Welcome to teacher Chiara's blog! Questo blog è principalmente rivolto ai miei alunni con l'obiettivo di stimolare in loro interesse e curiosità per la lingua inglese che ci permette di comunicare con tante persone di culture diverse dalla nostra.
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" (John Lennon)
Dear 3rd year students as this morning we listened to this song I found this video where John Lennon was playing it and I thought it could be a good idea to share it with you.
In the Beatles Museum in Liverpool
there is the white piano you see in the video and
there are these rooms related to "Imagine" as well.
Here you have some tips to write a letter, and as 3rd year students are having the exams please read them carefully and remember them!
When you write a letter you have to think to all these info:
Your address
Date
Dear (name of the person you are writing to)
Opening greetings
Text of the letter
Closing greetings
EXAMPLE
25, London Street
R2H5 London
United Kingdom
24th May 2011
Dear Mark,
opening greetings
How are you? / Is everything ok?
I'm fine / I'm ok. I hope you are fine too.
beginning the text of the letter
I was very happy to receive your last letter / You can't imagine how glad I was when I received your letter. / It was a great surprise to receive your letter.
text of the letter
I'm writing to you because I want to tell you about ….......…...... etc. etc.
closing the letter
That's it for now / I think I should stop at this point / I'd like to keep on writing but I have to leave you now because I …....
Last Monday, 23rd May 9, 9 students from the school of Giove took their first exam of spoken English. It was a Trinity Exam. We decided to take it in winter and the students studied hard and followed my advice.
When we left our school, in the morning, they were all afraid and anxious. Then we arrived in the school "B. Brin" in Terni where the English Trinity examiner was waiting for us. Then one after an other went into the room and spoke with him. It was a matter of minutes and the exam was over.
"Have we passed?"
"Have we not?"
Everything went well and ... yes you all passed and I'm very proud of all of you, so:
Some days ago we listened to this song with students of the first class because one of them chose it, brought the cd and so we tried to follow it with the text and this exercise.
It was difficult to follow though because Bruce Springsteen sings it very quickly, nevertheless we succeed in filling in all the balks and we also spoke about the meaning.
I thought that this song might be interesting for the 3rd year students, and useful for their exam too. If you don't need for the exam, just listen to it!
BORN IN THE U.S.A. (by Bruce Springsteen)
Listen and fill in the blanks with the words in the box
your I in they go he's home ten don't him
Born down ____ a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when ____ hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half _____ life just covering up
[chorus:] Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I got in a little hometown jam
And so _____ put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To ______ and kill the yellow man
[chorus]
Come back _______ to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son ____ you understand"
[chorus]
I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, _____ all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of ____ in her arms
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ____ years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
In this video you can see the singer in the time he wrote the song, so look at the clothes, at the hair style and to other features to have an idea how the 80s looked like!
About the meaning of this song
One of the main theme of this song is about the Vietnam War. It is a tribute to the singer's friends who took part in this war. Some of his friends died some other came back but experiende a lot of difficulties. The main character has working-class origins, joins the armed forces and then comes back to the United States. In the song the Battle of Khe Sanh is named. In this battle (January – April 1968) the North Vietnamese Army was involved not the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (the Viet Cong). The Americans, finally, broke the siege. This battle showed that the efforts of the United States in the war weren't so useful.
About the singer
You can find info about Bruce Springsteen following the link below, there are also several videos and links to other websites.
Questa mattina abbiamo ascoltato questa canzone con gli alunni della II B e ci siamo soffermati, in particolare, sui versi evidenziati in rosso.
Ieri con i ragazzi delle III abbiamo parlato di Rosa Parks e Martin Luther King e mi sembra che questo brano possa inserirsi proprio bene nelle riflessioni fatte.
A voi una sfida: ci sono delle espressioni che non sono corrette, sapete dirmi quali?
"Black Or White" I Took My Baby On A Saturday Bang Boy Is That Girl With You Yes We're One And The Same Now I Believe In Miracles And A Miracle Has Happened Tonight But, If You're Thinkin' About My Baby It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White They Print My Message In The Saturday Sun I Had To Tell Them I Ain't Second To None And I Told About Equality An It's True Either You're Wrong Or You're Right But, If You're Thinkin' About My Baby It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White I Am Tired Of This Devil I Am Tired Of This Stuff I Am Tired Of This Business Sew When The Going Gets Rough I Ain't Scared Of Your Brother I Ain't Scared Of No Sheets I Ain't Scare Of Nobody Girl When The Goin' Gets Mean [L. T. B. Rap Performance] Protection For Gangs, Clubs And Nations Causing Grief In Human Relations It's A Turf War On A Global Scale I'd Rather Hear Both Sides Of The Tale See, It's Not About Races Just Places Faces Where Your Blood Comes From Is Where Your Space Is I've Seen The Bright Get Duller I'm Not Going To Spend My Life Being A Color
[Michael] Don't Tell Me You Agree With Me When I Saw You Kicking Dirt In My Eye But, If You're Thinkin' About My Baby It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White I Said If You're Thinkin' Of Being My Baby It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White I Said If You're Thinkin' Of Being My Brother It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White Ooh, Ooh Yea, Yea, Yea Now Ooh, Ooh Yea, Yea, Yea Now It's Black, It's White It's Tough For You To Get By It's Black , It's White, Whoo It's Black, It's White It's Tough For You To Get By It's Black , It's White, Whoo
We also talked about Martin Luther King Jr. We read about his life and we discovered he was an activist of the African American Civil Rights Movement like Rosa Parks, in fact they knew each other and were friends. He won the Nobel peace Prize in 1964 and he was, unfortunately, assassinated in 1968.
We said he is still famous, among other things, thanks to his speech "I have a dream".
When he gave this speech he was in front of Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC in 1963.
This is Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and Martin Luther King was on the steps when he gave his speech.
The statue of Abraham Lincoln is inside
the Memorial
"... I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day ..."
This morning we talked about Rosa Parks and we explained that she is considered the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. I also told you the episode of the bus: she refused to stand and to give up her seat to a white passenger. Here I found a very interesting site where there more info about her, a video about her life (there is also the famous bus) and other things.
We are almost at the end of the school year and soon you will have a lot of free time!
So enjoy these exercises to review hobbies, free time activities and sports.
Here you find some online exercises to review the simple past and to get prepared for the end of year test.
Review, or study (!!!) the irregular verbs too.
Here are some useful questions to practice for the conversation at the exam.
Remember:
don't answer saying only yes/no;
don't give short answers;
try to answer with more than one sentence.
How do you get to school?
How long does it take you to do your homework?
How long does it take to get to school?
Can you tell the way to the castle, bar, pizzeria, ….?
How do you get from your home to school?
How do you get to the library, computer room, …?
Which is the best way to travel in your country?
Where are you at the moment?
When did you arrive?
How long are you staying?
Where are you staying?
What are you doing hire?
How did you travel?
When are you going to go back to your country?
What are you going to do today?
What did you do yesterday?
What do you have to do in your school?
Describe your best friend, mum, teacher of ... (both physical appearance and personality)
Describe our house, your bedroom, your school, etc.
What's your best friend like? (Describe your best friend)
What are the shops in your town like?
Do you like going shopping? Why?
Why are you going/doing/talking/....? To …
Describe a famous tourist attraction: what is it? Where is it? When did they build it? Why did they build it?What is interesting about t? Why do tourists visit it now?
Describe Giove, Penna ….
Compare your village to a big city (Rome, Milan, London, etc.)
What are your favourites in London/New York? Describe
Who's best at English in your class?
What are you good at?
What are you like?
Do you think you are lazy, generous, …?
What clothes do you have to wear at school?
Do you have to do much homework?
Imagine a journey: Where do you leave from?
When and where are going to?
Who are you going with?
Where is your journey from and to?
How are you going to travel?
How far is it and how long is it going to take?
Where are you going to stay?
What are you going to see an do on the way?
Your favourite holiday: Where did you go on holiday?
When did you go?
What was the place like?
Who did you go with?
Where did you stay?
What was the weather like?
What did you do?
Did you like the holiday? Why?
Imagine you are going on holiday: When and where are you going to?
How are you going to travel?
Who are you going with?
What are you going to do?
What are you going to visit?
What are you going to do after school?
What are going to do next week, tomorrow, …?
What are you doing at the weekend, ….?
Describe something strange that happened to you? When did it happen?
Where were you? What were you doing?
What did you think next?
What could you do when you were 5 years old?
Where were you yesterday?
What did you do yesterday, last week, last summer, ect?
What are your plans for the future?
Talk about your best/worst experience in these three years of school
Have you ever been to …?
Have you ever read harry Potter books?
Have you ever travelled by plane, boat ..?
What is your favourite book/film/TV programme, actor, singer, footballer, etc.? Why?
What will life be like in the future?
Which would you rather be, a doctor or a teacher, or a …..?
Dear students it's time for end of year tests so I think it is a good idea to exercise a little bit more.
Here there is a link to a very nice online exercise about daily routine that can be useful to I class students but II and III class students can do it too!
You do the exercise first then you press the button "check" so you can correct it: good luck!
"Il contributo che un'Europa organizzata e vitale può apportare alla civiltà è indispensabile per il mantenimento di relazioni pacifiche".
Erano queste le parole che Robert Schuman, Ministro degli Esteri Francese, pronunciò il 9 maggio del 1950. Il discorso che fece è noto come "Dichiarazione Schuman" che è anche considerato l'atto di nascita dell'Unione Europea.
Dear students and friends, at last I created a blog!
I think the best way to start is reporting the wonderful experience I had in Spain, together with my Italian students and colleagues.
We have an exchange program (Comenius Project) with the school Colegio Compania de Maria in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain and last April we returned their visit (they came to Italy last January).
We really enjoyed a lot, we learnt new things and we made friends who, we hope, will keep in touch with, as long as possible.
