Christmas investigators

Do you celebrate Christmas? How?

Do you think Christmas is celebrated equally around the world? 

Today, you will discover different ways of celebrating Christmas! 
      1. Surf the links provided and choose 3 different countries 
      2. Read about their Christmas traditions and note down their main facts 
      3. Decide what you are going to do: 
            a) A comparative table 
            b) A PPT presentation 
           c) A prezi presentation 
      4. Just do it and post it in your blog! 

 Useful links 
Christmas in France, Spain, Germany and Italy (+ Quizz)
Christmas around the world

How Merry Christmas is said around the world

Other links
Christmas and New Year vocabulary

Worksheets and activities
X-mas worksheets
ESL X-mas activities

Do you prefer a more creative activity?
Here you have a second option! 

Writing a review

Do you remember Paperman?

Paperman is a short produced by Walt Disney animation studios and directed by John Karts. It won an Annie and an Oscar Award in 2012.

The action takes place in New York, in the 1940s, and the main character is a man who works in an office.

This man (we don't know the name) is very sad with his monotonous life. One day, he meets a woman at the train station and he feels love at first sight. Later that day, while he is working, he sees that the woman is being interviewd in the opposite building. He tries to send her paper-planes so that she notices him, but he fails. When the woman finishes the interview, he leaves his job to try to meet her, but he fails again. Then, the magic begins...

I was impressed by this movie because I really like the animation. It is a very romantic and interesting short. What I liked the most is the magical point you can see at the end of the movie, this was very surprising for me.

Now watch these videos. When you finish, chose one and write a review and post it in your blog, together with the inserted video.

The review must include:

• Introduction
• Setting and summary
• Personal opinion  

Don't you like any of them, then you could try these others...

Useful link:

Writing a film or book review

The Celts

We know Halloween and many  British traditions come from Celtic culture, but what do you know about the Celts?

Go to  http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/index.shtml?1 and watch the videos. 

Then, click on the “FactFile” tab and surf through the different articles about the Celts to answer the following questions. For further reference, you can visit  http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Ancient_Civilizations/Celts

QUESTIONS

* Who are the Celts and what does “Iron Age” mean? * What can you explain about their culture?         +  How were their homes like? Can you  find an image?         + What did they use the metals for?         + How did they dress?         + How was their religion?

To show your final results, use the Piktochart tool, I recommend you to use the "Presentation" templates. Then, embed the final presentation in your blog.
Here you have a possible format... but the more creative you are, the better for you!

Halloween task - your own scary story

Many moons ago, Michael Jackson was hot!

His thriller video was a complete shock – it was like nothing seen before and it also meant the beginning of a change on how to make video-clips. Actually, more than a videoclip, it is also a short!

In fact, it has been chosen as the Best Music Video of last century...Watch the video if you have never done so:

Listen to this shortest version of the song paying attention to all the creepy vocabulary by reading the lyrics below:

Thriller lyrics - michael Jackson.doc by lgonza72

Are you finished? Then write your own horror story and post it in your blog. Remember to add some scary image as well!

To write it, try to use some of the words from the "Thriller" song.

Do you need any help? Find some advices and questions to help you by having a look at these documents:

• How to write your ow scary story 
• The 5 Ws How

Have you run out of imagination? 

Then you can make a Powerpoint about Halloween including:

• History
• Traditions 
• Superstitions

To do it, click this not-so-creative activity.

My favourite photo

 

This photo was taken by me in summer 2013. It shows the landscapes of a mountain near Sapa, in Vietnam.

I took the photo while me and my partner were doing a 12 kilometer trekking, because we wanted to see the astonishing landscapes and the rice paddies, that is, the typical “rice terraces” you can see on movies. We also visited a Black-H’mong village, an ethnic minority who live in the mountains.

Before getting there, we were walking on a very narrow road surrounded by bamboos for about half an hour. Then, we were climbing a mountain for another hour and a half. After that, we came to the place where I took the photo.

In the picture you can see very different details: on the lower left corner, and on the other side of the river, you can see rice paddies and trees. In the centre of the picture, there is a river.  And in the background, on the mountain, you can see a yellow building, which is the school of the village.

I chose this photo because I really love it. I like the intensity of the colours, and the contrast caused by the sky, the river and the green nature. It is also a great memory of my holidays and a experience I might not live again!

  
Now you have to chose a photo or picture you like to:

• Explain who took it and where it was taken.
• Describe it a little bit.
• Tell why you chose that photo.

Describing a photo help!

Describing a photo from Laura Bitrián

Useful links:

• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/describing_pictures.htm
• http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-91082.php

Describing a photo from Laura Bitrián

Hello everybody!

And welcome to my blog!
Here you have some information about me to start with ;)


And how can you do the same on your own blog?
Watch this presentation with all the necessary information!