CHRISTMAS STORY

This is my favourite Xmas story. It is written by Paul Auster, the great American writer and it appears in the film Smoke, in which Auster wrote the script. I wanted to share it with my 4ESO E students, as I promise you:

http://www.xtec.cat/~dsanz4/materiales/auggie_wren.pdf

And this is the scene in the film. Superb story, magnificent actors (Harvey Keitel and William Hurt), lovely music:

And this is the song Innocent when you dream by Tom Waits:

I hope you liked it.
And, at last HAPPY XMAS, my dear students!!!!!!

ST PATRICK'S DAY

St. Patrick's is the Saint Patron of Ireland. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th. There are parades everywhere and people wear green clothes. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.
Watch this and enjoy the day:

This is a webpage with lots of activities:

http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day/videos/green

HAPPY CHRISTMAS by JOHN LENNON

HAPPY CHRISTMAS (WAR IS OVER) by John Lennon 

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas (War is Over, if you want it, war is over now)repeat with verse
For weak and for strong
The rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
So happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING DAY is the 4th Thursday of November. This is the most important CELEBRATION in the US.It's even more important than CHRISTMAS since this is a Christian celebration and not everybody in the country are Christians. On THANKSGIVING DAY, People in the US have a long weekend and travel to meet their families. They eat ROAST TURKEY.
This celebration started a long time ago when the PILGRIMS who had come from England collected the 1st HARVEST and decided to gather together and invite the Indians who had helped them to survive to have a meal together.
Here are a couple of PILGRIM SQUIRRELS, which I bought in Williamstown in 1993. They are SALT & PEPPER SHAKERS.  You can buy anything related to THANKSGIVING in all the shops in the country these days.

If you want to have more information about this celebration, check the Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

This website is very interesting to know more about the PILGRIMS:

THE PILGRIMS

And the following video explains very clearly this celebration: 

THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS

GUY FAWKES NIGHT

Today is GUY FAWKES NIGHT. It's a festival celebrated in Britain. It's also called BONFIRE NIGHT, CRACKER NIGHT AND FIREWORKS NIGHT. As you can imagine, there are bonfires and fireworks in many places. This festival commemorates the failure of the GUNPOWDER PLOT. In 1605 a group of Catholics tried to blow up Westminster Palace and kill King James I. Guy Fawkes was of of those men. Nowadays people make cloth "Guys" and burn them in the bonfires. Children also carry "Guys" with them and go out asking for "a penny for the Guy". They also say this rhyme:

"Remember remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason &Plot
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot"

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!!!!!!!!!!

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.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

It's CHRISTMAS time. All the streets are decorated. We meet our families on CHRISTMAS EVE for dinner. In Britain and Ireland families meet on CHRISTMAS DAY.They eat ROAST TURKEY with GRAVY and CHRISTMAS PUDDING for dessert. Children sing CAROLS. SANTA CLAUS leaves the presents under the CHRISTMAS TREE. It's BOXING DAY on the 26th of December. Then on NEW YEAR'S EVE people sing the song AULD LANG SYNE when the new year come.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas tre at Rockefeller Centre, New York

HAPPY CHRISTMAS by JOHN LENNON

HAPPY CHRISTMAS (WAR IS OVER) by John Lennon 

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas (War is Over, if you want it, war is over now)repeat with verse
For weak and for strong
The rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
So happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

WORLD BOOK DAY

We celebrate the World Book Day today. The UNESCO chose this day, when theoretically both Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died in 1616. We organize varied activities at schools and there are events like the reading of El Quijote at Círculo de Bellas Artes by many people all day long. You can buy books with a discount this week in many places. At el Sorolla we have filled two big boards with books recommendations by teachers and students and we have done the 1 book 1 euro market.
In Ireland and the UK people drive on the left!!! and they celebrate the World Book Day on the first Thursday in March!!!, which is St George's Day, in order to be different, I suppose.
Anyway, whenever people celebrate reading is always a pleasure and a gate to learn. It is very good for our brain and soul.
And this is all. I'm sorry. I have something to read now : )

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

As I have told you several times. Valentine's Day is celebrated in English speaking countries in a more extended way than here. People send cards to all the people they love and towns and cities are decorated with love so there is a magical atmosphere everywhere.I usually write posts on celebrarions in this blog so I do it again now. This year I have chosen...
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

ST PATRICK'S DAY

St. Patrick's Day is the Saint Patron of Ireland. It's on March 17th. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.
Watch this and enjoy the day.
(Happy birthday Laura)

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WOMEN

EMILY DICKINSON would probably be happy if she lived now.
Today, let's have her words in our mind:
"This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me..."
Emily Dickinson, American poet. Massachusetts (1830-1886)

GUY FAWKES NIGHT

Tomorrow is GUY FAWKES NIGHT. It's a festival celebrated in Britain. It's also called BONFIRE NIGHT, CRACKER NIGHT AND FIREWORKS NIGHT. As you can imagine, there are bonfires and fireworks in many places. This festival commemorates the failure of the GUNPOWDER PLOT. In 1605 a group of Catholics tried to blow up Westminster Palace and kill King James I. Guy Fawkes was of of those men. Nowadays people make cloth "Guys" and burn them in the bonfires. Children also carry "Guys" with them and go out asking for "a penny for the Guy". They also say this rhyme:

"Remember remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason &Plot
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot"

EASTER

On this page you can find lots of activities related to Easter for different levels, even videos. It is very complete. I recommend it to all the students.
http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/easter.html

And Happy Easter!!!!

HAPPY EASTER

ACTIVITY FOR ALL THE STUDENTS (even children)
There are some word-squares in this link to do at Easter.
They are fun and you can review or learn vocabulary related to Easter
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/files/easter_wordsearch.pdf