ARABIAN ANGELFISH

I collected your compositions, a formal complaint letter and then carried on with the oral activity we had started yesterday about computers ,interesting sites, webcams, chats and the love-hate realtionship we have with them. State and dynamic verbs were reviewed again with a handout with cartoons and statements related to them : you had to match them , for example : I see what you mean (sense verb) or I´m seeing Mary tomorrow (dynamic verb).

After that ,we had a listening about two people who contact through phone messages left in answering machines . One of them wants to buy a laptop and asks for advice, the other one gives him the information required and ends with two complaint messages for the company where the first speaker purchased the portable.

Homework: Read passage in your books, page 59 with exercise 2 and workbooks page 32 , numbers 4,5 and 6

The beautiful fish in the picture is an Arabian angelfish found in tropical waters. With striking coulours and compressed bodies angelfishes are some of the most conspicuous residents of reefs.Living in shallow waters , they seldom go deeper than 50 m. They are diurnal animals ,hiding in crevices by night. Some spices have a lonely life, whereas others form harems with a dominant male over several females. As juveniles, some species earn their living as cleaner fish.

INSIDE THE LAKE

The exercises in your workbooks ,page 32, numbers 1,2 and 3, were checked and then, the reading passage On Line in you books, page 53. You had to pick up the right question among several so that the questions matched the anwers . Working with your partner you developed these questions orally for quite a while because it´s a current issue and we all have miseries with our PCs.
State and Dynamic verbs were reviewed on pages 54 and 55.Remember that you have this information in your grammars chapter 1, page 10. We´ll also do some more activities about it on Wednesday. Finally, we listened to four people complain about their PCs , their experiences and their feelings of helpnessness in that particular situation.
Homework : I´ll be collecting a formal letter of complaint on Wednesday.

With visib¡lity seriously limited , this is all you can see . As rivers flow in the lake, there are sometimes currents of mud and the sight can be even worse, hence the extreme necessity of a guiding rope. It´s not the life you see,which is very little, but the overwhelming feeling you get and the breathtaking iced layer over you: an adrenaline rush for those who love emotions.

REFLECTIONS

There was no homework ,so we started unit 6 Digital ,an interesting topic as practically everybody has a mobile phone, works with a PC or knows what a webcam is.
Text Messaging is a reading about facts related mobile phones and the reasons people have to use them. We checked the vocabulary with the glossary and filled the blanks with the expressions in a box above. Afeter that, we all talked about our own personal reasons : to keep in touch with friends, for work, for an emergency..
An entertaining activity about decoding messages ,difficult at first (at least for me) but once you´ve read it out , it´s more phonetic and easier to understand.
For instance: hate becomes h8, for= 4, what=wot and so on. We had some practice writing TXT messages to classmates.
A listening activity in your workbooks page 32 about webcams. First you had to number the pictures in the order there were mentioned,and there were also some true-false statements to do. We talked about the usefulness of webcams, if you have one and where you know they are located.
Two vocabulary exercises dealing with technology ,to be more precise with computers and words which have been given a new meaning . Number 3 on page 34 and number 4 on page 35.
For homework: The reading passage in your books ,page 53 and workbook page 32 ,numbers 1,2 and three.

This picture above shows what you can see from the water inside the lake. It´s magnificent! Look at the reflection of the sky and the person who is holding the rope which serves as a guide. Getting lost inside a frozen lake in nothing to laugh at.

FREEZING !

We went through unit 5 glossary and did all the vocabulary exercises , then those students who hadn´t done their speech about weddings, had the chance to do it. Remember you all must take active part in the oral activities, that´s why I devote so much time to the development of this skill.
Then we had a guided writing : complaining about a faulty product or service.You were given a handout in which someone complains about a pair of shoes with the stitching undone . We saw the formal expressions to show disatisfaction and and legal action to take , full refund and compensation in detail. This is IMPORTANT , you know what I mean .You´ll have to hand me in a letter of complaint by next Wednesday/Thursday. After that ,there was a listening about the past called A time I was Happy where five speakers recall a happy time in their lives.
For homework I gave you another handout with the clues to write a letter of complaint . Just follow the ideas and write them down in a formal register. Start thinking about it, don´t do it in haste, please.
I survived the experience! but dear, how cold it was! See the thickness of the ice layer: a mecanic saw wasn´t enough and we had to use hovels and picks to make a triangle to get into the water. Can you see the reflection of the mountains and our faces? It´s pure adrenaline rush!

PARROTS

Your homework was checked, that is, grammar page 15, exercises 14 and 15, and workbook, page 29 , exercises numbers 1, 3 and 4. As exercise number 2 had to do with wedding vocabulary, we did it orally.


You were allowed some time to get your speeches about weddings ready : going through your notes and rehearsing with your partner, after that ,some of you gave a speech to the whole class. As it´s a rather controversial topic, we devoted time to it.Then I took the opportunity to note down some mistakes on the blackboard and we all corrected them.


We started dealing with formal letters of complaint in your workbook, page 31 exercises 1, 2 and 3 . We went through the layout of these kind of letters, which is special as the register is formal.You were given two handouts with more detailed information .We´ll carry on with this on Wednesday.


Homework: Those of you who still haven´t done your speech, get it ready for Wednesday and also the glossary exercises.


Isn´t this parrot fish lovely? They live on shallow reefs of the Red Sea and other tropical seas.They are brightly coloured in a variety of blue,green, red and yellow. They are called parrots because of their teeth, that look like those of parrots. With their beaks they scrape algae from corals and rocks, by doing this , they prevent algae from chocking corals.With their theeth they grind coral rocks, digest them and excrete as sand creating small islands and contributing to the health of sandy beaches.

Homework: grammar, chapter 1, page 10 , number 7 was checked and we devoted time to speak about Annoying Habits , friends, family ,workmates who can make your life a misery , with will and the present continuous.

The The big Day , an oral activity ,book, page 49 , in the Anecdote section , was dealt in depth since it´s an interesting topic and there´s always something to say, either for or against. Specific vocabulary and expressions related to weddings , both in the Language Tool Box and the glossary was seen. Then a listening exercise about Arranged Marriages , a very controversial topic. 4A students complained about its difficulty, but it wasn´t that much. We went little by little and got all the answers right. Anyway the third time it was played students had the script at sight to understand everything.

Homework: Workbook, page 29 numbers 1,2 and 4 . Grammars ,unit 1 ,numbers 14 and 15 and finally ,if you don´t feel very tired and fancy working a bit more, the glossary exercises.

IN A RUSH

State and action verbs was the subject of the first set of activities. The theory was seen in your grammar , unit 1, page 10 and examples were given. This was the starting point for an oral pair work activity in a handout: present and past routines with used to and would , also get used to doing. We also dealt with annoying habits with will and the present continuous in your books , page 48 , nº 1. I gave you some extra exercises with answers on the matter.
Wedding rituals on page 40, activity 1. We spoke about different rituals in weddings in Spain : the rice, the gold coins, the bouquet and also the difference with American weddings. A listening about the same topic on page 49 , nº2 and specific vocabulary:bride,groom,witness...
Homework: grammar ,chapter 1, page 10 execise nº7 and chapter 2, page 36 nº13,14 and 15.
Sorry, I have no time for fish today, I´m in a rush.

ANTHIAS

Your homework was checked (see previous entry) and then we had an oral activity in pairs: Sally spent her holidays in Rome last summer and she´s advising Sarah about what to do there. The activity is focussed on the structures:remember doing/todo, don´t forget to do , I´ll never forget doing, try to do/doing, that is, verbs followed by both infinitive and -ing form with change of meaning.For example: I´ll never forget visiting the Colosseum, it was magnificent;don´t forget to wear comfortable shoes, you end up walking a lot.

We went on to do a listening activity, the same one we did last Thursday , with the aim of analysing present and past habits: used to do , would and will. We read and listenened to the CD and underlined these forms.Then, rules were inferred in your book, Close Up, page 47 number 1 and did exercise number 2 and workbook ,page 27 number 5, to make sure the difference was understood. This grammar item means knowing the difference between static and dynamic verbs,so we went thorugh it in Grammar ,chapter 1, page 10. All this was put into oral practice with exercise number 3, book page 48: when I was at primary school , I used to /would ..., as a kid in summer I used to do/would....

For homework , a handout with exercises about verbs followed by infinitive and -ing forms to do during the week.

Isn´t it a beautiful picture? Lovely, indeed. It was taken in one of the dives in the Red Sea last July.A coral wall with many varieties and the fish called Anthias , the most typical reef fish .Small and peaceful , they are orange and yellow, eat zooplankton and live in schools of thousands with smaller groups . In each group there´s a dominant male with 2 to 12 females . The are all born female, however if the dominant male dies, the largest female turns into a male. Very practical.

DEVELOP A GOOD BRAIN

We carried on working with verbs followed by to infinitive , -ing and both infinitive and gerund with change of meaning. Exercises 4 and 6 of pages 44 and 45 .The examples of the language reference box and grammar, chapter 2, page 35 were analised.A grammar exercise and oral practice:Anniversary Night Out,book, page 46, and a listening activity :A Man and his Car,were made.

Homework: Grammar, page 35 number 12 and workbook, unit 5 exercises 1,2,3 and 4.

This picture is a section of a brain coral enlarged.

HERE WE ARE AGAIN

Here we are again after Christmas holidays , celebrations and good resolutions for the New Year .I hope you have refilled your tanks with plenty of energy and stamina for the new term,which is going to be long.

We started unit 5 , titled Ritual , that is , not only religious ceremonies , but also ways of behaving in certain situations ,for instance an exam or a competition.
To start with, we did an exercise based on football vocabulary: score, match, team...Some questions to be filled with these words and oral practice with the same questions : some football supporters in the class were interviewed . We went on with a reading passage The Sugar Mouse Ritual .Students read out, pronunciation and vocabulary were checked and some ritualistic situations were dealt with in pairs: personal rituals before exams , a job interview , a trip and so on.

After that , we did a gap filling activity with the -ing form and the to-infinitive: two supporters talking about their football experiences .A listening activity to check it and rules about verbs with different meanings were inferred .

For Thursday you have an oral activity: exercise number 4 ,page 43. Remember that perfection is reached through practice.


The picture today is one of a brain coral, because it has channels that look very much like the folds of human brains. It can live up to 200 years in warm waters. They have tentacles to catch food during the day and at night ,they wrap them around the folds and channels for protection.They are lovely.