ESPAÑOL 

PUBLICIDAD

TRABAJOS - 9 AÑO

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS 

(Remember this carol?)

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

 My true love gave to me

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree. 

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Eight maids a milking,

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a milking,

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Ten lords a leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a milking,

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a milking,

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

My true love gave to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping, 

Ten lords a leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a milking,

Seven swans a swimming,

Six geese a laying,

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS,

Four calling birds,

Three french hens,

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

IMPORTANT DAYS TO REMEMBER IN DECEMBER (NOT INCLUDING CHRISTMAS)!

1    World Aids Day

2    International Day for Abolition of Slavery

3    International Day of Disabled Persons / Global No to Pesticides Day

5    International Volunteers Day/ World Dignity Day

8    National Day for Mentally Retarded

 

10   World Human Rights Day

15   International Tea Day

29   International Day for Biological Diversity

 

The days in bold are days related to topics talked about in our English Classes

THANKSGIVING DAY USA (4TH THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER)

What do people do?

Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have.
Thanksgiving Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips and to visit family and friends.

Public life

Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables.
Thanksgiving Day it is one of the busiest periods for travel in the USA. This can cause congestion and overcrowding. Seasonal parades and busy football games can cause disruption to local traffic.

Background

Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States since 1863. Not everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. American Indian Heritage Day is also observed at this time of the year.
There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast.
In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.

JOIN US IN THE SCHOOL CANTEEN TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING!!

Remembrance Day! (Nov. 11 - Better Late than Never)!

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.) World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

 

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

 

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated

For 400 years, bonfires have burned
on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.
Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying "the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny for the Guy." The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening festivities.
On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.
The extent of the celebrations and the size of the bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.
Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as "Pope Day" as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.

 

"Remember, remember,
the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
We see no reason why
Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!"

 

The Witches Caldron
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog"
"Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing"

"For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and babble"

"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and caldron bubble"

  William Shakespeare

 

Year 9 students, look in our Language Corner to practise the Past Simple tense, especially those irregular verbs we love so much! →

Creative Writing / Poetry

Scroll down to our Creative Corner and check out poetry written by 11 form students.

Here's an example:

Everybody has needs

 

Even the trees

 

Almost everything is irreplaceable

 

So let's take care of the Earth and make it viable

 

 Iara Rodrigues 

Edgar Allen Poe

October is Edgar Allen Poe month in our school library!

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849



Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre.



THE RAVEN

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

(Also translated into Portuguese by Fernando Pessoa!http://www.insite.com.br/art/pessoa/coligidas/trad/921.php)

This famous poem was the inspiration for the movie The Crow and its sequels. Check out the trailers below!

http://youtu.be/R903LniNSa4

http://youtu.be/hiHogAbMdl8

http://youtu.be/-Cns8gvFfTk

http://youtu.be/SKHTr5wGU4E

Also the movie of its name - THE RAVEN - 2012 (played in Portugal in May)

http://youtu.be/qeLrtwniqM4

  

 John Cusack plays Edgar Allen Poe in this movie.



European day of Languages Group Work Projects / Exhibition

 Poster Presentations

PowerPoint/Video Presentations

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada!

http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/canadian_thanksgiving_day/index.shtml 

And, because today is...

 

 

   

 

 

here is some food for thought...

 So...

 

October 5th Holiday in Portugual - What does it represent?

On this day,  in 1910, the Portuguese Republican Party deposed the Constitutional Monarchy and established a Republican Regime.

“	Thinking and science are republican, because creative genius lives on freedom and only a Republic can be truly free […]. Labour and industry are republican, because the creative activity wants security and stability and only a Republic […] is stable and secure […]. A Republic is, in the state, liberty […]; in industry, production; in labour, security; in the nation, strength and independence. For all, wealth; for all, equality; for all, light."	”
—Antero de Quental, in República, 11-05-1870[

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES / DÍA EUROPEO DE LAS LENGUAS

CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK TO SEE ALL THE PROJECTS HANDED IN. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK THE POSTER EXHIBIT, 8 OCTOBER, IN THE FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE SCHOOL!!! / VUELVE LA PRÓXIMA SEMANA PARA VER TODOS LOS PROYECTOS ENTREGADOS. NO SE OLVIDE DE VER LA EXPOSICIÓN  DE CARTELES, 8 DE OCTUBRE, EN LA ENTRADA FRONTAL DE LA ESCUELA!!!

European Day of Languages - 26 September!!!

http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/mfl/index.php?category_id=76&s=!B121cf29d70ec8a3d54a33343010cc2

Take a look at the above sites and try your hand at some of the fun activities!

BACK TO SCHOOL

Twas the night before school started,
When all through the town,
The parents were cheering.
It was a riotous sound!
By nine, kids were washed
And tucked into bed...
When memories of homework...filled them with dread!

New pencils, new folders, new notebooks, too!
New teachers, new friends...their anxiety grew!
The parents just giggled when they learned of this fright
And shouted upstairs-...
GO TO BED-IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! SEE  YOU IN SEPTEMBER!