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24 Dec 2013

The Green Grass Grew All Around Puppy Reader - A SONG


There once was a tree
 a pretty little tree

The prettiest little tree
 that you ever did see


the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around



Now on this tree 
There was a limb

The prettiest little limb 
That you ever did see
the limb on the tree and the tree in the hole and the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around



Now on this limb
 There was a branch

The prettiest little branch 
That you ever did see



Oh, the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree, and the tree in a hole

And the hole was in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around
And the green grass grew all around

Now on this branch 
There was a bough

The prettiest little bough 
That you ever did see
the bough on the branch, and the branch on the limb, and the limb on and the tree in a hole
, and the hole was in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around
And the green grass grew all around

Now on this bough 
there was a twig
The prettiest little twig 
That you ever did see



Oh, the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around
And the green grass grew all around



Now on this twig 
There was leaf
The prettiest little leaf 
That you ever did see
Oh, the leaf on the twig, and the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around
And the green grass grew all around



Now on this leaf 
 There was a nest
The prettiest little nest 
That you ever did see


Oh, the nest on the leaf and the leaf on the twig, 
and the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around



Now in this nest 
There was a bird

The prettiest little bird 
That you ever did see





Oh, the bird in the nest, and the nest on the leaf and the leaf on the twig, 
and the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around



Now on this bird 
There was a feather
The prettiest little feather 
That you ever did see



Oh, the feather on the bird, the bird in the nest, and the nest on the leaf and the leaf on the twig, 
and the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around



Now on this feather 
There was a flea
The prettiest little flea 
That you ever did see



Oh, the flea on the feather, 
 the feather on the bird, the bird in the nest, and the nest on the leaf and the leaf on the twig, 
and the twig on the bough, and the bough on the branch, 
and the branch on the limb and the limb on the tree,
 and the tree in a hole
, and the hole in the ground

And the green grass grew all around, all around

And the green grass grew all around

27 Nov 2013

20 Things We Should Say More Often

Here is a special list of 20 things we should say more often. What would you add to it?

5 Food Films to Binge On For Thanksgiving

 Films about food not only for Thanksgiving lessons :-)
Click here

25 Nov 2013

Town

Create your own town.

Show it to your students and encourage them to create their own imaginary town.

17 Nov 2013

Batkid Saves San Francisco Gotham City - Leukimia kid Dream come true


The Butterfly Alphabet

Norwegian nature photographer Kjell Bloch Sandved has an enormous collection of butterfly images, and one day he noticed that many of the natural shapes in their beautiful wing patterns resembled letters of the alphabet. So he created the Butterfly Alphabet, featuring all 26 letters in the English alphabet, plus 10 single-digit numbers from 0 to 9.

You must show it to your Students :-)


You can read more here

10 Nov 2013

Before I die I want to . . .

Before I Die – amazing project offers a global ethnography of people's most heartfelt hopes and desires.

  • What do YOU want to do before you die?

Click here to see more.

7 Nov 2013

The beauty of a second. Present Continuous and video making

The inspiration came from here: Film Lesson

The lesson is about using Present Continous and making short, one second videos.

Students they are going to watch a short film in which there are 60 clips each lasting one second. Ask them to identify as many of the moments as they can using the present continuous tense

1) The Beauty of a Second - 1st round compilation



2) The Beauty of a Second - 2nd round compilation



3) The Beauty of a Second - 3rd round compilation



Show your students 'Best One Second' winner Jan Herms - Monumental Night with Moving Stars



Encourage your students to make their own video.
“The Beauty of a Second” is a short film contest presented by award-winning director Wim Wenders.  
The contest is open to everyone: from amateurs to professionals. Everybody can become a filmmaker.
Everyone has a story to tell, so get filming!

13 Oct 2013

Siren of the lambs - New Banksy

  • Street artist Banksy's latest project shows screaming stuffed animals being taken to slaughter.
  • Some of the creatures move their heads and “cry out” for help, attracting the attention of people on the street.
  • A social commentary on the horrors of meat industry.
 

12 Oct 2013

Love Is Walking Hand In Hand

Beautiful cartoon stories about love: here

stop frame animation - a romantic story

"In a world controlled and timed by light, an ordinary man has a plan that could change the natural order of things".

click here

6 Oct 2013

Inspiring Nature: 15 amazing things in nature

Ask your students: how inspiring is nature?

Show them beautiful and amazing things that exist in nature, such as e.g. frozen air bubbles in Abraham Lake or Giant Crystal Cave in Mexioco. See them all here

Your students will love them :-)

You can practise adjectives or ask studnets to name as many as they can:
- amazing
- awesome
- wonderful
- incredible
- stunning
- marvellous
- fascinating
- unbelievable
Frozen air bubbles in Abraham Lake. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/10/15-amazing-things-you-wont-believe-actually-exist-in-nature.html - Follow us on Facebook: whydontyoutrythisHer
Mother Nature is beautiful and amazing because we can see many amazing stuff like these 15 things that you won't believe they actually exist. All these places are real. It is hard to believe in that, but that is true. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/10/15-amazing-things-you-wont-believe-actually-exist-in-nature.html - Follow us on Facebook: whydontyoutrythis
Mother Nature is beautiful and amazing because we can see many amazing stuff like these 15 things that you won't believe they actually exist. All these places are real. It is hard to believe in that, but that is true. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/10/15-amazing-things-you-wont-believe-actually-exist-in-nature.html - Follow us on Facebook: whydontyoutrythis

Dancing, writing e-mail

Based on the song by The Weepies - World Spins Madly On (More on Film English here)
One song - two options:

You can play both songs with no sound and ask students to narrate the story and to name emotions they feel while watching it. And then play it with the sound and ask them if they imagined this type of music with such a video. You might also give them lyrics later and discuss the song.
*

When you use the first video (with the dance) you can link it with writing an e-mail.
Task: You have enrolled in the dance classes. Write an e-mail to your friend in which you will:
1) explain why you have chosen these classes
2) describe the partner you are going to dance with
3) mention one problem that you had during your first class

Salvador DalĂ­'s little-known and lovely 1969 illustrations for Alice in Wonderland

beautiful illustrations: here
and an incredible book: here

1 Oct 2013

solar beat

Musical Solar System is based on real orbital frequencies.
see here: http://www.whitevinyldesign.com/solarbeat/
 
It's one of those simple concepts where astrophysics is translated into a pleasing ambient loop soundtrack that's more profound than your average web diversion.

Idioms

29 Sept 2013

7 Mind Blowing Facts About Your Body

Read more at: http://www.social-consciousness.com/2013/09/7-mind-blowing-facts-about-your-body.

21 Sept 2013

The first four words you see describe you :-)


Ask your students to spot them, write them down and compare them with their parther's.

9 Sept 2013

I had a black dog, his name was depression






I had a black dog - his name was _______________
I had a black dog - his name was _____________. Whenever the black dog made an _____________, I felt empty and life just seemed to slow down. He could surprise me with the visit for no reason or _____________. The back dog could made me _____________ and _____________ older than my years.
When the rest of the world seemed to be enjoying life, I could only see it through the black dog. Activities that usually brought me _____________ suddenly ceased to. He liked to ruin my _____________. He chewed up my _____________ and my ability to _____________. Doing anything or going anywhere with he black dog required _____________ strength.
At _____________ occasions, he would sniff out what confidence I had and chase it away. My biggest _____________ was being found out; I worried that people might _____________ me. Because of the _____________ and stigma of the black dog, I was constantly _____________ that I would be found out.
So I invested vast amounts of _____________ into covering him up. Keeping up an emotional life is _____________! Black dog could make me _____________ or say negative things. He could make me _____________ and difficult to be around. He would take my _____________ and bury my intimacy. He loved nothing more than to wake me with highly repetitive negative _____________. He also liked to remind me how _____________ I was going to be the next day.
Having a black dog in your life isn’t so much about feeling a bit down, sad or _____________; at its worst, it is about being devoid of feeling altogether. As I got  older the black dog got _____________ and he started hanging around all the time. I chased them off with whatever I thought might send him running. But more often than not, he’d come out on top. Going down became _____________ than getting up again.
So I became rather good at self _____________ which never really helped. Eventually I felt totally _____________ from everything and _____________. The black dog had finally succeeded in _____________ my life. When you lose all joy in life you can begin to question what the point of it is. Thankfully this was time when I sought professional _____________. This was my first step towards recovery and was a major turning point in my life.
I learnt that it doesn’t matter who you are, the black dog affects millions and millions of _____________. It is an equal opportunity mongrel. I also learnt that there was no silver bullet or magic _____________. Medication can help some and others might need different approach altogether.
I also learnt that being emotionally _____________ or authentic to those who are close to you can be an absolute game changer. Most importantly I learnt not to be _____________ of the black dog and taught him a few _____________ of my own. The more tired or stressed you get, the louder he barks, so it’s important to learn how to quiet your mind.
It’s been clinically proven that regular exercise can be as effective for treating mild to moderate depression as antidepressants. So go for a _____________ or run and leave the mutt behind. Keep a mood _____________, getting your thoughts on paper can be cathartic and often insightful. Also keep track of the things you have to be _____________ for.
The most important thing to remember is that no matter how bad it _____________, if you take the right steps, talk to the right people, black dog days _____________ and _____________ pass.
I wouldn't say that I am grateful for the black dog. But he’s been an incredible _____________. He forced me to re-evaluate and _____________ my life. I learnt that rather than running away from my _____________, it’s better to embrace them.
The black dog may always be a part of my life. But he would never be the _____________ that it was. We have an _____________. I've learnt through knowledge, _____________, discipline and humour, the worst black dog can be made to heal.
If you’re in difficulty, never be afraid to ask for help. There is absolutely no _____________ in doing so; the only shame is missing out _____________ life.

6 Sept 2013

your body is my canvas

Alexa Meade takes an innovative approach to art. Not for her a life of sketching and stretching canvases. Instead, she selects a topic and then paints it--literally. She covers everything in a scene--people, chairs, food, you name it--in a mask of paint that mimics what's below it. In this eye-opening talk Meade shows off photographs of some of the more outlandish results, and shares a new project involving people, paint and milk. 

Alexa Meade paints mesmerizing, illusionistic portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and colour.


here is the gallery: click here

Ballet dancers in random situations

beautiful pictures of ballet dancers for viewing, interpreting, discussing.

Click here

26 Aug 2013

Notes on "The power of vulnerability" by Brene Brown

1. “When you ask people about love, they tell you about heartbreak. When you ask people about belonging, they tell you about their most excruciating experiences of being excluded. When you ask people about connection, the stories they tell you are about disconnection.”
2. Shame and fear (excruciating vulnerability).
3. "There was only one variable that separated the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who really struggled for it … and that was that people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they’re worthy of love and belonging.  That’s it.  They believe they’re worthy.”
4. Fear of being not worthy of connection.
5. The courage to be imperfect.
6. The compassion to be kind to yourself first and then to others.
7. To let go who you think you should be and to be who you are.
8. To fully embrace vulnerability.
9. To believe that what makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful.
10. The willingness to say "I love you" first.
11. The willingness to do something whether there's no guarantee.
12. The willingness to invest in a relationship that may or may not work out.
13. I am enough.

Materials:
1) To read: Embracing Vulnerability and Putting Yourself Out There

2) To watch:

26 Jul 2013

Learn English from movies

Here is a fantastic site called Speechyard: http://speechyard.com/video.
There are a lot of films and music videos you can use in your lessons.
Check that out :-)

18 Apr 2013

the pleasure of... life

Another topic to discuss the matter of happiness.
The theme is A bit Amelie-esque :-)
The aim is to capture and discuss simple things in life which makes us happy. Students can make their own short films, as Vituc (the director of the film) made it with the help of an iphone and cannon camera.
Among things portrayed in the films there are:
  • a melting ice cream cone, 
  • watching a nearby insect,
  • opening closed shutters to a sunny day,
  • being submerged in water,
  • the crackle of burning wood,
  • the cooling breeze of a fan
  • taking a bite from a slice of watermelon,
  • slicing a vegateble into smaller segments,
  • a cat flexing his paws
  • a moka pot brewing coffee
  • a bug about to take flight
  • drawing with blue chalk on the sidewalk
  • pouring wine to accompany a meal of fresh bread and cheese
  • a film maker pictures himself floating in the sea
Here is the whole lesson: here

And here is the short video: http://vimeo.com/48236494


9 Apr 2013

Board games and good animation

Tell your Students they are going to watch a clip with no sound.

Dubstep group Delta Heavy released the new video for their song “Get By”. It features a few of well known board games bouncing along to the music in stop motion format. Then, something horrifying happens with hilarious results.

Ask your Students the following questions:

1. What is this video about?
2. What is the man doing? What is the intention?
3. How many different toys and games can you see?

Board games, games and toys:
  • dominoes
  • draughts
  • scrabble
  • chess
  • bricks
  • Rubik's cube
  • pick-up sticks
  • cards
  • Hungry Hungry Hippos
  • Connect Four
  • Guess Who? 


Brains over brawns

Nuno Rocha's film: "3x3"
The whole lesson: here

27 Mar 2013

Big Questions

There is a great book titled: Big Questions from Little People: and Simple Answers from Great Minds which you can use in your lesson. The book consists of basic questions asked by children and answered by scientists and philosophers, e.g. "Why we have dreams", "Why we can't tickle ourselves" or "Why we're all made of stardust?".

You can put Sts into groups and give each group different set of 3 questions (together with answers). Give each group time to read and understand them. Tell each group that they are the experts and have to share their knowledge with other groups. So they have to ask their mates the questions and make sure their friends get the correct answer.

If you don't have the book, here are some of the questions you can use:

  • WHAT ARE ATOMS?
Atoms are the building blocks out of which everything is made: you, me, trees, even the air we breathe. You cannot see atoms because they are very small. It would take ten million laid end to end to stretch across the dot of the exclamation mark at the end of this sentence! But if you could see an atom, you would notice something very odd indeed. They are not made of much at all. In fact, they are pretty much all empty space. At the centre of an atom is a tiny speck of matter called a nucleus. Circling it, like planets around the Sun, are even tinier specks of matter known as electrons. But in between the nucleus and the electrons is a lot of empty space. It means that you and I – since we are made of atoms – are mostly empty space. In fact, there is so much empty space inside atoms that if you were to squeeze out all the empty space from all the atoms in all the people in the world, they would fit in the volume of a sugar cube. Imagine. The whole human race squeezed down to the size of a sugar cube. Mind you, it would be a very, very heavy sugar cube!One more thing about atoms. They come in ninety-two different types (plus a few kinds that do not exist in nature but that scientists have made). And, just like if you put together different combinations of Lego bricks, you can make a house or a dog or a boat, atoms go together in different combinations to make a rose or a tree or a newborn baby. All of us are combinations of atoms. We are all different from each other because we are all different combinations of atoms.
  • WHERE DOES WIND COME FROM?
Wind is just air moving from one place to another.The source of the wind, as of so many things, is the Sun. As the Sun warms the Earth each day, it doesn’t heat everywhere equally because some places catch the sunlight better than others. The place that catches it best is the Earth’s waist, the equator, which is why places near the equator are hottest: the jungles and deserts and tropical islands. The places that catch the sunlight least well are the edges, the poles. This is why they are all snow and ice, and unless you’re a penguin or a polar bear there’s not much point being there.Now, when air warms up, it rises. And as it rises – this is the important bit – something has to take its place: more air that’s not so warm. As the warmed air rises, cooler air moves in to take its place, and – Presto! – that moving air is WIND.Hurricanes and gales happen when the air is moving fast (because more air has risen, making room for lots more to rush in). Gentle breezes are when it’s moving slowly, because less air has risen.The atmosphere – the bubble of air around the Earth that we breathe – is warming and cooling and moving and mixing all the time, which is why our weather changes. If it’s all down to the Sun, how come the wind also blows at night? Because, of course, though it’s night for you, it isn’t night everywhere. Somewhere on Earth the Sun is always shining, warming, making the air move.
So there you are. As for the wind your dad produces? You know as well as we do: that’s because he eats too many baked beans.

  • WHY DO MONKEYS LIKE BANANAS?
Monkeys eat lots of different foods. They eat fruit, vegetables, seeds, leaves and even insects. But they love bananas because they’re very sweet and tasty. Just like us humans, monkeys enjoy eating yummy foods, and bananas are one of their favourite sweet treats. Also, monkeys usually want to eat as quickly as possible, so that other monkeys don’t take their food. (They can be quite naughty and will often steal each other’s food.) Bananas are soft and squashy, so monkeys can eat them fast. Different monkeys have different ways of eating bananas. The very greedy ones eat the bananas whole, skin and all. Others will peel off the skin and only eat the soft fruit inside. Some monkeys are not very good at peeling the strong skin, and instead roll the banana really hard until the soft part squeezes out of the ends. This is a clever but very messy way of eating bananas! Monkeys use up lots of energy climbing, running and swinging in trees. Bananas contain something called fructose – it’s like sugar and gives the monkeys the energy they need to do all these things.
  • WHY CAN’T I TICKLE MYSELF?
It’s puzzling, isn’t it? No matter where you try to tickle yourself, even on the soles of your feet or under your arms, you just can’t. To understand why, you need to know more about how your brain works. One of its main tasks is to try to make good guesses about what’s going to happen next. While you’re busy getting on with your life, walking downstairs or eating your breakfast, parts of your brain are always trying to predict the future. Remember when you first learned how to ride a bicycle? At first, it took a lot of concentration to keep the handlebars steady and push the pedals. But after a while, cycling became easy. Now you’re not aware of the movements you make to keep the bike going. From experience, your brain knows exactly what to expect so your body rides the bike automatically. Your brain is predicting all the movements you need to make. You only have to think consciously about cycling if something changes – like if there’s a strong wind or you get a flat tyre. When something unexpected happens like this, your brain is forced to change its predictions about what will happen next. If it does its job well, you’ll adjust to the strong wind, leaning your body so you don’t fall. Why is it so important for our brains to predict what will happen next? It helps us make fewer mistakes and can even save our lives. For example, when a chief fireman sees a fire, he immediately makes decisions about how best to position his men. His past experiences help him foresee what might happen and choose the best plan for fighting the blaze. His brain can instantly predict how different plans would work out, and he can rule out any bad or dangerous plans without putting his men at risk in real life. So how does all this answer your question about tickling? Because your brain is always predicting your own actions, and how your body will feel as a result, you cannot tickle yourself. Other people can tickle you because they can surprise you. You can’t predict what their tickling actions will be. And this knowledge leads to an interesting truth: if you build a machine that allows you to move a feather, but the feather moves only after a delay of a second, then you can tickle yourself. The results of your own actions will now surprise you.
  • CAN A BEE STING A BEE?
Yes it can. There are about twenty thousand species of bee in the world, but let’s look at honey bees and bumble bees. Although some species are stingless, female bees typically have a sting to defend their colony against enemies that might steal their honey or even eat the bees themselves. Male bees do not have a sting and do nothing in the colony except for a few of them that will mate with the queen bee. Honey bees will attack worker bees from other colonies if they try to enter, but a queen honey bee will only sting and kill other rival queens. A newly emerged queen will search the colony for cells where other queens are developing and when she finds them she will sting and kill them. Bumble bees will attack workers from other colonies, too. They can sting them to death but usually they bite them and drive them out. In some cases the intruder may be able to hide inside the nest and may be accepted as a new member of the colony. Bumble bees also fight and sting each other within the nest. The reason is complicated but is basically a way of reducing the numbers of males the colony produces. Why do they need to reduce the number of males? Because worker bumble bees can lay unfertilised eggs, which develop into males, but what the colony really needs are worker females. The worker bees of some honey bee species have a special killing technique for large predators such as giant hornets. They form a ball around them and as the hundreds of bees vibrate their wing muscles the temperature and carbon dioxide levels inside the ball of bees increase and kill the hornet.
  • HOW DO THE BUBBLES GET INTO FIZZY DRINKS?
You know how you can dissolve things like sugar in water? What happens is, all the little bits that make up the sugar granules separate from each other and spread out. These little bits are called molecules and they’re so small you can’t see them. That’s why the granules seem to just disappear! Well, you can do the same thing with bubbles of gas. But to get bubbles to dissolve you have to squeeze them really hard. That is to say, you have to apply loads of pressure. Which is why when you open a fizzy drink you hear a hissing sound. That’s the pressure being released. And what happens when you release the pressure? All those little dissolved molecules come back together and form bubbles again. If you drink really quickly after opening a can, loads of the bubbles will grow in your stomach and you can do massive burps.
  • WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?
Guess what? The sky is not blue. At least, there’s no blue stuff, no blue pigment, in the sky. It’s a trick of the eye. Up there, and all around us, are gases of different kinds, such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. There’s also dust, water vapour, spores and even tiny airborne animals. When sunlight hits something, it gets reflected. Big objects, such as the Moon, reflect the light very well. Moondust is dark, but so reflective that the Moon shines brightly in the night sky. But a tiny gas molecule is too small to act as a mirror. Instead, it absorbs light, and then sends that light bouncing back out again in a random direction. In other words, every molecule in the air is a tiny, flickering light source. Imagine for a moment that light was sound. Sunlight is not just one note of a certain pitch played on one instrument; it is a vast orchestra playing every imaginable pitch at every imaginable volume! We see just some of this music. Our eyes perceive different pitches of light as colours: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and purple. Air molecules absorb blue light very easily, and they send it bouncing away just as easily. This is why blue light is scattered all around the sky, and why it reaches our eyes from all directions. Everywhere we look, we are bombarded with blue light. That is why the whole sky looks blue. The other colours aren’t nearly so easily scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere, and they come to us in a more or less straight line. DON’T look directly at the Sun, because if you do, every colour there (aside from a little sky blue) will be hitting the back of your eye at the same time. That much light really can damage your eyes. If Mars had more gas in its atmosphere, it too would have a blue sky. As it is, there isn’t enough gas for this scattering effect to work. If you could stand on the surface of Mars and look up, you’d see the sky there is the white of raw sunlight, tinted beige by dust. Towards the Earth’s poles, the Sun sits low in the sky and sunlight has more atmosphere to pass through before it reaches the ground. Here the sky is especially blue.
  • DO NUMBERS GO ON FOREVER?
Here’s one of my favourite mathematical jokes to help answer this question:
A maths teacher asks the class: ‘What’s the biggest number?’
One of the kids quickly puts up his hand. ‘A trillion,’ he announces.
‘What about a trillion and one?’ the teacher responds.
‘Well, I was close,’ the child replies triumphantly.
The reason this is funny (of course it always kills a joke to have to explain why it’s funny) is that the child thinks the teacher’s answer of ‘a trillion and one’ is actually the biggest number that exists. In fact, the teacher is giving an answer to the question ‘Do numbers go on forever?’
If numbers didn’t go on forever, it would mean there had to be a biggest number. But if there was a biggest number, I could play the same trick as the teacher. I could add one to that number, and now I’ve got an even bigger number. The numbers never run out. They do go on forever.

  • WHO INVENTED CHOCOLATE?
Chocolate as we know it, in bar form, was the invention of Mr Fry of London in 1847, but chocolate has been used for thousands of years. The Mayans and the Incas, in Central and South America, used a kind of chocolate drink in their religious ceremonies and the habit was brought over to Europe by the early explorers.Christopher Columbus is said to have brought the first cocoa beans back to Europe in approximately 1503 but no one was sure what to do with them. A few years later, Spanish conquistador Hernán CortĂ©s discovered the ‘New World’ and when he returned to Spain from Mexico in 1528, he loaded his galleons with cocoa beans and the equipment to make chocolate to drink. It took over a hundred years, however, before the custom of drinking chocolate spread across Europe to England. After that, drinking chocolate became very fashionable among the wealthy, and was even once denounced by the Pope because it made people greedy!
  • WHY DO I GET BORED?
You know what elephants are like. They are big and grey and very strong. And they have very, very long grey, hairy noses called trunks. They can pick things up with their long noses and they can suck things up with them as well. I don’t think I would ever get bored if I had my own trunk. I’d use mine to suck up water and spray my friends for fun. But elephants do get bored. And when they get bored it makes them grumpy. They sway from side to side, thumping around on their great big legs, and they toss their trunks all over the place. How do you cure elephants of boredom? You play them some music. They like serious, old-fashioned music with lots of violins. That doesn’t surprise me, because I’ve always thought elephants were very old-fashioned things. They live for a long time and become very old. Do you like the sort of music that elephants do? I’ll bet you don’t. You’re probably more like a chimpanzee. Some scientists at Belfast Zoo in Northern Ireland have discovered that chimps get over being bored and grumpy if they listen to rock ’n’ roll.
But why do elephants get so bored that they need to listen to music? They get bored if they’re in small zoos and there isn’t enough to do. They get bored if they can’t wander about with their friends, and if they know exactly what’s coming up next: hay for breakfast, hay for lunch, hay for dinner. Same bed, same old cage, same old friends. You get bored the same way. There’s not enough to do. Your friends are somewhere else. You have to be still and quiet and stay indoors when you really want to play outside. Being bored is your body telling you to do something different, so you don’t get sad or grumpy. You need to get out with your friends and family, and find new and exciting things to do. Next time you feel bored, why not try the elephants’ cure? Put on some music and swing your trunk. Or be a monkey, and listen to some rock ’n’ roll!

TEDtalks: shoes and paper towels


Short and funny videos about tying shoes and using paper towels.

  • Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes 
 
  • Joe Smith: How To Use One Paper Towel 
 

24 Mar 2013

Word as image

The amazing lesson on words as images: here
It is based on a short film which illustrates a book by graphic artist Ji Lee who is Facebook creative director.
 

  • The words used in the video are:


  • An additional exercise here.
  • You can also ask your Sts to draw their own words. 

23 Mar 2013

the British accent vs the American

In this video Hugh Laurie is playing a game of American slang versus English slang.
You can first ask your Sts to guess the meaning of these words:
British slang:
  • chin wag
  • chuffed to bits
American slang:
  • flossing
  • ba-donka-donk
  • shawty
Later show them the video:

22 Mar 2013

Food

Currently I have been doing lessons on food. When you do lesson on food it is not enough just to read about food. What you can do is to bring some food to your classroom for Sts to identify it, or you can show them short films and ask them to name as many products as they can. They can put it into different categories such as:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Meat
- Dairy Products
- Snacks
- Fish and Seafood

1. Amazing trip around the world: A 6-week journey crammed into one epic minute.
 

2. Food Rap
 
3. Food and Drinks - English Vocabulary



  • Discussion questions: here

21 Mar 2013

Funny commercials


be happy

Here is another lesson about happiness.
I believe it is never enough to introduce lessons about positive feelings.
You can find the whole lesson here: Be Happy - Lesson.
It is based on the book: Be Happy: A Little Book to Help You Live a Happy Life by Monica Sheehan.
Show Sts the cover of the book and ask them a question: What help you live a happy life?


Combine the lesson with the video:


Show them also: Weave Silk - here and encourage to create some inspiring interactive artworks connected with happiness.

21 Feb 2013

Quotes - discussion

The relationship between literature and learning English can fulfill the learners communicative needs. Literature can be very motivating in language learning, especially when it comes to speaking.
The authors of Global (an English course for adult learners from Macmillan Education) published Classic Literature Cards with quotes from a classic English work of literature, and also with a set of discussion questions.

You can also prepare your own set of cards for the students of different age and level.

Here is one example:
  • “Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.” (Louisa May Alcott, Little Women)
Discussion questions:
  1.  What do you think the author means when she says 'when we go'?
  2. Do you agree with this quote?
  3. What else could make 'end so easy'?
  4. How do people priorities change as they grow older? Can you think of examples?
  5. Are there any famous sayings about love in your language? What are they in English?
 

18 Feb 2013

The Missing Piece Meets the Big O

Very interesting video about becoming the whole self.
You can use it with Sts of different age and hold discussion about different issues depending on how mature your Sts are.
You can first read it to your Sts, and later show them the video.
You can ask your Sts to translate the texts or to create their own similar stories (they can draw).
You can ask them the following questions:
1) who is the missing point?
2) who is the Big O?
3) how did the Big O help the missing point?
4) what does it meat to feel whole?
Ask if your Sts found any additional meaning in the story. They can relate it to their own experience.

or here in a manual way
click it

16 Feb 2013

Chandelier Made from 3,000 Gummy Bears

Kevin Chempeny, the artist, made a chandelier from 3,000 gummy bears.
You can show it to your Sts and ask questions:
1) How long does it take to make such a piece?
2) What other materials could be used to make it?

Encourage your Sts to make up their own designs.
Tell them they can use whichever material they like.
Chandelier Made from 3,000 Gummy Bears by Kevin Champeny multiples lighting candy bears
 Chandelier Made from 3,000 Gummy Bears by Kevin Champeny multiples lighting candy bears

Chandelier Made from 3,000 Gummy Bears by Kevin Champeny multiples lighting candy bears Chandelier Made from 3,000 Gummy Bears by Kevin Champeny multiples lighting candy bears
For more, visit here: click it
*
You can also show them more of the artist's works, such as e.g. the USA flag made of toy soldiers.
Kevin Champeny  "Flag" 44,450 hand cast urethane army men 6' wide x 4' tall x 1" deep
Kevin Champeny  "Flag" detail Kevin Champeny  "Flag" detail
Kevin Champeny  "Flag" detail



For more, visit here click it

14 Feb 2013

Solve if you are genius!

Give your Sts a challenge :-)

How to spot a lie? (TED)

Here is a very interesting speech by Pamela Meyer about lying.
You can use it to generate discussion about the following quotes from the video:
1) Do you agree that we live in a "post-truth" society? What does it mean?
2) "Everybody is willing to give you something. They're ready to give you something for whatever it is, they're hungry for" and "if you don't want to be deceived, know what you're hungry for". 
Ask your Sts: "What are YOU hungry for?"
3) Why do people need "white lies"?

You can also concentrate on different issues from the video. 


7 Feb 2013

20 Optical Illusions That Might Break Your Mind

from the blog: The Idealist

Cover the middle of the corridor and the animation speeds up; cover the sides and it slows down


Which way is the wheel turning?

21 Jan 2013

30-day happiness challenge

Here is an inspirational video you can use during your lesson.
Below you can find notes on the video.




Balance, walk, sweat, kiss, dance, rock, dream, love, create, live

It only takes a moment to…………

  1. Plant a seed
  2. Walk me
  3. Find Balance
  4. Listen to your body
  5. Be wild
  6. Break a sweat
  7. Run
  8. Be love
  9. Take a break
  10. Rock out
  11. Dream
  12. Daydream
  13. Create
  14. Speak your truth
  15. Kiss
  16. Ignite your passion
  17. Be you
Life is Magic

_*_____________________________________________
  Ask your Sts to plan the whole month of happiness: 30-day happiness challenge. 


Additional exercise: