WHY DID THEY CALL YOU THAT? (1B2)
LISTENING
YOU are going to watch a short extract from the Graham Norton show, where the actresses Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman discuss their birth names. Play from 0:00 until 2:50. (THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUE CRISTINA CABAL FOR SHARING THIS ACTIVITY)
- Meryl Streep was named Mary at birth. How did she end up being called Meryl?
- Is she happy about her surname? How does she wish it to be different?
- Why is Nicole Kidman called Hokulani? Who is she named after?
HOMEWORK
Ask students whether they think a name can shape their personality and refer them to this website where they’ll have to write their name in the space provided and read about their personality.
You can always ask them to read their horoscope, but this is “old news”, so I thought this might better spark students’ interest.
At home, students go to the website and find out about their personality based on their names. They look up any new words they don’t know, especially personality adjectives, as they will need to share this analysis with their classmates and say whether they agree or disagree with it, giving reasons.
WHAT´S IN A NAME? (1B2)
Spanish parents win battle to name their newborn son ‘Wolf’
After a very public campaign, a couple from Madrid have been told they can name their son ‘Lobo’. Ignacio and Maria have won the battle to name their son, who was born on July 12th, Lobo – meaning wolf – after collecting nearly 25,000 signatures supporting them.
The couple had made their fight public after officials initially refused to allow them to register their son with the chosen name, initially because “it was offensive to the child” and then under the rules that it was only to be used as a surname.
The issue has made headlines in Spain and sparked debate over parents’ rights to name their child whatever they like.
But on Wednesday, the director general of the national registry announced that the name Lobo would in this case be allowed.
Javier Gómez Gálligo said the name Lobo was “considered socially acceptable” and therefore would be allowed. He also said the official criteria would now be reviewed.
The couple, from the Fuenlabrada suburb of Madrid, had referred the case to the Ministry of Justice and launched a petition on change.org that garnered more than 24,000 signatures.
“Do you, like us, think it is unfair that the criteria decided by an official has more relevance when naming a child than parents who will educate, guide and love that child for the rest of their life?” the couple wrote in the change.org petition calling for support.
The case had even won the attention of politicians with Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the Podemos party, speaking up for the parents.
“Wolf seems to me to be a beautiful and dignified name,” he tweeted. “If you can be called Paloma (Dove) or León (Lion) then why not Lobo (Wolf)?”….
https://www.thelocal.es/20160803/spanish-parents-win-battle-to-name-their-newborn-son-wolf
SHOULD PARENTS BE ALLOWED TO NAME THEIR CHILDREN AS THEY PLEASE? HAVE YOUR SAY!
CREATING INTERACTIVE “GETTING-TO- KNOW- ME PHOTOS” WITH “THINGLINK” (1B2)
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF “THINGLINK“?
THINGLINK invites students to connect audio, video, images, and text in one cohesive presentation. Students will dig deeper into content through research to present knowledge and ideas as they learn, practice and demonstrate digital literacy skills in image creation, selection, content , creativity, tagging and sharing.
INTERACTIVE “GETTING-TO-KNOW-ME “ PHOTOS
THIS IDEA IS NOT MINE. I HAVE YO THANK THE BLOG “STOP & LEARN ENGLISH”
Use Thinglink to create interactive photos.
Students choose a photo on their mobile. Each student should upload his /her image and add tags to help others get to know him or her. For example, create a tag or a link to a photo, video or audio file to describe his / her:
- favourite subjects
- hobbies or sports
- ancestry
- maps with places they´ve lived or visited
- favourite song, band or group
- favourite TV show, website or game
CLICK ON THIS PHOTO TO HAVE A LOOK AT ONE OF MY ATTEMPTS …..
THERE ARE APPS FOR YOUR MOBILE TOO….
COME ON!! HAVE A GO!! I´LL BE WAITING FOR YOUR THINGLINKS!!!!
PRONUNCIATION 1: VOWELS (ALL LEVELS)
LISTEN TO PABLO IGLESIAS SPEAKING IN ENGLISH LAST WEEK. WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS PROBLEM IS?
LOOK AT THIS CHART.
THESE ARE THE SOUNDS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. AS YOU CAN SEE, THE CHART IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS: VOWELS,DIPHTHONGS AND CONSONANTS.
LET´S CONCENTRATE ON THE REVISION OF ENGLISH VOWELS.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW OR THE PICTURE ABOVE TO USE AN INTERACTIVE VERSION OF THE CHART:
YOU CAN ALSO WATCH THIS VIDEO:
IF THE LINK DOESN´T WORK, TYPE IN “IPA VOWELS” ON YOU TUBE AND YOU´LL BE ABLE TO WATCH THE VIDEO. OK?
THIS IS ALSO A USEFUL LINK TO LISTEN TO THE VOWELS BELOW:
www.oup.com/elt/englishfile/beginner
EXTRA PRACTICE
NOWADAYS THERE ARE MANY APPS YOU CAN DOWNLOAD TO PRACTISE PRONUNCIATION:
- SOUND FOUNDATIONS (there is a free version)
- ENGLISH FILE PRONUNCIATION (you have to pay to download)
FOR INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS AND ABOVE, YOU CAN ALSO VISIT THIS WEBSITE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation/introduction
DESCRIBING PEOPLE (1B1)
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?
I HAVE TO THANK CRISTINA CABAL FOR THESE WONDERFUL IDEAS!!
Look at the mosaic above with the faces of some well-known celebrities and, bearing in mind what you know about them ,write a description based on their physical description / personalities. Make sure you use suitable adjectives. Do not mention the name of the celebrity you are describing as your classmates aim will be to find out who you are describing.Please, don’t be too flattering or too hard on people. Remember that “not all that glitters is gold” (REMEMBER TO USE ADJECTIVES ON vocabulary bank pages 150/151))
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE ? (PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION)
WHAT ARE THEY LIKE? (PERSONALITY)
Let’s have some fun. How would you fancy converting text to music? This funny programme allows you to type any words and it sings them back to you. Try typing some personality adjectives and listen to them sung by different people. The site is called Text to sing.
GAMES:
LISTENING PRACTICE: CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO LISTEN
LET´S PLAY WITH VOCABULARY: PASS THE WORD (1B1)
THIS PHOTO WAS IN THE NEWS LAST SUMMER … THIS PLAYER “CAN´T STOP THE FEELING”…..DO YOU KNOW WHY?
DO YOU KNOW THIS QUIZ SHOW? LET´S PLAY TO REVISE VOCABULARY!!
CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TWICE TO START THE GAME….
CREATE A ONE-MINUTE VOKI TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE CLASS (1B1)
WHAT IS A “VOKI”?
Voki is an educational tool that allows users to create talking characters by using their own voice.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO LISTEN TO AN EXAMPLE FROM A STUDENT:
YOU JUST HAVE TO….
- DOWNLOAD THE APP ON YOUR MOBILE (APPLE STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY) IT´S FREE & YOU DON´T HAVE TO REGISTER
- SELECT AN AVATAR
- CUSTOMIZE IT
- ADD YOUR VOICE ( LIMITED TO 1 MINUTE) SPEAKING ABOUT YOURSELF
- PICK UP A BACKGROUND
- PUBLISH & SHARE ( by emailing it tome so that it can be published on my blog)
I´LL BE WAITING FOR YOUR VOKIS!!
https://mcargobe.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/yolanda-valeros-voki-1b1/
LET´S TALK ABOUT ME (ALL LEVELS)
WHO IS YOUR TEACHER THIS YEAR? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW?
“EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY” AND AS “A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS“…..ALL THE PHOTOS BELOW CONTAIN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ABOUT ME. WHAT´S THE LINK IS BETWEEN THE PHOTOS AND MY LIFE? AM I 29 YEARS OLD? DID I MARRY TWICE?…ETC….
CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS YEAR´S UPDATED AND INTERACTIVE PREZI PRESENTATION. UNFORTUNATELY I CAN NOT EMBED IT DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH WORDPRESS.
1B2 (QUESTIONS & ANSWERS)
http://www.classtools.net/QR/qr_generator.php?fold=41&fname=YV4Uj&diff=0
1B1 (QUESTIONS & ANSWERS)
http://www.classtools.net/QR/qr_generator.php?fold=5&fname=beaQJ&diff=0
http://www.classtools.net/QR/questions_list.php?fold=5&fname=beaQJ&diff=0
WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH QR CODES AS I MENTIONED IN A PREVIOUS POST?
CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO SCAN ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT MATCH THE ANSWERS OF MY PREZI SLIDE
PRESENTATION. (LET´S TALK ABOUT ME 2017-18)
INTERVIEW A CELEBRITY (1B1)
AS WE HAVE BEEN GOING OVER QUESTION FORMS. TO PRACTISE IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO TRY AND WRITE YOUR OWN QUESTIONS TO INTERVIEW CARLES PUIGDEMONT AFTER YESTERDAY´S SPEECH . CHECK THE GRAMMAR BEFORE POSTING THEM. OR RECORDING THEM. OK?
DESCRIBING A PICTURE (1B2)
IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE A PHOTO ON YOUR MOBILE IN DETAIL, WHAT KIND OF LANGUAGE WOULD YOU NEED?
CLICK ON THIS PICTURE IF YOU WANT TO VISIT A WEBSITE WITH USEFUL LANFUAGE ON HOW TO DESCRIBE A PICTURE / PHOTO.
YOU CAN ALSO TRY TO SEE THIS DOCUMENT ON DESCRIBING PICTURES AND PHOTOS: DESCRIBING PICTURES
AND NOW GET READY TO DESCRIBE YOURS……
