1.en.10 Writing a description: Taylor’s model

In your last lesson you were asked to produce a description of our new assistant teacher, Taylor Ault.
Some of you did quite well, but your writing can be improved.
Here follows a text written by Taylor that will help you organize your  descriptions into distinct paragraphs.

Read Taylor’s description and answer the following questions:

  1. How many paragraphs is her text divided into?
  2. Can you think of a heading for each paragraph?
  3. Are the paragraphs organized according to a certain order?
  4. Are there any words you do not understand?
  5. Does every paragraph deal with the same period in Taylor’s life?
  6. Can you explain the changes in  verb tenses?
  7. Did you know how to spell correctly the names of places and people?

A Little Bit About Me!

Hello!  My name is Taylor Ault.  I am 24 years old and am from Stratford, Connecticut.  Connecticut is a small state in the North East corner of the United States and borders New York.  I would describe myself as having blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.  I think that I am adventurous, youthful, optimistic, loving, and a good friend.

I have two parents who still live in Connecticut.  In addition to my parents, I also have two cats (Noel and Emma) and one dog (Bailey) at home.  My younger sister, Victoria, is 22 years old and goes to university in New York.  Even though I love Mallorca, I still miss my pets and family sometimes!

At the age of 18, in 2004, I left Connecticut and went to Princeton University for four years.  Princeton is located in the state of New Jersey.  At Princeton I studied Art History.  When I wasn’t working, I played soccer and spent time with my friends.

When I graduated from Princeton in 2008, I worked for a program called AmeriCorps.  During my time with AmeriCorps, I taught young children how to read and write in an after school program.  When I finished working for AmeriCorps, I decided to come to Spain.  Last year I taught at IES Mossen Alcover in Manacor and at CP Na Penyal in Cala Millor.  I lived in Manacor and spent lots of time playing tennis, reading books, and learning all about the island.  I loved Mallorca so much, that I decided to come back for a second year.  This year I live in Palma and teach at IES Ramon Llull.

In the future I would like to be a lawyer in the United States.  I hope to work for a museum in New York or Boston.  However, right now, I am very excited to be working at Ramon Llull!  I think I will have a great year with the amazing students here!

Homework for Monday 18th October:

Copy Taylor’s model in your notebook.Answer the questions in your notebook too. Post to the blog the mark you got in your writing about Taylor and the aspects you need to improve.

1.en.8 Whatever Taylor is like, it’ll be fine. “Nobody’s perfect”, isn’t it?

Today we learnt that films do not have the same title in every country. Films such as “Avatar” keep the original title everywhere, but others are totally different when they are translated to another language and you cannot really find any relation with the original one.

  1. Why?
  2. Can you think of any good reason for not keeping the original title?
  3. Can you translate a title and keep its catchy effect?
  4. Can you think of English films with a totally different title in Spanish or Catalan?
  5. Can you think of any other films where the main characters are men disguised as women or women disguised as men?

Homework: post your answers to the blog

Today you asked me about Taylor.  You wanted to know whether Taylor is a boy or a girl. Well, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. While we wait for Taylor, you must look for information about Connecticut, the place where Taylor is from.

Whatever Taylor will be, it shall be fine, I’m positive about that. I’ve already met Taylor and I know what I’m talking about. Trust me. “Nobody’s perfect” but Taylor will be perfect, you’ll see.

Homework: Watch the ending of the film again and answer the following questions. Post you comments to the blog and copy them in you notebook

  1. How was the  title translated  in Spanish?
  2. How was the title translated  in Catalan?
  3. Did you find the ending funny?
  4. What are the arguments Jack Lemmon  (Jerry) uses to try to convince Osgood not to  marry him?
  5. Where is the action set?
  6. What is going on at the back of the boat between Marilyn (Sugar Kane)  and Toni Curtis (Joe)?
  7. Think of an adjective, (other than funny), to describe the ending.
  8. Would you like to see the whole film?

1.en.7. Our new assistant teacher, Taylor, will come next week. Acrostics for Taylor.

Hello everyone,

This year Molly will not be with us and we shall miss her very much, but we’ll have a new assistant teacher, Taylor, who is also great and who will teach us a lot of interesting things.

So far, we know very little about Taylor, but we’ll gradually get to know him and find out what he is like . We have the whole school year ahead.

Do you remember the acrostics we did last year?

In order to welcome Taylor to our class I made three acrostics with his name. When he comes to our class next week, we’ll ask him which adjectives he feels  fit him best. Maybe all the adjectives I have chosen are wrong, we’ll have to wait and  see.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Homework for Monday 3rd:

Look up the adjectives you find in the acrostics you do not know in a dictionary. Think about someone you know (it can also be a celebrity or a famous person) that can be described using that  new adjective. Post your comments to the blog and write them in your notebook too.