"Tragedy in the Bathroom" activity (1º Bachillerato)

You´ll hopefully remember this composition I gave you back corrected, won´t you? With the sheet in front of you (you´ll need the picture with the person lying in he bathroom apparently dead to understand it better), read how this very creative classmate of yours has made hypotheses in the past about how this murder (or accident) may have happened. I´ve just corrected a few mistakes!

"When I arrived at my hotel room this scene is what I saw. First of all I let the person in charge of the hotel know what had happened there. I was very nervous but while the police were coming, the man and me tried to know why this woman was dead.

'She may have been having (or may have had) a shower and when she finished someone might have aimed at her with a gun. Then, she could have run but she she might have tried to defend herself with the toothbrush. The murderer must have shot her in her dead. At that moment she may have fallen and the small bottle of cologne too', said Jim, the man in the hotel.

I think she may have been arguing (may have argued) with her boyfriend and then he may have taken a shower. While he was in the shower, she must have been brushing her teeth. When he finished, he might have taken the small bottle and may have thrown it at her. Then, she might have covered the dead body with the towel.

These are some hypotheses but anyway the woman may have also died because of the soap (she may have slipped with it) or because she may have seen how much she weighed in the scales and she might have fainted. I don´t really think so, it must have been another person: Can you see the footprints?".

(Alba M. 1ºD)

First Conditional

Let´s practice with Conditionals! Click on the links:
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4

TV commercials

Watch these TV commercials (click on the link below) and do the following:
-Explain what is going on there, what´s the story in the ad.
-Say what product, concept, etc they are advertising in them.
-Is the commercial effective in your opinion? Why? Did you like it? Why?

COMMERCIAL #1
COMMERCIAL #2
COMMERCIAL #3
COMMERCIAL #4
COMMERCIAL #5

The Should game

Click on this link , then click on the link Giving advice -Board Game to practice using Should and find the solutions for all these problems. Remember to use should!

Relative practice (1ºBachillerato)

More practice on relative clauses (for your eyes only). Click on the links and do the drills on line. The exercises are self-corrected so you won´t need me: -Theory. (you can skip it if you feel you know it already) -Drill 1 -Drill 2 -Drill 3 -Drill 4 -Drill 6

Comparatives & Superlatives

Let´s compare!
Click on these links:
#1
#2
#3
#4

Funny restaurant commercials (Ampliación)

As a warming-up activity for your restaurant commercial project, check out this commercial and comment on it.

Countable/Uncountable

-Much or Many? That´s the question! Do these drills! Clear now? Do these ones just in case!!
-Some or any? Check it out here!
-(A) little or (a) few? Link. What about trying this one too?
-The last exercise for today: go here.

Frightening stories

Have a look at these spine-chilling stories written by students of 1ºD (Bachillerato):

Dream or Reality? (by Jesús M.)
Do you believe in ghosts? I don´t, but if you had been that night in the same place as me, you would change your opinion. It was a very hot summer day and as you can imagine I was on holidays. This year my family and me went to my uncle´s house in Ibiza, a nice house 5 km from the beach. That day we came home at night, we were tired after enjoying a lot. When we went to bed, my father and me slept on my uncle Abel´s couch, few minutes later I fell asleep. Until then everything seemed normal, but the horrible thing happens right now. I don´t know why, I opened my eyes in the middle of the night and there was the scariest thing that I had ever seen in my life. A girl with her face hidden by hair and a doll in her hands was right in front of my father looking at him. I remember very well this, I couldn´t scream or move and I felt very cold but all happened very quickly, in 20 seconds the girl disappeared. You can think that I was dreaming and I thought so too but the worst was that the next morning when I got up the doll was at my feet.

Eyes (by Joaquín R.)
Once upon a time there was a very beautiful girl called Susan. Everybody liked her but nobody had tried to talk to her. She was tall and thin, and she always wore sunglasses. One day Paul was going for a walk when he saw her, he couldn´t stop staring at her. Paul fell in love with Susan and he felt he had to meet her. Then he decided to go and talk to Susan. They were talking for a few minutes when she took off her sunglasses. Paul could see that she hadn´t got eyes. He was very frightened and started to run. It was too late because she caught him and then she took out his eyes and put them in her eye holes. The street seemed a flood of blood. Hours later, a person went to help Paul, but he killed him quickly and caught his eyes. The dead person came back to life and went home. Paul then warned everybody about the curse. It is a "string of death" and now the people live with terror because somebody has the "eye curse" and can kill you for your eyes...

So beware of people with sunglasses...

The Past Simple

Past Simple practice (affirmative): Click here.
Past Simple in the negative: Practice it here.
Questions in the Past Simple: Click here
Irregular verb practice: Click here
Irregular verb crosswords: Click here

Biography practice (1ºD)

Biography of Fernando Alonso (by Marcos Muñoz):

"What do you feel when you are driving at 372 km/h? If you know the anwer of this question maybe you have been fined. But F1 drivers like Fernando Alonso know that feeling very well.

When he was young he loved cars. He was competing in kart championships until 1997, when he won the main Spanish kart championship. He has raced since then. While he was living in Asturias, he started to compete in F3. He achieved the first position in Belgium in this category. Fernando has competed in F1 since 2001, his first F1 team was Minardi, he signed for them in 2001. By 2006 he had signed with Renault, had won the F1 championship and had won the Principe de Asturias award. After he had won his second championship in 2006, he signed for the McLaren team. But that year was the worst in his career because he lost the championship after a lot of conflicts with his team partner, Hamilton. By 2009 he had signed for Renault again. He has been with Ferrari for seeral months. In 2010 he was living in Madrid when he married a well-known singer. Now he is competing with Ferrari but he hasn´t achieved his third F1 championship yet.
In conclusion, he is a great driver and a great person, I will cheer him for the rest of his career".


Biography of Angeline Jolie (by Alba Martínez):

"She has performed for 29 years, since she was 7. In 2000 she performed in "Tomb Raider", "Lara Croft" and since then, she has been famous. Soon after she started to be interested in charity activities. That year she joined ACNUR and later she was considered an important person in that organization. In 2002, Angelina met Afghan refugees in Pakistan and she donated 1 million dollars for their country.

While she was filming "Mr and Mrs Smith" her relationship with Brad Pitt started. By 2009 she had already filmed "Kung-Fu Panda" and she was working for a new film, "The Tourist", with J.Depp. Angelina had married twice before he relationship with Brad Pitt.

This year she hasn´t received any awards yet, but she has received one Acadmy Award and 3 Golden Globe awards since her career began. Now she´s filming her first movie as a director in Hungary".

Image comment

Have a look at this trailer. Comment on the images:
-What kind of film is it?
-Can you try to guess the plot?
-Would you like to watch it? Why?

Canada

Have a look at these Canada symbols. Do you recognize them?

Oral presentation guidelines

1.Organising the content

a.Introduction

Capture your listeners’ attention: Begin with a question, a funny story, a startling comment, or anything that will make them think.

-State your purpose; for example:
‘I’m going to talk about...’
‘This morning I want to explain…’

-Present an outline of your talk; for example:
‘I will concentrate on the following points: First of all…Then…
This will lead to… And finally…’

b.The Body

-Present your main points one by one in logical order.

-Pause at the end of each point (give people time to take notes, or time to think about what you are saying).

-Make it absolutely clear when you move to another point. For example:
‘The next point is that ...’
‘OK, now I am going to talk about ...’
‘Right. Now I'd like to explain ... ’
‘Of course, we must not forget that ...’
‘However, it's important to realise that...’

-Use clear examples to illustrate your points.

c.The Conclusion

-It is very important to leave your audience with a clear summary of everything you have covered.

-Make it obvious that you have reached the end of the presentation.

-Summarise the main points again, using phrases like:
‘To sum up...’
‘So, in conclusion...’
‘OK, to recap the main points…’

-Restate the purpose of your talk, and say that you have achieved your aim:
‘I think you can now see that...’
‘My intention was ..., and it should now be clear that ...’

-Thank the audience, and invite questions:
‘Thank you. Are there any questions?’

2.Delivering your presentation

-Talk to your audience, don't read to them! A presentation is not the same as an essay.

-If you read out your presentation as if it were an essay, your audience will probably understand very little and will lose concentration quickly.

-Speak to the audience. Include everyone by looking at them and maintaining eye-contact (but don't stare or glare at people).

a.Watch your language!

-Keep it simple. The aim is to communicate, not to show off your vocabulary.

-Emphasise the key points—and make sure people realise which are the key points. Repeat them using different phrasing.

b.Use your voice to communicate clearly

-Speak loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear you. This may feel uncomfortably loud at first, but if people can't hear you, they won't listen.

-Speak slowly and clearly.Don’t rush! Speaking fast doesn’t make you seem smarter, it will only make it harder for other people to understand you.

-Key words are important. Speak them out slowly and loudly.

-Vary your voice quality. If you always use the same volume and pitch (for example, all loud, or all soft, or in a monotone) your audience will switch off.

-Slow down for key points.

-Use pauses—don't be afraid of short periods of silence. (They give you a chance to gather your thoughts, and your audience a chance to think.)

c.Use your body to communicate, too!

-Stand straight and comfortably.

-Hold your head up. Look around and make eye-contact with people in the audience. Do not just address the lecturer! Do not stare at a point on the carpet or the wall. If you don't include the audience, they won't listen to you.

-When you are talking to your friends, you naturally use your hands, your facial expression, and your body to add to your communication. Do it in your presentation as well. It will make things far more interesting for the audience.

-Don't turn your back on the audience!

d.Interact with the audience

-Be aware of how your audience is reacting. Are they interested or bored? If they look confused, ask them why. Stop if necessary and explain a point again.

3.So you are nervous…

-The first few times you make a presentation, you will be nervous. That's quite a good thing—a bit of adrenalin often helps you to perform well.

-However, to make sure that your nervousness does not become a problem, here are some things to consider:

-Smile! Your audience will react warmly to you if you smile and at least look relaxed.

-Treat your audience like friends.

-Confess that you are nervous! Your audience will be very sympathetic—they know how you are feeling.

-Breathe deeply. It will calm you down and help to control the slight shaking that you might get in your hands and your voice.

-Be well-prepared. Practise giving your talk

-Be organised. If you are well organised, your task will be easier.

-Slow down! When people are nervous, they tend to get confused easily. So your mind may start to race, and you may feel panicky. Make use of pauses: force yourself to stop at the end of a sentence, take a breath, and think before you continue.

-Remember: The way you perform is the way your audience will feel. Giving an oral presentation is a performance—you have to be like an actor. If you act the part of someone enjoying themselves and feeling confident, you will not only communicate these positive feelings to the audience, you will feel much better, too.

-Check if the audience is still with you.
‘Does that make sense?’
‘Is that clear?’

(Adapted from the Academic Skills Program of the University of Canberra. Link.)

A trip to London

Look for information on the net to answer these questions and write them in the worksheet:

1.What is the London Eye? How many capsules has it got? How many people can travel in each capsule? Go here to get the information.

2.What is The Monument? What does it commemorate? Who built (to build: construir) it? When? Information here.

3.What is Canary Wharf? What is the name of the tallest building of the Great Britain? Info here.

4.What is the most famous cathedral in London? Who built it? When? Google the word and good luck!

5.What is the Millennium Dome? Which architect designed it? When was it opened? Info here.

6.What was the Tower of London? What symbol of Great Britain can you find inside? Is it open on Mondays in January? Click for information here.

7.This is a famous building in London built by architect Norman Foster:

What is its name? How tall is it? When was it finished? Info here.

Say another building Norman Foster built in London.

8.How many airports are there in London? Name them. Info here.

10.What is the name of the wax museum of London? How much does the standard ticket cost?

Google it to get the info!

11.What is the name of this bridge?

A clue: Norman Foster built it.... Google it for the info!

12.What is the Westminster Abbey? What is it famous for?Info here.

13.What is the Speaker´s Corner? Where is it? Info.