25/06/2014

ENGLISH LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAM ‘ENGLISH TOWN: LA TOMA DEL AGUA’

Last week 1ºB ESO students from the CLIL Program took part of an English Language Immersion Program called ‘English Town: La Toma del Agua’ located in a beautiful site (Riópar, Albacete). They stayed there for 5 days (16th-20th June) and had an amazing experience doing plenty of activities such as Multiadventure (archery, zip wire, climbing walls, hiking, orientation, etc), Workshops, Traditional sports (football, basketball, volleyball, etc), English classes, Evening activities (games, contests, challenges, dances, etc). They were 24 hours assisted by Native speaking monitors, group leaders and teachers and they had to speak in English all day at all times. We also went on day excursions to Pino Toril and ‘Los Chorros’ Mundo River. They practised a lot of English and they are determined to go back next year!

You can relive this awesome experience by watching the following pictures, videos and clicking on the links below.


24/06/2014

CULTURAL WEEK: SHAKESPEARE’S 450th ANNIVERSARY

Cultural Week took place last April/ May from 28th to 2nd. Among all the different activities that the Hispanic Language and Literature Department prepared for this week, our Foreign Language Department also got involved by preparing different activities. We decided to do our bit by preparing an exhibition on Shakespeare’s 450th Anniversary in order to inspire Secondary school teenagers through creative and cultural learning experiences. The teacher took 1ºB, 2ºB, 2ºC and 3ºB ESO classes in groups of 15 students and explained Shakespeare’s historical background, biography, plays and language. The students were then asked to complete some worksheets on questions regarding the Exhibition’s information.

2ºB students completed this exhibition by designing some posters about Shakespeare’s quotes and the language we owe to Shakespeare. They even won a prize!

Some volunteers from 1ºB, 2ºB and 2ºC ESO prepared some theatrical performances on some of Shakespeare’s best-known plays such as ‘As You Like It’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Henry V’ (this last play was performed in French). What is more, 3ºB students prepared the reading of the Balcony Scene (‘Romeo and Juliet’) in Modern English and performed it in front of the class. All the students were also shown a clip of the same scene in Early Modern English (Shakespeare’s language). Hence, they were able to notice the differences between Shakespeare’s language and the English language they are currently learning at school.

You can get access to more information on Shakespeare’s Anniversary by clicking on the following links:



Have fun learning a bit more about the English poet, playwright and actor which is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language!



23/06/2014

SAINT PATRICK’S DAY


On 17th March students were shown another exhibition that was located in the Hall area of the school and that commemorated St. Patrick’s Day. This religious and cultural festivity is celebrated annually in Ireland. The exhibition contained information about Ireland’s patron Saint Patrick, his biography and background and the historical facts behind this well-known celebration. This class helped the students broaden their minds gaining more knowledge on the traditions and culture related to English speaking countries. Then, the students completed some questions that fostered the reading for specific detail and gist and which were later corrected with the rest of the class. What follows is a presentation that contains different pictures of the exhibition and also some pictures about the holiday.


Later in class, the students were shown a short clip on the history of St. Patrick’s Day celebration which is called ‘Bet You Didn’t Know: St. Patrick’s Day’. You can find this and more information on St. Patrick’s celebration following the link: http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day/videos/bet-you-didnt-know-st-patricks-day


CLASSROOM PROJECTS - A STRIKING STORY, CHARLES DICKENS AND HEALTHY FOOD PPTs

The students from the CLIL Program 1ºB, 2ºB and 3ºB were asked to do some projects on different topics that were related to one of the last units of the student’s book.

1ºB students designed different posters which included information about Charles Dickens’ background, biography and novels. In groups of 4, 5 or 6, each group chose one of the novels proposed by the teacher and looked for information on the Internet. They came up with posters about Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘Great Expectations’ ‘The Pickwick Papers’, ‘Little Dorrit’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and David Copperfield’ novels. They showed the posters to the rest of the class by giving a short presentation and hanged them on the walls.

2ºB students also did some posters to hang them on the walls. Their task was to look up on the Internet some information about a striking story in order to get the main points and write their own composition based on the true facts. It was an individual task that was handed in to the teacher and later shared with the rest of the class.

Finally, regarding the piece of work that students from 3ºB did, this project consisted of preparing a PowerPoint Presentation using the ICT Competence and also recycling the knowledge already gained when dealing with Natural Sciences classes. The topic was Good Healthy Habits as part of the project that the Sciences Department have started this year at the school. The task they had to do was to prepare a Healthy Breakfast, Healthy Lunch and Healthy Dinner following the next criteria: 50-55% Carbohydrates, 30% Fat and 15% Proteins. You can check out some of the projects the students made in the following section.