Thursday 12 December 2013

Talking about the past (4th ESO compositions)

The 70s 
by Daniel Villar Cid 4th ESO Group A


The seventies was a decade with more differences between people's ideas. Also there were bad times because the Cold War took place and there were conflicts between Arabia and Israel and conflicts in Africa and Eastern Europe too.

In the 70s several styles were worn at once. On the one hand the hippy clothes, on the other side they created the psychedelic look with disco fashion, platforms, bell bottoms and people got long hair and also wore punk style.



In the world of music the early 1970s saw the rise of many diverse forms of popular and rock styles. Hard rock and heavy metal became popular with artists as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen or others such as AC/DC or Kiss. 



In the world of films, the top ten films of the decade were "Star Wars", "Jaws", "Grease", "The Exorcist", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Superman", "The Godfather", "Saturday Night Fever", "Rocky" and "Jaws 2".
As the 70s started, the United States of America had made two successful manned moon landings. 

The role of women in society was deeply altered with growing feminism. The 1970s was an era of fue price increases, rising insurance rates, safety concerns and emission controls. The 1973 oil crisis caused a move towards smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles. By the end of the decade, Stephen Hawking developed his theories about the Black Holes. Also, in that decade the e-mail was created and the first scientific hand-held calculator was introduced in the society. 




Decade of 2000-2010
by Andrea Portabales 4th ESO Group A

It was a good decade with many interesting people. There were many interesting events and difficult times with the wars. Some events were the festivals held in some countries about many things, like cars, music, films. There also were tragic events like the earthquake of Haiti and the wars between the cities in the north of Africa.

In the world of music, there were a lot of artists like Eminem or Rihanna. It was the decade of the rap and the hip hop. In cinemas, there were many famous actors and good films. Some famous actors were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and films like "Inception" or "Harry Potter". Fashions were interesting. It was the era of T-shirts and long hair. 





By the end of the decade, the world was different. Inventions such as the smartphones changed a lot. The IPhone was very popular and changed technology. 





One of the most memorable events in the decade of 2000-2010 took place in 2010 when Spain won the Football Worldcup. Millions of people were watching it when it happened in July. It was an important event for Spanish people. 




The decade of 2000-2010
by Paula Vázquez

The decade of 2000-2010 was a decade which people remember for many reasons. There were good times and happy events such as music festivals like Tomorrowland. There were also difficult times, for instance the attack to the Twin Towers.



In the world of music, there were a lot of pop and rock artists in the charts, for example Beyoncé and Avenged Sevenfold.

IN cinemas "Ju-On 1" and "Twilight" were big hits. "Ju-on 1" was the film of the year 2000 and "Twilight" was a film of the year 2008. 



Fashions were casual and urban. It was the era of Converse, long hair for girls or women  and short hair for boys or men. Clothes were simple and smooth in colours. 

By the end of the decade, the world was a different place. Inventions such as the sophisticated mobile phones and the laptops changed people's lives. One of the most memorable events of the decade 2000-2010. Specifically in the year 2008 was when a black person became president of the USA, the first in history. His name is Barack Obama. 


Tuesday 10 December 2013

Theatre play in English: "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Yesterday, 4th ESO students attended a theatre play in English as part of the additional activities programmed by the local council. It was an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's only novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". 

Children enjoyed the play and we had the opportunity to meet some old students and acquaintances from school. 






The Picture of Dorian Gray (or the pact of the eternal youth)

The plot tells us about the story of a young man called Dorian Gray whose portrait is painted by the artist Basil Hallward. Dorian causes an enormous impression on Basil who starts obsessing himself with Dorian's beauty and believing that this beauty is the only responsible of his art. 
Dorian meets Lord Henry, one of Basil's friends, and becomes fascinated with his hedonist view of the world (Lord Henry thinks only beauty, youth and selfish pursue of pleasure are worthy in this life).
When Dorian realises one day his beauty will vanish he begs to be the same age as in his portrait forever. His wish comes true but it takes him to the evil part of himself. The portrait is a reminder of his evil acts, with each sin it becomes older and distorted. 



Friday 6 December 2013

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

While working on the previous AWOAT post about our students attendance to the annual puppet workshop, I came across the terrible news of the death of an extraordinary man, recognized today as one of the world's greatest leaders: Nelson Mandela.

I couldn't but think that there should be one post honouring this man, who has been loved by millions around the world.  

When he was born, he was given the name "Rolihlahla" which literally means "troublemaker" in the Xhosa language (a language spoken in South Africa). Who would have said how appropriate this name would be? Nelson Mandela will be always remembered for being a freedom fighter in a country subjugated by apartheid. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after leading a campaign against apartheid government and he spent more than 20 years of his life in prison only to become the new hope to a whole nation. 

We have so many things to learn from this man who has just left us that I realise it's not fair to highlight just one, but I have to express my opinion here. I've always admired his capacity and will to forgive for the sake of peace. We will never move forward if we aren't at peace with ourselves and with people who have made us wrong. 

May your soul rest in peace, Madiba. 





PUPPETS IN ENGLISH

Last Tuesday and Thursday, our 1st ESO students had the opportunity to learn and have fun in English attending a puppet workshop at school. This workshop is one of the activities offered by our local council and it has already become a tradition among our students.  As we can see on these photos, they must have
had a whale of a time!!!










Wednesday 4 December 2013

TV HIGHLIGHTS (3rd ESO Group B)

Two wonderful examples of students' writings about TV highlights:

Víctor Vilar Arias

The highlights of this week's TV were Channel 5's talent show "The Voice". In this programme some people have to sing in front of some judges and they select some people for their teams. The captains of the teams are famous singers.

Channel 3's drama series "Tiempo entre costuras" is a drama series about a dressmaker who works for the German spy service while she does her job in Madrid.

Something that caught my eye was a story on the news about a statue that turns around alone. It always happens at peak time and it is because of the vibrations of traffic and people.

Channel 3's talent show "Tu cara me suena" is about famous people that have to dress up mimicking famous singers. In this week's programme Florentino Fernández won.

Finally, my favourite programme was "Top chef". It's about some professional cooks and they have to make the best plate for the judge. Last week Jesús Almagro won doing a very good porridge. 



Ezequiel Álvarez Fernández

The highlight of this week's TV was absolutely the last Formula 1 race of the year in the circuit of Interlagos, Brazil. Vettel won again (the same old story...) and he was very rude because his team colleague, Mark Webber, was racing his last race and Vettel didn't let him win. Very rude indeed!

"Ridiculousness", a programme of MTV was also worth watching. "Ridiculousness" gathers videos from the Internet and shows them in the programme. Every programme, a famous person comes. In the programme of yesterday, Lil Jon, a hip-hop singer came. The presenter, Rob Dyrdek is very funny and shows the best videos of the Internet. Very funny programme!

Finally, something which also caught my eye was "La que se avecina", a sitcom. In yesterday's programme the community of Mirador de Montepinar wanted to steal the satellite signal of Antonio Recio, another character. Amador Rivas, the president of the community had to apologize to him when he noticed. It is the funniest sitcom!!


Friday 29 November 2013

(late) Thanksgiving

Yesterday, Thanksgiving was celebrated in many English speaking countries. It's a very important holiday, especially in the USA. Nithin, our language assistant, has helped us today to know a little bit more about this day by showing us a video and answering students' questions about it. 

Here's the video in case some of you want to watch it again: 



Friday 15 November 2013

TELEVISION SERIES: LOST




 





How observant are you?

1. The first image we see is Jack's right eye.
2. The dog came from Jack's left.
3. Jack took a bottle out of his left pocket.






4. The man with the trapped leg was wearing a grey shirt.
5. Jack tied his tie round the injured man's right leg.
6. The pregnant woman was not wearing a necklace.






Thursday 7 November 2013

My best friend (3rd ESO)

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary a friend is a person who you like being with, a person who helps or supports someone or something and one attached to another by affection or esteem. 

Have you got many friends? I'm not talking about Facebook friends, I'm talking about real, close friends. If you have many friends you should feel the luckiest person in the world. Quoting Robert Louis Stevenson "a friend is a gift you give yourself". 

So let's talk about friends. Students from 3rd ESO had to write a composition whose topic was "My best friend". Some of them followed the writing guide from the SB but some others simply felt free to speak about their closest pals. These are some of the compositions they handed me over last Monday. Well done guys!!


My best friend
by Martín Muñoz, 3rd ESO Group A


Bruno is my best friend, he's amazing. 
He lives in Santa Cruz, so far from where I live. He isn't very tall, he has got brown eyes and black hair. He is thin and active. 

He is friendly, funny and he always smiles. He loves playing the PS3 and going to the cinema with me. He's an excellent person and I can tell him everything. He likes video bames, football and cars. 

I love staying with him and everyday we chat on our mobile-phones and speak with a microphone in the PS3. 

His best thing is his personality. We always smile and spend a lot of time playing video games. His worst thing is his house, because he lives far from me and we don't see each other everyday.

My best friend
by Irene Medina, 3rd ESO Group A


My friend's name is Iria. She lives in Ourense and she goes to my school. She is 14 years old. She is tall, with green eyes and long, blond hair. Iria is a very positive person and she is very nice.

She likes doing gymnastics and meeting her friends and she loves music. When we are together we like to go to the shopping centre, we talk about music  or we go for a walk.


My best friend
by Selva Barrios, 3rd ESO Group B


Ana Belén and I are friends. Ana Belén lives in Benavente. She lives in a duplex penthouse. We don't go to the same school. 

Ana Belén is fourteen years old. She's tall and thin. She has got short brown hair. She's very funny and friendly and she is a good person.

Ana Belén is happiest when we go to the shopping centre. She likes meeting other people and she likes going to parties.

My best friend
by Yago Cruz, 3rd ESO Group B


My best friend is Alba Areas. She is 13 years old. Her birthday is 29th November. She was born in 1998.

She lives far from me, about 14 km, but we go to the same school, "Santo Angel". She has got straight blonde hair, green eyes and her face is normal. Her fingers are thin and large and she has got long legs. She's tall and thin.

She has got a lot of positive sides in her personality but some are her sincerity, friendliness, sympathy and her joy. I've never found a negative side in her personality. If you found one, tell me and we can talk about it. 

My friend is happy when she stays with me and we can have fun. We watch a lot of films because we love watching films; she likes playing volleyball and playing with her computer.We go to a lot of places, to the park, to the cinema, to our house, to church and sometimes we go to the bowling alley. 
I love her :)


ALTER EGO
AMIGO
BUDDY
CHUM
COMPADRE
CRONY
MATE
PAL





Thursday 24 October 2013

ADJECTIVES + PREPOSITIONS



I've always thought prepositions are brain teasers. You never know if you're using the correct one. Even for advanced learners it's always a difficult issue, since for one of our Spanish prepositions, there are usually more than one possibility in English. What can we do then?? The best option, in my opinion, is to read a lot. Reading is the only natural way we have to get to know which prepositions are used in any given expression. The problem comes when we find out that our students are not exactly eager readers of literature in English. Let's face it, even though they are surrounded and constantly in contact with English, it's not enough.

Our 4th ESO students have just seen in class a list of some common adjectives and the prepositions which usually follow them. For those of you who weren't in class today, here is a list of the adjectives + prepositions we will be working with.  

Here are some examples of the use of adjectives + prepositions:

"I'm tired of bad news"



He's bored of watching TV. 





He's worried about the bill.




They were shocked at his strength. 


They are different from the others.




For more practise on adjectives + prepositions you can visit the following sites:


http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/adjectives-and-prepositions-exercise-1.html


 


 




Sunday 20 October 2013

Dinosaur stories




Last Friday, our new native assistant, Nithin, helped 4th ESO students with the pronunciation of the -ed past endings. For this purpose, they invented a story about dinosaurs in which each student had to say one sentence using a regular verb in the past. Students learned a lot and we all had fun. Here is the result:



4th ESO Group A

First we talked to a T-Rex. The T-Rex was dangerous. The T-rex worked in the jungle. We cooked breakfast for the T-Rex. We asked the T-rex, “What is your name?” The T-rex said my name is Eustaquio. Eustaquio liked to play tennis. After, Eustaquio watched a piece of meat. We waited for the bus with him. In the movie Jurassic Park, they filmed velociraptors. He invited me to his house. We watched a film on the TV. Eustaquio ate us. But we killed him from the inside. Then he smiled. But then we found another T-Rex. And he was called Gervasio. We invented fire and burned him. The other dinosaurs traveled to the future with us. In the future, we killed all the dinosaurs and we cooked them. In the future, we cooked a barbecue. 

4th ESO Group B


One day the dinosaurs started to destroy the universe. The dinosaurs invented the work. The dinosaurs were pink. The dinosaurs watched TV. The dinosaurs were very dangerous and they liked to destroy the University of Ourense. All the class traveled to the past to save the universe. The dinosaurs listened to music, hard rock. They invited some aliens. The dinosaurs talked English. The dinosaurs cooked the cookies for the mermaids. The dinosaurs traveled on the bus. A dinosaur married another dinosaur. People wanted to do something to save the universe. The whole class that went to save the universe died because of an atomic bomb. The dinosaurs tattooed the young people. A dinosaur survived and he killed a lot of people. I played football with Tommy, he was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Rex cleaned the universe. I went to the wedding between the dinosaurs where everybody danced. The class rose from the dead and wished they were back in Santo Angel.
 

Sunday 13 October 2013

Activity: Face reading

3rd ESO Groups A & B

Describe the following people's personalities taking into account the Face Reading Guide from the SB p. 9.








Monday 7 October 2013

Summer is gone...isn't it??

Starting the 2nd week of October....leaves on the ground, morning fogs, early nights. Looks like everything is telling us that we've just dived into autumn...except for the weather!!! Do not misunderstand me. It's not that I don't like hot. I do love it but, hasn't it been enough?? Apparently not, so in order to keep this summertime atmosphere, I've decided to update the blog today with some compositions of our 3rd ESO students about their summer. Here they are. Read, enjoy and re-taste summer:

Mª Alejandra Ruiz
3rd ESO A

After finishing school in June, I went to Ireland to study English and to learn to write it and speak it well. 
I visited Ireland, it's very nice. I liked Ireland very much. It's beautiful.
I went to Ourense and I was a week in Ourense and after that, I went to Colombia with my family because my family and I are Colombian.
On the first days we were resting in the house of my father. We went to visit many places with my father. Some of them were San Andrés, an island of Colombia which is in the Caribbean. The beaches there are beautiful. 
It's amazing the amount of colors which the sea may have. It's said that's the sea of the seven colors. I also flew in paragliding with my father and we went to the town where my father was born. It's called the Cocuy and it's very nice.
It's where I could ride a horse and a lot of other things. It's a unique experience. 
This was my summer.



Miguel Rosales
3rd ESO A

I have a strange friend. He's a Super Wild Pig-Bear called Paco. He's very hairy and he loves cookies. He lives in my house but he doesn't sleep at night. He waits for the sun. I've spent all my summer with him. We played football twice a week. He was the best of the park and everybody said:"WOW!!, he's amazing!!"
On Wednesdays we played on the computer all day long. He doesn't like playing but he loves to watch me doing it. 
On Tuesdays and Fridays we went to the swimming-pool. It was fun but...he has a lot of hair!
At weekends we did a lot of things: travelling, discovering the city, sleep...and we sometimes phoned our other strange friends (the catbird, the red swimmer dog, the politicrat) and we played on the computer with them again!!



Andrea Mosquera
3rd ESO B

When I finished the course, I started to prepare the suitcase because later, I went to a summer camp in Gandarío, A Coruña. It was about aquatic activities like surf, windsurf, aquatic ski...
We were 100 people, so I made a lot of new friends. We spent there 12 days and I really had a lot of un. When it finished we were all very sad because we had to come home.
After this I spent one week in Ourense, meeting my friends, going to the pool...But then I went eight days to Madrid to visit the city. It's a big city and so beautiful!! We went to museums, the zoo, the Royal Palace, Aranjuez, Toledo, etc...I loved it!!
After this I went to Valencia to the beach. It was a good time, the beach was beautiful and I had a lot of fun with my family.
When I came to Ourense, I went to my village for some days and then I spent time going for a walk with my friends and family, going to the pool, to the cinema, doing a pyjama party...
When the summer finished I had a lot of photos, it was a great summer.



Ezequiel Álvarez
3rd ESO B

My summer was good. I went to the beach a lot of times and to the pool more times than the beach.
In July, I went to my village and I played with my XBox 360 a lot of time and I watched TV and went to the river. In August I stayed in Ourense for one week or two, I don't remember, but I listened to a lot of music. I went to the pools of Monterrei, to the pool of my uncle and I watched a lot of television too. The other weeks I went to my village. 
 In September I stayed here and I talked with my friends. I played with my PC and I got the things ready to school.