CPI Tino Grandío Bilingual Sections: December 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

New Year's Traditions

The New Year is widely celebrated in countries that share our calendar and, thus, start the New Year on the 1st of January every year.

In English-speaking countries most people sing "Auld Lang Syne" as the new year begins. This poem was composed by Scottish poet Robert Burns and was made popular by Scottish immigrants in Canada.

In the USA probably the most famous tradition is the dropping of the New Year ball in Times Square, New York City, at 11:59 P.M. Thousands of people watch the ball make its one-minute descent, arriving exactly at midnight. The tradition first began in 1907.

There are other common traditions all over the world:

New Year's Resolutions: It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year's resolutions, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since. The early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the new year.

Fireworks: Noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck. The Chinese are credited with inventing fireworks and use them to spectacular effect in their New Year's celebrations.

Read More:

Friday, December 26, 2014

What is Boxing Day?

What is it?

Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It is also a holiday in many other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is based on a long custom of giving gifts to poor people. It is usually celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day; In some countries the public holiday is moved to the next weekday if 26 December is a Saturday or Sunday.

In some countries, stores have sales on Boxing Day, similar to Black Friday sales in the United States. In the United Kingdom, many association football and rugby league games are played on Boxing Day. The King George VI Chase horse race in Surrey is also ran on this day. The IIHF World U20 Championship usually starts on this day.

Origins

Boxing Day is an old custom going back to the Middle Ages. The main feature is the giving of gifts to workers or to poor people. The name has many different histories.The term might have started in England. There, servants would get money or gifts on the day after Christmas. These gifts were called "Christmas boxes".

from Simple Wikipedia

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

The Christmas Story Via Facebook

Monday, December 22, 2014

ESO-3 Revision for Christmas

This is some ESO-3 revision material for Christmas time:

GRAMMAR

MALTED

Online units:

ESO-3 I Robot (present simple, time expressions)
ESO-3 Things are different: Differences (comparatives and superlatives, clothes)
ESO-3 Shopping
ESO-3 The House (present continuous, present simple, there is there are, description of pictures, the house, family)
ESO-3 Pirates (past simple, likes and dislikes)

WRITING TOPICS

Writing topics for your essays

READING TEXTS

ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS IN THE BILINGUAL SECTION

Write a Christmas comment for our eTwinning partners
Make a presentation or film depicting a recipe (or two if you prefer)

ESO-4 Revision for Christmas

This is some ESO-4 revision material for Christmas time:

GRAMMAR

WRITING TOPICS

Writing topics for your essays

READING TEXTS

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The most important historical events in 2014

44th American President Barack Obama

Jan 28th - DNA analysis confirms that the 6th C Plague of Justinian was caused by a variant of Yersinia pestis (the same bacteria for the Black Death)
Jan 29th - Archaeologists discover the oldest Roman Temple (6th C BC) at Sant’Omobono
Feb 5th - Archaeologists decrypt the 13th C Viking jötunvillur runic code
Feb 14th - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta resigns after less than a year in office
Feb 15th - Tammam Salam is elected Prime Minister of Lebanon after a 10 month gridlock
Feb 21st - US President Barack Obama meets with the Dalai Lama
Feb 21st - 10 words from the 15th C Voynich manuscript have been decoded
Feb 22nd - Matteo Renzi becomes Prime Minister of Italy
Feb 22nd - Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from his position
Feb 24th - Pope Francis creates a second Secretariat with the power to audit any Vatican agency at any time
Feb 27th - Republic of Crimea announces a referendum & ousts its regional government
Feb 27th - Arseniy Yatsenyuk appointed Prime Minister of the Ukraine
Feb 28th - Russia moves troops into the Crimea to protect its interests against Ukraine
Mar 17th - The Republic of Crimea is declared

Mar 18th - Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty
Mar 21st - Russia formally annexes Crimea amid international condemenation
Mar 22nd - Guinea confirms Ebola outbreak has already killed 59 people
Mar 24th - Ukraine withdraws its forces from the Crimea
Mar 26th - Taavi Rõivas becomes Prime Minister of Estonia
Mar 27th - UN General Assembly condemns Russia's annexation of Crimea
Mar 29th - Andrej Kiska is elected President of Slovakia
Apr 3rd - Marie Louise Coleiro Preca is elected President of Malta
Apr 6th - Viktor Orbán's Fidesz is re-elected Prime Minister of Hungary
Apr 17th - Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins a fourth term as President of Algeria
May 4th - Juan Carlos Varela is elected President of Panama
May 10th - The African National Congress wins the 2014 South African General Election
May 13th - Christopher Columbus's flagship, the Santa Maria, is discovered north off the coast of Haiti

Christopher Columbus

May 21st - José Mário Vaz is elected President of Guinea-Bissau
May 22nd - Royal Thai Armed Forces launch a coup d'état against the caretaker government of Thailand
May 25th - Petro Poroshenk is elected President of the Ukraine
May 25th - Dalia Grybauskaitė is re-elected President of Lithuania
May 26th - Narendra Modi becomes President of India
May 26th - The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that Ebola has reached Sierra Leone
May 28th - Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is elected President of Egypt

Jun 14th - Alexander Stubb becomes Prime Minister of Finland
Jun 15th - Juan Manuel Santos is reelected President of Colombia
Jun 23rd - Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is re-elected President of Mauritania
Jul 1st - Martin Schulz is re-elected President of the European Parliament
Jul 7th - Israel launches a "counter-terrorist operation" dubbed Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in the West Bank
Jul 9th - Joko Widodo is elected president of Indonesia
Jul 14th - The Church of England votes in favor of allowing women to become bishops
Jul 14th - The death toll from the West African Ebola outbreak passes 500
Jul 16th - Israel intensify strikes on Gaza
Jul 16th - Bashar Assad is sworn in for a third term as President of Syria
Jul 24th - Fuad Masum is elected as the President of Iraq
Jul 24th - Reuven Rivlin is sworn in as the President of Israel
Jul 28th - UN Security Council hold emergency meeting calling for an immediate and indefinite humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
Jul 30th - Death toll in Gaza reaches 1,346, while 56 Israeli soldiers and 3 civilians have been killed
Jul 31st - The US agree to resupply arms to Israel - including rocket launchers, mortar rounds, grenades - despite condemnation of civilian casualties in Gaza
Aug 12th - Ebola outbreak death toll exceeds 1000
Sep 4th - Aracheological remains of a Viking fortress from the 900s CE, the Vallø Borgring, is discovered in Denmark
Sep 15th - Ewa Kopacz becomes Prime Minister of Poland
Sep 15th - US President Obama will send 3000 troops to help combat spread of the Ebola virus, it is announced today
Sep 22nd - NASA's MAVEN space probe successfully arrives in orbit over Mars
Sep 26th - World Health Organisations estimates that Ebola death toll has reached 3,091 - with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone hit hardest
Sep 27th - 57 people are killed after Mount Ontake erupts in Japan
Sep 29th - Ashraf Ghani becomes President of Afghanistan
Sep 30th - A case of Ebola Virus reaches Dallas, Texas
Oct 7th - Spanish nurse diagnosed with Ebola, the first case outside west Africa
Oct 9th - Patrick Modiano wins the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature
Oct 12th - Evo Morales is re-elected President of Bolivia
Oct 20th - Joko Widodo becomes President of Indonesia
Nov 3rd - One World Trade Center officially opens 13 years after the September 11 attacks
Nov 4th - The US votes in mid-term elections: Republicans retain the house & regain the Senate
Nov 4th - Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko orderes army reinforcements to key southern and eastern cities to combat potential rebel offensive
Nov 9th - Celebrations held in Germany to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; white balloons marking a stretch of the wall symbolize its disappearance
Nov 11th - The people of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain vote in a disputed and non-binding poll on independence
Nov 15th - World leaders gather in Brisbane for G20 Summit, which will focus on economic growth
Nov 15th - The parents of 43 Mexican students who disappeared start a nationwide bus tour in protest at the government's handling of the case
Nov 16th - Klaus Iohannis wins the Romanian Presidential election
Nov 17th - The Church of England adopts legislation enabling the appointment of female bishops
Nov 25th - Protest erupt across US after a decision by Missouri grand jury not to bring charges against a white policeman who shot dead a black teenager
Nov 30th - Tabaré Vázquez is re-elected President of Uruguay
Dec 2nd - The World Food Programme suspends critical food aid to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt because of a lack of funds
Dec 3rd - Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, resigns
Dec 12th - UN climate change talks in Peru continue past scheduled time as negotiations continue to stall
Dec 14th - Shinzō Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party win re-election in Japan, retaining their two-thirds majority with coalition partner New Kōmeitō Party

Excerpted from http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/2014

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Key to Heroes song activity

We go hideaway in daylight
We go undercover, wait out the sun
Got a secret side in plain sight
Where the streets are empty
That's where we run

Everyday people do
Everyday things but I
Can't be one of them
I know you hear me now
We are a different kind
We can do anything

We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be

Anybody's got the power
They don't see it
'Cause they don't understand
Spinning round and round for hours
You and me we got the world in our hands

Everyday people do
Everyday things but I
Can't be one of them
I know you hear me now
We are a different kind
We can do anything

We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be

We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be

All we're looking for is love and a little light
Love and a little light
(We could be)
All we're looking for is love and a little light
Love and a little light

We could be heroes
We could be heroes
Me and you
We could be

Monday, December 15, 2014

Present perfect tense

In this unit we are going to revise present perfect simple tense.

This is the sheet were the image was taken from.

If you want extra revision about how to form or use present perfect, I hope these links will help you:

CONTRAST

Sainsbury's Christmas advert - 1914

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Christmas vocabulary

These are useful words and expressions that will help you talk about Christmas time:

Christmas tree

DATES

Christmas Holidays
24th December - Christmas Eve
25th December - Christmas Day
31st December - New Year's Eve
1st January - New Year's Day
the night between 5th and 6th January - Twelfth Night

Santa Claus

6th January - Epiphany

FOOD

Christmas dinner - a traditional meal on Christmas day
Christmas pudding - a rich steamed pudding containing suet, dried fruit, spices, brandy, etc, served at Christmas
turkey - a bird like a large chicken, traditionally eaten at Christmas
cracker - a decorated paper tube that makes a sharp noise and releases a small toy when two people pull it apart

Christmas dinner

roast turkey - from Wikimedia

Christmas pudding - from Wikimedia

wreath - from Wikimedia

DECORATIONS

Christmas decorations - from Wikimedia

Christmas tree - an evergreen tree (often a spruce) that people decorate with lights and ornaments at Christmas
Christmas decorations - something that adds beauty; ornament
Christmas wreath - a circular band with flowers used for decoration, usually hung att front doors
mistletoe - a plant having yellowish flowers and white berries used in Christmas decorations
holly - a tree or shrub with glossy leaves and red berries.

candle - from Wikimedia

ball - from Wikimedia

tinsel - a decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil, traditionally used at Christmas
angel - a spiritual being acting as a messenger of God (usually shown as a human being with wings)
star - a bright point in the night sky which is a large, distant incandescent body like the sun
balls - spheres
stocking - a close-fitting covering for the foot and part of the leg, of wool, cotton, nylon, etc. something resembling this
candle - a long, usually slender piece of wax with a wick in the middle, burned to give light.

Advent calendar - from Wikimedia

THINGS

Christmas present - a gift or present given at Christmas
Advent - the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas commemorating the Advent of Christ
Advent calendar - a large card with a brightly coloured sometimes tinselled design on it that contains small numbered doors for children to open on each of the days of Advent, revealing pictures beneath them
crib - a child's bed with enclosed sides. a box or bin for holding food for animals. a bin for storing grain, salt, etc.
gift - present
Santa Claus - Father Christmas - the legendary patron saint of children, commonly identified with Saint Nicholas, who brings presents to children on Christmas Eve or, in some European countries, on Saint Nicholas' Day (often shorted to Santa)
chimney - a vertical pipe in a house that allows smoke and gases to escape from a fireplace (Father Christmas traditionally enters a house through its chimney)
sleigh - a sledge or light cart on runners pulled by horses or reindeer over snow and ice
Midnight Mass - mass that takes place at 12.00 h on Christmas Eve
Christmas carol - a religious song or popular hymn that people sing at Christmas
reindeer - a deer with large antlers found in some cold climates (believed to pull the sleigh for Santa Claus or Father Christmas)

Santa Claus - from Wikimedia

crib - from Wikimedia

gold, frankincense and myrrh - the presents the Magi are supposed to have taken to Jesus Christ when he was born

GREETINGS AND EXPRESSIONS

Merry Christmas!
Happy Christmas
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Wishing you a prosperous New Year
All the best for the coming year

decorated city - from Wikimedia

Seasons Greetings!

Test your Christmas vocabulary

Friday, December 12, 2014

Christmas in the USA by Sarah Adams

Hello & Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you are all having a good last week of school, & that your Christmas festival/celebration tomorrow is a grand success :)

It's taken me a couple days longer than expected to get this post up here, but I've been very busy ever since I got back-- it's so nice to be home! Anyway, I promised you I'd put some information up here about how we celebrate Christmas in America. I can tell you about some of our traditions, and the food we eat in the US :)

As I told you all at Thanksgiving, people celebrate Christmas for a while before it actually gets here. Throughout the month of December, people decorate their houses inside and out, put up Christmas trees, listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies, and send Christmas cards (and, of course, go Christmas shopping!). The majority of "average Americans" live in houses in the suburbs, and if you own a house, it is typical to put up Christmas lights, or at the very least a wreath! Some people make a tradition of out-doing (being more impressive than) their neighbors, though ;)

This is an example of going all out.

& this is my family's Christmas tree :D It's fake because that's a more economical option, but many people buy a real Christmas tree every year. There are tents by the side of the road all December selling them, and some grocery stores also carry them. If you live up North, you can also go get your tree at a Christmas tree farm; this is a tradition for many families.

There are some classic Christmas movies that are always on at Christmastime; here are some of the most important/popular ones:

This is a stop-animation movie about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; there are several old Christmas movies for children, and they are such a tradition that now the stop-animation style is associated with Christmas.

This is the original cartoon version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas; maybe you've seen the newer remake with Jim Carrey?

A Charlie Brown Christmas; like the Halloween & Thanksgiving specials, this cartoon has spawned several pop culture references. A "Charlie Brown Christmas tree" is any tree that looks small, sad, or scrawny.

It's A Wonderful Life. My family watches this movie every Christmas Eve; it is shown on TV, and several theaters even play it around Christmas.

A Christmas Story. This movie takes place in 1939 or 1940 in the Midwest, and was originally advertised as "A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas" and it is VERY American. Also, hilarious. One of the comedy networks shows it in a 24-hour marathon every Christmas.

Americans like to make the Christmas season last as long as possible, but really the 2 important days are Christmas Eve (December 24th) and Christmas Day (the 25th). Traditions vary depending on your family, but it is typical to have a large dinner/meal with your family on either the 24th or the 25th. Many families have multiple celebrations with different parts of their family; for example, I typically celebrate on one with my dad's side of the family, and on the other day with my mom's side. Christmas Eve is the night that Santa Claus "visits" little children and brings them their Christmas presents. Some families open presents on midnight on Christmas Eve, others wake up early to do it Christmas morning.

Most of the typical "Christmas foods" are really the same sort of thing we eat on Thanksgiving, but not everyone eats that. My family usually has some kind of stew or soup because it is simple and feeds a lot of people. Really the foods that are special about Christmas are the desserts and baked goods.

Fruitcake. A very traditional dessert that hardly anyone actually likes.

Eggnog! I love this stuff. Made from milk or cream, whipped eggs, sugar, and spices (especias), usually nutmeg (nuez moscada). You can add brandy, rum, whisky, or bourbon.

Christmas cookies, both sugar cookies & gingerbread are very common. Children put out a plate of cookies & a glass of milk on Christmas Eve for Santa.

Candy canes are very popular at Christmas, both as decorations and as sweets.

Gingerbread houses are also very common. There are even gingerbread house competitions!

Hmm, what else... It is tradition for little children to write letters to Santa in the weeks leading up to Christmas; the post office even has a program where they will write a reply to each child who sends a letter. There are a lot of traditions that have to do with Santa Claus, as you can see. In addition to bringing presents, Santa also stuffs families' stockings with trinkets and candy:

Oh, and there is a very popular book/poem that is read to children before they go to bed on Christmas Eve-- The Night Before Christmas:

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

It's a very pretty poem, although it is also very old, so it make require some help from www.wordreference.com if you all want to read it ;)

There's so much I could write about Christmas... I haven't even really touched on the religious aspect, but as so many people in Spain are Christian/Catholic, I doubt that differs too much. Many people go to a candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve; I love doing that every year.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I know it was a long post ;)

Merry Christmas!!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Christmas

Christmas time from Ana Arias Castro

Houses with Christmas lights: 1, 2, 3.

Christmas spain ana_maria_noelia from Ana Arias Castro

Christmas songs 2010 from Ana Arias Castro

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