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

"Back to business"

Welcome back! After the Easter break we are back to our English course and and new term!

In our last lesson we discussed images and stereotypes about teenagers. Now is time to discuss some assumptions and generalisations that people usually make about us teachers.




As we all know, sometimes we could be labelled because of the type of job that we do.
I would like you to think about the following questions:

- Can you think of some adjectives or phrases that are commonly used to stereotype teachers?

- Which label do you think applies to you as an individual?

- Which one describes you best?

- Do you think teachers have a positive or negative reputation in our society today? Why do you think that is?

- Are you judged or expected to behave in a certain way because of how you look, your age, your profession or your genre?

How do you fit the stereotype?

How you don´t fit the stereotype?

But most importantly:

WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER?

Click the question above and rate the statements about being a good teacher in order of importance. Be prepared to give reasons why.



WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEARNER?

 It is time to discuss now what makes a good learner.

Click the question above to discuss the statements and give an opinion based in your experience as a teacher.

Watch this interesting video from Ted Talks, "From knowledgable to knowledge-able" and answer the questions:

Happy Easter!

This Easter holiday we can have a break from the daily routine and also practise our English skills!

Would you like to read this article about Easter traditions?

10 things you (probably) didn´t know about Easter



 And... don´t forget to change the time in your clock next Saturday:

Daylight Saving Time. Why does it exist?- The New York Times

See you back in lessons on the 4th of April!!

Enjoy the holiday! 

International Women´s Day 2016

How the world celebrated International Women´s Day 2016.

Follow this link to read about International Women´s Day and think about the following statements:

"Sexism is also a form of poverty"

"Women earn  300,000 $ less than men over  their lifetime"

" Sexist stereotypes can be turned around"




Let´s discuss this article published by "Voices" from the British Council:

Can we legislate away sexism?

You can also read this very interesting article by Indy100 from The Independent:

The countries where it is worst to grow up as a girl

This other article found in The Independent discusses what happens to the brain when it encounters sexist stereotypes.