Enjoy Reported Speech

After learning all different types of reported sentences, reporting verbs, linkers etc, it's time to have some fun practising a little. 

1. Listen to a famous song by Suzanne Vega "Luka" and do the activities that follow

A) Explain what Luka tells you in the song; write at least five sentences.
B) Write two examples of reported questions she says.
C) Write two examples of conditional sentences.  

This song is about child abuse; How did you feel when you listened to it? Why does Luka act this way? Would you do the same in that situation?

 Now watch the video with the Lyrics and check your activity

2. "Fifty Ways to Leave your Lover" by Paul Simon: this is the ideal song to practise reported speech. A man a woman talk about the best ways to leave a lover and Paul Simon reports their conversation. Watch the video and complete the worksheet, you can also practise rhyming

 worksheet

3. Watch a video by the British Council; The boys will report the boy's speech and the Girls will report the girl's one. 

What would you tell your boyfriend/ girlfriend if he/she is a slob?  

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 HISTORY 
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" 

 

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 

 97% by Ben Brand

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? 

Motivational Video

GLADIATOR MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO

Have you ever felt you couldn't cope with everything? Do you feel demotivated?

Watch the video and do your best.

Thanks to Victoria Bordera for sharing

MOTIVATION FOR GIRLS 

Sometimes you feel you are left out, because of your appearance, the way you think and other reasons, but remember that it's important to believe in yourself and be confident about you possibilities as Kate Winslet did. 

Watch her video at BAFTAs 2016 and think about it. 

1. What was Kate's problem?

2. Who rejected her?

3. How does she feel now?

DESCRIBING PHOTOGRAPHS

Here you can see some useful tips for describing photographs. You can also see some examples and you can do some practice to get the best at your speaking tests.

Explotación de la actividad

El visionado de este video va orientado a los alumnos de ESO y Bachillerato para mejorar la destreza de "Speaking", más concretamente  la descripción de fotos. Los alumnos van leyendo los consejos que se explican en las diapositivas  y tienen fotos con preguntas o indicaciones para que vayan haciendo su propia  práctica. 

Se plantea como una introducción, que luego puede ser ampliada en el aula con la descripción de diversas fotos elegidas por el profesor para "testing" o elegidas por el alumnado para presentar en clase. Las fotos pueden ser de tema diverso: sobre una "topic" concreta que luego plantee debate  (fotos de deportes, temas sociales, actualidad), una obra de arte, contraste de fotos etc.