G10-09 Homework!

Yes, that's right you have homework, G10-09. You thought you'd just have a brain dump session and nothing else? Since you did such a good job coming up with words you encountered during the school day, you should know what they mean so find the definition of each of the words below and send them to me by email by 7:30 am on Thursday, 30 December. Anything after 7:30 will not be accepted. Originally I asked for 5 words from each of the five groups which means there should have been 25 words altogether; however, since some of the groups didn't do their assignment or were removed from participating from this class activity because of bad behavior there are only 18 words to look up, which shouldn't be a problem at all. In fact some of these words you already know....like podcast and harsh. See you in class!

poop
conclusion
podcast
dull
hotspot
smooth
intermission
rush
harsh
agriculture
punky
quadrant
bumpkin
judge
encouraging
crime
generate
creativity

Don't forget, failure to turn in this assignment on time will result in a zero, and that can be bad for your overall mark.

Vocabulary at work

Oh boy...what a class we had today on the vocabulary we found at the Gulf News article about cheating at Abu Dhabi University. The words used in that article are words used in everyday English that come with a special meaning which says cheating isn't allowed not only at IAT but on any educational campus. So your assignment is to know the meaning of the words below and their part of speech; be able to use them correctly in sentences and understand their meaning for you the student. For example, plagiarism means much more than 'cut and paste'. When you write a paper for any English teacher you must know how to use your own writing to express a thought of someone's writing.

We also learned two words that deal with English grammar; premeditated and spontaneous. These are words that are used in everyday language as well that may have nothing at all to do with the grammar of present continuous or future tenses. I expect you to know how to use these words correctly when they deal with grammar or when they deal with behavior or actions. Of course we'll talk about them as the week goes on.

Here are the words you are expected to know by the end of the week

expel
expulsion
collusion
collude
fraudulent
plagiarism
red handed (an idiom)
spontaneous
premeditated
coed

As we get deeper into project work I hope you will use some of the supplemental vocabulary words to describe your projects. Can you think of ways to use spontaneous to talk about any of your projects? See you in class!

Why it is important to unlock your genius:

"Among the few things more expensive than education these days is the lack of it".

Being a successful learner is no longer a matter of choice or more preference. It is a necessity inorder to survive and thrive in the "information age". The future belongs to learners. As we are constantly told by the various media, we live in a time of rapid change. And the pace of that change is faster than at any other time in human history. Every year, 20% to 30% of what we learned and understood about our world is obsolete.

Today and in the future, it is mind power that will dominate. Wealth and jobs are no longer in the land or physical commodities. Knowledge is wealth. Knowledge is where the careers and security are. So, gentlemen, teaching yourself how to learn is the most valuable skill you can learn today.

10.11, 10.9, 10.8

"A stitch in time saves nine"

Gentlemen,
Let me remind you that your End of Term- 1 Exam begins on 9th of January 2010. I expect all of you study seriously leaving all the activities for few days.
TIME MANAGEMENT- the most important thing in your life. If you manage your time well and plan out your priorities according to your time, you will always be successful in life. Yes, you are now in a phase to manage your daily schedule in such a way that you give ample time to prepare for each subject. REMEMBER! You will hardly get time to revise for the next day during your exams.......Please don't leave it to the last day. 'After all hard work never goes unrewarded'
Also, don't forget that the deadline for the submission of LC2 Project Presentation is by the 27th of December.

Writing Time for G10-04 & G10-09

Gentlemen, please go to the article in The National newspaper here and read it. Then write a 7 sentence summary for homework. This should be a short, sweet and simple exercise. We will go over your submissions in class and correct them where necessary. Afterwards we will file them on the writing submission pages for Grade 10 English. See you in class!

Homework for G10-04 & G10-09

This is an easy peezie yet very essential exercise and a continuation of what we did in class today. Please do exercise 2 entitled 'Making Questions' on page 39 of your brightly colored student book. There are only five sentences to do and they must be done the very same way we did the exercises during class today. If you've any questions, please see me tomorrow. Also, we will have one of our weekly pop quizzes on Wednesday so be sure to read for about 15 minutes from either of our two newspaper sources during the evening tonight.

G10-09 the Quia quiz is ready for you to take and the link has been sent to you, but just in case you can find it here. The "secret word", not much of a secret now is it, is "iat". As we agreed upon in class, the link will be available from 6-9pm and it is more practice on what we did in class today, working with prepositions. See you in class on Wednesday, God willing.

Reading: When books are open you discover you have wings...

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read".

There are different kinds of reading. Scanning the menu at a restaurant is reading. Skimming through the phone book searching for a particular name is reading. Glancing through a magazine while waiting for your turn, at the hospital is reading. Devouring every word of a best-selling thriller is reading.

And "reading" is also the label given to the process in which we engage when we try to understand, learn and retain complex material published in printed form. So, now is the time to start READING.......to ACHIEVE.

Preparation: The most important part of learning.

Gentlemen,
Your mind is like a parachute - it only works when it's open.

Preparing yourself to learn is the most important part of learning. Your deadliest enemies are

• Fear


• Stress


• Distractions


• Low self -esteem


• Poor concentration


• Low level of will power


• No will to suceed

Most of these enemies can be dealt with by good preparation, before you begin to study. So, be optimistic and create the optimum state of mind for learning. Be confident, enthusiastic,relaxed, calm, focused, alert and move on.........All the best in realizing your potential genius and becoming a better learner.

10.11, 10.9 &10.8

Well done on submitting your summary in the the "Google Documents". I was also glad to see how well you use adjectives to describe people. Don't forget to complete the worksheet on adjectives. You'll be asked to use all of them in describing the 'appearance' and "personality". If you have any difficulty or questions, you can ask me in the class or see me during the break.

G10-04 & G10-09 assisgnments to be completed

Gentlemen, work that I expect you to complete over the next several days is the following. The 75 word summary on the article that can be found here (click on the word "here") is due on Thursday morning by 7:30. It is to be sent to me by email at abdel.saber@iat.ac.ae . Please save it the way we discussed in class. [yourname-hw-161210] The project is due by 3pm on Thursday. That too can be sent to me by email and saved [G#-your class section-161210]

After I have read your news summary, I will return it and ask you to put it on the writing submission page of the G10 English blog. That deadline will be in the email I send you. When I see you have put it on the website, then you will receive your grade. See you in class!

G10-04 & G10-09- Writing submission rules

That's the way I feel sometimes when I get some of your work; too many colors and shapes and sizes are enough to make me dizzy, so I want to make standard the way you should submit writing via computer to me your English teacher. Please refer to this post all year long so that there won't be any confusion. We've talked about this in class but I still see some very strange looking assignments turned in to me.

All text must be typed in black with no highlighting of the text. The background of the application, be it MS Word, or Neo Office's word processor, or any other word processing program you use must be white, or unchanged. Do not put any borders on your writing submission, nor is there any need for header or footer information. If you save your document properly that provides me with all the identifying material I need to grade and return your work to you. At the moment, I don't care which font you use as long as it's legible. However, avoid the fancy, artistic fonts available on your word processors. Also, make sure you are typing from left to right; align your text via the format command so that the words flow from the left side of the page to the right side, not the other way. Finally, do not use a font size larger than 16 for work you turn in to me.

I respect everyone's own style of expression but in order to return your papers quickly with an explanation you can understand I'm trying to keep writing within a style that will allow me to do that. As usual if you have any questions please see me in class.

G10-04 & G10-09

Here are two worksheets I want to explore with you this week. One is the supplemental vocabulary exercise I've been telling you about for the last week; I finally got around to making it so look over it, make sure you understand what it is you're being asked to do and then complete the exercise. You should already know the extra vocabulary words by now, so this exercise should be fairly easy. The second worksheet is even easier but will require some creative writing on your part. Do it first, since it's easier. If you have any questions, please ask me in class. See you there!


Supplemental vocabulary exercise

Adjectives of feeling

Brain Dump

Brain dump. We all do it in one form or another, whether reciting a telephone number someone has given us until we can write it down, or talking to a classmate about the last test he took and what was on it. In our English classes we try to do it almost everyday. The definition of brain dump from Wikipedia is "the transfer of a large quantity of information from one person to another or to a piece of paper". What we do in English classes is get students to talk about words they have come across in their other lessons in order to understand the meaning. Most of the time it's as simple as a student giving the teacher a word which is written on the board, followed by a brief explanation, but sometimes when we are all in a creative mood, it can lead to further things, like a brief skit or presentation or even a show and tell....or if we're all lucky an entire class period spent on understanding, talking, discussing, arguing over the meaning of ONE word! The point is to get students active in exploring vocabulary, especially those words they come in contact with during their classes.

The new laptops students have come with a handy application, a dictionary, which makes it really easy to look up the meaning of words. No more thumbing through the pages of the dictionaries we had in class, although, I'm happy to say I still see some students using them. Sometimes the meanings in the dictionaries are as confusing as the words themselves so whenever you run across a word you don't know that you want to know, write it down and bring it to class so we can talk about it. We will discuss it until you understand it and when we finish, hopefully our white board won't look as messy as the one pictured above. See you in class!

10.11, 10.9

The group discussion in the class about shopping and traditional souks vs modern shopping centre in your town was really interesting. The skimming and scanning activity about "Markets around the world" was an additional information of how people enjoy their shopping in different styles. Some people like traditional way of shopping like going to "The Souks of Marrakech" and "The floating markets of Bangkok" while others prefer malls like "The Dubai Mall and " The Emirates Mall" After reading the text you were required to submit a summary about "The markets around the world. I have received most of your summaries.For those who haven't submitted still can turn in before 12th Dec 2010.

Contemporary versus traditional shopping

You need to buy some things for school and at the same time get a few clothes to add to your wardrobe as well. Where do you go to do your shopping: the traditional market that's common to this area or the new, large mall that has all the places you need under one comfortable roof? We read about market places in countries like Thailand, Morocco and France, as well as things you can buy from cafes, pharmacies, clothing stores, news stands and more. Now it's time to talk about shopping in the UAE.

What kind of market do you like to do your shopping and why do you like it. Is it the choice your favorite market offers you? Can you find all the shops you want to buy things from easily and quickly? Is your favorite shopping place comfortable to shop in or do you prefer it because it has everything you want? Perhaps you like to "hang out" and window shop just as much as shopping to buy things at your favorite shopping hangout. Finally, maybe you like both kinds of places, the contemporary as well as the traditional. Whatever the case on Thursday, we will have our writing exercise where each one of you will have to write a 150 word essay on your shopping habits; where you shop, what you like to buy, what other things you like to do at your favorite shopping market and what you like best about the place. This assignment will have to be completed by the end of school Thursday, so you have plenty of time. Be sure to refer to unit 4 vocabulary to help you with this task. Of course if you have any questions, please ask me during class time. See you there, God willing.

National Projects-G10-04 & G10-09

I received some very nice National Day multimedia presentations. Two of which I will link to here and highlight other mentionable ones as I get around to them. Thank you gentlemen, well done!




National Day in G10-04

Group 3's Project-G10-04

The United Arab Emirates celebrated their 39th anniversary as a union of independent sheikdoms with a constitution that was finalized December 2, 1971.

The oil rich country is famous for it's many wealthy states, the most well known of which are Abu Dhabi, the richest and the second largest city in the UAE, and Dubai the rising star in the Middle East and home to Khalifa Tower - the world's tallest erected structure.

How well do you know the UAE? Take a short quiz by clicking on the attached link.

http://gulfnews.com/multimedia/quizzes/quiz-yourself-on-national-day-1.543290

Language Never Takes a Break

Here's hoping you all have a safe, yet fun filled holiday weekend. Congratulations on the 39th anniversary of the unification of the United Arab Emirates. BUT.....there is language work to do.

First I want you to write a journal about what it is you did different this holiday weekend from any other weekend for the occasion of National Day and the New Hijrah Year. Please 7 sentences on what you did on National Day and seven more sentences on what you did to ring in the new year. Since you will describe what you DID, your sentences should be written in the past with past tense verbs. Please write about those things you did in order to celebrate National Day or New's Year. That way I expect to see more than the usual 'I played football with my friends'.

The second task I want you to perform is read an article at www.thenational.ae and write a five sentence summary about what it is you read. Please include the url, or address of the article that you can get from address bar of your web browser. You may choose any article that you like and any length, BUT you must write what that article is about in at least five sentences. This should be written in paragraph form. At the end of your paragraph, please copy and paste the url.

Finally, I want both of these items emailed to me....I know that's a first, by 7:30a.m. Monday, December 6th. There will be a lot of class work to do on Monday and I don't want to spend some of it trying to log onto different hotspots. My advice to you all is to send it to me Sunday night before you go to bed. Ok, gentlemen...make it a great holiday period. Enjoy yourselves with friends and family, get plenty of rest and be prepared for your classes Monday morning. God willing, see you in class!

Just Under the Wire!

Gentlemen, good evening. Here are two worksheets that I want you to study tonight in preparation for tomorrow's class. They should help you with forming plural nouns as well as knowing when to use the definite and indefinite articles with these nouns. There are two exercises in your student and workbooks that deal with these two grammar points. Page 33 of your student book has an exercise #2 that asks you to use any one of the articles, a, an or the or nothing at all. Page 25 of the workbook deals with plural nouns and we will go over them in class. Please refer to the explanations here to help you understand those exercises. If there are any questions, please ask during class.

Plural Noun rules

When and how to use the articles

This Week's Plan

Gentlemen, this week will be shortened because of the United Arab Emirates' National Day celebration on Thursday, December 2. Therefore we will do a National Day project in class, where you will have one period each day to design your project. You will work in groups to design a multimedia presentation, but each member of the group will have to write a 75 word essay on 'What National Day in the UAE means to me' and turn that into me before 3pm on Wednesday. Some of this work will require you do it at home. Stay tuned for more details in class. Also, don't forget there will be a brief English quiz on Wednesday on unit 4 for all grade 10 students.

See you in class!

Your Astonishing Brain

Your Astonishing Brain
Your brain can keep learning from birth till the end of life:
Understanding the basics of your brain and your "intelligences" can literally change your life. It will change:
Your attitude to learning
Your learning results
Your creative output
Your problem-solving ability, and
Your SUCCESS in any aspect of life that involves learning.

10.11, 10.9 and 10.8.
Welcome back after a fun filled and relaxing break. These holidays must have given you a great start for LC2. The first day with all of you was really interesting. I am glad to know that you spend your break with exciting activities. I received your first draft about the 'Eid Holidays' today. For all those who haven't submitted the writing must turn in their story before Thursday. I'll return your first draft which must then be revised and edited by you for a final evaluation.

New Vocabulary

A new list of vocab words appears below. Some of these words we've used in everyday language, like revise and attendance, and some others we've come across during our normal current/authentic reading exercises, like initiative, evade and consideration. Tomorrow, I will upload an exercise for you to use with these words but first I want to give a brief sketch using them in class. The new vocabulary words are

riot evade harangue lend persistent

revision acquit attendance initiative

consideration ensue

Homework!

Yup, we have homework already! Sorry but it's a simple task and it's due first thing Monday morning. On page 19 of your student workbook, you must type on your laptops in MS Word, exercise 9, Choosing the correct form. G10-04 your work is due 1st period on Monday, and G10-09 the third period. I don't want you to merely circle the choice in your book; I want you to type the complete sentence with the correct choice to submit it to me in my drop box Monday morning. Not too much to ask is it? Again, this is due MONDAY!

Welcome Back

Welcome back to all G10 students here at IAT-DXB and a special shout out to G10-04 & G10-09. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday period with friends and family and I look forward to the coming days when we'll get back into speaking, writing and reading in English.

When we ended LC 1 G10 students had just received their brand new laptops but we never really got into our classroom routine with them so I want to take this time to establish the rules about using the laptops in English class. At no time are games or music allowed to be played on your laptops in class. You are to have your web browsers connected to those links that I give you to work on during class; no surfing or browsing on links that have nothing to do with English. In fact gentlemen, I do not want you connected to the school's internet access points at all. When you come to class your laptops should be closed, tops down, until I direct you to the site I want you to work on. We will usually start off connecting to a network I create in order to give you your class assignments for the day or to return your homework, but I will tell you what is the name of that network when you enter class.

The laptops are a great educational tool and they can be entertaining as well. We will use them for both but under the supervision of your teacher. If anyone is found using his laptop in class visiting websites he is not authorized to log onto I will ask him to surrender his laptop and he will have to get it from G10's counselor, Ayman Serry.

Another practice we will continue during this learning cycle is going to our school's library. A few times last learning cycle the noise level and behavior of some of the students was not appropriate for the library. When you are there you are to speak in a low voice, raise your hand to be recognized by the librarian, Ms. Margaret Smallpeice and choose books to read if she doesn't have an activity for you to do. Please respect the rules of the library and the people who work there. The same rules that apply in our classroom apply in the library too. Therefore do not take water bottles into the library, don't write on the tables and don't leave paper on the tables, chairs or floor. I took this picture of one of the students who was really reading a book he chose. He didn't know I was taking his picture and I didn't ask him to pose for it. He is a good example of how you should behave while in the library.

One last item. Don't forget,it is your responsibility to check out the G10 blog everyday for assignments and notes about class activity. Usually such items will be posted by 6pm and before 8pm and clear instructions about when the assignment is due will be included with the posts. Now that is all out of the way....let's get busy. God willing, see you in class!

Respect and a shout out to....

the students of G10-04 and G10-09 for very good discussions on the meaning of the past continuous verb tense. A special shout out of respect to Omar Salim and Abdulla Qassim who used that verb tense and or explained it in ways even better than I! My hats off to all of you. Now the exercise below will be the final call for dealing with this very unusual verb tense. It is a homework assignment and due on Thursday, the last day of class for a few days. Telling you about it now should give you plenty of time to do it. God willing, by the time you read this you will have received your laptops so please have this done on your laptop and I will tell you in class how to give it to me on Thursday morning. This assignment is for both 10-04 & 10-09. See you in class

Unscramble these sentences that are based on the past continuous verb tense. Pay close attention to periods and commas when rewriting these sentences.

1- . cat cooking dinner I my threw up was when

2- . cleaning I mess rang telephone the the up was when

3- , . I Leslie on phone talking the TV was was watching while

4- . accident he Ken saw store the the to walking was when

5- , . 911 ambulance arrived calling Ken the was when

6- . because didn’t hear I I Ken’s sleeping story was

7- . breakfast I Leslie making me story the told was while

Principles of Study Skills:

1. Preparation is the most important skill for any person.
"Your mind is like a parachute – it only works when it’s open"……Anonymous.
Preparing your study environment, your attitude and your focus will have an amazingly positive impact on the effectiveness of your learning activity.
2. Being Organized: Getting yourself organized by having a plan for every action, writing the plan and reviewing it constantly helps.
3. Being Disciplined: There is no substitute for self-control and discipline. The best study techniques, tricks and hints are useless if you have no will power to put them into practice.
4. Being persistent: Persistence is more important than talent, genius or luck so , it can really keep you moving on.

5. Being Successful: “Nothing succeeds like success”----Alexandre Dumas. So, don't be content with “good enough”. The thing always happens that you believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. So........................."Make things happen.”

LET'S GO SHOPPING

As the recession takes hold, consumers who used to shop impulsively are seeking ways to rein in their spending, and many are finding that sticking to a list can help them navigate through stores and limit their purchases.The old-fashioned list is getting a boost from new technology. While plenty of people still scratch lists on envelopes, napkins and wrappings from the morning's doughnut, a growing abundance of online shopping-list services is changing the way shoppers plan their outings.The online lists, launched in recent years by grocery chains and independent companies, can be accessed through all types of media, including messaging services and smart phones. The features include links to online coupons and auto-suggest features based on items listed in the past.



But students from class 10.10 , have come up with their longest list to go shopping this weekend, as part of their class activity on Unit 4- NHPSB.
Students please follow the link provided to prepare your shopping lists, in the future!!
http://www.grocerywiz.com/Dairy.aspx

Shout out to G10-04 & G10-09

The IAT Dubai Podcast Network: The DXBCast - Show #1 - October 31, 2010: "Hosted by Ahmed Hamza & Ahmed Hussain Topics 1) LC 1 - Exam Schedule 2) Exam Class Timings 3) The NEW Bubble Sheet

This is the kind of creativity you have at your fingertips here at IAT-DXB. If you want to hear the podcasts while at home you can find them at this link and if any of you are interested in having a place to vocally express yourselves in English, please see either the students mentioned above or their advisor teacher James O'Hearn. Maybe one day soon we'll hear your voice over the air here at IAT-Dubai!

How to Prepare For Exams

LC1 Exams are here and its a buys time for all for you. Here a few tips that should help you through the next two weeks. Aside from good preparation, make sure you all get a good night's sleep before each exam!!

1. Essay Exams
* Ask your teacher/professor for a few practice questions
* Time yourself and write a sample essay or two a couple days ahead of time
* Look over old essay questions (if available)
2. Multiple Choice
* Practice practice practice
* Go over several old exams to get used to the format
* Memorize facts using flashcards or group questionnaires
* Do not cram (for you will inevitably forget information)
3. Matching
* Memorize facts using flashcards
* Group question-answer studying
* Try your own matching tests, test yourself
4. Fill in the Blanks
* Test yourself with self-made tests
* Ask your teacher for old tests and practice on those
* Study with flashcards of facts
* Test friends in a study group
5. Oral Exams
* First outline all you plan to say on paper
* Practice it aloud to yourself
* Practice in front of a mirror (to see body language, hand gestures)
* Practice aloud to an audience (of family or friends)

G10-04 & G10-09 Listen Up!

Sorry for the delay gentlemen, but here is the study guide I hope you get the chance to look over during the weekend in preparation for the English exam on Sunday. We've talked in class about what you can expect on the exam....there will be a listening component, a reading, language (probably including grammar and vocabulary) and writing part to the exam and it will last for a total of one hour. You will need to remain in class for the entire time, until 2:30 and of course you cannot talk to anyone during the entire time you are in the examination room.

We also watched the power point presentation in class that showed how the bubble sheet is to be filled out and what information you will be asked to provide. Finally, we saw the schedule during the exam period and how the periods will be shortened to be only 35 minutes, with a first break of 15 minutes and the 2nd break of 20 minutes. I will include a copy of the exam schedule below.

All that's left is the study packet which is some of the classroom worksheets we did during Learning Cycle 1. You should recognize them all. I am putting them here so that you can look over them during the weekend, and if you have any questions about any of the exercises, please ask when you come to class on Sunday. Let me remind you that none of the teachers know what will be on any of your tests and the information below is for revision only. Do Not expect that what you see on the pages of the study guide is what you will find on the test because it is not.

Lastly, the advice I gave you for the midterm exam is the same I'll give now. Get plenty of rest during the weekend; read the texts in our class books and try to understand the vocabulary and use it in the writing exercises included in the study guide and from the moment you walk into the examination room be alert, attentive, and listen to the instructions of the person giving you the test. God willing you will do well. See you in class.


Study Guide

Exam Schedule

G10-04 & G10-09 Homework!

Your homework assignment tonight is to write a paragraph using the following regular and irregular verbs below to describe a past time activity you were engaged in. This assignment is due on Tuesday.

Irregular Verbs
go see eat wake sleep buy

Regular Verbs
visit talk play pray shop return

Also, after looking at some of the written work done by many of you I want you to do this simple irregular verb exercise. The verbs are written in the present tense; you must put them in the simple past. Please click the link below.

Irregular Verb chart

God willing, see you in class!

Expand & Enrich your Vocabulary

The game Scrabble manufactured by Hasbro, in the United States is an all time favorite, played by competitors of all ages. Students from class 10.10 realised that Scrabble is a fun way of expanding and enriching their vocabulary and trying to outdo their opponents.

Mohammed Khalid's group emerged as winners for the day and he said," Scrabble not only expands our vocabulary, but it also increases our math skills". They're looking forward to a round of Speed Scrabble next week.

Yes.....there's more vocabulary G10-04 & G10-09

Welcome back for another week of speaking, reading and writing English. The basis of all language are words and what they mean and THAT means vocabulary. So here are your vocabulary words from unit 3 which you are expected to know this week. Don't forget, next Sunday is your English exam for Learning Cycle 1 and it would be a good idea to know these words just in case you see them there.

purse burglary tutor irritably scandal impatiently athlete survival
description information raw thief

We will go over how to make those words that are nouns plural, the verbs that form the nouns and how they are used in sentences, but FIRST, your job is to find the meaning of these words. I will have a brief verbal pop quiz for them on Tuesday. Relax.....I'm sure you will do just fine. See you in class.

G10-8, G10-9, G10-11.

Congratulations! to all those who successfully completed and submitted their wonderful presentations on LC1 English Project about 'Jobs and Careers'. I was amazingly surprised to see your research, hardwork and confidence. The presentations were really interesting especially the feedback session about each presentation. Well done and keep going!!

G10-04 & G10-09

Is it, 'Who did you go with?' 'With who did you go?', 'With whom did you go?' Do we end it with a preposition or do we avoid ending it with a preposition by starting with a subjective pronoun or an objective pronoun.....why must English be so difficult?!?!?!?!

Believe me when I tell you I want to make it easy. I hate to hear the way students make their lives miserable trying to avoid the preposition at the end of their sentences. Here's one answer for those of you in section 10.4 & 10.9. who suffer from this problem.

Here's an example of a sentence that can end with a preposition: What did you step on? A key point, you might say the Quick and Dirty Tip, is that the sentence doesn't work if you leave off the preposition. You can't say, “What did you step?” You need to say, “What did you step on?” to make a grammatical sentence.....

You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition when the sentence would mean the same thing if you left off the preposition. That means "Where are you at?" is wrong because "Where are you?" means the same thing. But there are many sentences where the final preposition is part of a phrasal verb or is necessary to keep from making stuffy, stilted sentences: “I'm going to throw up,” “Let's kiss and make up,” and “What are you waiting for” are just a few examples.

Likewise, 'Who are you going?' doesn't make sense to many an English listening ear and is as wrong as 'With who are you going?' but 'Who are you going with?' is acceptable English. So during our dialogues in class if the preposition at the end of your sentence is necessary to give full meaning to the sentence, leave it there! Don't try to put it somewhere else in the sentence where it truly doesn't belong or where it will be more difficult to understand what you are saying. It is ok to ask the question, 'What did you talk about?' just that way! It really is!

Irregular Verbs exercise

G10.04 & G10-09 below I am listing some very common, everyday irregular verbs that you should know how to use in the simple past tense. On Sunday, you must turn in a written paragraph using all 34 verbs to describe what you did over the weekend. Please underline the verbs in your text.



These verbs are used all day, everyday during conversations and I know you know what they mean. However, I posted the verbs in the present tense and you will have to use them in the past, which means if you don't know the past tense you must find it to use in your description of the weekend's events.



Don't forget, this assignment is due on Sunday; also, don't forget this Sunday we start a new schedule, which means you really should do your work before you come in to school Sunday morning. I hope you all have a safe and fun filled weekend. Now here are the irregular verbs below.



Commonly Used Irregular Verbs

wake

be

become

begin

bring

buy

catch

come

do

dream

drive

drink

eat

fall

feel

find

get

give

go

hear

know

learn

leave

make

read

run

saw

say

see

sit

sleep

speak

take

write