English with Elizabeth 2012 You gotta check this place out! BC2sp13a
“You gotta check this place out!” That’s what Americans say when we’re recommending a fun place to our family and friends. Then, we describe the place, explain why it’s special and why we think the people we’re talking to would want to go there. That’s the communication goal for our presentation project in Basic Communication 2 this term.
In this project, you’ll choose one unique, fun place and tell us about it using all four core communications skills - reading, writing, speaking & listening. We’ll also practice life skills like researching & evaluating information, using technology, organizing information and public speaking.
This packet has a step-by-step guide of how to do this project and the dates each part is due. It has tons of information for people who like details. But first, here’s a quick summary of key points:
Summary of What this Project is About
Task: Choose someplace to go for fun and relaxation in Central Ohio. Gather information about the place, including useful details, interesting facts, your personal opinion and experience, and visuals. Share with the rest of us in writing, orally and visually. Follow the process in this guide.
Everyone's project will be different, but each one must include these 9 key elements:
· a recommendation of someplace fun or interesting to visit in Central Ohio (preapproved)
· online research – no plagiarism or copyright violation
· a written review & report, including a rough draft & final copy (2-10 paragraphs)
· at least two idioms & a phrasal verb from A Year in the Life of an ESL Student
· two interesting visuals (electronic/print)
· a 1-on-1 status conference with your instructor by Week 4
· an e-mail with the written review as an MSWord attachment
· evidence that you worked on the project and improved it over time.
· an oral presentation in Week 5, 6 or 7
Week / Date / Key Deadlines. / Steps2 / Thursday 1/24/13 / Introduce project. Look at brochures. / 0
3 / Tuesday 1/29/13 / Explain details of project. / 1
3 / Friday 2/1/13 / E-mail your choice to instructor by 6:00 pm / 2-6
4 / Thursday 2/7/12 / Initial rough draft is due. / 7-8
4
5 / Tuesday 2/5/13
Thursday 2/7/13
Tuesday 2/12/13 / Meet with instructor. Schedule presentation.
Anyone emailing a final report by 2/14/12 at noon receives 3 bonus points on final score! / 9-11
5 / Monday 2/18/13 / Final written report is due. Email by noon p.m.
Any required revisions due by Thursday, 2/21/13
Oral presentations begin / 13
6
7
8 / 2/14 to 3/5/12 / Oral presentations
(Schedule your date by 2/12/13. Early birds can go week 5, Make ups week 7) / 14-16
Technology Note
This project requires you to use technology to communicate multiple times. You don’t need to own a computer, have Internet access or a printer to complete this project. These resources are all available to you on campus at TL116 (just across the street from us on Cleveland Avenue.) If you need to do this during class, just let me know in advance.
Also, you must use your CSCC e-mail address at least once during this project. If you don’t know it yet, got to www.cscc.edu to find out.
Copyright & Academic Honesty
In your written and oral presentations you’ll be sharing information that created by other people. For example, you’ll probably include pictures and comments from websites. When you use materials, including writing and visuals, created by other people, you must give them credit.
If you copy words written by other people as hand them in as if they were your own words, you commit plagiarism. This is a serious form of academic dishonesty that will cause you to fail this project, and require a meeting with your instructor and the CSCC Language Instructor to determine if you should be permitted to continue to study at the college. Do not make this error!
Check out the academic honesty policy in the CSCC Student Handbook at www.csss.edu and speak with your instructor BEFORE handing in your work if you have any questions.
Here is a step-by-step guide on what you should do.
Step 1: Choose a place that you would recommend to CSCC students and their families who have recently arrived in Ohio and don’t know their way around yet.
What kind of place should I choose?
Choose a public place you know of that is fun or relaxing or offers something interesting or unique about Columbus or Ohio. It might be
· a place where to take in the sights
· a neighborhood park that’s perfect for an afternoon stroll
· a cafe where people can hook up with friends
· a unique shop off the beaten path
· the best mall to go on a shopping spree
· any place you think new arrivals would enjoy
You can also choose certain events (such as Red, White & Boom) that are slated for certain dates each year.
You cannot choose a place that’s on private property (like your cousin’s pool) requires long-term membership (like a gym), is available in many other cities (like Starbucks) or that is mainly for work or school purposes (like free English classes at the library.)
I prefer that you choose a place that in Columbus or less than one hour drive from CSCC. However, you can do a place further away if it’s special enough, you have a good reason, and we meet the deadline in Step 2.
Your recommendation should be about a place you have experienced yourself. Sharing your personal experience and opinion about this place is an important part of this project. However, if you’ve never gone anywhere fun, I’ll give you several brochures and websites to choose a place you think you might like.
Step 2: Send me an email telling me the place you’ve chosen by Friday, February 1, 2013. NOTE: All choices must be approved by the instructor. Your first choice may not be approved because another student is already doing it, many prior students have already done it, it’s too far away, not public or it does not meet the purpose of this assignment for some other reason. If you’re worried about whether your option will be approved, don’t do too much work on it until you get your instructor’s OK.
Step 3: Gather information. Even if you’ve visited this place many times, you’ll need to do some research.
Surf the Net. Find out what information is available online about your place. If it has its own website, include that in your report. You must include the attraction’s official website in your written report. If it does not have any website, you must say so and include info about websites related to it.
Look for reviews other people have posted online. Choose a few and see whether you agree with them or not. (This is not an in-depth research project. It’s OK to just surf 2-4 sites briefly and just read two or three online.) Copy & paste the URL of the websites you get information from. When you quote people’s reviews, include the person’s name and date of review, if available, in your written report.
Get details: Get all the basics - when it’s open, how much it costs and where people can get more information. There’s a list of questions in this packet to help you. (Are you nervous making phone calls in English? This is your chance to practice that skill!)
Find fun facts. Look for interesting or fun facts about this place. Why is it special? Examples: “It’s considered the 2nd best zoo in the USA.” “It has 12,000 roses planted in the garden.” “President Clinton ate there.”
Cite your sources. Whenever you get information from a website, book, brochure or other source, write down where it came from. It’s easy to copy and paste a website into your Word document when you first find the info. It’s difficult – and a real drag - to go back and find that info later if you didn’t get it at time! For books, brochures and most other sources, you can just write down the title and page number. For people, write their name, title and date you spoke to the. [1]
Do not slack off on this important task! If you take certain information, such as a description of a famous place, and use it without telling where you got it, you are probably committing plagiarism and/or violating copyright. That’s the fastest way to get kicked out of college without drugs or violence! Cite your sources!
Step 4: Map it out. Tell us exactly where this place is and how to get there.
a. Provide the full postal address, including zip code, in your written report. (Note: Do not read us this boring location info when giving your oral presentation!)
b. Use MapQuest.com, Google Maps, or any GPS to get directions from Columbus State to the place. Use 315 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43215 as your starting point. Tell us the distance in miles and kilometers. Tell us how long it would normally take to get there from CSCC. (Again: Do not read us turn-by-turn directions during your oral presentation!)
c. Then, describe the location and directions generally using well-known Columbus roads and landmarks. For example: “It’s off 33 E about 6 miles SE of 270.” or “It’s on the corner of Broad & High, kitty-corner from Wal-mart. (We can work on these kinds of directions in class.)
d. Find out if a COTA bus goes there. If one does, get the bus number(s) and cost. You don’t have to copy the entire schedule, but tell us approximately how often the bus runs.
These details – address, distance from CSCC, travel time, how to get there, and bus info – must be in your written report. If you can include a map in your report, that would make it even better. Be sure to say where you got the map.
Step 5: Find or create interesting visuals. Pictures of you and your family or friends enjoying the place you’re recommending are usually the most interesting visuals. You can also get good visuals from a website, brochures, menus, tickets, posters, ads or other places. Souvenirs are also good visuals.
· If you use pics from any copyrighted source, tell where you got them from. Many online pictures are copyrighted.
· Don’t use pictures that include other people without their permission.
· At least one of your visuals must be printed. You’ll give it to me the day before your presentation. I prefer it printed in color, but I don’t expect you to pay for color printing yourself. You can speak to the supervisor at the CSCC Computer Commons at TL116 and show her this assignment to get permission to print in color.
· At least one of your visuals must be in electronic form. You need to show something (or multiple things) on the large screen in the classroom while you’re speaking. Many students use PowerPoint or a website as the big screen visual. Again, pictures of you and your family or friends are the best visuals.
Step 6: Include idioms. Both your written report and your oral presentation should include at least 2 idioms from our class. This is usually very easy to do.
Also, try to replace “formal” verbs with phrasal verbs whenever possible. This will help you learn these incredibly important verbs. It will also make your communication more “American” and easier to understand. For example:
You can usually arrive at this location in approximately 20 minutes.
You can usually get there in about 20 minutes.[2]
You can get extra credit for using more than two idioms. This is a good way to learn more about using them correctly. If you use them incorrectly, we’ll fix that in Step 8 and 9. Making mistakes is an excellent way to learn!
Step 7: Draft your written report. Your written report is your personal review and all the detailed information about the place. It must be at least seven sentences long. It should not be more than 10 paragraphs (or 70 sentences) long.
A review tells us about your personal experience and opinion of this place. This is a very important part of this project. This project is NOT about just giving the basic details about the place. Your review should be around half of your written report – maybe more.
You can organize your written report however you want. Here are some ideas to help you:
Many students divide their written report 2-3 paragraphs. The first paragraph focuses on their personal experience at the place. The next paragraph gives all the logistical information. Then, they include their personal opinion as a third paragraph or put this in the same paragraph as their experience.
Introduce us to the place. Is it a museum? A park? A restaurant?
Who would like it? Is it for children? Families? Young adults? The young at heart? Is there any group that would probably not enjoy this place? Example: Tree Rock Park is the perfect place for families, young adults and the young at heart. If you have health problems that make it hard to climb, this is not a good place for you, because there are several hills to climb on all the trails.
Tell us about your personal experience there. When did you go? Who did you go with? How did you find out about this place? What did you do? How was the weather? Were there lots of people? What age groups? Was the place like you expected? What 3 adjectives could best describe your experience? Why? What was your first impression? If you never went there, why did you select it for this project?
Share your opinion of the place. Why do you like it? What is your favorite thing about this place? What are other good things about this place? What are the negative things? Who do you think would enjoy this place? Who wouldn’t enjoy it? What 3 adjectives describe this place well? Why do you pick these adjectives? Why are you recommending it? What did your spouse, kids friends etc. say or feel about the place? What about the cost? Is it a fair price? Will you run up a huge bill if you go there? What’s something you would like to have changed about this place?