HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

Activity for Sergio & his friends: Tomorrow is Halloween. Have you made a Jack O'Lantern this year?. Here are some links you can click to do activities related to Halloween.
Enjoy them:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/

http://bogglesworldesl.com/halloween_worksheets.htm

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween.htm

A BLOG TO RECOMMEND: HALLOWEEN RECIPES

Some Mums at my children' school have done a fantastic blog called "Estudiando con ellos". which is helping me to work with my son at home. Today I've seen a great post with recipes for Halloween written by Marivi. Have a look at it. It's worthwhile:

http://estudiandoconellos2013.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN is an important CELEBRATION in English speaking countries. It's celebrated on the night of October the 31st. It has a Celtic origin.The Celts used to celebrate the end of the Summer on a festival called Samhain. The word Halloween  comes from the expression All Hallows Eve, which means the day before the dead. Then it was associated to the Christian celebration of All Saints' Day, which is on November the 1st.

The Irish and Scottish immigrants took the celebration to the United States, where it became so popular and now with the globalization it is EVEN celebrated in Spain. People only want to have fun so it is a great excuse for that.

How do people celebrate Halloween? Well, children are the protagonists. They wear HORROR COSTUMES related to the dead and witchcraft: GHOSTS, SKELETONS, WITCHES, VAMPIRES. In the evening they go out in groups and play TRICK OR TREAT. People give them sweets otherwise the children will play a trick on them!

People decorate their houses with a JACK O'LANTERN, which is an empty PUMPKIN with a candle inside. In fact there are Jack O'Lanterns and other decorations everywhere. Not only in homes but in shops & the streets. You can see BLACK CATS, BATS and orange PUMPKINS all around.

Adults also go to parties at night and they wear costumes too.

Children eat CANDY APPLES. People also make PUMPKIN PIES and PUMPKIN BREAD, which are delicious.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!

JAVIER REVERTE'S SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Javier Reverte is a Spanish journalist and writer. He loves travelling and his travel books have given him fame and good reviews but he also writes novels, poems, scripts for TV and short essays.

He was born in Madrid in 1944. He studied journalism and philosophy. He has worked as a journalist and newspaper correspondent for over 20 years.

He considers himself as a writer who travels. He loves travelling as a passion and he has travelled widely and deeply all over the world. In his books  he describes his experiences as a traveller together with a careful analysis of the history of the places he visits. He also gives the readers information about the lives of unforgettable travellers and explorers. His narrative is fresh and vivid. The reader can feel the heat of Africa, the cold of the North Pole, the sound of the sea from a ship. Among his travel books we can  highlight Trilogía de Africa (El sueño de Africa, Vagabundo en Africa and Los caminos perdidos de Africa), El corazón de Ulises ( a trip to Greece, Turkey and Egypt), La Aventura de viajar, El río de la desolación (a trip on the Amazon river), El río de la luz ( a trip in Alaska and Canada rafting the Yukon river), En mares salvajes ( a trip to the Artic Ocean crossing the Northwest Passage). Colinas que arden, lagos de fuego (Africa, again), which I have enjoyed too.
His last travel book that has been published is Canta Irlanda, which is a book that reflects the personality and the poetry of Ireland wonderfully. I think that we both have in common the love for Ireland.

He has also written novels such as the Trilogía de Centroamérica, Muerte a destiempo, La noche detenida, Todos los sueños del mundo, Venga a nosotros tu reino, Barrio Cero (superb!), La canción de Mbama (magical). He has been awarded with several literature prizes.

If I had another life, I'd like to be a travel writer like him with his skill for getting the reader in the place and make us travel with our imagination, which is an interesting way of travelling, too.

ENRIQUE URQUIJO'S SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Activity for all my students: the use of Simple Past Tense

Enrique Urquijo  has always been one of my favourite musicians. I still listen to his songs very often and they bring me good memories. His voice, his lyrics, his deep eyes, his sadness, his shy smile, his life are somewhere in my heart and will always be there.

Enrique Urquijo was born in Madrid on the 15th February 1960. He started loving & playing music at school. He started a band with his brothers Javier and Alvaro as well as his friend Canito, who played the drums. They founded the band Tos in 1978. On the night of New Year's Eve 1979 Canito died in a car accident. Later a concert as a homage to him called: "Concierto Homenaje a Canito" in February 1980 was considered the beginning of La Movida madrileña. Then the band changed their name as well as some members and were called Los Secretos. They published 15 records. They had a successful career. Enrique was a composer, singer, bass player and guitar player. He wrote songs which are essential in the history the Spanish pop music such as  Déjame, Sobre un vidrio mojado, No me imagino, Volver a ser un niño, Quiero beber hasta perder el control, Buena chica, Ojos de gata, Y no amanece, Por la calle del olvido, Adios tristeza, Agárrate fuerte a mí María, A tu lado.

He started an alternative band to experiment with versions of songs of La Movida and include rancheras, fados and other types of music. This band was called Los Problemas and they published two lovely records in 1993 and 1998.

Enrique was a very sensitive man. He suffered from depression and took drugs. He died dramatically in Madrid on the 17th November 1999. All his fans were absolutely shocked and terribly sad.

I saw him in lots of concerts from the 80s to almost his death. He played in big concerts halls with Los Secretos and in small pubs with Los Problemas. I met him once in a pub in Moncloa. There were very few people in the pub. I was with my cousins and a friend. He was alone. Los Secretos had launched their LP Continuará. We were talking  for a while about his new record and music. He was so polite and down to earth. He signed an autograph for me with a drawing that I lost later!!! "It is only a piece of paper" as Santiago Auserón told me in another occasion. I won't ever forget that night where I could talk to my idol as a nornal person. Maybe that's the reason why he wrote "Pero cómo explicar que me vuelvo vulgar al bajarme de cada escenario". He was not vulgar at all. He was a normal guy, not a star, although he was a genius.

Once he was playing in a pub and there was a drunk woman spoiling his concert a little. He was respectful and patient with her. He was a gentleman. I wish he would have lived longer. There were still so many beautiful songs to write. Sixteen years after his death many people still miss him...
The Bands Tos Secret & Emision Zero will make a tribute concert on the 21st Nov. in Madrid

Los Secretos: Quiero beber hasta perder el control

Enrique Urquijo y Los Problemas: Desde que no nos vemos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu4fNy7x2GI

WILL or GOING TO

ACTIVITY FOR MY STUDENTS OF 4º ESO and Bachillerato:
In these links you can do exercises to practice the use of THE FUTURE with WILL or GOING TO.
Remember

• We use WILL for long term predictions and sudden decisions
• We use GOING TO for plans and scientific predictions.

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/339.html


http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/will_going_to_future.htm

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE & CONTINUOUS

Activity for my students of Bachillerato:
We have been dealing with these tenses. As I have told you there is little difference between them. The Present Perfect Simple has more uses than the Present Perfect Continuous. This tense emphasizes that the action has been happening for some time or has been repeated, like the other continuous tenses.
There is an interesting link here with a brief explanations and exercises:

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentperfectsimpleorcontinuous/menu.php

PAST SIMPLE & PRESENT PERFECT

Activity for my studentsof Bachillerato:

IT'S IS DIFFICULT TO FIND CLEAR EXERCISES TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THESE TENSES BUT THERE IS A LINK HERE THAT I LIKE.

http://www.clafoti.com/imagenes12/pres_past.htm

Remember that the PAST SIMPLE is used to express FINISHED ACTIONS AT A CONCRETE MOMENT whereas the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE  is used to express (RECENT ACTIONS, ACTIONS THAT STARTED IN THE PAST & CONTINUE IN THE PRESENT) & FINISHED ACTION WITHOUT SPECIFYING WHEN.

PAST SIMPLE & PAST CONTINUOUS

Activity for my  students of 4º ESO & Bachillerato:.
We have been dealing with the differences between Past Simple & Past Continuous in English:

• Past Simple is used to express actions finished at a concrete moment.
• Past Continuous is used to emphasize that an action has been happening for some time or has been repeated.

Here are some links you can have a look to practice the difference between both tenses:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/pastpastcont.html

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs3.htm

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=734

PRESENT SIMPLE & PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Activity for my students OF 4º ESO and Bachillerato:
We have dealt with both present Simple and Continuous tenses. I have done a chart for you to download at this link:
https://app.box.com/s/pgwp63uk1w4b7z6shn9p

You can also do several interactive activities in these links:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_present_progressive2.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs1.htm
Here there is a text where you have to write the verbs in the correct tense:
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-12052.php
 And this is a fantastic blog I have found called My English Desk:
http://myenglishdesk.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/present-simple-vs-present-continuous.html

Enough, I think.

PRESENT SIMPLE

Activity for my students of 4º ESO & Bachillerato:
We have worked the Simple Present Tense
Remember that we use this tense to express HABITUAL ACTIONS.
The AFFIRMATIVE FORM is: I work.... he works....
The NEGATIVE FORM is: I don't work...he doesn't work....
The INTERROGATIVE FORM is: Do you work?...Does he work?...
The SHORT ANSWER is: Yes, I do/ No, I don't...Yes, he does/No, he doesn't
TIME EXPRESSIONS which go with this tense are: Every day, once a month, on Mondays, at the weekend and the FREQUENCY ADVERBS: always, usually, often, sometimes, never.
You can practice if you click these links:
http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/present_simple.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/simple-present-1
http://www.really-learn-english.com/simple-present-exercises.html
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=714
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2975

BREAST CANCER INTERNATIONAL DAY

Today is the 6th birthday of somebody I love very much but it is also the International Day against breast cancer. Two of my best friends have suffered from this illness before being 40 and are recovered now. They both are ADMIRABLE SURVIVORS. They have been so brave and so positive about it that all the people who love them feel VERY PROUD OF THEM. They are my HEROINES. They have given a lesson to everybody around them that  we will never ever forget. Girls, this song is for you. This is the only song in Spanish in this blog but Luz also deserves to be in this post. This song also brings me good memories. I used it to teach my students the subjunctive in Spanish when I was a T.A. in Williams College, Massachusetts.

LEARNING PRESENT CONTINUOUS THROUGH MOVIES

Activity for 4ºD  ESO
Francesca, our Teaching Assistant found this interesting seletion of movie scenes in Youtube where the Present Continuous Tense is used. Let's watch it again

A NEW STAGE

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players"
 William Shakespeare

I love this quote. It's so true. I know it has been long since the last time I wrote here. The end of the academic year is always hard but last year it was even harder. It was my last year at the CEPA Joaquín Sorolla, where I had been the Head Teacher for four years and where I left almost all my energy. Then I was obliged to be a member of the board in the competitive exams for English teachers and then I tried to enjoy my unforgettable  Summer in Ireland with my family and my Irish friends for more than twenty years.

My professional life has changed lately. The destiny has brought me back to the high school where I studied a long time. I am a teacher this time an I take part in the bilingual programme for Secondary education, which sound so exciting. I need aims to give some sense to my life, I need to follow a lighthouse. Teaching Literature and working in this project is an interesting goal that makes me feel alive.

This is a new stage in my life. I am ready for that but the memories of those four years there and in other schools since I started teaching in 1996 will be with me forever giving me strength and wisdom.

Hook lighthouse, Ireland