Interview a celebrity

TASK: INTERVIEW A CELEBRITY*

IN PAIRS: One student will be the interviewer and the other play the role of the celebrity.

TOPICS: Summer activities, plans for the near future, childhood, achievements (aprox. 30 sentences total). Use your imagination and these sample questions if you want.

PRESENTATION: You will act out your interview in front of the class, or video tape it for extra credit. We will watch it in class!

GRAMMAR:

                - Present Perfect: to talk about what has happened this summer (still not finished.

                -Past Simple: to talk about things that happened in their childhood, or in a given moment in the past (June, July, August...)

                - Future: To talk about plans for the near future (be going to...,  be+ing, will...)

* select a celebrity from the list: Barack Obama, Shakira, Pau Gasol, Brad Pitt, Iker Casillas, Mariano Rajoy, Scarlett Johansson, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Miley Cirus and Stephen Hawkings.

New York, New York

We are going to e-travel to the Big Apple, New York City. Please, click here and answer all the questions as well as you can. Enjoy the tour!

Click on "Thanksgiving traditions", read the text, and answer these questions:

1. When do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving?
2. How do they spend time that day?
3. What do they eat?
4. What is a vegetarian turkey made of?
5. What do they do with the "wishbone"?
6. What happens at the White House ceremony?
7. What can volunteers do that day?
8. What can you watch on TV?
9. What can you do after the meal?

Just a common day...

Write about what you did yesterday. Include words such as FIRST, THEN, LATER, AT 6 O'CLOCK, IN THE EVENING, AT NIGHT, FINALLY....and the ideas from the "Routines around the home".

My favourite band rocks!

U2 formed in Dublin in the fall of 1976 after 14-year-old Larry Mullen, Jr. posted a note on the bulletin board at his high school seeking musicians for a new band.
"Boy' was the first LP to be released by U2. It came out in October 1980, and received promising reviews from the music press.
The famous artists of U2 are again on tour in 2010, which currently is one of the tours attracting most of our visitors' attention. The guys from Dublin have gained great interest with their 2010 European tour, for which we at EuropeanEventsTickets already offer the best tickets at some of the cheapest prices. On their 2010 360° Tour this summer, U2 visited the following European cities: Turin, Frankfurt, Hannover, Horsens, Helsinki, Moscow, Vienna, Athens, Istanbul, Munich, Paris, San Sebastian, Seville, Coimbra and Rome.

Now write about your favourite band. Include facts like:
- find a photo of the band
-when the band was formed
-where they are from
- date and name of first and last album
-your favourite song
-last tour
- did they split up?when?

We are the champions

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

By Queen

(1) ……………….. my dues, time after time;

(2) ……………….. my sentence, but committed no crime

( 3) ……………….. my share of sand kicked in my face,

But (4) ………………..

CHORUS

We are the champions, my friend

And we’ll keep on fighting to the end.

We are the champions (x2)

No time for losers ‘cos

We are the champions of the world.

(5) ……………….. my bows and my curtain call

(6) ……………….. me fame and everything that goes with it; I thank you all,

But (7) ..................................... no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise.

I consider it a challenge before all

You might ever raise and I’d ever lose.

Find someone who..................

STUDENTS: ASK YOUR CLASSMATES: Have you ..................? (If the answer is 'yes', write the person's name in the box on the right.) After the exercise has finished, give the results to others in the class:- "Alfredo has visited America"	NAME OF CLASSMATE
...has visited America
...has learnt two other languages
...has eaten a big breakfast today.
...has had a serious accident
...has met someone important. Who? ..............................................
...has used a computer
...has given money to charity
...has seen something interesting on television. What? .......................................................................
....has eaten English food
....travelled in a fast car (American spelling: traveled)
....flown a plane
.... cooked a curry
... learnt to play the piano

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, etc. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

Activity number 1: Write to me and answer these questions:
1. How do people in the West celebrate St. Valentine's Day?
2. What did Esther Howland do about Valentine's day?
3. Who buys more cards in the U.S.A., men or women?

Things I haven't done yet

At my age, there are many things I haven't done yet, but I wish I do them before I die. For example, I have never travelled to India, and someday I would like to go because I am interested in the culture and the food there. Next, I haven't swum with dolphins in the ocean, and that's an experience I don't want to miss, because I love swimming and animals and I think that would be very exciting. Finally, I have already learnt French and English, but I would like to learn another language, maybe Chinese. Is it too much of a dream for me?

Tell me 6 things you haven't done yet and why you would like to do them. Use the Present Perfect and words such as already, yet, never and also first, next, then, finally, etc.

Family Matters

Please Help me and My Family

My family don't get along. It's like we all hate each other. It's my mom, me, my two brothers and a sister. I am the oldest. We all have certain problems: My mom wants to quit smoking so she is really stressed out. I am really selfish (I just can't help it). My older brothers is too bossy. He thinks he is better than the rest of us and that he is the only one who helps my mom. My younger brother is kind of abusive and depressed. He always starts fights and he's really spoiled (my mom doesn't yell at him for doing things wrong and when she does, he laughs at her); My sister (who's 7) makes messes and doesn't clean them up. I really want to help because I don't like being upset all of the time and having everyone hate everyone else. Even when we start to get along, someone will say something to upset someone else. Please help me and my family.

Female, 15

1. Read the situation and then answer the following questions:

- What should the mother do to improve the situation?

-What should the older brother do?

- And the younger brother?

-And the sister?

-What should the girl who wrote the letter do?

2. Now find another way to say:

-yell

-upset

-get along

-selfish

-fights

Fashion

Describe the clothes these 2 people are wearing. Use as many adjectives as you can.

Steve Wonder, " I just called to say I love you

Elvis Presley, Blue suede shoes

Halloween scary stories

Dear students,
I would like you to read a Halloween scary story called "Dancing with the Devil". Then, do these activities:

1.- Find 10 irregular verbs.
2.- Write in your own words what these words mean: sparkly, preacher, determined, stammer, spin.
3.-Did the mother allow her to go to the dance? why?
4.- Why did the girl agree to dance with the man?
5.-What does the author mean by "he had spun the girl all the way to hell" at the end of the story?.
5. - Write a sentence or two to finish the story in a different way.

Welcome

Welcome guys!

This year we are going to do a whole lot of work online. I hope you are happy about it. We will use this blog to review lesson contents, discover new aspects of the English language and culture, enjoy ourselves and get to know each other.

To start with, write to me about your:

- hobbies and interests
- closest family members
- best friend and subjects
- home
- anything special or relevant.

Thanks,