This powerpoit file has been shared a lot via email. It’s sad to see people starving and dying because of food/ water shortage. Compared to those who are suffering, aren’ we far luckier. What can we do to help?

This video offers a complete overview of the activities, philosophy and structure of the internatioal hamanitarian organization Doctors without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Listen Carefully and fill in the blanks with the infromation provided in the 10-minute video. Tell the inspiration you derive from MSF’s work and what can you do to help change the world for the better? View msf-script for the worksheet.

Visit Pace of Life to see how fast your city is and find out if you are living life in the fast lane by completing the short quiz here. How well does the result tell about your pace of life? Do you need to slow down your pace a little bit? How?

Pair up with a classmate and learn at least 3 gestures together. Put down information about these gestures and share them with your classmates later.

Reference: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_quotes

Plot:

Known Plot Thus Far: In 1957, Indiana Jones is thrust back in action, venturing into the jungles of South America in a race against Soviet agents to find the mystical Crystal Skull.

When last we saw Indy, he was riding off into the sunset in 1989′s The Last Crusade, set in 1938 near the start of World War II. The new movie is set at the height of the Cold War in 1957, so the character has aged in real time — 19 years.

“He’s teaching and having kind of a quiet life,” the producer says. Once the archaeologist is thrust back into danger, the signature Indiana Jones red line tracing across the map will take him to New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City and the jungles of Peru.

Leonardo da Vinci is considered to have been a genius at many things. Visit Exploring Leonardo and you’ll be amazed at the artist’s talents. Click on Leonardo’s Mysterious Machinery and guess what the machines invented by da Vinci are. You can even try Leonardo’s signature “Mirror Writing” yourself! Have you wondered what it would be like to see through Leonardo’s eyes? Try the technique of linear perspective yourself!Go visit the section ”What, Where, and When?” and you’ll know more about the genius’ life by clicking on the different cities Leonardo lived in during his lifetime (and find answers to questions in your worksheet). Decide on one of the three possiblities that explaine why Leonardo wrote from right to left and tell your classmate later. Enjoy the journey of exploring Leonardo!

Dear students,

In Lesson 1, we’ll learn about the great artist Leonardo da Vinci and his world-famous work— the Mona Lisa. Recently, an armed gang stole four paintings worth some $160m by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet from a museum in Zurich. Read the new “Gang Robs Zurich of Top Paintings” in BBC and give your comments. Or you can adopt the point of view of the police spokesperson, the detective in charge, or an art lover and talk to the press, the theives, or your fellow art lover.

How was your winter vacation? Are you prepared for the new semester and the review exams on the first day of school? I checked the girls’ blogs and was surprised/glad to find that Stephanie, Alice and Donny continued blogging, even during Chinese New Year! Read Donny’s fun-filled picture description and you’ll find “whodunnit.” Alice posted an article entitled “Red Envelopes” from the Studio Classroom and told about things she and her family did on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Read Alice’s recent post to know the details of her fun activities that day and give her some feedback. Tell me what you did during the vacation and/or how you are going to spend/invest your hong bao (or lucky money)?

For millions of youngsters, the highlight of celebrating Lunar New Year comes when their parents give them a red envelope, or hong bao. The color red symbolizes good fortune, and the Chinese characters adorning the envelope wish the children such things as prosperity,good luck and health.

Good wishes aside, the kids really get excited about the money that’s stuffed inside. Young people remain eligible to receive red envelopes until they begin working or get married, at which point they become red envelope givers. (Studio clasroom)

I would like to know what you think about our winter  English course. What have your learned from it? What are the difficulties you have experienced? Which part(s) (blogging, news & comments, picture/film description, giving comments on your classmates’ blogs/ online tests) do you like? Why? Is there anything we can do to make the course better? Are the news articles too difficult? Please give me feedback on the course so that we can make our English class more interesting and you’ll benefit more from it!

By the way, don’t mind the grammar, and even feedback in Chinese is fine. Both positive and negative comments are welcome!

Today we are going to learn another Web 2.o tool— bloglines. With the help of it, you can subscribe to almost anything you want on the Internet, which means you don’t have to visit your “favorites” and new materials on those websites will go directly to your bloglines. Sounds intriguing, right? Let’s explore it together.