The digital story of the nativity.

 Google maps, Wikipedia, Facebook, I-phones. Imagine Nativity in the 21st century.


Merry happy Christmas again.

Past Simple activities for Christmas holidays.

Hi everyone!

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you're having a great time on these holidays. You know, back to school day looks very far from now, but believe me, we'll be seeing each other very soon. So, how about some activities to practice between Christmas presents, sweets and songs.

Click on the links below to get the exercises. I hope you enjoy them.

Past simple negatives and questions.
Irregular verbs lists.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Past Simple introduction (English 2, English 4, Nivel 2)

Hello again.

This week we are studying the past simple in class. How about some extra activities to work during Christmas holiday? I hope you enjoy them and I wish you happy Christmas.

Past simple 1 explanation
Past simple 1 exercises

Was-were + -ing activities. The past continuous (English 2, English 4, Nivel 2)

Hello everybody!

Here are some was were activities for you to practice.
I hope everybody can see them.

Click on this link for an explanation:  past continuous explanation
Click here for the exercises: past continuous exercises

Remember you can do the activities from your computer screen or you can print them and get a paper copy.
See you soon!

Present Continuous (English 1)

Hello!
Here are some Present Continuous activities.
This is homework for next week. Remember! There's no class. :-(((

Click on 1st year-Elementary/Grammar/Present continuous.


STUDY to remember the rules.

Do the exercises

EXERCISE 1 Affirmatives. Full forms. (Formas completas).
EXERCISE 2 Affirmatives. Short forms. (Formas contraídas).

EXERCISE 3 Negatives. Full forms.
EXERCISE 4 Negatives. Short forms.

EXERCISE 5 Questions (1). Use initial capital letters (Mayúscula inicial)
EXERCISE 6 Questions (2).

EXERCISE 7 Complete the conversation.
EXERCISE 8 Finish the postcard. (Termina la postal)

After the exercises you can translate the postcard in EXERCISE 8 and put a comment on the blog.
All the best, Juan.

Salud y República (All Groups).

Here is a special video to celebrate Spanish Republic Anniversary.

It features Christy Moore, one of the greatest Irish folk singers of all time. The song is called Viva la Quinta  Brigada. It's Christy's tribute to the Irish men who came to Spain in support of the legitimate Republican  Government against  Franco and the fascists' aggression.

I heard this song for the first time at a pub in Dublin. I was there with a group of students from Getafe    on our trip to Ireland. The musicians  dedicated it to the Spanish people who were there at the time. 

Let us remember them tonight and every single day of our lives.

VIVA LA QUINTA BRIGADA BY CHRISTY MOORE


Ten years before I saw the light of morning
A comradeship of heroes was laid
From every corner of the world came sailing
The Fifth International Brigade

They came to stand beside the Spanish people
To try and stem the rising fascist tide
Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy
Frank Ryan's men came from the other side

Even the olives were bleeding
As the battle for Madrid it thundered on
Truth and love against the force of evil
Brotherhood against the fascist clan

CHORUS

Viva la Quinta Brigada
"No Pasaran", the pledge that made them fight
"Adelante" is the cry around the hillside
Let us all remember them tonight

Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor
Form Killarney across the Pyrenees he came
From Derry came a brave young Christian Brother
Side by side they fought and died in Spain

Tommy Woods age seventeen died in Cordoba
With Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun
From Dublin to the Villa del Rio
Where he fought and died beneath the blazing sun

CHORUS

Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco
Joined Hitler and Mussolini too
Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers
Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew

The word came from Maynooth, "support the Nazis"
The men of cloth failed again
When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire
As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain

CHORUS

This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan
Kit Conway and Dinny Coady too
Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar
Though many died I can but name a few

Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnelly
Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls
Jack Nalty, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy
Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill

CHORUS

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/viva_la_quinta_brigada_lyrics_christy_moore.html
All about Christy Moore: http://www.musictory.com/music/Christy+Moore

How to celebrate St. Patrick's Day (according to Americans)

Here is a video about St Patrick's Day. Answer these questions before watching it:

1. When do Irish people celebrate this day?
2. Who was St. Patrick?
3. What's St. Patrick's favourite colour?

After watching the video: answer this questions and submit them to the blog:

1. What are the main ingredients to celebrate this day?
2. What American festival is compared to St. Patrick's Day in Ireland?
3. What's the name of Ireland's national sport? What is it like?
4. What can you do if you find a four-leaf clover?
5. How many people in America claim to be of Irish descent? What's the population of Ireland today?

To be going to exercises. (English3, English2, Nivel2)

Hello again!

Here you have some easy activities to make sentences with to be going to.

• POSITIVE SENTENCES.
• NEGATIVE SENTENCES.
• QUESTIONS.

Now do this:

• MIXED SENTENCES.

Click on Check answers after the exercise. You have 3 options:
a) Mark wrong answers. (Marca las respuestas incorrectas).
b) Replace wrong by correct answers. (Reemplaza las respuestas incorrectas).
c) Show all correct answers. (Muestra las respuestas correctas).

Finally, you can translate the sentences in the last activity and send them to the blog. Click on comentarios below and write your answers. Don't forget to put your name in it.

Are you going to do it or not?

See you soon!

A for and against composition.(Ciclos)

Hello you guys from ciclos!

It's good to see you again. Well, I only saw three of you today in class but I hope to see you all back next Tuesday.
As I told you in class, here is a file with some directions about writing a for and against composition. Very typical at Selectividad or Acceso a Ciclos Tests.
It's all about writing about the advantages or disadvantages of something. For example life in the city/in the country.
Please take a look at the pdf file. Get a printed copy of it and write your composition. (Life in the city).
Send your work by clicking on comentarios and I'll check out your compositions.

See you on Tuesday.

for and against composition

irregular verbs game. (English2, English3, Nivel 2, Ciclos)

Hi everybody!
Here is Speedword. A game to practice past tenses of irregular verbs. It has 10 verbs in each game. You must spell the past form of one verb. Time is important, you have 10 seconds for each verb. Click on letters to spell out the correct form.
Good luck!

IRREGULAR VERBS 1

IRREGULAR VERBS 2

IRREGULAR VERBS 3

IRREGULAR VERBS 4

IRREGULAR VERBS 5

Present Simple and present continuous activities (English 1) (Nivel 2)

Hi everybody!
Here are some activities to work on present tenses.
I hope you do well!

After the activities write a description  of a person's daily routine, for example a friend, someone from your family. Use the first activity as a model. Include the times.
Click on comentarios below to do the composition.

Can you play a musical instrument? Can you cook? What else can you do? (English 1)

Here is a video with an interview to different people. Watch it and answer the questions below. Click on "see how you did" to check your answers.

After the exercise click on how you did button. Your score appears with %. Can you send your result to me? Click on comentarios to see your result.
Thank you!

Past Examinations in Madrid (Ciclos)

Hi everyone at Ciclos!
I've just uploaded some of the previous exams for you to download. Just click on the links and you'll get a pdf file for each exam in Madrid.
You can do any of the exams and send me your answers clicking on Comentarios.


Inglés 2000
Inglés 2001
Inglés 2002
Inglés 2003
Inglés 2005
Inglés 2006
Inglés 2007
Inglés 2008
Inglés 2009

Mr Bean goes to a judo class (English 3)

Here is a funny clip from Mr Bean. Watch it and then answer the questions. This activity helps you revise past simple tenses. Click on the transcript link under the video if you want to see the text.

Sayonara baby!

A walk through a Victorian house.

Last week we did a class activity around Victorian houses. We had an opportunity to read and answer some comprehension questions about what Victorian houses look like and about the people who lived in them.
In this activity we'll travel back in time to 19th century England and get into a real Victorian house.
Help Ruby and Michael, two modern kids from the 21st century find their missing dog, Sam.
For some strange reasons, Sam got lost in the past and now Ruby and Michael have to interact with the people and the objects around the house.
Look in every room of the house.
Examine as many objects as you can to learn about Victorian life.
When you enter in a room, you'll be asked one question.
If you answer all the questions correctly you'll get a Certificate.
So, go ahead and fins Sam as soon as possible.

Good luck time travellers!
Walk through a Victorian house.

Ordering meals at a restaurant.

This week we did some practice about ordering food in a restaurant. So, how about some extra practice for dessert?

Click on the link At the restaurant Watch the video and answer the questions on the right. When you're done click on the see how you did button at the end of the questionnaire to check your answers.

Enjoy your meal!

Eight letters (All groups)

Would you like to play a word game?
Click on the link 8 letters in search of a word
In this game you have a selection of 8 letters and you have to make as many words with them as you can within a time limit. You score points for each word and if you score enough, you go on to the next level.
Try to play this game each day for about 5 minutes
Have fun!