Christmas Carols and Cristmas Cards

Music, Students' Corner, , , , , ,

It’s been quite a long time since I haven’t sung any Christmas Carols with my students . I might be wrong but I’ve always felt that although they might have been willing to learn about some cultural issues , singing Carols was out of the question. But this year …. is my year for all these secret pleasures that I used to enjoy doing when I was in primary or secondary school.

That’s why with my elementary class  there is going to be a Christmas Cards competition  and we are also going to learn the Christmas Carol  ,Jingle Bells . We are going to practise really hard and delight teachers and students with our graceful singing. No kidding , some students sing really well!

Click to see some ideas for the cards.

Craft activities (Oxford)

Making a Pop-Up card (Oxford), Another Pop-Up Card (Artcare), Christmas Tree Pop-Up Card (Staiden)

And this is the carol we’re going to be singing.  Want to join us?

Voicethread and my students

Create your own stuff, Resources, Slides, Speaking, Writing, Writing skill, , , , , , ,

I’ve been meaning to use this tool for  quite a long time but  the right time never seemed to come.

I think this little dialogue performed by my most elementary students is a nice way of showing you what Voicethread is. VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways – using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam).

I want to thank María Sánchez and Rocío Ibias in the first dialogue and Eva Bedia and Ainhoa Nuevo in the second (from IES  Cesar Rodríguez – Grado) for their enthusiam. Thanks girls, I would never  have done it without you!

To use Voicethread you need to register but it only takes a minute and it can help you a lot improve your speaking and writing abilities. How ?

  • You can  record yourself describing pictures
  • You can  add comments to photographs
  • You can tell a story using different pictures

It also has a lot of potential for teachers.

  • I intend to use it for debates on issues: by asking students either to record themselves or  type their own ideas
  • I have already used it to record students doing role-plays

I’m sure you have plenty of ideas to use VoiceThread. Why don’t you share them with us ? Please, send a post if you want to contribute with your own ideas.

Film mistakes,goofs and bloopers

Lesson Plan: Advanced, Listening, , , ,

Have no fear of perfection- you’ll never reach it! Salvador Dalí

We all make mistakes from time to time, don’t we? But of course! We are all humans after all. Sometimes the mistakes we make are not too significant, some other times they are pretty serious but the good thing is that we always learn from our mistakes, don’t we? Well, there are, of course, those who think they can do nothing wrong and those who never do anything and therefore, never make mistakes! But for me, I am willing to make mistakes if someone else is willing to learn from them.


Today we are going to put all our attention on film mistakes. The film industry is a huge industry and everybody working there has a role to fulfil, from filmmakers to production crews and many more. What is more, there is usually a lot of money involved in making a film. However, film mistakes are there for everybody to see.

Have you ever thought how much work goes behind the scenes in order to make a film as realistic and authentic as possible? Unfortunately, no matter how hard people working in the film industry try, mistakes which they should have noticed always manage to turn up. Even worse, when the film is released, there are people who actually make a point of looking for these mistakes. Are you one of these?

Spot these mistakes by watching this video.

 

Domestic Violence Awareness Week

General

I could have let it pass as I’ve done with other Whatsoever Awareness Days but this one in particular strikes a personal chord .

Did you know that females are at risk of violence in some countries from the beginning of their lives  … (trafficking,honour killings, genital mutilation,sexual exploitation, rape )… just because they are women? 

Some facts to consider: 

It kills more women than cancer
It affects 1 in 3 women worldwide
15 million women will be assaulted by their husbands this year
It leaves women mentally scared for life
In 60% of the homes where a woman is abused , so are the children
                                                                                        

Remember:  Apologies and promises will not end the violence

                          Abuse is not a loss of control… it is a means of control

 This video may be a bit too much if you are a very sensitive person… but this is usually the way it starts… so if you’re suffering anything like this , find  help!!