東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Cause & effect・原因結果

Hello!

How are you? Let's look at some basic cause and effect (原因結果). While I know you understand the idea of cause and effect, practicing how to write this in English can always help you. 

Before we begin, here are the board notes for our class on 11/11:

Special note: Once again - I am very sorry I gave you a longer and more difficult reading than what you could do. その難しすぎるの読んでことは申し訳すみませんでした。

So now let's step back a little to look at some cause and effect!

Activity 1

1. Look at these sentences. In your notebooks, write the effect (what happens) and the cause (why it happened), then share what you wrote to your classmates.  

a. He went to the convenience store because he needed some food.
Effect: (What happened?)
Cause: (Why did it happen?)

b. She could only eat a little soup because she was feeling sick.
Effect: 
Cause: 

c. The mother was very quiet because the baby was sleeping.
Effect: 
Cause: 

d. The man bought a vacuum cleaner because he wanted to clean the house.
Effect: 
Cause: 

e. The driver stopped the car because the traffic signal turned red.
Effect: 
Cause: 

f. The student raised his hand because he had a question.
Effect: 
Cause: 

2. Now look at these sentences. What is the effect, and what is the cause? Choose two (2) of these to do!

a. Metal corrodes because of contact with air.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

b. He was vomiting this morning because he got drunk last night.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

c. Yellow chromate ion solution becomes red because of change in the acid-base composition.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

d. She couldn't sleep because she had drunk too much coffee in the afternoon.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

Activity 2/homework
Watch this video about photosynthesis (光合成). It will show more about what the cause and effect process is about. 

If you go to YouTube at this link, you can turn on Japanese subtitles (字幕) if you need them. 

As you watch, make notes about each step in the process of photosynthesis. 

Watch the video as many times as you want or need. What are the causes - and effects - in this process? 

When you are finished, write this process in your own words based on your notes about the video. Read aloud to your classmates based on what you watched. 

Now here are the board notes for our class on 11/18:

Enjoy the festival! See you in two weeks!

Images: Top - by aussiegall - [1], CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4428411/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). 
Uploaded for classroom use only.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Writing assignment 1・作文1

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you our first (1st) writing assignment (作文1) for this class for the second semester - writing a procedures (手順) composition, with research, on a topic connected to the themes from the textbook in the listening and speaking class. 

Themes (テーマ)

Here are your choice of themes. You can choose one (1) of these: 

• Education 
• Psychology

There are many topics you can choose from that fit with these themes. You can use a topic from one of the textbook chapters we have done so far in this class, plus any ideas you may have gotten from your listening and speaking class on the same textbook chapters. 

But here are also some other ideas for topics that fit with these themes and that you can try for. You could choose one (1) of these if you want: 

• The best way you have found to learn English vocabulary and the steps you use 
• The best way you have found to remember difficult kanji and the steps you use 
• What you believe is an effective way to remember complex chemical or math formulas
• How you would teach a complex chemical or math formula to students
• How a baseball batter can effectively hit a ball - and methods of great baseball hitters
• Examples of how Olympic athletes train - and methods they use to prepare for events 
• How to effectively prepare for a test - including steps to take on best sleep, diet, and study methods 

Deadline (締め切り)
It will be by the end of class on October 14th (10/14), so you have two (2) week(s) to prepare. You should have a rough draft (下書き) for next week (10/7), then have your final draft finished by at least the end of class on 10/14.

*NEW NOTE: I know that some of you have a laptop computer or tablet, but not all of you do. So if you have your own computer or laptop, work on your final drafts, and bring your computer or laptop with you, with a USB, to class next week on 10/14. 

If you don't have your own computer, bring a USB with you. Outside of class before next week, you should work on your writing on a campus computer, and save your Word file on your USB.

Your final draft for 10/14 will be typed on Word, and should be at least 3-4 paragraphs (段落) long - but if you can go longer, try for it! I encourage you to go longer and build your writing and take your ideas out further as much as you can.

Anything shorter than three (3) paragraphs will not be acceptable. I will ask you to re-write if you bring in less writing than what the assignment asks for. 

Please also do not write line-by-line sentences. Remember that you are writing paragraphs (段落), not lists of sentences. I will also ask you to re-write if you hand in a paper that has only lists of sentences on it. 

I will show you guidelines in class on 10/7 about Word formatting for your final drafts.

Guidelines

1. Prepare a rough draft about the topic you want to write on describing a procedure or method for doing or showing something. I will give you some time to do some research, and begin writing, in class.

Important note:

The rough and final drafts should have: 

• A short introduction showing what your topic is
• A procedure or method, including any special or famous cases, conditions, problems, and/or situations where the procedure or method can help (or did help), with details of steps in the procedure or method using signal words (first…, next…, then…, after that…, finally…, and so on) 

2. Be ready with your rough draft next week to read aloud to your classmates, and discuss the procedures in your topics. You do not have to agree with each other! Getting differing viewpoints from your classmates is important, and can help you to deepen your ideas. 

* This is very important! You don't have to have your rough draft 100% finished - but you have to have enough content so you can read aloud and discuss your writing! Do not come in with only 1-2 sentences!

3. Based on the discussions and any feedback you get from your classmates, then finalize your rough drafts outside of class into final drafts, and be ready to hand in on the deadline day on 10/14! 

NEW - here are the board notes for our class on 10/7: 

Good luck! See you next time!

Images: top - courtesy of public-domain.com/Board notes - personal photograph. All rights reserved.

ECA (Speaking) II (A): 過程・手順

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at how to explain processes (過程・手順)!

Here's a good example: How do you send a message with your Smartphone over a social media website, like Facebook Messenger or Line?

Many of you know how to do this very easily. But if you had to explain it to someone who has not done it before, or maybe does not even have a Smartphone, how would you show the process?

例えば：How to use Line
Here's how you use Line. First, if you don't have Line, you have to download it onto your Smartphone. It's easy to do! Next, once you have downloaded it, you have to create an account. 

Now when you have created an account and want to send a message, you can send one to me. I'll be the first person on your list. You type a simple message. Then you send it to me - here's my name. After that, I'll send you a reply to show you I got your message. From there we can keep sending an receiving replies and messages to each other. Finally, you can add more names to your list and send and receive messages anytime you want!

Homework/activity
Take a look at this video. It's about how to make ice cream! It's cute and funny - but it's a real recipe! Watch it as many times as you like. When you're finished, can you explain this ice cream recipe to a classmate?

Would you like to try this recipe at home?

Take care! See you next time!

Image: "Process Word" (courtesy of Stuart Miles)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. Uploaded for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s).

週10・11 - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 過程「話をする」

Hello to all my speaking students,

Image "Process Word" courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's talk about how to explain a process (過程を説明する) in an interesting way - by telling a story (話をする)! 
LLLLLLL
Activity
Look at this beginning of a very short story: 
llllllllllllll
When I When I went into my bedroom, the first thing I saw was ______ .Then,  
thing I iI saw a(n)______, (and) next, it was a(n)______. After that...and finally,
           ...(!)
LLLLLLLLLLL
Now - work with a partner and think of words to put into these spaces, then finish the story. Any words are okay! 

Here are some ideas for you to work with:

例えば：...the first thing I saw was a beautiful young woman. (...)

See you next week!

Image credits: Woman - "Beautiful Young Woman" (courtesy of posterize)/Child - "Seated African Child" (courtesy of africa)/Drink - "Singapore Sling" (courtesy of Antoine Henrich)/Cow - unattributed Apple stock photo/Man - "Portrait Of Pointing Man" (courtesy of imagerymajestic)/Mask - "Statue The Face" (courtesy of sritangphoto)/All images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

週12 - ECA (Speaking) I (C & A) - ルールについて

Hello to my Jido and Obei students,

Image "Circular Workflow Chart" courtesy of basketman/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image "Business Meeting" courtesy of  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's look at rules!

Homework

This is an IQ test that Japanese companies give to new recruits when they are being interviewed. 

This video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is strictly for classroom use.

These are the rules for doing this test:

The mother can't be alone with her sons without the father there.
The father can't be alone with his daughters without the mother there.
The thief (どろぼ) can't be with any of the family members without the police there.
Only the mother, father, and police can move the raft.
Only two people can be on the raft at one time.

Try this test! See how much time it takes for you to do it! How much time do you need to finish it? Write notes in your notebook about your answer - who can be on the raft? 

Have fun!

津田塾大学オペン・スクール時事英語でディスカッションII・2/20 - about employment: IQ test

Hello to all my discussion students,

Image "Business Meeting" courtesy of luigi diamanti/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image "Business Meeting" courtesy of luigi diamanti/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? This post is some follow-up homework to our lesson today. Watch it at home or wherever you can access a computer. It's fairly long and you can skip some of it, but it was still the best I could find after searching for some time. I was looking for something interesting that would fit tonight's theme, and this seemed to be the most unique I had come across. 

This is something some of you may be familiar with - though to be frank I'm not sure. It's an IQ test the American narrator of the video says is given in Japanese companies to new recruits. Never having worked for a Japanese employer in a business setting I have no way to know if this is really true - but I found this to be interesting and thought I should share it here.

This video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is strictly for classroom use.

This video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is strictly for classroom use.

If in fact this is true and even if it isn't - or is, but is not as you see it here - a few questions for you: 

1. Do you believe this kind of test has any merit? If so, how - and if not, why not?
2. If you have taken a test similar to this, how well did you do? 
3. Should there be tests such as these in companies? Why or why not? 
4. Does this kind of test call on thinking skills that are actually used in day-to-day work? 

*Update - I overlooked posting the rules of this test! My apologies. The rules come from the YouTube post I got this from (I will leave them in the original font and point size so you can see clearly): 

Mother can't be alone with either of the sons without the father present (Shaken baby syndrome).
Father can't be alone with either of the daughters without the mother present (Incest/pedophilia).
The thief can't be with any of the family members without the police present (Snatching your people up).
Only the mother, father, and police can operate the raft.
Only two people can be on the raft at once.

Watch, and post some comments about it to this blog post - or send to me at my email address (washizoraATgmailDOTcom) anytime between now and next Tuesday if you have difficulty uploading. I'll be interested to know what you think. 

See you next week!

芝浦工業大学Writing 1B 11/30 – explaining a process (Part 2)

Hello to all my Writing 1B students,

Image "Circular Workflow Chart" courtesy of basketman/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's continue with how to explain a process. 
LLLLLLL
LESSON
1. Warmup - look at this beginning of a very short story: 
llllllllllllll
When I When I went into my bedroom, the first thing I saw was ______ .The second 
thing I ithing I saw was ______, and the next thing was ______. And then...
LLLLLLLLLLL
Now - type the story into your Word file writing document, but write 1-2 words maximum in the blank spaces. Any words are okay! 
LLLLLLLL
2. Homework check - textbook pg. 97 topic sentence paragraphs #2, #3 & #4
2. Homework check - textbook pp. 100-101 Activity 3 Parts a & b
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
wr*write up the paragraph on pg. 101 in your Word file writing document!
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
3. Textbook - pp. 102-103 - describing steps in an experiment a & b
lLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
ACTIVITY
Look at the warmup story above - now add to the word(s) you put in the blank spaces to make a short story, and finish the story after "And then" with your own surprise ending! 
LLLLLLLLLLL
HOMEWORK
Pg. 103 Writing Exercise 1
LLLLLLLLLLL
See you next week!

芝浦工業大学Writing 1B 11/23 – explaining a process reposting

Hello to all my Writing 1B students,

This is a special reposting of yesterday's (11/23) lesson. I'm very sorry that the formatting came out badly on Windows computers! So I have changed the formatting again. I hope this comes out okay now, and you can see this okay on your computer or Smartphone!

How are you? We’ll start learning how to explain a process.

LESSON

1. Warmup – do textbook pg. 98 – “how to make popcorn”

2. Homework check – if you have not done it already, this was your homework:

Writing assignment - Important Things When Choosing a Job OR Why I Decided to Come to Shibaura (please send to me if you haven't yet!)

Textbook – pg. 47

If you have not done it yet, please send me your writing assignment. ALSO – pg. 47 check.

3. Textbook pg. 96, then pg. 97 topic sentence writing paragraphs #1 

HOMEWORK

Pg. 97 topic sentence paragraphs #2, #3 & #4
Pg. 100-101 Activity 3 Parts a & b

See you next week!