Week

Content Focus

Grammar Focus/
Reinforcement

Writing Focus

Listening Tasks

Readings

Getting to
Know You

Verb Tenses
(Present Simple,
Present
Progressive, Past
Simple, Past
Progressive)

Summary of an
academic article (1
Paragraph)
provided by the
teacher

Science Podcast from Science

Magazine
(http://www.sciencemag.org/
magazine)

Summary/Response
(2 Paragraphs) of
the Ted Talks
Video provided
by the teacher;
sentence structure
(simple, compound
and complex)
Summary/Response
/Proposed Solution
(3 paragraphs) of
one of the two
articles on Global
Warming (causes or
effects) - provided
by the teacher;
continued study of
sentence structure
Introduction
Paragraphs and
Thesis Statements
students begin work
on their own topics

Lecture on latest technology

from Ted Talks
(http://www.ted.com)

Solar Powered Gondola in

Colorado (article http://www.renewableenergywo
rld.com/rea/news/article/2014/0
7/solar-powered-gondolasaving-clean-mountain-air-incolorado)
Professor Question and Answer
from WDRC News (Newsletter
from KAUST Science and
Technology university in Saudi
Arabia http://wdrc.kaust.edu.sa/Docum
ents/WDRC%20News%20Sprin
g%202014.pdf)
Global Warming Causes (article
from National Geographic http://environment.nationalgeog
raphic.com/environment/globalwarming/gw-causes)
Global Warming Effects (article
from National Geographic http://environment.nationalgeog
raphic.com/environment/globalwarming/gw-effects/)
Article from The New England
Journal of Medicine
(http://www.nejm.org)

Energy

Science and
Technology

Verb Tenses
(Present Perfect
Simple and
Progressive, Past
Perfect Simple
and Progressive)

Environment
Global
Warning

Verb Tenses
(Future Simple,
Future
Progressive,
Future Perfect
Simple and
Progressive)

Medicine

Verb Tenses
(continued
review of all 12
verb tenses)

Global Warming 101 (video

from National Geographic http://video.nationalgeographi
c.com/video/101videos/global-warming101?source=searchvideo)

Students will search for a

video (minimum 5 minutes)
pertaining to their individual
research topics

How Sleep Deprivation

Decays the Mind and Body article from The Atlantic
(http://www.theatlantic.com/hea
lth/archive/2013/12/how-sleepdeprivation-decays-the-mindand-body/282395/)
NASA Oceanography - article
from NASA Science (http://science.nasa.gov/earthscience/oceanography/)

Mind and
Brain

Adverb Clauses

Body Paragraphs
and how to support
you claims in a
body paragraph
students work on
their own paper

Students will search for a

video (minimum 5 minutes)
pertaining to their individual
research topics

Nature Oceanography

Adjective and
Noun Clauses

Under the Antarctic Ice (http://www.youtube.com/wat

ch?v=AG_tKT0xLJE&list=P
LHy4NEP75tDnzONfhyLh9
GLXI2li43OD7)

Students share
their selfdirected study
topics
Students share
their selfdirected study
topics
continued

Body Paragraphs
continued;
concluding
paragraph - how to
write a good
conclusion
First Draft of Essay
Due on Tuesday

Mini presentations (1/2 the

class)

None - students continue to

work on their projects and share
one of their articles in class

Final Essay Due on

Thursday

Mini presentations continued

(1/2 the class)

None

Grading Policy: Students will be graded according to the following letter grade system. In order to pass the class and receive a
certificate, students are required to attain a C or higher.
97-100% A+ 87-89% B+ 77-79% C+ 67-69% D+ 0-59% F
Participation/Classwork/Homework
40%
92-96% A
82-86% B
72-76% C
62-66% D
Writing Assignments/Research Tasks
30%
90-91% A80-81% B70-71% C60-61% DMini Presentation
10%
Final Essay
20%
Students are required to attend 80% of the classes and complete all work assigned.