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Second term, eighth week

Hi there,

Last week was a short one; after the bank holiday we only had one class.

In that class we practiced conditionals with a role play (Thanks Dani and Rocío!!) and we started talking about houses and architecture. I am sure Benjamín will have a lot of things to teach us. So far, we now know what a loft exactly is. We also learnt some more new vocabulary like penthouse, utility room, lounge, "all mod cons", among others.

We also learnt how to make wishes, for example "I wish my house didn't have a dome", or "I wish I had brought my coat". You have a handout to practise all that. For extension, click here.

Next week we will continue dealing with houses, furniture, decoration and architecture. Don't forget to do the activities on page 151 and to choose a house from the link I gave you (click here) to describe it. We will also check the handout "Describing places", as that will be your next writing activity.

Did you like Charlie and Lola? Watch this!

Second term, seventh week

Hello again!!

Well, I am here again to describe what we have been doing in class this week...
We started with the topic of Education and conditional sentences on Tuesday.

Education in the uk

View more presentations from mariaelenatapia.

Jessyka was talking about a new proposal by the British Government regarding Education: they might raise the age when students can choose to do vocational studies to 14. We were also saying our opinions about it.

Then, on Thursday, we continued revising giving opinions about some aspects of education and school organisation, which you can find on unit 4A. We were also revising conditionals and we learnt that we can have mixed types. Here you have some more practice, if you want, though I will give you some handout to practice conditionals next week. Last week we listened to a song, and this week Daniel has recommended us another one, which is beautiful (well... a bit sad though). You can find it in the comments to the previous blog entry.

We will start describing places next week too, so I gave you three handouts dealing with that topic. Have a look at them try to learn any new vocabulary.

Well, to finish, I would like to share with you a cartoon series which I am a fan of. Do you know Charlie and Lola? :-) Have a look at it and revise city vocabulary.

Don't forget to prepare your roleplays!

See you next Thursday...

second term, sixth week

Hello everybody,

This week we have been dealing with mobile phones and revising relative clauses. Chanelle proposed a discussion about the nature of St. Valentine's day which was rather interesting. I discovered there are not many romantic people in our class...

Here you have the answer key of handout 31.

We were also learning the features of informal letters, and you have to write one. The deadline is next Thursday.

To finish, we listened to a song illustrating how to give advice with conditional clauses. Dani gave us the link in a comment (Thanks Dani!), but here you can watch it again. I hope the song is not in your head the whole week!!

Second term, third week

Hi there,

Last week we were learing how to make guesses, either when we are pretty sure from the evidence we can see or when we are not so sure.
We have been making guesses about people's personality from their appearance. But don't forget that looks can be deceiving!

Why don't you add a comment below and say what you think about your next teacher? Imagine this is a picture of him: :-P

Don't forget to use modal verbs...






Do you like Oasis? Here is a song by them. Do you understand the title? Why do they use "might"?

Click here for the lyrics

We were also introducing modal verbs which can be used to speak about our ability, not only present ability, but also past, future, "always/never in my life", etc. and you had to think about examples of your past, present, future and ever-in-your-lives abilities.

As homework, you had to read the text on page 43, and I recommend you to complete unit 3B in the workbook.

You also had to read the links to understand Young Goodman Brown better. On Thursday we will have an oral presentation about it.

See you!

Happy New Year!!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are having the most splendid holiday!!

If you click here you can listen to this week Six Minute English, which is about families. You will be able to revise what we learnt. It should be a good idea if you subscribe to this podcast.

We have to get down to work soon, so here you have the key to handout 21.

In our first week after holidays, we are going to revise speaking. We will revise these topics:

• Stress
• Money and banking
• Families and relationships 
• Changing your city 
• Stereotypes (men and women) 
• Money, jobs, quality of life, happiness 
• Ordering at a restaurant 
• Travelling, visiting a new city 
• Life experiences 
• Comparing cities (means of transport, facilities…) 
• Food, eating habits 
• Road safety

 You could start thinking about what you know about them, what you can ASK about them, as well as about your opinions regarding some aspects of them. Don't forget you are expected to use new grammar and vocabulary, so we will start planning all this next week.

As Xmas has not ended yet,click here to do two listening activities (OUP).

Then, watch and sing along (I recommend you to watch till the end; it is worth it)




By the way, how is "Stories of Suspense" going? :-)

See you in a week.

Hmm... I can't choose a title

Seventh week

Hello everyone,

This week we have been learning how to use the article and revising how to give opinions. We will be doing this all throughout the year, so that is why it is so important.

We also revised how to pronounce the final -ed. If you need some more practice, click here.

Remember the importance of reading aloud. If you feel like no-one is correcting you, play the audio CDs that come with the readers. Read aloud,then listen to the same text and correct yourselves.

We were also revising the use of narrative tenses. Here you have the key to handouts 7 and 8.

And the key to handout 10 (use of the article)

Next Tuesday you will have to read your stories about Daniel, the mutant cockroach and another extra-character. Remember the strategies you have to use (The grammar, the vocabulary, the textual structure, and sequencing adverbs).

Now the "dark" news: Homework:
- Complete your workbook units 1B and 5B
- Pages 144-145 in the student's book
- Grammar units 1B and 5B in the student's book (pages 130 and 138).
- Listen to some stories from the link I wrote in last week's entry.
- Practice pronunciation reading aloud and revising phonetics symbols using your CD Rom.

Finally, you can see here our Halloween party, with Daniel,our winner!!
I hope this will be soon published on the School Youtube channel.


eoi granada halloween from maribel alvarez on Vimeo.

Third week

Hiya!

Last week we were learning a lot about food and diet.
On Tuesday, Juande was talking about the two kinds of food pyramids, and on Thursday, Cristina spoke about a very interesting topic: the relationship between diet and blood type. If you click here you can learn more about this topic, and you should indeed, as someone is going to speak for 5 minutes about it next Thursday! I would like you to tell the class which type of diet is most suitable for the different blood types.

I found out in your "Autoevaluaciones" that most of you don't know many idioms, so I looked for some funny videos on BBC Learning English in which "The Teacher" explains idioms related to food. Click here to see them. You can click on any you feel curiosity about. I recommend you idioms related to food, as it is our topic of study now.

Would you like to see what Marilyn Manson has to say about the food pyramid? lol



We were also having a dialogue about our diets and I tried to correct your mistakes. I found that some of you have some problems with the sound /d/. In this song, apart from practicing the present simple tense, you have plenty of examples of "do" and "does", which include this sound. So sing along, have fun and practice this difficult sound /d/




And now... homework!! You had to read the text on page 4 of your book and do the activities on page 5. Then, go to page 130 and read Grammar 1A. Try to do the activities. We will solve any problems you may have encountered in class.

Have a nice week and keep on practicing your pronunciation every day!!

Key handout 42 and another song!

Hi everyone,

Here you have the key to handout 42.

Patricia suggested this song, which includes a lot of examples of second conditional sentences. Thanks Patricia!!

Try to understand the song without looking at the lyrics, and check how many phrases you can get. The lyrics are below.



All I want is you. Juno Soundtrack

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

See you tomorrow!

twenty-eight week

Hi everyone, how are you?

Last Tuesday we had Juan de Dios talking about an interesting topic: banning veils at school in the UK. If you have not read his article yet, click here and have a peep.

Next Tuesday, José Antonio will talk to us about a very special plane. Don't forget to read his article and prepare some questions for him. Maybe I will prepare some questions for you! ;-)

We listened to a woman talking about her first day at school and revised vocabulary about houses. Four people were talking about their ideal home. What would your ideal house be like? Feel free to answer adding a comment below!!

We were using second conditional sentences. There are many songs which use them, so I am going to upload here an activity with one of them: If I were a boy, by Beyoncé.
I dedicate it to Tíscar, as I know she likes this song a lot.

Download the activity here

Listen and watch YOUTUBE VIDEO


Well... here is a funny version of it: If I were a girl


If I were a girl,
even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
and wonder what just happened to me

Oh no don't tell me they're real
Yeah I think they're real
Something else is missing
Where the hecks my PEN15!

If I were a girl,
would I still look like a guy?
No I wont put on make up,
but I might just want to give that bra a try.

If I were a girl
I could mess with the guys
No, no not like that I mean
When we get a nice dinner I'll make sure they buy

I could seduce them
Show them my nice behind
Yo Zach check out that a... oh my god
I got you, You totally like guys

If I were a girl,
I'd have the nicest legs
I refuse to cook in the kitchen but
I'm pretty dang good with the microwave

If I were a girl,
please don't get mad if I'm mean
I'm not used to my body
this monthly thing is kinda new to me.

No I don't really know if I want to change back,
Because I like my new hair
and the guys love my my my my my
FACE what?

Oh if I were a girl (oh if i were a girl)
I don't think I'd ever understand (i don't think i could understand)
How it feels to be a girl,
God please change me back to a man

If I were a girl
If you want more songs with the second conditional, you can check out my last year entry (click on "Music and Fun" on the right and find May 12).

Finally... Here you have the key to handout 41 about house vocabulary.

I want to thank those who came to the Spring Concert on Thursday. I think we all liked it. I hope more of you can come next year!

See you on Tuesday.

Twenty-fourth week

How are you this week?

I guess a little bit nervous... well... don't be.

Our last two lessons were quite interesting. On Tuesday, Taran taught us some useful expressions to keep conversation going, and then Miguel talked about Lemurs in Madagascar. Here you can read his article, if you haven't yet.

Then we were solving some questions you had about relative clauses.

You can download the key to handouts 33 and 34 clicking on this link.

Thursday was devoted to Aung Sang Suu Kyi, as we celebrated the International Women's Day this week. Here you have the two videos that we watched. I think that you will have better sound quality in your computers and you will understand them better.

BBC Profile

Aung Sang Suu Kyi on the Non-violent Approach:



And, of course, "Walk on" by U2, a special edition, Live from London:





Next week we will have exams: the written part on Tuesday (reading, listening and writing) and Speaking on Thursday (dialogues). I hope you can find time to revise and all of you get good results.

By the way, St. Patrick's Day is on Wednesday. It is an important celebration in many English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, and one of the things they do is to wear something green, as it is supposed to bring good luck. Why don't you wear something green to come to class this week? Thus, we could celebrate this party and at the same time it will be a kind of charm! Here you can read more about St. Patrick's Day and how it is celebrated in different countries. The most important symbol this day is the shamrock, as St. Patrick said it represented God.

Watch this funny "biography" of St. Patrick:



You can also read my last year's entry on this celebration here.
Good luck!!

Seventeenth Week

Hi there!

This week we did the exams. Next Tuesday you will have the oportunity to see them, but I would prefer to meet in tutorials if you want me to explain some aspects in more detail.

On Thursday we started unit 3A and we spoke about the general features of Modal Verbs. We were also learning some vocabulary related to mobile phones and phone calls. Don't forget to revise it and do the activities in the workbook and the Multi Rom.

As homework you had to do the reading activity on page 38.
In this website you can read some rules of etiquette related to the use of mobile phones. You can have a look at it and write your opinions in a comment, if you agree or disagree.

You also have a reading activity related to Mobile Phones in our School Virtual Library. Its code is 0000000229, and its title is Mobile Phones.
Aren't you a member of the Virtual Library yet? What are you waiting for?

Next week we will finish studying obligation and start deduction. You will find out how useful and easy to use modal verbs are.

Now you have here some cartoons. Enjoy them and see you in class!

This week we have been revising Present Perfect Simple, Continuous, and Simple Past.
We were also talking about how misleading translations from Spanish can be.
We did a listening activity about a news bulletin, and another about a woman who took a year out in Beirut. I think they were quite easy!!

Here you have a bbbeeeeaaauuuuutiful song which contains the present perfect continuous:

We also talked about recent activities which we have been doing and for how long.
We learnt the differences between for and during (we will practice more about this next week).

We gave our opinions about some "myths" related to money.
We learnt to stress certain words in a sentence (content words) to emphasize them.

And now... homework for next Thursday:
- Grammar on page 133
- Reading on page 26
- Update the Workbook
- Write an email to a health magazine. This is your problem: "I am stressed, I suffer from anxiety and I spend too much money" .

Don't forget to take into accout the structure and register of formal emails.

Paragraph 1. Introduction: who you are and what your problem is.

Paragraph 2: Your background: your habits so far.

Paragraph 3: What you want to get, how you would like to change.

Paragraph 4: Conclusion and asking for advice.


Here you have a list of Health Magazines in case you want to have a look. Some of them even include podcasts.
http://www.world-newspapers.com/health.html



Changing topic, on Saturday night Antena 3 is broadcasing Jane Eyre. It would be a good idea if you can watch or record it so that you can compare it with the book later!!

Don't forget to use your TDT option to watch it in English. You can add Spanish Subtitles on teletext page 888.

Have a nice bank holiday!!

Eighth week

Hello everyone,

Last week we learnt many things!!

-How to refer to the future: arrangements, intentions, predictions (with or without evidence), decisions (instant or planned), promises, offers, suggestions.... That's a lot! So congratulations; you did very well.

- Personality adjectives. Try this quiz!! You will listen to a definition, for example: "A person who is quick at learning new things", and you have to choose one of three adjectives.

Here you will find a useful activity about synonyms related to this topic.

- We also learnt reflexive pronouns and reciprocal pronouns.

You have several handouts as homework: Handout 12 and 13; finishing unit 1C in the workbook and preparing a monologue: you will speak about two members in your family next Tuesday.

Watch this video "We are family" by Sister Sledge and do the activity in handout 13. It is a very special live performance:


Here you have the key to handout 13


We also spoke about "Bonfire Night", which is celebrated every 5th of November. Lewes is a town in England which is famous for this celebration. You can watch here what happened in that city last Thursday while we were in class. (How jealous!!!)

Seventh week HALLOWEEEEEEN!!

Hi everyone,

This week we met Taran, our language assistant this year. Welcome Taran!
I am sure we will learn a lot with him.

We also solved questions related to time clauses and we talked about our past habits using "used to" and "would"

On Thursday, we celebrated Halloween.

Here you have the video that we watched in class:



And this is the spooky story that we were working on in class. You had to tell that story in the five steps/paragraphs, using sequencing adverbs, the past tenses, and including descriptions and dialogues.



Thanks to Paco and Miguel who did a great job. We enjoyed your story very much!


And here you have "This is Halloween", one of my favourite songs about Halloween



Don't forget to revise the future, vocabulary about personality and the family.

See you on Tuesday!

Two songs using the second conditional

Hello everyone,

As I promised, here you have two more songs using the second conditional structure. There are plenty of them, as imaginary situations are a very apt topic to write a song, imagining a better world, something we wish...

The first one is Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven. Wikipedia says:

"Tears in Heaven" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the pain he felt following the 20 March 1991 death of his four-year-old son, Conor, who fell out of a 53rd-story window in his Mother's [Lori] New York City condominium. By all accounts, the death was simply a tragic accident, and Clapton was distraught for months afterwards. This song is one of Clapton's most successful, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S. The song also spent three weeks at #1 on the American adult contemporary chart in 1992.



The second song, I must confess, is one of my favourites. It is Alanis Morissette's Utopia. Please, read the lyrics and think about them... the message is so deep. She is imagining a "Utopia", a perfect world. So the song pre-sentence should be: "If this world was a Utopia, we'd..."

Here you have some interesting facts about it:

The song was partly inspired by Morissette's experiences during her trips across the world and in particular her stay at a Navajo reservation.
Originally, the song's final pre-chorus was to repeat the lyrics from the first pre-chorus. Morissette said however, that after 9/11, she felt inspired to write another pre-chorus. Given the context of that it was written, that verse stands strongly as arguably the most moving part of the song.

In late September 2001, in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Morissette previewed "Utopia" on her website. She said she wanted the song to comfort the people who were grieving; according to her, it "sheds light on the willingness to understand" and "the passionate desire to stand up and show a self-care and self-respect."



There may be vocabulary that you don't undestand as Alanis normally uses complicated words, but I invite you to read it more slowly and think about it.

I hope you enjoy the songs!

Conditionals

Hello everyone,

Last week we were learning about the first conditional clause and introduced the second.

But I am sure what you most enjoyed was the speaking activities, didn' you?

Next week, we will be practicing the second conditional sentences, mainly by speaking and through songs.
Here you have the link to "Wouldn't it be nice", by the Beach Boys. You have an activity there, and the key is inserted in the document.

You can watch this "cheesy" video made by some "Jessica". Thanks Jessica, whoever you are.



Isn't it cheesy? :-D


Changing topic, I would like to join my workmate Gelo in his recommendation of a cine forum organised by Talking English. This month, it is dedicated to Woody Allen.
Here you have a link to his blog if you want to find more information.

See you in class!

You gotta be

Hello everyone,

This week 2A have been focusing on obligations and prohibitions and 2H have been revising the use of the infinitive and the gerund. I hope next week we can catch 2A up!

When we were studying "have to", I mentioned this song, which can be quite illustrative. Here you have the lyrics and the video (Remember that "gotta" is the informal and short version of "have to":



Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try to keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead, release your fears
Stand up and be counted.
Don't be ashamed to cry

You gotta be
You gotta be bad
You gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard
You gotta be tough
You gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool
You gotta be calm
You gotta stick together
All I know all I know love will save the day...

Herald what your mother said
Read the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time

Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My oh my eh eh eh ...

You gotta be...

Time asks no questions
It goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace

The world keeps on spinning
Can't stop it if you try to
The best part is danger staring you in the face

Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try to keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead, release your fears

To have a little fun!

Hello everyone!

This song is popping up on TV every now and again, and well... I thought you could sing along and have some fun!