APLE COMPUTER ROOM NOVEMBER 21st AND 28th

10 minutes: Do you believe in magic? Let's see if Akinator can guess the name of the famous person you have thought of. Think of a famous person, answer the questions and that's it.

15 minutes: What do you know about phonetics? Can you read those strange symbols that appear on the dictionary next to the word? Today we are going to start having a look at them. We will learn the phonetic symbols and their sound to help you improve your pronunciation in English.







Have you ever wondered what those strange symbols are that appear next to words in the dictionary?



They are a guide to pronounciation called Phonetics. Those symbols represent sounds, of which there are roughly 44 in the English language. Since there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, 44 characters are used to represent them all. Phonics should be a part of every student's tools for learning a language.

There is no end to our study of grammar and vocabulary but phonemic symbols are limited, visual and physical. They may seem challenging at first but it is like learning to swim or ride a bicycle. Once you can do it, it is easy and you never forget.



Why should you learn the different English sounds? Why should you learn the symbols? Watch the next video to find out:






We will be using to practice phonetics, BBC Learning English, to know the hows and whys of what we are going to learn about. Start by clicking on the sound /i/ and doing the activities in Unit 1. Then write a comment about the different exercises you have done.


20 minutes: Some people in the class love music. Let's see how good you are at lyrics.

We are going to listen to songs and fill in the blanks of the lyrics. Go here, create a new account (on the right, above the picture and under sign in), choose the song "The lazy song", choose a mode (you can start with elementary and then try something more challenging). Then, listen to the song and try to fill in the blanks.
Now it is your time to choose a different song of your taste. Write a comment saying which song you worked on and what was your score. Was it too easy/difficult? Don't forget to include your name in the comment.

A very funny, interesting lesson. I hope you enjoy it.
Javier

APLE HOMEWORK 8/10. Deadline November 15th

 

As everybody knows, Barack Obama won the elections last week, becoming the 44th President of USA. I think Obama is a great communicator. His speeches are always worth listening to. You can watch his victory speech here. It is 20 minutes long, but quite easy to understand.

Now, this is your task. You have to answer to these 14 questions ORALLY? You can use the system you prefer. You don't need to read the questions, just say the number and give the answer.

1.       What does Barack Obama say about people waiting in a line for long to vote?

2.       Who did Obama call after he won the elections?

3.       What does he want to talk about with Senator Romney?

4.       Who is Joe Biden?

5.       What year did Obama get married?

6.       How many inhabitants are there in the United States?

7.       Complete: But despite all our differences…

8.       What professions does the worker’s child in North Carolina want?

9.       What challenges can Obama only solve if he Works together with the other parties?

10.   What makes America great and exceptional?

11.   Why does Obama mention New York and New Jersey?

12.   What happened to a family in Ohio?

13.   Complete the sentence: “something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep __________, to keep __________, to keep __________.

14.   Finish the sentence: “You can make it here in America if…”

APLE COMPUTER ROOM NOVEMBER 7TH&14TH

As unit 2 in our textbook is about restaurants, let's work on that.

15 minutes > go to this page http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omquestion/contenidotematico.htm and do as many intermediate questions as you can (at least 15 questions). Don't forget to check for the answers after you do it. Add the address to your delicious account.

20 minutes > practise listening about restaurants (unit 2 in the text book). Go to these pages for that:

http://esl.about.com/library/listening/blrestorder.htm

http://www.esl-lab.com/pie1/pierd1.htm

http://www.inglesmundial.com/B7/listening.htm

http://www.esl-lab.com/fastfood/fastfoodrd1.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0501/512-Akane-Restaurant.html (Hide the text and then do the multimedia Quiz Game)



10 minutes > watch this video and answer the following questions about it as a comment to this post


1.- What did he write? Why?
2.- What kind of restaurant is it?
3.- What happened with the wine?
4.- Did he like the food?
5.- What did he do with the food?
6.- What happened at the end?



Enjoy your lesson.

Javier

APLE HOMEWORK 7/10. Deadline November 8th

This week, the idea is to prove how well you can read. You have to go to this site, choose the story whose number corresponds the one you have in my list, read and listen to the text as many times as you need and then read the text aloud recording it on this voicethread or with the recording system you prefer. You can try as many times as you want. When you are satisfied with the result, save it. If you do not remember your number in my list, choose any number from 20 to 40.

APLE HOMEWORK 6/10. Deadline Oct 31st.

Dear students,
One day, in one of your lessons, you were talking about what you wanted to study at university, but today I want you to go a little bit further and talk about your life in ten years time.

I've come accross a New York Times Interactive where senior students from a high school in San Diego were asked about their plans for their future, their 10-year plans.

You must hear their answers, choose two students you feel identified with and send me a Voice Mail with all the information you've understood. Then, do the same, but talking about you and your future. Try to avoid the usual mistakes. Do not read. Try to sound as natural as possible and do not rush.

Don't forget YOUR NAME, SURNAME AND EMAIL ACCOUNT.

Last week, only 11 students did their homework. Remember that every time you don't do your homework, you lose 0.3 points out of your final mark.

Have a gr8 weekend.

Javier
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/27/magazine/senior-class.html

CALENDAR FOR 4º ESO PRESENTATIONS

Alberto, Laura and María: October 23rd
Clara and Mille: October 26th
Ignacio: October 30th
Patty and Noemi: October 31st
Mary: November 7th
Eduardo and David: November 9th
Alejandra: November  14th
Marta and Iñigo: November  16th
Ana: November 21st
Alba and María: November 23rd
Daniela: November 28th
Sara: November 30th

APLE HOMEWORK 5/10. Deadline October 25th

Hello students,
Here is the task you have to do for this week.
You have to go to this site, choose one of the stories (one which is complete, not in parts) and listen to it at least a couple of times WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE SCRIPT. You can either download the .mp3 file or listen to it directly on the page. Then, you can listen to it again with the script to understand it better. Your task is to record a summary of the story IN YOUR OWN WORDS and in less than three minutes. You can also say if you liked the story and if you found it easy or difficult to understand.

You can do it in this voicethread or use the send voicemail on the right of the blog. Try to change your icon/avatar in voicethread and use a picture or something more personal and original.



Good luck and enjoy your weekend.

APLE PRESENTATION AND EXAM DATES

Oct 22nd: Abel
Oct. 23rd: Laura Galvez and Laura García
Nov. 5th: Jose Luis and First Listening Exam
Nov. 6th: Gema and Silvia
Nov. 12th: Ana González
Nov. 13th: Elena and Rocío
Nov 19th: Blanca
Nov. 20th: Alejandro and Alex
Nov. 27th: Mercedes and Ana Blazquez
Dec. 3rd: Gorka and Miriam

LISTENING EXAMS

FIRST EXAM: NOVEMBER 5TH (short, in 1BB classroom)
SECOND EXAM: DECEMBER 4TH (long, in 1BB classroom)

APLE HOMEWORK 4/10. Deadline Thursday October 18th.

We are going to play a game of Trivial one of these days, so I think it would be interesting if you wrote some questions and answers for the game. Apart from English, there are 4 other categories:

1.- History and Geography

2.- Cinema and Sports

3.- Art and literature

4.- Science

I want you to send me an email to my usual address javiprofeingles@hotmail.com with AT LEAST 16 QUESTIONS, (4 for each category). Don't forget to write the answer (or the possible options with the correct one) and to include your name.
Hope you enjoy playing.
Javier

APLE HOMEWORK 3/10. Deadline Wednesday October 10th

Dear Students,



Since it is Steve Jobs' death anniversary this week, and we are watching his graduation speech video, I thought you might like this very short spot.br />
Here is the first "Think Different" Apple commercial that never aired, narrated by Steve Jobs: "Here's to the Crazy Ones". What makes great people great?







I want you to do three things:

a)identify the 17 famous people who appear in the video. If you don't know all of them, mention the ones you do know.

b)write the script of the commercial (you will have to watch it several times).

c)choose your favourite character and make a speech saying why you think that person was crazy and thought in a different way.

You have to send me a message to javiprofeingles@hotmail.com with three files: one with the people who apppear, another one with the script and a third one with an audio file about your favourite character (if it is easier for you, you can send me the audio file through "Send Voicemail" in this blog.
I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Do not forget to practise your oral English as much as you can.
Javier