General information of the collection

This self-access reading is for middle school 3rd grade students who are studying English by the textbook, Middle school English 3, written by Kim seong gon et al and published by Doosan in 2009.
Target students are diversity from novice and advanced. But some of topics are only for advanced level students.
The first thing I concerned while I was choosing material is that it should be fun to read. Therefore I choose the topic, British Culture and 7 mysteries of the world which are interesting topics for students to read.
In addition, the second topic is 'different activities.' I tried to contain a lot of topics. Bookclub is for discussion. Future job is for out-of class activity. English language and 7 mysteris of the world is for treasure hunt activity. Some of categories for inclass activity and other activities for out-of class, I have metioned above. Similarily, Some of collections are based on the textbook but other collections are not based on the textbook. Therefore, 'diversity' of the reading texts are my second standard that I used while I was making this collection.
Also, I intended to treat different levels of students. Therefore I have searched not only easy texts but also difficult materials.
I hope that my materials would satisfy lots of different needs.

Additional information about Current issues

Two of links in 'Current Issues' section take time to see the whole text. Therefore, I posted the text in my blog. If you can't see the text in Metro.co.uk, you may refer to articles in my blog.

[Metro]Nimble-fingered teens take title as world's fastest mobile phone texters

Nimble-fingered teens take title as world's fastest mobile phone texters
Two South Korean teenagers have been crowned the fastest texters in the world.

The team of 17-year-old Bae Yeong Ho and 18-year-old Ha Mok Min went thumb-to-thumb against competitors from a dozen countries to win the title in a competition in New York City.
The LG Mobile World Cup challenged nimble-fingered youths on both speed and accuracy, and the winning team took home a $100,000 prize.
Second place and $20,000 went to the American contestants - 16-year-old Kate Moore of Des Moines, Iowa, and 14-year-old Morgan Dynda of Pooler, Georgia.
An Argentine team came in third and the Brazilians took fourth.
Other nations represented included Indonesia, Portugal, Russia, Mexico and Spain.
Bae said he would save his $50,000 share of the prize to study to become an opera singer, while Ha said she was saving for studies to become an engineer.
The challenge was to copy words and phrases in a contestant's native language off a monitor correctly, with no typos or abbreviations, and as fast as possible with the required capital letters and punctuation.
Some words were intentionally misspelled to test alertness.
Moore averages 12,000 texts per month, entering up to 3.5 characters per second.
She said: "Girls are faster because their hands are smaller. "I have perfect hands for texting - thin, long fingers. And fast, of course."
The 26 finalists who made it to the World Cup were chosen from more than 200,000 wannabes in a global text-off that began in May.


10.01.15

[Metro]South Korea blames North Korea over warship torpedo attacks

South Korea blames North Korea over warship torpedo attacks
South Korea has accused North Korea of firing a torpedo at one of its warships and killing 46 sailors.

President Lee Myung-bak vowed to take ‘firm action’ following the release of results from an international investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan corvette in March.
Seoul has already made clear that it has no plans for a retaliatory strike but will press its allies to take action against its neighbour – most likely in the form of tougher sanctions.
However, North Korea described the results of the investigation as a ‘fabrication’ and warned it will take strong measures – including war – if the south imposes sanctions.
The report said: ‘The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine.’
It added: ‘There is no other plausible explanation.’
Both the US and Britain gave their backing to the findings, with foreign secretary William Hague describing the incident as a ‘callous act’.
China called for restraint but did not condemn North Korea.
The issue has plunged already icy relations between the two countries deeper into the freezer.
Some 58 sailors were rescued from the Yellow Sea on March 26 but 46 died.

(10.05.20)

Treasure hunt Questions for ‘7 Mysteries of the world’ Section

Treasure hunt Questions for ‘7 Mysteries of the world’ Section
1. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
A. What is the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus?
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B. How high was it?
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C. How was it destroyed?
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2. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
A. When was it built?
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B. How was this temple used?
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C. Who destroyed this building in 401?
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3. The Colossus at Rhodes
A. The Colossus was __________ oldest Wonder and was built by Chares of Lindus in 280 BCE.
B. Why was this wonder built?
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C. How long did it take to build this building?
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4. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
A. Where was it?
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B. When were the gardens revealed?
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C. How did the garden look like?
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5. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
A. When the Olympic game started? And where was it held?
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B. What was in the next to the statue?
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C. How was the statue big?
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6. The Lighthouse of Alexandria
A. When was the lighthouse started to be built?
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B. What did Sostrates’ do in the foundation?
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C. Where was the lighthouse built?
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7. Easter Island Statue
A. What is the own name of Moai?
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B. How does the statue look like?
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C. How many islanders were left in 1877?
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Treasure hunt questions for 'English Language' Section

Treasure hunt Questions for English Language Section

1. Interesting facts of English
A. What is the longest English word without the normal vowels?
- ( )
B. What is the most used English letter?
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C. What is the only one word in the English language with 3 consecutive sets of double letters?
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2. Difference between American English and British English

UK English vs US English

(UK) I’ve just had lunch. = (US) 1. ( )
(UK) 2. ( ) = (US) Do you have a car?
(UK) 3. ( ) = (US) Truck
(UK) At the weekend = (US) On the weekend
(UK) 4. ( ) = (US) Burned
(UK) 5. ( ) = (US) Color
(UK) 6. ( ) = (US) Recognize

3. English in Austria and New Zealand

Austrian English vs British English
(AE) 1. ( ) = Girl
(AE) Drongo = 2. ( )
(AE) 3. ( ) = Vest
New Zealand English : Meaning
(NZE) 4. ( ) = TV
(NZE) Cocky = 5. ( )
(NZE) Strides = 6. ( )

[Self-Access Reading] How to utilize 'Current Issues' section?

This section is for the students who have the highest proficiency level. Maybe their aim is to advance to ‘foreign language’ high school. The main purpose of this collection is learning words from news articles treating current issues.
First two articles come from BBC learning English. It provides difficult word’s explanation. Student tries to guess the meaning of the words and then check the meaning. This step is to adjust students to news articles. Then, students practice reading to the last 4 articles.
Teacher makes students read the articles without dictionaries at first. Then, try to guess the meaning of the difficult words. Students have to be checked what they have read. Moreover, students make vocabulary list to categorize the words. It makes students memorize the words easier as it is classified.
Moreover, by reading these articles, students may be able to build up background knowledge, schema, about the current issues. Also, students and teachers can discuss together about the topic.