1. Rose
ESL 230-1 S14
Out-of Class Assignment Sheet Name: _____________________________
Requirements:
Practice speaking and/or listening in English for at least 4 hours per week outside of
class. This time can be divided however you prefer. You get to choose your practice
activities.
Record the date, description of practice, and how long you spent doing each activity in
your “Success Journals.” You should have a notebook just for these descriptions. You
can see an example of what I’m looking for on the back of this handout.
Record a video reflection on Moodle every 2 weeks. You need to record your video on
your own. We will not have time in class. You should answer the following questions in
your recordings:
o What did you enjoy about your practice activities?
o What did you learn during your practice activities? (vocabulary, pronunciation,
cultural things, personal things, information, etc.)
o What was difficult/easy about your practice activities? Why?
o Which learning objectives did you practice? (from syllabus or handout)
o How did your practice (in the last 2 weeks) help you move closer to your goals?
Crystal will collect your “Success Journals” and watch your video reflections every 2 weeks.
These requirements will be a large part of your homework grade for this class. Your first real
Success Journal check and reflection recording will be due Friday, February 14th.
Your grade will be based on the following:
Success Journals:
Did you spend at least 4 hours per
week (8 hours for 2 weeks) practicing
listening and/or speaking English?
Did you record the date of each
practice activity?
Did you record the amount of time
each practice activity took?
Did you describe each practice activity
in detail? (Not just one or two words!)
0 1 2 3 4 5
Video Reflections:
Is your video reflection 3-5 minutes
long?
Do you answer the questions in this
assignment sheet?
Are your responses thoughtful and
well-prepared?
0 1 2 3 4 5
Total Score: /10
2. Rose
ESL 230-1 S14
Out-of Class Assignment Sheet Name: _____________________________
The following is an example of what is an acceptable entry in your Success Journal. The purpose
of your journal is to keep track of the practice you do outside of class as well as allow you to
reflect on what you learn from your practice activities. You should be thinking about your
speaking and listening skills as you write your descriptions.
Example entries in Success Journal:
Date Time Description
01/02/14 15 minutes I needed help finding a toothbrush at Target. I found an employee
and asked him where I could find the toothbrushes. He was a new
employee, so he told me he didn’t know, but he would ask another
employee. While we were waiting for the other employee to come,
I asked the first employee how he liked working at Target. He said
he liked helping customers. The employee asked me where I was
from, and I told him about my home country. The second employee
came and showed me where the toothbrushes were. I thanked the
employees for their help.
01/02/14 30 minutes I listened to a radio show from the NPR website. It was about
monkeys and how their habitats are being damaged by people who
cut down trees and build houses. There were many difficult
vocabulary words in the program. For example: habitat, natural
resources, and deforestation. I looked up the meanings of these
words on learnersdictionary.com and wrote them in my vocabulary
notebook. Also, the radio program talked to people with different
accents, and some of them were difficult to understand. I paused
the recording and listened to some parts again to try to understand
what they were saying.
01/04/14 3 minutes I was trying to take the bus to downtown St. Paul. There is an
exhibit at the Minnesota History Center that I want to see. I found
the bus stop, but I wasn’t sure if the bus was going to the museum.
I asked the bus driver if the bus went by the museum. At first, she
didn’t understand what I said, so I repeated my question. It was a
little stressful, but I asked her again, and she said the bus didn’t go
to the museum, but the next bus would. I thanked her and waited
for the next bus. Sometimes it is embarrassing to have to repeat
myself because of my pronunciation.
Total Time: 48 minutes
Crystal will collect your Success Journal every 2 weeks. You will get points based on how
detailed and thoughtful your descriptions are.
