Stephen Hawking has a message for you

Stephen Hawking’s voice has been beamed into a black hole following the internment of his ashes at Westminster Abbey in London.
The message recorded by the British physicist, which is set to music by Greek composer Vangelis, speaks about the importance of peace and hope. It was sent by the European Space Agency from an antenna at Cebreros near Madrid towards the nearest black hole. According to his daughter, Lucy Hawking, “it is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet”.

“This is a beautiful and symbolic gesture that creates a link between our father’s presence on this planet, his wish to go into space and his explorations of the universe in his mind.” (from  The Independent).

Listen to the message here. 

Beowulf film

Grammar review (B1B/C)

This entry is for my students of Bachillerato (Programa) B1B/C

Click on the links, you´ll find useful online exercises and explanations on part of the contents for next Grammmar exam (for vocabulary and the rest of the contents please use your handbook and the exercises in hard copy). Remember the exam is cumulative (units 1-8).

-Tenses practice:
-Past Simple/Past Continuous.
-Simple Past vs Present Perfect 
-Simple Past vs Present Perfect(2)
-Past Simple vs Past Perfect 
-Present Perfect Continuous
-Present Perfect Simple vs Present Perfect Continuous 
-Past Perfect Simple 
-Future tenses: Will vs going to
-Another drill on the future tenses
-Irregular verbs forms 
-More irregular verbs 
-A crossword now. 

-Comparative forms:
-Check this link

-Superlative forms:
-Have a look here.

-Modal verbs (obligation, necessity, advice, ability, permission)
#1
#2
#3

-Passive forms: click on these links.
#1
#2
#3 
#4
#5
#6

-Conditionals:
-Type 1
-Type 2
-Another link to Type 2
-Type 3
-Type 3 again.
-Conditionals mix 
-Another Conditionals mix drill.

-Causative have/get exercises:
#1
#2
#3
#4

Grammar review (4ºD)

This entry is for the students of 4ºD

Click on the links, you´ll find useful online exercises and explanations on part of the contents for next Grammmar exam (for vocabulary and the rest of the contents please use your handbook and the exercises in hard copy). Remember the exam is cumulative (units 1-10).

-Causative have/get exercises:
#1
#2
#3
#4

-Conditionals:
-Type 1
-Type 2
-Another link to Type 2
-Type 3
-Type 3 again.
-Conditionals mix 
-Another Conditionals mix drill.

-Reported Speech:
-Statements
-More statements
-Questions
-More questions
-Order/requests (Imperative)
-More requests, now in the negative form.
-Mixed sentences

-Modal Perfects:
#0 (Explanation)
#1
#2
#3 (Contrast Modals in the Present vs modals in the Past)

-Try this link for a practice of tenses. 

Are you for or against homeschooling? (3ºB, 3ºC)

As you know Mina in Skellig champions the idea of  homeschooling inspired by William Blake´s The School Boy. But what´s your opinion? Let´s have a look at a couple of ideas from your essays.

About having your parents as teachers...

"It is very strange to have your fatther or mother as a teacher, isn´t it? Your parents have other jobs and they can´t stay with you all the time, but a teacher´s job is to make you learn and they can teach you more things than your parents can". (Mar R.)

"One of the factors we should take into account is if children would like to have their parents as teachers. If parents are very strict, children wouldn´t like to have them as a teacher because they couldn´t have a break or relax. But if they are no so strict, the freedom to relax while studying would help the children to concentrate". (Alba M. R.)

"Firstly I would like to write about having a parent as a teacher, some people think this can be better for the child to learn because your parents know you well, but parents can´t know everything, that´s why in schools there is a teacher for a specific subject. There is also another problem with homeschooling because not every parent can stay with their children if they have to work". (Adrián G.)

"On the one hand if your father or mother is your teacher you can stay at home and it won´t be necessary for you to wake up early. Furthermore you could study wherever you want. We should also remember that you will be alone during the lessons, so you will learn faster. Moreover you won´t have to worry about exams". (Diego B.)

"Besides in schools you have more than one or two teachers so it´s less boring than listening to the same person for hours". (Ana R.)

"Moreover it´s common that students hate their teachers or think they have it in for them, so just imagine how it´d be having them as satellites around you all day... How stressing!" .(Ana Mª S.)

"In my opinion, teachers and parents are very different people. Having your mum or dad as a teacher can be good or bad depending on how good your relationship with your parents is. It would be amazing to have your teacher at home because all the doubts would be solved immediately." (Marta G.)

"On the one hand, I would like to be homeschooled because if you are at home you can establish your own rules so you can choose your timetable, the subjects you have and the way the lessons would be (for example learning with fun games)". (Alejandro M.)

"Firstly, who wants their parents as teachers? When we go to school we learn to be independent from them. When we are older we prefer them not to see what we do at school! If a child goes to school he/she will develop his/her abilities to be without their family in a comfortable way". (Marta O.)

About making friends...

"However, a kid who is homeschooled hasn´t got the same opportunities to meet and know different people or to work, cooperate and socialize with them, which by the way is an essential requirement for the future". (Ana Mª S.)

"Homeschooled kids are more free, emotionally speaking. Sadly, peer pressure, competition, bullies,,,, are all part of a typical school day. Kids are no longer pressured to try to fit in when they are homeschooled and so they can be themselves". (Clara P.)

"School makes you who you are and in most cases you will be able to make friends. (...) You will also take the risk of not being accepted, but that will make you stronger". (Ainhoa M.)

"Probably most of the friends you have you met them at school". (Ana R.)

"Let´s not forget that when it´s time to socialize with other children it would be more difficult [for homeschooled kids], Because in school you also learn to get along with others. However, it´s important to bear in mind that the way to communicate of a child depends on their parents, because he´ll do what he or she observes at home". (Patricia H.)

"Furthermore, children your age could see you [homeschooled kids] as a weird thing, so it´s very possible that they ignore you". (Daniel G.)

"I think a child who is homeschooled would have more problems when working in a team because he would only be used to working with his or her parents and not with other people who can have different ideas to his". (Adrián G.)

"A boy or girl who has been educated at home tends to be shier as adults and have problems when communicating with others or making friends, but this also depends on the child". (Ariadna F.)

Other aspects to consider...

"How about the time for each class? If your parents think that for example Maths is a subject you are not good at they could teach you more hours". (Alba M.T.)

"It´s a good idea to go to a state school because people pay taxes in order to get an education for their children". (Marius R.)

"Thirdly, with this type of education it could be very difficult to have a job nowadays. Imagine a CV where it said "homeschooled". It wouldn´t be very helpful for your future". (Daniel G.)

"I strongly believe that evaluating each work a child does with a number could affect the child more than what teachers think. Having said that I know it´s not the teachers´ fault because it´s the only way they know to assess if we have learnt something". (Patricia H.)

"On the other hand, being homeschooled you would go over the syllabus faster, as there would be no need for continuously stopping the class because some classmates are talking or bothering. Moreover, there would be no need for repeating the same thing once and again if you already understand it, and your parents would be more focused on trying to explain what you still don´t understand". (Ana Mª S.)

"Finally in school you not only learn contents but also how to live. How to solve problems, how to talk in public, how to work with people you don´t like, how to learn from mistakes. You learn from teachers that don´t teach in an ideal way. You develop skills at school that you couldn´t develop at home". (Marta O.)

More Gulliver´s Travels

In Gleich people are created in factories. "(...) Gleich was a small but beautiful island full of natives who were called Gargeois and had found out the way to build high skyscrapers without damaging the environment. Gulliver loved that place, however, there was a problem: all Gargeois were identical. (...) They had a unique personality: they were kind and competitive  at the same time. They could be jealous and ambitious and finally, they were extremely reserved. There weren´t women in the island so babies were created in a factory. (...) Gulliver was going to abandon the city when some men captured him and took him to a prison where many people were caged. The mysterious men were actually the police and called the prisoners "nicht identisch". An old man told Gulliver that the factory where they were created had a virus and sometimes it created someone different. Those babies must be in a special jail until they die because they are defective. Gulliver couldn´t believe what the man told him. (...) They ran away and destroyed the factory so that everyone from that moment on could be different. In his last journey Gulliver learned something unforgettable. He learnt that our world is made up by millions of people who are different and that is possible because our differences make us unique and special. Trying to be another person won´t make us happy, because how would the world be if we were all the same? In my opinion, boring". (Marta G.)

Gulliver´s last voyage. "(...) Gulliver soon found out that the poor and misunderstood people were the ones who ruled while the rich and reasonable people were slaves who spent most of their time in cages. Long ago there had been a war and the rich people, called "Unfogians" drowned the misunderstood ones, called "Disongians". The Disongians survived and adapted themselves to live underwater. Then there was a tornado and the island where the Unfogians lived sank. They were captured by the Disongians and lost the war. The queen taught Gulliver their language and explained him everything, but he didn´t like the idea of of people living in cages. So, one night he set the Unfogians free. That choice was the mistake of his life, because they had been living in cages so long that the Unfogians had gone mad and wild. The second they left the cages they devoured him to death. That´s how Gulliver´s life and voyages ended". (Ana R.)

In Lisistrata women rule.  "(...) 'Lisistrata', said an inhabitant of the island to Gulliver, 'is the name of a woman who lived many years ago. She was really intelligent. In those days, there were hundreds of wars and nobody knew what to do to stop them. (...) She said that those MEN in charge of goverments were the ones responsible for everything and they should be dead. She started a strike: women won´t allow any men to sleep with them until wars finished. I don´t know if it worked, but she influenced a lot of people and she was finally killed. (...) [Following her example] in our towns mayors started to be changed by mayoresses and little by little things have been changing until nowadays, where every important position is occupied by a woman'.
-'But', argued Gulliver, 'do they work properly? I mean, men are better qualified for important jobs and they know how things must be done'. 
-(...)'Scientific research shows that women have the ability to retain more information in their brains than men. They know how to optimise their time and they are able to coordinate better than men (...)'. 
-'Well, but who is going to take care of children all day if women are in such important positions? Who cleans the house? Who cooks?'
-'We both have short working periods and we alternate to do the chores and take the kids where they need'.(...)
And Gulliver left thinking how could such an amazing country be ruled by women. It was so strange for him. But finally he decided to stay. (...)
Sometimes you just need to give second chances and be open-minded, you may discover that women are almost superheroes. Everything thanks to Lisistrata". (Marta O.)

In Wh173 everything is perfect... (or not?). "Gulliver arrived to an island called Wh173 where everywhere he looked he could see how everyone was just exactly alike the rest. It was as if there was a huge printer which made more and more copies of a single design, one for men and another for women. (...) Considering that he would surely get lost in that place where everything was the same, he decided to ask for some information about it. (...) Gulliver was told that they were in a place in which people didn´t have names, they were just designed by numbers, as if it was a new videogame set in a future where robots ruled, they were also born with an already assigned job and couple for their future, as well as the house where they would stay. This was an idea of a ruler who thought that this way conflicts, poverty and inequalities would disappear, and they did, but people were unhappy. They had evolved to become also physically equal, and that had turned them into who they were, robot-like humans whose creativity and abstract thinking was in levels below zero, but whose greatest ambition was to be like "the originals". The "originals" were people like Gulliver and the couple he was talking to, the ones who had ideas, creativity and different ways of thinking and being. (...)
Gulliver had an idea, they would splash the whole island with the brightest and most beautiful colours they had ever seen, so that instead of walking through white streets and sleeping in white rooms, people would be able to see hapier colours which might spark their hidden imagination. (...) The results were better than anyone expected and people started making progresses in every field: science, art, literature, architecture, etc. Because in a world without differences, how could we progress?"  (Ana Mª S.)

Fantastic work!

4ºD: I have a challenge for you...

So An Inspector Calls is boring... Yes, probably because, unlike How I live Now and Holes it is a theatre play and not a novel. Plays are not supposed to be read but performed (and watched)... Do you see my point? So what if you make a performance of an act of An Inspector Calls and record it like you did last year for Much Ado About Nothing?
This is a team activity (3-5 students per team), and each student has to assume a role (you organize the groups). Apart from that, you´ll have to carry out different tasks:

1. Director: is primarily responsible for the storytelling, creative decisions and acting of the film. S/he will have to give me a report of what each member has done (similar to the assessment sheet for the Literary workshops).
2. Scriptwriter: the one/s in charge of writing the script for the actors to learn.  You can use the graphic novel as a starting point (this year you don´t need to do a storyboard, it´s already done!)
3. Production designer: creates the visual conception of the film and is in charge of the sets, locations, costumes (remember the play is set in 1912), "special effects" and make up.
4. Director of photography:  S/he records the film and supervises photography.
5. Sound designer/Composer: chooses (or, why not, creates) the appropriate music and sound effects for the scenes. Ask Paloma for advice...
6. Actors, obviously. Every member must assume a role. 

Deadline: May 28 (Monday). You have to send me that day the film (in a common format please) and the directors have to give me their reports (I´ll give you a template).

Ready to boost your speaking mark and have fun? 

Gulliver´s 5th travel (3ºB, 3ºC)

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

Kukui, the island made of trash... "Gulliver´s fifth voyage was to an isalnd called Kukui. When he was arriving, he smelled something very stinky. Once he was there, he was shocked, in that island everything was made with trash. The people were dressed with trash, the buildings, the food, everything was trash. In Kukui there weren´t any animals, no birds, dogs or insects. Also there weren´t any tress, flowers or grass. (...) he also saw saw something strange, the sky was grey because of pollution, it was very hot in that island, but it was snowing. "How can this be possible?", he thought. All the inhabitants of Kukui were happy, they didn´t care about the huge problem they had. (...) "Look kid, we are fine, we are still alive, we don´t care if it´s hot and snows at the same time (...) everything is OK here...". (Laura C.)

Timeland, where time rules... "(...) The city was not very big, and there were millions of people running from place to place, but they were going so fast that they could only see a mass of people moving. (...) There was a big tower, it was the most important place in the city, he thought, because everybody was looking at it at any moment. The tower had a big clock which showed the hour and everyone depended on it. Gulliver tried to ask someone where he was or at least the name of the island, but when he started asking, they interrupted him because they were in a hurry. (...) Days passed and Gulliver planned something to stop that way of living and make people realize about their lives. While everyone was sleeping, he took the big clock from the tower and hid it. The next morning everyone was in the main square nervous and impatient because they didn´t know the time. So Gulliver stood near the clock and said: "Look what is happening, look at the life you are living. (...) Do you like what you are doing? Do the things you do make sense? You don´t know because you live like robots, machines... In conclusion, time has to depend on you and not you depend on time.(...)". Gulliver put then a big banner in the tower in which was written: "As time passes, you get older, so enjoy life as it was the last day". (Alba M.)

Welcome to Wifiland. "(...) Gulliver continued walking and not too far away he saw another restaurant. There was a sign that said "Free Wifi". He decided to enter. he couldn´t believe what his eyes were watching. There were groups of many people, but all those people were with their mobile phone on their hands. They had red eyes and they must have prtoblems in their fingers because they were moving them all the time while using their mobiles. He couldn´t understand why those people, who were surrounded by important people for them, did not speak, they were isolated from the world because of the phones". (Sofía E.)

In Oblivia everybody is hypnotized... "(...) The whole island was an amusement park. (...) Gulliver entered the park, everybody looked so happy, and their clothes were like futuristic and vintage at the same time. In the park there was a song, in repeat mode, all day long. At the waiting line, everyone advanced in the same way, at the same pace. He was the only one who didn´t do the same things as the inhabitants. When he finally got to the ride, he realized that you could only ride in pairs, only women and men, the seats were blue (for boys) and pink (for girls). When the day ended, he went back to his boat, a bit surprised about how those people didn´t realise and wasn´t affected by the problems around them. The next day everybody did the same things, the same song was played, the same problems where there and nobody did anything". (Melissa A.)

Mindless, where people have no bodies... "He travelled to Mindless, a world in which the only important thing is your appearance in the social networks. In this world the human species is disappearing, because people don´t know how to interact among themselves. In this world Gulliver was like a ghost, he could see everybody, but nobody could see him. (...) While they weren´t with the phone, they were preparing themselves to look nice in the photos for the social media or how many likes they have. (...) Rich people are so because they are famous in there. Some people forget to eat because of the net. (...) In this journey he realised what was going to happen to his world in the future. He told this journey to his family, but they thought he was crazy." (Ariadna S.)

In Monkuwoi, people never have enough. "When Gulliver arrived in Monuwoi he saw that there were normal people like him, but when he saw the people more carefully he realized that they had a very angry face, so he entered a restaurant to rest from the long trip and listened carefully to the conversations of the people. Everybody complained about something... all compaints were different... but at the same time they were all the same... they wanted more and more than they had, they never seemed to have enough things. And Gulliver thought if one day the inhabitants of Monkuwoi would realize that there are people who have less and are happier than them. (...) While Gulliver was sailing away from Monkuwoi, he thought that these people would never be happy because they would never have all that they wished...". (Mar R.)


Great work! More travels coming soon.

3rd term exam dates (B1B/C, 3ºB, 3ºC, 4ºD)

B1B/C

-Thursday May 3: Listening. ( 1.5 points)

-Friday May 11: Reading (1 point) and writing (2 points) exams. 

-Thursday May 17: The secret diary of Adrian Mole exam. (1 point). 

-Monday May 21: Grammar and vocabulary exam (cumulative). (3 points)

-Final exam (Reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary): pending (week from May 28 to June 1)

3ºB & 3ºC

-Friday April 20 (only 3ºC): Listening exam (10% of the total mark)
-Tuesday April 24 (only 3ºB):  Listening exam (10% of the total mark)

-Friday April 27: Reading and Writing exam (20% of the total mark).

-Wednesday May 16: Literature exam (20% of the total mark of the term -*Important: 30% min. correct to pass the term!). Contents:
-The 18th century.

-The Gulliver´s Travels: characters, plot.   

-William Blake. The School Boy. 

-The Romantic Movement. Frankenstein. 

-Friday May 18: Skellig exam. (10% of the total mark of the term -30% min. correct to pass the term). 

-Friday May 25: Grammar and vocabulary exam (cumulative, from unit 1 to the one we reach, 20% of the total mark). 

-Monday May 28: Literature/Readings Retakes (all terms) for students who didn´t reach the 30% correct in those exams. 

         

4ºD

-Friday April 20: Listening exam (10% of the total mark)

-Monday April 23: Writing exam (The term mark for the writing skill -10% of the total mark- will be the average between this exam and the mark of the compositions assigned as homework).

-Friday April 27: Reading exam (FCE parts 5,6,7; 10% of the total term mark).

-Monday May 7: Inspector Calls exam. 30% min. correct to pass the term. 10% of the total mark of the term. 

-Monday May 14: Literature exam. 20% of the total mark of the term. 30% min. correct to pass the term. Contents:
-British novelists in the first half of the 20th century. George Orwell´s 1984 (link to the video we watched in class). Virginia Woolf´s A Room of One´s Own. 
-British poets in the first half of the 20th century. The War poets: Wilfred Owen´s Dulce et Decorum Est (link to the video we watched in class). T.S. Eliot´s The Waste Land (extract worked in class). 

-Monday May 21: Grammar and vocabulary exam (cumulative). 20% of the total term mark.

-Monday May 28: Literature/Readings Retakes (all terms) for students who didn´t reach the 30% correct in those exams. 

Don´t forget that the Speaking mark (10% of the total mark) will be obtained from your participation in the Literary Circles.
          

The William Blake project (3ºB, 3ºC)

As you know, you have to prepare a videoclip based on a poem by William Blake. Deadline is May 3 and must be made in a common format.  Remember what I told you:

-Your voice must be recorded reciting the poem. Check the pronounciation of difficult words (here, for example) Don´t just copy and paste one videoclip from the net (I´ll notice!)
-Each line of the poem (more or less) should be accompanied by an image that matches it. You have to show me you understand the poem.
-It´d great if you could include good background music that relates to the topic of the poem.
-It can be done individually or in groups of 2/3 students (no more than 3 people per group please). The list of teams must be turned in on Monday 16 the latest. (In 3ºC Robert P., your representative, must elaborate it, please tell him ASAP). If you have chosen the poem by then you can also include the name.
-I showed you some examples of videos made by my students from past years. Here you are more.

Two links where you can explore some of most famous poems (but there are many more websites):
-Here you are a list of 10, and they are commented.
-Another website with more poems.

For the people who couldn´t attend Tuesday´s class because you were in the Theatre outing, this is the link for the video about Blake we watched in class (answer the questions in the quiz of the Blake leaflet I gave you, let me know if you have any doubts).

An Inspector Calls Reading plan (4ºD) Updated

This is the Literary Circles plan for An Inspector Calls on Thursdays. As usual, on Tuesday you have to hand in the Literary Circle worksheets.

APRIL 12: Act I (to page 25) 

APRIL 19: Act I (to the end)

APRIL 26: Act II

MAY 3: Act III

MAY 7: Exam

Do you have 5 minutes? J.B. Priestley, the author, has something very interesting to tell you.

Skellig Reading plan (3ºB, 3ºC)

Here you are the planning for the 3rd Term Literary Circles/Workshops about Skellig. As usual the Mondays before those dates you must turn in your LC worksheets. Where LW indicated, we´ll do a Literary Workshop (the Literary Circle worksheet is then optional).

APRIL 5: CHAPTERS 1 TO 9

APR 12: CH.10 TO 15

APR 19: CH. 16 TO 20 (LW)

APR 26: CH. 21 TO 28

MAY 3: CH. 29 TO 34

MAY 10: CH. 35 TO 40 (LW)

MAY 17: CH. 41 TO 46

MAY 18: EXAM

"We believe that schools inhibit the natural curiosity , creativity and intelligence of children. The mind needs to be opened out into the world, not shuttered down inside a gloomy classroom".

The Paris agreement

A video about Climate Change first.

Links about the Paris Climate Agreement:

Video 1
Video  2
The US position

Tutoría project (4ºD)

The Tutoría project this year ("El mundo se mueve, movamos el mundo") includes three different parts.

Part one. "A sutainable world": We will watch videos and read documents to later discuss them and come up with specific actions ("ecotasks") we can take on the issue. The Story of Stuff movie is the first video, we will also watch this one in the Educaixa website).

Part two. "A Committed World": What are you doing to make this a better world? An "ecopassport" will be issued where you can jot down different ecofriendly actions you are carrying out (a seal will be stamped on it for each one of the "ecotasks" you are doing). Apart from that I would also like you to share with the rest of the class your experiences in the Aprendizaje Servicio activities you are carrying out, for example teaching English in the Centro de Mayores Primavera.

Part three. We will make an urban garden in the school. Ideas welcome!


(Project designed by our school counsellor Yolanda Gómez)

Grammar revision (3ºB, 3ºC)

Online practice. Click on the links: 

Future Perfect and Continuous:
-The Future Perfect. Click on these links: #1, #2
-The Future Continuous (or "Progressive"): #3 , #4 
-Mixed Future tenses: #5 , #6  

Expressing Ability (can, could, be able to)
#1
#2
#3

Reported Speech (Statements)
#1
#2
#3

(Remember the contents are cumulative, revise also the ones for the first term)