Friday 29 October 2010

Halloween!


Domingo se comemora Halloween nos EUA e em vez de contar a história que todos sabem, vejam abaixo um vídeo super interessante do History Channel sobre a origem desse feriado. Acompanhe com o roteiro e as palavras e expressões mais difíceis traduzidas.

HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN – History Channel video


If graveyards (cemitério) make you nervous, and Jack-O Lanterns leer (olhar esgueiramente) from every window, if the streets are full of monsters, just relax! It’s all part of the fun! Trick? Treat? Or a little of each? Let’s turn on all the lights and take a look at Halloween.

Ages ago, when history was short, and winters were dark, tribes of Celtic farmers believed there was one day a year when the season of life meets the season of death, when malevolent (maligno) spirits could rise (levantar) from their graves (cova, tumba) and walk amongst (entre) the living. It was Celtic Ireland B.C. and that day was called Samhain, the Celtic word for summer’s end.

On a day when so many spirits lurked (embuscar), druid priests (padres) tried to foretell whether (prever se) their villages would survive the winter. Ordinary Celts lit great bonfires (fogueiras) and disguised themselves (disfarçar-se) to repel and confuse the spirits. In the 8th century in a likely attempt (provável tentativa) to distract the Celts from their pagan practice, Pope Gregory the III established all hallows day, a day honouring all saints, known and unknown, on Nov 1st.

Europeans accepted the new holiday but saw no reason not to enjoy their traditional rituals as well (também), and soon Samhain became know as All Hallow’s Eve, from there it was a short walk to the name we all know today: Halloween.

Predictably (Como era de se prever), such a heathen (pagão) tradition was of no interest to America’s first puritans, so it – like in Europe – was left behind. Until the mid 19th century when a potato famine (inanição) drove over a million starving (faminto) Irish and their folklore across the Atlantic and into America’s port cities. An ocean from home, and immersed in a cultural melting pot (mistura cultural) their traditions began to change.

The roaring (crepitante) bonfires shrank to lanterns, carved from gourds (cabaça), the first Jack O’ Lanterns. And the Celt’s demonic disguises became the sinister costumes (fantasias) of modern day Halloween. The origins of trick-or-treating (travessura ou gostosura) remain unclear. It is believed to stem from (originar-se de) a custom known as souling in which the poor went from home to home and prayed (rezar) for the souls of each family’s dead in exchange for small cakes to eat. By the early part of the 20th century Halloween was gaining a foothold (ganhando força) as an American institution. Mass produced Halloween costumes became common place (lugar-comum), making Halloween one of the most profitable (rentável) holidays on the calendar earning retailers (varejistas) billions of dollars.

Halloween’s appeal transcends age: delighting (encantando) both children, and yes even (até mesmo) adults alike (da mesma forma). It’s a date to step into costume, gorge on (comer aos montes) sweets, throw ghoulish galas (festas macabras), and to scare ourselves silly. The truth is frightfully clear: not even a silver bullet can stop Halloween now.

Vídeo e roteiro propriedades do History Channel.

I Love my family


Reading comprehension ( Present Simple + Physical description) B&W Included

We live in a big flat - printable




Reading comprehension ( Present Simple) + Question words ( B&W Included)

For , since or ago?


game (with sound)

Thursday 21 October 2010

Haloween


Picture dictionary + word search ( B&W + key included)

Halloween - Game


lesson + game ( with sound)

Thursday 14 October 2010

Terrifying Times: A Halloween Writing Activity




Are you still looking for Halloween-related activities? A ghost story can help students review and practice adverb clauses of time. The exercise will be more meaningful if at least part of the story is composed by the students themselves. The writing practice can then lead into reading and speaking practice depending on how you ask the students to share their work.

Step 1 - Discuss common elements in ghost stories. List nouns and verbs on the board as they are suggested. Your list of nouns might include footsteps, victim, and shadow. Your list of verbs might include scream and creak.

Step 2 – Brainstorm a third list of words - adjectives you would expect to find in a ghost story. Ask them to provide synonyms for words such as scared and scary.

Step 3 - Hand out the gapped text titled The Haunted Hotel. Students will have approximately 15 minutes to complete it. Explain that the word lists are there to provide some ideas, but students are not required to use them.

Step 4 - Have students pair up and exchange papers. Partners will read and comment on the author’s story. Corrections may be suggested.

Step 5 - Have students form small groups of about three or four so that they are no longer with their former partner. In these small groups, authors will take turns reading their stories aloud.

Step 6 - Optional: Invite students to publish their stories in text or audio form on your class or school website.

Tips to Learn English Quickly



Teaching Tips


Keep a folder of great lessons ready to go at a moment's notice.

This is self-explanatory. If something works, make sure to take the time to set it aside in a special folder for future use. You will be very thankful that you took an extra two minutes to make an extra photocopy for future use!


Take note of the most common student mistakes made during an exercise and correct students after the activity has taken place.

Most ESL EFL classes have improved communication skills as a top priority. When a teacher corrects every mistake, students become hesitant when speaking because they are afraid of being corrected. You can give them more confidence by correcting them after the fact. Most mistakes made are repeated by a number of students and are of a similar nature. By correcting students after the exercise, you help increase communicative fluency by encouraging a natural flow of conversation that would otherwise be interrupted by frequent correction. Correcting students after the exercise also helps them to focus on the most common mistakes which is useful to all students, not just the student who has made a particular mistake.


Use music in class.

Music can be incredibly helpful in setting the mood, helping students concentrate, or just improving the spirits of students before they get down to work. Put a recording on before students arrive and watch how students leave their cares behind them as they get ready to concentrate on the learning tasks ahead. Music provides a wonderful way of refocusing and relaxing at the same time.


Get your students more physically involved in the lesson.

Sitting at a desk for a long time can be incredibly boring and cause students to lose attention. Get your students up and walking about, even for just a few moments, and you will be surprised at how the energy level rises in the classroom. Not only do these short breaks help students refocus their energies, but they also improve learning by providing a physical link to the learning taking place at that moment.


Focus on making standard activities more communicative.

When all is said and done, most students are learning English in order to be able to communicate in English. Each exercise needs to have a communicative aspect somehow connected to it to take the knowledge acquired from passive to active. If you are working on conjugation exercises, get students to ask each other questions about their past experiences using the tenses concerned. If students are working on a reading comprehension, take the time to ask their opinions on what they have read, how what they have read applies to their own lives, etc.

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Do / Does / Did




PowerPoint game

Thursday 7 October 2010

Days of the week - PowerPoint game




Find 40 Kitchen Utensils and Appliances


Picture dictionary + word search ( key included)

Food


matching activity

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