JFK ANNIVERSARY

John Fitzgerald Kennedy ( 1917-1963) 

" ....And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

These were the famous words John Fitzgerald Kennedy pronunced during his inaugural address on  January 20, 1961 as 35th President of the USA.
Almost three years later he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswall in a visit to Dallas.  

Follow the links to know more about it. 
Inaugural speech
His assassination 

J F Kennedy was a popular President in USA and all over the world but his term of office was full of lights and shadows like the Cuban missile crisis,  Bay of Pigs Invasion , start of Vietnam War and others. 

Coming from a family with political ambitions (with Irish ancestors, his father and some of his brothers were also politicians), he was a democrat Congressman and Senator. 

His family life ( married to Jacqueline Bouvier)  was a model for families in USA at the time. 

All women followed the First Lady's fashion. There were programmes devoted to her and their family on TV. Jackie even opened the White House to the public.

  His death was a shock all over the world, he was buried at Arlington Cemetery

 (Washington)  where there is an eternal flame burning. His wife and two children are buried right beside him. 

There was a controversy over his assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and shot by Jack Ruby shortly afterwards. Some thought it had been a conspiracy and others that there was a second or third gunman. We'll never know. 

Lots of documentaries, films and books have been shot or written about the President and his death. It is said that the song " The sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel was composed to show the feelings after JFK's death. 

If you want to know more about it, do some research and answer the following questions: 

1. What was the President's academic and military background? 

2. How old was he when he became President?

3. What other people in his family were politicians?

4. Kennedy was a great defender of the civil rights movement, What did he do? 

5. There were lots of new projects during his Presidency, one of them was related to space? What did he do? 

6. He won an important prize for writing? Which? What did he write?  

7. There were many tragedies in JFK life, which ones? 

8. In spite of having an idilic family life, he had a double life. What kind of relationships did he have?

9.  Who became President after Kennedy's death?

10. Who is the only surviving child of JFK? What does he/ she do?  

Follow the anniversary in the Press: The Guardian 

BONFIRE NIGHT

GUY FAWKES NIGHT

November 5th marks the anniversary of the famous Gunpowder Plot when Guy Fawkes and his catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605. The protestant King James I, who had survived the attempt on his life, celebrated it with fireworks.  From that night on, Bonfire Night is celebrated throughout Britain on the evening of the 5th of November with firework displays, It's a special celebration that includes setting bonfires burning effigies of Guy Fawkes or eating special treats such as "Bonfire tofee", jacked potatoes, ginger bread, soups, toffee apples etc.

  To prepare recipes : Bonfire night food 

There are lots of films following this topic, one of the most famous is " V for Vendetta"  is a worth watching film whose trailer you can see here. 

 

Discuss the following questions:

• Which festivals in your country remember historical events?
• Do you have any festivals that are similar to Bonfire Night in your country?
• When do you have firework displays in your country?
• Do you think you would like Bonfire Night? Why/ why not?
• Do you think festivals are a good way to remember historical events?  

 If you feel like it, you can sing what Kids in Britain sing that night: Bonfire Rhyme  

                                        “Remember, remember the fifth of November”

Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England’s overthrow.
By God’s mercy he was catch’d
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.
And what shall we do with him?
Burn him!

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE STORY: AWESOME STORIES

 WORKSHEET ON BONFIRE NIGHT ( British Council)

Work in pairs, A and B. You are going to each read a text about the history of Bonfire Night. Ask your partner questions to find the missing information. 

Halloween is here again

HALLOWEEN IS HERE AGAIN

Are you tired of trick or treating? Can't you find an ideal costume for your Halloween party? 
Have you had so much candy? 
We have explained much information about it, we've sung "This is Halloween" lots of times, done lots of crosswords in our classes. 
So, If you want to see different things click on the following: 

Halloween Trivia
Halloween trivia 2
Idioms with a Halloween theme
Spooky Quotes from Literature
Spooky webquest

And finally, if you feel like becoming a witch or wizard and use a magic cauldron and a magic spell, here it is.

“Bubble, blubber, squirm and gloop,
Boiling broth of bat’s tail soup.
Wobble, slobber, liquid goo,
Add the sole of one old shoe.
Spooky shadows dance around,
Of frogs and rats and snarling hounds.
Steam swirls rising to the roof,
Add one small ear and one old tooth.
Gnarly, scratchy, tickle and itch,
Stir round and round to make it rich.
Mushy, sticky, sizzle and stew,
They’re making mischief just for you”

By Gareth Lancaster

Martin Luther King: 50th anniversary " I Have a Dream"

Martin Luther King was one of the most famous activists for civil rights. He raised his voice in the 1950s to fight for social equality and peace with nonviolence and civil disobedience.
He was assassinated in 1968 by James Earl Ray on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee

If you want to know more about his biography, click on this link by the BBC

In August 1963 after leading a peaceful march, he gave one of the most outstanding speeches in history, known as "I have a dream" right in the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC in front of a crowd of 250,000 demonstrators. He and other leaders then met with President John F. Kennedy. They asked for many things including an end to segregation in public schools, greater protections for African-Americans, and more effective civil rights legislation.

M L King was honored as the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He was awarded this on December 10, 1964 at the age of thirty-five. He gave the entire amount of the prize money to help the Civil Rights movement.

He didn't live to see that  all his fight for civil rights for black people was successful. In 2009 Barack Obama, the first black President, was elected.
On August 28th, 2013 the 50th anniversary of the famous speech was commemorated and Obama wanted to pay tribute to him with King's family and former Presidents in the same place.

Read the full speech here

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

In USA legislation was signed in 1983 creating a federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service  taking place each year on the third Monday in January.

Read more about it

Martin Luther king's speech and his whole life have had a big influence on people.

SONG: BRUNO MARS

BRUNO MARS   " When I was your man"

Listen to the song, read the lyrics and then do the five activities.

Same bed, but it feels just a little bit bigger now
Our song on the radio, but it don't sound the same
When our friends talk about you all  it does is just tear me down
Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name
It all just sounds like uh, uh, uh

Hmmm too ……………………., too …………………….to realize
That I should’ve bought you flowers and held your hand
Should have given you all my hours when I had the chance
Taken you to every party cause all you wanted to do was dance
Now my baby is dancing, but she's dancing with another man.

My pride, my ego, my needs and my ………………… ways
Caused a good ……………. woman like you to walk out my life
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made
And it haunts me every time I close my eyes
It all just sounds like uh, uh, uh, uh

Too ……………….., too ………………. to realize
That I should ‘ve bought you flowers and held your hand
Should have given all my hours when I had the chance
Taken you to every party cause all you wanted to do was dance
Now my baby is dancing, but she's dancing with another man.

Although it hurts I'll be the first to say that I was ……………..
Oh, I know I'm probably much too late
To try and apologize for my mistakes
But I just want you to know
I hope he buys you flowers, I hope he holds your hand
Give you all his hours when he has the chance
Take you to every party cause I remember how much you loved to dance
Do all the things I should have done when I was your man!
Do all the things I should have done when I was your man!

1.   Place the adjectives in the correct position:   DUMB – YOUNG- SELFISH- STRONG- WRONG

       2. Write a modal verb used in the song:  ________  

       3. What should the boy in the song have done to the girl?

                ______________________/ ________________________

                ______________________/ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________

       4. Write three verbs in 3^rd person Present simple: ________/ __________/ ___________   

       5. Write an expression which is not grammatically correct:

                    __________________________ 

Watch an interview with Bruno Mars

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?

Girl wants a demolition

8 YEAR OLD GIRL CALLS A DEMOLITION COMPANY

Listen and watch a 8 year old girl calling a demolition company

1. Where is Becky from?

2. What does she want to demolish?

3. Why does she want them to do that?

4. How did the people in the company feel?

5. Have you ever felt like that?

6. What would you like to demolish?

Fun video with a headmaster and a father

FATAL BEATINGS

Have a good time with Rowan Atkinson, a stand- up comedian.
A good lesson from a headmaster to a student's father.   

  Some words that maybe you don't know: 
- nip it in the bud " stop developing"  cortar de raiz
- to muck in  " participate" 
- sick bay " infirmary"
- rigleader " the chief, leader"  cabecilla
- preposterous " absurd"

 WRITE DOWN 4 THINGS THAT TOMMY HAS DONE WRONG

Follow the script here 

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.