cuts and scrapes = that's what you get when you cut yourself or when you fall down and get hurt
pick foods = choose foods
stay fit = be in good shape
do well at school = have good results at school
soda = soft drink; carbonated beverage
candy = a sweet confection made with sugar and often flavoured
balanced breakfast (also: balanced diet; balanced meal...)
Notice: you can play other games in the same page. See the menu on the left.
1. Watch the animated cartoon "The girl and the Fox", by Tyler J. Kupferer.
2. Notice these words. Check the ones you don't know in the dictionary.
- wood hut
- duck
- trail of footprints (trail; footprint)
- lantern
- go into the woods (go into; wood)
- bushes (bush)
- knife
- snow heavily (snow; heavily)
- freeze to death (freeze; death)
- tail
3. Write a text as if you were telling the story and hand it to me for correction. Don't forget to use text organisers and linkers: after that, then, some time later, when, finally; and, but, however, because...
Start your text like this: In a cold winter night, a girl...
Mind: this is extra practice - another opportunity to improve your writing skills and revise the Past Simple. It's not for evaluation!
4. If you prefer, you can comment on the following (use the "comments" box below):
1. Watch the video (an excerpt of the film Red Dog) and listen to the song. Enjoy it and recall an important moment of the film!
2. Click on the picture (lyrics) below. Copy and paste it into a Word file. Print it. Try to fill in the blanks while listening to the song again. Click on the second YouTube frame to listen to the original song. Check the correct answers at the end of this post.
3. Only 3 of the sentences below are correct. Select them.
a) The singer was looking for a change in his life.
b) He doesn't pay any rent because he owns a house.
c) The weather in the west is very dry.
d) Life isn't very hard.
e) He wants to stay there.
B. Language work
1. These two lines show the use of colloquial informal English:
You don't need no money.
And I'm never gonna leave.
How would you say them in standard English?
2. Some useful vocabulary:
* brand-new (adj.): completely new; unused e.g. He headed west for a brand-new life; I've got a brand-new friend; They bought a brand-new car.
* At last (idiom): finally; after a long wait e.g. At last I get the feeling that I'm really alive; The train arrived at last; At last the hostages were released.
* make some change (informal English): make some money; earn some money.
C. Writing
1. You've seen the film. We've worked on it. It's difficult not to believe dogs can't think or don't have any feelings, don't you think? So, I challenge you to comment:
What is Red Dog thinking while he is leaving the bar and looks back at his friends?
Start like this: I think...; In my opinion...; I'd like to believe...; I'm almost sure...
A “chunk of language” isany group of words that are regularly and often found together: take advantage of, school uniform, the epicentre of the earthquake, have a nice day...
Chunks of language have been given great attention lately. They are fashionable. And that is for a good reason: learning chunks of language aids memory. IT AIDS MEMORY!
Hands-on then: how many chunks of language do you think you can identify in this short text?
"A 20-year-old woman from Barcelos, in the North of Portugal, is expecting sextuplets at the beginning of 2011. The young shop assistant told us that she hadn't had fertility treatment. Her husband is a trainee teacher, but is thinking of taking up a second job to face the coming expenses."
(adapted from Inglês, CEF Cursos de Educação e Formação, Módulos 3/4, Porto Editora)
TIP: Note down the chunks of language you can identify in any text that you read. Think of other related chunks and add them to the list. For instance:
is expecting sextuplets/ is expecting twins
at the beginning of/ at the end of
In some weeks you'll feel you've done great progress with your vocabulary! And it will be much easier to remember!
By the way: have you found 7-9 chunks of Language in the text above? Then you've done a good job!
Education paradigms are changing worldwide. This entertaining animate, adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned education and creativity expert, shows you why and how. Enjoy!
How many of you have never complained about your students' lack of studying skills, poor memory ability and the sort? In a world where the remote control and the keyboard are dominant tools, what could we expect? - Immediate disposable knowledge, of course!
This activity was intended to address that issue.
CONTEXT: after two lessons working on the topic Family (all the vocabulary had been worked before, except for the ...-in-law compounds, which were added as a challenge); delivered as a surprise activity at the beginning of the third lesson.
AIMS: developing studying skills; raising word formation awareness; reflecting on the amount of work done.
EVALUATION: The surprise element and the score control by the students engaged them; concentration levels seemed higher than normal; the scores mirrored the students' proficiency levels; they seemed to understand the need for organised vocabulary lists; more time was needed than previously expected (15 minutes, rather than 10).
REMARK: You don't need elaborate fashionable activities to help students improve their studying/ learning skills!
Dear student:
1. Click on the worksheet; enlarge the picture; copy and paste it on a Word document; print it and you're ready. 10-15 minutes will be enough to fill in the chart. Check the words you don't know in the dictionary. 2. Build other vocabulary lists. Organise them in a way that makes sense to you. 3. Notice any patterns (-tion, -er, -ment... as endings of nouns, for instance).
The backyard is where childhood memories linger. Unquestioned. Safe. The backyard is a personal territory.
But the backyard is also the place where common things happen. And those are the ones I'll share with you: teaching ideas, materials, impressions, doubts...
