class notes: dan’s “lesson plans”
Conversational English
Six classes, freshman and sophomore English majors
Third Semester
* Field Day: In response to the students’ campus quarantine, we headed outdoors and played a avriety of games … including American football. One student actually broke her ankle. (Not kidding.)
* Iraq and SARS, SARS and Iraq: Talked a lot about the two main news stories in the world.
* Just talking: After two semesters with me, students seem more comfortable. So, often no lesson plans are necessary. I go into class and ask, “What do you guys want to talk about today?” And the rest of the class is spent talking … which is what a Conversational English class is all about.
* Two days in Shanghai: Students proposed an itinerary for foreigners with only two days to tour Shanghai.
* Anti-war songs: We listened to and talked about the following songs: “War” by Edwin Starr, “I-feel-like-I’m-fixin’-to-die rag” by Country Joe McDonald, “For what it’s worth” by Buffalo Springfield and “Nuclear War” by Yo La Tengo. (I taught my students many words and phrases that I probably shouldn’t have.)
* Second-grade pen pals: Two classes have corresponded by mail with Miss Cornell’s second graders at Shaker Road Elementary School in Albany, New York. I will post some of the letters soon. (Miss Cornell is a fellow Elizabethtown College grad.)
Second Semester
* Heather project: Professional alt-folk/country singer Heather Shayne Blakeslee played songs in the classroom and answered tons of questions. Click here for photos. Click here to hear Heather sing “I’m All Right.”
* Sara project: Students interacted with Sara Nevin, assistant women’s rowing coach at Cal-Berkeley and former Olympic-level athlete. Click here for a photo.
* Christmas project: Students answered the question “What does Christmas mean to you?” (click here for some responses) and then asked Dan what Chistmas means to him.
* Spring Festival project: Students became the teachers and prepared group presentations on the origins and traditions surrounding Chinese New Year. Click here for photos.
* “Friends” project, part two: Students read the script for and watched “The One With the Holiday Armadillo,” an episode from the seventh season of “Friends.”
* Spontaneous speeches: For final, students picked a random topic out of a bag … and 30 seconds later had to give a 90 second off-the-cuff speech on that topic to the class.
Other links
A student makes Dan smile
Dan’s class gets some press
First Semester
* Magazine project: Split into six groups, each asked to analyze a different magazine (“Entertainment Weekly,” “GQ,” “Vogue,” “Time,” “Rolling Stone” and “that’s Shanghai”). Groups presented their findings to class.
* Music project: Students attempted to recognize lyrics from three popular songs in America (“A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton, “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne and “Hot in Here” by Nelly). Class discussed meaning of lyrics and differences between Chinese and American pop music.
* “Friends” project: Watched an episode from the third season of “Friends” entitled “The One Where No One is Ready.” Each class viewed the episode twice, following along with the script. After learning the meaning of some tricky words, phrases and plot points, students discussed differences between Chinese and American popular television.
* Pajama project: Students participated in “The Great Pajama Debate.” Class divided into Anti-Pajama and Pro-Pajama sides and argued whether Shanghai residents should wear pajamas in public.
* National Day project: Students discussed what they did over the weeklong National Day holiday and what National Day means to them.
* Show-and-tell project: Students gave individual presentations on an object that is meaningful to them.
* ePal project: Classes started corresponding via e-mail with students from Bloomsburg High School, Bloomsburg University and Elizabethtown College.
* Final project: Groups of five and six students wrote and performed a 10-minute skit based on something they learned in class during the semester. Click here for photos of the final groups.
Top 20 quotes from the skits:
20. “Dammit!”
19. “Oh, why did you suddenly become so powerful?”
18. “He was seriously injured, and he died at last.”
17. “Oh, I’m dead.”
16. “I must get out of this hell hole.”
15. “Women are the dark side of the world and they should all be killed.”
14. “You are the most beautiful and clever girl I have ever seen.”
13. “Oh, what a powerful superwoman!”
12. “Sleep is also of great importance.”
11. “Now, we Chinese people are rich!”
10. “So many beautiful pajamas!”
9. “I’m so nice and sexy in it.”
8. “How dare you touch the pajamas. They are mine.”
7. “I’ll be damned if I wear these things in public.”
6. “He may not have enough money to buy pajamas.”
5. “Oh, you mean my friend was knocked down by the elephant at the wild park?”
4. “Oh shit, James Bond is chasing us.”
3. “Good heavens, James Bond is catching up with us.”
2. “If you don’t use my blood, I will kill you.”
And …
1. “If you don’t use my kidney, you will go to hell.”
American Literature
One class, graduate-level English majors
* “The Great Gatsby”: Finished F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic. Turned in essays on Fitzgerald’s vision of the American Dream.
* “The Woman Warrior”: Finished the 1976 memoirs by Maxine Hong Kingston, a Chinese-American author. Final exam was on the novel’s theme of gaining a voice and an identity.
05.26.2003, 12:43 AM · School