Earth Day 22nd April

 Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22nd, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 193 countries each year.


Follow this link to watch Al Gore discussing Global warming in 1997

You may also like to watch this video of how Kilimanjaro and the Andes show signs of global warming

In our lesson today we are going to discuss environmental issues. To begin with this topic, we are going to read two environmental articles that appeared in a newspaper and are very different :

- "Accidental leak of insecticide at Boxbridge Vale"

- "Council toxic blunder poisons local wildlife"

Compare the language used in both articles and discuss how it is different in each of them.

Please discuss:

- The different words and phrases that were used to discuss the same issue.

- Talk about the purpose of each text.

- What are the most probable audiences for these articles?

Our next activity is to write an article about an environmental issue in our town or village. You may want to write it from the council´s point of view of you may want to play the role of an environmental activist!





Listen to the message in this great song by Michael Jackson and complete the lyrics



DOING YOUR BIT! Read this interesting article from The Guardian: Five simple things you can do to make a difference 

Are you up for another TED TALK? If you thought our last TED TALK was interesting, you will love this one by scientist Johan Rockstrom "Let the environment guide our development":

Point of view

In present times we have quick and easy access to pieces of news everywhere. Very often we notice how different newspapers cover the same story differently depending on who their readers are and what those readers believe.

A TRADITIONAL TALE?
In this lesson you will listen to "The True Story of  The Three Little Pigs". But.....is this a traditional tale?



A) In pairs, make a list of what parts of the story are different from the traditional tale and what parts of the story are the same.

B) In this retelling of the traditional tale, the autor changes the point of view of the story:

-  How does he do that?

- Do you sympathize with the pigs or the wolf?

- Are you convinced by the wolf´s versión of the story? Does he seem trustworthy? Why? Why not?

Time for tea!

Today we are going to learn how to make the perfect cup of tea (according to British people anyway)

The British have drunk tea for 350 years! The first  tea came from China and later from India. In the North of England "What´s for tea?"  means "What´s for dinner?" This is because people drank tea with their meal. Even today this is a very popular costume.


You need:

A kettle for boiling the water                                                   

A teapot big enough for four cups

Three teaspoons of tea or three teabags

Two tea cups, teaspoons and saucers

A jug of cold milk


Watch this video to learn how to make the perfect cup of tea!






Now let´s read this article from The Telegraph to learn more things about tea and the British

Or is this how to make your perfect cup of tea?

International Tea Day- The Independent:

Famous quotes about tea

"A cup of tea would restore my normality."- Douglas Adams

"Some people will tell you there is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea." - Lu T’ung

"Where there’s tea, there’s hope." – Arthur Wing Pinero

"Tea! Bless ordinary everyday afternoon tea!" Agatha Christie.

"The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable.

"This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round." - George Orwell

English afternoon tea etiquette:




The art of making tea sandwiches! 


Did you know that a lot of idioms in English contain the word tea?

Try to guess the meaning of some of the most famous ones:

"It is not my cup of tea"
"A storm in a teakettle"
"A storm in a teacup"
"Not for all the tea in China"
"It´s a tea party"
"Weak tea"

They are all very well explained in this video from BBC Learning:

Jobs, jobs, jobs, all in a song!

Talking about jobs, this is a good song to think about different professions: "Penny Lane"





Listen to this famous song by The Beatles and answer the questions on the worksheet provided.

Would you like to read some background information about the title of the song?
Follow this link