NB2 - Reading

Dear NB2,
I won't be able to teach tomorrow because I'm on sick leave. The school has already asked for a substitute teacher, but I don't know when he or she will be there. Pay attention to your mobile phones because you'll get news about all this in the next days. 
Since you told me you wanted to read something in English, I've chosen a book adapted to your level: The ironing man, by Colin Campbell (Cambridge Readers, Level 3). Read it from now until the middle of December and we'll do activities about it then.
Hope to see you soon!
C.

NI2 - Reading

Dear NI2,

here's a suggestion of something you can do while there's no substitute teacher (and continue doing when s/he replaces me): you can read an original novel, which can be challenging but quite rewarding once you've done it! 
The title of the novel I'm proposing is A Love for Life, by Penny Hancock (Cambridge English Readers, Level 6). The book comes with three CDs. I'm sure you can find it in the big stores, but also in the small ones in the neighbourhood if you order it for the whole class. 
We'll do some activities and discuss the book towards the middle of December, hopefully ;-)

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Learn about the celebration of the fifth of November by reading the text in this page.

The following is a nursery rhyme that summarizes the events:

Remember, remember

the fifth of November,

Gunpowder treason and plot.

We see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes, guy, t'was his intent

To blow up king and parliament.

Three score barrels were laid below

To prove old England's overthrow.

By god's mercy he was catch'd

With a darkened lantern and burning match.

So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.

Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him?

Burn him!

And here's a game for you to check the understanding of the plot while having fun!

Speaking about psychics...

Tim Burton's Vincent

Dear All,
here's the Tim Burton short movie we saw yesterday and will see this afternoon in class.

And the link to the poem

Happy Halloween!

Hi there!

Here's a video on the history of Halloween. Listen and answer the questions below:

1. The history of Halloween starts with ...................... (a diverse group of tribal societies from Europe).

2. The end of the harvest season was celebrated on .................. (date)

3. Why was it a magical night?

4. On Samhain (pronounced /sauin/), people sat around .................

5. When did the church start to appropriate the pagan festivity?

6. Both the pagan and catholic festivities had to do with ...................

7. "hallow" means .......... or ..........

8. Who brought the holiday to the United States? When?

9. Some of their customs included bobbing for apples and "playing tricks on ...........

10. The young pranksters wore ........... not to be recognised.

11. In the 1930s the holiday became dangerous because of ..................

12. What is Halloween's holiday greeting?

(The answers are in the "comments")

Present Perfect or Simple Past?

Dear NB2,

here's the link to the activity we did in class yesterday (you have to scroll down and see the video again). As I told you, this activity was designed by a Brazilian teacher who has a blog where you can practise grammar through movie fragments. It's a fun way of learning, don't you think?

Revision - Question formation

Dear NI2!
Here's some homework for the weekend!

Vocabulary - Dating and relationships

Hi there!
Here's a podcast from Culips (also in the links on the right) that teaches you more vocabulary about dating and relationships. 
Culips is an excellent source of "real English". You should listen to a different podcast every weekend. If you manage to do this, your vocabulary will be just stunning by the end of the course!

English Irregular Verbs

I posted this a couple of years ago, but I'm posting it again because it's useful for both NI2 (revision) and NB2 (revision and learning the participles well, now that we're studying the present perfect form). So here's a list of irregular verbs with the pronunciation of the three forms. Voilá!

You have six links within that page to access a good number of irregular verbs.