LECTURAS NAVIDEÑAS

En estos días de frío y vacaciones nada mejor que una buena lectura al calor de la lumbre. Las bibliotecas virtuales nos permiten acceder a muchos clásicos con un solo click. Os propongo uno muy recurrente en estas fechas: Canción de Navidad, de Charles Dickens. Lo podéis leer en español o en inglés (o en ambos).

Canción de Navidad / A Christmas Carol

El libro de lectura de la próxima evaluación del que os hablé en clase es éste: Cuando Hitler robó el conejo rosa, de Judith Kerr. Si tenéis hueco en la carta a los Reyes Magos podéis incluirlo.

Celebrating Christmas

Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the world. Click here to find out.

What is Christmas to you? Do you like this this celebration? Post your comments.

Happy Turkey Day!

What are you thankful for? In America, we gather our families and close friends together on the fourth Thursday of November to celebrate Thanksgiving. It´s a day for recounting blessings, watching American football and, of course, TURKEY!

Below you´ll find a few websites to learn about the origins of Thanksgiving and how we celebrate it. Don´t forget to Listen to the song we heard in music class!

Pilgrim Life
THE BEST ONE EVER!

Native Americans

Thanksgiving crafts and projects

So, what are you thankful for?

Los signos de puntuación

El correcto uso de los signos de puntuación es fundamental en la redacción de nuestros textos. Este año vamos a insistir especialmente en ello. Aquí os dejo una página con las principales reglas de uso y ejercicios para practicar: actividades

También os dejo la actividad que realizaremos el próximo día que dispongamos de aula TIC.

Y como ejemplo de lo importante que puede ser una simple coma, os dejo estas imágenes. Analizad las diferencias.

Halloween Masks

Halloween is getting closer and closer. Have you got your costume ready? Your art teacher will help you make your own creepy mask. Think of an original design, follow your teacher’s instructions and bring it to school on Friday 30th. We’ll vote for the best.

And what about some funny activities? It's halloween time!

One Step Beyond

Our partners in Amsterdam are eager to start a new etwinning project with us. We'll take "one step beyond".
Last year we got in touch and introduced ourselves to each other. Now we want to learn more things and, as usual, learn and practise our English in a natural way.

Are you ready?

New School Year 0910

Welcome everybody to our new edition of Bilingüe Heliche.
First of all, say hello to our dear Cat. She'll spend another school year with us, her third. Brave girl! Thank you very much for coming, Cat.
But she won't be alone in the task of promoting spoken English at school. And here comes the great news: this year we'll have the help of a new language assistant, Yasemin Konuk. She's an English teacher coming from Turkey to give you a hand with your English.
Their presence at school is a good opportunity for all of us to practise. So we shouldn't waste it.
Let's talk in English; the more, the better.

Good moments

We have had very good moments this year, don't you think so? I'd like to show you and everybody some of them. Tell me, which one was the best for you? why?

Congratulations on your good job! You have made much progress with your English. It was a pleasure to be your teacher.

See you, Cat

It was weird in class today without you. All of us want to thank you for your valuable help and work throughout the year. Here we send you our love.

Enjoy your deserved vacation!

The bilingual class

Colour Wheel

In art class, we're learning about colours - primary, secondary and tertiary. This video uses colored flags to illustrate how colours mix and produce other colours. It's from a musical show called Blast! Take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfUkC1lokXU

Reading

I've got two favourite hobbies: reading and travelling. The former is easier to do than the latter. I can tavel only on holidays but I read every day. Sometimes I read in the morning while I'm having breakfast, but not too long if I don't want to be late for school. The good thing about reading is that you can do it almost everywhere: at home, in the bus, in the park or in a terrace. You only need a good book (any kind you like is ok) to forget all about your daily worries for a while. That's why I always read before going to bed. Reading is relaxing and it is good fun.
What about you? Do you enjoy reading? What are you reading at the moment?

Noise Pollution Podcast

This is the first emission of our school podcast programme. As you said in your comments, it was really interesting to work on the script in class because all of us learned quite a lot about noise pollution and its dangers.

Here you have the bilingual version recorded by Victoria, Carmen, José Manuel and Esteban. Listen to either of them, or both, and don't forget to take the speakers' advice.

I'd like to thank my colleague Antonio Gallego for making it possible to have the programme on our blog.

Spanish version

English version

Guernica

Este cuadro siempre me ha atraído. Cuando estaba en el colegio lo veía en muchos libros de texto y siempre me llamó poderosamente la atención. Era un tipo de pintura muy diferente al de las otras ilustraciones y me intrigaba la tragedia que parecía contar. Luego supe que era de Picasso, que esa forma tan diferente de pintar se llamó "cubismo" y que realmente el cuadro contaba algo tan trágico como una guerra. ¿Sabéis por qué se llama "Guernica"?

That's Art

This is one of my favourite paintings. Do you know who painted it?

I could see the real painting at Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It's amazing how different it is from the reproduction I have at home! Its bright colours catch your eye immediately and you feel you can get inside.

What about you? Comment on a painting you like.

Radio Script

Last week we were working on the script of a radio programme that will be broadcast and directed by the Music teacher Antonio Manuel Gallego. We have been reading the script aloud to improve your intonation and pronunciation. But I'm sure you have learned some more things. Can you give examples? Post your answers.


Thank you very much for your participation in the casting this morning. Vicki, Irene, Victoria, Carmen, Esteban and José Manuel. All of you did a good job and can be very good speakers in the future.

Día de la Paz

El viernes pasado nuestro instituto celebró el Día de la Paz y nuestro instituto se inundó de mensajes relacionados con el tema: dibujos, carteles, pancartas, textos, vídeos... La poesía también puede ser un estupendo vehículo para transmitir nuestras inquietudes y esperanzas, nuestros deseos de saltar fronteras (incluídas las lingüísticas) y construir puentes que nos acerquen. Este es nuestro mensaje:

Our house, in the middle of our street

As I promised, here are some pictures of my house in Wheaton, Illinois. It's not as big as the ones we looked at today in class!

This is my house. We have a garage and a garden.

This is my bedroom. I have got a big bed, a desk, a dresser and a closet. But I have a lot of clothes and not enough space for them!

This room is where we watch TV, the living room.

I share this bathroom with my sister. It's ugly!

The kitchen is always busy because my parents like to cook. Morgan spends a lot of time looking for treats here!

Is your home similar or different to mine? What have you got in your room? What's your favorite part of your house? I'll be reading your comments and discussing them with you next week in English class.

Peace Day

Next Friday 30th January we'll celebrate the Day of Peace at school. But the word "peace" can imply a lot of different things. The Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary defines it as follows:

Peace: freedom from war and violence, especially when people live and work together happily without disagreements.


What does it mean for you? Leave here your peace message.

FELIZ 2009

Espero que este año nos traiga muchos momentos buenos para compartir.