COMENIUS 2011-2013

As you know, our school has started an international project together with other schools in different European countries. English will be the language of communication among participating schools and all activities in the project will be developed in English, so this is a great opportunity for you to improve your oral and written skills! You will also have the chance of getting to know different cultures and countries and making new friends…I hope you make the most of it and enjoy the experience!

Here is a brief description of the project:

COMIC (Creativity Oriented Motivating International Communication) is a multilateral Comenius project developed by six partner schools from different European countries: Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Our main aim is to raise awareness among students and teachers of European cultural and linguistic diversity in a creative and dynamic manner.

Our project has been organized according to three main topics: Arts, Sciences and Sports. The project activities will focus on these educational fields. Practical and manual work will be enhanced in all activities and they will be oriented towards the professional world. The outcomes of the students' work will be posted on different blogs, which will have free access from the websites of each partner school. ICT will be used in all activities.

Click here to access the Comenius blog at our school, where you can find all the information and news about the project in Spanish. You can also find links to our partner schools.

These are the Readers for the first term and the dates for the Reading Tests:

• 1st ESO: Robin Hood. Burlington - 30/11/2011.
• 2nd ESO: The Canterville Ghost (Oscar Wilde). Burlington - 29/11/2011.
• 3rd ESO: Hamlet (William Shakespeare). Vicens Vives- 1/12/2011.
• 4th ESO: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë). Vicens Vives - 2/12/2011.

The deadline for handing in the activities about the Readers will be the same date as the Reading test.

HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAYS!!!!!

I hope you all enjoy your holidays and have a great time this summer... but don't forget to study and practise your English!

See you in September!

SEPTEMBER 2011:

Los exámenes de septiembre tendrán lugar el jueves 1 de Septiembre a las 09.00 h.

Los alumnos que no hayan superado la asignatura, realizarán las actividades del libro de refuerzo gramatical, centrándose en aquellas correspondientes a los contenidos vistos durante el curso y lo entregarán a la profesora el día del examen de septiembre.

Asimismo, a los alumnos que hayan superado la asignatura se les recomienda también que aprovechen las vacaciones para afianzar y ampliar sus conocimientos de gramática y vocabulario y empezar el curso que viene con buen pie. Para esto pueden utilizar el libro de gramática recomendado o bien el cuaderno de vacaciones.

• NOTA: Los alumnos de 3ºC (Desdoblamiento) repasarán los contenidos vistos durante el curso.

LIBRO DE GRAMÁTICA:

English Grammar for ESO 1st cycle (1º - 2º ESO). Burlington.

English Grammar for ESO 2nd cycle (3º - 4º ESO). Burlington.

CUADERNO DE VACACIONES: Summer Fun 1, 2, 3 o 4. Burlington.

Los contenidos correspondientes a cada curso son los siguientes:

CONTENIDOS 1º ESO

• To be.
• Interrogative pronouns.
• Have got.
• Possessives.
• A/an/some/any/the.
• There is/there are.
• How much/How many.
• Present Simple.
• Modal Verbs: Can/Must.
• Adverbs of manner and degree.
• Present Continuous.
• Adjectives: Comparative and Superlative.
• Past: To be.
• There was/There were.
• Past Simple.
• Be going to.
• Object Pronouns.

CONTENIDOS 2º ESO

• To be.
• Have got.
• Possessives
• Present Simple/Present Continuous.
• Past Simple/Past Continuous.
• There was/There were.
• The future: Be going to/Will/Present Continuous
• First Conditional.
• Adjectives: Comparative and Superlative.
• Too and Enough.
• Pronouns.
• Present Perfect.
• Determiners and Quantifiers.
• Modals.

CONTENIDOS 3º ESO

• Relative Pronouns.
• Present Continuous.
• Past Simple/Past Continuous.
• Quantity: some, any, much, many, a lot of, too, enough.
• Comparatives and Superlatives.
• Present Perfect/Past Simple.
• for/since.
• will/might.
• 1^st and 2^nd Conditional.
• Can/Could/Will be able to.
• Will/Be going to.
• Should, must, have to.
• Present and Past Passive.

CONTENIDOS 4º ESO

• Past Simple/Past Continuous.
• Present Perfect.
• Yet/already/just/for/since/ago.
• Ability and Obligation: can/could/have to/must.
• Possibility: could/might, must, can´t.
• Future: Will/Be going to/Present Simple/Present Continuous
• Present, Past and Future Passive.
• Used to.
• Relative pronouns.
• Gerunds and Infinitives.
• First, Second and Third Conditional.
• Past Perfect/Past Simple.
• Reported Speech.

HAPPY SPRINGTIME TO EVERYONE!!!

Spring is seen as a time of growth, renewal, of new life being born and of the cycle of life starting once again. In all cultural traditions, it symbolises re-birth and new beginnings...

Find out more about Spring and its symbolism

4th ESO INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

PAIDOS SCHOOL (DENIA) - INSTITUTO GUIDO PIOVENE (VICENZA)

As you know, our 4th ESO students are taking part in an exchange programme with a school in Vicenza, Italy. Last week, a group of Italian students visited us. They stayed as guests in our students' homes and had the opportunity to get to know our country and our culture and to improve their Spanish. It was a great experience both for the Italian and the Spanish students.

Paidos students' will be travelling to Italy in a few weeks (from 12th to 19th April). During that time, the Italian teachers have organised some day trips for them, so they will have the chance to visit some of the most beautiful Italian cities like Verona, Venice or Padua.

SPEAKING PRACTICE 3rd & 4th ESO:

As you know, we will be doing Speaking Practice once a week in order to improve your oral skills. You can post your ideas for possible topics here and one of them will be chosen each week to be discussed in class during the following Speaking lesson, which will take place on Thursdays. You will be expected to do a bit of research on the topic if necessary and organise your ideas before the lesson.

Your performance during the Speaking lessons will be evaluated as part of the Practice of the 3rd term (20% of the final mark).

Here you can find some interesting websites to practise and improve your Listening and Speaking skills:

• Listening
• Speaking

30th January - School Day of Non-violence and Peace

The "School Day of Non-violence and Peace", founded in 1964 and also known as World or International Day of Non-violence and Peace, is a pioneering, non-state, non-governmental, non-official, independent, free and voluntary initiative of Non-violent and Pacifying Education,

which is now practised in schools all over the world and in which centres of education, teachers and students of all levels and from all countries are invited to take part.

It advocates a permanent education in and for harmony, tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights, non-violence and peace. It is observed on January 30 or thereabouts every year, on the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Its basic message is: "Universal Love, Non-violence and Peace. Universal Love is better than egoism, Non-violence is better than violence, and Peace is better than war".

MAHATMA GANDHI

This is the song we learnt and sang in class today. 1st ESO students did a great job! Now you can all watch this video and sing along with the lyrics, as part of our celebration of the International Day of Non-violence and Peace, which will take place on Friday, 28th January at the school. Enjoy!

...and this is the song we're going to sing in 3rd and 4th ESO, I hope you like it!

3rd and 4th ESO - PROJECTS 2nd Term


Here you can find lots of information for your research on the projects. Remember you are expected to select the relevant information and summarize it yourselves with your own words, so don't just copy and paste!


3rd ESO - ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND
The presentations will start on Monday 28th February. Each group will focus on one of the following topics and they will introduce it to the rest of the class:

• History
• Arts and Culture
• Drama
• William Shakespeare
• Hamlet

Recommended websites:

Elizabethan Era

Elizabethan Era (Wikipedia)
Shakespeare online
Absolute Shakespeare


4th ESO - VICTORIAN ENGLAND
The presentations will start on Monday 28th February. Each group will focus on one of the following topics and they will introduce it to the rest of the class:

• History
• Arts and Culture
• Literature
• Oscar Wilde
• The Picture of Dorian Gray

Recommended websites:

Victorian Era
Victorian Web
History - Victorian period

Victorian Literature
Oscar Wilde (wikipedia)
Oscar Wilde online

The project will be evaluated according to the following categories. Each category is worth 0.5 and the maximum mark is 2. This mark is part of the Practice, which represents 20% of the final mark.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Information / Content	Covers topic completely and in depth. All information presented is clear, accurate and thorough.	Includes essential information and it is mostly presented in a clear, accurate and thorough way.	Includes some essential information and it is presented in a clear and accurate way, but not thorough.	Includes little essential information. It has several inaccuracies OR is not clear.
Understanding of Topic	The student clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented the information forcefully and convincingly.	The student clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented the information with ease.	The student seemed to understand the main points of the topic and presented those with ease.	The student did not show an adequate understanding of the topic.
Cooperative Group Work	Works well with others. Assumes a clear role and related responsibilities. Motivates others to do their best.	Works well with others. Takes part in most decisions and contributes fair share to group.	Works with others, but has difficulty sharing decisions and responsibilities.	Cannot work with others in most situations. Cannot share decisions or responsibilities.
Oral Presentation Skills	Communicates ideas with enthusiasm, proper voice projection, appropriate language, and clear delivery.	Communicates ideas with proper voice projection. Adequate preparation and delivery.	Some difficulty communicating ideas, due to voice projection, lack of preparation, or incomplete work	Great difficulty communicating ideas. Poor voice projection. Little preparation or incomplete work.

These are the Readers for the second term and the dates for the Reading Tests:

• 1st ESO: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving). Burlington Books - 11/03/2011.
• 2nd ESO: King Arthur. Burlington Books - 11/03/2011.
• 3rd ESO: Hamlet (William Shakespeare). Oxford - 10/03/2011.
• 4th ESO: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde). Oxford - 10/03/2011.

The deadline for handing in the activities about the Readers will be the same date as the Reading test.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This is the song they sing in English speaking countries to celebrate the start of the New Year. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, people get together, they hug and kiss each other and sing along...and by the way, they don't eat any grapes, that's a Spanish tradition! The lyrics come from a poem by Robert Burns, a Scottish poet. He wrote it in 1788 in Scots, one of the ancient varieties of English, so it is quite difficult to understand, but here you can find the modern English version to help you, and more information about the poem and the author:

Auld Lang Syne