Hello Mape, Regina, Marisol and Sonya and those of you who arranged to meet for tea in Santa Brigida this evening. Unfortunately, I am unable to go as have a tummy bug (virus). I am putting the message here as I do not have any of your telephone numbers. I am sorry to be missing the meeting. Have a nice time and hope we can do it again some other time.
1. ** The Monday/Wednesday groups do not have class on Wednesday the 22nd.
2. ** Class resumes again on Monday the 10th of January
INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED MINI-PROJECT WORK (This forms part of your continuous assessment and is for the 20th and 21st of December). It contains 3 parts A) Christmas Traditions B) Christmas Jokes....ha-ha! C) A Christmas Letter!!
A) CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Choose one tradition and work with a partner to get information on the tradition. These sites below will provide the answers to your tradition. Answer questions 1-10 in relation to your tradition.
1. What is your tradition called? 2. Describe your tradition. 3. What is the origin of your tradition? 4. When is your tradition held? 5. Where is your tradition held? 6. What is the symbolism behind your tradition? 7. Is it still popular now? 8. Is this tradition used in your culture? If not, is there a similar tradition? 9. What do you like/dislike about it? 10.Give a short description of a typical holiday tradition from the Canaries or Mainland Spain that is different from the holiday traditions mentioned here.
Christmas Tree (NA1B Gema+Mape) (NI1C Ana + Natalia)
Christmas Lights (NI1C Dara + Fatima)
Christmas Cards (NA1B José Luis + Marisol) (NI1C Elisabel+Guarymina)
Mistletoe and Holly (NA1B Laura + Sylvia Crespo) (NI1C Paco+Nauzet)
I will give you information on this in class....it is not what you might think it is....are you curious yet? ; )
IMPORTANT:
1.Please prepare the answers to your 10 questions in relation to your tradition to hand in to me on the dates mentioned above and be prepared to explain your work to the other class-mates. I will be assessing your speaking informally during this time.
2.Please do not copy and paste (copiar and pegar!) from the websites, write the information in your own words. : )
ADVANCED: ** Remember that this week is the last week to hand in your stories.
Holiday Season English Activities!
Both Intermediate and Advanced:
1. Read up to chapter 10 in the readers.
2. Revise for the progress tests coming up at the end of January/beginning of February. (e.g. use the CD Roms... : ) ) And last but not least, have a great holiday! :D
1. Workbook pages 23 and 24 (all) and page 26 (ex. 7 only) 2. Draft of story 3. Reader L.A. Movie Chapters 3 and 4 4. EOI CD Test 3 parts 1 + 2
INTERMEDIATE 1. EOI CD Listening 11 2. Workbook page 14 3. Nelson Mandela Reader Chapters 3 + 4
Intermediate 1 A (Mon./Wed.) There will be/is a message from Alicia in NI1A related to a plan to have a drink out together on the 10th of December. Please check it if you are interested! ; ))
And last but not least, have a wonderful long week-end everybody, hope you get a chance to recharge your batteries and come back full of energy! ; )
It is exciting to be starting our first reader together. Here is a great song for you to listen to and read and sing along with. Enjoy! We will also look at this in class.
Free Nelson Mandela Free, free, free, free, free Nelson Mandela
Free Nelson Mandela 21 years in captivity Shoes too small to fit his feet His body abused but his mind is still free Are you so blind that you cannot see? I said… Free Nelson Mandela, I'm begging you Free Nelson Mandela
Visited the causes at the AMC Only one man in a large army Are you so blind that you cannot see? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear his plea? Free Nelson Mandela, I'm begging you Free Nelson Mandela
21 tears in captivity Are you so blind that you cannot see? Are you so deaf that you cannot hear? Are you so dumb that you cannot speak? I said… Free Nelson Mandela, I'm begging you Free Nelson Mandela Free Nelson Mandela, begging you, begging you please Free Nelson Mandela, you got to, you got to, you got to free, you got to free, you got to free Free Nelson Mandela Free Nelson Mandela Free Free (I'm telling you, telling you, telling you) Free (You've got to free, yeah, you've got to free) Free (Yeah, you've got to free, yeah, you've got to free) Free (Nelson Mandela) Free Free (I'm telling you, telling you, telling you) Free (Free, yeah, you've got to free him now) Free (You've got to free him now, you've got to free him) Free (I'm telling you, telling you, telling you) Free (You've got to free, yeah, yeah) Free (You've got to free, yeah, yeah) Free (I'm telling you, telling you, telling you) Free (Begging you, begging you please) Free (I'm telling you, you've got to free, yeah Free (you've got to free)
This is the Vocaroo (please click on the Vocaroo link)video that we are going to look at in class.(Advanced groups, today the 8th and tomorrow the 9th.where I will explain in class what we have to do...so do not worry!)
After we look at this in class first, please listen again and do the speaking activities we discuss in class. You will have a week to do the activities (Advanced the 15th/16th of November). Paste the url of the activity in the comments box, giving some feedback on what you thought of the activity.
Guidelines:
1. Use the structures we have looked at in class. 2. Speak between minimum 2 and maximum 4 minutes only. 3. Practice as many times as you want, erase the attempts that you are not happy with and post only the activity that you think is your best effort. 4. Comment on how you found this activity i.e. easy, difficult, length of time to do it etc 5. Organise your answer in the following way and write it into the comments box:
Have you heard about the trip to San Francisco and Las Vegas that the Escuela in Santa Brigida is planning?? Go here for all the details...it sounds very tempting? ; )) Interested?
*ALL GROUPS Check dates for the progress tests in last home-work post. (grammar, vocab. reading and listening)
*ADVANCED: remember the composition dates to hand in the work. And remember also that the composition must be hand-written.
*INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED: Continue with the CD ROMS and the EOI CD Listenings at your own pace. The answers are up in the previous posts.
* INTERMEDIATE: Today, 4/11 and tomorrow 5/11, we will discuss a descriptive writing that you have to do for the 10th/11th/12th of November (hand-written not typed!). Plus do pages 11 and 12(not 2B) and 13 of workbook for the 10th/11th.
* ADVANCED: Work-book, pages 12, 13, 14 and peer-correction of a partner's writing for Nov. 14th/15th. (We discuss how to do this on the 4th/5th of Nov.) Student's book Page 22 for 8th/9th of November.
* IMPORTANT: We will NOT have class on the 18th or 19th of November.
** IMPORTANT: Please check in the comments box for the link Fran left to download the workbook listenings. It will only be active for a few days.
Just to say once again that I was quite impressed by the majority of Halloween projects that were presented. Most of you made a great effort. I totally enjoyed listening to all of you ....and those Halloween jokes were great too. ; ))
The above photo is of a furry friend that we met on Halloween night up in Chira lake...remember that in Ireland and the UK, it is very lucky to hang out with black cats, even if it is on Halloween night! ; ))
CD Track 1 1.6 o’clock 2.8 o´clock 3.2 4.£32 5.Wash-basin, shower and toilet 6.£36 7.At 12 8.Couchette 9.£25,80 10.Yes 11.Yes 12.No 13.2 x the single fare 14.Yes
Conversation 2 1.Madrid 2.On business 3.He has nothing to declare 4.20
5.A bottle of whisky 6.No 7.No
CD Track 4 1.Yes 2.Yes 3.Yes 4.Yes 5.Yes 6.The Steak-house 7.He didn’t book the room in advance 8.£37.96 9.A receipt 10.125 11.The first floor 12.o’clock
CD Track 5 1.Tomatoes 2.Onion soup 3.Sour cream 4.A sauce of wine. 5.Cauliflower, peas, carrot or french beans 6.Boeuff Stronganoff 7.Medium 8.Red wine
Track CD 6 1.7.25 2.9.15 3.Writes a new ticket 4.From his travel agent 5.No 6.Yes 7.BZ 421 and BA 404 8.In Terminal 1
CD Track 7
1.Iceland 2.Manchester 492 6044 3.Reykjavik 73780 4.Johannesson 5.A few minutes 6.The number is engaged 7.30 minutes 8.The person is not there 9.No 10.In the morning
CD Track 8 Conversation 1
1.At the second pedestrian crossing 2.Left 3.Park Street 4.About 100 yards 5.On the right
Conversation 2
1.The third 2.Left 3.London 4.About a mile 5.Right 6.Straight ahead 7.On the right
CD Track 9 1.Renault 5 and Toyota 2.£12.40 3.Yes 4.No 5.Yes 6.No 7.£55 8.Yes, but not all cards 9.Her driving licence 10.No 11.Now 12.O’clock
CD Track 10 1.He has an upset stomach 2.No 3.Yes 4.Four or five times a day 5.No 6.Yes 7.Traveller’s diarrhoea 8.In a very few days 9.A prescription 10.A chemist 11.Yes 12.The bottle
CD Track 11 1.14th February 2.6th March 3.Brazil 4.Two 5.Men’s 6.At British Customs 7.Send it to the department store 8.The customer 9.In four or five days
This is the film 'Thank You for Smoking,' the rest of the film can be viewed on Youtube also. This may help you get ideas for the 'smoking' compositon.
PART 2 9 over / more than 150 10 information assistant 11 a (small) town 12 was asleep / sleeping 13 luggage / clothes 14 Travel Care 15 Terminal Duty Team 16 check-in area 17 Passenger Services 18 flight delays
PART 3 19 E 20 A 21 D 22 F 23 B
PART 4 24 B 25 B 26 B 27 A 28 A 29 C 30 A
TEST 2
PART 1 1 B 2 A 3 C 4 A 5 B 6 B 7 C 8 B
PART 2 9 up to / no more than 4 minutes 10 special nature 11 (a) separate microphone 12 (the) best interview 13 issues 14 (any) equipment 15 (a) special project(s) 16 Our Society Today 17 clearly labelled 18 for collection
PART 3 19 D 20 F 21 E 22 C 23 A
PART 4 24 Y 25 N 26 Y 27 N 28 Y 29 Y 30 Y
TEST 3
PART 1 1 A 2 B 3 A 4 B 5 C 6 A 7 A 8 A
PART 2 9 shops (too) crowded 10 children’s area 11 not enough signs 12 comfortable seating 13 (big/wide) range of food 14 horrible design 15 bargains / low prices in the shops 16 (lots of / endless / long) queues 17 (the) fun room 18 poor quality of the food
NI1C Workbook Page 7 and 8 for 21st October (correct at home, doubts in class)
NI1A Workbook Page 8 for 20th of October (correct at home, doubts in class)
Advanced 1
NA1A Workbook Page 8 Ex. 10 (a) and Page 9 for 20/10 (correct at home, doubts in class)
Students Book Page 158 Mini-check and Page 17 Practice for 18/10
NA1B Workbook Page 8 Ex. 10 (a) and Page 9 for 21/10 (correct at home, doubts in class)
Students Book Page 158 Mini-check and Page 17 Practice for 19/10
** IMPORTANT: Can all students work autonomously and decide what they need to do on their Students' book CD ROM in connection with the present Unit. Good luck! ; )
This is the story connected to the image we looked at today. It shocked me quite a lot that the father had to do this but the alternative of risking losing another child is even worse. What is your reaction to this story?
P.S. Add-on: If the above link doesn't work (thanks, Raquel)this is the web address: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/04/chinese-child-chained-picture
Take a look at this video which will set the atmosphere for the following work. : )
We are going to do a Halloween Mini-Project. Here are the tasks for each group. Please write your answers in the comments box and be prepared to share this information with your partners in class on the 27th/28th of October. Good Luck!
Group 1: PUMPKINS
Use these links to learn more about Pumpkins and to answer the following questions and write any other extra information about pumpkins that you find.
1. Where is the "pumpkin capital" of the world? 2.The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed __________ pounds. 3.Which month is when most of the pumpkin supply in the United States available? 4.Are pumpkins very easy to carve? Why? 5. Who brought the Jack-O-Lantern to America? 6. What is a Jack-O-Lantern?
Group 2: TRICK OR TREAT
Use these links to learn more about "Trick or Treating" and to answer the following questions and write any other extra information about Trick or Treating that you find.
10. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All-Soul’s Day takes place on what day? 11. Pick your favorite country and write 3-5 facts about their Halloween customs.
1. Select a favourite joke and be prepared to tell it in class to your class mates, make sure the joke is different from the other members of your groups' joke! ; )
2. Please prepare some quiz questions on the part of Halloween that you have researched.
3. Next Monday/Tuesday, you will have 40-60 minutes in class to share information with your group and to decide on how you are going to present the information to the rest of the class. You will also have to organise the quiz questions for our final quiz on Wednesday/Thursday of next week.
4. Can all 3 groups be prepared to add the information that they have researched to the comments box below. The final date for contributing to the comments box is Wednesday/Thursday morning, the 27/28th of October. That afternoon in class, please be prepared to explain and discuss what you have read with the other groups. Please feel free to also present the work to the class in written form.
5. If you have any extra information on Halloweeen that you would like to share, please include it in your presentation....thanks!
Group 1 Go to Halloween Project and answer questions 1-6 and watch video 1 and answer questions.
Group 2 Go to Halloween Project and answer questions 7-11 and watch video 2 and answer questions.
Questions for groups 1. Find the information here.
1.What does the word “Halloween” mean?
2.Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans used to observe All Hallows Day to honor ____________________________________________________________
3.Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day to replace __________________________.
4.When was this festival observed?
5.Who celebrated "Samhain" (pronounced "sow-in")?
6.Most of the customs connected with the Day are remnants of the ancient religious beliefs and rituals, first of the _________________ and then of the _______________ who conquered them.
Questions for groups 2. Find the information here.
7.What did the Celts believed happened on the last day of October?
8.In what century did the Christian church make November 1 All Saints' Day?
9.October 31, or the night before took on other names, what were some of the other names that Halloween was called?
10.In Sicily, what ways do they have of keeping the memory of their dead relatives and loved ones alive?
11.In Mexico, the celebrate ______________________________ which means____________________ which begins on the evening of _________________.
Groups 1 Watch this video on The Haunted History of Halloween and make notes on what you have watched and learnt in order to explain it to the other groups.
Group 2 Watch this videon on Halloween Goes Commercial and make notes on what you have watched and learnt in order to explain it to the other groups.
Also can each person in your group please select a different country each where they celebrate Halloween and prepare a short account of how they celebrate it. (Ireland, USA, UK, Latin-America, China etc). Look at this website for information.
All members of group 3 can you watch this video on The History of Witches or Medieval Witchcraft (as the video on The History of Witches seems to be down) and make notes on what you have watched and learned and be prepared to explain it to the other groups.
All Groups: 1. Please prepare some quiz questions on the part of Halloween that you have researched.
2. Next Monday/Tuesday, you will have 40-60 minutes in class to share information with your group and to decide on how you are going to present the information to the rest of the class. You will also have to organise the quiz questions for our final quiz on Wednesday/Thursday of next week.
3. Can all 3 groups be prepared to add the information that they have researched to the comments box below. The final date for contributing to the comments box is Wednesday/Thursday morning, the 27/28th of October. That afternoon in class, please be prepared to explain and discuss what you have read with the other groups. Please feel free to also present the work to the class in written form.
4. If you have any extra information on Halloweeen that you would like to share, please include it in your presentation....thanks!
This is the image connected to the picture dictation we did the other day. It's quite powerful, isn't it and of course it immediately makes one think of terrible things. What do you think the story is behind this image? Leave some ideas below. Thanks!
On Friday morning I will reveal the article connected to this image.
I've just watched this video and thought I would share it. My immediate reaction is: this is an amazing video with an amazing idea that we should be trying to put into action. What are your reactions to this video? Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Remember we've been talking about 'happiness' in class (yes, we are that deep! ; )) and we've had a look at this fantastic video about happiness and talked about the lyrics and tried to sing along... ; )
An exercise I'd like you to do is extract from the video some of the things we can do to be happy! Remember what we talked about in class that the imperative in English is much, much easier than in Spanish! For example 'Follow your instinct!' 'Show yourself'....so we just use the verb without a subject and in the negative we put 'Don't' e.g. 'Don't Follow Your Instinct'
Can you take some of the sentences from the video and write them in the comments box! There is some great advice here and I love it all...how about you?
P.S. I have now added the lyrics of the song here...enjoy and keep practising singing! ; )
'The Book of Happiness' Song
I'm a new soul, I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take, but since I came here, felt the joy and the fear, finding myself making every possible mistake. La la la la la la etc.
I'm a young soul in this very strange world hoping I could learn a bit about what is true and fake, but why all this hate try to communicate finding trust and love is not always easy to make. La la la la la la etc.
This is a happy end, 'cos you don't understand, everything you have done, why's everything so wrong? This is a happy end, come and give me your hand, I'll take you far away.
I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take but since I came here felt the joy and the fear, finding myself making every possible mistake. La la la la la la etc
In Advanced 1 we are looking at past and present time phrases and using them in sentences to talk about British rock group Queen who are totally and utterly timeless in my estimation! ; ) Here is a great version of 'I Want to Break Free' which we are doing in class to complement the vocabulary activity. Listen again and leave your reactions and comments below. Some motivating questions could be:
Do you like this version? What do you think the song is about? Enjoy this fabulous group and if you are curious why not do some research on them and let us know in the comments box what you've discovered.
Also just to add on another Queen Song: We Are the Champions...let us know what you think of it. This song has been sung a lot in Spain recently...and maybe Las Palmas will have reason to sing it again if the city becomes European City of Culture! ; )
Hello everyone, This song is connected to our first topic. It is sung by Black Eyed Peas! From listening to the song, can you guess what our first topic might be about? I bet you can!! See you in class for activities related to this song....plus a little singing on the side. : )
