Thursday 24 November 2016

Irregular Verbs

Tired of fighting with the irregular verbs? Do you need extra practice?
Try this list of online exercises to improve and enlarge the list of irregular verbs you know!

Exercises to practise just the verbs:
Exercise 1
 Exercise 2
Exercise 3

Exercises to set the correct verb in a sentence:
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4


Wednesday 16 November 2016

Young Sport Stars


Watch the following videos and pictures about really special sport stars:

                                               



 Paige Wheeler, 15, is the European Finals Event Winner
 in Drag Racing



 

Joe English is the captain of the DALZ Boys, the only All-Boy cheerleading squad in Europe




                                    



Aaron Fotheringham is a wheelchair motorcross athlete who has won several BMW Free Style competitions

             

11-year-old Brooke Raboutou is a rock climbing phenomenon who regularly breaks world records


 
 
Which of these four young people inspires you the most? Why? Which of these four sports would you like to practise?


Tuesday 15 November 2016

Thanksgiving



Do you know what is Thanksgiving? and Black Friday?

As an introduction, watch this video

 Thanksgiving is a Canadian and North American harvest festival and family holiday. People in Canada celebrate thanksgiving on the second Monday of October.Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the USA.

Thanksgiving is a big family celebration, and a harvest festival. People travel from all over the country to be with their families for Thanksgiving. Many big cities hold parades and other special events.


Traditional thanksgiving foods include turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce,  sweetcorn and sweet potatoes. A sweet dessert called pumpkin pie is also eaten.


The origins of Thanksgiving come from the first celebration made by the Pilgrims, the early European settlers that came to Masachussets,  after their first succesful harvest in the New World in 1621, with the help of the Indians.

Thanksgiving started to be celebrated all over North America in 1789,  during George Washington´s presidency, and Abraham Lincoln declared it a federal holiday to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in 1863. For further information visit this very interesting History of Thanksgiving page.
 

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving day. Since 1932, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., and most major retailers open very early (and more recently during overnight hours) and offer promotional sales.


THANKSGIVING SONG: Nicole Westbrook became famous with this Thanksgiving song four years ago, and although it is a song for young children, you will probably find it funny. SPOILER:  Do not miss   the "microphone" that Nicole uses at the end! You may check the lyrics of the song too.

                                        

ACTIVITIES FOR OPTATIVA:

THANKSGIVING TRIVIA QUESTIONS: Choose the correct answer. Try to find the answers in the text and surf the net for extra answers if you need it. You can visit the kidsnationalgeographic page, or the story rewritten especially for students.

  1. Thanksgiving occurs on the:
    1. Fourth Thursday in November
    2. Third Thursday in November
    3. November 26 each year
  2. The first Thanksgiving lasted:
    1. One day
    2. Two days
    3. Three days
  3. Which of the following was NOT served at the Pilgrims Thanksgiving meal?
    1. Cranberries, corn, and mashed potatoes
    2. Rabbit, chicken, wild turkey, and dried fruit
    3. Venison (deer meat), fish, goose
  4. Which Indian tribe taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land and were invited to the Thanksgiving meal?
    1. Apache
    2. Wampanoag
    3. Cherokee
  5. Approximately how many turkeys are eaten each year on Thanksgiving in the United States?
    1. 100 million
    2. 280 million
    3. 500 million
  6. Which southern state was the first to adopt a Thanksgiving Day in 1855?
    1. South Carolina
    2. Virginia
    3. Georgia
  7. What is a snood?
    1. The loose skin under a male turkey’s neck.
    2. A hat worn by a Pilgrim
    3. A hot cider drink served at Thanksgiving.
  8. What utensil was not used by the Pilgrims to eat Thanksgiving dinner?
    1. Knife
    2. Fork
    3. Spoon
  9. The best place to put the meat thermometer in the turkey is:
    1. The breast
    2. The middle of the back
    3. The thigh
  10. Which president is believed to be the first to pardon a turkey and start this annual tradition?
    1. President Lincoln in 1863
    2. President Roosevelt in 1939
    3. President Harry Truman in 1947
  11. The Pilgrims came to the New world seeking religious freedom and were also called:
    1. The Puritans because they wanted to purify the teachings and ceremonies of the Church of England.
    2. The Great Explorers
    3. The Wanderers
  12. Today, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November because
    1. It is the date the Pilgrims landed in the New World.
    2. This was the date set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941.
    3. It was the date people voted to have it on.
  13. What is a baby turkey called?
    1. A chick
    2. A nestling
    3. A poult
  14. It has been estimated that how many Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.
    1. 88%
    2. 50%
    3. 75%
  15. A full grown turkey has about how many feathers?
    1. A million
    2. Too many to count!
    3. 3,500

TRUE OR FALSE?

  1. Canada also has Thanksgiving. They have their holiday on the second Monday in October.
  2. The first ever Thanksgiving was held in 1621 at Plymouth by the Pilgrims.
  3. All turkeys can fly.
  4. The Pilgrims only “celebrated” three days – the Sabbath, fast days, and days of thanksgiving.
  5. All turkeys gobble.
  6. The first department store to hold a Thanksgiving parade was Macy’s.
  7. More than half of the people in the Plymouth colony died that winter of 1621.
  8. Every year the President of the United States pardons a turkey, who spends the rest of its life on a historical farm.
  9. Cranberries are tasted to see if they are sweet enough to harvest.
  10. Turkeys can see behind themselves.
  11.                                                                                                                                                                               
 
To start learning vocabulary about this holiday, play any of the games in these web pages:

- Video with Questions
-Gap fill writing exercise
-Picture matching Quiz
-Interactive Word Search table
-Write the correct past tense
-Thanksgiving Wordsearch
-Thanksgiving Quiz