Additional Course Link: Sentence Structure Cmap

Wordle image created 2009.01.30

While listening to a Green Room interview about graphic organizers (Episode 54, 2008.12.01), and following up on a related Learning Times discussion thread, I discovered an online resource that may interest those of you who have expressed concerns about your own grammatical accuracy. It's a concept map created with a powerful yet free computer application called IHMC CmapTools.

Tammy Moore, a registered Learning Times community member, listed the Sentence Structure Cmap, an example of students' work which I've already added to the Course Links in the sidbar, as "middle school level - English/Grammar/Sentence Structure" (Using Graphic Organizers?, 2008.12.04 [registration required]). If you're interested either in the grammar it represents, or in visual, hypertextual representation possible with CmapTools, please check it out.

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Free Ebook Downloads from WOWIO?

On the final, several of you expressed plans or resolutions to keep reading extensively. So thanks to Mr. T. for pointing out this e-book site just in time to share it with you all before spring recess. He suggests, "the children's section has a number of books that would be suitable for extensive reading" (personal correspondence, 2009.01.22), which I hope you'll keep doing on your own during the recess.

I note that the WOWIO page for children offers useful catalog views by subject, target age group, and publisher, and lists the top 10 books in the sidebar (left). The main part of the page highlights recent releases, staff favorites, and a featured book for the (day/week/month[?]). If you're looking for easy and interesting books to read before classes begin again next April, this seems like a place to start:

• WOWIO: Children | Free Ebook Downloads

Be forewarned, however, that the page title (above) may be misleading. Access to the books appears to be free only if you read them online. Titles that I've perused with links for downloads all bear a price, for example $4.99 (USD, I gather) for:

Fandel, Jennifer. (2005). Pablo Picasso. Mankato, Minnesota:
The Creative Company. [51 pp., ISBN: 1-58341-331-6]

(APA formatted reference
and publisher location
courtesy of pab)

To buy downloads, or to access a library of your own on WOWIO, you need to register as a user. The hook for new users suggests that some downloads may be sponsered (free of charge), and that users get bookmarking privileges for online readings (Create a WOWIO Account).

Online book pages are capped and shod with Ads by Google. Thus, at a readable font display size on a 23-inch widescreen monitor (resolution: 1344 x 840), viewing entire pages requires scrolling down each time you change pages - not a particularly user-friendly layout. Whether "other members-only features" promised on the account creation page (or downloads that you purchase) allow ad-free, minimal-scrolling viewing is anyone's guess. If you do sign up and find out, please let us know in a comment on this post.

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Writing IV, §1c: Reflecting Pool (11:00-12:00)

Members of Writing IV, section 1c (only):

After reading and following the instructions for the Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c (a separate post, 2009.01.21, 09:00 JST), please post your final essay in a comment on this post before the end of the examination period (11:00-12:00).

Thank you for your cooperation.

PS: This post replicates a previous post for section 1a; only the section designation and times in the title are different.

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Writing IV, §1a: Reflecting Pool (09:30-10:30)

Members of Writing IV, section 1a (only):

After reading and following the instructions for the Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c (a separate post, 2009.01.21, 09:00 JST), please post your final essay in a comment on this post before the end of the examination period (09:30-10:30).

Thank you for your cooperation.

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Writing IV Exam: Instructions for §§ 1a and 1c

In a short essay, from three to five paragraphs in length, please reflect upon, analyze, and synthesize:

1. What you expected to learn, and
2. What you learned in Writing IV, §1a or 1c;

OR

1. What you learned in Writing IV, §1a or 1c, and
2. What you still need to learn in order to improve your own writing.

For full marks, write at least one paragraph five sentences or more in length on each main point:

1. What you expected to learn, and why;
2. What you learned in Writing IV, and how; and
3. What you still need to learn to improve your own writing, and when.

Use the mind map in the graphic above as a guide (WritingIVexam2009a.png). If you double-click on the graphic, a larger image will display.

Post your essay in a single comment on the Writing Studio Blog post earmarked for your class section, during the exam period:

• Writing IV, §1a: Reflecting Pool (09:30-10:30), OR
• Writing IV, §1c: Reflecting Pool (11:00-12:00).

I suggest that you compose your essay in Microsoft® Word, where you can check grammar, punctuation, and spelling before posting it as a comment on the Writing Studio Blog. You will be unable to edit your essay after you post it as a comment.

Please leave yourself plenty of time to post your essay as a comment on the appropriate reflecting pool post for your class section, and check to confirm posting, before the end of the exam period.

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Eco Certification Exams (Tokyo)

Has anyone heard about an eco certification exam? I caught just a quick blurb about it on NHK back in December (2008.12.21), but mis-placed my notes over the holidays. I guess it's not that new, because an English learner's diary mentioned it over a year ago (Haruiro, 日々英語ーDiary in English, Eco Test, 2007.12.16).

The link to the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) site from Haruiro's post is still active (検定試験情報: eco検定試験 [kenteishikenjouhou: ecokenteishiken - information about certification exams: the eco certification exam]). The TCCI page calls it the Certification Test for Environmental Specialists, the Eco Test for short, and indicates that the fifth administration of the test took place on the same date as the NHK broadcast. Though the site doesn't show administration dates for 2009 yet (last updated 2009.01.09), I guess the next test will be in June or July.

Certification is one aspect of employment candidates' dossiers that potential employers examine, even for students coming or returning to Japan from abroad (Nippon Foundation Library, 2003, 外国人・帰国生徒のための進路説明会資料 [gaikokujin・kikoku seito no tame no shinro setusmeikai shirou - materials for non-Japanese and returning Japanese students' course (of study) briefings], Structure of the Educational System in Japan). I wonder whether any of you have considered going for certifications such as the Eco Test, in addition to exams such as English language tests that you can take closer to home.

If you have, please feel free to share your thoughts about certifications for future jobs in comments on this post, or in posts linking back to this one from your own blogs.

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