Wednesday 17 December 2014

Christmas songs

These are some of the songs which our students are going to sing next Friday.





Monday 1 December 2014

Lost in the jungle


Watch and listen to Ray giving advice about camping in the jungle. Complete the missing information in the sentences below.

  1. Ray says he has walked ______km today.
  2. Ray is setting up camp at _____ before it goes dark.
  3. A hammock keeps Ray off the ground and away from ________ and _________.
  4. The most important piece of equipment is a ____________so that you don’t get malaria.
  5. Ray has had malaria ____________.
  6. Wood in the rainforest is often _________.
  7. Ray enjoys the sound of the Howler ____________.
  8. The lady twisted her _____________.
  9. It took _____ weeks to find her.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

"My Girl", song by Madness



Listen to this song by Madness called ‘My Girl’. Is it about a good relationship a problematic relationship?




Wednesday 29 October 2014

Halloween Stories (shorts by Tim Burton)

Vincent is a 1982 stop-motion short horror film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton. It is the second Disney's horror film, the first being The Watcher in the Woods.  
The film is narrated by Vincent Price, a lifelong idol and inspiration for Burton. Vincent Price was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice as well as his serio-comic performances in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.






The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop-motion musican fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town" and decides to celebrate the holiday with some dastardly and comical consequences. 

It originated in a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982, while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios after the success of Vincent in the same year. 

Friday 24 October 2014

Getting ready for Halloween!!!


Bobby "Boris" Picket wrote "Monster Mash" in 1962. It reached number one in the US hit charts on October 20th of that year, just in time for Halloween. 

Let's start the weekend previous to Halloween listening to it and, why not, singing it!!


Wednesday 24 September 2014

Emma Watson's speech at U.N.

I bet everyone between 12 and 16 knows Emma Watson. She is a young British actress who became famous some years ago after starring the "Harry Potter" series as Hermione Granger and, since then, she has been considered as one of the best actresses of her generation. Apart from acting and occasional modelling,  Emma Watson has recently graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in English literature and, six months ago, she was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. 

Last weekend, she gave one of the most powerful, inspiring and emotional speeches I've ever heard. If you haven't had the opportunity of watching it, I'd strongly recommend you to do it. She talks about the topic of gender inequality in such a stirring and steady way that you can't stop listening. She is talking to a big and varied audience but she makes sure that everybody understands her. She speaks clearly and without hesitation, she looks at people in the eye and she emphasizes her main ideas. If you listen carefully, not only will you be able to understand everything she says, but also you will be fascinated by her words and message. 





For those of you who have had difficulties in following her speech, here's the version with Spanish subtitles: 



Tuesday 16 September 2014

Ready, steady, GO!!!!

Welcome back to you all!!!!

Yesterday, everyone attended the official opening of the current 2014-2015 academic year  but the real thing starts today. 

We are still a bit asleep and even stiff but I'm sure we are all kind of happy of seeing old friends again, meeting new students and, why not, even dealing with teachers!

In different degrees, everyone is ready to start so let's do it properly!!













Saturday 7 June 2014

3rd ESO Reviews

The Book Thief
by Iria Fernández González, 3rd ESO B

The name of the book is "The Books Thief" and the author is Markus Zusak.
The book is a drama during the Second World War. The main character is a German girl, whose name is Liesel. Liesel checks the passion for reading and she shows us the life of German people. She's 9 years old. 

The things I liked most are that the originality of this book is that the narrator of the story is the death, and also Liesel's passion for reading. 

All in all, I really liked the novel and I'd recommend this book to everyone who likes to read because this novel is very entertaining and different from other books. 



Guárdate de los Idus
by Iago Villaverde Rodríguez, 3rd ESO B

I'd like to recommend a book which I read recently called "Guárdate de los Idus". The author of the book is Lola Gándara and the book has got a hundred and sixty-six pages.

The book is a historic novel about Rome in the last days of the Republic. Druso and Porcia are the main characters and they feel important changes in their lives because their uncle Mario was involved in the death of Julius Caesar

The things I liked most about the book are the reality with which the author describes us the situation. The characters are very sensitive and the stories are good and interesting. 

I think that the end was very good and I would like if the author publishes a sequel of the book. 



Hindenbury, the Last Flight
by Enrique Osorio Feijoo, 3rd ESO A

I'd like to recommend a film which I saw last Saturday called "Hindenbury, the Last Flight".  The director of the film is Philip Kadelbach.

This film is a historic drama about the disaster of Hindenburg in 1937. The main character is the designer of the Zeppelin, called Merten Gruger. He finds a bomb in the Zeppelin and he defuses it but the fire of San Telmo burns the hydrogen cells and it explodes.

The thing I liked most about the film was the explosion. The producers have used a lot of gas!!

All in all, I really liked the film and though it hasn't got a happy ending, I wouldn't change it. 



The books of Harry Potter
by Iago López Lamas, 3rd ESO A

I'd like to recommend some books which I read three months abo. They are the six books about the life of Harry Potter. The author of the books is called J. K. Rowling. 

The book is a fantasy and mystery and the setting is London in the first years of the 21st century. Harry is the main character and he lives with his aunt and uncle because his parents died when he was a baby. One day, his life changes when he receives a letter from Howarts, the school of magic.

The things I liked most about the books were the fantasy things and the mystery in all the books. The plot was very interesting and the characters like Ron are sometimes funny.

I really liked the books, because ther is a lot of love, mystery action and fantasy and though it has a really happy ending, I love that. 
 


Sunday 1 June 2014

Good bye Nithin

Last Friday, we had to say good bye to our first language assistant in Santo Ángel. 

Nithin Ravi arrived last October to help us, teachers and students, learn and love English language. 

As a colleague, I can only say good things about him. He was open and eager to talk to everybody, he was full of great ideas to put into practise in class, he always solved my questions, he was funny and I really believed he has left an impression in our school. 

As regards to children, he has been a breath of fresh air for them. They enjoyed his classes so much that they were really disappointed whenever he couldn't attend to school. He made them talk in English, he made them laugh and he made them enjoy the language a little bit. 

On our last class, he had the wonderful idea of asking the students to create something similar to a Year Book, and students just loved it!! Some of them wrote very special and deep messages to him (even to me!!). I must say here that they never stop surprising me. 

I think it's been a special year for all of us and this is in part thanks to you, Nithin. You have set such high standards that our next year's assistant will have to fight it hard!!! 

Thank you, good luck in everything you do in life and come to visit us again!!


















Wednesday 21 May 2014

How to write a review

Tips to write a good review of a book or film



- Some of you may find it useful to make notes as you read but this only in case you're writing the review immediately after you've read the book or watched the film. 

In our case, you will have to test your memory since you'll have to tell me about a book or a film you read who knows how long ago. 

However, I always recommend you to make notes before starting to write to give the text cohesion and coherence. You can follow the writing guide from your student book.

- Don't give away too much of the story. Write only a brief summary and make sure that it makes sense to a reader who does not know the book/film. Do not refer to specifics and do not try to explain everything. 

- Try not to write a review of a book or film that you haven't liked at all. It's always good to give positive and negative aspects about the story, not only bad. 

- The most important is that you give your opinion about the book or film. 

- Don't forget to mention the title, author and year. If you are talking about a film remember to mention the main actors. 


And remember that writing is the best way to improve your reading skills!!!!


You can read the full article here.


Extra task:

what's the meaning of the following words and expressions?

dog-eared page

pet hate

spoiler

Write your answers in the comments box below. 
















Monday 5 May 2014

Feeling happy


I know some of you are sick and tired of this song but the thing is that I just love it and I get such good vibes whenever I listen to it that I think it's just a great way to start this week. 




And if you want to listen and sing at the same time, here you have a funny version...


Wednesday 9 April 2014

Prizes' hand over

This morning, students who took part in the English Blog Contest received their gifts. I'd like to thank the five of them and I hope that they are all happy with their small tokens.

Special thanks to Simón from Sindicato del Comic who helped me decide with the books. 

Here are some photos of the participants. Alejandro, Sergio, Raquel, Sabela and Miguel, you look really good, guys!!!








Tuesday 1 April 2014

Learning about symbols and logos

Yesterday, 3rd and 4th ESO students attended a cultural activity at school where they learnt about symbols and logos with Jordan, a Scottish speaker who made students work and have fun at the same time.

Here are some photos taken during the activity:









Actividades de formación en linguas estranxeiras

O pasado xoves 27 de marzo saiu publicada na páxina da Consellería de Educación da Xunta de Galicia a convocatoria das actividades de formación en linguas estranxeiras para o ano 2014.

O prazo de solicitude é ata o 28 de abril e están destinadas a alumnos de ESO e Bacharelato. Os requisitos son os seguintes:

- non ter concedida outra axuda para o mesmo fin neste curso
- nota mínima na área de lingua inglesa de Ben ou  no curso 2012-2013
- ter superadas todas as áreeas ou materias no curso 2012-2013
- ter DNI (excepto menores de 14 anos) ou NIE en vigor

Se queredes máis información, podedes acceder directamente a páxina da Xunta na seguinte ligazón:




Gustaríame animarvos a todos a que participedes nestas actividades. Podedes preguntar a alumnos que xa o fixeron en anos anteriores e mesmo neste blog atoparedes algunhas experiencias de alumnos en pasados anos. 

Por suposto, contade comigo se necesitades calquera cousa. 




Wednesday 26 March 2014

And the winner is...

After checking all your answers and removing the duplicate votes, here's the final result. 


70 people have participated in the voting and the scrutiny is as follows:

Image #1: 216 points
Image #2: 139 points
Image #3: 149 points
Image #4: 292 points
Image #5: 92 points
Image #6: 286 points


so the winner of the English Blog Contest is ........


Image #4 by Alejandro Rey Feijoo


Congratulations for your great job!!

I would also like to thank the rest of participants: Raquel Baltar (1st ESO), Sergio Bayona (4th ESO), Sabela Rey (2nd ESO) and Miguel Rosales (3rd ESO). You've done very well and I really appreciate your interest in this activity. 

I'll let you know when the prize-giving will take place so keep a close watch on the blog. 



Thursday 13 March 2014

English Contest

These are the images you gave me for the English Blog Contest. 
By now, you will have received the questionnaire to vote for your favourite images. You have time to vote until next Thursday 20th March at 22.00h. 
The winner will be published in A Whale of a Time so keep an eye!!!
Good luck everyone!!







Thursday 6 March 2014

My plans for your visit (4th ESO compositions)

Here's a sample of 4th ESO students compositions about a friend's visit to a city.  I'm particularly proud this time because it was the first time they were asked to write 300 words and most of them did really well. In this essay, the goal was to practise future tenses. 

My plans for the visit
by Sergio Bayona

Hi, James

I'm just writing to check that everything is OK for your visit. I think you'll like Rome.
On Monday, we're going to walk around the city, and if you want, we can visit the Colosseum. It's so beautiful! Can you believe that it was made a thousand of years ago? That's unbelievable! 
At 13.00, we are eating in a restaurant called "Rome Food". It's a beautiful restaurant, specially if you order pasta or pizza. Mmm!
Next day in the morning, we're going to sleep because probably you'll be tired. Then, my mum is going to make us fish and chips. I think it won't be as good as the restaurant but it will be OK. At night, we're going to walk to St. Peter's Square. The illumination is so beautiful!
On Wednesday, we're going to catch the train. It arrives at the Vatican at 12.00. It's simply beautiful! Then, we're returning to my house and relaxing there.
On Thursday, we're visiting the Sistine Chapel that was painted by Michelangelo. That's another beautiful thing in Rome! It's all so beautiful! There isn't anything boring here!
On Friday, we're going to stay in my house playing video games because we'll be very tired of walking and visiting monuments.
On Saturday, if it rains, we're going to the shops and to a very very big shopping centre that is near my house. I recommend that you bring a lot of money because you won't be able to resist buying all the beautiful clothes that there are here.
Finally, on Sunday, we're buying some souvenirs because I suppose that you will want to take them to your family. 
To end this e-mail, I ask you to tell me the time that your flight arrives to go to pick you up. 

Regards,

Sergio. 




My plans for the visit
by Marco Casanova

Hi Mr. Eustaquio José,

How are you? I really miss you but soon I am going to see you.
I think you'll like Paris.  
On Monday we can go to the Saint Michel fountain because near there is a beautiful restaurant where we will have lunch (the chef cooks a delicious chicken with a strange green sauce that I love). So you will really like that place. After eating, we are running twenty-two kilometres around the shore of the Seine. At night we are gong to a pub in the Latin Quarter. Do you like Monday's plan?

Let's go with Tuesday! My good friend, Tuesday will be an epic day. In the morning we will go to the Elysian Fields to shop some presents for your family and then, we will probably buy you the Paris Saint-Germain T-shirt (it is blue, white and red, the same colours as the French flag). You are going to love this T-shirt, it is awesome! In the afternoon, we are going to visit the Louvre Museum so you will see the Mona Lisa. After this, you will be so bored with art that then we are going to eat an ice-cream with my friend François Hollande (he is shy but you will become friends). After this, we could catch a bus to go to the Eiffel Tower and we will get some photos. Paris at night is awesome, the Eiffel Tower lights the city like an enormous lighthouse! I really love this city, I will never move from here because I need all of this. Whe you arrive you won't be able to go out anywhere but here and we are going to hava a great time together. 
Well, do you want to come? I wait for your answer. 
Looking forward to seeing you. 

Marco



My plans for the visit
by Iria Gago

Hi Alice, 
I'm just writing to explain to you a bit more about what we're going to do. 

I think you'll like Galicia. It's a really peaceful place. 
On Friday morning, as soon as you leave your luggage, we're going on a tour through the old part of the town. If you're interested in architecture (and I know you are) you'll love it. On Friday afternoon we can go to the shopping centre and relax with its cafés. 

On Saturday morning, we can get a catamaran in "Cañón do Sil" either at ten o'clock or at twelve o'clock. You choose. In the afternoon we're going to one of the most popular places in Ourense, "As Termas". There, you can relax with its hot healing water pools.

On Sunday morning we're visiting one of the most beautiful villages here: Allariz. This weekend there's a celebration called "Festival de Jardines" and it's really cool. It only costs two euros so I think it's a good idea to go there. In the afternoon, as I'm sure you love football, we'll go to see CD Ourense's match. Our team plays against Caudal Deportivo. My parents and my sister are coming with us. In the classification CD Ourense is sixth and we hope to win this match because Caudal Deportivo is seventeenth. But if we lose, I'm sure we'll have already had fun. 

Finally, on Monday we're going on a day trip to O Grove, in Pontevedra. It's a homely town with really nice people and stunning beaches along. 

We're going to meet you in A Coruña's airport next week so can you remind me what terminal is it?

Looking forward to seeing you,

Iria. 





My plans for the visit
by María Feijoo

Hi Rose,

I'm just writing to check that everything's OK for your visit. 
I think you will like Ourense. Your train arrives in Ourense at nine o'clock on Saturday morning so, after leaving your luggage at home, we're going to visit the city centre. There are amazing places and monuments there that I want you to see, like the Cathedral or the Plaza Mayor. Then, we're meeting some of my friends for lunch in a Galician restaurant. In the afternoon we'll probably visit some museums before six o'clock; the tourist train leaves the Roman bridge at half past six so we have to be there at that time for going to "A Chavasqueira" and "Outariz". They are beautiful places to relax and spend the afternoon. 

On Sunday we're going to my village with my parents because they want to show you the forest and the ancient oven, where people baked the bread in the past. We're meeting my grandparents too. I know you'll like them. Did I tell you that they were living in England? When they were young, my grandfather was working in London (my father was born there too!!) so they know a few words in your language.

In the afternoon, we could get a bus to Allariz. It's an ancient Roman village with some interesting buildings and a lot of outlets (so we could go shopping!). We'll probably meet some of my music band mates. If the music school is open, we'll show you our class and our instruments. 

My brother and I are going to meet you at the train station on Saturday. We will be there at nine o'clock, when your train arrives. 
So, are you ready for this amazing weekend?

See you on Saturday!
Love,

María


 

Monday 24 February 2014

A Whale of a Time Contest!!!

Would you like to win attractive prizes? 

Draw an image for the English Blog and participate in our contest. 


Sunday 16 February 2014

St Valentine's Day

Last Friday, ESO students celebrated St. Valentine's Day writing poems during Nithin's classes. 

Being honest, I was sometimes surprised at some students' art and creativity. They put all their effort on their poems and this is the result. You can read all the poems on the 4th floor corridor boards.