TODAY - Earth Hour 2012

A WWW initiative in its sixth year, EARTH HOUR 2012 urging people to protect our planet!

Tonight at 8:30pm, Saturday 31 March, more than 6000 cities & towns across a record 150 countries & territories will switch off their lights for Earth Hour. A truly global community united behind a more sustainable future.

Don't forget to switch the lights off, 8:30PM

And if you still lack will or inspiration, have a look at this video:

Hope you can also join in :=)
For more info, please check these links:
http://www.wwf.org.au/earthhour/
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/earthhour/index.html
Ah, and yes: don't forget to check my previous blogposts on this issue. Thank you!

Gotta Keep Reading

Every and each opportunity has to be seized to do what we cherish most - in my case, reading!
Older and younger students have been asked to enjoy their Easter break but also to READ:
"I got my book
Do you have yours?
What is the title?
And who's it by?
Where is it set?
...Feed your brains!"
Enjoy this inspirational video "Gotta Keep Reading" (lyrics of this adapted version of "I Gotta Feeling" also available here) 


                                                                                                               Happy Reading :=)

Guessing Activity - WHAT AM I?

I have no colour,
not even white,
but sometimes I'm wide and blue.
Sometimes I'm still,
and sometimes I rush,
and I can fall down on you.

I can change my shape,
I often do,
but I'm hard to hold in your hand.
You need me to make
your castle stand up
when you're playing in the sand.

I haven't much taste
but on a hot day
your tongue's hanging out for me.
Then I am cold,
but I can be hot
When I'm in your mum's cup of tea.

What am I?

Jo Peters in The Works, Chosen by PAUL COOKSON

World Poetry Day

To mark World Poetry Day another poem this time by Valerie Worth

Book

Such a
Bountiful
Box of
Tricks:
Packed
With the
Five senses,
The seven
Seas, the
Earth’s
Four winds
And corners,
All fitted
Exactly in.

Valerie Worth in All the small poems and fourteen more

Find yourself a poetry book and read!
Happy Reading :=))

Father's Day

Father. Dad. Daddy. Pops. My old Man... whatever you call him, say thank you to your father and share some moments together if you can.
Happy Father's Day :=)

Joseph Kony - the birth of a web star

Source: freepostermaker.com

If Joseph Kony was an anonymous for many now he has the status of a web star ... for the worst reasons - a new model of modern campaigning.
Last Monday, the advocacy group Invisible Children released a 30-minute video as part of a campaign to increase global awareness about the atrocities carried out by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. He is long wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court and is now being hunted not only by 100 US Special Forces operators in four African countries but also billions of people aim to make him famous (!?) by spreading the word. Supporters are also encouraged to plaster cities with posters; now, too, the #stopkony Twitter hashtag has a global prominence.
At http://www.kony2012.com/ you can sign the pledge to help the organisation bring Kony to justice in 2012 and watch the video either on Vimeo or here.
In any case, as teachers, why not make part of this campaign? Why not somehow contribute for this world effort while teaching English and new marketing campaigns as well as instilling active citizenship values on a classroom basis? The least we can do, whether we agree with this "Stop Kony" viral video phenomenon or not, is to give it some thought by discussing it in class, right?

Source: header logo, voxy.com

From here you can download the printable content from a kit with material you may find useful and Voxy, described as "a new way to learn English" using current articles from world news, pop culture..., has just published a short article you can read here. By clicking on the highlighted words, you hear them pronounced. There are also questions on the text, its repetition to fill in gaps among other exercises - its surely more relevant and interesting than other stuff :=)

IWD update

Source: wikipedia.org

Have a look at this awesome picture:
"We Can Do It!" is a wartime propangada poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1942 as an inspirational image to boost worker morale. The model for the poster is generally thought to be a black-and-white wire service photograph taken of a Michigan factory worker named Geraldine Hoff Doyle.
It is exactly this picture that is used in a great classroom activity you can find here. If you click on the icon, you will listen a four-minute rap with the text / lyrics included below. Part of it is in blue which means you can also click on those lines for extra information or, if you wish, you can use them to ask students questions on the topic.
In previous years and therefore former blogposts, I've already left info and links on this date, on what it means / implies to be a woman in the western world or what it might mean to be a woman, for instance, in countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia... strange as it might see to us there is still a divide - and how deep! - between our reality and many other women's as depicted in A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Please read the text I wrote here.
And by the way, thank your mothers to have been born a (free) woman. Feel happy and grateful :))))

International Women's Day 2012

Dr Seuss

2nd March is Dr Seuss birthday and a very good reason - another one - to celebrate READING.
Theodor Seuss Geisel was one of the most popular poets and cartoonists of his time and became most widely known for his books written on children. Indeed, in his prolific career he wrote no less than 46 books for children and credited his mother for it.
For you to have an idea of who Dr Seuss was and his literary productions, have a look at this neat tool I have been willing to share with you for some time: an interactive timeline. 

Dr. Seuss on Dipity.

What about you? Do you like Dr Seuss books? What about this interactive timeline? You just need to register, write your text and then add the links - either for text or video. It has Joao Diogo's name simply because it was started with his account :=)