Beowulf animated movie

What is going on here?

Find it here.

Your kennings (3ºA,D)

Do you remember what a kenning is? Yes, a figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry; for example, sword storm is a kenning for battle. It´s basically a two-word metaphor. Let´s see some of the kennings your classmates have come up with. Can you guess what they refer to?

3ºA
Red heaven (by María):
Soul food (María):
Frozen memories (María):
Car sea (Gonzalo):
Chalk-owner (Lucía):
Students relief (Lucía):
Knowledge-giver (Gema Noelia):
Ambitious leaves (Irene A.):
Human book (Rubén): 
Moving cage (Irene T.):
Monster-maker (Andrés):
Earth´s veins (Alejandro): 
Car-paradise (Javier):
Power-giver (Javier):
Drop machine gun (Daniel):

 
3ºD
Flower power (Laura):
Teenagers´ jail (Raquel):
Intelligence-enhancer (Alejandro):
Information box (Alejandro):
Poverty-killer (Ángela):
Dream-factory (Verónica):
Modern scop (Sara):
Golden happiness (Sara):
Soul-rhyhtm (Inés):
Insects heaven (Inés):

McBeth´s (3ºA,D)

Did you like McBeth´s, the adaptation of Shakespeare´s Macbeth performed by Face2Face today at school? Now, for Friday 24 you must write an essay including these points about the play:

-Paragraph 1: Summary of the plot
-Para. 2: Main characters
-Para. 3: Topics dealt with in the play.
-Para. 4: Your opinion on the performance and the play.

Each paragraph must have a minimum of 50 words, so the composition in full must have no less than 200 words.

The extra exercises (also for Friday 24):

1. Go again to the link above and search for information about the actors in this theatre company. Which ones performed in the play we saw at school? Write down their names and nationalities, and say who you liked most and why.
2. This is an excerpt of the original play by Shakespeare (actually it was said by one of the characters in the adaptation), you must read it carefully (look up the words you don´t understand) and write down who you think said it, why he/she said it and in which moment of the play you think it was said:

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” 

Nice weekend! 

Paired Presentations (3ºA,D): Tips and assessment

Have you made these decisions for the presentation on October 15 yet? (If not, WHAT are you waiting for?)

-What are your main points?

-How are you going to distribute your time and points for the actual presentation? 

-Is there a good beginning? (Is it interesting enough as to capture the audience´s attention?)

-How are you going to argue your positions?

 -Which 3 hand gestures do you feel most comfortable with?  For which points might you use each hand gesture?

-Who is going to start the presentation? Who is going to finish it?

Assessment:

As you know, you will be evaluated on these aspects:

-Comprehension (Did you understand the speaker?): 

                     -SPEED

                     -CLEAR VOICE

                     -INTONATION (change the tone of your voice to emphasize your main points)

-Body language (Did the speaker use his/her body to communicate too?):

                      -STRAIGHT BACK 

                      -FIXED POSITION

                      -SMILE AND OPTIMISM

                      -HAND MOVEMENTS (2/3)

                      -EYE CONTACT (3 places)

-Preparation (Has the pair worked hard enough to prepare their presentation?):

                       -FLUENCY (no hesitations)

                        -TEAM WORK

If you need inspiration, don´t miss this presentation by Steve Jobs. Watch how he uses the tips mentioned:

Presentations (E3ºA,D)

Presentation topics for the 1.30 min speaking activity (in pairs) to take place on October 15. Choose one (topics can´t be repeated, they´ll be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis).

-The best thing that has ever happened to me (3ºD: Aitor+Alejandro) (3ºA: Laura+María)
-The worst thing that has ever happened to me(3ºD: Noelia+Silvia)
-A surprise I had (3ºA: Irene+Irene)
-A memory from childhood I´ll always remember (3ºA: Lucía+Gema Noelia)
-What is friendship? (3ºA: Noelia+Aroa)
-Bilingual education: pros and cons (3ºD: María M.+Raquel)
-A problem I have 
-Your most embarrassing moment.
-What would you like to change and why? (3ºD: Águeda+Ángeles)
-Things I can't understand (3ºA: Alejandro Z.+Jorge)
-Your most curious dream.
-High school is the best time in your life. Or not…
-Things you would change in our high-school
-Your favourite book (3ºA: Angela+Elisabet) (3ºD: Irene+María)
-Should mobiles be used at school?(3ºA: Nacho+Adrián)
-Your dream job (3ºD: Verónica+Ángela) (3ºA: Marielena+Beatriz)
-Will robots replace humans?  Will robots take our jobs? (3ºA: Daniel+Javier)
-Would you want to live on another planet? (3ºA: Rubén+Stefan)
-Social networking sites: pros and cons(3ºD: Razvan+ Diana)
-What will future houses look like? (3ºA: Ismael+Adrián)
-Sex roles (3ºD: Sara+Inés)

The Anglo-Saxons

The Romans invaded Britain in AD43. After that, for 400 years southern Britain was part of the Roman world. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in AD 410, and then new people came in ships across the North Sea. Historians call them Anglo-Saxons. The new settlers were a mixture of people from north Germany, Denmark and northern Holland. This happened during the 5th and 6th centuries. Later (8th and 9th centuries) the Vikings took the lead and invaded northern England and Scotland.

A mead-hall

The mead-hall was a large building with a single room. It was usually the great hall of the king where feasts and celebrations were held. Mead was an alcoholic drink made with water and honey.

A scop

 A scop was a poet in Anglo-Saxon times Most of the poetry at the time was recited at feasts and other gatherings (in the mead-hall) by scops who needed easy ways to remember it, that is the reason why alliteration was used.

"The Lady or The Tiger" endings (E3ºA)

Here are some of your endings for the unfinished story (Frank Stockton´s The Lady or The Tiger) we worked in class:

"He went to the door on the right and opened it.(...) There was a ring and a bouquet of red roses.(...)
-"Oh dad, what have you done?" asked the princess.
-"I changed the beautiful lady into a ring and a bouquet of roses. Because no woman is more beautiful than you, and he chose you from the first moment he saw you. He is innocent", explained the king. (...) The princess and the commoner lived together happily ever after".  (Noelia G.)

"Suddenly, a tiger appeared from the darkness and jumped onto the young man. As the man was very agile, he dodged the tiger´s attack. (...) The tiger was surprised, nobody had dodged the tiger before. (...) The spectators couldn´t believe it, even the king was astonished. The tiger had calmed down and it was lying lazily on the ground. The young man was stroking its fur as if it was just a cat.(...) He was the first person that survived the tiger. As a reward, the king allowed him to marry the princess". (Daniel V.)

"As he guessed, he found a beautiful lady behind the door, but his attention was on the princess. She was trying to hold her sadness and not to cry.(...) The lady was looking at him constantly and the priest had arrived to marry them, but the young man was extremely concentrated on his thoughts. Suddenly, he opened the tiger´s door and ran away. The tiger ate the lady and the priest, and in the middle of the chaos, the young man and the princess escaped". (Irene T.)

"Although he was shaking, the young man could open the door. (...) When the man could react, saw that inside that room there wasn´t anything. The responsible for this strange moment was the princess, who had put the tiger inside the room of the lady. (...) The princess and the young man ran away from the arena, (...) they arrived at the young man´s home. They decided to hide there from the king and his soldiers. Meanwhile, the king thought of a perfect plan to get rid of the young man. Two days later, the king and his soldiers went to the house and kidnapped him while the princess was sleeping. The next day the man woke up in a desert island without food or water". (Aroa M.)

Great work!

The Lady, or the Tiger: your endings. (E3ºD)

Do you remember the unfinished story The Lady Or The Tiger? (here you are the complete version by Frank Stockton). Let´s see some of the endings you have made up for it:

"He went to the door on the right and opened it. Behind the door there was a beautiful woman (...), she was beautiful, very beautiful, but she had a secret that only the king knew. She was a cruel witch. The young man didn´t know anything about that so he was now going to marry her. 
The day before the wedding the princess was walking around the castle when she heard the king and the lady talking about the real identity of the woman and her intention of killing the young man. The princess didn´t want the young man to die so she sketched a plan. 
The next morning when they were about to get married, suddenly the princess appeared with the enormous tiger that was behind the other door. She released it and the tiger devoured the evil witch and the king. Afterwards, the young man and the princess got married and they lived happily ever after". (Silvia M.)

"When he opened the door, the tiger was there, but (...) why wasn´t the tiger moving? (...). The tiger was deeply asleep because they used some special super effective sleeping pills on him. The lover opened a secret door and minutes later he was outside the colliseum. The princess was waiting for him.(...)
When the king discovered it, he became so angry that he decided to search for the secret door, but at that moment, the tiger woke up and as he was so hungry, well let´s say that no one saw him anymore". (Laura G.)

"When the door was completely open everyone could see thare was a huge tiger at the end of the cage. When the man was about to enter, someone threw a sword. (...). the man entered the cage and closed the door. (...) After an hour (...) the king ordered the soldiers to open the door to see if the man was already dead. (...) He was alive. The king decided he wasn´t guilty although he chose the wrong door and gave him a wish. The young man chose marrying the princess. When the king heard that he killed him. then the king was sent to the arena, where he was murdered by a giant beast, as he chose the wrong door...." (Ángeles A.)

"When the young man opened the door he found the beautiful lady in front of him so he was glad to know that he wasn´t going to be eaten by the hungry tiger.
The princess was very jealous (...) so she thought about a plan to get rid of the beautiful lady. (...) She left him a message: "I think I´ve just seen that beautiful lady with another man, you shouldn´t trust her". But the beautiful lady heard the message and convinced the young man that his princess was a liar.
The young man left a message for her: "Oh honey, why don´t we meet at the arena this afternoon?" The princess believed he was going to come alone although it wasn´t like that because the beautiful lasy came with him. The young man and the beautiful lady looked at each other and pushed the princess to the door where the hungry tiger was". (Inés A.)

"The tiger came out roaring and it seemed to be hungry, but the lover was brave and fought the tiger to win the king´s approval. After that the king became even angrier so he decided to go to the arena and fight the lover. The king was wearing his golden suit of armour. He gave the lover a helmet and a sword, which was very rusty, and told him to fight. (...) When the lover tried to hit the king the sword broke into pieces. then, the king killed him with his blade".(Lucas S.)

"As soon as he was about to discover who or what was inside, one of the persons watching yelled: "Stop! Wait a minute! Everyone was surprised. It was an old and mysterious man (...) who said: "I´m a king and I have come for justice. It´s not fair for anyone to come here and make this challenge between life and death just for your pleasure (...). I dare you to open this other door!", and with this said, he pointed to a new door.(...) As soon as he reached it, he opened it and stayed in a shock, completely confused. "Are you kidding me? Why is there nothing behind the door?". But for his surprise, the old man wasn´t there any more. (...). Before leaving, he had left a note which said: "(...) Being alone is what you deserve and that´s why you are going to spend the rest of your days there". As soon as this was read aloud for everyone to hear, the king was attracted by a supernatural force inside the room and the door closed forever". (Ángela A.)

"The lover was very scared, but when the tiger saw him he started hugging the man. He didn´t know why the tiger did that, but then he had a flashback and he remembered that when he was a child he had a tiger with  blue and brown eyes. The lover looked at the tiger and he also started hugging the tiger". (Aitor B.)

"A huge tiger came out and ate him. The King´s daughter cried. She actually thought that the lady was behind that door. And suddenly, she understood everything. Yes, the king, his own father, had put a tiger behind both doors! so it didn´t matter which door the prisoner would choose..." (Verónica T.)

Great work!

Beowulf (3º ESO)

Watch this trailer for the film Beowulf by Robert Zemeckis and answer the questions below:

-What is the setting of the story?
-Describe the characters you can see. What kind of traits do they have?
-What can you say about the action?
-Do you think this is story is based on factual events? 
-Could you come up with a short plot based on the trailer?
-Taking into account your previous answers, what kind of story do you think this is?

The Lady, or the Tiger?

Meet our assistants!

This course we are going to have five language assistants like last year. I asked them for a pic and a few lines about themselves. You know Mike already, but the rest are new. Curious about them?

MIKE:

Hi! I'm Mike Brotherton, I'm from Manchester in England. I am returning to LGB for my second year because I enjoy teaching at the school and love living in Madrid. I am an English Literature graduate and have taught English in London, Manchester, Italy and Spain. In my spare time I enjoy travelling, reading and music. I can play the guitar and used to sing for a rock band in England. I also enjoy sport, especially football and hiking. 


JADE:

Hi everyone! 

My name is Jade and I'm going to be one of your English Language Assistants this school year! 

I am 22 years old, and I come from a town called Limavady in Northern Ireland (A country that is part of the UK). Two years ago I worked as an assistant in a primary school in Alcalá de Henares as part of my university year abroad, and this July I graduated from Queen's University Belfast with a degree in French and Spanish.

I love travelling, and speaking french and spanish is really useful for that reason! I love to visit different cities and countries and discover new cultures.  Spain is my favourite country (of course!), mainly because of its wonderful weather (it rains a lot in Ireland...) and the different traditions and customs in each town and city. 

In my free time I used to love watersports like waterskiing and wake boarding, but unfortunately last year I had a few knee operations and so now I like to go to the gym, relax and read!

I'm really excited to meet you all and I hope that we'll have a lot of fun this year!

KARLA:

Name:  Karla Padawer Solomon
Age:  23
From:  New York, USA
Degree:  Psychology
Favorites:
Book:  A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
Song:  Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel
Hairdo:  Anything where my hair is not in my eyes
Color:  Purple . . . or blue . . . kind of both
Activity:  Writing
Phrase:  lo tengo en el bote
Place:  On top of any mountain where I can see a gorgeous view
Looking forward to:  meeting students, learning their stories, and engaging in a wonderful classroom experience with them.

Welcome to LGB! (The rest coming soon)

In Holland

We have just returned from The Netherlands. The exchange with the Maasland school is over now, it´s been seven great days with our Dutch partners full of activities and fun. We almost forgot the pathetic 5-1 match... Here you are some pictures:

The 66 students in full...

Maasland school

Impressive facilities

Animal care training

The school greenhouse

In Amsterdam

Walking through the Cube Houses in Rotterdam

On a boat tour along Rotterdam huge port

Surfing in Hoek van Holland

Visiting the Oude Kerk in Delft

We won´t forget these moments!

Your poems in Emily Dickinson´s style (E2ºC)

With or without you

"I used to feel alone
just as if I was unknown
I used to feel sad
because no one I had
to make from tears a smile,
to kiss me for a while,
to makes my days shorter,
to be my supporter.
But there was a day
in which I decided my way.
I thought I´d never be adored
and that someday I´d get bored
about all those tears I wept,
about all those secrets I kept.
I was unconnected to the Earth,
it was like a strange death.
So I preferred to move
to an imaginary groove
which nobody could see,
where nobody could enter for free.
No one could my dreams stop
because there, I reached the top.
Life is short
so I left my life´s port
to make my dreams come true
with or without you". (by Inés A.)


The useless cloak

"Run away little oak,
I´m sorry you´ll have to choose alone
if you stay at home
or if you go and come back with a cloak.
The cloak of knowledge,
I´m telling thee,
someday you will come with
just like me.
Don´t say you´ll be brave,
that you´ll go away,
because of your own life
you could become your own slave,
and your beautiful cloak,
little oak,
won´t be enough
to protect yourself,
I´m just warning you,
it will be tough". (by Sofía B.)

Great work!

E1ºB Whatifs

Here are your poems in Shel Silverstein´s "Whatif" style:

Whatif my hair falls down?
Whatif a murderer comes to town?
Whatif my nightmares become real?
Whatif all the water transforms into tears?
Whatif my car crash (should be crashes, why not Whatif there is a big car crash?)
Whatif I wake up with a gash? 
Whatif I have to go to September? 
Whatif  I don´t remember?
Whatif we don´t have a second chance?
Whatif  a knight nails me with his lance?
Whatif books don´t have a plot?
Whatif wars don´t stop?  
Whatif Samuel doesn´t see this poem´s rhyme?
Whatif the marks of my classmates are better than mine? (Álvaro G.)

Whatif I go to the park?
Whatif aliens are waiting for me in the dark? 
Whatif they eat ants?
Whatif they are hiding in my pants? (Gabriel F.)

Whatif Atlético de Madrid wins the Champions? 
Whatif Spain separates in nations?
Whatif Kiev starts a war?
Whatif I manage a bar? (Javier G.) 

Whatif Obama loses his codes?
Whatif then the earth explodes?
Whatif Hitler didn´t die?
Whatif he could tell us a lie? (Sandra G.) 

Whatif when I speak I lie?
Whatif I live in the sky?
Whatif my best friend is a famous gay?
Whatif my mother starts to cry? (José Luis O.)

Whatif I found Nemo in my shower?
Whatif Superman gives me his superpower?
Whatif I climb a tower? 
What if the world doesn´t have any flowers? (Andrea R.)

Shel Silverstein´s "The Toad and the Kangaroo" (E1ºB)

Do you remember the beginning of the poem about the toad and the kangaroo by Shel Silverstein?


Said the Toad to the Kangaroo,
"I can hop and so can you,
So if we marry we'll have a child
Who can jump a mountain or hop a mile
And we can call it a Toadaroo"
Said the hopeful Toad to the Kangaroo.
Said the Kangaroo, "My dear,
What a perfectly lovely idea.
I would most gladly marry you,
But as for having a Toadaroo,
I'd rather we call it a Kangaroad",
Said the Kangaroo to the frowning Toad.

These are some of the endings you have made up for the poem:

"The toad: But my friend Kangaroo
The name of Toadaroo
is beautiful and old
The kangaroo: But my friend Toad
if we don´t agree early
we´ll have to call it Charly
The toad: But Charly is weird
and I couldn´t call him dear
The kangaroo: weirder are the other names
that it appears to be a game
so we´ll call him like that,
or I´ll marry with my friend the cat". (Álvaro C.)



"Said the Toad to the Kangaroo,
'I won´t marry you!
Better I look for a bee
and so I´ll feel free.
Our child will hop or fly,
and we´ll smile!'

Said the Kangaroo, 'OK,
your future will be grey!
I will feel well alone
when you all have gone.
Bye bye, I will eat rice
looking at sunrise'.

The Toad goes
and the Kangaroo does
they look for another
and they meet each other.
They start to talk
and no one wants to walk". (Sandra G.)


"They didn´t agree
on how the name will be.
So they finally get married
and the baby will be called Larry.

The baby only wanted to jump
he was sometimes taking a cup.
He just wanted to fly
over a blue and big sky.

He went to school
he thought it was very cool.
With people in the corridor
and berries in the comedor" ( Paula F.)


Comedor Paula? Ehem...