Summer 2010 FALL 2010 Spring 2011

Past ESL AND CIVICS  CLASS DESCRIPTIONS American Culture & the Media - Students will discuss American culture by examining the influence of newspapers, television, advertising, and the internet.  The class will look at how American culture is influenced and shaped by mass media.  You will improve fluency, vocabulary, and pronunciation and build confidence in your ability to communicate. American History & Culture (Conversations) - Students will learn about and discuss the major events that have shaped ml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />U.S. history.  The class will also talk about American culture including holidays, music, and art from various time periods.  Students will improve speaking and fluency, listening, discussion skills, and working together as a team. American Short Stories - These classes offer you the chance to improve your communication skills, fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation and understanding of American culture as you discuss short stories. Students will be expected to read a short story for homework each week and come to the lesson prepared to talk about what problems they had, and their opinions of the story. Instructors will lead discussions, and highlight vocabulary and grammar from within the text. American Ways and Customs - Students will explore and analyze the United States and its people today. Topics include education, marriage, government, etiquette, leisure activities, eating habits, religion, and more. Through reading, writing, speaking, and listening assignments, students will improve English skills, build vocabulary, and gain confidence in their ability to communicate. Articles and Speaking - This class will read and discuss current events articles from newspapers, magazines and journals. Most of the articles will be read at home and used as the main text of the class, but you may receive some shorter articles to read during the class time. The class will give you lots of chances to speak about your ideas and give your opinions while also learning about many interesting current topics. This is a fun and interesting way to improve your fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation. Citizenship: Passing the Test – Great for anyone interested in learning the language through the study of American culture, history, literature, government, and politics. Reading, writing, conversation and listening skills are sharpened in culturally diverse classes. This class is specifically designed for people who are planning to take the citizenship test in the future. Instruction is available to temporary and permanent residents as well as to U.S. citizens. Conversation Class - Improve your fluency through sharing your ideas about topics of your own interest. This class will use a variety of materials to improve speaking and listening skills. There will be many chances for speaking in the class or in a small group and you will learn to speak more clearly and easily. Conversations about Local News - This class will explore local community life through news articles and discussion.  We will use local newspapers and online resources to learn about local people and our community.  The class will focus on speaking, vocabulary, and reading skills. Conversations about U.S. & International Art - Students will read and discuss articles on famous painters, sculptors, and craftspeople from a variety of cultures.  The class will focus on conversation, sharing opinions about art, and building vocabulary.  Crossroads Café - This class will watch and discuss the video series Crossroads Café. The video and book follows the same characters each week like a television mini-series. The series is designed to teach students about American culture, workplace and social issues. It consists of a 30 minute video, textbook work and class discussions. This class will build grammar, listening, vocabulary and conversation skills. Current Events - This is a conversation class with a focus on U.S. issues such as health care, the environment, homelessness, economy, and more.  Students will read newspaper and magazine articles on current events and come prepared to discuss them in class.  The class will help build speaking, listening, reading, and vocabulary skills. Grammar Class – Improve basic sentence structure through speaking, reading, writing, and listening. This class presents a variety of written and oral exercises for improving basic English skills needed for conversation. Movie Night -This fun class will watch a movie each week and stop the movie to discuss themes, characters, and new vocabulary. You will learn a lot about American culture and new idioms. The class will help improve speaking, reading, listening, pronunciation, and vocabulary, and discussion skills. We’ll have popcorn too! Listening and Speaking – Students will have many chances to speak English in this Conversation class. Various conversation activities and articles and stories read at home will be the basis for listening activities including CD recordings and other authentic materials. Public Speaking - This class is taught by a professor of speech communication from Penn State University and is designed to help students gain confidence in their ability to speak in front of other people. Improving English language skills is not the primary focus of this class, instead students will prepare and deliver short presentations in front of each other in order to practice their public speaking skills. Preparing and listening to presentations will be an excellent way to improve grammar and learn more about common American English usage. Speaking, Reading, & Listening (same as Conversation, Reading, & Listening) - This class will focus on building student listening comprehension skills. Each week, before they complete the listening activity, students will be expected to read and then discuss a reading on the same topic as the listening activity for that week. Vocabulary Class - This class is designed for high intermediate students who want to broaden their vocabulary and prepare for standardized tests such as TOEFL, SAT, and GRE. Students will learn vocabulary using comics, news articles, and various vocabulary games. The most commonly used word parts, and homographs and heteronyms will be used as part of vocabulary instruction. Students are expected to keep a ‘word book’ throughout the class. Advanced Writing - In this class students will learn about American styles of writing and rhetoric. Activities will include in-class writing, grammar, proofing exercises and take home writing assignments. Students may write essays, business letters, and narratives in order to improve writing skills. America in the World - A course tailored to the particular nationality of students, America in the World explores the past, present, and possible future of relations between the U.S. and the native country of students. Students will improve listening, reading, speaking, fluency, and discussion skills. American Culture & Short Stories / American Short Stories - These classes offer you the chance to improve your communication skills, fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation and understanding of American culture as you discuss short stories. Students will be expected to read a short story for homework each week and come to the lesson prepared to talk about what problems they had, and their opinions of the story. Instructors will lead discussions, and highlight vocabulary and grammar from within the text. American Culture Through Music - This course is designed to teach aspects of American Culture through historic events, major holidays, and popular music from various time periods. Class topics will use appropriate music for teaching conversation, listening, vocabulary, and reading about American culture. Among the many highlights of the class will be an official American birthday party. American Government & the U.S. Constitution - A conversation class which examines the question, "What is a democracy?" The course explores the structure of the American version of democracy by looking at its major institutions: the Presidency, Congress, Supreme Court, Federal System, and its core documents: the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, with a special focus on the Bill of Rights and its relevance to students. American History & Government - While improving English language skills, students will learn about major events that have shaped America's history. We will also examine the U.S. system of government and discuss current events. We will use textbook readings and articles as the foundations for the class. Students will need to read assignments at home, and will be expected to give short presentations on particular events and topics. American Society in the News - How do people and places differ across the United States? In this course, we will be reading through local newspapers from various places in the United States to learn about issues, concerns, and lifestyles of Americans. We will discuss the similarities and differences between cities, suburbs, and small towns as well as between geographical regions. We will examine how different places write about national issues and why viewpoints in articles are unique to places of origin. In addition, we will read the sports, entertainment, and classified sections of various newspapers in order to better understand local lifestyles and attitudes. The focus of this course is conversation but you will also improve reading, listening, vocabulary, pronunciation, and may also do some writing. Book and Movie Discussion Group - Students will be reading and discussing the novel and movie "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding. The class will discuss the plot, characters, and general theme of the book then watch the film. Students will read at home and come prepared to analyze and talk about the story through role playing, comparing and contrasting with other stories, writing, and other activities. Crossing Borders - This class will use stories, art, music, and film from the United States and other countries to study English and explores cultural differences and similarities. Emphasis will be placed on diversity within the United States, but students will be encouraged to discuss issues and bring in literature, games and artwork from their home countries. The class will also include sessions on the history of immigration to the U.S. and students rights in terms of housing and employment while in the U.S. The class will focus on improving speaking and listening skills, reading and vocabulary building. Debate the Issues - The focus of this class is conversation, mainly discussing various modern issues such as the environment, health care, education, and cultural differences. You will learn how to talk about your opinion on many issues and express yourself so that people can more easily understand your feelings and ideas. You will improve fluency, listening, discussion skills, assertiveness, and working together as a team with classmates. Grammar Class – Improve basic sentence structure through speaking, reading, writing, and listening. This class presents a variety of written and oral exercises for improving basic English skills needed for conversation. Literature and Speaking - This classes offers you the chance to improve your communication skills, fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation as you discuss short stories. Students will be expected to read a short story for homework each week and come to the lesson prepared to talk about any problems they had, and their opinions of the story. Instructors will lead discussions, and highlight vocabulary and grammar from within the text. New Interchange 2: Speaking - This Low Intermediate class will use the New Interchange 2 textbook. The class will focus on improving speaking skills through practicing reading, writing, grammar, and listening skills. Pennsylvania History - This class will use Pennsylvanian history as a way to improve speaking, listening reading and writing skills. Students will learn about significant historical events and people in Pennsylvania and Centre County, and will be expected to complete projects and teach classmates. Reading, Speaking, Listening & Movies - This challenging class for low advanced-high advanced students will improve listening and speaking skills. Each week students will watch and discuss a movie. Before watching they will read and discuss movie reviews, movie genres and the themes and issues of the movie that week. Activities will focus on improving speaking fluency, vocabulary and idiom building as well as improving listening comprehension. The movie will be watched in segments to allow students time to ask and answer questions. Short Stories - This classes offers you the chance to improve your communication skills, fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation as you discuss short stories. Students will be expected to read a short story for homework each week and come to the lesson prepared to talk about any problems they had, and their opinions of the story. Instructors will lead discussions, and highlight vocabulary and grammar from within the text. Speaking, Reading, and Writing The High Intermediate class will use True Stories in the News, Let’s Talk and short stories as the foundation for each lesson. During the lesson, students will read and discuss short stories and articles on different topics. The readings will build vocabulary, and improve reading comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills. The Low Intermediate class uses the multi-skill textbook New Interchange 1/2 and other textbooks. This class offers a base for speaking and understanding English, and focuses on improving grammar, reading, speaking, writing, listening and vocabulary skills. The Beginning ESL class uses the multi-skill textbook New Interchange Intro and other textbooks. This class offers a base for speaking and understanding English, and focuses on improving grammar, reading, speaking, writing, listening and vocabulary skills. U.S. Regions and Cultures - This class will use stories, articles, research and special projects to compare and contrast the many different regions of the U.S. from New England and the Northeast to the Southwest. Topics of discussion will include regional languages and dialects, history, culture and food. This class will improve reading writing, speaking, social and cultural skills. Women’s Lives in Literature - This class will look at the lives and experiences of women from the past and present around the world. It will use a combination of short stories, poems, plays, newspaper articles, artwork and film. It will also include sessions on healthcare and resources in centre county emphasis will be on improving speaking and listening skills, reading and vocabulary building.