Stylist's Job is to Make Food Look Pretty

Watch this video and answer the following questions:

1. Who is Lisa Cherkasky?

2. Where did she study?

3. Who does she work with?

4. Why was her job difficult at the beginning?

5. What have you learnt here?

Still I Rise

Still I Rise is a poem by Maya Angelou, an American actress, writer and artist. The poem talks about the history of the African-American people, its fight to overcome slavery and  it also tells us the struggle of women to overcome sexism and oppression . When I was in USA, I had the privilege to meet her, she was a great woman.

If you want to know more about her, click Maya Angelou - Biography

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. 

Maya Angelou

Crimes & Justice (Delitos & Justicia)

If you want to know more vocabulary on Crime and Justice, click on the following links:



English Words for Crime and Punishment

Types of Crime and Punishment

Vocabulary List for Criminal Justice and Legal

20 Criminal Justice Vocabulary Words

Vocabulary related to Crime


EXERCISES:

Crime and Punishment Quizz 

The Justice System

Crime and the Law 

Exercises and Listening 

Modal Verbs

If you still have problems with Modal Verbs, click on the following links to learn more about them:

MODAL VERBS

MODAL VERBS 2


EXERCISES

EXERCISES 2

TEST

This is Britain Bonfire Night

Gunpowder Plot

Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder

Vincent - Tim Burton's - Subtitulado español

Happy Halloween!!!

Senses and Feelings

Look at the following photos and talk about the senses and feelings they show us:

Is Your Red The Same as My Red?

Does everyone view colours in the same way? Of course, there are people with colour blindness and other disorders that do skew their perception of colour. But among the rest of us with normal colour vision, can we ever be sure we’re seeing exactly the same thing?

In this video from Vsauce, Michael investigates this very question in addition to other quandaries regarding animal intelligence, feelings, and perception.

The Senses

This week we are going to learn about the senses. Before reading the following information, can you answer these questions:

- How many senses have we got?
- Why are they so important?


Read this basic information about The Senses

The science behind the taste and smell of food

Would you like to know more about this topic? Then, click here

Now watch these videos:

Living without the senses of taste and smell

Seven Years in Spain

Seven Years in Spain is the article that Cat Gaa, a former coworker at IES Heliche and a friend, has written about her experience in our country. It was a great pleasure to work with Cat for three years, as she is not only a good teacher, but also an excellent person. 

You can read about her experience in her blog: Sunshine and Siestas

Defining and non-Defining Relative Clauses (part 3)

More information about Relative Clauses

As long as you love me    

The man who can't be moved

Love Poems 2014

    Love Poems 2014

MUSIC

We're learning different types of music and musical instruments this week. Do you know the different sounds of each intrument? Watch the following video:

Now click on this link: Classification of Musical Instruments to find out the answers to these questions:

1. Is the piano a percussion, wind or string instrument?
2. Write three brass instruments
3. What are cymbals?


Different Music Videos 

The Difference Between Music Genres:

London Transport

Watch this video about London Transport and answer these questions:

1. How many means of transport are mentioned?

2. What colour do taxis have in London? How do people call London taxis?

3. What is the quickest way to travel in London?

4. What is the most dangerous way to travel in London? Why?

5. What is a double-decker bus?

More information about Transport in London

London's Transport Quiz

An introduction to Britain

 


QUESTIONS:

1. What do you know about Britain?
2. What is the capital city?
3. How many people live in England?
4. Who lives at Downing Street?
5. Who is the Head of State? Where does this person live?
6. How many cities are mentioned in the video? What do you know about them?
7. What language do people speak in Wales?
8. How can you travel to Paris and Brussels?


QUIZ 1 

QUIZ 2

Little Miss Sunshine

 Tells the story of the Hoovers, one of the most endearingly fractured families ever seen on motion picture screens. Together, the motley six-member family treks from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, to fulfill the deepest wish of 7-year-old Olive, an ordinary little girl with big dreams.

• 
  
• On Tuesday, April 22nd, we are going to watch this film and work on different topics:

Activities  Before watching this film:

_ Prepare your family tree

- Importance of grandparentes in your family

- The role of old people in our society


Little Miss Sunshine

Some topics for Class Discussion:

- There is a saying in English that “Beauty is only skin deep.” How does this expression apply to Little Miss Sunshine? 

- How do the relationships among members of the Hoover family change from the beginning to the end of the film? 

- Are people divided into winners and losers in Spain? If so, how? 

- In America, older people like grandpa in the movie often go into retirement homes where they live with other retired people and apart from their families. How does this compare with the way older people are treated in Spain? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of putting elderly people in retirement homes? 

- Dwayne says that life is just one beauty contest after another, “you know, school, then college, then work”, they are all just kinds of beauty contests. What do you think? 

- Frank quotes Proust when he said that the best years of his life were the years he suffered because they made him who he was. What do you think? Can suffering be a good thing? 

- What is your opinion of beauty contests?

- Is it ok for your children to take part in beauty contests?

QUIZ

Billy Elliot (10/12) Movie CLIP - What Dancing Feels Like (2000) HD

“Inside every one of us is a special talent waiting to come out. The trick is finding it.” 

Billy Elliot is a story about a young boy trying to express himself in difficult circumstances. There is a scene in the film where he tries to dance through a wall…and that’s what it is like for him. He wants to get out of his narrow world and fly 

Discussion Topics:

- Family relationships

- Identity / Self-identity

- How does Billy's struggle parallel, or contrast with, the struggle of the striking miners? 

- What does the film suggest about the relative loyalties towards one's community, family and self? 

- How do you think this film portrays working-class communities? What does the film suggest the only way of escape is? 

- Does our culture encourage us to be ourselves?


Historical Backgrounds

Plot Summary 

The Life of Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities:

Main Characters 

Analysis of main characters 

Charles Dickens: Biography 


QUESTIONS:

1. When and Where was Charles Dickens born?
2. How many novels did he write?
3. How many novels by Dickens have you read?
4. Which do you like the most and why?

Quiz 1
Quiz 2 

Wuthering Heights

We are reading Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë this term. Click on the following links to find out more about the author, this novel and its characters and the time it was written:

Characters

Main Themes


Emily Brontë: Biography


Quiz 1

Quiz 2

Eat more often so that you don't get fat

According to experts, you should have five meals a day to keep you slim, and you should eat slowly to appreciate the food you are eating.

How often do you eat?
How long do you spend eating?

Read the  article: "Eat more often so you don't get fat", Spanish advise 

QUESTIONS:

- What is you opinion about this article?
- Write three sentences in Direct Speech and three sentences in Indirect Speech

Video SparkNotes: Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities summary

Reported Speech

We have learnt in class the differences between Direct and Indirect Speech. If you have any doubt about it or you want to learn more, watch the following videos and do some exercises.

Reported Speech: Explanation and Exercises 

Some Reporting Verbs

Reporting Verbs for Advanced Students, Explanation and Exercises on Reported Speech

"Office Gossip Chapter II " English Reported Speech

PUBLIC PLACES - English Language

Places of a City

"Galileo" Indigo Girls (+playlist)

Galileo lyrics

Passive Voice

Have you learnt Passive Voice? Can you play basketball? Then this is a game for you:

A game on Passive Voice


EXERCISES 

The Causative: Let /Make / Have / Get, Explanation and exercises

Listen to these songs:

- All of My Love   

Don't Dream is Over

The Antarctic

Last week we attended a very interesting talk about the Antarctic by Mr Álvaro Kromer, Commander Officer in the Spanish Army. 

Can you answer the following questions?

1. What is the difference between the Antarctic and the Arctic?
2. Where is the Antarctic?
3. Where do penguins live?
4. Who was  Roald Amundsen?

Search the information on: Differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic?

Roald Amundsen

How to describe a house

Basic vocabulary to describe a house

Types of Houses

How to describe people

You can describe people's and personality

 Describing people

Vocabulary: Adjectives Describing People

Art

1. What do you know about Art?


2. How many types of Art do you know?

Find the answers to these questions HERE

How to describe a picture: Watch these videos

Questions:

1. Who painted these pictures?
2. Where can you see them?
3. Describe these paintings:

        
                

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was written by Oscar Wilde, is the novel we have to read this term.

Before Reading Activities:

1. What do you know about Oscar Wilde? 

 Search information about his life and works here  


Now try to answer these questions:


a When was Oscar Wilde born?

b Who was Constance Lloyd?

c Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?

d How long did Wilde spend in prison?

e Where did he spend the last years of his life?

f When did he die?



2. What do you think is the story about?




After Reading Activities

a.  Who are the main characters?

b. What kind of relationship do they have?

c. What changes does Dorian have in the novel?

Pride and Prejudice

      

  This term, we are going to read the novel Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen in 1813.  

The novel tells us the story of the Bennet Family in the 19th-century British society.

Before Reading Activities:

- What do you know about Jane Austen? Find information here

- Jane Austen Biography

- Women's Role in 19th Century


After Reading Activities:

1. Who are the main characters?

2. What do female characters feel or think about marriage?

3. Which character in the novel represents "Pride" and which one represents "Prejudice". Find examples of pride and prejudice in the novel.

4. Which means of communication do people use in the novel? Which ways  do we use  to communicate to each other nowadays?

Future

As you already know, there are different ways to express Future in English:

- With Present Simple:  "The flight to London leaves at 10 am"

- With Present Continuous:  "I'm having dinner with my friend tonight"

- With BE GOING TO + Infinitive: "Peter is going to buy a new mobile phone"

- With WILL + Bare Infinitive: "The temperatures will drop tomorrow in the whole country"

- With WILL + BE + V-ing: "By this time tomorrow, I will be sleeping"

- With WILL + Perfect Infinitive  (WILL + HAVE + V-Pp):  "By the end of next week, I will have learnt the Future in English"


Do you need more practice? Click on Ways of Expressing the Future in English

Future Simple

Songs that include Future Tense

Philadelphia

Last year we started watching the film Philadelphia, or we may have already seen it in some groups, and here you can find information about the main characters, plot, vocabulary and questions on the film that can help you write the film review and talk about the topics on the film.

Click on: Philadelphia

Now click on  Crime and Punishment