viernes, 15 de abril de 2016

INTERNATIONAL BOOK DAY

Every April 23rd we celebrate Book Day, did you know that this celebration started in 1995 organised by UNESCO?
This year is a special one as we are celebrating Shakespeare and Cervantes' 400th Death Anniversaries. 

Lots of references about them can be watched or read on the media and social netwoks nowadays. A new First Folio has just been discovered in a house on the Island of Bute in Scotland. 

The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, compiled and published in 1623 by two of Shakespeare's friends (John Heminge and Henry Condell) seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items, they included 36 plays divided in tragedies, comedies and histories even some which hadn't been published before "Macbeth", "The Tempest" and "As You Like It"
There are 234 copies in the world and this manuscript was split  in three for easy reading.


The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf


We have studied his biography or plays but I think that including some curious facts about "The Bard" could be interesting
  • He never attended university but he knew the classics quite well
  • Besides being a poet and playwright he was a successful businessman
  • He is the second most quoted author after the Bible
  • He created more than 1400 characters, 13 of them commited suicide. 
  • He introduced more than 3000 words into English, including insults that are used today.
The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf
The First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf
 If you want to know more about Book Day celebration Click on the UNESCO site and read the Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

"In turbulent times, books embody the human capacity to conjure up worlds of reality and imagination and express them in voices of understanding, dialogue and tolerance. They are symbols of hope and dialogue that we must cherish and defend."  
I can't avoid mentioning here other anniversaries that are important for British Literature this year
  • CHARLOTTE'S BRONTË'S 200th birth anniversary(1816)
  • ROAL DAHL'S 100th anniversary (1916)
 So I conclude as Shakespeare said: 
 
“Brevity is the soul of wit” (Hamlet)

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, 

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

( Romeo and Juliet)
he First Folio is the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Folio editions were large and expensive books that were seen as prestige items. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-first-folio#sthash.2OJMuUzm.dpuf so I'd like to include some curious facts

domingo, 6 de marzo de 2016

WOMEN'S DAY




Every March 8th we celebrate International Women's Day. As I always do, I've been trying  to include something new this year. 
The UN has organised lots of events, here you have some to know more about it. 

WOMEN FOOTPRINT IN HISTOR
A timeline where you can meet relevant women in history 

Do you know about other important women in history and their achievents? 

Read this year's UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON'S MESSAGE 

"From The Glass Ceiling To A Carpet Of Shards"

  1.      What problems which women suffer in the world are mentioned? 
  2.      What do "the glass ceiling" and "a carpet of shards" refer to? 
  3.      What actions has the Secretary made in favour of women?
  4.      How many Parliaments don’t have women now?
  5.       Name two campaigns  who are fighting in favour of women
  6.      What do you think of Confucius’ sentence: “ To put the world in order, we must begin in our own circles”.What does it remind you of?  

As you already know, this year's theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality” in clear reference to the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 especially 
  • No. 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"
  • No. 4 "Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning"
Some of the objectives to achieve for 2030 are:
  • By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. 
  • By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary education.
  • End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
  • Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
  • Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.  
DISCUSS

Do you think these goals could be achieved? 
Which do you think is the most difficult to get? why? 
Do you think girls are discriminated in our society? how? 



* MORE ON GENDER EQUALITY IN MY WEBPAGE: Emma Watson's speech at UN, HeforShe campaign etc.

* TO READ OTHER POSTS WITH ACTIVITIES IN THIS BLOG, CLICK HERE

* WATCH AN OUSTANDING VIDEO BY CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE " We Should all be Feminists" 
 

miércoles, 17 de febrero de 2016

Counting Stars?

"Counting Stars"  was a hit by OneRepublic in 2013, which was based on a folk song with pop and disco arrangements.
Both the catchy song and the video are extremely popular and lots of parodies have been made about it. 
You can watch the video and complete the following activities

Activities

1.  ACTIVITY ON THE SONG:  Click in the link and complete the blanks in the worksheet

2.  RELATIVE CLAUSES IN THE SONG

You have placed two relative sentences in the song in the previous activity, but there are more.  Now you have to change these relatives in red taken from the song and adapt them to your own life. 

Dreaming about the things that we could be.
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.
Sink in the river the lessons I learned. 
Everything that drowns me makes me want to fly.

I see this life like a swinging vine.( a vine that swings)
As I said before, there are lot of parodies, but one of my favourites is the one featuring Disney Villains. 
You can see the Evil Queen of Snow White, Maleficient from Angelina Jolie's movie, Jafar in Aladdin, Ursula in The Little Mermaid and Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Hades in Hercules, Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations "said no more counting puppies" while Scar sings he's the one that's "gettin' sleep," because he's the King after all.

"Lately I been, I been losing sleep dreaming about how evil I could be. But Villains, I been, I been tryin' hard (hey!). It’s tough to climb the ladder when you're counting Scars."




 

martes, 16 de febrero de 2016

LOVE AND MEDIA

We've just celebrated Saint Valentine, a date full of cheesy stories, kitschy gifts and corny messages on social networks and phones. 
I thought about including two activities related to a different kind of date and a special app in phones ( Thanks to Film English and Kieran Donaghy for sharing) 

SPEED DATING

How do you normally meet a romantic date?
Which is the perfect way to meet a date for the first time?
What is your idea of a perfect date? and a nightmare date?

You are going to watch a short video about a woman, Ava, who goes speed-dating. 

Lead In 
Do you know what speed-dating is?
Have you or anyone you know been speed-dating?
Would you consider going speed-dating?
What are the advantages of speed-dating? 

Watch the video and answer the questions

1. What does Ava decide to wear?
2. How does she feel when she arrives at the bar?
3. What are the three rules of speed-dating?
4. What is wrong with each of Ava’s dates? Give as much detail as possible.
5. Is the ending happy?

Meghan Artes   Speed dating

What questions would you ask in a first date?  

LOVE APP

What kind of "apps" do you have in your phone? What do you use them for?
Do you know the app "Tinder"? (it is a location-based app that helps people to contact other people who they may be interested in romantically)

You are going to watch a short film about a man who uses a love app similar to Tinder. 
 Write 10 sentences to describe the different scenes that you see 


1. Is it possible to find love anywhere nowadays thanks to your smartphone?
2. Do apps such as Tinder make finding a romantic partner less romantic?
3. Would you use an app like Tinder? 

jueves, 14 de enero de 2016

SONGS FOR MODALS

We've been learning about modals recently, now that we know how they work and the different meanings they give, we are ready to enjoy them in some famous songs. 
We'll listen to modal perfect to complain about things we didn't do and should have done or regret about things that could have been done or make deductions about what must have been....   Let's enjoy!

Roxette "It must have been love"  (soundtrack of "Pretty Woman")


Taylor Swift  "Should've said no"


Bon Jovi  " Misunderstood"

viernes, 11 de diciembre de 2015

Christmas Greetings



We are getting close to Christmas time, are you ready for singing Christmas carols, flashy decorations, endless shopping, crowds and huge dinners? 
Christmas is a happy time for some but a sad or stressful one for others. 

 If you want to have some fun, watch this parody of a known carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" 

1. WRITE THE TWELVE PAINS OF CHRISTMAS IN THE VIDEO

 Lyrics
2. WHAT ARE YOUR PAINS OF CHRISTMAS?

Extra activities
* watch the real carol  "The twelve Days of Christmas"


* If you feel like  doing more activities on Christmas or watching Mr Bean videos, click here

* For games,videos, trivia etc go to XmasFun 

* A special video about Christmas celebrations
 
* For webquests: Christmas 
                            New Year 

* To know more about different New Year celebrations in other cultures, check in this blog

I hope you enjoy these activities and I wish you 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !