Saturday, May 30, 2015

2015 USCIS 100qs Remix Round 1



uscitizenpod: 2015 USCIS 100qs Remix Round 1 Playlist
https://goo.gl/0OMZQu (10 videos)

Milpitas Adult School students practice for the USCIS Civics test by answering 10 "remixed" questions.  Applicants need to answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to past the Civics portion of the USCIS Citizenship Interview.

More 100qs Quiz Pdfs and Resources are available at at http://goo.gl/UaSGXK
Check back for 2015 Round 2

Friday, May 29, 2015

On the Pulse of the Morning

Happy Feast Day, Maya Angelou!

On the Pulse of the Morning
by Maya Angelou
Watch the Video.     Listen to the mp3.

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.

I will give you no more hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.

Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.

The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.

Across the wall of the world,
A River sings a beautiful song,
Come rest here by my side.

Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.

Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.

Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more. Come,

Clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I and the
Tree and the stone were one.

Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your
Brow and when you yet knew you still
Knew nothing.

The River sings and sings on.

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.

So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.

Today, the first and last of every Tree
Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River.

Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River.

Each of you, descendant of some passed
On traveller, has been paid for.

You, who gave me my first name, you
Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, you
Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then
Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of
Other seekers--desperate for gain,
Starving for gold.

You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot ...
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought
Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare
Praying for a dream.

Here, root yourselves beside me.

I am the Tree planted by the River,
Which will not be moved.

I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree
I am yours--your Passages have been paid.

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.

Give birth again
To the dream.

Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.

Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.

Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.

No less to Midas than the mendicant.

No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.


On the Pulse of Morning
Maya Angelou’s 1993 inaugural poem and remarks
12 January 2009
Watch the Video.
Listen to the mp3.
This document and its associated audio file (5:48) are distributed with permission of the Clinton Presidential Library.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Memorial Day and the Vietnam War



"Maybe someday everyone has free and rights to do everything they want."--Ngo Huu Phuc

uscitizenpod: Memorial Day: Vietnam Time Line

Ngo Huu Phuc reads "The Vietnam Time Line" essay in honor of Memorial Day. Mr Ngo was a mechanic in the South Vietnam Air Force and studied for US Citizenship at Milpitas Adult School. He became a US Citizen in 2009.

You can find a copy of "The Vietnam Time Line" in HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL DAYS IN THE USA by Mary Glasgow, Scholastic Inc., 2001, ISBN 1-900702-59-2.


uscitizenpod (gagliajn): The Vietnam War Memorial, Washington DC

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, The Three Soldiers, and The Vietnam Women's Memorial, april 2013.  I took this picture in 2010 near the Vietnam Heritage Garden, San Jose.  May the American and Vietnamese peoples always stand together!



uscitizenpod (gagliajn): Sons of San Jose Vietnam War Memorial

These photos were taken on Memorial Day 2013 at Sons of San Jose Vietnam War Memorial, Guadalupe Park, by Paula Harbor and were uploaded to Facebook. I asked Paula if I could share them. Her comments:

I hate war. I hate violence. I hate greed. I look at this name etched into granite and wonder ... what if?

Over the course of the couple hours I was at this memorial today people came and went. Parents, siblings, friends, vets, Vietnamese with bouquets of thanks. Everyone had a story. "Do you have someone on the wall?" The answer was always yes and the story told. A man came and put his hand on my shoulder. After several moments we spoke. He helped with find raising the memorial and talked about his buddies who are on the wall. I shared about Gus.


For more info about the wall, see www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_22818391/dedication-...

and www.sjwarmemorial.com/1401.html

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Memorial Day Honors Military Service and Sacrifice

Arlington National CemetaryVOANews: Memorial Day Honors Military Service and Sacrifice

VOA Learning English: We visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial and other honors to those who served America | This Is America

Thursday, May 21, 2015

OTAN Webinar Citizenship Preparation Resources for Adult Education



OTAN Webinar Citizenship Preparation Resources for Adult Education
https://goo.gl/V3ZyFe
OTAN 2015
May 21, 2015 1:00-2:30pm
connect.otan.us/tech4citprep/
J. Gagliardi
Milpitas Adult School
jgagliar@musd.org

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

An “Everyday” Citizenship Interview based on the USCIS Revised N-400

Museum Exhibit Expands Upon Ellis Island's Story



VOANews: Museum Exhibit Expands Upon Ellis Island's Story
https://youtu.be/zWHmExnX-sY

More than 25 million immigrants have been processed into the United States at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. The peak years for Ellis were from 1892 to 1954, and most of the entrants were from Europe. But Ellis has an earlier and a later history that is now being told in a new exhibition. VOA’s Bernard Shusman reports.
Originally published at http://www.voanews.com/media/video/museum-exhibit-expands-upon-ellis-island-story/2770869.html

Monday, May 18, 2015

ESLPod.com ESL Podcast 1102 – Discussing Capital Punishment

ESLPod.com ESL Podcast 1102 – Discussing Capital Punishment 
Listen 
Download Podcast 
Should the government put certain criminals to death? Learn how to talk about that question in English in this episode. 



Teacher Jennifer says: ESLPod.com is a great resource to listen to English conversation.  Check out their citizenship course: Introduction to the United States

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Tien's Citizenship Interview



uscitizenpod: Tien's Citizenship Interview
https://youtu.be/CvNw6MQPdGY

Teacher Jennifer uses uscitizenpod's new "Common" Interview based on the N-400r (http://goo.gl/cPTyRL) to interview Tien.
For more USCitizenPod N-400r scripts, go to http://goo.gl/2aOS5m
For more resources, go to www.uscitizenpod.com

Saturday, May 16, 2015

US/Japan's Joint Issue: Gift's of Friendship



uspsstamps.com: US/Japan's Joint Issue: Gift's of Friendship

In 2015, the U.S. Postal Service® and Japan Post jointly issue Gifts of Friendship, a pane of stamps featuring beautiful images of flowering dogwood and flowering cherry trees. This issuance celebrates the enduring bond between two nations on the centennial of the gift of dogwood trees from the United States to Japan in 1915. (read more)

Also check-out my photos of cherry blossoms:

Friday, May 15, 2015

Linh's Citizenship Interview



uscitizenpod: Linh's Citizenship Interview
https://youtu.be/mE2zjgB8PDA
Teacher Jennifer use uscitipod's new "Common" Interview based on the N-400r (http://goo.gl/cPTyRL) to interview Linh.
For more USCitizenPod N-400r scripts, go to http://goo.gl/2aOS5m
For more resources, go to www.uscitizenpod.com

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Branches of Government Part 2



uscitizenpodclass: Branches of Government Part 2 
https://goo.gl/lL9hYQ

Also see:
uscitizenpodclass: Branches of Government Part 1 (via Google slides) --a collaborative class project via Google slides by the Milpitas Adult School Citizenship Class.
https://goo.gl/6l4ykD

Friday, May 8, 2015

Branches of Government Part 1



uscitizenpodclass: Branches of Government Part 1 (via Google slides)
https://goo.gl/6l4ykD

A collaborative class project via Google slides by the Milpitas Adult School Citizenship Class.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

USCIS Provides Chinese Language Immigration Presentation at Famous Buddhist Temple in California


USCIS The Beacon Blog: USCIS Provides Chinese Language Immigration Presentation at Famous Buddhist Temple in California

Reaching out to immigrants and future citizens is one of the most important things we do. As a part of an ongoing outreach program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides information to immigrants in a variety of languages, including at in-person community events.

One such event took place this past Sunday, April 19, at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, not far from Los Angeles. USCIS officers made a presentation, primarily in Mandarin Chinese, on immigration basics and the process of becoming a citizen, including how to prepare for the naturalization test. (read more)

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Monday, May 4, 2015

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES BY WELCOMING ALL RESIDENTS

A Federal Strategic Action Plan on Immigrant & Refugee
Integration
The White House Task Force on
New Americans
April 2015
http://goo.gl/TCkrBk

Teacher Jennifer: Tears of pride and new ideas abound as I read this report. As an Adult School ESL/Citizenship Teacher, pages 44-46 are especially relevant. Read the whole report, then get to work!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Volunteers to Help Their US Communities on 'Big Sunday'

USCIS 100:55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?



VOANews: Volunteers to Help Their US Communities on 'Big Sunday'

This Friday through Sunday, thousands of people around the United States are gathering at schools, parks and community centers to help out with Big Sunday, a volunteer effort that started on a Sunday but has expanded to three days every year. VOA's Mike O’Sullivan reports.
Originally published at http://www.voanews.com/media/video/volunteers-help-communities-big-sunday/2743625.html

USCIS 100:55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

▪ vote
▪ join a political party
▪ help with a campaign
▪ join a civic group
▪ join a community group
▪ give an elected official your opinion on an issue
▪ call Senators and Representatives
▪ publicly support or oppose an issue or policy
▪ run for office
▪ write to a newspaper

Saturday, May 2, 2015

The 25 Most Popular Cities to Visit in America


VOA Learning English: The 25 Most Popular Cities to Visit in America
Big cities and small historic towns top the list of most popular places to visit in America, according to the travel site TripAdvisor. Millions of users voted New York City, Chicago, and Charleston, South Carolina as the top three cities to visit in the U.S. Here's a look at all 25 cities! (read more)

Friday, May 1, 2015

Hien's Citizenship Interview



uscitizenpod: Hien's Citizenship Interview
https://youtu.be/rYgPIp94XXY

Hien's Citizenship Interview was adapted from a multiple choice N-400 Quiz at http://goo.gl/y190FE

For more USCitizenPod N-400r scripts, go to http://goo.gl/2aOS5m