Easter

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Poems signed by students

Stop.
Wait!
Poems by students? By adult learners of English?
Well, that's right.
Since the year 2000 that 21st March has been World Poetry Day. Having in mind that UNESCO's aim with this date is to promote Reading, Writing and the teaching/learning of Poetry and using an interactive resource  from Read Write Think, I challenged my adult learners to write Acrostic Poems, in other words, poems that use the letters in a topic word to begin each line. Some sts chose to use their own names, others chose topics as family or love, others still, festivities. Not all managed to complete their first poetic attempt; other poems were saved and sent without a final correction. Nevertheless, the result was so encouraging and rewarding that we would like to share these beautiful poems with you all.
Their poems follow below - and because we are approaching Easter, this "story" starts with an Easter bunny made with the students' names :=) So, what do you think? Approved, right?

Earth Hour 2013

It's today - Join in!!!

World Poetry Day

Every year on March 21 UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) celebrates World Poetry Day - a time to appreciate poetry and poets all over the world.
Quoting Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

"Poetry is one of the purest expressions of linguistic freedom. It is a component of the identity of peoples and it embodies the creative energy of culture, for it can be continuously renewed".

Message for the World Poetry Day 

To celebrate this date and the beginning of Spring, a poem, what else???

IT'S SPRING

It's spring

And the garden is changing its clothes,

Putting away

Its dark winter suits,

Its dull scarves

And drab brown overcoats.

Now, it wraps itself in green shoots,

Slips on blouses

Sleeved with pink and white blossom,

Pulls on skirts of daffodil and primrose,

Snowdrop socks and purple crocus shoes,

Then dances in the sunlight.

John Foster in The Works 10th Anniversary Edition

What about you, what are your favourite lines?

Happy World Poetry Day, y'all :)

St Patrick's Day - KEY

Here is the key to the challenge posted for last Sunday, 17th March, St Patrick's Day.
Thanks to all for your fantastic contributions :=)

St. Patrick's Day

Source: wikipedia
SHAMROCK

St Patrick's Day is a religious and cultural holiday celebrated today, 17th March, and it's named after Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron Saint. This is a widely celebrated date with church services as well as public parades and festivals.

»» According to legend, St Patrick used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain
the Holy Trinity

Below there is a video as well as an Infographic on St Patrick's Day. After watching it and giving some thought to the infographic, please take a couple of minutes for the quiz that follows.

Now, please take the quiz! Thanks!!!

IWD 2013

8th March has been International Women's Day for over a century and in previous years I have left here info and some resources.
This year I planned something slightly different as some of you might have noticed and voted- I'm thankful for that.
There was a poll and here are the results as to 8pm:

This poll is certainly a good starting point for a discussion on Women's rights and gender (in)equalities worldwide. To provide a kind of "language bank", have a look at this link which contains different ways of expressing agreement / disagreement... as well as arguments.
BBC news has a moving article on women who inspire others and in honor of IWD, Globe and Mail has a very curious article on "Where's the best place to be a woman?"
Scholastic has literally tons of interesting resources for teachers and ESLvideo has a very updated interview with Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani school girl and women's rights activist recently shot) as well as a quiz - a role model for bravery that we could use in classes!
The best for me though is an interactive experience we should all (including sts) try out: "Mind the Gap - Gender & Education" already says much and is described as "An interactive data game that lets you explore the progress and pitfalls of girls’ and women’s education around the world". Here it is:

Mind the gap infographic by UNESCO Institute for statistics.

In my classes and with my adult learners, today I showed the students a tribute video to women which combines good music and pics of women who, throughout the time and in different areas, made a difference. Afterwards I elicited some info from them for a written task I'm sharing below. (the worksheet below has the link to the video):

IWD 2013 - POLL

Please vote!

Is it still reasonable to observe International Women's Day (IWD) on 8th March?

Yes, definitely, because there is still discrimination.

Yes, especially in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India...

No, we already take equality for granted.

or View Results

Create your own poll at Flisti.com

Thank you!