Predict the end of these videos

Rio de Janeiro Carnival

Have a look at the video on Rio de Janeiro carnival and fill in the gaps
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-21421812/rio-rev

Thanksgiving cloze

This is the cloze that we did today in class.  Fill in the blanks with the words in the boxes. There are some extra words :  aboard        arrived      at        colony         died      feast got             grow        happy         hard           ill          into land            leave       room   pleasant     strong   survived    thanks       taught         voyage      was       were

The first Thanksgiving

In 1620, a group of people decided to (0)__leave__England. They crossed the Atlantic  Ocean and (1) _____________ to America. These people (2) ________  called pilgrims. They decided to make the long journey because they wanted religious freedom.

The pilgrims crossed the ocean in a ship called the Mayflower. There were 102 passengers (3) _________ the ship. The ship had very little ______ for so many people.  At first, the weather was (5)  _________, but then the ship met storms and (6) _________ winds. During the (7) _____________, two people died and one child was born. Finally, after 65 days (8) ______ sea, they got to ___________ (9), well to an island.

The pilgrims created a (10) _____________at Plymouth. Life was ______ (11)  at the colony. At first, the pilgrims lived on the Mayflower while they built their homes on land. It was winter so they were cold and wet. Soon many of the pilgrims became _____________ (12) . About half of the pilgrims _________ (13) during the first year of diseases such as scurvy and pneumonia.

With the help of Native Americans, the colony _____________  (14) the first year. Native Americans __________  (15) the colonists how to __________  (16) corn and how to collect sap from maple trees. The colonists who survived the first year had a three-day _____________ (17) to give _____________ (18) for their first harvest.

Thanksgiving video explanation

Dear students,
Here you have the listening about Thanksgiving that we did in class today. You can also de the exercises proposed.

Thanksgiving video

Thanksgiving history told by children

Vocab : 
Pilgrims = peregrinos
Buckle = hebilla 

1. How does the first boy describe the pilgrims ?
2. According to the girl, why did the pilgrims go to America ?
3. How did they get to America ? What's the name of the transport they used ?
4. According to the children, how long did they take to cross the ocean ? (3 answers)
5. They were really cold, what did the forget to bring to America ?
6. How do you say corn in American English ?
7. What did the Indians teach the pilgrims ? And according to the children ?
8. What does the Indian say ?
9. What did they have in the banquet? 

Answers to the video :
1) "The pilgrims was a bunch of people that wore belt buckets on their heads."
2) They came to America because they wanted to go to a church, but the king of England wouldn't let them. 
3) They got to America onboard a ship called the Mayflower. 
4) 8 days / 4 months / 100 days.
5) They forgot to bring blankets.
6) Maize
7) They taught them how to grow crops, how to hunt and how to dance. According to the children they also taught them how to grow stuff like flowers, how to learn race bicycles and how to shop. 
8) he says :" I bet there won't be problems between the Englishmen and the native American ever again."
9) They had turkey, fruit and vegetables, deer and pumpkin pie.

Bet you didn't know: Thanksgiving

Listen to the video and choose the right answer a), b) c)

The First Thanksgiving feast :
a) lasted one day
b) included eating and other activities
c) celebrated the Indian's first successful harvest

In the first Thanksgiving menu : 
a) didn't include cranberries
b) included turkey
c) included deer provided by the Indians

Thanksgiving :
a) was celebrated every year until 1789
b) wasn't celebrated in subsequent years
c) immediately became a national holiday

Some traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as stuffing are due to :
a) a writer's idea
b) an idea established in a diary of a pilgrim
c) to historical reasons : Pilgrims would often cook those dishes

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday :
a) because Franklin Delano Roosevelt did so in 1939
b) as was established by Abraham Lincoln 
c) as a result of different protests

One of the quirkiest traditions is :
a) turkey pardoning
b) turkey slaughtering
c) saving turkey farms

Thanksgiving presentation

Dear students,
Thanksgiving takes place this Thursday and I prepared a presentation for you to learn some cultural elements. Please, have a look at it. 



Here you can have a video in which children say why they are thankful for. You can't miss it. Have a look ! 

Thanksgiving vocab and exercises

Dear students, 
Here you have an easy and quick exercise related to Thanksgiving vocabulary. Enjoy it : 
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/beginners/picture-quiz.html

Now, a very easy reading about Thanksgiving :
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-reading.html 

And here you have the cloze test based on that reading :

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word. There are some extra words :

a         airports           an       big                  Canada          Canadian                   cities       dinner        fourth      holiday     holidays     its        people     say       their          

Thanksgiving is a (1) ________________ and North American harvest festival and a family (2) _______________. In the USA, they celebrate it on the (3) _____________ Thursday in November, but (4) ____________ in Canada celebrate it on the second Monday in October. Thanksgiving is a (5) ________ family celebration and a Christian festival. Many non-Christians also like celebrating Thanksgiving. Roads and (6) _____________ get very busy that weekend. People travel all over the country to be with (7) __________ family on Thanksgiving. Many big ___________ (8) organize parades and other special events.

Christian families often (0) __say__ a prayer (called grace) before eating their Thanksgiving (9) ___________. Traditional Thanksgiving foods include turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, sweetcorn and sweet potatoes. (10) _______ incredibly good dessert called pumpkin pie is also eaten.

Adapted from : http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-reading.html

Here you have another exercise : to put the words in order.
http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topics/thanksgiving/elementary-thanksgiving-jumbled-sentences-1.html 

Thanksgiving glassary

Hi folks,

In this link, you can watch Lynnae's presentation about Thanksgiving, and here you can have a look at the pros and cons of Thanksgiving but I thought it would be a good idea to include a glossary of terms for you to understand Thanksgiving better:

Puritans : Group of people who believed in God, but were protestants, which means they were against Catholics and against King James I. They got on board a ship : the Mayflower and arrived in the city of Plymouth where they decided to establish the colony of New England. They became friends with the Indians there and prepared food for them because they had taught them to survive. 

Mayflower : Name of the ship where the Puritans got on when they decided to leave England and go to New York. A lot of people died in the ship because of the illnesses.

Plymouth : The city in Massachusetts where the  Puritans arrived.  

King James  I : An unpopular Catholic King who was a Catholic and was against the Protestants. He made the Puritans leave England. 

Indians / native Americans : The original inhabitants of America (and Plymouth). They taught Puritans to survive. 

Squanto : The leader of the Indians. 

2) Thanksgiving food

  

              Roast turkey                                  Stuffing

   

  Turducken (turkey + duck+                Pumpkin pie

                          chicken)               

 

   

   Green bean casserole                        Sweet potato

   

     Corn pudding                                 Cranberry sauce

     Turkey cookies 

Black Friday : It is the day after Thanksgiving when stores and shops offer such incredible knock-downs that some people are willing to sleep on the street the previous day or fight to get the most discounted television

Well, I hope you will have liked my glossary. Have a happy 'Thanksgiving weekend'.

Pros and cons of Thanksgiving

Hello bloggers,

Happy Thanksgiving and happy Black Friday to everyone. A lot of things have happened since the pilgrims Puritans Protestants escaped king James I and got onboard the Mayflower to arrive in Plymouth to create New England. There the chief of the Indians, Squanto, and his friends taught the Puritans to farm the land and grow food, something essential for their survival. The next year, pilgrims prepared a feast of food to thank the Indians for their help. This banquet lasted for four days. This first Thanksgiving dinner took place in 1621 ! Can you imagine ?There is a lot of interesting vocabulary about Thanksgiving that you can see in the link provided. In this post, I intend to analyze Thanksgiving in terms of good and bad, that is, to say the positive and negative elements of the current Thanksgiving. Let's begin :

The five positive elements of Thanksgiving 

1. All families come together : It is estimated that 42 million people travel on Thanksgiving Day to meet their families. It is a four-day holiday, so most people decide to come back and have dinner with their beloved ones. People reflect on what they have; they say why they are thankful for. It is an ideal date for introspection, to think carefully about your achievements along the year and about what you are yet to achieve. 

2. Yummy yummy ! Delicious food ! : On Thanksgiving Day, Americans have the opportunity to be full up all the weekend ! They can eat roasted turkey with stuffing, green bean casserole, corn soup ... Perfect timing to put on some extra kilos !

3. Enormous parades : Macy's huge parade is organized every year. These parades are amazing : huge balloons, music, famous people, ... I wish we had some of this in Spain ! 

4. Black Friday and its incredible discounts : In Spain, shop owners offer limited discounts or no discounts at all. However, in America, there are outrageous discounts. You can buy articles for ridiculous prices. You can even buy movies, songs, apps for one dollar or even less ! Amazing ! 

5. No school : Scholars will be happy since they have a four-day holiday, which doesn't happen so often in America. However, the day before Thanksgiving it is celebrated at schools. Children dressed up as Indians and Puritans and have a Thanksgiving food at school ! 

The five negative elements of Thanksgiving

1. Millions of turkeys die every year : Believe it or not 45 million turkeys give their lives to be on the American's dinner table on one single day (Thanksgiving) and 22 million of them on Christmas Day. There is a tradition whereby one turkey is publicly pardoned by the president every year. How hypocritical ! One turkey is entitled to live whereas 45 million of its 'peers' are doomed and condemned to die. Besides, to prepare and fatten the turkeys, they are overfed prior to the Thanksgiving Day. It is not a surprise that Thanksgiving Day is also known as the Turkey Day.

2. Watching football : On Thanksgiving, families are supposed to spend time together.  In general all the families gather together and spend a nice time watching American football. However, some people will let their families aside to watch American football on TV.

3. Aggressive consumerism  and pollution : As mentioned before, tons and tons of food are eaten this day. American people stuff themselves with food, whereas in other parts of the world other people starve to death. In addition, as it is one of the busiest days of the year, a lot of people hit the road, which means more pollution released to the environment. 

4. Black Friday and its unpleasant incidents : This day makes honour to its name. On Black Friday, there are incredible bargains, which means that thousands of people sleep on the street, queue up and behave soullessly. Lots of supermarkets and stores have been closed by the police. People tread on each other, push and even hit others to get the best article. The previous day those people were praying to God and being thankful... Isn't it strange ?

5. Grief for your losses : Such a familiar day will certainly bring memories of your dear ones that are gone. Thanksgiving may sometimes become a gloomy day, wallowing in our grief.  

Are you a fan of Thanksgiving or not ? I'd love to be able to enjoy some turkey with stuffing, hehe. Anyway, keep in mind that after Thanksgiving, Christmas officially begins ! 

Comparatives exercises

Dear students,
here you have some online exercises for you to practise comparative structures:
https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-60316.php
http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/4g2-the-the-comparatives.php
 https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-6578.php
https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=8517

Exercises on question-making

Dear students,
here you have some online exercises on yes/no and wh- questions.
Come on! Practise your English online!
Yes/no questions 
https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/word_order.htm
 https://elt.oup.com/student/project3rdedition/level2/unit1/grammar/exercise3?cc=global&selLanguage=en
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-simple-exercise-5.html

Wh questions
 https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/word_order4.htm 
 https://elt.oup.com/student/project3rdedition/level2/unit1/grammar/exercise4?cc=us&selLanguage=en
 https://agendaweb.org/exercises/grammar/questions/wh-questions

The best composition of the month: a persuasive article

Dear all,
as usual I share with you two of your classmates' outstanding compositions so that you can take notice of their writing technique. I hope it is useful.

If in doubt, do not hesitate and invest in real estate (by Lucía del Mar Tomé, B2.2 19.00)

           Currently, the real estate sector is starting to boom again after ten years of economic recession, when the crash of the real-estate bubble caused a cut in access to bank loans. A large number of  companies in the sector went into bankruptcy and, therefore, a significant amount of jobs was lost in the construction industry. 

                  However, in recent years, this has begun to change. International investors have seen a business opportunity in our country. Thus, the construction of retirement houses, shopping centres, offices, retails and hotels is sky-rocketing. 

                There is also more purchase of housing, due to the creation of employment, the concessions of more mortgage and the increase in the confidence of the economy, alongside the interest of Britons, Germans and French to live here, especially on coastal areas. However, rent has suffered a significant reduction owing to both the increase in prices and the higher demand. In addition, the idea that reinforces the advantages of the purchase versus the rent is gaining ground in the mentality of Spaniards.

               Are you thinking of buying or investing in a house? Experts think that now is a good time to invest our savings. Likewise, some researches show that prices will not cease to rise in the upcoming years and, in contrast, because of this, they reckon it is not the right time to sell. It's advisable to wait a couple of years before doing so when prices reach their highest peak. 

                 Banks are now granting more loans and better conditions, so, whether you are a buyer or an investor, take advantage of the current market situation, but with common sense! 

_________________________________________________________________________

The best way to learn English (by Juan Orozco Corpas B2.2 16.30)

Have you ever dreamed of becoming bilingual in English? Have you ever wondered why you are not like that, and however you have been studying that language for so many years? Well, now you could have the opportunity to achieve your ever-lasting goals. How?  Scientists have discovered the answer: You have to be in contact with whatever foreign language at least half an hour every day, for four years, in order to learn it. And here is where our product comes into play.

We have invented a robot capable of helping you to achieve this. This robot has a software capable of understanding what you are saying, even if your English is not very good. This software has a wide range of different levels of English and you can choose the level of English you want. Once you have chosen the level of English the robot will start to speak to you since the minute you set foot in your house. It will say hello to you and will ask you how the day was. From then on, the conversation will depend on you; you will be in command.

The robot has a vast repertoire of conversations. It will ask you some common sentences and you’ll answer them, and depending on the answer the robot will ask you another thing, or viceversa, you’ll ask it for something, and the robot will answer you.

Furthermore, the robot not only will be a teacher for you, but also a friend. This will be very useful for lonely people. 

And all of this for an incredible price, to pay in easy installments. You are not going to believe it. For only three thousand dollars your English issue will be solved once and for all. 

Don’t you think it is worth investing a little of your money to be bilingual?

Thank you both of you for your outstanding pieces of writing. 

Conjunctions: but, so, and, or, although and because

Dear students,
here you have a very interesting link to practise with conjunctions. You have a video and at the bottom of the page you have some exercises for you to practise.
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-grammar/conjunctions-or-so-because-although

What do you do for a living?

Here you have the link to the listening we practised in class.

The Hall of Fame

Listen to the video and try to do the exercises provided. As usual, the answers are at the bottom of the post :

"Hall Of Fame"
(feat. Will.I.Am)

Yeah, you can be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the King Kong banging on your (1) _____________

You could beat the world
You could beat the _____________ (2)
You could talk to God, go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up
You can beat the ____________ (3) (yeah)
You can move a mountain
You can break ______________ (4)
You can be a master
Don't wait for _______________ (5)
Dedicate yourself and you gon' find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame (yeah)
And the world's gonna know your name (yeah)
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame
(Chorus) 

You can go the distance
You can run the __________ (6)
You can walk straight through hell with a smile

You could be the hero
You could get the gold
Breaking all the ____________ (7) they thought never could be broken

Yeah, do it for your people
Do it for your ______________ (8)
How you ever gonna know if you never even try?

Do it for your country
Do it for your ____________ (9)
'Cause there's gonna be a day when

(Chorus)

Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion
On the walls of the hall of fame

Be students
Be _____________ (10)
Be politicians
Be ______________ (11)
(Yeah)

Be believers
Be______________ (12)
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be truth _____________ (13)
Be students
Be ______________
Be politicians
Be _____________

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions

Chorus

(You can be a champion...) Repeated and mixed with chorus

Standing in the hall of fame

Exercises 
1. Fill in the gaps of the lyrics of the song. If it's too difficult, choose the right answer:

1. a) chess                   b) chest                       c) church                     d) checks

2. a) war                     b) word                       c) world                      d) worst

3. a) crock                   b) cock                        c) cork                         d) clock

4. a) crocks                 b) rags                         c) racks                       d) rocks

5. a) look                    b) lack                         c) luck                         d) lark

6. a) mare                    b) mire                        c) mile                         d) mine

7. a) seconds               b) rackets                    c) records                    d) rates

8. a) ride                     b) pride                       c) proud                      d) fide

9. a) name                   b) vein                        c) cane                        d) plane

10. a) features             b) teachers                  c) T-shirts                   d) tickers

11. a) seekers              b) features                  c) preachers                d) teachers

12. a) leaders              b) livers                       c) leathers                   d) litter

13. a) siders                b) sitters                      c) seekers                    d) shitters 

2. Find three superlative forms in the lyrics of the song

3. Find a relative clause where the relative pronoun has been omitted

4. Explain the meaning of the following expressions:
a) beat the clock
b) break a record
c) hall of fame

5. Find an example of an onomatopoeic word

Answers :
1)
1b; 2c; 3d; 4d; 5c; 6c; 7c; 8b; 9a; 10b; 11c; 12a; 13c

2) Greatest, best, brightest

3) Breaking all the records (that/which) they thought never could be broken

4) Beat the clock : Perform a task quickly. In sports, perform a sports task in better time.
    Break a record: To perform a given task at a better degree than the one currently known.
    Hall of fame: A kind of ranking containing particularly industrious, hard-working, record-breaking sportspeople in different categories. 

5) The word 'bang' is onomatopoeic since it reproduces an explosion-like noise. 

Well, don't you enjoy learning English with songs? I'm sure that's the perfect way to advance with your English learning process? If you're interested in polishing your English with songs, do not hesitate and click on the links below. See you next week!
The Script's The Hall of Fame; Jessie J's Price Tag; The Police's Every Breath You Take; U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For; Bruno Mar's Don't Give Up; The Cure's Friday I'm In Love; Smash Mouth's I'm A Believer; Michael Bublé's It's A Beautiful Day; songs related to peace; Cold Play's Paradise; Christmas carols; Christmas carols II; Tracy Chapman's Fast Car; Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know; Happy Birthday songs.

Extreme sports

Dear students,
Here you have a video of extreme sports. Watch it and answer the questions:

What are people who like extreme sports called ?

Where are there rapids ? How long are those rapids ?

Why does Pass like about rafting ?

According to him, why do people like extreme sports ?

Does he consider himself as an adrenaline junkie ?

What is parkour exactly ?

Why does Rebecca like parkour ?

What do you need to do parkour ?