PROJECT AUSTIN RULZ!

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PROJECT AUSTIN RULZ!

• Discover Austin! Share Austin!
• ESOL Department ACC

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Introduction

• Some new international students will be moving to
  Austin to study ESOL at ACC.

• For this project, you will be practicing your
  grammar skills and writing skills to help out one
  of the new students.
• This project will involve writing two letters
  and planning a schedule of events with
  descriptions.
• You will be helping the new student learn about
• life in Austin.

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Objectives

• In working on this project, you will learn to
• write letters to a specific audience for a
  specific purpose and use proper format
• work as a team to produce a group project
• summarize what you read and write brief
  descriptions
• put your grammar skills into practice with a
  focus on tense and verb forms

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Meet the New Students
Alina is from Argentina but finished high school
in Brazil. She wants to study ESOL at ACC and
then enter UT Austin. Alina speaks Spanish and
Portuguese and now wants to improve her English
skills. She is looking for a tennis partner and
is interested in outdoor adventures in Austin.

Zeki was born in Turkey but grew up in Morocco.
Zeki wants to study biotechnology at ACC and
hopes to work for Ambion in Austin. He enjoys
soccer and water sports and wants to learn
kayaking in Austin.
Sook is from Korea. She is a music major and
teaches piano and cello. She is looking forward
to improving her English skills and to making new
friends in Austin.
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Austin, Here We Come!
Magda is from Poland and has lived in Germany for
four years. Her fields of interests are physics
and math. Magda loves horses, and she is a
swimming instructor. Her favorite student is her
three-year-old daughter, Brygida.
Mahmuda is from Bangladesh. She just finished
her medical degree, specializing in Internal
Medicine. Mahmuda will move to Austin to study
English at ACC and then continue her studies in
the United States. Her husband works as a
software engineer in Austin.
Benito is from Mexico. He attends the University
of Monterrey and is majoring in Civil
Engineering. Benito will spend one year in
Austin and then go to graduate school to continue
his studies. Benito enjoys camping and hiking
and is a member of the university rowing team.
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Whats Cool

• AND you will learn more about Austin and its
  fun places to visit and exciting things to do!

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Step 1 The First Letter

• Think about your first experiences in Austin

• Arriving in the airport
• Finding a place to live
• Making your first friend
• Finding transportation
• Struggling with language/culture
• Getting registered at ACC
• Taking assessment exams
• Starting your first ACC class

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Preparing the first letter

• Got some ideas?
• list your experiences (6 in all)
• decide on a logical order
• write the body of the letter

• Whats Next?
• write out the letter in proper format
• check your writing and grammar carefully
• revise until you have a GREAT letter

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Step 2 The Second Letter

• Think about some advice that you would give to a
  new international student who will move to Austin.

• Where to live
• Where to eat
• What to buy
• Language tips
• Cultural tips
• Advice about ACC
• Advice about classes
• Tips for making friends

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Preparing the second letter

• Got some advice to offer?
• list your suggestions/recommendations (4 in
  all)
• decide on a logical order
• write the body of the letter
• Whats Next?
• write out the letter in proper format
• check your writing and grammar carefully
• revise until you have another GREAT letter!

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Step 3 The Itinerary

• Now its time to play tour guide! What should the
  newcomer see and do in Austin?

• An art museum
• A canoe trip on Town Lake
• A great restaurant
• A nice park
• A great shopping mall
• Lake Travis or Lake Austin
• A music concert or play

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Team Work Create a Plan

• You will work with a team for this part of the
  project.
• Each member will choose 3 places or events around
  Austin to show to the new student.
• As a group, plan a schedule for a two-week period
  to include the events you have chosen.
• Each member will write a short description of
  each of your three choices.

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Preparing your Folder

• As a group, you will turn in
• a calendar of events (a timeline)
• a paragraph explaining to the new student what
  you will be doing during the two-week period
• a short description of each event (3 per team
  member)

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Grading

• You will be graded on each part of the project
• First letter 25 (Individual grades)
• Second letter 25 (Individual grades)
• Descriptive Itinerary 50 (Each member of the
  group will get the same grade for this part of
  the project.)

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Grading Criteria

• You will be given checklists to make
• sure you have done your best work
• for this project.
• Grading of each part will be based on
• content (sufficient details / word count)
• organization (logical outline/ordering)
• vocabulary (correct choice and form of word)
• grammar (tenses, verb form, word order, etc.)
• mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, etc.)

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Feedback and Revision

• We will be working together in class for much of
  this project.
• You will be able to ask questions and share your
  rough drafts with your classmates and with me.
• You will have plenty of time to do a good job!

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Conclusion

• When you complete this project, you will have
  practiced
• writing letters
• writing descriptions
• planning projects with a team
• using the grammar you have learned
• and best of all
• you will have learned that AUSTIN RULZ !!