Good Morning,

To warm up today, we are going to talk about small talk!
Here are some dialogs we used to warm up with:

A: How was your weekend?
B: Great.
A: What did you do?
B: I went shopping in Ginza.
A: What did you buy?
B: I bought a new Issey Miyake coat.
A: What style is your new coat?
B: It's like a hotel bellman's jacket.
A: It sounds like your style . . . crazy.

A: How was your weekend?
B: I had a good time.
A: What did you do?
B: I went to my hometown.
A: What did you do in your hometown?
B: I went to see my mother?
A: How was your mother?
(Was your mother well?)
B: Yes, she was fine.
A: That's nice.
B: Thank you.

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was fun.
A: What did you do?
B: I went our local festival.
A: What kind of festival was it?
B: It was Kashiwa City festival.
A: What did you do?
B: I dressed up my daughter in yukata and took her to the festival.
A: Did you eat cotton candy?
B: No, I didn't, but my kids did.
A: Did you play "katanuki"?
B: No, we didn't, but we did the superball scoop.
A: Did scoop any superballs?
B: Yes, we got six superballs!

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was a very nice weekend.
A: What did you do?
B: I went shopping in Okachimachi.
A: What did you buy in Okachimachi?
B: I bought a TV.
A: What kind of TV did you buy?
B: I bought an LCD television.
A: What size is it?
B: It's a 32-inch.
A: That's great.
B: What brand did you buy?
A: I bought an Aquos.
B: Is it a Kameyama model?
A: Yes, it is.

A: How was your weekend?
B: It was good.
A: What did you do?
B: I went to the movies.
A: What did you see?
B: I saw Die Hard 4.
A: Really? How was it?
B: It was great! It was the best of the series.
A: Really? I'll have to go see it.
By the way, do you recommend any other movies?
B: I recommend Transformers. It's coming out on August 4th!
A: That's great. If I have time, I'll go this weekend.

Good Morning Class,

Last week we didn't write a blog post but we did have class.
We went over the Level 1 Achievement Test for those of you who were here.
Then we took a look at the new iKnow! website which I invited everyone to join.

Today we went over the Level 1 Achievement Test again and focused on a few corrections.
Using "in, on, and at" is sometimes difficult so here are a few examples to help you remember:

• I graduated from high school in 1993
• My birthday is in November
• The meeting is on August 3rd
• We are having dinner at the Oak Door at seven o'clock on Saturday

Next we took the Level 3 Achievement Test.

Good Morning Class,

Today we went over the Achievement Test for Level 2 of the Foundations Reading Library that we took last week.

It was interesting to see which questions most people got right and which questions most people got wrong. You all did very well on many of the questions.

At the end of class we took the Achievement Test for Level 1.
It should be easier than last weeks test.
Next we will take level 3 after everyone has finished reading the graded readers.

I brought in levels 4 and 5 today so for those of you who are ready, let's start reading those this week as homework.
Keep up the good work and see you next week!

Hello Class!

Today we did the following:

• Took the "Level 2: Achievement Test" for the Foundations Reading Library
  
• Looked at the Yomiyasui Level (YL) Chart for the Foundations Reading Library
• Talked about the Chart for all the books and the word totals
• Introduced the new "iKnow!" Website!

I have corrected all the tests and it was interesting to see which questions most people got right and which questions most people got wrong.
It was very interesting.
There was one question that almost everyone got wrong and there were questions that almost everyone got right.

Here are a few examples:

Part A:
1 I'm so _____. I have a test tomorrow (1/8)
2 I've got a ____ for the concert (6/8) 2 were spelling mistakes
3 I'm ____. Class starts at 8:00 and it's 8:20 now! (7/8)
4 I'm so ____. I don't have a sweater. (8/8)
5 It's too ____. (7/8)
6 I ____ my cat. (7/8)
7 ____ are very dangerous. (3/8)
8 Can you ____ of me? (0/8)
9 Oh, no it's raining. I'm ____. (3/8)
10 It's a nice day. I'm going to the ____. (4/8)
11 I can't open it but I can ____ it. (5/8)
12 I don't have much ____. (8/8)
13 I love listening to ____. (8/8)
14 Don't pull it, ____ it. (6/8)
15 We have a new ____. (6/8)

Part B.
I like that song. Let's play it again! (8/8)
People can talk, but animals can't (8/8)
Hot Rock are a great band. I listen to them. (8/8)
My father works in a shop. What about yours? (7/8)
Don't worry about me. Everything is okay. (8/8)
Dark Sun are playing in the park on Saturday. I'm so excited. (7/8)
This is too heavy. I can't carry it. (8/8)
I don't have any money. I can't buy it. (8/8)
Is that your new snowboard? Or is it the old one. (8/8)
Ji Sung is late. So Yoon Hee waits for him. (8/8)
I am sorry to hear your brother is sick. (5/8)
I'm playing soccer on Sunday. (7/8)
She can't run. Her leg's broken. (8/8)
I've got three sisters and two brothers. (7/8)
I don't want to buy anything. I'm just looking. (8/8)

Part C.
Do not play on the benches. (7/8)
Come and look at this. (8/8)
Do you want to go on this skatestage? (7/8)
Where is he now? (7/8)
I can buy it with my money (8/8)
Can I have this guitar please? (8/8)
I don't want Mom and Dad to see the broken guitar. (6/8)
His guitar is broken. He can't play music now. (6/8)
Mr. Jenkins works at the zoo. (8/8)
Don't give food to the animals. (8/8)
Give it to me now! (7/8)
Jenny goes goes over the fence to Mike. (8/8)
Don't worry, everybody likes your singing. (7/8)
Does anybody like Gemma's new clothes? (5/8)
We can fix it. Then it will be ours. (8/8)
The boat has no engine and we don't have any money. (6/8)
"What's that old thing?" she asks. (5/8)
Why are these things in the cave? (8/8)
I really like this cave. It's really exciting! (4/8)
Look at this old bed. It's great! (7/8)

Your homework, of course, is to...
Read, Read, Read!