Latest Posts

The Master in Business Management and Marketing is designed to train professionals who wish to apply for senior management decisions and strategic activity within the commercial and marketing organizations with a comprehensive view of conventional marketing, marketing and customer key account management.

Therefore, the objective of the Master in Business Management and Marketing is dotarte of skills that allow you to successfully meet the commercial and marketing responsibility in the mainstream market with an integrated view of the key areas that shape the activity of an organization.

Entrepreneurship, innovation, ethics and sustainability will be the additional values that will IEBS at your fingertips through the modules of the Innovation and Ethics, preparing well in all areas necessary for leading companies in the XXI century.

Part I. Directorate of Product Management

1. Marketing and business in today’s organizations
1.1. The concept of marketing and commercial activity in organizations.
1.2. Organization and business structure.
1.3. Economic and financial management.
1.4. Management and importance of HR and its interaction with the business.
1.5. Operations management and marketing.

2. Information management and decision making
2.1. Information and decision-making.
2.2. Market research.
2.3. Qualitative studies.
2.4. Quantitative studies.
2.5. Experimental and observational techniques.
2.6. Internal information management and the control panel.

3. Marketing analytic
3.1. Internal conditions of marketing.
3.2. Economic management of the marketing and profitability guidance
3.3. Environmental factors and conditions.
3.4. sale and competitive structure.
3.5. Consumer behavior.
3.6. SWOT strategic diagnosis.

4. Business planning.
4.1. The concept of planning.
4.2. Strategic plans and business plans.
4.3. Strategic Product / business Planning and range.
4.4. Sales forecasting: concepts and techniques.
4.5. Goal setting.

Are you a traditional music or piano teacher who wants to take his or her teaching career and experience to a higher level? Or do you wish learn and adopt new tricks and tactics into your everyday teaching activities? Well, read on and see how these trendiest piano teaching tips and resources can motivate your learners and inspire you as a music educator.

As music education takes a leap each school year, more and more innovations, modifications and development are being made into its curriculum, method, process and approach. Through rigid and intensive researches conducted by different education professionals and institutions, modern piano teaching and learning has been made more effective, interactive and contemporary.

With the kind of competitive world people live in nowadays, music teachers certainly need piano teaching tips and resources to help them address to the needs and demands of today’s modern learners. Here are some of the most reliable and effective strategies to keep most music teachers out there abreast with the trends in music education.

Integration of multimedia technology in teaching music

The use of multimedia innovations in your daily teaching techniques has been found effective in teaching different subjects in many academes worldwide. Multimedia technology refers to the use of the power of animations, videos, audio and visuals in learning centers, schools and even in private music studios to help students learn concepts of music, piano and other musical instruments.

Through these technologies, music teachers and students can meet the demands of the fast-paced technological world. Both parties can no longer be skeptical about it or get intimidated to use such medium of learning and communication.

One great advantage of using these modern piano teaching tips and resources is their power to take the levels of motivation and interest to the highest peak. They can adopt, respond and participate into such classroom or music studio activities that can go beyond borders of traditional means of teaching and learning.

Online multimedia such as animations, videos and online simulation can encourage students interactions and participations, stimulate auditory and visual senses that can heighten student interest, and be able to convey concepts, inputs, details and other information. Setting up an internet-based learning centers, schools and private music studios can be an effective way to enhance and intensify attention, interest and motivation of the learners.

The following are some of the most highly recommended innovations that music teachers can adopt and include in their teaching methods:

o Music teachers’ and students’ websites

o Music teaching software and programs

o Blogging

o Groups

o Social networking sites

o Online chats, video conferences and electronic mails

These multimedia technologies may seem quite expensive and challenging to many but people from music educational institutions and private music studios should bear in mind that investing into these innovations is indeed worth it – motivating and inspiring both the music teachers and the students, making their lives less complicated and very convenient.

So, keep on updating yourselves with the latest and the trendiest piano teaching tips and resources that are certified effective and efficient to various learners of all ages. Take advantage of posts like this as it aims to bring you more useful updates on making your teaching experience a modern one. Good luck!

My first job after service in the Marine Corps was with the Revlon Cosmetic Company. Revlon was founded by the iconic business man and fashion arbiter of the day, Charles Revson. The business in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s was totally identified with Mr. Revson; his lavish lifestyle, marriages, famous temper and hugely successful product launches were regularly trumpeted by the business press of the day.

Charles Revson was a visionary. He was exceedingly difficult to work for, almost impossible to please and volcanic in his temperament. And yet, his employees were amazingly loyal and to this day there is a fraternity of old colleagues who stay in touch and regularly reminisce about the old days working for the “Old Man”. As tough as he was to work for, he was nevertheless exceedingly generous to those who could stick it out and help build his dream franchise.

Revlon was the first cosmetic conglomerate, completely dominating the fine department store sales channel. Etherea, Bill Blass, Norell, Charlie, Ultima II and the eponymous Revlon brands sold briskly to fashionable women all over the world. In those days you could not find Revlon products in drug stores or mass merchandisers. Mr. Revson preached the trilogy for his product’s placement: space, location, and demonstration. This meant premium position in prime department store real estate with a well-trained beauty advisor ready to assist consumers.

Mr. Revson was a second-generation Jewish immigrant. He was one of many such immigrants (first or second generation) that created the modern cosmetic industry. Helena Rubenstein, George Barrie (Faberge), Francois Coty, Germaine Monteil, and Max Factor all launched cosmetic brands that enjoyed great international success. Amazingly, after the death of each of these pioneers, their Companies suffered from a lack of entrepreneurial creativity and suffered dramatic declines.

Each of these visionary entrepreneurs found in America the ingredients to create a stew that could only be cooked in this country. The opportunity to succeed, or fail, with creativity, hard work, courage and the ability to recognize and leverage market opportunities was, and is, uniquely American. Mr. Revson often said that he could never have created such an enterprise in his family’s native Poland and loved and revered America until the day he died.

The movie business greatly parallels the developmental history of the cosmetic industry. Sam Goldwyn, Harry Cohn, the Warner Brothers, Carl Laemmle and Mack Sennett came to this country with nothing and built the great studios, developed the star system and created product distribution channels that are largely still used today. These creative giants made major contributions to America by entertaining fans, promoting the star system, and generating thousands of jobs and support industries where none had previously existed.

Today, we see many instances where immigrants have found this country to provide the perfect amalgam of resources, talent, technical support and educational opportunity to base and launch a new enterprise. Sun Microsystems, JDS Uniphase, Google and Yahoo are just a smattering of famous tech company names that owe their existence in part to an immigrant founder. Biotechnology, medical technologies, engineering, finance and banking are industries that are heavily populated with successful entrepreneurs from Asia, Europe and Israel. America, and the world, is a better place for their contributions.

Immigrants, both legally and illegally, make super human efforts to get to America, and for a great reason. This is still the land of opportunity for those willing to work, take risk and pursue their goals and dreams. Polls tell us that Americans are dispirited, the country is on the wrong track and needs a new direction. As an American, I am embarrassed. Just being born in this country is a winning lottery ticket. People all over the world know this and many will do anything, even risk their lives, to get inside our borders.

Chinese immigrants have created a wonderful tradition of successfully building laundry and restaurant businesses in America. Koreans are amazingly prosperous green grocers. Vietnamese own thousands of independent liquor stores. The Cambodian immigrants dominate the doughnut shop business on the West Coast. Pakistani immigrants own a significant percentage of the convenience stores in the country. Indian ownership of roadside inns and hotels at virtually every highway interchange is famously detailed. Mexican owned Mexican restaurants are everywhere and native Americans flock to them.

These immigrant groups come to this country for the obvious opportunity that exists every day and every where. Opportunity that native Americans claim no longer exists. These immigrants network, work long hours, plan, learn an industry and save the seed money necessary to bootstrap their start-up businesses. The same steps that Charles Revson, Isaac Singer, Levi Strauss, Sam Goldwyn and countless other immigrant entrepreneurs took to launch their enterprises are now being undertaken by this new wave of immigrant entrepreneurs, and it could only be accomplished in America.

The immigrant presence in America, their participation in our economy and their enjoyment of the freedoms unique to America validate the fertility of our economic system. They also greatly benefit all of us by their enterprising efforts. There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur and never a better place than America in 2008. Now we need native Americans to realize that the glass is way more than half full. Immigrants already know this.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Daily, more organizations are looking toward partnering strategies to assist in global competitiveness. Business executives are realizing that their companies can no longer go it alone. Many are achieving business success and growth through methodical and strategic planning. Three important reasons for you to consider adopting the development of strategic alliances in your strategic plan are:

1. Increase in Technological Sophistication

2. Improvement in Training

3. Accelerate Your Innovation Process

Technological Sophistication

An exchange of technology to compliment your core strengths shores up your core weakness and improves production capabilities to better serve customers. An example of this type of alliance is the alliance of Kinko’s Service Corp. (copy centers) and Xerox Engineering Systems to establish a nationwide network for faxing large-format documents. This service was especially valuable to architects, contractors and advertising agencies before file transfer protocol became practical. Kinko’s gets a revenue boost and Xerox gets additional placement and unit sales.

Technical hotlines and on-site technical support are regularly available from suppliers with whom you’ve developed alliances. While much of this has been outsourced to India over the years, this type of alliance can overcome the cost benefit in outsourcing offshore.

To receive a technological contribution or possibly a technological edge in your industry like the alliance between IBM and Apple to develop a new computer operating system that allows both hardware formats to communicate, or like Nynex Corp. and Philips Electronics who joined to develop screen telephones for residential use.

Training

Learning curve commitment. Cost savings are passed along as experience is gained in producing a new product, and discounts are available on start-up products to encourage early sales.

Better sales and technical training for your employees is an important benefit in partnering with your suppliers. More manufacturers and distributors are developing training programs for dealers.

Guggenheim Dental, a dental supply distributor in Southern California is now regularly offering training programs for their top customers. Recently, at a seminar I delivered for the National Nutritional Foods Association, I suggested to the retailers that they only buy their nutritional supplements from suppliers that offer training DVDs. This is an added benefit in the seller/buyer relationship.

Innovation

The computer and electronics industries have profited greatly from alliance relationships. Innovation has become commonplace for firms that have chosen to work together. The University of Toronto’s Innovations Foundation signed an agreement with Northway Explorations Ltd. and Polyphalt, a private Ontario, Canada company, to deliver polymer-modified asphalt materials technology for longer lasting roads to the commercial market.

To differentiate oneself from the competition. Steelcase’s alliance with Peerless Lighting, located in Berkeley, California, offers state-of-the-art office lighting. The relationship has brought Steelcase an additional $15 to $35 million in annual furniture sales. Also, they received additional dollars from the light fixture billings.

A term that is appearing in some business publications, Open Innovation really means innovation through partnering. Open innovation refers to companies admitting they do not have all the answers and are now considering strategic alliances with other companies to access their proprietorial or intellectual properties to use in new ideas for their own company. While this is simply a new name for strategic alliance, the system has been proven successful for decades. Finally, more organizations are getting on-board with the idea.

Technological sophistication, training and innovation are three of many reasons that you will want to have strategic alliances in your future strategic plans.

Ed Rigsbee, CSP, for over two decades has frequently been referred to as the Renaissance Man. He helps business individuals and organizations of all sizes to grow their market through smart alliance relationships. He is the founder and executive director of a non-profit public charity. He frequently publishes articles and blogs on personal relationship development. He administers a Facebook group; Relationship Glue and a Linkedin group; Member ROI for Associations & Societies.

Ed has served as adjunct professor for two California universities and is the author of Developing Strategic Alliances, PartnerShift-How to Profit from the Partnering Trend, and The Art of Partnering. He has over 1,500 hard-copy published articles to his credit and is a regular keynote speaker at corporate and trade association conferences teaching North America how to access their Collaborative Advantage.

He shares his proprietary Member Value Process globally with trade associations and professional societies-the corner stone for grass roots member recruitment and retention campaigns.

Michael Gerber in his book the E-Myth discussed the situation where small business owners, C-Suite executives and even sales professionals become so consumed by the day-to-day business grind of working in the business, they forget about working on the business. In the book, It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small, But the Fast that Eat the Slow, the authors confirmed Gerber’s belief through their research over ten years.

Yes the day-to-day business grind can become overwhelming. However, sometimes it is necessary to stop and go beyond those daily events. In the third quarter of 2010, Michael Schrage, CEO of Centier Bank located in Merrillville, IN, provided such as opportunity for local business professionals by opening up his corporate center on the fifth floor. Beyond having a panoramic view of Merrillville, IN and a good lunch, approximately 50 local business leaders heard Kevin Brinegar, CEO of Indiana Chamber of Commerce, share information not only about this particular organization and its services, but more importantly events that impede business growth within the state of Indiana.

One critical piece of legislation that was defeated due to concentrated efforts by this statewide chamber was Indiana Senate Bill 398 (SB398). The essence of this bill was to raise state revenue by instituting a 7% sales tax on all services. Even though Indiana is still largely manufacturing, there are tens of thousands businesses that provide services such as:

• Health care practitioners
• Consultants in all industries
• Home and commercial related including plumbers, carpet cleaners, chimney sweeps
• Technology support including website hosting, computer troubleshooting, etc.
• Attorneys
• Financial advisors
• Accountants

Since business is now conducted globally, this piece of legislation would effectively increase prices at least 10% if not more. Larger businesses would have to devote additional time to collect, report and submit this additional anti-competitive business cost. Many in the room did not know about this defeated piece of legislation and internally, I suspect, breathed a sigh of relief that it did not come to pass.

With all the information hitting the desk of business leaders, learning how to prioritize working in and working on the business is probably one of the greatest challenges today and well into the future. This is why it is critical to invest the time to look at all activities (think strategically) and determine the greatest return on investment for both the devoted time and dollars.

For example, the Indiana Chamber calculated the cost savings of legislation they felt was business friendly as well as legislation that was not business friendly. This figure of $1.55 billion translated into $559 per member employee.

Conducting business activities and growing an organization are really two different and necessary paths. This is where incredible strategic thinking as a leadership skill and individual talents come into play.

To walk both of these paths may require innovative small business owners, C Suite executives and even busy sales professionals to think strategically with greater frequency. The one thing in business that those in leadership positions can no longer afford to ignore those paths and continue doing think as they have always have thought.

“In true education, anything that comes to our hand is as good as a book: the prank of a page- boy, the blunder of a servant, a bit of table talk – they are all part of the curriculum.”
Michel de Montaigne

To language teachers’ innovative minds, there can be no missed instructional toolkits in the world of printed words. To them, any written work whatever it is made for, tend to be worthy as source of knowledge when appropriately processed. An editorial, news, a newspaper column, an email, an airline ticket, a product label, a promotional product brochure, a technical product’s specifications, loglines from posters and books, and reviews of varied topics published may yield language learning. To be specific, lines from published works may have been constructed for entertainment purposes; however, there are embedded noteworthy insights of varied levels that can be extracted from them to facilitate instructions. Excerpts such as historical novel’s opening lines can add to classroom strategies for operative students’ knowledge acquisition. In connection to this concept, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, has been opted. Here’s the originally excerpted material from the novel’s opening paragraph employed as a catalyst for English language and literature instructions.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-”

Students’ focus reading ability portrays a dominant role in the application of this approach. Through the aid of their prior and teacher- introduced linguistic knowledge, they can explore the excerpt to discover linguistic and literary concepts more than what they anticipate. And since the introduced material for instruction is a product of literature, literary elements can be academically explored. Moreover, the learners can further perform researches eliciting comprehensions regarding its background. This simply elucidates that using extracts such as novel’s opening lines requires an analysis of appropriate materials that possess the necessary elements to advance learning. A meticulously chosen material facilitates students’ naturally interlinked process of acquiring knowledge. Reading and research usually go together. The product of interplay between the two is comprehension. When these significant lines are employed, initial ideas can be taken out of reading. These ideas back students’ further understanding and the greater the awareness they obtain, the more inquests about them surface. In the process, prior language awareness with newly teacher-introduced language are utilized adding up to the knowledge of the words that they manipulate in expressing perceptions of the contents. The extract from the novel serves as a pedagogical catalyst. To be specific, the lines offer language and literary instructions.

There can be numerous language activities under this category in which the language tasks below are included. It can be perceived that these grammar activities originating from the opening lines further serve as springboards to create other language-related activities catering to learners’ different comprehension levels. In explicating these activities, the expected or possible responses to the instructions are given to serve as patterns for further deliberations. It may be favorable to teach the concepts through “show and tell” style with the aid of models especially to non-native speakers with fewer exposures to the English language to establish systematic learning foundations. Teachers are expected to be flexible by simplifying or generating other undertakings out of these introduced tasks depending on the learning factors of their students along with their educational institution’s curriculum coverage. It is the curriculum where objectives or intended outcomes are going to be formulated. Moreover, it will also depend on how an institution’s educational management welcomes innovation from their teachers.

1. Recognizing statements by capitalization and punctuation
Frame the group of words in the excerpt as simple sentences. Observe proper punctuation and capitalization.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. We had everything before us. We had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven. We were all going direct the other way.

2. Conjugation of simple tenses through sentences
In a column chart, write the statements in three simple tenses: simple past, simple present, and future (going to).

It was the best of times. It is the best of times. It is going to be the best of times.
It was the worst of times. It is the worst of times. It is going to be the worst of times.
It was the age of wisdom. It is the age of wisdom. It is going to be the age of wisdom.
It was the age of foolishness. It is the age of foolishness. It is going to be the age of foolishness.

3. Construction of continuous tenses
Write the past and present continuous tenses of the statements.

We were all going direct to heaven. We are all going direct to heaven.
We were all going direct the other way. We are all going direct the other way.

4. Transforming statement into questions.
Change the statements into questions in the simple past, present, future (going to), past and present continuous.

Was it the best of times? Is it the best of times? Is it going to be the best of times?
Was it the worst of times? Is it the worst of times? Is it going to be the worst of times?
Was it the age of wisdom? Is it the age of wisdom? Is it going to be the age of wisdom?

Were we all going direct to Heaven? Are we all going direct to heaven?
Were we all going direct the other way? Are we all going direct the other way?

5. Yes/ no short answers for simple past, present and future.
Provide yes/no short answers to the simple past, present and future (going to) questions.

Was it the best of times? Yes, it was.No, it wasn’t.
Was it the worst of times? Yes, it was. No, it wasn’t.
Was it the age of wisdom? Yes, it was. No, it wasn’t.

Is it the best of times? Yes it is. No, it isn’t.
Is it the worst of times? Yes it is. No, it isn’t.
Is it the age of wisdom? Yes it is. No, it isn’t.

Is it going to be the best of times? Yes, it is. No, it isn’t.
Is it going to be the worst of times? Yes, it is. No, it isn’t.
Is it going to be the age of wisdom? Yes, it is. No, it isn’t.

6. Formulation of past continuous and present continuous questions and yes/no short answers.
Write the short yes/no short answers for the past and present continuous questions.

Were we all going direct to heaven? Yes, we were. No, we weren’t.
Were we all going direct the other way? Yes, we were. No, we weren’t.

Are we all going direct to heaven? Yes, we are. No, we aren’t.
Are we all going direct the other way? Yes, we are. No, we aren’t.

7. Creating negative statements with contractions
Write the negative past and present of the given affirmative simple past statements.
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom.”

It wasn’t the best of times.
It wasn’t the worst of times.
It wasn’t the age of wisdom.

It isn’t the best of times.
It isn’t the worst of times.
It isn’t the age of wisdom.

8. Vocabulary -related exercises

A. Determine the opposite meanings of the given words.

best -worst, wisdom- foolishness, belief – incredulity, light-darkness, winter-spring, hope-despair, had everything-had nothing, heaven- the other way.

B. identify the synonyms or similar meanings of the specified words.

finest -best, wisdom-knowledge, incredulity-doubts, foolishness- stupidity, other way-hell

C. Group the words that denote positive and negative feelings.

Positive feelings: best -wisdom- belief – light-spring – hope-had everything-heaven
Negative feelings: worst, foolishness, incredulity, darkness, winter, despair, had nothing, the other way

D. Matching synonyms

Find the words that mean time.
times, age, epoch, season, spring, winter

E. Word association through tone and meaning
Provide adjectives to the nouns based from their meanings.

best times-worst times, worthwhile wisdom, unwanted foolishness, undying belief, upsetting incredulity, adorable light, unwelcome darkness, inspiring hope, unseen despair, expected heaven

F. Substitution of words in the extract while retaining meaning
Replace the underlined words of the original excerpt with words which mean the same.

“It was the greatest of times, it was the nastiest of times, it was the age of understanding, it was the age of stupidity, it was the epoch of certainty, it was the epoch of doubt, it was the season of brightness, it was the season of gloom, it was the spring of expectation, it was the winter of misery, we had all before us, we had naught before us, we were all going direct to Paradise, we were all going direct to hell.”

G. Expansion of sentences through provisions of modifiers through adjectives
Place proper adjectives before the nouns in the paragraph that were substituted.
These adjectives should retain the ideas of the original excerpt.

“It was the greatest of optimistic times, it was the nastiest of selfish times, it was the age of united understanding, it was the age of hated stupidity, it was the epoch of celebrated certainty, it was the epoch of dividing doubt, it was the season of shared brightness, it was the season of chilling gloom, it was the spring of proliferating expectation, it was the winter of cruel misery, we had all before us, we had naught before us, we were all going direct to infinite paradise, we were all going direct to burning hell.”

H. Inventions of titles distinctive of the real title
Create possible titles of this excerpt base from its content. Your clues in constructing titles will be the antonyms of some of the major words.

Two worlds Apart, The Epoch of Love And Hatred, The World’s Two Faces, The Good And The Bad Times, Heaven And Hell, The Two Gifts, Time Can give; When Spring Disappears for Winter

I. Justification of titles
Support your given title through group of words by creating a tree diagram to show connections.

“The Two Gifts, Time Can Give,” can be supported by words such as best of times, worst of times, age of wisdom, age of foolishness, epoch of belief, epoch of incredulity, season of light, season of darkness, spring of hope, winter of despair, had everything, had nothing, all going direct to heaven, and all going direct the other way. These words further emphasize that humanity can face finest and the most awful experiences within time. Time reveals that life isn’t always a bed of roses.

J. Classifying words through general terms
Classify the words under broader terms. Add related words to the groups.

Time -epoch, season, age, spring, winter, (summer, fall, century, era)
Season- spring, winter, (summer, fall)
Descriptions- best, worst, (finest, poorest)
Thinking -wisdom, foolishness, belief, incredulity, despair, hope (awareness, responsiveness faith, failures, stupidity, silliness, absurdity, intelligence, cleverness)
Situations- had everything, had nothing, (just enough, abundance, inadequacy, scarcity, season of plenty)
Directions – to heaven, the other way, (another way, to the unknown)
Vision- light, darkness, (blackness, gloom, brightness)

9. Analysis of prepositional phrase, prepositions and object of prepositions
Classify the words according to prepositional phrases, prepositions and objects of prepositions.

Prepositional phrases: of times, of times, of wisdom, to Heaven
Prepositions: of, of, of, to
Object of Prepositions: times, times, wisdom heaven

10. Building sentences according to structure
Convert the independent sentences from the passage into compound and complex sentences.

Independent sentence: It was the best of times.
Compound sentences: It was the best of times yet it was the worst of times.
Complex sentences: It was the age of wisdom before the age of foolishness.

11. Expanding the sentences through prepositional phrases and adjectives.
Use prepositional phrases and adjectives to expand the original sentences from the extracts.
Original sentences: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness.

Prepositional Phrase:
It was the best of times in Paris.
It was the worst of times in London.
It was the age of wisdom to many writers.
It was the age of foolishness at the height of enlightenment.

Adjectives:
It was the best of times in beautiful Paris.
It was the worst of times in chaotic London.
It was the age of admirable wisdom.
It was the age of alarming foolishness.

12. Creating a schema to represent ideas
Create a spider gram that centers on the word, times.

Students are expected to put the word, “times” at the center of the spider gram which will branch out into age, epoch, and season. Season is further divided into winter and spring.

13. Paraphrase the statements.
Reword the statements by carrying out the meanings as originally stated. Observe their tenses.

It was the age of wisdom.
It was a period when knowledge proliferated.
It was the age of foolishness.
It was a period when disturbance surfaced.
It was the epoch of belief.
It was a stage when certainties were felt
It was the epoch of incredulity.
It was a century of doubts that ruled the populace.

14. Creation of topic sentence
Create a topic sentence for the paragraph’s supporting details. Relate it to the title, A Tale of Two Cities.

The life I had had two recurring folds.
There were two places confronted by the finest and severest gifts of times.
There were two cities that faced the challenges of existence.
I knew of two places witnessed by times.
Life could be tough and smooth.
These reminded me of the past.

15. Categorizing ideas through contexts
Express your understanding of the two contrasting lines, “It was the best of times and It was the worst of times,” by placing the given situations in a group where they should belong.

the best of times
People enjoyed freedom.
Everyone understood each other.
Everyone’s right is respected.

the worst of times
There was a war taking place.
There was a protest from suffering people.
The country was in turmoil.

II. Literary writing activities

Some literary writing activities that can be performed out of the excerpt which include searching for literary elements that include literary techniques and devices found in the passage for a formalistic analysis, visualizing ideas for an essay revolving around its theme, framing a reaction paper to justify the theme of the passage, explanation of conflicts through sketch with matching captions taken from the excerpt or conflict analysis report, creating a dialogue out of the extracts, writing a mythological allusion description through the primordial patterns or archetypes from history and literature, association of the novel’s opening lines to form biographical details to produce biographical essays, transformation of the excerpted opening lines into a poem of two stanza following a prescribed rhyme scheme pattern, production of a song lyrics, narrative writing based from the novel’s historical background, conceptualization of a short script featuring some significant events during the French revolution, characterization writing, setting analysis, creation of a timeline that can be the subject of discussion in a term paper, research-related writing activities such as historical analysis, documentation of sources which lead to bibliographic entry writing, or summary writing of the whole novel where the excerpted passage originated.

These activities act as springboards for other lessons to be processed. They promote opportunities for teachers to link other related grammatical structures. The activities are hoped to serve as models to be patterned aside from using them as merely instruments to present grammar rules. Moreover, they enhance vocabulary acquisition as supported by several given exercises. The examples of activities revolve around the theme of the excerpted passage which promotes further understanding of the historical novel’s background. While learning grammar, literature is incorporated. As the interplay of language and literature takes place, reading and writing skills are applied in both pedagogical areas. Literature writing activities on the other hand were enumerated. The said activities in this aspect are for advanced level students though they can be simplified. Despite the absence of examples to elucidate on how they are to be performed, the students will be directed towards the nature of the writing activities with the reinforcements supplied by their teachers.

Teaching inputs tend to be significantly appealing in English language instructions through their structures and contents. Do the structures contain satisfactory vocabularies and grammar? Does it numerously launch a systematic elucidation of grammar levels? Does it have contents that are remarkable to other forms of knowledge acquisition aside from grammar? Does it involve the students’ macro skills enrichment? Additionally, will its features fascinate the focus of the students? Are the contents culturally acceptable among students? Are there language teaching strategies that can be lifted out of it? One fine material that can be maneuvered in English language and literature instructions is the use of historical novel’s opening lines. Historical novels’ opening lines express sturdy ideas through the powerful languages by the writers. And since these comprise the opening paragraph, evocative lines were embedded in order to rivet the attention of readers to finish the final chapter. Through the incorporation of eloquent words, the stories’ structures are prolifically embedded with motivating statements which enable the language teacher to manipulate its linguistic contents for grammatical and vocabulary studies not to mention that macro skills are always interlinked in the process. Furthermore, a historical novel’s lines can be analyzed according to the elements of literature allowing the students to study the literary rudiments alongside linguistic properties. Engagement with literature triggers language awareness through reading and writing skills. Out of these excerpt from Charles Dickens, practical language and literary activities were formulated laced with the writer’s optimism that mentors may be able to adopt in similar or varieties of ways.