PROJECT AUSTIN RULZ!

1. PROJECT AUSTIN RULZ! Discover Austin! Share Austin! ESOL Department ACC

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. What’s Cool … AND you will learn more about Austin and its fun places to visit and exciting things to do!

7. 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

8. Preparing the first letter What’s Next? • write out the letter in proper format • check your writing and grammar carefully • revise until you have a GREAT letter • Got some ideas? • list your experiences (6 in all) • decide on a logical order • write the body of the letter

9. 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

10. 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 What’s Next? • write out the letter in proper format • check your writing and grammar carefully • revise until you have another GREAT letter!

11. Step 3: The Itinerary Now it’s 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

12. 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.

13. 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)

14. 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.)

15. 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.)

16. 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!

17. 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 !!