UPDATE - Halloween Google logo

Doodle - Happy Halloween from Google featuring Scooby Doo!!!

More on... HALLOWEEN

Kids and teens love bizarre, weird stuff, don't they?
I've signed up for regular updates from The Guinness World of Records (their "monthly superlative news fix") for some time and guess what?! Recently they've announced a list of Top Halloween Records - and I thought: Wow - why not show our classes a slideshow of Halloween records next week to introduce or review the adjective degrees, namely the superlative forms???? The Telegraph also has an amazing picture gallery of carved pumpkins and here is another under the heading "Thrill the world 2010" with zombies.

As Halloween approaches, both BBC and CNN have posted images and articles on this subject, even comparing US and UK spendings as it happens here or in this video. So, besides those old but still useful Classroom Timesavers (Holidays and Special Days in the USA / Festivals and Special Days in Britain), what I've already posted before and am posting now, there is a wide range of sources to choose from - one needs but time to search and choose and that's what we haven't got...

Further interesting / curious infos can be found...

http://us.cnn.com/video/ - free app (only till Oct 31) for cell phones called "Trick or Track" so that parents can track their children's location

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20101021-get-spooked-sensational-halloween-destinations
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101027-halloween-costumes-facts-history-nation-science/

BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's HALLOWEEN!

In a few days, Halloween is there again.

Every year on October 31st, Halloween is celebrated in many different countries around the world.

As usual, wikipedia has loads of information but have a look at History.com for a change! Here you'll find pictures, videos, games, infos on This Day in History (obviously updated daily!) and topics - exactly where you can read about the ancient origins of this celebration, evolution, today's traditions and trivia. Have a look at some of the short videos available (for example, Pumpkin facts), read about History of the Jack O'Lantern, and explore the interactive pumpkin carving patterns.

The NYTimes also has resources for teachers - many and good ones! Under the heading Education, we find lessons, crosswords, multimedia / slideshows, quizzes, recipes and more such as movie overviews.

Some more practical and easy stuff for us to use are the traditional word searches, crosswords or coloring pages you can find here and here and choose according to your age / level group.
With young learners, even 12 / 13 year-olds (7th graders) there is this link I find fantastic with Background Information and Activities + Halloween Teacher Activities + Halloween Family Activities. Then, if you click on the pumpkin (top right hand corner), you can play a short movie (with or without captions), play games, quizzes, write, read,... all with sound. In the end, learners / teachers / parents can also print whatever they want.

My Halloween greetings :)))

IF EVERYONE CARED...

Following my last post on WORLD FOOD DAY (and on the 17th was / is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty), a powerful song that expresses many of our wishes - the world would be a much better place if we all cared. Some examples are depicted throughout the clip; people who, one way or the other, managed to change the world. We, too, can make a difference, if we DO care and DO something - and I know YOU do care because so many people played the game at http://www.freerice.com/ even though unnoticed... Thank you all!
Now watch this YouTube video till the very end, please!


Lyrics here - a great song not only for the message but also for the use of the 2nd Conditional, right?

WORLD FOOD DAY - 16th October

World Food Day, which happens every year on 16th October, is intended to focus attention on global hunger.
Please watch this PSA for 2010

Developed countries have problems with obesity and overweight children while developing nations suffer more and more from HUNGER. There is therefore little to celebrate at UN World Food Day 2010 but a lot we can do to help if we are willing to. At http://www.wfp.org/stories/10-ways-fight-hunger-right-now we can find suggestions to fight hunger and, as a teacher, I would point out the following:
http://www.wfp.org/videos/nutrition-2-minutes-0 - a very short, clear and easy to follow video on nutrition we can show to our students for information, comparison, for food vocabulary;
http://www.wfp.org/students-and-teachers - World Food Programme is well aware that teachers play an important role in changing mentalities, in persuading learners to take action and in this section, besides all the information available, there are also some lesson plans. However, for teachers and students, parents and children, all adults and kids in general, I believe http://www.freerice.com/ to be the best: a game in which for each answer we get right, they donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to help end hunger. You can choose subjects, learn and contribute for a worthy cause!!! Do try :)))
As I posted here and here before, BBC Learning English has new material also on Hunger as you can see in this printscreen, ready for us to use in classes:

Unfortunately, there are loads of articles and infos on this issue. Here are just a few suggestions for further reading or research:

http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/

Image Credit:
ecoactionteams

http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/15/little-to-celebrate-at-un-food-day/

http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/world-food-day.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Day

EAT WELL :)

Rescuing "Los 33"

 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

Rescuing the 33 trapped Chilean miners has become a concern around the world - our eyes and ears (for many, even their prayers) have been and are still on Chile. We have suffered with the miners and their families during their long ordeal of over two months underground; just like distant members of a large family, we've followed all steps to ensure they would be rescued. Now, as one by one is coming out and the meticulous operation of raising them to the surface unfolds, all express their deepest gratitude for the happy outcome, Chileans in general are proud (and delighted with such international media frenzy), and everywhere in the world overjoyed  people are celebrating not only the miners' safe and sound "return to life"- their rebirth -, the effort of the rescuers but also the miracle of technology.

All this got me thinking about introducing updated news and realia into classes.

At CNN you have an interactive map that is being permanently updated as the miners are being rescued. Besides a very clear map from where a lot of information can be taken (we can also use it for adjective degrees), there is a picture of each of the trapped miners in which you can click on in order to have some more information on them. Here you have even more infos on who the trapped Chilean miners are. Their ages and other personal information as well as their roles underground can be used to practise adjective degrees or verb tenses. Here CNN's interactive gives a 360-degree sweep of the site of the Chile mine rescue.
For more information click...
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/13/chile.miner.television.moment/index.html?iref=NS1
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/10/13/chile.miners.online.traffic/index.html?iref=NS1
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/13/chile.miners.rescue/index.html?iref=NS1
As usual, CNN STUDENT NEWS has great material we can use as described here in a previous blogpost.
So now watch this:


BBC also has an extensive coverage of the rescue operations
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11527129
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/chile_mine/  - all the information one needs -

even the miners' daily routine at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11170852 - why not use this with our students? We can ask them to write down a diary page or once their ordeal is coming to an end, ask them to describe a typical day using the simple past.
With weaker students or lower levels, we can use http://voxy.com/stories/news/chilean-miners-clash-over-who-will-come-out-last,2149/ .
Voxy - LEARN A LANGUAGE FROM LIFE - with news from around the world, VOXY can be used as a resource for EFL students to help them learn English. They can listen to the full (but always very short) text; they can read the article and by clicking on the highlighted words they not only hear their correct pronunciation but also add them to a "study list" which can be used for games and quizzes. In this case, we can also introduce / review some grammar topics such as verb tenses, adjective degrees (again) or ordinal numbers.
There is always the option of a NO COMMENT news video, for example
http://www.euronews.net/nocomment/2010/10/13/chile-first-miners-reach-the-surface/ to brainstorm ideas, vocabulary and knowledge on current events, for descriptions, for feelings, a great feature for secondary students! As they put it "At euronews we believe in the intelligence of our viewers and we think that the mission of a news channel is to deliver facts without any opinion or bias, so that the viewers can make their own opinion on world events."

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. Why don't you share your ideas as well?

Happy 70th Birthday, JOHN LENNON

Image Credit: archive.org

For those about my age, you surely still remember John Lennon who, if alive, would be celebrating his 70th birthday. Due to his influence through music / lyrics and political / peaceful messages, this date is being marked worldwide with different events (special concerts, museum exhibits, CD reissues, a monument in Liverpool - the legendary musician's hometown - even in Iceland with a ceremony hosted by Yoko Ono) as well as by Google with this special interactive doodle playing his famous song Imagine.
As a teacher I've already introduced some of his songs in classes - namely the one already mentioned with the topic war / peace,  Happy Christmas, Woman,...
As for kids / teens, many have already heard his songs on TV, in ads or heard parents referring or listening to John Lennon in his solo career or most certainly to the Beatles, the band he himself described in 1966 as having become "more famous than Jesus".

Image Credit: rockbandbeatlesblog.com

If you're a fan, consider clicking http://www.beatlestube.net/  where you'll find all videos about the Beatles on YouTube;
If you're more interested in John Lennon than in the Beatles, have a look at
http://www.johnlennonday.com/  - Imagine John Lennon Day, an International Holiday celebrating Peace and Love
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
http://www.johnlennon.com/index.html
http://www.archive.org/post/280379/john-lennon-12-8-80
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2010/10/07/john-lennon-70th-birthday-solo-career.html
or even today's news paying him tribute
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11507993
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iAhEB4FcLYGhnErbdzKgbSDSfQJQ?docId=N0181101286628335882A
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/8051939/John-Lennon-profile.html

EAT PRAY LOVE



On August 15th I posted here about my summer readings and mentioned I was reading EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert; by then I also posted the trailer of its film adaptation and later left a very short comment here. Well, yesterday off to the cinema I went but not alone :))))) We were a large group of forty (teachers and adult learners of English) and really had a nice time - as always -watching Julia Roberts learning Italian (and Italian gestures), slurping spaghetti, desperately trying to wear trousers that weren't definitely her size any more, chanting (or trying to) in Sanskrit, meeting a toothless medicine man,...and always surrounded by nice and/or good looking men, real hotties, I would say ;)) Lucky woman! 

ELIZABETH GILBERT
Image Credit: wikipedia.org

As I said before in my wallwisher, I loved this autobiographical book: a divorcee's epic search around the world for inner peace. Of course we can always question her reasons to do it but in what the book is concerned, it is personal and rich in spiritual insight. Liz Gilbert is sometimes hilarious and has a great sense of humour. As far as I am concerned, I found her writing captivating and her travelogue exciting. As for the film, we have the privilege of having a glimpse of all the beautiful and fascinating places she went to (Italy, India and Indonesia) as well as their cultures - worlds apart, obviously!

Hope you liked it :)

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR OLDER PERSONS - 1st October

To my parents, with all my love and affection.

BEAUTIFUL OLD AGE
 

It ought to be lovely to be old

to be full of the peace that comes of experience
and wrinkled ripe fulfilment.

The wrinkled smile of completeness that follows a life
lived undaunted and unsoured with accepted lies

they would ripen like apples, and be scented like pippins

in their old age.

D.H Lawrence
Image Credit:
 poetryconnection.net

Soothing, old people should be, like apples

when one is tired of love.

Fragrant like yellowing leaves, and dim with the soft

stillness and satisfaction of autumn.

And a girl should say:

It must be wonderful to live and grow old.

Look at my mother, how rich and still she is! -

And a young man should think: By Jove

my father has faced all weathers, but it's been a life!

D.H. Lawrence http://www.poetseers.org/the_great_poets/british_poets/d_h_lawrence/lawrence_poems/3/view/

Bio and Biblio on the author:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence