Integrated Unit on Totalitarism

The last integrated unit of this school year was one on totalitarims, where the students had the chance to work in cooperative teams and dream about a different world, describe pictures, enjoy the final speech of the amazing film The Great Dictator and, as a final project, give voice to its trailer. 

They all did a wonderful job!

Here you can see the English worksheets:

1 Daydreaming About a Different World 2 Analising and Describing Pictures 3 the Great Dictator

La Pepa: A Digital Version

Click here and get a digital version of the 1812 Constitution. Amazing, isn't it!

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.

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 14, St. Valentine's Day, is said to be a day for people who are in love. No matter whether you have a boyfriend or girlfriend or whether you like someone in particular or not, there must be lots of people you love: your parents, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, your friends . . . In fact, there are many people that make our lives nicer, aren't there?

Here you are some interesting links you should visit. The idea is for you to skim them and choose the ones you want to work on. But bear in mind that you should send comments showing what you have done or learnt.

There are many reasons why we love people. Click here to read 21.

You can also write a short love poem. Here you just have to drag and drop while in this site you can use a magnetic board.

There are funny love limericks here and famous quotations on love in this website.

If you really like a person you can use this calculator to see how happy you will be together but if you think you need something more exciting you can always read this kissing advice.

Apart from that, you can read about the origins of the day here .

But if you still don't like this topic, then perhaps you should do these activities and learn how to say something interesting.

Are you a language lover? Have you got foreign friends? Then click here and learn how to say "I love you".

If you like it so much you have done everything, go to this site and choose other activities, there are hundreds!

And remember, I wish you a happy Valentine's Day!

Peace and Non-Violence

America has celebrated Martin Luther King Day since 1983 on the third Monday in January. Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. was an important person in the American Civil Rights movement, who believed in non-violence. He campaigned against segregation and inequality and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In 1963 he gave his most famous speech, which contains the well-known phrase I have a dream.

Here you can enjoy most of this important speech. Then, think about the way in which you can contribute to improve the world and post a comment beginning like this: 

"I have a dream that . . . "

Do you need some kind of inspiration? Then you can listen to Someday, a song from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Watch the video and listen to it. It has a beautiful message.

Now you can read the lyrics here. Think about them . . . and of course, think about the things you can do to improve the world!

Three Constitutions

On 6 December Spanish people remember the day we ratified our Constitution. A constitution is the set of rules that establish the structure and duties of a government. It also guarantees certain rights to the people. This is what we celebrated two days ago.

Here you can read, think and learn about our own constitution, and about that of the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Just click on this link, and then, go to the activities section.

Put a Book in your Life

This week we will work on a didactic unit to promote and foster reading among the students at our school. The main objective will be to create some kind of expectation for the forthcoming school book fair, which will be held soon (on 1 and 2 December). 

Click here, go then to contents and activities and don't forget to put a book in your life! You won't regret it!

Towards American Independence

As you know, these days we are working on the origins of the American independence. Last week you made your presentations on different aspects of the life of the puritan pilgrims (the first English colonists).  Now we will learn about the way in which life in the colonies evolved, we will review what you studied in your history lessons and we will learn some new facts and details.

Here you are the worksheets that we will use in class:

Life in the American Colonies

The Boston Tea Party and the Beginnings of the Revolutionary War

You can click here to see the video.


After the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and once the war had started, there were several battles between the two armies. The Battle of Saratoga was a very important one, can you guess why? Click here to see another video and answer the following questions posting a comment:


1. When did the Battle of Saratoga take place?
2. Why was it so important?
3. What European country helped America in an important way?
4. Give the exact dat for the British surrender.
5. What is the name of the peace treaty that recognised American independence?
6. What ideas inspired the American Revolution?

Tips for Bilingual Students

Here are some tips you should take into account to improve your English and your marks at school. They include general tips and specific tips to get better writing skills. You will also have a direct link from the left hand-side column of this blog so that you can access them any time you need.

Tips for Students

The Phantom of the Opera

Very soon we will begin reading the adapted version of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux. As you will see, the novel takes place in the Paris Opera House. You can click here to get some information about interesting aspects of the building and here to enjoy some beautiful pictures of the place.

Moreover you can make a virtual tour of the building as you listen to some extracts from the musical. Enjoy the video!

Plymouth Colony

Once we see the interesting videos and slides about Plimoth Plantation we'll begin with our research on this topic. For this, you should follow these instructions carefully:

1. The members of each group will concentrate on the topic they have to study. They will read the information provided in the website (I'll give you the link).

2. Each group will briefly explain the information they have understood to the rest of the class, using plain English. For this presentation, they will also use the computer and the overhead projector.
3. The rest of the class will carefully listen to the speakers, asking for clarification when necessary. They will take notes on this worksheet.

4. Apart from the oral presentation, each group will post an article in this blog, summing up the main information.

5. The dates for each presentation will be agreed on in class.

These are the groups, the topics and the websites:

Group 1: Raúl, Sergio and Alfredo. Topic: Reasons for the voyage. Click here and here.

Group 2: María S., Alberto, Claudia and peña. Topic: The voyage: journey. Click here.

Group 3: José Manuel, Pedro, and Luis. Topic: The voyage: ship. Click here. 

Group 4: Marta, Sonia, and Inés. Topic: Daily life: housing. Click here.
Group 5: Beatriz, Trini, and Teresa. Topic: Daily life: clothes. Click here.

Group 6: María G., María J., and Ángela. Topic: Daily life: food. Click here.
Group 7: Benito G., Alfonso, and Emilio. Topic: Daily life: chores. Click here.

Group 8: Lidia, Ana, and Elena.  Topic: Daily life: school. Click here.
Group 9: Benito V., Rafael, and Antonio.  Topic: Daily life: games. Click here.

Group 10: Javier, Juan Jesús and José Alejandro. Topic: Thanksgiving feast. Click here.

Let's meet our pen pals!

Very soon we'll write our first letter to our pen pals. Would you like to know where they live and study? If you skim this website you'll get a lot of information about them. Make sure you are able to answer these questions and send a comment with the answers:

1. What is the name of the school?

2. What is the name of the town where the school is?

3. In the USA there are 50 states. Which is the state where the school is? (Perhaps you'll have to click here.)

4. Which is the county to which it belongs?

5. Have a look at the location of the state in this map. What is the capital of the state where our penpals live? Which is the ocean their state borders?

I'm waiting for your answers!