My town

Crosswords: My city    
Different activities: click here
Memory with audio: DIRECTIONS and PLACES: here        
Pronunciation: The city  
Directions: here
Matching: Places 
                Places 2
Create your own town: here 
Imagine and create your town: here
Quiz with images: here 
Jeopardy quiz show: here   
Houses and homes: here
Town Hangman: here 
Hangman with video: here 
Town Spelling: here
Town wordsearch: here
Dialogue: here
Town picture test: here
Listening (directions-audio): here
Cloze text: The Simpsons (Springfield): here

TV programmes

vocabulary
act 1     act 2   

Wordsearch
act 3  

Crossword
act 4

Listening:
Danny talks about his favourite TV programme. click here
Is TV a good or a bad thing? click here
the news by kids. click here

reading:
act 1   act 2

hangman:
act 1   act 2

memory games:

sports and hobbies

Match amb audio: here     Match: here

 Memory game with audio: here    and     here

Picture quiz: here

wordsearch 1: here
wordsearch 2: here
wordsearch 3: here 
wordssearch 4: hockey 

memory game: here  amb audio 1: here  amb audio 2: here

listening: here

football: here

FUNNY GAME: Quiz show

Crossword: Olympic vocabulary         Sports 

Matching: sports

Hangman: here

Spelling: here

Picture test: here

Sport Quiz: here

Easter

EASTER

What is Easter? (=Setmana Santa)

Easter is the most important Christian festival. Christians are followers of Jesus Christ who lived about 2000 years ago in a country called Palestine. They believe that Jesus was the son of God. At Easter time Christians remember the last week of Jesus' life.

Story: here

Easter Customs

The Easter bunny and other Easter symbols

a. Read the introductory sentence from http://www.history.com/topics/easter-symbols about Easter traditions in the US. Do you know of, or practise, any similar traditions in your country?

b. Work in pairs to find out more about these Easter traditions. Student 1 reads Section 1: Easter bunny and Section 2: Easter eggs. Student 2 reads Section 3: Easter candy and Section 4: Easter parade. Before you read the weblink, decide whether you think the statements related to your sections are true (T) or false (F). Then, check your answers.

Section 1: Easter bunny

1. The Easter bunny traditions are actually referred to in the Bible.
2. The Easter bunny symbolizes fertility and new life.
3. It is derived from an old Danish tradition.
4. The tradition first became popular in America in the 1950s.

Section 2: Easter eggs

1. Easter eggs are most probably related to old pagan traditions.
2. It is believed that Easter eggs represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. According to some reports, the tradition of decorating Easter eggs has been around for a hundred years.
4. Every year the White House holds an Easter egg rolling event on Easter Sunday.
5.  

Section 3: Easter candy

1. More candy is sold in America at Easter time than during any other holiday.
2. Chocolate eggs have been a tradition in America for two centuries.
3. Today, the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy in America is the jelly bean.
4. Marshmallow Peeps come in a variety of flavours.
5.  

Section 4: Easter parade

1. The Easter parade tradition in New York began in the mid-19th century.
2. The tradition is as popular today as it’s ever been.
3. Although the Easter parade tradition still lives on in Manhattan, its roads are no longer closed to traffic.
4. There are Easter parades in other cities in America nowadays.

Activity 3: Easter around the world

a. You will be given either a country or a group of countries to research. Consider the questions below and write a summary in your own words of what you have read.

1. What unique traditions does the country have?
2. What religious traditions do the people of the country practise?
3. What do people wear?
4. What do people eat?
5. Are there any special days that are celebrated?

crossword
Wordsearch
games
games 2 
 
 

Valentine's day

Activity 1: The history of Valentine’s Day

Work in pairs to discover more about the history of Valentine’s Day. Student 1 reads sections 1 and 3. Student 2 reads sections 2 and 4. Visit http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day and answer the questions related to your sections.

 

Section 1: The legend of Saint Valentine

1. How many saints named Valentine and Valentinus are recognized by the Catholic Church?
2. What did Emperor Claudius ll ban?
3. How did Valentine supposedly respond to this ban?
4. Who did Valentine supposedly write a letter to, signed ’From your Valentine’?
5. How well known was Saint Valentine by the Middle Ages? 

 

Section 2: Origins Of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival In February

1. What do some argue that the church was trying to ’Christianize’?
2. What did the festival of Lupercalia celebrate?
3. Where would members of the Luperci meet together at the start of the festival?
4. What did priests sacrifice?
5. According to legend, why did women leave their names in a big urn?
6.  

Section 3: Valentine’s Day: A Day Of Romance

1. Who officially chose February 14th for Saint Valentine’s Day?
2. Why did February 14 become associated with love during the Middle Ages?
3. Where is the oldest valentine greeting kept?
4. Who, according to myth, was hired by King Henry V to write a valentine greeting to Catherine of Valois?
5.  

Section 4: Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings

1. When did Valentine’s Day begin to gain popularity in Great Britain?
2. What was normal practice by the middle of the 18th century?
3. What replaced written letters in 1900?
4. According to the Greeting Card Association, how many Valentine’s Day cards are sent out each year?
5.  

Saint Patrick's Day

 WEBQUEST. Follow the instructions and write an article about it.

Who was St Patrick? Where in the world celebrates St Patrick’s Day? In this WebQuest you will find the answers to these questions and discover a range of Irish cultural traditions.

On the 17th March, the whole world becomes Irish. It’s the day we celebrate St Patrick’s Day in honour of Ireland’s patron saint. But who was St Patrick? And how do we celebrate his day?

Activity 1: Who was St Patrick?

Visit this site: http://wilstar.com/holidays/patrick.htm and read the article. Look for the answers to these questions. Share your answers with your classmates.
1. Where and when was St Patrick born?
2. What happened to him when he was 16?
3. When did he become a Christian?
4. How long was he a slave?
5. Where did he study and who was his teacher?
6. What did he want to do with his life?
7. Where did he want to go?
8. Who was sent there in his place and how long did he stay there?
9. What did Patrick achieve in Ireland?
10. How long did he work in Ireland?
11. Where did he go when he retired?
12. When did he die?
13. What legends developed about St Patrick?
14. What is the traditional icon of the day and what does it symbolize?

Activity 2: What is the history of St Patrick’s Day?

Visit this site: http://socyberty.com/holidays/the-history-of-st-patricks-day-parades/ and read the article. Then complete the following sentences.

•   The first recorded St Patrick’s Day celebration in the USA happened in _______________ [1] in the year _______________ [2].
• In 1766, the St Patrick’s Day parade in ____________________ [3] was so successful that they decided to hold one every year.      
• ____________________ [4] societies were formed by protestants in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
• These societies organised big celebrations for St Patrick’s Day, where local groups played _______________ [5] and _______________. [6]
• In the year _______________ [7], the ___________________________________ [8] in Ireland meant that many starving immigrants moved to America, so the Irish population there greatly increased.

 

Activity 3: A St Patrick’s Day Treasure Hunt  

St Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over the world. You have 15 minutes to visit these sites and answer the questions about various international celebrations.
Ireland
Dublin:http://www.stpatricksday.ie/cms/events.html/
Cork: http://www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie/
United States of America
New York City:http://www.saintpatricksdayparade.com/NYC/newyorkcity.htm
Chicago:http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/
Rochester, New York: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7702896/st_patricks_day_2011_events_in_rochester.html
Savannah, Georgia:http://www.savannahsaintpatricksday.com/
St. Louis, Missouri:http://www.irishparade.org/
Rest of the world
Toronto, Canada:http://www.allirish.ca/topatrick/
Tokyo, Japan:http://www.inj.or.jp/stpatrick_e.html
Manchester, UK: http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/events_day14_2011
Questions:
In which city …
1. … does the parade end at University Avenue?
2. … is the second largest parade in the world?
3. … can you run a five-mile race called Runnin’ O’ the Green?
4. … is there a photographic exhibition about County Mayo?
5. … is the river coloured green?
6. … can you take part in a walking tour ‘in the footsteps of St. Patrick’?
7. … is the parade on Fifth Avenue?
8. … is ‘happiness’ the theme of the 2011 festival?
9. … can you attend the 20^th St Patrick’s Day parade in 2011?
10. …can you visit the Irish Village at Kiener Plaza?
Now, summarize how St Patrick’s Day is celebrated.

Activity 4: Irish Culture

There are many traditions connected with St Patrick’s Day. Visit the links and investigate one of these aspects of Irish culture and report on it to the class. The questions will help you.

The Shamrock
Links
How Stuff Works:http://people.howstuffworks.com/saint-patrick3.htm
The Holiday Spot:http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/shamrock.htm
Questions
1. Why is the shamrock related to St Patrick?
2. In what year was the first reference to the shamrock and what was it
used for?
3. Why is three the Irish magic number?
 

Leprechauns
Link:
The Holiday Spot: http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/shamrock.htm (scroll down)
Questions:
8. What is a leprechaun and what does it look like?
9. What kind of treasure do leprechauns hide from people?
10. Why must you keep your eyes on a leprechaun if you want his treasure?
           

Interesting web pages with funny activities on Saint Patrick's Day:
game 1
web page: a lot of games. click here
matching game: here
wordsearch
memory game
hangman

A film review

how to write a film review: click here