Thanksgiving has been celebrated and this is our contribution: 
our Thankful Tree (1º ESO B)

Today is.....................

THANKSGIVING DAY (Thursday, 28th November)

What do you know about this American tradition? Read the following powerpoint and answer the questions below.  We'll correct them in class.

Thanksgiving Powerpoint from maypulido

Questions:
1) What's Thanksgiving day?
2) When is Thanksgiving celebrated?
3) When did the tradition start? Why?
4) How long did the pilgrim's voyage take?
5) How was the first Thanksgiving celebrated?
6) What is the traditional food people eat? 

Today is..............

GUY FAWKES NIGHT!!

Guy fawkes night from mjlora

 After watching the powerpoint presentation, answer the following questions:

1. Who was King of Britain in 1605?
2. When did the plotters plan to blow up the Parliament Building?
3. Who was the person who had to guard the barrels of explosives?
4. Where did the plotters put the barrels of explosives?
5. When were Guy Fawkes and the other plotters hanged?
6. What happens on the night of 5th November? 

 We'll correct them in class.

 

HALLOWEEN  HAS  BEEN  CELEBRATED  AND 

THESE  ARE  THE  RESULTS

                            

Halloween activities for 3º ESO

This is just to help you with your powerpoints. Have a look at the following links........

1) Halloween Webquest: It includes activities on the history of Halloween, popular traditions, global celebrations and terrifying tales.

2)  Halloween vocabulary and reading

3) History of Halloween

4) History of Jack o'lantern

5) Halloween Festivity  

6) Halloween online : a guide to everything Halloween

7) The history of Halloween: origins 

Halloween activities for 1º ESO

Click on the image and do the activities included in the Halloween interactive book. Remember! It reviews vocabulary, prepositions of place and traditions.

You can also click on the image above and try the activities and you'll find there.

Halloween is coming..............

Students in the third and fourth year of ESO will have to make a project on Halloween. Here you've got several ideas to include. You can also have a look at our last year entries which are included in our festivities tag. Click on the images and discover much more.................

May Day!!!!

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is said to be a time of love and romance. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. (taken from http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/)

Traditional English May Day celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and dancing around a Maypole. Follow the links to learn more things about these traditions.

There are some photos here to show them:

May Day Pole

Dancing around May pole

Morris Dancing

          

St. George's day, 23rd April

The Patron Saint of England is St. George  and his national holiday is celebrated on April 23rd of every year. However, although this is England's national holiday is not a public holiday. This means that schools, business, post offices, public transportation, and other organizations are open as usual.The traditional customs are to fly the St. George's flag and wear a red rose in one's lapel.

People celebrate St. George's Day in very different ways:

•  organizing a fun activity with friends or family members. These include things like bowling, watching films, even going dancing.
•  hosting a barbecue. You can cook traditional English food and have a good time with other people!
•  attending an official event such as a concert. There may be autograph sessions with musicians and sometimes there are even free refreshments!
•  in London they celebrate at Trafalgar Square with a fresh and varied selection of English music while reveling in the beautiful floral displays.

For more information click on the picture below

St. George's Day for 4th Year

As I told you today in class, today is St. George's Day, the Patron Saint of England. Here you have some exercises for you to learn more about English culture and folklore. We'll check them in class. See you then.

READING COMPREHENSION
JERUSALEM

Today is.................Earth Day!!!

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day was started in 1970 by a man named John Mc Connell from the United States. It was originally held on the annual celebration of the March Equinox and still is by many people. However, it is generally celebrated on April 22. Earth day is now celebrated worldwide.

What is the History of Earth Day?

Earth Day is a very special day specifically designed for all of us to think about earth issues. It is a day that the whole world participates in! Often there are celebrations, events or campaigns that concern us with earth matters.

You can participate in one of the existing projects, or start one of your own. The possibilities are endless. Try to think of something you would like to do. You can make a difference too!!  

Now try several exercises online:

Exercise 1: general vocabulary           Exercise 2: global warming

Download information and exercises here. Ask your teacher for the answers.

General information                   Worksheet 1: recycling  set

At Easter Time....!!!

     1) What is the Easter story?

Easter is the story of Jesus' last days in Jerusalem before his death. The Easter story includes Maundy Thursday (the Last supper leading to the Eucharist), Good Friday (the day on which Jesus was crucified) and Easter Day (the day on which Jesus came back to life).

          2) Where does the name “Easter” come from?

According to Bede, the English monastic historian, the English word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April, which was known as "Eostremonath"(the month of openings) in the AngloSaxon tongue and since Pascha was most often celebrated in Eostremonath, the English Christians began calling it "Easter". 

3) Why do we have eggs at Easter?

Eggs are a forbidden food during Lent, making them a welcome return to the menu on Easter Day.  

      4) Why do we give eggs at Easter?

Easter is a Christian festival. For Christians the custom of giving eggs at Easter celebrates new life. Christians remember that Jesus, after dying on the cross, rose from the dead. They believe that, through his resurrection, Jesus defeated death and sin and offers people the promise of eternal life if they follow his teachings. 

      5) What were the first Easter eggs like?

The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift. We still paint bird eggs today but usually only chicken eggs.

6) An Anglo-Saxon legend - the Easter bunny and eggs

An Anglo-Saxon legend tells how the Saxon goddess Eostre found a wounded bird and transformed it into a hare, so that it could survive the Winter. The hare found it could lay eggs, so it decorated these each spring and left them as offering to the goddess.

If you want to learn more about Easter, click the image above.

April Fool's Day

What's April Fool's Day?

April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries on April 1. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes. The day is marked by  funny jokes, hoaxes on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours, etc.

Traditionally, in some countries such as Canada, New Zealand or the UK the jokes only last till noon. Elsewhere, such as in Greece, France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Ireland, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. In France and Italy children traditionally tack paper fish on each other's back as a trick and shout "april fish!" in their local language ("poisson d'avril!" in French, for instance).

The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). In Spain, an equivalent date is December 28.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

If you want to read about famous hoaxes in history, click the image above.

                                                                                                                                                            

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

St Patrick's Day, the festival of the patron saint of Ireland, is celebrated each year on 17 March. Unlike most other national days, St Patrick's Day is celebrated around the world.

It is the day when supposedly a man called St. Patrick died.

Today a lot of people around the world worship this dead man. They dress up like leprechauns wishing for luck and getting drunk with green beer.

Shamrocks have become the central symbol of St. Patrick’s Day. It is a three-leafed plant, used to illustrate the Christian teaching of ‘three divine persons’ (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) in the one God.

The large-scale big parades for St Patrick are celebrated all over the world in big cities such as Boston, Dublin, Belfast or in Fanore on the west coast of Ireland,  a tiny village with no real centre except an isolated church and one or two pubs

St Patrick's Day is the traditional day for the finals of the schools cups for rugby, Gaelic football and football. These finals attract large crowds and television audiences.

Do you really know who St. Patrick was?

Have you ever wondered why this holiday is so popular?

Why is this holiday filled with shamrocks, leprechauns and luck?

How do people celebrate this day…, what do they do…., what do they eat…??

Watch the following video and you’ll be able to answer all these questions

What do people do to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day was established as a way to recognise Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is celebrated on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon.  This festivity is also now practised by many people throughout the world with food, drink and all things green.

What is Saint Patrick's Day? Listen and do the following exercises.

Exercise 1: listening exercise   Exercise 2: crossword

Would you like to know what people do to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day? Watch the video and find out. 

Celebrate all things Welsh on St David's Day

Cymru Am Byth!

St David’s Day is the national day of Wales, celebrated on 1st March in honour of the Welsh patron saint Dewi Sant (St David) who died on this date in 589AD.
Welsh people across the world celebrate St David’s Day and wear a leek or daffodil, which are the national symbols for Wales, to mark the day. But that’s not the only way the Welsh celebrate their national day; across Wales there are lots of parades and festivities taking place, too.
Here are 5 ways to celebrate St David’s Day:

1. Watch the Annual St David’s Day Parade in Cardiff, South Wales
Started 10 years ago, the annual St David’s Day Parade takes place on 1st March in the compact capital city of Cardiff. The big and bright parade weaves its way through a decorated city centre and features giant figures of St David, the Red Dragon and Owain Glyndw. Spectators line the streets and follow the colourful banners, St David flags, Welsh fiddlers, giant daffodils and dancers before gathering for a rendition of the Welsh National Anthem.
The parade is the first event in the Cardiff St David’s Festival, which also includes a St David’s Day market, Welsh dinner at Ffresh and concerts in St David’s Hall and Wales Millennium centre

2. Eat a Welsh cake hot off the bakestone, South Wales
These traditional little cakes are a real teatime treat and St David’s Day is the perfect excuse to indulge. You can buy them at Fabulous Welshcakes  in Cardiff Bay where they’re cooked fresh on the bakestone in front of you. If you’re not in Wales, have a go at making them yourself using this traditional Welsh cake recipe.

3. Free entry to house tours at Plas Newydd Country House & Gardens, North Wales
To celebrate St David’s Day on 1st March you can get a free tour of the the National Trust’s Plas Newydd Country House if you turn up wearing a daffodil. Set in beautiful grounds, this elegant house on the shores of the Menai Strait in North Wales commands glorious views of Snowdonia and Anglesey. Take a tour of this impressive house to see its fine 1930s interiors and famous Rex Whistler paintings.

4. Visit St Davids the UK’s smallest city, West Wales
Take a short break in the city which is named after the Welsh patron saint St David, which also happens to be the UK’s smallest city. St David’s population is just over 1,600 and it’s located on the far south west coast of Pembrokeshire surrounded by stunning scenery. A top attraction is the magnificent Cathedral of St Davids where St David is buried. It became a popular place of pilgrimage and it was said that two pilgrimages to St David’s equalled one to Rome.

5. Celebrate Welsh culture & heritage at St David’s Week Swansea, West WalesA one of its kind week-long festival in the city of Swansea to celebrate all things Welsh. It’s the perfect time to discover Swansea’s many attractions as the city celebrates Welsh culture and traditions with musical concerts at Swansea Grand Theatre, Welsh films and dancing in Brangwyn Hall and Celtic traditions at the Gower Heritage Centre.

to find out more, visit: http://www.visitbritainsuperblog.com/2012/02/celebrate-all-things-welsh-on-st-davids-day/

Saint David's Day in United Kingdom!!

Background

St David plays a very important role in Welsh culture but little is known about his life. It is believed that he lived to be 100 years old and that he died in 589, but the first texts on his life only appeared around five hundred years after his death. 

St David travelled widely throughout Wales, Cornwall in the south-west of England, Brittany in France and possibly to Ireland and Jerusalem.  He founded several churches and a monastery in Wales and eventually became an archbishop. St David was canonized in 1120 and March 1 was included in the church calendar as St David's Day. 

  

What do people do?

St David is the patron saint of Wales. March 1 is a day of celebration of both St David’s life and of the Welsh culture in Wales and in countries such as Canada and the United States. Many people attend special church services, parades, choral recitals or Welsh literature readings. Schools plan celebrations, often involving choirs, on the day. Many people pin a daffodil or leek to their clothes and some, especially children, wear traditional costumes.

The Welsh flag, a red dragon on a white and green background, is displayed. The traditional meal on St David's Day is cawl. This is a soup that is made of leek and other locally grown produce.

Public life

St David's Day is not a public holiday in the United Kingdom or countries such as Canada and the United States. However, it is a day of celebration so many schools, institutions and even businesses will have a special program for the day.

 

 

 

 

Would you like to learn more things about Saint David's day? Watch the following video in which you'll listen to a charming four-year-old girl explaining its meaning!!

February 14

Here you can download the worksheet we are going to work in class to design your Valentine Cards

Saint Valentine's Day: cuadernia exercises

Click here to enlarge

New Year's Resolutions!!

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make. Did you make New Year's Resolutions?  What are they? You can fill in this worksheet to write them down.

You can also download a 2012 calendar here.