Reported Speech TUTORIAL

KIDS & CONSUMERISM

The market for children’s products and food is enormous. Parents on the one hand have a hard time raising children the way they want to, while on the other hand, kids are being increasingly influenced by commercialism that often goes against what parents are trying to do.

Even in industrialized societies, where governments and campaigners fight for better child advertising standards and regulations, or improved food quality, industry fights back preferring self-regulation (which rarely happens, or is intentionally weak), and arguing that it is individual choices and parents that are the issue.





For the activity we have worked on in class, watch this video and answer the questions in the handout: Kids & Consumerism handout

PRESENT SIMPLE vs. PRESENT CONTINUOUS WRITING TASK AND PPT

What's the difference between the Present Simple and Present Continuous and how to use them? That's the big issue we are going through these last lessons:
As we said in class we use the present simple tense when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines – things that don’t change. However, we use the present continuous to talk about actions which are happening at the present moment.

Compare these two statements:
I play tennis / I am playing tennis.

I play tennis tells us that playing tennis is something the speaker always does. It is part of a routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation.  I am playing tennis tells us that the speaker is playing tennis right now. We call this a temporary situation.

For next writing task you must write a description of these four people on the slides above. On the left you can see what their profession is and on the right what they are doing in this moment. Pretty like the four stories we have done in class.
In the following post you can download the Power Point we have dealt with in class with all the activities this doc contains. Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Comparatives and Superlatives are special forms of adjectives. They are used to compare two or more things. Generally, comparatives are formed using -er and superlatives are formed using -est. This page will explain the rules for forming regular comparatives and superlatives, and also show some basic ways of using them.

In this unit 6 we are practising comparatives and superlatives. We have gone through a wide variety of structures that focus on the use of comparisons.For the homework sent in class go through some of the exercises you will find in this lot of photocopies you can download at a click.
English homework: comparative and superlative exercises

For further practice you have some websites which have nice and useful practice. Click on the links below and have a go.
World records website
Interesting websites

How to Write a Horror Story, Writing Horror

Horror stories can be as fun to write as they are to read. A good horror story can gross you out, terrify you, or haunt your dreams. Because horror stories depend on the reader believing in the story enough to be scared, disturbed, or disgusted, they can be tricky to write well. But like any fiction genre, horror can be mastered with the right planning, patience, and practice. If you want to learn how to chill the blood and raise goose bumps with a great horror story, then look no further.

Example seen in class

Download your planning template

Download your self-correction template

WRITING PLANS - HOW TO BECOME MORE EFFICIENT IN YOUR ESSAYS

Before you even begin writing the first sentence of your essay, you need to plan your essay. Planning is vital too to enable you to produce a first-class essay.

The plan gives your essay a clear structure. Without this you're likely to lose your ideas, and if examinators can't see why your arguments are relevant, or they can't see what you're doing and why, they cannot give you marks, no matter how good your work might be.

By rehearsing your ideas in detail you will avoid the problem of trying to do the two most difficult things in writing at the same time: pinning down your ideas clearly, and then summoning up the words and phrases that will convey them accurately.

Spend the first ten minutes writing down your plan before you begin to write the essay. Don't get panicked into writing too soon before you have exhausted all of your ideas and got them organised into a coherent, well structured plan, that answers the question with strict relevance.

To download the writing plan (next writing task) - The bank robbery
To download the writing plan template - template
To download tips for checking your writing - Check that you have done all these things

To download a self-correction template

THE LOST THING

The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice it’s presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents are all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to day-to-day life. In spite of his better judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and attempts to find out where it belongs.

CARNIVALS AROUND THE WORLD

It's carnival season. The roots of carnival are both older and newer than the Christian traditions that started in Europe and have spread with colonialism throughout much of the world. Ancient Greek and Roman pagan rituals as well as the folklore, music and dance of colonized peoples have forged colorful expressions of each country's respective history and cultures.
Creative disguises and parody are characteristic of carnival in many countries, which historically gave oppressed and marginalized groups the opportunity to subvert norms of class, race and gender.
Here are some of the most dazzling carnival celebrations around the world.

Carnivals around the world PDF

Carnivals around the world Word

Read the text obout these festivities around the world and answer these questions:
Questions about the carnivals PDF
Questions about the carnivals Word

CAFÉ TERRACE AT NIGHT (DESCRIBING A PAINTING)

Vincent's Bedroom in Arles is one of the artist's best known paintings. The striking colours, unusual perspective and familiar subject matter create a work that is not only among Van Gogh's most popular, but also one that he himself held as one of his own personal favourites.

This specific painting, now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, was the first of the three oils that Van Gogh produced and, some would argue, the best executed. Furthermore, because Van Gogh was so pleased with the painting he described it at great length in letters to his family.

Time has come for you to describe Van Gogh's bedroom with the past structures we've studied. Following the artist's painting take a piece of paper and put it in words.

Example shown in class - Café terrace at night
Other famous paintings to describe 
Download the self-correction template

QUEST: THE WHITE HOUSE

In the late 1700s, it was decided that our country needed a capital city. Our first president, George Washington, picked a site on the Potomac River, midway between the northern and southern states. This spot would come to be called Washington, District of Columbia.

Pierre L'Enfant, a city planner from France designed the new city. He decided to place the Capitol Building on one hill and the "President's House" on another hill. L'Enfant had many plans for building the city, but he lost his job after too many disagreements with landowners. 

If you want to go on reading, click on the website link: Fact Monster - The White House

For downloading the webquest: The White House Quest

MAMMOTHS WEBQUEST

If you like stories about dinosaurs, you'll probably want to learn about the other titans of their age -- mammoths and mastodons, these unusual ancestors of modern mammals. Yes, they look like elephants but are they from the same family?

To find out we have to study these animals. One way is to examine their remains, mostly bones.We'll never really know what dinosaurs looked like or how they lived. Dinosaurs fossils re relatively rare, and fossil hunters almost never find skin or flesh with the bones. In addition modern reptiles are so different from their extinct relatives that it's hard to make comparisons. However, the story with mammoths is different. Their remains are plentiful, and frozen remains often include skin, hair, and internal organs. And there is more -- the mammoths are very closely related to their surviving relatives-the elephants.

Here you can find some questions about mammoths and a link which answers them all. Do this WebQuest and find out more about these amazing animals.

To download the questions PDF: Webquest
To download the questions Word: Webquest
and link: dialogue for kids - mammoths

FAMILY VOCABULARY ONLINE ACTIVITIES

If you want to consolidate your learning about the world you live in as well as the family you belong to, here you have the following links, charts, and exercises which will provide some helpful ways to help strengthen your knowledge about your current and extended family.

Put the names in the right boxes! A game to practise family vocabulary (father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin...) as well as to practice pronunciation.

Go to the following link for some practice: Learning chocolate website

If you want to practice some other activities related to vocabulary and people from the same web, go to this link: more vocabulary about people

EUROSCOLA CONTEST

The European Parliament Information Office in Spain, together with the Representation of the European Commission in Spain and the Secretary of State for the European Union, announces the 21st edition of Euroscola Contest devoted to the European Year of Development ç.

“A life of dignity for all: eradicating poverty and  supporting sustainable development” is one of the main
messages to be transmitted to the European society during this year. The main goals for this year are to inform about the cooperation of the European Union (EU) in poverty eradication inside and outside Europe and about the role of the EU as the biggest donor of the official development assistance in the world; to encourage civic Participation; to foster a sense of responsibility among the citizens, to sensitise the public opinion about the role of cooperation, to achieve public commitment and to highlight the importance of the contribution of the youth.

For more information: Euroescola website (also in Spanish)
For downloading the rules of the Euroescola contest in English
For downloading the rules of the Euroescola contest in Spanish

THE GOLDEN BIRD BY GRIMMS BROTHERS

"The Golden Bird" is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the pursuit of a golden bird by a king's three sons. In this post you can find the recorded story and the tapescripts for checking pronunciation and understanding of spoken English.

A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone...

For the audio, click on the following link: The Golden Bird

For the tapscripts, click on this one: The Golden Bird

For your students you can also f nd a website which checks understanding of the story with a quiz. Go to this link: Quiz on The Golden Bird

QUANTIFIERS WRITING

Many of you have been having problems with countable and uncountable nouns in class this week. At the same time I have noticed an English-language newspaper writing about ‘a large amount of people’. For the consolidation of this unit you must do a second writing with the decives we have seen in class. Remember! You must use There is /are and no possessive verbs instead. If you want to make it as a dialogue, it will be brilliant. You can also make it as a descriptive text

So here are the rules, taken from Engvid.com – there is a countable vs. uncountable test at the bottom of this page so test yourself if you like.To go to this page click on the link: countable and uncountable rules

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH GAMES: FROM A1 TO B1

Visit Funland and play a range of classic fairground games to practise your English language. Control the ferris wheel, splash the clowns and collect prizes along the way.

PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

Prefixes and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of another word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence: if they are printed on their own they have a hyphen before or after them.

Prefixes are added to the beginning of an existing word in order to create a new word with a different meaning. Suffixes are added to the end of an existing word.

In this marvellous Oxford blog you can analyse the different aspects of these set of words and get rid of the common problems you come up to when we deal with them.

To go to the main page of prefixes and suffixes in the blog: Prefixes and suffixes

For more particular aspects of prefixes and suffixes:

Do you know your -ibles from your -ables?

Who’s confident [confidant?] about using -ance, -ence, and similar suffixes?

If you want to practice with some exercises online: Prefixes and suffixes exercises

"Over the Rainbow" in Norwegian Lottery commercial

Great Norwegian commercial, which reflects on the value of friendship rather than the value of money. Opposite to what other lottery adverts show, money fails to generate happiness in those who surround you unless you use it wisely. And what a witty way of using it!!

Play the video and make a brief summary of what it's shown in this video which prioritizes love and note down some sentences of what you would have done with it or what you would do.

To see the video: Lotterry Norwegian commercial

EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES - VOCABULARY GAMES

What are some of the daily activities that you do at home?

I wake up at 7am every morning.
I press the snooze button five times every morning before I turn off the alarm and get up.
I have a cup of coffee and make breakfast. 

What are some other daily activities that you do?

I exercise at least three times a week.
I usually go to the gym before work, but sometimes I go after work.

Here you will find thousands of online English exercises created by teachers from all over the world. If you are learning vocabulary about everyday activities in thr English language you can use these exercises to improve your English. The exercises are categorized in different topics and levels.

To go to very interesting matching exercises or to practice with other activities, click on the right link.

COUNTABLE VS. UNCOUNTABLE. EXERCISES ONLINE

 Did you know that not all nouns are countable in English? Knowing the difference between countable and uncountable nouns can help you in many areas of English grammar. Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted. Most nouns in English are countable. Examples: I have two dogs.Sandra has three cars. Jessie has ten dollars.

Uncountable Nouns. Uncountable nouns are not counted in English. This usually has to do with the way English speakers think of these nouns. We often picture these nouns as a single concept or one big thing which is hard to divide. Many of these words are countable in other languages, but they ARE NOT countable in English. Generally, we do not use plural forms of these words; however some of these words do end in "s", so don't get confused.Examples: Mack drinks a lot of water. Cindy gives great advice. Paul enjoys politics (ends with "s" but uncountable)

Sometimes in English, we do use uncountable nouns in plural forms. This is most commonly done with liquids and substances. It usually takes on the meaning of "cups of", "bottles of" or "types of". Examples:  We'll have two coffees. (cups of coffee). I bought three waters (bottles of water). The company produces two leathers. (types of leather)

To work on the exercises online: Countable vs. Uncontable agendaweb
To download the Homework for Monday: Grammar Success exercises

For games on the same topic (we'll practice them next Monday, so don't look the web ahead): Countable vs. uncountable games