Wild Homework

Here are the animals you have to write questions about for homework. The information is on WWF .

Filipa – Tiger
Barbara – Giant Panda
Maria – Snow Leopard
Catarina Prego – Polar bear
Rita – Mountain Gorilla
Ines – Dolphin
Catarina Aveiro – Orang-utan
Luis – Rhino
Nuno - Turtle
Afonso - An animal of choice from a book.

Remember to tell your parents about Parents Meetings with me, Wednesday December 17th between 1500 and 1930 hrs!

Wildlife on WWF UK

Here's an activity related to the unit on the environment. Click Here and do this activity:

How many species of elephant are there?

Elephants get bigger the older they are. True or false?

How many muscles are there in an elephant's trunk?

Only male elephants have tusks. True or false?

Male elephants usually live alone. True or false?

How long is an elephant pregnancy? How long is a human pregnancy? Wow!

What's the biggest threat to elephants? How do you think we can help to stop this?

If you have time, pick another animal on the WWF Amazing Animals page, and write some questions for other students to answer!

Environment - Play Games with Birds!

There are some cool games on the RSPB Kids website. Click here to design your own bird and put it on a new planet, and feed the fussy birds at the Woodlands restaurant. Great fun!

That's an idea!

Next week, we're going to start looking at inventions and ideas. Here is a website which talks about young innovators - young people who have invented things or who have had new ideas. Click on this page and answer these questions. I think this is easier than last week's homework!

1) How old was Shirley Temple when she started dance classes?
2) What does Russell Moore love?
3) How old was he when he invented his waterworks toy?
4) What is the name of the organization Janine Licare formed?

Have a look at other people and their ideas on this site. What is your favourite?

Next week, we'll look at ideas and inventions, and play some games about them!

Have a good weekend!

The Oregon Trail

Go to this page.
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Facts.html
You are going to look at some texts and answer some questions. You don't need to understand everything in the texts, but do try to find the answers to the questions!

A - Weird Wagons
Click on 'Weird Wagons' and answer these questions.
1) How fast did the Wind Wagon travel?
2) Nobody reached Salt Lake City with a wheelbarrow. True/False/Doesn't say.
3) Nobody reached Salt Lake City with a handcart. True/False/Doesn't say.

B - The 100$ Drink of Water
Click on The 100$ Drink of Water and answer these questions.
1) Nobody ever paid 100$ for a drink of water on the California Trail. True/False/Doesn't say.
2) Nobody ever paid 100$ for a drink of water on the Oregon Trail. True/False/Doesn't say.
3) Everything was very expensive on the Oregon Trail. True/False/Doesn't say.

C - Games with Buffalo Dung
Click on Games with Buffalo Dung and answer these questions.
1) What were the original frisbees made of? (Click here to see a frisbee).
2) Why did the pioneers burn the buffalo dung?
3) Did the burning dung smell bad?

Present simple and continuous - our examples

Present Simple

Routines

Rita wakes up at 7 o’ clock every day.

We have English class at 5.30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Permanent Situations

The sea is blue.

Mark works at the British Council.

Mark wears glasses.

Universal Truths

Fish live in the sea and rivers and lakes. Fish breathe water!

Water freezes at 0ºC

We need air to breathe.

Present Continuous

Actions happening NOW

We are having an English class right now! Mark is typing on the computer. Nun0's watch is beeping...

Actions happening around now.

Mark likes to learn new things. At the moment, he’s learning to make wikis.

Mark’s daughter is applying to go to university in UK next year.

Robert Ballard

This week, we're going to read about Dr. Robert Ballard. Look at this information about Robert Ballard on the National Geographic site.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers-program/eir/rballard.html

See how much you understand. Can you answer these questions?

Which famous shipwreck did he find?

How many deep sea missions has he been on?

How many students does his Jason programme reach?

Who presented him with an award in 2003?

Here are some more interesting internet sites about Robert Ballard:

http://literati.net/Ballard/
http://www.titanic-titanic.com/robert_ballard.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ballard

Film Review: Bend It Like Beckham

This film was about an Indian girl who had a passion for football. Her parents didn’t understand this passion but her coach convinced them to let her to play this sport because she was very good at it. On the day of her sister’s wedding was the final game of the football where a scout was coming to choose the best players to go to the American University. Because of the wedding she couldn’t go. But eventually, her father let her and she was chosen.
In our opinion, the film was very good. We liked it because the story was very real and the girl was able to realize her dream.
We think that the film was very well- made because the special effects are very good, the actors\actresses can did their roles perfectly and where the film take place was very well chosen.

Telma and Beatriz, YA2.2

Film Review: Bend It Like Beckham

The film talks about a girl that wants to be a football player. Her idol is David Beckham and she dreams about being like him.
This film show us one small chance in a million. It’s very difficult to get in the top football teams and this film gives us the idea that is very easy to reach that level. Anyway, I liked the film because the story is very interesting and it shows us all the problems that Jess (the main character) has with her parents who don’t want to let her play football.
The film set and the soundtrack are very nice.
We recommend this film.


Miguel and Miguel, YA2.2

Machu Picchu

If you enjoyed finding out about Machu Picchu, you can read more here...

...and why not do this quiz on Machu Picchu here?

More funny words and expressions...

rubber band
unswallowable
It's a girlie thing.
Gremlins (there are gremlins in my computer today!)
higgledy-piggledy

Second Conditional Interview

We answered some "what if..." questions from the textbook...

1. Where would you go if you could visit any country in the world?
Alex: I’d go to the United Kingdom. I’d look for the Loch Ness Monster!
João: I’d go to the USA.
Pedro: I’d go to England.
Leonor: I’d go to the USA.
Inês: I would go to Australia. I’d like to go to Australia to see the animals and eat chocolate bilbies.
Joana: I would go to Germany. My favourite band, Tokyo Hotel, is from there. (Isn’t it from Tokyo? – Mark)
Mark: I’d go to a south-east Asian country like Burma or Laos, or maybe Thailand. I’d like to see a Buddhist country.

2. Where would you live if you had to live in a different town?
Alex: I would go to London or maybe Copenhagen, which is the Lego Capital!
Leonor: If I had to live in a different town, I’d live in Lisbon.
Inês: I wouldn’t go anywhere! But if I HAD to, I’d go to Vila do Conde. (You could have said Gaia! – Mark)
Joana: I would live in Viana do Castelo, because I like it.
João: I would go to Sydney.
Pedro: I would go to New York. I wouldn’t like to live in London.
Mark: I’d probably choose to live in Aveiro. It’s close enough to Porto, and I like the atmosphere there a lot.

3. What would you buy if you won 100.000€ in the lottery?
Mark: I really don’t know! I’d probably buy a flat. And I’d buy a big present for my girlfriend.
João: I would buy a car!
Inês: I would buy a home for abandoned dogs.
Pedro: I’d buy a bigger house.
Alex: A new flat just to put all my Lego in!
Leonor: If I won 100.000€ I would buy a ship to travel on.

4. If you could marry any famous person you wanted, who would you marry?
Alex: I wouldn’t marry anyone. I’m only 12 years old!
Pedro: Me neither. But if I HAD to marry someone, I’d marry anyone except Margaret Thatcher!
Leonor: I don’t know.
Inês: Nobody!
Joana: I don’t know.

5. If you could meet a famous person, who would you meet?
Mark: I’d meet the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a famous Buddhist teacher.
Alex: I’d meet Thomas Edison.
Pedro: I’d meet the vocalist of Linkin Park.
Inês: I’d meet Agatha Christie. I think she wrote good books.
Joana: I would meet Luke Prichard, the vocalist of the Kooks.
João: I would meet Thomas Chaplin, the vocalist of Keane.
Leonor: I would meet a lot of people, like...

6. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
Alex: I would spy on the Pentagon!
Pedro: I would play pranks on my friends.
Joana:
Inês: I would rob a bank.
Leonor: I would eavesdrop on people’s conversations.
João: I dunno. The same as Pedro.
Mark: I’d be able to watch birds very very close, because they wouldn’t be able to see me. But I’d have a problem using my binoculars! They would seem to float in the air! That might frighten the birds away!

7. If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?
Joana: I would wish for more holidays.
Inês I’d ask for a thousand wishes!
Leonor: I would wish to be able to read people’s minds.
Pedro: I would ask to live in the age of the knights.
João: I would wish to be rich.
Alex: I would wish for the power to do anything.
Mark: I would wish for people to stop making wars and to live peacefully together.

Michael Ivy

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote to Michael Ivy, who runs the Rome Metrozine, amongst other things, to ask him some questions. Here is our letter, and Michael's answers!

Dear Mike,

We have some questions for you. If you don’t mind, could you answer them? Thanks!

Carolina, Inês, Leonor, Alex, João, Pedro


Personal Questions

Where do you live? What type of house do you live in?
I live in the San Giovanni district of Rome. I live in an apartment building in the “Società Cooperative per le Case Economiche”. These were originally built for the railway workers at nearby Termini Station according to the father of a girl I went out with, who lived there himself when he was a student. But now all kinds of people live there. The parents of the singer Luciano Battisti used to live upstairs.
Where are you from? London.
Are you married? Have you got any children? No to both questions for the time being!
How old are you? Fifty-four.
Do you wear glasses? Yes.
Have you got a mobile phone? Yes. It is an old Nokia 6350 i. The battery lasts an amazingly long time between charges.
What type of gadgets have you got? I’ve got a very old Handspring PDA. I keep all my phone numbers on it, as well as my expenses.
Have you got any pets? No.
Why do you live in Rome? Because I teach at the British Council here. How long have you lived in Rome? Ten years.
What’s your favourite food? Difficult: it’s a choice between “foie gras” and spaghetti alle vongole” – a seafood spaghetti.
Do you like animals? Most of the time as long as they don’t give me any grief. What’s your favourite animal? Difficult. I quite like cats and monkeys, some dogs and snakes. Perhaps one of my favourites is the owl. You can have conversations with them at night.

Hobbies and Interests

What do you like doing in your free time? Taking photographs, going on bike rides, editing my photos on the computer, and, lately, hiking in the hills in my new boots.
What kind of music do you like? Rai, rock and roll, soul, jazz, blues, classical, African. What is your favourite? One of my favourites is the Algerian singer Cheb Khaled. Though I also admire Italian singers like Roberto Murolo, Mia Martinio, Mina and Pino Daniele.
What kind of film do you like most? All kinds: adventure, surrealist, thrillers… What is your favourite film? One of the best ever was “Doctor Strangelove”. Stanley Kubrick was a brilliant man. Also most films by the Spaniard Luis Bunuel.
Do you play any musical instrument? No I am afraid not. I regret this.What is your favourite instrument? Acoustic (classical) guitar. Also the saxophone.
Do you like sport? Football up to a point (I am not really a fan) and cycling. Which sport or sports do you play? I used to play squash until a few years ago.Do you like yoga? I probably would do if I knew more about it. Mark does! What’s your favourite football team? Ummm. Used to support Napoli when we had Maradona. Now I am not sure.

Work Questions

How long have you been teaching? For about thirty years.
How long have you been posting students’ work on the internet? For about ten years.
Why did you decide to create the Rome Metrozine? To give my students a means of expressing themselves online. But I think we now need a new formula. I am proposing to drop the Metrozine, which is very Web 1.0. It is better to use a blog or similar site where students can post their work directly. That’s giving the user control over the content – very Web 2.0. Where does the word ‘Metrozine’ come from? Metro(polis) (Maga)zine.
Do you work at the weekend? Not unless it’s unavoidable.
Did you do something else before you created the Rome Metrozine? Yes, I created an online magazine for students in Naples. It has vanished now.
Why did you become a teacher? Partly in order to travel. I could have gone all round the world. But I arrived in Naples, and two years became nearly twenty. It often happens like that.

Other

Have you ever been to Porto? Yes, several times. Why? Because I have quite a close friend there called Paula. She lives in Matosinhos and she is an architect. She studied under a famous architect called Alvaro Vieira Siza. When? Last time was five years ago.
Have you ever lost a shoe? Yes, I once lost a pair at an ice rink.
Have you ever found something valuable? Never, I am afraid.
Have you ever eaten something strange, like sheep’s eyes? Yes. When I lived in the Sahara I ate goats’ testicles.
Do you like pasta? Yes, I love it. It's our national dish.
What’s your favourite funny expression in English? “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t wipe your friends off on your pants.”

Thanks very much indeed, Michael, for taking the time to answer all these questions.

Students - do check out Michael's latest project, 'Thank Blog it's Friday'.

Music

Recently, we talked about our favourite musicians and pieces of music... or at least about music and musicians that we like a lot! Here's what you wrote about the musicians you like:

Tom Chaplin

His real name is Thomas Oliver Chaplin. He was born on 8 of March 1979 in Battle, England.
His father name is David Chaplin and his mother’s name is Sally Taylor. He is the vocalist of the band Keane. He plays piano too.
He is tall and thin, he has got a pale and round face. He has got straight, brown hair and a thin nose. He isn’t a very strong person because he had some problems with drugs nd alcohol. He has got a girlfriend. He is a wonderful singer. - João


Tim (António Manuel dos Santos Lopes) was born on the 14th April in 1960 in Ferreira de Alentejo. He has been playing the contrabass since he was 15 years old. Now, he makes part of the Portuguese band “Xutos e Pontapés” ( in English “Kicks and Kicks” with two different words for “kicks”) as the vocalist (he also plays the contrabass) and I believe that this band is the mother of the Portuguese rock (the father is Rui Veloso) Tim has played and sung in “Rio Grande”, “Cabeças no Ar” and in “Resistência”. He has a solo career too. - Carolina


Mark Hoppus

Mark Hoppus was born in 1947. He is an American musician and a record producer. He was a member of the band Blink 182, one of the vocalists. He plays also bass guitar. His band has more than twenty albums and had finished in 2004. My favourite music of them is ‘All the Small things’. - Inês


The Kooks

The band formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard got bassist Max Rafferty involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. - Joana


Mark O’Connor is a violinist and a composer. He was born in Seattle, Washington in 1961. His birthday is on the 5th of August. He started to play the guitar when he was six. When he was eleven he started to study violin. At twelve he won his first national prize. Today he is 46 years old. - Alex


Linkin Park is a rock band from Agoura Hills,Callifornia. Since they were formed in 1996, they have sold more than fifty milion albums and won two grammy awards.
I think their best pieces of music are One Step Closer, Bleed It Out and In The End - Pedro


Shakira

Shakira was born in 1977. She is Colombian and Lebanese.
She is a singer and dancer in concert.
She’s currently the 4th richest singer in the world. And also the 4th most successful singer in the world. - Leonor

Funny Expressions

Here are most of the funny words and expressions we've learned this year. Do you remember what they all mean?

whippersnapper

pipsqueak

toasty

chocolate thingies

scallywag

Not on your nelly!

Don’t pull my leg!

Yeah yeah, pull the other one!

nincompoop

Urchin

mischievous

get up to mischief

ticklish

We were short-changed

Don’t get your knickers in a twist!

Keep your hair on!

I’ve got to see a man about a dog.

HOMEWORK - Thursday April 10th

i) Write another two questions to ask Mike Ivy in Rome. (For Tuesday 15th April)
ii) Page 70 Workbook (For Tuesday 15th April)
iii) Write a short paragraph like the one on page 82 about a musician you like very much. (Do this for Tuesday 22nd April)

Easter Homework 1

I'm going to put TWO posts about Easter homework on the blog. These homework tasks are for those students who missed the last class - Joana, Leonor S, and Carolina! This is the first post. I will put up the second post later, probably next week.

First, read the text about Australia in your coursebook and answer the questions. (It's on the next two pages after the ones we did last class, and it talks about Australians and stereotypes).

Next, do this exercise:
Go to the web pages below, and answer the questions on a piece of paper. You should give your answers to me in the first class after Easter.

1)
http://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/worldeaster/in_australia.htm

Why is Easter celebrated in a variety of ways in Australia?

What is the name of the special thing some people eat for breakfast on Easter Sunday?

How is chocolate helping to save the environment at Easter time?

What is an Easter Hunt?

2) Now go to
http://www.easterbunnys.net/australianeaster.htm

What season is it in Australia when Easter is celebrated?

What happens in Sydney over Easter?

Why do Australians prefer Easter Bilbies to Easter Rabbits?

What game do the Australians play at Easter?

Which of these traditions are the same in Portugal? What other traditions do you have here that they do not have in Australia?

Porto - Pollution and Solutions

Here are the texts everyone wrote about pollution in Porto...

We live in Porto.
We love our city, but Porto seems not to like us, because the people who live in Porto pollute the city and the river a lot.
We can clean the river, by not dropping trash in the water, because it is always making a cycle, it is moving, so, at some point, the water is going to be clean. - Carolina and Joana


I live in Porto. I like living there but I think there are many problems with the environment. One of these problems is the pollution of cars and the people drive a lot. I think people can use more public transport or drive cars with solar energy. If people do this we can contribute to saving the planet.
In Porto there is a lot of litter on the streets. It’s an other kind of pollution. To fight this problem people should put the rubbish in a recycling collection point. - Leonor S. and Inês


We live in Porto. Porto is a beautiful city, but it has three big problems: there is a lot of litter on the grounds and there is a lot of dog poo and of car‘s fumes, which pollute the city. The solutions for these problems are: people must recycle instead of leaving the litter on the street, they must take a small bag to collect the dog poo and people should use more public transport, like bus and the subway. - Pedro, João and Alex

Scary Tales

Here are the stories everyone wrote about their nightmares. Scary!!

Last night, I dreamed that I was made of jelly. I was a purple jelly-like monster and I was running away from an ant. Seen through me it seemed very, very big. Bigger than me, and I was a giant monster! But then I looked back, not through me, and I saw a little black point on the ground, running after me. The ant was not afraid, like I was until then. I said “Hello! Do you want a cup of coffee?” and she answered to me “Not on your nelly!” and she ran away. - Carolina

One day I had a nightmare about a lake in a forest. I was near the lake. There was a lot of fog on the surface of the lake. And then I heard a noise from the lake, and then a stone appeared next to me. On the stone there were written the words:
“Whoever reads this stone will never live to tell this story.”
And then I saw a hand on the surface, the hand had a sword and a terrifying creature jumped at me.

And then I woke up on my bed. - Pedro


Last night I dreamed that I was in the school. In the school it was strange. First I saw a person. I went to meet the person and I asked: what can I do to go my house? And the person said: you can go to your house, but you have to give me a chocolate. I didn’t know what to give it. But then I remembered I had a chocolate in my pocket. I gave it to the person and the person let me go my house. - Leonor S

Diction’avalanche

Last night I dreamed about a mountain. I was skiing on a beautiful mountain. The mountain was covered in ice. It was really beautiful. Then, I heard a noise.

I looked backwards and I saw a giant avalanche running towards me. But it wasn’t normal. It was made of dictionaries.

I was terrified. I started skiing faster and faster and faster to escape the avalanche of words on paper.

Suddenly, something exploded. I looked backwards again and I saw some blackboards trying to stop the avalanche. It was very weird.

Then, the black boards became full of words. So, they burp and started to sleep, snoring a lot.

The avalanche wasn’t so big then, but it was capable of killing a person. A strange thing was that the mountain never ended.

Then, the dictionaries faced another problem: some extinguishers appeared and tried to stop the killer ones.

All the dictionaries were killed unless one. Then I remember that I didn’t know what a word meant. So, I picked up the dictionary and searched for the word. Then, I woke up. - Alexandre

Musical Links

Joana plays the guitar... and so does John Williams!

Alex plays the piano. Sviatoslav Richter was one of the greatest pianists ever.

And here's Chopin's 'Minute Waltz'. Just for fun.

Enjoy!

Homework January 24th

Look again at the text 'Coming of Age in Japan' on page 45 of the student book. Write down the answers to these questions:

1. How old are people in Japan when they come of age?

2. Where is the ceremony held?

3. Why do girls not usually buy the kimono for the ceremony?

4. Why do they go to a special place to put the kimono on?

5. Do men wear kimonos?

6. What do the young people listen to in the hall?

7. Who gives them a present?

8. What do they do at the end of the ceremony?

Grasshopper

Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Master Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Master Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?
Caine: [looking down and seeing the insect] Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Master Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?

Homework 3rd January

Last night we looked at:

will - predictions based on general knowledge or with no present evidence.
Alex will probably buy some lego this year.
A lot of people will go to the Algarve next summer.

going to - predictions with present evidence.
You're going to do an English homework now. :)

going to - plans, things you intend to do
Mark's going to buy a new mobile phone this year.
Joana's going to study more this year.
Ines is going to learn to play the guitar.

might - predictions, possibility.
Pedro might be able to swim in his friend's pool this summer.
Inês might give a Christmas concert next December.

We also revised the simple past tense, and looked at some irregular verbs:

buy - bought
be - was/were
have - had
go - went
get - got
write - wrote

We talked about our Christmas holidays, we talked about what we did in 2007, and we talked about our plans for 2008.

Now, write a paragraph about what you did in 2007 and what you plan to do in 2008. You should write between 50-100 words. The questions below are to help you with this. You don't have to answer all the questions, and you don't have to answer them in order. They are there to give you some ideas.

What was the best thing that happened to you in 2007?
What was your happiest moment?
What was the worst thing?
What was your saddest moment?
Where did you go on holiday?
What did you do there?
What did you do better in 2007 than in 2006?
What else did you acheive in 2007?

Write down two things you plan to do in 2008.
Write down two things you might do in 2008.
Write down two things you think will happen in 2008.