World Human Rights Day 2016

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1950, the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all States and interested organizations to observe 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day.

We must reaffirm our common humanity. Wherever we are, we can make a real difference. In the street, in school, at work, in public transport; in the voting booth, on social media.

The time for this is now. “We the peoples” can take a stand for rights. And together, we can take a stand for more humanity.

More info at the United Nations website

Deck the Halls

A classic carol, and one of the people ever preferred. First, a funny approach by the Angry Birds. Secondly, one more updated version...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la!
'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la!
Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la la la la la la la!
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol, Fa la la la la la la la!

See the blazing yule before us, Fa la la la la la la la!
Strike the harp and join the chorus, Fa la la la la la la la!
Follow me in merry measure, Fa la la la la la la la!
While I tell of Yuletide treasure, Fa la la la la la la la!

Fast away the old year passes, Fa la la la la la la la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses, Fa la la la la la la la!
Sing we joyous all together! Fa la la la la la la la!
Heedless of the wind and weather, Fa la la la la la la la!

What if have an eye at the tune? Do you dare?

Jingle Bell Rock

Enjoy one of the most famous carols and sing along...

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air.

What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away

Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go gliding in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock

Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet
That's the jingle bell,
That's the jingle bell,
That's the jingle bell rock

The Fonix 2.017. Official Poster

The Fonix 2.017: Be Prepared!

The Tenth English Competition for Catalan Schools (THE FONIX 2017), 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 STAGE: The tests will be held at each school between 12th of January and 16th February 2017 inclusive.
• REGIONAL STAGE: The tests during the regional stage will be held on Saturday 25th February 2017 at 12:00 midday, and will last for a maximum of 55 minutes. The location of the examination will be made public well before the test date. The organisers will publish the names of the winners from the regional stage of the competition and the centres they represent as of 3rd April.
• FINAL STAGE: The final stage of the competition will be held Saturday 29th April 2017. 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, depending on the educations level of the candidates. The result of this stage of the competition will be the total number of marks taken from both parts of the test. The organisers will publish the classification of the candidates in each category and the school they attend by 13th May 2017. All students who qualified for the final stage will be formally invited to the awards ceremony at which the diplomas and prizes will be presented.

AWARDS:

1. All competitors at the territorial stage, and the schools they attend, will receive a diploma acknowledging their participation in the “Tenth English Competition for Catalan Schools”.
2. The following prizes will be awarded to the 120 candidates who classified for the final stage:

• 4 two-week stays in “English Summer Camps” in Catalonia for the four winners in the 5º Primary 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 weekend holiday camps 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.
• 72 sets of study materials for the remaining finalists.

3. The awards may not be exchanged for their cash value. However, a finalist awarded one of the main prizes (e.g. summer camps, stays abroad, in situ English courses) who is unable to accept his/her award because of the times, dates, for other reasons etc., will be offered an on line English course for the duration of an academic year.

Who Are "The Fonix" 2017

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.

We Are Unstoppable!

A clip straight from the Unstoppable Saint Rockers. They are this way... funny, energetic, nice, joker, shy... In one word, they are unstoppable!

Enjoy their video; it's worth it!

The Unstoppable Saint Rockers

Our students of 4th ESO-A will take part in the 7th Schools Song Contest. 

This contest consists in shooting a video clip with a cover version of a song in English and then performing this song in a live festival that will be held next May in the theatre of the Sant Gabriel school of Barcelona. 

They've chosen their artistic name The Unstoppable Saint Rockers And here you have their official promotional poster.

Schools Song Contest: Here We Go Again!

One more year, students of the 4th year ESO have decided to participate in the Schools Song Contest. Good luck!

Today it's been the first session to decide the timeline and other important stuff related to the contest. Here you have the plan, drawn by Juanjo Fernández, the person in charge of the project.

First Day of Classes

September, the 12th. First day of classes. Let's do our best to learn a lot and enjoy a lot. 

I bet you will...

It's Flowers Time

How Are You?

At the Zoo 2.016 (Photogallery)

Enjoy the photographs taken during the visit of the students of 3rd ESO to the Zoo of Barcelona.

At the Zoo (May 2.016)

Last Monday, May the 23th, the students of 3rd year of ESO visited the Zoo of Barcelona to take some interviews to the foreign visitors about the zoo and animals in general for their school project. They shot some videos. Enjoy them!

The Eagles (Wei – Rahana - Franz - Yadira)

The Pandas (Manal – Jawad – Ninfa – Saman – Mª Angeles)

The Seagulls (Nico – Abraham – Asma – Fatima – Sawaira)

At the School (Andrea and Samara have interviewed Manel and Raül, teachers of our school)

How to Use "At – In – On" in English

Prepositions of Place (more about them)

Synonyms

Robin Hood Dialogues

Here you have some dialogues of Robin Hood  made by the students of 1rst-B ESO

Shamir & Sanwal

Shamir & Sanwal

Coral & Shamir

Amir & Domingo

Treeeater. A Short Dialogue by 1est ESO Students

A short dialogue by the two groups of 1rst ESO. Pumpkins dubbed by our students. Enjoy!

1rst ESO-A, Group 1: Nayab, Edi, Hussain, Suleman, Noreen & the teacher.

1rst ESO-A, Group 2: Gabi, Blal, Suhana, Beenish, Antonia & Jero.

1rst ESO-B, Group 1: Hajra, Sanwal, Coral, Dylan, Abdul & Luis.

1rst ESO-B, Group 2: Shamir, Saira, Amir, Fany, María & Jero.

The Past Simple: Some Videos

Here you have some short videos explaining some aspects about this tense.

Practice past simple with Mr Bean 

Rules to learn how to use this tense

You're Beautiful

25 Useful Phrasal Verbs

10 Animal-based Comparative Idioms

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace ceremony lasts about 45 minutes and usually takes place daily at 11:30 from April until the end of July and on alternate days for the rest of the year, weather permitting.

The privilege of guarding the Sovereign traditionally belongs to the Household Troops, better known as ‘the Guards’, who have carried out this duty since 1660. 

The Guards consist of five infantry regiments - the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards - and two regiments of the Household Cavalry – the Life Guards and Blues and Royals.

During the Changing the Guard ceremony, also known as ‘Guard Mounting’, one regiment takes over from another.

A funny approach to this ceremony brought to you by Mr. Bean.

Seasons of the Year

Summer

Summer is the warmest time of year because the top part of the Earth is facing the Sun. The longest days of the year occur during the summer months. June is the time of the summer solstice, the longest day of the calendar year. The time of the solstice is determined by the location of the Sun which is directly over the Tropic of Cancer on that longest day.  

Autumn

This is one of the two in-between seasons. During summer, the North Pole is leaning towards the Sun and the South Pole leans towards the Sun in winter. In Autumn, the Sun is directly over the Equator during September. Autumn events include leaves falling from trees, shorter days than summer, and harvesting summer crops. 

Winter

This is the season where the Earth is tilted way from the Sun and the South Pole is getting all of the light. In December, the Earth hits its next marker when the winter solstice occurs. That shortest day of the year happens when the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at noon. From that point, everything starts to change again. Winter events include colder temperatures, snow and winter storms, the shortest days of the year, and the hibernation of some animals. 

Spring

Spring is a time for rebirth and emerging from the short and cold days of winter. March is the time of the vernal equinox that signals the official start of spring. As far as the position of the planet, it is a bit of a mirror image to its position in autumn. The Sun is directly over the Equator. Spring events include blooms of wildflowers, new leaves on trees, warmer days that winter, and wetter weather. 

Activities:

• Seasons of the year - exercises
• Drag and drop
• The four seasons
• Seasons: Hangman game
• Match up 1, 2 and 3
• A matter of time
• Months and seasons, 1
• Months ans seasons, 2
• Months and seasons, 3
• Months and seasons, 4

Christopher Columbus' Life & Discoveries

Two different visions about Columbus' life and facts:

This first one is a clear way to understand the explorer and his discovery.

The second one is a classic cartoon with a musical approaching to a Columbus' discover of America.

Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe

The first English novel?

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719. It is a fictional story about a man who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island after his ship sinks. Many people think that Robinson Crusoe is the first novel in English. There are many film versions of the book.

Daniel Defoe (c1659-1731)

Defoe was an English writer and journalist. He wrote hundreds of books on different topics, including politics, crime and psychology. He is famous for Robinson Crusoe and for making novels popular in Britain.

Dafoe’s inspiration

Alexander Selkirk was Scottish sailor who lived on an island near Chile four years. After his rescue, his story was in British newspapers. Defoe probably got the idea for his story after Reading about Selkirk.

Exploration and discovery

In the 18th century, Europeans travelled all over the world exploring its oceans and continents. They began to produce much more accurate maps and this helped to increase trade. Their expeditions helped to expand scientific knowledge in areas such as geography, astronomy, anthropology and mathematics.



More information on Defoe and Robinson Crusoe:

• Bio.com
• Wikipedia
• Cliff's Notes
• The Defoe Society
• The Literature Network
• Biblio.com

The Fonix 2.016: The Die Is Cast

That is! The Fonix exam has already been done. We can only wait for the results next April the 9th. Hope our students will have luck.

Unfortunately, 4th ESO student, Hizer, hasn't taken part in the exam as expected due to illness. We all wish he gets better soon!

Enjoy some pics taken before and after the exam:

Leap Day

Leap Day is February 29, which is an extra day added during a Leap Year, making the year 366 days long – and not 365 days, like a common year. Nearly every 4 years is a Leap Year.

A leap year (or intercalary or bissextile year) is a year containing one additional day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year.

A person born on February 29 may be called a leapling or a leaper. In common years they usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 or March 1. In some situations, March 1 is used as the birthday in a non-leap year since it is the day following February 28. People born on February 29 are all invited to join The Honor society of Leap Year Day Babies.

Folk traditions:

• In Britain and Ireland, it is a tradition that women may propose marriage only on leap years.
• In Denmark, the tradition is that women may propose on the leap day, and that refusal must be compensated with 12 pairs of gloves.
• In Finland, the tradition is that if a man refuses a woman's proposal on leap day, he should buy her the fabrics for a skirt.
• In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky. One in five engaged couples in Greece will plan to avoid getting married in a leap year.
• In Scotland, it used to be considered unlucky for someone to be born on Leap Day.