MERRY CHRISTMAS

School resumes Thursday, January 7th, 2010

HAPPY XMAS, JUDITH!

Hi Judith!

How are you?. Thank you very much for your message. We hope you are having a wonderful time with your family and friends in the United States.

We also want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Your students in 2º ESO-Sección Europea

SPAIN: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Here is Judith´s presentation about Infantes. As you can remember, the sound wasn´t very good when we watched it in the classroom. The problem has been fixed and you can watch and listen to it now. Enjoy!.

A MESSAGE FROM JUDITH

Hello Everyone!

I am sending this message from the United States. I arrived safely on Friday, December 18^th after a 7½ hour flight from Madrid. I spent one night in Madrid on the way from Infantes. I enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations there.

Now I am in Connecticut and the weather is cold. This morning it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Do you know what temperature that is on the Celsius scale?

(Hint: 32 degrees F = 0 degrees C)

We are expecting a big snowstorm later today (Saturday). We could get as much as 2 feet of snow.

Do you know how many centimeters that will be?

(Hint: 1 foot = 30.48 centimeters)

There are going to be very high winds, too, maybe up to 35 miles per hour.

Do you know how many kilometers per hour that will be?

(Hint: 1 mile per hour = 1.6 kilometers per hour)

This type of storm is called a BLIZZARD.

My family and I are getting ready for Christmas. We celebrate Christmas with the some family traditions such as by seeing as many family members and friends as possible, decorating the house, giving presents (gifts) and eating some good meals.

I am going to celebrate this year by:

Giving a party for my family (nephews, brother-in-law, sons, husband, nieces)

Giving a party for my friends

Decorating the Christmas tree

Drinking eggnog*

Wrapping presents

Going Christmas caroling* at 6PM on Christmas Eve on the Town Green* in my town

Watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas*

Reading “The Night Before Christmas”*

Hanging our stockings by the fireplace

Opening presents on Christmas morning (December 25^th)

Eating a nice meal* on Christmas Day

Talking to friends and family on the telephone

Even though I am busy having fun, I am thinking of you and hope that you are having fun too! Have a wonderful vacation and

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Season’s Greetings!

From, Judith

*Eggnog is a traditional drink made from sugar, cream, eggs and nutmeg. It’s delicious!

*Caroling – is singing. This word is usually associated with the songs we sing at Christmas which are songs of joy.

*Town Green – is similar to a town square or plaza but it has grass instead of stones.

*The Grinch Who Stole Christmas- is a cartoon movie based on story written by Dr. Seuss in 1957.

*”The Night Before Christmas” is a poem written by Clement Clark Moore in 1823.

*Our meal will be shrimp, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green vegetables, chocolate mousse cake and strawberry ice cream.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN

Dear students,

I was really surprised this morning when you told me that you didn´t know who Charlie Chaplin was. To learn about this famous English comedian actor and film director click on the link below. You will be able to read about his biography, watch trailers of his films and much more.

Charlie Chaplin: Official Website

ACTIVITY

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2009

December 10 is Human Rights Day. It commemorates the 61st anniversary of the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year Human Rights Day focuses on ending discrimination.

POLL #9: WHAT TYPE OF TV PROGRAMME DO YOU PREFER?

Dear students,

24 people took our last poll: What type of TV programme do you prefer?. As you can see above, your favourive TV programmes are:

• Comedy programmes (37%)
• Cartoons (29%)
• Sports programmes (20%)

Next poll: Do you like Christmas?

SAINT ANDREW´S DAY

On November 30th Scotland celebrates St. Andrew´s Day.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and St. Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated the Day as an official public holiday. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew, and this is widely displayed as a symbol of national identity.

Read more: British life and culture

www.visitscotland.com

www.scotland.org

THANKSGIVING DAY

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. In the USA, It commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrims in 1621 who were thankful for the harvest and for the help of the Wampanoag people in teaching them to hunt, fish and grow crops during their first year in America. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated in much the same way. A large meal is shared and eaten with family and friends. People say thank you for their food and the good things they have in life. There are some special foods that are associated with Thanksgiving such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. Besides eating the Thanksgiving meal, Americans watch football, go to parades, travel and go shopping on the long holiday weekend.

I´d like to thank Judith, our Language Assistant, for her help to write this post.

Harrykindergarten´s Channel

GUY FAWKES DAY

Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated on November 5th in the United Kingdom. It's a British tradition dating back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. People celebrate the defeat of Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators with fireworks and bonfires.

There is a famous rhyme that goes:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November.

The Gunpowder, treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot

JOSÉ LUIS LOPEZ VÁZQUEZ

Spanish actor José Luis López Vázquez died yesterday in Madrid at the age of 87. Throughout his career he received many prizes such as the Gold Medal for Fine Arts in 1985, the National Theatre Prize in 2002 and a Goya of Honour Prize in 2004. He was also awarded an Emy in 1973 for the TV film "La Cabina". He starred more than 200 films, including "El pisito", "Atraco a las tres", "El Verdugo", "Patrimonio Nacional" and "Plácido".

Video (www.euronews.net)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This Saturday, October 31, is Halloween. As you already know it´s a very special celebration for many people in some English-speaking countries. Yesterday Judith, our Language Assistant, told us how Americans celebrate it and we learnt a lot.

I would also like to thank you for decorating our classroom. You did a great job!. Here are some pictures of the Halloween decorations you made.

HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!

SPRING FORWARD, FALL BACK

This Saturday night we must set our clocks one hour back, from 3 am to 2 am. Here in Spain, Daylight Saving Time, which began on the last Sunday of March, ends today, the last Sunday of October, but in The United States and Canada it always begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November.

Don't forget to change the time on your clocks back one hour before you go to bed tonight!

NEW LANGUAGE ASSISTANT

We have a new Language Assistant. Her name is Judith and she came from Connecticut, USA. We are very excited and we´d like to thank her for sharing her language and culture with us. We are sure our English will improve a lot with her help.

Thank you, Judith, for coming to teach us. We wish you a wonderful year in Spain!.

ACTIVITY: What do you know about Judith?. Click here.

ANCIENT GREECE

I have found many interesting websites about Ancient Greece. You can visit them and revise what you are studying in your History class. You can also learn many more interesting things about this period, and you can play some games, too.

Have fun and don´t forget to bookmark your favourite site!.

The Bristish Museum

Adventures in Ancient Greece

BBC / Ancient Greeks

Ancient History. Pppst

Channel 4 Learning

Ancient Greece

WORLD TEACHERS´DAY

October 5 is World Teachers´Day.

Click here to read more.

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

On 26 September 2009, the European Day of Languages will be held in Europe to celebrate linguistic diversity and promote
language learning.

Let's celebrate linguistic diversity!

Click here to read more about this day.

SCHOOL YEAR 2009-2010

Welcome back to school!.

I hope you had a great summer vacation.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

School starts September 16

GOOD BYE, CONNOR

Connor, our Language Assistant, finished working at our School on May 31. It´s been a pleasure to have worked with him. I would like to thank him for his dedication.

Connor, enjoy your time in Spain before you go back to the United States.

We´ll miss you a lot!. Good luck!

The students wrote some goodbye messages

POLL #8: WHAT´S YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF BOOK / FILM?

Results:

New question (Poll # 9): Have you got a pet?.