Thursday, December 17, 2015

A Christmas Carol

 http://www.createwebquest.com/sites/default/files/images/Christmas-carol.jpeg
The excellent 1971 animated version of the Charles Dickens classic. Animated in the style of 1800s engravings by the great Richard Williams Studio. Featuring the voices of Alistair Sim Michael Redgrave and Michael Hordern reprising his 1951 performance as Marley's Ghost . Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, among others. Produced by Chuck Jones. This film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for 1972. Enjoy it!





Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy businessman who thinks only of making money. For him, Christmas is, in his own words, a humbug. It has been seven years since his friend and partner, Jacob Marley, died. On Christmas Eve, Marley's ghost visits him and tells him he is to be visited during the night by three spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past revisits some of the main events in Scrooge's life to date, including his unhappy childhood, his happy apprenticeship to Mr. Fezziwig who cared for his employees, and the end of his engagement to a pretty young woman due to growing love of money. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him how joyously is nephew Fred and his clerk, Bob Cratchit, celebrate Christmas with those they love, with a especial focus on Tim, Bob's son, who is seriously ill. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him what he will leave behind after he is gone and he is given the chance to change his way of living and save himself and others from his terrible fate. Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, a new man intent on doing good and celebrating the season with all of those around him.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

All I Want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas it's you is an old song performed for the first time by singer Mariah Carey. This season, the song has been updated and released as a duet by Mariah Carey herself an Justin Bieber. Let's review this new version, with even new lyrics.

[Justin]
I just can't wait

[Mariah]
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
And I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree

[Mariah]
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas Day

[Mariah]
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas
Is you
You, baby

[Justin]
Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
And I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe

[Justin]
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click

[Justin]
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?
Cause baby all I want for Christmas is you
You

[Mariah & Justin]
Oh-ho, all the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children
Laughter fills the air

[Mariah & Justin]
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need?
Won't you please bring my baby to me?
Yeah

[Mariah]
Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just wanna see my baby (Yeahhh)
Standing right outside my door

[Mariah]
Oh I just want you for my own

[Justin]
For my own
Baby

[Mariah]
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true

[Mariah & Justin]
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You baby

All I want for Christmas is you baby
All I want for Christmas is you baby
All I want for Christmas is you baby

 

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Why We Eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving


The real reason American eat turkeys on Thanksgiving. Must see it!


Thanksgiving Vocabulary

Learn the main Thanksgiving vocabulary with this slides presentation.



The First Thanksgiving


In the United States, Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday of November. The holiday is celebrated in remembrance of the pilgrims who reached Plymouth Rock in 1620, and in order to give God thanks for it. 
Learn how this first Thanksgiving was with this presentation:


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Friday, November 20, 2015

The Fonix 2.016. Official Poster


The Fonix 2.016: Be Prepared!

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The Ninth English Competition for Catalan Schools (THE FONIX 2016), designed to promote the use of English among school students through a fun and educational competition in an informal educational setting, is hereby announced.
The objective of the competition is to select a finalist from each of the first two stages: local, territorial and the winners at the final stage.
The exercises in all the stages of the competition will consist of writing tasks, each based on a different theme (for example: geography, history or music). The written tasks contain a variety of activities on vocabulary, reading and writing. In the final stage of the competition, there will also be an oral section in the test.
STAGES OF THE COMPETITION: 
  • LOCAL STAGEThe tests will be held at each school between 12th of January and 15th February 2016 inclusive.
  • REGIONAL STAGE: The tests during the regional stage will be held on Saturday 27th February at 12:00 midday, and will last for a maximum of 60 minutes. The location of the examination will be made public well before the test date.
  • FINAL STAGE: The final stage of the competition will be held Saturday 16th April. The test at the Final stage of the competition will consist of an oral as well as a written section. The test will take between 40-50 minutes at the most.
  • Awards Ceremony: The FONIX award ceremony of prizes and diplomas will take place Friday 20th May.
 THE PRIZES:
The following prizes will be awarded to the candidates who classify for the final stage of the competition:
  • 4 two-week stays in “English Summer Camps” in Catalonia for the four winners in the 5º pri. to 2nd ESO categories.
  • 4 two-week stays in an English-speaking country for the four winners in the 3rd ESO to 2nd de Batxillerat/Grau Superior de Cicles Formatius categories.
  • 8 standard on line English courses and 8 sets of study materials for the runners-up in each of the 8 categories.
  • 32 standard on line English courses for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed candidates in each of the 8 categories.
  • Sets of study materials for the remaining finalists.

Further information about the competition can be found on the official website.
 

Who Are "The Fonix" 2016

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Did you know that THE FONIX comes from the English language Phoneme table? Have a look at the table below and see if you can spot the similarities:


We would like to introduce you to:
Which is pronounced like "V" as in
"VERY"
Which is pronounced like "R" as in
"READ"
Which is pronounced like "A" as in
"AMERICA"
Which is pronounced like "P" as in
 "PIG"
Which is pronounced like "TH" as in
"THORA"
Which is pronounced like "OO" as in 
"HOOK"
Which is pronounced like "G" as in
"GORDON"
Which is pronounced like "S" as in
"ASIA"
Which is pronounced like "TH" as in
"HEATHER"
Which is pronounced like "OR" as in
"GEORGE"

They are fictional characters which look a little bit like Martians. They are noisy, excitable, adventurous and full of energy. They get on really well with young people. In fact – this is why they are called THE FONIX, because in English SMS messages – this is how we write PHONICS.

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Family & Friends

Let's learn the family vocabulary with this funny cartoon.


 

Friday, October 30, 2015

Candyman, The Man Who Killed Halloween

One of the most famous urban legends related to Halloween is that of the poisoned candies while kids go out trick or treating. 

 But is there any truth behibd this story?

 

On Halloween night 1974, perhaps the worst Halloween crime in living memory occurred. Father-of-two Ronald O'Bryan laced candy with cyanide and poisoned his son earning him the name The Candyman.

That night, Ronald O'Bryan, a father from suburban Deer Park, Texas, who had volunteered to take his son and friends trick-or-treating in nearby Pasadena, fatally poisoned his 8-year-old son Timothy with a Pixy Stix laced with cyanide. At trial, it was found that O'Bryan had opened the Stix, added the cyanide and stapled it back shut.

Four other friends were also given the poisoned Stix, which O'Bryan claimed had been given to the boys while trick-or-treating at a darkened home.

None of the other boys ingested the candy, though one was found asleep that night with the candy in his hand; he had been unable to remove O'Bryan's staple.


Prosecutors said O'Bryan pushed his son into eating the candy before going to bed Halloween night. After complaining of the bitter taste, the boy went to bed, but moments later he began vomiting. By the time he was taken to a nearby hospital, Timothy had died. 

Two days after the boy's burial, an insurance agent discovered that O'Bryan had taken out a $40,000 life insurance policy on each of his children prior to Timothy's death, unbeknownst to their mother.


A jury convicted O'Bryan of murder in less than an hour. He was executed in 1984 by lethal injection.
His fellow prisoners had named him the "Candy Man." Many longtime people still remember him as the man who killed Halloween.

Links:

Thursday, October 29, 2015