Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bob tails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

We got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh yeah

Malala Day

United Nations, New York, 12 July 2013 - Education activist Malala Yousafzai marks her 16th birthday, on Friday, 12 July 2013 at the United Nations by giving her first high-level public appearance and statement on the importance of education.

Malala became a public figure when she was shot by the Taliban while travelling to school last year in Pakistan -- targeted because of her committed campaigning for the right of all girls to an education. Flown to the United Kingdom to recover, she is now back at school and continues to advocate for every child's right to education.

In support of the UN Secretary-General's Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), on 12 July -- declared as "Malala Day" -- the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Special Envoy for Global Education with the support of A World at School initiative are organizing the UN Youth Assembly, where more than 500 young leaders from around the world will convene to accelerate the goal of getting all children, especially girls, in school and learning by 2015.

Click on the link to the full text of Malala's speech.

The Fonix 2.015. Official Poster

The Fonix 2.015: Be Prepared!

The Eighth English Competition for Catalan Schools (THE FONIX 2015), designed to promote the use of English among school students through a fun and educational competition in an informal educational setting, is hereby announced.

The objective of the competition is to select a finalist from each of the first two stages: local, territorial and the winners at the final stage.

The exercises in all the stages of the competition will consist of writing tasks, each based on a different theme (for example: geography, history or music). The written tasks contain a variety of activities on vocabulary, reading and writing. In the final stage of the competition, there will also be an oral section in the test.

STAGES OF THE COMPETITION: 

• LOCAL STAGE: The tests will be held at each school between 16th of January and 15th February 2015 inclusive.
• REGIONAL STAGE: The tests during the regional stage will be held on Saturday 28th February at 12:00 midday, and will last for a maximum of 60 minutes. The location of the examination will be made public well before the test date.
• FINAL STAGE: The final stage of the competition will be held Saturday 25th April. The test at the Final stage of the competition will consist of an oral as well as a written section. The test will take between 40-50 minutes at the most.
• By 13th May: The FONIX award ceremony of prizes and diplomas will take place.

 THE PRIZES:

The following prizes will be awarded to the candidates who classify for the final stage of the competition:

• 4 two-week stays in “English Summer Camps” in Catalonia for the four winners in the 5º pri. to 2nd ESO categories.
• 4 two-week stays in an English-speaking country for the four winners in the 3rd ESO to 2nd de Batxillerat/Grau Superior de Cicles Formatius categories.
• 8 standard on line English courses and 8 sets of study materials for the runners-up in each of the 8 categories.
• 32 standard on line English courses for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed candidates in each of the 8 categories.
• Sets of study materials for the remaining finalists.

Further information about the competition can be found on the official website.

Who Are "The Fonix"

Did you know that THE FONIX comes from the English language Phoneme table? Have a look at the table below and see if you can spot the similarities:

We would like to introduce you to:

Which is pronounced like "V" as in "VERY"		Which is pronounced like "R" as in "READ"
Which is pronounced like "A" as in "AMERICA"		Which is pronounced like "P" as in  "PIG"
Which is pronounced like "TH" as in "THORA"		Which is pronounced like "OO" as in  "HOOK"
Which is pronounced like "G" as in "GORDON"		Which is pronounced like "S" as in "ASIA"
Which is pronounced like "TH" as in "HEATHER"		Which is pronounced like "OR" as in "GEORGE"

They are fictional characters which look a little bit like Martians. They are noisy, excitable, adventurous and full of energy. They get on really well with young people. In fact – this is why they are called THE FONIX, because in English SMS messages – this is how we write PHONICS.

4th ESO to participate in the Schools Song Contest 2.015

Our students of 4th ESO-A will take part in the 5th Schools Song Contest. 

This contest consists in shooting a video clip with a cover version of a song in English and then performing this song in a live festival that will be held next May in the theatre of the school Sant Gabriel in Barcelona. 

They've chosen as an artistic name The BestCrops. And you can see their promotional video below.

Stay tuned for more news...

Wedding Traditions

How beautiful weddings are... Don't you think? Let's learn about traditions related to weddings.

Michael Jackson's Thriller (Long Version)

 

Michael Jackson's Thriller (Lyrics + Album Version)

[1st verse]

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark

Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart

You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it

You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,

You're paralyzed

[Chorus]

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night

And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike

You know it's thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

[2nd verse]

You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run

You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun

You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl

But all the while you hear the creature creepin' up behind

You're out of time

[Chorus]

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night

There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl

Thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life inside of killer, thriller tonight

[Bridge]

Night creatures call and the dead start to walk in their masquerade

There's no escapin' the jaws of the alien this time

(They’re open wide)

This is the end of your life

[3rd verse]

They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side

They will possess you unless you change the number on your dial

Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah.

All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen,

I'll make you see

[Chorus]

That this is thriller, thriller night

'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try

Thriller, thriller night

So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller, chiller, thriller here tonight

[Chorus]

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night

Girl I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try

Thriller, thriller night

So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller

I'm gonna thrill you tonight

[Rap performed by Vincent Price]

Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand

Creatures crawl in search of blood

To terrorize your neighborhood

And whosoever shall be found

Without the soul for getting down

Must stand and face the hounds of hell

And rot inside a corpse's shell

The foulest stench is in the air

The funk of forty thousand years

And grisly ghouls from every tomb

Are closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay alive

Your body starts to shiver

For no mere mortal can resist

The evil of the thriller

[Into maniacal laugh, in deep echo]

Are We Going (To Participate in the Schools Song Contest 2.015)?

Students of 4th ESO are thinking of participating in the Schools Song Contest of the next year. In order to this, they're looking for a song. These are some of the possibilities:

Kesha - Tik Tok

Taio Cruz ft. Kylie Minogue - Higher

Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger

Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song

Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven

Paulina Rubio - Boys Will Be Boys

A New Student (A Short Dialogue by 1rst ESO-A)

The students of the group A of 1rst ESO have prepared and performed a short dialogue. Let's listen to it:

Group 1: Zareen, Coco, Alba, María, Juana, Qasim, Sundas.

Group 2: Zineb, Carmen, Tito, Cris, Juan, Amandeep, Aiman.

I Wanto To Help People (A Short Dialogue by 4th ESO-A)

The students of 4th ESO have prepared and performed a short dialogue. Let's listen to them.

Group 1: Daniela, Yassminne, Marisol, Chaimaa.

Group 2: María, Siscu, Jingyao, Jairo.

Group 3: Hamza, Hassan, Tajamal, Hassan Sh.

Group 4: Aysha, Areeg, Chengjie, Jiaxin.

Group 5: Adri, Ángel, Laila, Moruna.

An Invitation to a Party (A Short Dialogue by 3rd ESO-A)

The students of 3rd ESO have prepared and performed a short dialogue. Let's listen to them.

Group 1: Coral, Emmanuel, Mª Blanca, Gabi.

Group 2: Micaela, Uzair, Kaleem, Manar.

Group 3: Sawaira, Fatima, Ramón.

Group 4: Zahra, Loles, Anthony.

A New Student (A Short Dialogue by 1rst ESO-B)

The students of the group B of 1rst ESO have prepared and performed a short dialogue. Let's listen to it:

Group 1: Sara, Sarita, Enriqueta, Noe, Paco, Ñoña, Conchita.

Group 2: Leo, Perica, Firdaws, Manuel, Shaira, Anzal, Sanwal.

Jack Is Famous (A Short Dialogue by 2nd ESO)

The students of 2nd ESO have prepared and performed a short dialogue. Let's listen to them.

2nd - A (Group 1): Mª José, Ahlam, María, Rahana, Asma, Shutao, Hasif, Dilawar.

2nd - A (Group 2): Esha, Abraham, Carmen, Mª Dolores, Manal, Mª Ángeles, Teresa, Yadira.

2nd - B: Saman, Antonio, Sergio, Franz, Nico, Andrea, Samara, Franz, Weibo, Ninfa, Adela.

First Day (High School Story)

September, the 15th. First day of High School....

"First Day"
by Laura Shigihara

It is the first day, don't know where I stand anymore
I've got my hands in my pockets, I'm staring down at the floor
When I walk through the halls, will I fall flat on my face?
Am I in over my head, are people even gonna know my name?

Give it time
It's okay if I don't figure everything out overnight
It's too late to turn back now
Gotta fight (1-2-3)

Gotta be everything that I can
I might fail, if that's the way it's gotta be
I'll prove there's more to me than what you see
I'll live my life
All on the first day

It is the first day, and I'm sitting all by myself
All the weird things about me, maybe I should leave them somewhere else
When I wanna speak up, my voice decides it's gonna get really small
Cuz there's that part of me that wants to run and not be seen at all

Give it time...

Gotta be everything that I can...

Other ways to say: "I Don't Like"

National Stereotypes

There are many stereotypes surrounding individual nations. Sometimes some countries may promote national stereotypes about themselves in order, for example, to instil a sense of patriotism.

Stereotypes are generalizations about groups of people, they can be positive or negative, and they can be based on some truth or completely invented. Clichés about national stereotypes can be great fun; the problem is that they sometimes become a prejudice.

Links:

• National Stereotype
• TVTropes

Discourse Makers

Ancient Chinese Inventions

The ancient Chinese invented many, many things - things we still use today. Their inventions include the wheel, paper, silk, matches, gunpowder, porcelain, china, fireworks, medicines, kites, tea, the umbrella, jump ropes, ink, the crossbow, and even ice cream!  

Roman Gods and Goddesses

At first, Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses. These gods were like people, but with magical powers. The Roman gods were part of a family. People told stories or myths about them. Each god or goddess looked after different people or things. 

The Romans often borrowed new gods from people they conquered. They hoped these new gods would make them stronger. They borrowed gods from Egypt, for example, such as the goddess Isis.

The Greeks and Romans shared the same stories, but used different names.

Greek	Roman
Zeus	Jupiter	Lord of the sky and supreme ruler of the gods. Known for throwing lightening bolts.
Poseidon	Neptune	Ruler of the sea. Brother of Zeus. Carried a three-pronged spear known as a trident.
Hades	Pluto	Ruler of the underworld and the dead. Brother of Zeus. Had a helmet which rendered its wearer invisible.
Hestia	Vesta	A virgin goddess and sister of Zeus. No distinct personality or part in myths. Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the home.
Hera	Juno	Zeus's wife and sister. Protector of marriage, spent most of her time punishing the many women Zeus fell in love with. Likes cows and peacocks.
Ares	Mars	God of war and son of Zeus and Hera. Likes vultures and dogs.
Athena	Minerva	Daughter of Zeus alone. No mother.(?) She sprang from his head full-grown and in full armor. The protector of civilized life, handicrafts, and agriculture. Invented the bridle, and first to tame the horse. Likes Athens, olives, and owls.
Apollo	Apollo	Son of Zeus. Master musician, archer god, healer, god of light, god of truth, sun god. A busy god who likes the laurel tree, dolphins, and crows.
Aphrodite	Venus	Daughter of Zeus. Goddess of Love and Beauty. Likes the myrtle tree, doves, sparrows, and swans.
Hermes	Mercury	Son of Zeus. Wore wings on his sandals and his hat, thus was graceful and swift.
Artemis	Diana	Apollo's twin sister and daughter of Zeus. Lady of wild things and huntsman to the gods. As Apollo is the Sun, Artemis is the moon.
Hephaestus	Vulcan	Son of Hera, God of Fire. The only ugly and deformed god. Makes armor and weapons forged under volcanoes.

Interesting links:

• UNCG.
• UNRV.
• Gwydir.
• Linn Donn.
• Primary Homework.
• PBS.
• Ducksters.