Student Strikes in Europe, and Extinction Rebellion, so I want to discuss these movements. I also want the students to do student teaching, as in a seminar format and so I'm going to organize groups and have them present the vocabulary and readings for their final grade.
Two of my A-Classes are starting Great Writing Book 1's Unit 6 this week, while one is still behind because of holidays. My B class is finishing Unit 4, starting Unit 5.
In Unit 6 they will make future predictions, and know the difference between "going to" and "will".
March-April 2019
WEEK 1 Going to+ Will
Class 1: pg. 154-156
Class 2 pg. 157-159
WEEK 2 Practicing With Paragraphs, Negatives and Complex Sentences
Class 1:pg. 160-163
Class 2: pg.164-166
WEEK 3 Articles and "Because" Review
Class 1: pg. 166-169
Class 2 pg. 170-173
WEEK 4 Editing and Orignal Student Writing
Class 1: pg.174-176
Class 2: pg. 179 (Timed Writing)
After the Lunar New Year, week one was a little hard to get everyone back into the grind. Week one of the second semester, my A-Classes are wrapping up Great Writing Book 1's Unit 4's timed writing, while my B level class has just started Unit 4. Next week, my A classes will start Unit 5.
February-March 2019
WEEK 1 The Present Progressive Tense: Machu Picchu and Writing from Pictures
Class 1: pg. 130-133
Class 2 pg. 134-137
WEEK 2 Writing From Pictures + Complex Sentences Review
Class 1:pg. 138-141
Class 2: pg.142-145
WEEK 3 Editing and Vocabulary Building
Class 1: pg. 146-149
Class 2 pg. review and quiz
WEEK 4 Orignal Student Writing
Class 1 and 2: pg. 149-151
Let us see how much A class can get done before the Lunar New Year. I am happy that this unit has readings on such humanitarians such as labor organizer Cesar Chaves and author/peace activist Helen Keller.
January 2019
WEEK 1 The SimplePast: Cesar Chavez
Class 1: pg. 100-103
Class 2 pg. 104-105
WEEK 2 Irregular Verbs: Helen Keller
Class 1:pg. 106-109
Class 2: pg.110-112
WEEK 3 Editing
Class 1: pg. 113-114
Class 2 pg. 115-117
WEEK 4 Complex Sentences
Class 1: pg. 119-121
Class 2 pg. 122-127
Still in our Fashion Industry Unit, with the second part focusing on Body Image, we will do a fun group activity. We will look at several advertisements and try to "decode" the ad (understand the motive's behind the ad). Teacher will break up students in groups give them an ad from a fashion magazine and a worksheet. At the end of class, each group will present their findings.
Suicide mortality rates have been steadily rising in Taiwan, and suicide has been among the top-ten causes of death for the last consecutive eight years. In response to this situation, the Taiwan Department of Health assigned the Taiwanese Society of Suicidology the task of setting up the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center.
Since my 8th grade ESL student's textbooks have not arrived yet, I thought the A classes can learn about a very important subject. September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. The theme of this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September 2018) is “Working together to prevent suicide”; reminding us that suicide is a community issue and is everyone's business. No one should suffer alone and together we can fight suicide and reach out to others when they are in need.
I. Introduction
A. STRESS壓力:What is the biggest reason for stress? Rank these, 1 is the least stressful, 10 is the most stressful:
tests
English level
money
family
friends
body appearance
China and Taiwan
bullying
B. SOCIETY社會: What can we do about these problems? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.
How big a problem is it?
How to help people?
Loneliness孤獨
Stress壓力
Crime 違法行爲
No jobs
Divorce 離婚
Poor health
C. SUICIDE: Do you know anyone who attempted suicide? Do you know anyone who committed suicide? Why do people want to end their life? What would you do if a friend or family member was suicidal?
Suicide (n.) killing yourself, taking your own life Suicidal (adj)想自殺的；有自殺傾向的
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is a day we should all put on our calendars. It highlights (強調) a huge but often ignored(忽視) problem in our society (社會). Every year thousands of people take their own lives. Around 3,000 people a day commit suicide. Another 60,000 a day attempt suicide. WSPD promotes (促進) ways to identify (確定) possible suicide cases and to prevent suicide. The day is organized (安排有序的) by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. This important group acts as a forum(論壇) for academics(學者), mental health professionals (職業的), and suicide survivors(倖存者) to work together to understand suicide better. They raise awareness that suicide is a preventable cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world.
The word suicide comes from Latin, meaning to kill oneself. There are many factors that lead to someone taking their own life. These include depression(憂鬱症), shame (羞恥), physical pain, anxiety (焦慮), and relationship problems. A growing reason nowadays is financial ($) difficulties. There is a sudden increase in suicide in rich nations(countries) when there is a downturn in the economy (經濟). Another worrying trend (趨向) is the number of young people who resort to suicide because of bullying. Suicide is in fact, one of the leading causes of death among teenagers and young adults. In Japan, there are Internet suicide clubs so you can end your life with others who are equally desperate (絕望的). A hot topic(話題) today is assisted suicide – helping another person end his or her life.
Comprehension:
1. What problem is ignored by society?
2. Who organized World Suicide Prevention Day?
3. Which groups attend the forum?
4. Is suicide preventable? Explain.
5. Why do young people commit or attempt to commit suicide?
6. What is assisted suicide?
7. Why is bullying such a serious problem?
Suicide Risk Warnings:
Suicide threats, both direct (“I am going to kill myself.” “I need life to stop.”) and indirect (“I need it to stop.” “I wish I could fall asleep and never wake up.”). Threats can be spoken or written, and they are often found in online postings.
Preoccupation心事重重 with death死 in conversation, writing, drawing, and social media.
Changes in behavior, appearance/hygiene, thoughts, and/or feelings. This can include someone who is usually sad who suddenly becomes very happy.
Emotional情緒的 pain, hopelessness.
Recent social withdrawal 沉默寡言；孤僻
Withdrawal is a classic symptom of depression. 沉默寡言是憂鬱症的一種典型癥狀。
What to do if you think someone is suicidal:
Remain calm, be nonjudgmental不作評價的, and listen. Try to understand the intolerable無法容忍的 emotional pain that makes suicidal thoughts.
Don't say anything that minimizes有意淡化 the person’s emotional pain (“You need to move on." or "You should get over it.”).
Ask the person directly if they are thinking about suicide (i.e., "Are you thinking of suicide?").
Focus on your concern for their well-being and don't be accusatory指控的.
Reassure使安心 the person that there is help and they will not feel like this forever.
Without putting yourself in danger, remove ways for self-harm, including any weapons the person might find.
Get help. Never agree to keep the person's suicidal thoughts a secret. Tell a teacher, parent, school counselor immediately. This person needs professional help and cannot be left alone.
Each week is composed of 2 classes. This is a tentative lesson plan, as there are holidays the kids might have a field trip, or exams, etc. The first class, I will introduce myself, the class rules, as well as an assessment test, so I am familiar with their level.
Please note, that week 1 begins when their textbooks arrive. Until then, my A level classes will do a reading on International Suicide Prevention Day, and B classes will review phonics.
Weeks 1-4 is basically a review of last year's grammar (7th grade, 100 level ESL). Week 5, the students begin to organize their thoughts for writing and practice editing.
WEEK 1 Subj/Verb/Object
Class 1: pg. 5-6
Class 2 pg. 7-9
WEEK 2 Prepositions + Capitalization
Class 1: pg. 10-12
Class 2: pg. 13-15
WEEK 3 Kinds of Sentences
Class 1: pg. 18-20
Class 2
WEEK 4 Building Vocabulary
Class 1: pg. 21-22
Class 2 pg. 23a
WEEK 5 Writing and Editing
Class 1: pg. 23b-24
Class 2: pg. 25-28
For the 200 level classes (8th grade), we finally have a book! We will be using Great Writing (Book 1), which focuses on writing a paragraph while reviewing grammar from last semester. (I taught 8th grade ESL a couple of years ago, here is my previous course outline.) Until their textbook arrives, the A level classes will learn about International Suicide Prevention Day which is September 10th. The B class, who are new students for me, will focus on me getting to know their level and a review of phonics. 205(B) Class Rules, Never Have I Ever (Game), Phonics and Parts of Speech Review Reading: The First Day of School Dialogue: School Items October: (Unit 1) Basic Sentence Structure Topics:
