ESL 446
Dr. Carlisi
WARM-UP CONVERSATION AND JOURNAL ACTIVITY
During the first five minutes of each class, you will introduce yourself to a
new student, have a short conversation, then write in your journal about the
conversation. You will do this every day we have class.
1. Find a student at the beginning of class as soon as you arrive and sit
together. You should find a different student for every class. If you
are late, you will miss this activity.
2. Introduce yourself.
3. Have a conversation.
4. For homework, write about your conversation in your journal. Your
journal assignment should be dated and titled.
EXAMPLE
February 23 – Warm-up #1
Today I met Maria at the beginning of class. She is from El Salvador.
When I asked her about her country, she said it is in Central America and
that Spanish is her native language. She also said that the food is very
good, so I hope to try it sometime. She told me that she is taking three
ESL classes. She thinks that English is very difficult, but I think she is a
hard-working student and that she will do well in this class. She told me
she practices her verb tenses and pronunciation while she is walking to her
car and sometimes while she is driving. I was impressed by that.
During mid-term and finals, I will collect your journal, read it and grade
it based on the criteria below. I will not correct your writing. The
purpose of the journal is to encourage impromptu conversation and
reflection about the conversation to develop your language skills.
CRITERIA FOR JOURNAL EVALUATION
A
The journal is complete. Each journal entry is well-developed. The student is thinking about
the topics and questions and writing about them clearly. It is evident that the student is
interested and feels a personal connection to the journal writing. The student writes in
complete sentences with comprehensible grammar and correct spelling and punctuation at
level.
B
The journal is lacking in one of the criteria.
C
The journal is incomplete. The journal entries that are completed are short and undeveloped.
OR The journal entries are developed but the grammar, spelling, and punctuation are
incorrect and make comprehension difficult at times.
D
The journal has too few of the required entries OR It’s clear that the student has not kept up
with the journal writing as it has been assigned. OR Each entry is very short. OR The writing
is barely comprehensible due to difficulties with grammar, punctuation, and spelling.