Welcome TASS ESL Students!

Beginning November 23rd, we will begin to create our own blogs online -- our big project for the two-month geography unit in ESL. What is a blog, you might ask? It's an online journal or diary. You can write new entries and stories just as if you were writing in your composition book. But the best thing is, you can also add photographs, videos, and even animations to your writing!

Sound good? OK, let's begin ...

The title of our blog project is "It's Your Road Trip." You will be taking a "road trip" to different regions of the United States. We will begin in the Northeast Region of the United States, in our home state of New York State (see picture). You will start your journey in New York City, branching out to visit five out of the nine states in the Northeast.



If you wish, you may also begin your journey in your home country, exploring different parts of the country for several blog entries. Maybe you miss home and want to see your family first? Or maybe you'd like to visit some places you haven't been to in awhile? Afterwards, you can come back to the United States and begin exploring the Northeast.

Can you find New York City on this map?

We may update this blog throughout the year with more of our travels. But for the next two months -- from December to the end of January -- we will be focusing on geography vocabulary and skills, social studies, and even science and math. We'll learn how to read maps, how to do library and Internet research, how to plan an itinerary, what kinds of transportation exist, among other things. But most importantly, we'll improve our writing skills in a fun, thoughtful, and creative way -- by making our own travel story in real-time.