Raquel's English Class Blog: November 2016

Saturday, 26 November 2016

Tourist attractions

We're going to revise some grammar and vocabulary and practice our writing skills while we learn about tourist attractions.
Read the following examples.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a French tourist attraction. It is a very high iron tower. You find it in Paris on the Champ de Mars, a public garden. Thousands of tourists visit it all year long. It is a symbol of France. It appears in many films.

The Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway is a particular landscape, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is an Irish tourist destination. You find it in Northern Ireland. It has got a visitor's centre. Lots of tourists visit it every year. There is a legend about a giant and this beautiful place.

Now you have to write about a famous tourist attraction. Use the previous texts as a model. Use the Present Simple, There is and there are, Have got, countries and nationalities. Include a picture.

Friday, 25 November 2016

Ejercicios de repaso y ampliación 2

Comparativo y superlativo (3º)
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_year_2/comparison_adjectives/02_comparison_of_adjectives_exercises.htm
http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/Comparative2.htm
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_year_2/comparison_adjectives/16_comparison_adjectives_y_ie.htm
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_year_2/comparison_adjectives/22_coparison_adjectives_irregular.htm
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_year_2/comparison_adjectives/30_comparison_of_adjectives_more_most.htm
http://first-english.org/english_learning/english_year_2/comparison_adjectives/40_comparison_adjektives_mixed_exercises.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/adjectives_adverbs/adjectives_comparison_as_as.htm

Too much, too many a lot (3º)
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/much-many/exercises?04
http://www.english-4u.de/how_much_many_ex1.htm
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-many-lot.php

Present Continuous (2ºy 3º) Repaso
http://www.agendaweb.org/verbs/present-continuous/index.html
http://www.agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/present-continuous.htm
http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/PresCont0.htm
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs1.htm
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/present-progressive-1

Present Continuous. Ampliación 3º
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs2.htm

Words of the day Nov 27-Dec 1

Here are our words of the day for the last week of November:

1ESO:ask, big, but, call

2ESO: before,after,boat

3ESO: bird, bring, buy, closed

Remember that you have to learn a new word every day that you have English in your schedule. That means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for 1ESO, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for 2ESO and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for 3ESO.

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

The 25th of November we celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

http://www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/

November the 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It was started by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999. The UN asked governments, international organizations and NGOs to raise global awareness of this terrible and widespread problem. This is particularly important in the many countries where the issue of violence against women is hidden. Women all over the world are the victims of domestic violence, rape, psychological torment and other forms of abuse. There is no country in which women are free from violence. The UN said violence against women is a barrier to achieving equality, human rights, development and peace.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is observed on November 25 because of a horrific historical event. On this day in 1960, three sisters were brutally killed in the Dominican Republic. The Mirabal sisters were political activists. They campaigned against the corrupt government of that time. Throughout their political activity, the women and their husbands were put in prison and beaten many times. This did not dampen their desire for political change. President and dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered their execution. The sisters became known as the "Unforgettable Butterflies". They symbolized the victimization of women and were commemorated in novels, poems, songs and books.

Which organization started the celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women?
Why is it celebrated on the 25th of November?
Who were the "Unforgettable Butterflies"?

The mystery of the Unforgettable Butterflies

Looking through old boxes, María found this picture. The words Unforgettable Butterflies were written on the back.

Who were the Unforgettable Butterflies?

Clues:

1. Their names were Patria, Minerva and María Teresa.

2. We remember them every 25th of November.

3. They were born in the Dominican Republic.

Monday, 21 November 2016

A song to learn the English alphabet

So, here's a song to learn the alphabet singing

https://youtu.be/36IBDpTRVNE

Common mistakes in your written exercises

Taking a look at your written exercises, I come across very frequent mistakes. Please read again all your exercises and exams and check if you have any of these mistakes:

1. Copiar mal las palabras.
2. Frases sin sujeto.
3. La 3ª persona del singular he, she, it lleva -s en el presente simple.
4. Los adjetivos se ponen antes de los nombres.
5. El presente continuo no es solo el gerundio. (Es suj+verbo to be+ verbo- ing)
6. Si el verbo auxiliar ya lleva la marca de la 3º persona, no se vuelve a poner una -s. (She DOESN'T GO)
7. Orden de las palabras en la frase
Suj+ verbo al principio en afirmativas. ¡Sin verbo auxiliar para Present Simple afirmativo! ( I go to school)
Aux+ suj+ verbo al principio en interrogativas. (Do you go to school?)
Suj+ adverbio de frecuencia + verbo (I always go)

8. Preposiciones:
At se usa para...

Horas: at 7 o'clock, at midnight.
Comidas: at dinner.
En periodos cortos de tiempo: at the end of the month.
Con weekend, Christmas y Easter.

In se usa para...

Meses, años y estaciones: in July, in 1992, in the winter.
En partes del día: in the morning. Excepción at night.
I like watching TV at night.
Para periodos de tiempo: in 5 minutes, in 7 years' time.

On se usa para...

Fechas: on June the 3rd.
Días de la semana: on Wednesday.
Con occasion: I've worn a suit on two occasions.

Rocío's Blog: my favourite day

My favourite day of the week is Tuesday. On Tuesday I get up at eight o'clock and I go to school.

I go to school for six hours. In the afternoon, I go to Guadalinfo. Tuesday is always a great day!

Rocío Díaz Álvarez, 1º ESO

A book review: Halloween Horror by Gina D.B. Clemen

It's a book about two sisters who move to San Francisco, California. They like Halloween and the sisters and their friends prepare a Halloween party. My favourite character is Kelly, because she sees many things and nobody believes her, until her friends realize that what Kelly says is true. My favourite part is when there are lots of mystery scenes. I wish the end would have been more beautiful.The story is too scary for my liking. I really liked the characters.I recommend this book to those readers who like intrigue and Halloween parties. I would give this book a nine, since I didn't like the ending very much.

Gloria Cascajosa Montilla, 3º ESO

Thursday, 17 November 2016

How to describe a painting

Here is a quick guide to start describing a painting.

1. Make a list of all the words you might need to describe a painting: colours, shapes, adjectives.

2.Introduce the work you are going to describe, e.g. "My favourite painting is one of the Water Lilies by Monet."

3. Describe the scene you see on the painting using the Present Continuous. "There is a woman reading a book and children playing in the background".

4. Remember some useful prepositions that will help you to locate objects in the picture:
At the top/bottom of the picture ...
In the middle of the picture ...
On the left/right of the picture ...
next to
in front of
behind
near
on top of
under

5. Say something about the style.
Its style is shiny/modern/traditional/abstract/realistic... .

6. Round up with a personal opinion on the painting.
The atmosphere is peaceful/depressing/lively/cheerful...

I (don't) like the picture because ...

It makes me think of ...

Words of the day Nov 21-25

Here are our words of the day for the fourth week of November:

1ESO:little,learn, half, has

2ESO: laugh,place,street

3ESO: fast, slow,once,find

Friday, 11 November 2016

Favourite games to learn English

I love games! And there are lots of games you can use to learn English. Here is my selection.

https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/
A page with spelling, vocabulary and sentence formation games such as spelling bee, big describer or the hangman.

http://www.wordtwist.org/init.php
An On-line version of Boggle.

http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/Games/HTML5/Puzzle/GuessWho/index.html
An On-line version of the popular game Guess Who. You play against the computer.

http://www.vocabulary.cl/english-games/nationality.htm
A web page with games to learn vocabulary. I particularly like this nationalities game.

http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/halloween.htm
Some word games for Halloween.

http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/christmas/Hangman/game.htm
A hangman game with Christmas words (no hangman this time but candy canes)

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Words of the day Nov 14--18

Here are our words of the day for the third week of November:

1ESO:back, book, because, do

2ESO: bad, all, look

3ESO: away, only, now, lost

Saturday, 5 November 2016

Dog for a Day (bedtime Math)

Today we're going to talk about dogs.The following text comes from the Math blog bedtimemath.org

If you have a dog and you go away this weekend, you might need someone to take care of your pooch while you’re away. But then there are people who work all week and wish they had a dog only on the weekend. Hey, wait — they could just share your dog with you! And people really do this. There are dog-share companies out there who help people come together to take turns keeping a dog. Sometimes whole groups of people swap the same dog around and around. It’s a great idea: the dog always gets food and playtime and attention, and everyone gets to play with a pet. It works out perfectly — well, depending on the dog…

Answer the following questions:

1. What is a dog-share company?

2. What is a pooch?

3. Is it a good idea to share a dog according to the text?

4. If you take care of a dog, then your friend gets the dog, then you get the dog, then your friend gets the dog…who gets the dog next?

5. If you get the dog on a Friday and give the dog back 2 days later, on what day does that happen? Bonus: If you get the dog on Thursday from someone who got it 2 days before that, when did that person get the dog?

6. If you and 5 friends all share Rufus, and each of you gets him for 5 days, how many days does Rufus get shared? Bonus: If you don’t feed Rufus enough and he chews through your $250 carpet and $80 of your clothes, how much did Rufus cost you?