Grendel is Back! (3ºB, C)

Grendel as you know from Beowulf is a dreadful blood-thirsty monster who slaughtered many warriors in a brutal way and ravaged the land of the Danes in the 6th century. Beowulf killed him, but what if he lived nowadays? What should we do with a monster like Grendel now, in the 21st century? We no longer live in barbaric, brutal Middle Ages, we are far more civilised... aren´t we?  In pairs (the same ones as for the first presentations), you have been assigned some possible solutions ("actions")  for the situation and countries, because as you know we are going to find a way to solve this using the UN model. You have to defend your action in the THURSDAY OCT 26  Conference we´ll hold about the issue, so you are supposed to prepare an opening speech (1.30 min long) explaining why your action is the most effective. You should also think of disadvantages of the other punishments in order to have arguments against the other pairs´ actions. In relation with the country assigned to your pair you don´t have to prepare anything, just make a PLACARD with the country name on it.

We need your help! The future of our world as we know it depends on you!

List of pairs ("delegations"), action and country: 

3ºB

STUDENTS´ NAMES	ACTION YOU HAVE TO DEFEND	COUNTRY YOU REPRESENT
ROCÍO+PAOLA	Negotiated action. A team of highly-skilled mediators will speak to him and will reach an agreement with him on what action to take.	THE NETHERLANDS
LAURA+MELISSA	Reeducation in a special institution with special teachers	SWEDEN
DAIANA+ALBA	Police work. Grendel, properly controlled, could be used as a policeman for especially dangerous situations (terrorist attacks, etc).	UKRAINE
ESTEFANÍA+ADRIÁN	Confinement in a deserted island far away from populated areas.	EGYPT
ALEJANDRO+ARIADNA	Confinement in a zoo.	SOUTH KOREA

3ºC

STUDENTS´ NAMES	ACTION YOU HAVE TO DEFEND	COUNTRY YOU REPRESENT
ANA R. + AINHOA M.	Space exploration. After some training Grendel will be sent to a distant planet. This way we kill two birds with one stone.	SPAIN
MARTA G. + CLARA P.	No punishment at all. It must be assumed that Grendel is a monster and his nature should be respected at all costs. Monsters have also rights.	SOUTH AFRICA
PABLO C. + DANIEL G.	Life Imprisonment	ARGENTINA
LAURA G. + SOFÍA E.	Negotiated action. A team of highly-skilled mediators will speak to him and will reach an agreement with him on what action to take.	THE NETHERLANDS
LUNA S. + EIRE D.	Reeducation in a special institution with special teachers	SWEDEN
ETHAN R. + JAVIER J.	Cloning. Grendel can be an excellent soldier, imagine 1,000 of them.	CHINA
MAR R.+ LORENA R.	30 year imprisonment.	ITALY
DAVID B.+ DIEGO B.	Police work. Grendel, properly controlled, could be used as a policeman for especially dangerous situations (terrorist attacks, etc).	UKRAINE
ALBA M.+ MARTA O. + ANA Mª S.	Death penalty	THE USA
BEATRIZ  G.+ SERGIO F.	Confinement in a deserted island far away from populated areas.	EGYPT
ROBERT P. + MARIUS R.	Confinement in Siberia.	INDIA
ARIADNA S. + PATRICIA H.	Confinement in comfortable premises while a team of top-qualified scientists study his body and brain. Maybe Grendel can help cure serious illnesses.	RUSSIA
ROBERT S. + ADRIÁN G.	Brain transplant to cure its agressivity.	MALTA
CARLOTA M.+BETH N.C.	Confinement in a zoo.	SOUTH KOREA
SERGIO P. + CRISTIAN C.	Confinement in a mental institution.	NEW ZEALAND

Friday 6 Presentation (3ºC)

So this is the order of participation of the pairs for Friday´s presentation.

ORDER OF PARTICIPATION	NAMES	TOPIC NUMBER
PAIR #1	ANA R. + AINHOA M.	14
PAIR #2	MARTA G. + CLARA P.	4
PAIR #3	PABLO C. + DANIEL G.	12
PAIR #4	LAURA G. + SOFÍA E.	6
PAIR #5	LUNA S. + EIRE D.	21
PAIR #6	ETHAN R. + JAVIER J.	13
PAIR #7	MAR R.+ LORENA R.	15
PAIR #8	DAVID B.+ DIEGO B.	16
PAIR #9	ALBA M.+ MARTA O. + ANA Mª S.	9
PAIR #10	BEATRIZ  G.+ SERGIO F.
PAIR #11	ROBERT P. + MARIUS R.	17
PAIR #12	ARIADNA S. + PATRICIA H.	19
PAIR #13	ROBERT S. + ADRIÁN G.	20
PAIR #14	CARLOTA M.+BETH N.C.	18
PAIR #15	SERGIO P. + CRISTIAN C.	2

Literary circles plan for the first term (4ºD)

This is the reading plan for How I live now.The literary circles will take place on Thursdays (with the exception of the second week of October, then it´ll be on Tuesday 10). 2 days in advance you must hand in the literary circle worksheet (with the format you already know).

October 5: chapters 1-6 (Literary workshop: you don´t have to prepare the LC worksheet)
Oct. 10 (Tuesday): chapters 7-11
Oct. 19: ch.12-16
Oct. 26: ch. 17-20
Nov. 2: ch. 21-24
Nov. 9: ch. 25-28
Nov. 16: ch. 29 to the end.

The exam (10% of the total term mark, 30% min. to pass the term) will be on Nov. 17 (Friday).

As a warming-up, have a look if you like at the film trailer (but I don´t recommend watching the film because the plot is not the same as the book).

Presentations 3ºB,C

Presentation topics for the 1.30 min speaking activity (in pairs) to take place on October 6. Choose your pair, then both decide on a topic from the list below and tell me ASAP. Remember topics can´t be repeated, they´ll be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis! (On October 3 you have to give me the list with the pairs and the topics each pair has picked). 

1. The best thing that has ever happened to me 
2. The worst thing that has ever happened to me
3. A surprise I had 
4. A memory from childhood I´ll always remember
5. What is friendship?
6. Bilingual education: pros and cons 
7. A problem I have 
8. Your most embarrassing moment.
9. What would you like to change and why? 
10. Things I can't understand 
11. Your most curious dream.
12. High school is the best time in your life. Or not…
13. Things you would change in our high-school 
14. Your favourite book 
15. Should mobiles be used at school?
16. Your dream job 
17. Will robots replace humans?  Will robots take our jobs? 
18. Would you want to live on another planet?
19. Social networking sites: pros and cons.
20. What will future houses look like?
21. Sex roles

Literature projects (4ºD)

Hi all,
Now this is the distribution of topics and dates for the projects. You´ll know the exact day as soon as I know the day(s) we are going to have the assistant with us. Anyway, your presentation will take place one day of the week indicated.

American authors:
1st author´s presentation. Edgar Allan Poe: David´s  team (9-13 Oct.)
2nd presentation. Emily Dickinson: Lorena´s team (16-20 Oct.)
3rd presentation. Walt Whitman:  Petar´s team (23-27 Oct.) 

British authors:
4th presentation. Charlotte Brontë: Natalia´s team (30 Oct.-3 Nov.)
5th presentation. Charles Dickens: Juan´s team (6 Nov.-10 Nov.)
6th presentation. Oscar Wilde: Simina´s team (13Nov.-17 Nov.)


Just as a reminder, here you are again the guidelines for the project:

Duration: Around 20 minutes (in the 4-member groups). Each participant must speak for 5 minutes. Later we´ll clarify important points, assess your work and your classmates will take the quiz you’ve prepared beforehand.

Contents: 

Your presentation should include:

1) Author’s biography: the student in charge of the biography will also conclude the presentation too. Do not include more than 3 dates.

2) His/her 3 main works. Each student will talk about one. (In 3-member groups only 2 works)

3) A quiz for your classmates. Your 10-question quiz must be included in your power point together with the answers and in a word document. Both PPT and word document will be sent to your teacher by e-mail 2 days before your presentation.

4) A Poster that you’ll bring to class the day of your presentation. It will include: name of the author, photo and either a quotation by the author or an interesting fact about his/her life.

Assessment: 10% of your total term mark. Half of the mark for the project will be a common mark shared by all members in the team, the other 50% will depend on each student´s individual performance. Besides, don´t forget the literature exam will include all these contents (together with my own introductory presentations). 

Basic Dos and Dont´s (but don´t forget the others I told you in class): 

-Don´t read your presentations. Make them simple so they are easy to memorize (and understand).

-The PPT should include ONLY pictures without text (just a headline if necessary). Pick the pics carefully, visual aids are key (remember you can include also videos). 

-Body language!

5th Gulliver´s Travel (3ºA)

So after going to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and Houyhnhnms, Gulliver reportedly visited a fifth country...

The silent metropolis... "When Gulliver got closer, he saw an enormous city. Full of big buildings, cars and lots of people. It was a  metropolis. The people living there were very strange, they had big red eyes as if they´d been crying for a long time. Their heads were always looking down, never up. In both hands they they were carrying mobile phones, tablets or even laptops. Their fingers were quite long, as compared to Gulliver´s. Everything was grey, except the hundreds of screens all over the buildings, showing people, things to buy...
Gulliver tried talking to lots of people but no one answered him back, their heads were looking down. Some of them were talking by phone, but the rest never talked. It was quiet silent for a metropolis like that. No one was talking to another. They never opened their mouths. Gulliver thought that they may not even have a mouth to speak with. In their bags or even in their pockets  they were carrying lots of cables. At a certain hour an enormous clock sounded. All the people stopped at the same time, took out a cable and plugged it to the thousands of sockets that were all over the street. Half an hour later all the people started walking again. (...)
Gulliver decided to go ro another place. Anything would be happier than staying there". (María O.)

In the Glowing Island... "After days of travelling by boat, running away from the Yahoos, Gulliver finally sees a small island. When he arrives in the island, excitement runs fast through his veins. The island is so pretty, so perfect. It´s ideal. (...) Everything is in perfect harmony. Gulliver decides that if the island is that pretty, people should be all happy. Everybody should get on well with each other and be as harmonic as the landscape they have. So he keeps walking in order to search for the beautiful island inhabitants. After a while, he starts to see cute small houses placed on the branches of small, thick trees. (...) Amazed, he watches a small creature walking out of the house. (...) He was called Glummy. Gulliver could see that inside the small creature there was a shiny star. He thought that it was a really cute creature. But he also could see that its expression wasn´t the one Gulliver would have expected. The small creature was sad. Or angry, he didn´t really know, but he wasn´t happy at all. (...)  For that reason Gulliver decided to ask Glummy if there was something wrong in the island. He said there was nothing wrong, he just said that the "Starboys" and Stargirls" (the names of those creatures), were bored of living in that island. He explained that they all had good jobs, had children, good houses, love... But Glummy said that it wasn´t enough. (...) That was the moment when Gulliver realised how people always want more than they have. No matter if their lives are perfect. He also realised that especially people with a lot of money are the ones who always want more. nd the ones that don´t mind stealing it..." (Irene L.)

Visit now Fairy Oak, the cruel land where servants can be sentenced to death at the slightest incident, unless their life is bought with money... "First I thought it was a mistake to have come to this place but then I noticed how grateful I was for having lived this experience. Money changes everyone and it is truly sad to see how good people remember that help is possible only if there is money coming in. (...) Maybe money can buy nearly everything, but ethical values, humility, honesty and love will just be available for few kind people who knw how hard it is to find real feelings in such a world. (...) 
Maybe that was the last trip Gulliver made, or maybe it wasn´t. We just surely know the message he got from that weird place. Everyone should be aware of their rights, never letting anyone treat them as household waste. Money doesn´t buy everything. We are all equal and special just they way we are". (Carolina M.) 

5th Gulliver´s Travel (3ºB)

So after going to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and Houyhnhnms, Gulliver reportedly visited a fifth country...

Meet the amazing "Mibaens"... This last journey Gulliver made was to Mars. He didn´t know how, but there he was, in a new and unknown land for humans... Did he find the martians that scientists had been looking for so long? Not at all, he found much more.
Gulliver couldn´t see any martians, but he wasn´t alone. He was surrounded by minds, by ideas, by voices. The creatures in this new world were just personalities, without a physical shape or body. They were called "Mibaens". They told Gulliver how they had developed (...), how they had understood that a body is just an envelope that covers who you are, how you think, so they decided to get rid of them and with time they finally did it, and not only of bodies but they could eliminate steretypes, prejudices.(...)
Gulliver was so impressed with this way of living, which he thought it was impossible,  that he asked the Mibaens how everything started. Theyanswered that once one of them realized that there were too many suicides, too much suffering, just because people didn´t accept themselves. (...) Now ask yourself, in a blind world, how many people would you impress? (Lucía R.)

The deceptive mermaids of Atlantis... "After two months at sea, Gulliver decided to go under the sea. He reached Atlantis, where it was said that the most beautiful mermaids lived.
When he arrived there, Gulliver saw a horrifying monster surrounded by many similar to it. (...) The country was full of clothes shops and make-up stores. He didn´t know what the reason for it was until he saw a beauty advert. In it, a  very similar monster to the one he saw before appeared, and after applying make-up her face seemed much more beautiful. (...) He asked the first mermaid he saw about it and she answered that they were looking for the ideal beauty. After asking others, they all answered the same.
(...) Finally Gulliver believed that they were very silly to go and buy many products to get something that doesn´t exist.
The real mythological mermaids aren´t as beautiful as people believed. Nowadys we buy products in order to feel more self-confident about ourselves, but they do nothing on us". (Julia del C.)

The precious stone of Mithinber... "In his last voyage, Gulliver went to Mithinber, a country where all people living there were mythological creatures. Gulliver was looking for a beautiful stone the leader of the country (called Percy) had. That little piece of rock was the most important thing people in Mithinber had because if it was removed from the country, all of them would become normal people, something that these creatures didn´t want. 
(...) When they were at the highest part of the mountain, Percy showed Gulliver the stone. It was on top of a rock, with no protection.

       -"Why do you have it here sir, I mean, at the top of the mountain, where anyone can steal          it  from you?", asked Gulliver.
       -"Well, because if someone wants to take it from there, they must look at the town. They              will see the peace we have in here, the happiness. (...) So if they have a heart, they will just          put the stone again on its place and they´ll leave".

Gulliver thought about the thing Percy had just said. He went to the top of the mountain, and as the leader told him, he saw peace, no wars or battles. Everyone was good with the others, everyone was happy. So Gulliver went back to his ship without the stone". (Julia J.)

Come now to Theftland (does it ring a bell?)... "The fifth country Gulliver visited  is called Theftland, and could be described as a luxurious city and a desert at the same time. (...) We could also describe it as a disheartened country in which all inhabitants are dumb and roam through the streets being naked, despite having such extravagant houses. 
The question is, why are things like this in Theftland? (...) Because everything had been stolen by politicians and now was in their houses. And why are the naked? Not to get robbed and lose their clothes. 
And finally, do you think they are really mute? No! They didn´t speak just in case they filched their words also thanks to their avarice.
So this is my story and also my reality, in which hardly a day goes by without a politician stealing something, unfortunately." (Nuria S.)

In Hufflemoon people live in bubbles... "The fifth country that Gulliver visited was Hufflemoon. (...) It was covered by a huge semicircular glass to keep the oxygen in, as it was underwater. The thing that surprised Gulliver at first was that the people, who seemed to be pretty normal, were also surrounded by a floating bubble. The first thing he tried to do was to ask someone where to go or what to do. But no one paid attention to him. He screamed, jumped, made movements with his hands, but they were indifferent to him.
(...) In the country there was a bright blue sky, and you could see all the animals over your head. Each house was painted in a different colour. (....) Gulliver realized how beautiful this country was and how its inhabitants were trapped in that floating bubble without paying attention to the environment and enjoying themselves.
(...) He could not help those people, he could not make them appreciate how beautiful the place where they lived was. He guessed that maybe those people thought that in their lives the only thing worth doing was working and then dying.
He decided to simply go away. He couldn´t change anything. He learnt in this voyage to appreciate every second of his life and observe everything around him". (Natalia P.)  

More Conditionals

Follow the links:
 -Type 1 only
-Type 2 only
-Type 3 only
-Type 3 only
-Mixed (1/2/3 Types)
-Mixed again

Third term dates (3ºA,B)

Isle of Skye, Scotland

As agreed today in class, here you are a reminder of the exam dates for this term:

May 18 (Thurs): Listening exam
May 25 (Thurs): Singing for Mrs Pettigrew (3ºB), Skellig (3ºA) exams: 30% min. correct to pass the term.
May 29 (Mon): Reading+Writing exams.
June 1 (Thurs): Literature exam (30% min. correct to pass the term): Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, 18th century literature, Gulliver´s Travels, 19th century literature, Frankenstein.
June 7 (Wed): Grammar+Vocabulary exam (cumulative: contents from unit 1 onwards)


Don´t forget that May 10 is the deadline for the Much Ado About Nothing film and storyboard.