St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th. In Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is both a holy day and a national holiday. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland because he brought Christianity to the Irish.

According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock (a type of clover) to explain about God. The shamrock has three leaves on each stem. Saint Patrick told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity – that in the one God there are three divine beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries around the world. People with Irish heritage remind themselves of the beautiful green countryside of Ireland by wearing green and taking part in the festivities.

Saint Patrick’s Day is usually celebrated with a parade. The one in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is very famous. But the one in New York City is one of the biggest. It lasts for hours.

One tale about Patrick is that he drove the snakes from Ireland. This is a metaphor for his bringing Christianity to Ireland and driving out the pagan religions. It’s true that Ireland has no snakes, but this has to do with the fact that Ireland is an island and being separated from the rest of the continent the snakes couldn’t get there.

Play a game here and have good luck! You can also read poems and listen to songs for this special day here.

Present Perfect Simple

As you know, in the last unit we have learnt how to form and use the Present Perfect Simple tense.

Here you can read a funny introduction to the topic and you can also review its form and use, apart from doing some interesting activities.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future. In some countries like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, this day is a national holiday. If you want to learn more about this day, you can click here.

This is the message the Secretary General of the United Nations has sent to the world.

And here goes a short tribute to some of the many important women throughtout history. Do you know them?

Europeans Care for the Environment

As you know, these days we are working on a didactic unit on the European Union and the care of the environment. Here you are a copy of the activities (this time in full colours, more attractive than the photocopy I gave you). First of all I include the slide presentation for activity 3.a.a and the links to the websites that are necessary for other exercises.

This is the slide presentation for activity 3.a.a:

Climate Change

View more presentations from elegongue.

These are the Internet links:

Europoean countries (activity 1.e.c.)

Global warming video (activity 3.i.)

Energy video (activity 3.j.a.)

Carbon calculator (activity 3.j.b.)

Party listening (activity 3.k)

Final quiz (activity 5)

And here is the worksheet:

Didactic Unit. Europeans Care for the Environment

Why do People Choose Andalusia?

Yesterday people from Andalusia celebrated the day of the community. Have you ever thought about the reasons why so many tourists come to Andalusia? There are also many foreigners that choose the south of Spain as their ideal residence. Have a look at this video and pay attention. Which are the reasons why foreigners enjoy Andalusia?

II El Fontanal Spelling Bee

As you know, next Wednesday February 25th students and teachers at I.E.S. El Fontanal will be celebrating Andalusia Day. We will listen to the Andalusia Anthem, we will eat molletes with chocolate and we will do different activities in the classrooms.

The English Department will organise the II Spelling Bee, a funny and interesting way of proving you are good at spelling. You will be able to take part in the contest for Segundo Ciclo (3º and 4º ESO). You can review the vocabulary lists for your level and you can also have a look at the rules and the recommendations here.

There will be great prizes for the winners!!!

Below you have some pieces of advice for the contest, the rules of the Spelling Bee and the wordlist for your cycle. Have a look at them.

Good luck to everybody!

Algunos Consejos Para El Concurso de Deletreo
Spelling Bee Rules
listado segundo ciclo

Andalusia Day

As you know, Andalusia Day is coming and I'm sure you are already working on your presentations. Here you are the instructions, in case you need them.

Presentations on Andalusia

The First Cell Phone Ad

These days we have been reading about the mobile revolution and we have talked about how mobile phones have changed since they were invented in 1973. Do you know when the first mobile phone was advertised on TV? It was in 1989 (you were not even born!). Would you like to see the advertisement? Here it is!

Past Continuous

Here you can go to another explanation of the form and use of Past Continuous. In that site there are also activities to put into practice what you have learned.

You can also do this activity on Past Continuous. Do you think you need something more challenging? Click here for an activity to choose between Past Simple and Past Continuous.

Good luck!

-ed Pronunciation (Past Simple)

Do you find it difficult to pronounce regular verbs in past form? Do you think it's time to review? If you didn't have enough with the activities we did in class, click here and get further practice.