November

A. Video Games Rock!!!!
You thought that video games were really bad for you. Think again!  Watch this fascinating video on the positive effects of video games on your brain. Yes, that's right.  Video games can be good for you unlike you hear on TV.  


For this exercise, please watch the majority of this video making sure to write as many notes as possible about this topic. Then, the task is as follows:

1. You have been assigned to lead a discussion about this topic in front of parents in your community.  You should spend no less than 8 minutes to explain this topic ensuring to give ample examples to the audience for them to understand it better.
2. You have been assigned by a group of parents that heard you speak about this topic, to lead a discussion with children between the ages of 9 - 13 about the pros and cons of playing video games.  While you do not want to encourage them to spend too much time playing video games, you want to transmit the message that video games have the potential to enhance the way our brain works.  Give kids good arguments for them to talk to their parents and convince them that video games are not bad for them.  You should spend around 8 minutes to build your case with kids and get them excited about this new discovery.

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B. Happy Halloween! There is nothing worse than getting bad candies or an apple as a treat in Halloween.  Read the following quick article about the best and worst candies to get in Halloween: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-best-and-worst-halloween-candy-2013-10

1. Have you ever gone trick or treating? Are you interested by this tradition?
2. Do you give out candies to the little "monsters" that come by your house trick or treating?
3. Have you or are you planning to take your kid(s) trick or treating around your neighborhood this year? Next year? If not, why not?
4. Make up your own list of the 10 best and worst candies to have here in France as a kid or a "grown" kid.  Give a reason for each of your choices

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C. Present Perfect

Watch the following video and identify the following:

1. Identify the activities and the things you see
2. Who are the characters that you see in this video?
3. What activities have you done in the past?

Simple Past / Present Perfect

Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below with the appropriate tenses

1. A: Did you like the movie "Star Wars?"
B: I don't know. I (see, never)  that movie.

2. Sam (arrive)  in San Diego a week ago.

3. My best friend and I (know)  each other for over fifteen years. We still get together once a week.

4. Stinson is a fantastic writer. He (write)  ten very creative short stories in the last year. One day, he'll be as famous as Hemingway.

5. I (have, not)  this much fun since I (be)  a kid.

6. Things (change)  a great deal at Coltech, Inc. When we first (start)  working here three years ago, the company (have, only)  six employees. Since then, we (expand)  to include more than 2000 full-time workers.

7. I (tell)  him to stay on the path while he was hiking, but he (wander)  off into the forest and (be)  bitten by a snake.

8. Listen Donna, I don't care if you (miss)  the bus this morning. You (be)  late to work too many times. You are fired!

9. Sam is from Colorado, which is hundreds of miles from the coast, so he (see, never)  the ocean. He should come with us to Miami.

10. How sad! George (dream)  of going to California before he died, but he didn't make it. He (see, never)  the ocean.

11. In the last hundred years, traveling (become)  much easier and very comfortable. In the 19th century, it (take)  two or three months to cross North America by covered wagon. The trip (be)  very rough and often dangerous. Things (change)  a great deal in the last hundred and fifty years. Now you can fly from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of hours.

12. Jonny, I can't believe how much you (change)  since the last time I (see)  you. You (grow) at least a foot!

13. This tree (be)  planted by the settlers who (found)  our city over four hundred years ago.

14. This mountain (be, never)  climbed by anyone. Several mountaineers (try)  to reach the top, but nobody (succeed, ever) . The climb is extremely difficult and many people (die)  trying to reach the summit.

15. I (visit, never)  Africa, but I (travel)  to South America several times. The last time I (go)  to South America, I (visit)  Brazil and Peru. I (spend)  two weeks in the Amazon, (hike)  for a week near Machu Picchu, and (fly)  over the Nazca Lines.

Since computers were first introduced to the public in the early 1980's, technology (change)  a great deal. The first computers (be)  simple machines designed for basic tasks. They (have, not)  much memory and they (be, not)  very powerful. Early computers were often quite expensive and customers often (pay)  thousands of dollars for machines which actually (do)  very little. Most computers (be)  separate, individual machines used mostly as expensive typewriters or for playing games. 

Times (change) . Computers (become)  powerful machines with very practical applications. Programmers (create)  a large selection of useful programs which do everything from teaching foreign languages to bookkeeping. We are still playing video games, but today's games (become)  faster, more exciting interactive adventures. Many computer users (get, also)  on the Internet and (begin)  communicating with other computer users around the world. We (start)  to create international communities online. In short, the simple, individual machines of the past (evolve)  into an international World Wide Web of knowledge.

D. Wisdom

Is having wisdom important? Do you see yourself as a wise person? Did you have a wise person as a tutor in your life?  

Confucius once said that there were three ways to learn wisdom: "First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." Gaining wisdom, the most prized of virtues across almost all cultures, is an exercise in life learning, careful analysis, and thoughtful action.

1. What is wisdom?

2. What does being wise mean?

3. Can you name any well-known people who you think are wise?

Watch the following video and listen attentively what people say about wisdom

Trascript of the video: http://fr.scribd.com/doc/98393611/wisdom-trailer-transcript

E. What are you thankful for?
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect upon one's year or even lifetime and give thanks for the things that one has or has experienced.

Watch the following video and take note on all of the things that people are thankful for and identify the top 3 things that most people quoted