TO OUR NEW FRIENDS IN BLY, OREGON

A group of students from Bly, Oregon,wrote to us a few days ago. They would like to be our friends. In their letters they told us about themselves, their school and their town. We are very exited about having some friends in the United States, so we wrote them back yesterday morning. This is our letter:

Dear new friends,

Thank you for your letters. We liked them a lot!. We would like to know you better and continue writing letters back and forth.

We are a group of 12-13 year old students in 1º ESO (this is the 7th grade in the USA). There are 31 students in our group, 19 girls and 12 boys. The name of our school is “IES Francisco de Quevedo”. IES means “High School” so you know. There are 600 students and around 60 teachers. We are in a special class called “The European Section” , which means that we study 3 subjects in English: Physical Education, Art and Geography & History.

Our school is in Villanueva de los Infantes, which is a small rural town in the province of Ciudad Real, in the middle of Spain. There are 5,000 people in this town. Not everybody lives in the same town. Some of us come from nearby towns by bus. This year we have an American teacher, Connor. He helped us with this letter.

We can´t wait to hear from you!.

Talk to you soon!

Your Spanish friends.

P.S. - Alfonso, our English teacher, took these pictures while we were writing this letter:

ACTIVITY: What do you know about Oregon?. Take this quiz and find it out?.

UP

The 62nd Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday, May 13th, with UP, a 3D Pixar movie. It is the first time that an animation movie opens this prestigious film festival in the French city of Cannes.

UP tells us the story of Carl Fredricksen, a 78 year-old widower, who fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of ballons to his house and flies away to South America.

ANTONIO VEGA

Antonio Vega, one of the most important Spanish singers and composers, died this morning of lung disease at the age of 51. In 1978 he founded "Nacha Pop" with his cousin Nacho García Vega. This legendary band was one of the most influential bands in Spanish Pop Music.

Nacha Pop released seven albums before they broke up in 1988. In 1991, Antonio Vega launched his solo career. He released nine albums and was nominated for one Grammy in 2000.  As a composer he wrote La chica de ayer, which is considered to be one of the most important Spanish Pop songs.

May he rest in peace

Gigolo Aunts, a band from Boston, USA, heard the song in Spain in 1999. They liked it and decided to translate it and sing it in English.

"THE GIRL FROM YESTERDAY"
(Antonio Vega)

One day you don't even know what time it is
You lay by my side but still you don't know why
The empty streets have seen you grow and change
But I know in your heart you might be crying again

I look out of the window for the girl I knew yesterday
Smiling in the flowers of my favorite garden
Too hard to understand too late to comprehend
While you and I can never be together again

The early morning light that slowly fills the room
Makes your golden hair shine like the sun
And late up in Penta I'm still listening to
Every song that ever made me fall for you..fell for you

I look out of the window for the girl I knew yesterday
So hard to understand there's nothing I can do
Now I'm going out of my mind following you
Going out of my mind following you...

Other important songs by Antonio Vega are:

El sitio de mi recreo

Se dejaba llevar...

The death of Antonio Vega in the media (in Spanish):

TVE (Televisión Española)

EL PAÍS

PÚBLICO

CUATRO

www.cuatro.com

A TRIP TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

Last month Irene went on a trip to the Rocky Mountains. Her backpack was full of things.



ACTIVITY: Do you remember what she packed?.

Yes  No

POLL #7: WHAT´S YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF WEATHER?

Our seventh poll expired days ago and 18 of you (58% of the class) took it. The question was: "What´s your favourite type of weather?".

Results:

- Hot: 28%
- Warm: 22%
- Snowy: 22%
- Cold: 5.6%
- Rainy: 5.6%

- Sunny: 5.6% 

- Foggy: 5.6%

- Windy: 5.6%

New question (Poll#8): What´s your favourite type of book / film?.

EARTH DAY

Dear students of 1º ESO-Sección Europea,

It was Earth Day last Wednesday, April 22nd, and to celebrate it I proposed to wear something green to school that day. Many of you accepted my proposal and wore one item of green clothing. I am happy to know that I have a lot of "green" students.

Thank you very much.

Connor (left) and me (right) with the class.

From left to right: David Pacheco, Jesús Arias and Lidia Mata.

From left to right

Front Row: Paula Molina and Irene Talavera.

Middle row: Cynthia Clemente and Sara Gómez.

Back row: Ismael Torres and David Vélez.

From left to right

Front Row: mª Ángeles García and J.Javier Pacheco.

Middle row: Mª Paz Montalvo and Verónica Romero.

Back row: Bárbara Lorenzo.

From left to right

Front Row: María Chocano and Sara Pérez.

Second row: Rafael Serrano and Inés Fernández-Yáñez.

Third row: Guillermo Jiménez and Alberto Villar.

Fourth row: Sergio Segundo.

Fifth row: Pablo Marco

Back row: Celia Navarro and Carmen Valverde.

Part of the class.

From left to right

Front Row: Sara Gómez and Cynthis Clemente.

Back row: Irene Talavera and Paula Molina.

Back: Verónica, Mª Paz, J.Javier Pacheco and Mª Ángeles.

David Pacheco (left) and Jesús Arias (right).

Celia Navarro (left) and Carmen Valverde (right).

Back to front: Celia, Carmen, Pablo and Sergio.

From left to right

María Pozo, Gonzalo Martínez and Juan Fermín Zopeque.

David Vélez.

1º ESO - Sección Europea.

ACTIVITY: 
Make a list of the possible ways in which we and our school might celebrate "Earth Day" next year. What things might we do?. What events might we organise?. Write your ideas here.

BOOK DAY

April 23 is a symbolic date for world literature because on this day in 1616 two very important writers died: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. This date was established by UNESCO as the "World Book and Copyright Day" to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property.

It´s also St.George´s Day, England´s National Day.

EARTH DAY

Wednesday April 22nd is Earth Day. To celebrate this day and to make it different from other school days wear something green to school tomorrow. It can be anything: a green sock, a green sweater, a green t-shirt, a green scarf, a green hat, a pair of green shoes…

Have a nice and green day!

JOBS

Hi, again!

I hope you had a wonderful "Easter" vacation.

Now it´s time to work!. Today we have studied a new topic in class: "Jobs". To revise the vocabulary we have learnt go to "Our Vocabulary Blog" , and to learn some extra words you can visit a very interesting website where you can do many different activities related to "jobs".

Click here to visit the site.

www.britishcouncil.org

SPRING BREAK

CASTILLA-LA MANCHA & TOMATO TOAST

I recently have discovered a breakfast that has changed my life and although it took twenty five years to find it since its encounter my life has been anything but just “plain toast.” I’ve come to Spain as an assistant teacher in a bilingual program in Villanueva de los Infantes which is in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha. For those who don’t have the geographical map of Spain under their control this tiny town is basically right smack in the center of the country and can only be referenced to me to be like Nebraska in the United States. The land here at first glance is absolutely as plain, boring and manicured as any other agricultural area, and for those who don’t stop to smell the proverbial roses or to appreciate its beauty it can look quite ugly, repugnant, unsightly, flavorless and simple. But beneath the raked fields of monotonous corduroy and the endless rows of olive and wine vineyards lays an untold and complex beatitude that accompanies the simplicity of this flat Mediterranean land

scape that can only be understood with time and open senses. This is perhaps why this wonderfully modest breakfast has become not only an enjoyment in my day but is also, to me, a representation of this tasteful region.

I’m not going to sugar coat the ingredients because they are what they are and I’m not going to detour away from this: Baguette bread toasted, with grinded up tomato spread on top. Grinded tomato and bread for breakfast perhaps to some isn’t exactly the most appetizing item on the menu nor is it perhaps the most alluring when compared to eggs, onion and potatoes with a slice of ham on the side but it’s not about what you see or what it looks like, it’s how you view it and what you do with it to make something norm

al it into a delightful experience.

The grinded up tomato and toast comes with: a fork, a napkin olive oil and salt. The process has been slow and tedious but I think I now know what these “Manchegos” (people from Castilla La Mancha) have been experiencing for generations upon generations. The fork is the key for opening the door to deliciousness. Like the farmer uses a plow to scrape the land so must the fork be used in a similar way to allow the seeds to penetrate the surface, but in this case the seed is salt. A slow light sprinkle of salt over the bread and tomato ensures a healthy flavor. With a monsoon like downpour of fresh olive oil the salt accompanies the flow into the punctured exterior and is soaked up by the porous earth below. The end result is far from unappealing to the taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell and you’ll know as the aroma that accompanies the rising steam of the toast in the morning air and the b

rilliant light reflects upon the olive oil covering the reddish level landscape and leaves your fingers smooth and soft with its remnants while the crunching, crackling, snapping and rolling ruffle of the bread vibrates through your ears delivering to your mouth an honest natural flavor leaving you crying out for more and more, that what you’ve experienced is not just grinded up tomato and bread, it’s “Una tostada con tomate", and it’s something special.

Connor Stava

Language Assistant

"Francisco de Quevedo" High School

MY RECIPE FOR: 

TOAST AND TOMATO (TOSTADA CON TOMATE)

Ingredients needed: 

1. Bread

2. 1 Tomato

3. Olive oil

4. Salt

Utensils needed:

1. Toaster

2. Knife

3. Fork

4. Plate

Instructions: 

Step 1: Cut bread in half and place into toaster

Step 2: While bread is in toaster slice the tomato thinly

Step 3: Take Toast out of toaster

Step 4: Place tomato onto warm toast

Step 5: Poke holes into the toast and tomatoes with fork

Step 6: Spread olive oil over toast graciously

Step 7: (optional) Spread olive oil around with knife

Step 8: Lightly salt the bread and tomato and if you like, put a little on the plate 

Step 9: Enjoy!!

APRIL 1: APRIL FOOLS' DAY

April 1 is April Fools' Day, the day on which people play jokes on each other and newspapers include stories that aren't true!. It is the equivalent of the Feast of the Holy Saints (El Día de los Santos Inocentes) in Spain, which is celebrated on December 28.

Have you ever played a joke on someone and then, just when that person has fallen for it, said "April Fools!"?. Read more...

EARTH HOUR

Yesterday, March 28, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time, hundreds of millions of people around the world switched their lights off to show global leaders they want strong action to tackle climate change.

This global event, called Earth Hour, is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually. People are asked to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.

Spain was one of the participants. Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona and Bilbao are some of the Spanish cities that switched off their lights for an hour.

POLL #6: WHAT´S YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY ACTIVITY?

Our sixth poll expired a few days ago and 16 of you (52% of the class) took it. The question was: "What´s your favourite holiday activity?".

Results:

- Sunbathe on a beach: 68%
- Walk in the mountains: 12%
- Eat local food: 12%
- Buy souvenirs: 6%
- Visit museums and monuments: 2%

New question (Poll#7): What´s your favourite type of weather?.
I´m waiting for your votes!

THEATRE IN ENGLISH

On March 17 some students and teachers from our High School attended a theatre perfomance in “La Encarnación” Auditorium in Villanueva de los Infantes. Moving ON Theatre Company performed a dynamic show called “Food for Thought”. The show was a great success and our students enjoyed a lot.

Here is a selection of some of the pictures taken during the show.

Food for Thought

Moving On Theatre Company

MY LUCKY DAY

Eric Herman wishes you a Happy St. Patrick´s Day with this funny song about a particularly lucky day.

Eric Herman - Cool tunes for kids

ACTIVITY: Read the lyrics of this song and fill in the gaps with the correct word.

POLL #5: WHAT´S YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF MEAT?

Our fifth poll expired a few days ago and 13 of you (42% of the class) took it. The question was: "What´s your favourite type of meal?". 

Results:

- Pork: 23%
- Lamb: 8%
- Beef: 8%

- Chicken: 61%

- I don´t like meat: 0%

New question (Poll#6 - Unit 6): What´s your favourite holiday activity?.
I´m waiting for your votes!