This blog has been designed to provide information about the activities held at the social studies bilingual sections in CPI Tino Grandío (Guntín,Spain). The English language and Social Studies teachers have elaborated most of the resources you can see but our "auxiliares de conversa" also have their own page and posts. Therefore everyone is invited to have a look .

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Environmental issues


  • What other environmental problems can you list?
  • Can you think of any in your area?


LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Big city small world -  British Council - pdf

Pedometer results

Click on this link to write your commnets on the Pedometer results. Write about yours and write comments about other students'.


What are they doing?


Image from https://www.tes.com/lessons/fMf0WmFUFvB8LQ/present-continuous
Image from http://myenglishclass.altervista.org/category/present-simplepresent-continuous/

Image from https://www.tes.com/lessons/fMf0WmFUFvB8LQ/present-continuous


Thursday, February 22, 2018

Revision for ESO-3 exam

GRAMMAR:
Revision of tenses
More tenses:
Comparatives and superlatives
Conditional sentences
Quantifiers in English

VOCABULARY:
Places in a town
Travel checklists
Food

INTERACTION:
At the restaurant
Shopping for clothes

WRITING
How to write an essay
Connectors


Revision for ESO-4 exam

GRAMMAR:
Revision of tenses
More tenses:
Comparatives and superlatives
Used to / didn't use to
Conditional sentences
Passive sentences

VOCABULARY:
Some- / any- compounds
Marketing

INTERACTION:
At the restaurant
Shopping for clothes

WRITING
How to write an essay
Describing a process
Connectors




Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Today's eTwinning class


  1. This afternoon we are going to write our Pedometer  experience in this Padlet. Ast the teacher for your results.
  2. Write comments (be positive, please) about other's people's results.
  3. Next week we'll probable have a chat session with our Ukrainan and Lithuanian partners.
  4. Try Canva to write about Castro Culture.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Basic geographical features

What is it?


Image by Pais / Frysch - CC-BY-SA-3.0



It's an island.














Image by Paxson Woelber - CC-BY-SA-3.0





It's a mountain.












Image by Tiago Fioreze - CC-BY-SA-3.0





It's an ocean.












Image by Daniel Mayer (Mav) - CC-BY-SA-3.0





It's a lake.










Image by  Prankster -  CC-Zero






It's a river.














Image by Wonker - CC-BY-2.0





It's a desert.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

1st and 2nd type conditional sentences

1st and 2nd type conditional sentences




ZERO TYPE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

MEANING& USE
The zero conditional is used to make statements about the real world, and often refers to general truths, such as scientific facts. In these sentences, the time is the present or always and the situation is real and possible.
  • If you heat water, it boils.
  • Water boils if you heat it.
  • When you heat ice, it melts.
  • Ice melts when you heat it.
  • If it snows, the grass gets white.
  • The grass gets white if it snows.
  • When it rains, the grass gets wet.
  • The grass gets wet when it rains.

FORM
We can make a zero conditional sentence with two present simple verbs (one in the 'if clause' and one in the 'main clause'):

  • If/when/unless + present simple, .... present simple.
EXERCISES
1ST TYPE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

MEANING & USE
The first conditional is also called the "real" conditional because it is used for real, or possible, situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met.

In the first conditional we can salso use unless, which means "if... not". In other words, "... unless he hurries up" could also be written, "... if he doesn't hurry up."
1st type conditional sentence
  • If it rains, we will stay at home.
  • He will arrive late unless he hurries up.
  • Sophie will buy a new car, if she gets her raise.


FORM
The first conditional is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma and a future simple verb (will + infinitive) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.
  • If he finishes on time, we will go to the movies.
OR
  • We will go to the movies if he finishes on time.
EXERCISES

2nd TYPE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

MEANING
2nd type conditional sentence
The second conditional is used to talk about situations or actions in the present or future which are not likely to happen or are imaginary, hypothetical or impossible.





  • If I were a rich woman, I would travel around the world. I think it is very unlikely that I will be rich. However, in this unlikely condition, I will travel around the world.
  • If I weren't / wasn't watching TV now, I would be playing tennis. I am watching TV, but I am imagining an alternative activity I would be doing if I wasn't watching TV
  • If you had a bigger dog, your house would be protected. You don't have a big dog, but I am imagining how protected you would be if you had one.
  • If I were an alien, I would be able to travel around the universe. It is impossible for me to be an alien. However, I am imagining what I would do in this situation.
  • We would go to Paris this summer if we passed all our subjects. That is our plan but, unfortunatelly,  we know we are not going to pass all our subjects.
FORM
If + past simple + conditional (would)
Conditional (would) if + past simple
Verb be is usually were for all subjects; was (1st & 3rd person) is colloquial.

SONGS
If I were a rich man (Fiddler in the Roof-movie)
If I were a boy (Beyonce)

EXERCISES
- Malted ESO-4 unit 7 (Gwineth and the Wizard)


Passive sentences


Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Love vocabulary


How to organize the vocabulary you are learning

These are just some ideas:

  1. Keeping a notebook to write down new words you come across is a good idea. However, you should revise  the words you've written down every now and them to make learning effective.
  2. Classify the vocabulary into groups according to type of word, meaning, level of difficulty, etc.
  3. Diagrams can also be a useful tool if visually organising words is helpful for you:
  4. Writing down expressions, not just words, as you encounter them, will help you associate them in the future. Some words tend to collocate and appear in association with others:
    • to and fro
    • see you later
    • do one's homework
    • to make a noise
    • to be in the red
    • and so on

The United Kingdom and the British Isles

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Email phrases


8 sites that will help you improve your listening skills

If you want to improve your listening skills, here are some sites that will help you in the process:

  1. YouTube. This popular site will let you choose videos of any genre and about any topic you may be interested in: tutorials, movies, documentaries, movies, etc. If you can understand most of what is being said, no problem, you may slow the video down to make it easier to understand or check the most difficult words. If your level is lower and you need subtitles, you can either choose videos with subtitles or add your own using this YouTube tool.
  2. Speech Notes is a speech recognition text editor. You can read or tell your own texts for the

    computer to convert them into text. It will let you know when your speech is easy or difficult to understand.
  3. Natural Readers is a complementary service. You can write or paste any text that will be read aloud to you with the accent and voice you choose. This will let you know how to read or pronounce some difficult words or expressions.
  4. British Council Listening Skills Practice. This site has a good number of videos and audios with a number of activities to follow. The texts have been designed for students of English and are quite easy for a foreign student.
  5. Lyricstraining is the best site for those who love music. There are lots of different activities at different levels about the latest songs. First you select your level (beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert) and then you choose the song you are going to complete the lyrics of. The higher your level, the more words that are missing and you will have to supply.
  6. Podcasts in English has a large number of podcasts at different levels and about different topics. Although the worksheets and other extras are only for subscribers, you can find many interesting audio files about a lot of topics.
  7. Audio Lingua is also a site for podcasts. You can find them in a number of languages and you can search them by your level (A1-A2-B1-B2-C1-C2), language, key word, and length. You can even download the podcasts. You can submit podcasts for other learners of your own language. If you have a website or blog, these podcasts can be embbed in it.
  8. BBC Learning English. This popular site has a good number of interesting features and sections. My recommendation is 6-Minute English, a series that contains short audio files about hot topics. You can listen to the podcasts and the site also contains the transcripts and the key vocabulary you will hear.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

British currency and money

This presentation by Taylor shows the different coins and bills used in the USA:


Moneymaterials from Ana Arias Castro

And this other presentation will tell you about British money:


Thursday, February 8, 2018

Passive sentences with two objects

Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence and the verb phrase is unchanged:
  • ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
    • PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
    • PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

English courses abroad for Galician students

Friday, February 2, 2018

Describing processes

Image by Ricardo Martins -  cc-by-2.0.
HOW TO MAKE A SANDWICH
by Antía Vázquez
First, the red ham and lettuce and tomato are bought. Then these ingredients are cut. Later, two slices of bread are taken. Then the ingredients are put on a slice of bread. Finally the sandwich is eaten.


SPANISH OMELETTE
by Patricia García
First the potatoes are cut thin. After that they are fried in a frying pan with a lot of oil. While the potatoes are fried, some eggs are mixed. Then all the ingredients are mixed together including some onion and "chorizo". Later they are put in the frying pan and after a few minutes it is turned over. Finally it is put on a tray and served.


SPANISH OMELETTE (second version)
by Silvia Méndez
First, big potatoes are chosen. Then the potatoes are peeled and sliced.  Later, the potatoes are fried; then the eggs and the potatoes are mixed. After that, turn it over and let it fry. Finally, it is served and eaten.

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:
  • My sister broke the window.
Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:
  • The window was broken.
On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.
  • The window was broken by my sister.
  • Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.
HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:
  1. the passive subject (my sister)
  2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
  3. the past participle of the lexical verb
  4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)
CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE
  1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
  2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
  3. past participle of the main verb
  4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
    • Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
    • They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
    • I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.
  • ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
  • PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
  • PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.
  • ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
  • PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
  • PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.
EXERCISES