Review of English Language Learning Website

This is a review of an English language  from the class homepage.

The website is called a4esl.org:

First I chose to review a simple crossword.

I would recommend this activity for a beginner level English language student because it's fun and the vocabulary is very easy and common.

I hope you enjoy this website!

UOI-Week 7 Synthesis

Week 7- Synthesis May 16th- 20th Teacher Notes
Completed Task I will create a large poster that shows the process of water filtration for our class exhibition.

My poster will explain the process using different visuals.

Resources Internet, books, poster materials to make my poster creative. Mr Justin (Science teacher) I look forward to seeing your poster next Thursday. Great idea to use the expertise of Mr Justin.

UOI Interview With Ms. Gamage

As we are completing the Unit of Inquiry we have to participate in a final assessment task. Ms Dianne will be interviewing us on this Wednesday. The interview will be recorded and assessed using Criterion A and B. I have selected three questions from the list and I would like to provide a brief explanation for each choice.

Questions

1.)   Can you describe some things that you did well, and some things that you could have done better during the project?
      I did well in creating the product because I made my product, a simple water filtration by using affordable materials through design cycle. I did it to make the best water filtration in order to solve the problem, which’s water crisis. I could have done better in researching all I needed to design and create my product. I used many resources however I still couldn’t get what I wanted to find therefore I think I could improve my researching stage.

2.) Can you describe some problems that you had when completing your tasks for this project? What did you do to try to solve them?
Procrastination was one of the problems that I faced in completing my tasks for this project. I created a timetable in order to solve my problem. I hope by creating a timetable, I could use my time wisely and effectively. Other problem that I had was meet my supervisor. It’s so hard to get a fix time to meet him because we had different business. Furthermore, I also had another problem when I had to create an oral task. It took a long time for me to edit and upload it on my edublog.

3.) Was this topic easier or harder than you expected it to be when you chose it? Explain why.
The topic about water filtration that I chose was harder than I expected it to be because I need an expert to explain me a brief explanation about water. After I researched about weeks, I found out that there’s too much information about water. Moreover, I wasn’t sure that my product would be successful or not. I tried to do different experiment by pouring different dirty water so I knew what’s the result of the dirty water after it’s being filtrated. Lastly, I thought my product would be so easy. I just put all the materials into one empty bottle however for me it took around less than 4 hours to complete my product.


I will prepare for the interview by learning the answers and writing them on cue cards. i will then practice recording my voice using Photobooth.  My predicted grade is 6.

Creating The Product

2 days before the exhibition, I have completed collecting all the materials like sand, activated charcoal, etc. I made my simple water filtration less than 3 hours. I created my product based on the Internet and followed the steps in order to create the product effectively. Then, I took a photo and I asked everyone to give input about the product.

Lastly, I made a poster related to my topic, water filtration. It took 1 day to complete it because I had to decorate my poster and find pictures to make my poster more interesting. I created my poster because I need something to display for my exhibition tomorrow. I hope this poster helps the visitor more understand about the topic I've chosen for my personal project.

Final Product

Here is the picture of my final product, water filtration:

My simple water filtration which's made of affordable materials

List of Materials

No.	Material	Cost in Rp
1	Sand	5,000
2	Activated Charcoal	5,000
3	2 Plastic Bottle	1,500 each
4	Filter	15,000
5	Cloth	5,000
	Total	33,000

Reflection on Bloom’s project

Knowledge

What have you learnt about?

Water Filtration

What have you learnt about how you learn?

I started an Internet search on “How can we purify water using affordable materials?” I used one article and it said that we could make a simple water filtration by using materials around the house. I was surprised to read this comment as I found out the cost is just less than 100,000 rupiah.

I found that I am a visual learner and the print is more interesting when there is picture cues that help me understand what I am reading.

Comprehension

How can I compare dirty water with clean water?

I will form some questions related to cleanliness, time and cost.

Do an extensive research from the books, Internet and I will interview my science teachers like Ms Jane and Mr Justin.

Application

I drew some pictures and wrote a brief explanation on each picture in order to give people visualization how to make my water filtration.  I recorded my steps and then I posted it on my edublog.

Oral Task

Reflection On Weeks 1-5

During the past 5 weeks I have created 2 tasks on my topic about water filtration.
First I researched using the net and found an article that provided background information to help my understanding of the issues related to my topic.

With this information I created a summary on the topic and posted this on my blog page. This helped my understanding and provided me with more information to move to the next stage on Blooms.

During the "comprehension" stage I created my second task which was embed a visual snapshot to show the audience my understanding of the topic. We were asked to record our summaries as a video and embed the file into our blog page to demonstrate our oral language skills and ability to master intonation and expression. I found this difficult to do at first but Bibil was able to assist us and I was pleased with the final product.

Now i am preparing for the next stage of Blooms "Application" and I and deciding how I will design my next task that could include:  an interview, a simulation, a presentation using IT tools and illustration.

It's time for me now to plan my next task so please check my blog on Friday and post a comment.

Types of Filter

Filtering water
There are many ways to filter water to make it safer from germs . Some filters, like the ceramic filter below, require special equipment . Others need no special equipment and can easily filter small or large amounts of water before disinfecting .
Cloth filters
In Bangladesh and India, a filter made of finely woven cloth is used to remove cholera germs from drinking water . Because the cholera
germ often attaches to a tiny animal that lives in water, filtering out these animals also filters out most cholera germs . This method also filters out guinea worms . You can make a cloth filter out of handkerchiefs, linen, or other fabric such as the cloth used to make saris . Old cloth works better than new cloth because worn fibers make the spaces in the weave smaller and better for filtering .
1 . Let water settle in a container so that solids sink to the bottom .
2 . Fold the cloth 4 times and stretch or tie it over the mouth of another container or water jar .
3 . Pour water slowly from the first container through the cloth into the second container or jar .
Always use the same side of the cloth, or germs may get into the water . After using the cloth, wash it and leave it in the sun to dry . This kills any germs that may be left in the cloth . In the rainy season, disinfect the cloth with bleach . Be sure to clean the container you use to store the filtered water in, at least every 2 to 3 weeks .

Ceramic filters
A small water filter can be made from fired clay coated with colloidal silver (a substance that kills germs) . With basic training, any potter can easily make these filters .

Today (May 4th 2011) on period 2 which's personal project lesson, Ms Liz came to the class and explained me about Personal Project Written Information and she used some illustrations and examples. She gave us the outline if my personal project written information which helps me a lot. She advised me to do each paragraph every week. Below, are the outlines:

Title Page:
Name
Title of Project, I could change or update it
Word Count
School Name ad Year

Paragraph One 300-500 Words assesses Criterion B
Introduction:

• What is the topic of your project?
• Why did you choose this project?
• Why are you interested in it personally?
• What area if interaction are you focusing on and why?
• What is the goal of your project- what are you trying to do/make?
• What are your specifications for success?

Paragraph Two - 500 words assesses Criterion C

Research (the more, the better)

• What research did you do to help you find out more about your project?
• What were the different sources you used - internet, books, interviews, etc.?
• Give some examples of what you found out from your research?

Paragraph Three - 500 words assesses Criterion D

Applying Information

• How did you use this research?
• How did this information relate to goal of your project?
• How did you make/complete your product?

Paragraph Four - 500 words assesses Criterion E

Achieving your goal

• Evaluate your goal/product against the specifications you have written

Paragraph Five - 500 words assesses Criterion F

Conclusion

• How has this project developed your knowledge and understanding of the topic?
• How has this project extend your knowledge and understanding of the area of interaction?
• How has this developed your skills?
• What are you going to do with this in the future?

Each paragraph, the word is no more than 500. (limited)

Plan

In the last couple days, I'm done creating and designing my plan. The purpose of my plan is so that I can use my time much more wisely and effectively.

Materials

I've collected all the materials. It took me about 2 weeks to collect all the materials, cause I ordered activated carbon from my uncle. Now, I start timing how long does it take to 500 ml of dirty water to be filtrated.

Activated Carbon

The steps to create my product

These pictures that I drew on the board during ESL class. The purpose is to explain anyone who wants to know more about water filtration.

Why Filter Water?

Filtering water is a task worthy of effort, especially if you have the health and safety of your family in mind. After all, the quality of water these days cannot be trusted, especially in areas with a lot of industrial activities. A lot of contaminants are usually detected in most water supply system.



With such danger, it is important that you take the necessary precautions to make sure the water you use is clean and pure. But don’t worry, this does not necessarily have to cost you a lot. In fact, you can make your own water filter. Here's the picture:

Water Filtration Process

Waste water and water from most natural resources must be cleaned before becoming available for general everyday use. Water treatment plants take potential drinking water through aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection process before it can be available for human consumption.

1. Filtration Process

   • The steps that make up the water filtration process are pre-filtration, sediment filtration, carbon block filtration and ultraviolet treatment.

   Pre-Filtration

   • The pre-filtration step removes all rock, mud, feces and other large debris from incoming water.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Sediment Filtration

   • In this step the water passes through a sediment filter. The sediment filter has smaller pores for the removal of smaller debris like sand, dirt and bugs.

   Carbon Block Filtration

   • Block of Activated Carbon from Carbon Filter
     

     This step incorporates and activated carbon filter to induce carbon bonding. The carbon bonding works to cleanse the water of pesticides, herbicides, cleaners and other chemical impurities.

   Ultraviolet Treatment

   • This final step uses high levels of ultraviolet light to kill harmful microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae.

Week 3 UOI

	Week 3: Knowledge- April 18th- 22nd	Teacher Notes
Activities	Start to find, list and describe information related to your project from a variety of sources, one of which must be print. Approaches to Learning Choose possible AOI and ATL to focus on
Standard and Criterion Met	Here I wrote a post about water filtration and I used new Vocabulary like the word purify and filtration. This is an example of criterion C
Bloom’s Taxonomy	Knowledge- Find, describe and relate your article to your guiding question.
Approaches to Learning
Areas of Interaction	Environments
Completed Task	Summary on your article. Completed the matrix Blooms vocabulary	Well Done Marcel
Resources	Article- see link above
To Do List	Weekly reflection on blog: Poster / Video that shows the process of water filtration so that other people can understand about it.	Keep up the fantastic work!

Week 2 UOI

	Week 2 Getting Started-April 11th- 15th	Teacher Notes
Activities	Review Criterion Introduce Bloom’s Taxonomy (Very briefly) Introduce Areas of Interaction Re-evaluate- Topic
Standard and Criterion Met	Criterion A 1. Ask interpretive and evaluative questions 2. Select a focus, organization and point of view based upon purpose, audience, length and format requirements appropriate to audience and circumstances
Completed Task	Reviewed the Criterion Posted the Bloom’s Taxonomy into blogger Formed a guiding question to match my Area of Interaction Choose my topic: Water Filtration AOI: Environment Question: How can we purify water using affordable materials?
To Do List	Start researching my topic

Criterion, Objectives and Skills

Criterion A- understand and respond to questions and statements ask interpretive and evaluative questions

Write in your own words: Ask questions during discussions to help my understanding of the topic. To think about information and decide what questions need to ask to learn new things.

Criterion B-correctly use a range of vocabulary correctly make informative presentations/projects that frame a key question; contain facts and details that help listeners focus, and incorporate more than one source of information (e.g. speakers, books, newspapers, film).

Write in your own words: Through discussions that involve questions and answers, role play and presentations. I will use clear pronunciation, good intonation and correct grammar so that my knowledge and understanding of the topic is clear to the audience.

Criterion C- use a format and structure appropriate to the task to organize the work Select a focus, organization, and point of view based upon purpose, audience, length, and format requirements.

Write in your own words: I will show my understanding of the topic through selecting, organizing and presenting the information in a way that is appropriate for the task - i.e. survey, compare and contrast essay, comic strip, PowerPoint poster, brochure, blog entry, iMovie, etc.

Criterion D-correctly use a range of vocabulary appropriate to audience and circumstance.

Write in your own words: Through writing I will select vocabulary and use grammar correctly in a way that supports my understanding of the topic in different written formats example advertisements, essays, creative writing and presentation. I will carefully edit all my written work for correct spelling so that my message is clear to the audience.

Criterion E-draw conclusions produce summaries of non-fiction texts, accurately conveying the main ideas and supporting details.

Write in your own words: Read non-fiction texts (example online articles, websites, books) to demonstrate my understanding of the topic through written summaries containing the main idea and the supporting details.

Assessment Task

I found a simple article about water filtration.

What?

This article is about how to filter water at affordable materials. This website tells us the steps and the materials to create a simple filtration.

Who?

This article is for anyone who’s interested in filtering water and curious about the process of filtering water.

Why?

Water is essential for life . People, animals, and plants all need water to live and to grow . But in many places people do not have enough water to stay healthy . Many people have to travel long distances to collect water . And often, the water that is available is not safe to drink. Therefore, by making this simple filtration you won’t have to travel to get clean water.

When?

Anytime as long as you have all the materials and follow all the steps as it's written on the website.