Queen Elizabeth I Biography

Macbeth's themes

MACBETH'S THEMES

Macbeth - Themes video

Mr Jones' murder inspection

Questions using the Past tense.
Some students still have problems in the use of Past Tense.

They've been asked to write down some questions.

Some suspects, a murder and a detective.....Mr Jones...asking questions.....

  Hello there, it’s Detective Jones.

Last week, on 13^th of November, Mr. Jack died.

He was found dead on the bed of The Wellington Hotel, in London.

Next to the body there was a black gun, a pair of black gloves and some blond straight hair.

Now I’m with the suspects.

Particulary his wife Cheryl, his brother Michael (he looks like Brad Pitt, with long blond hair) and his college’s friend, Briana.

I asked his wife: WHERE WERE YOU ON 13^TH FRIDAY OF NOVEMBER?

-And she answered: I went to the gym, I always go to the gym in the evening because he was at work up to 9 p.m.

After that I asked his brother: WERE YOU BROTHER? HOW DID HE BEHAVE WITH YOU?

-Michael was scared and he said: We’ve never talked lately because I work in Ohio and our parents died seven years ago, yes, we were brothers but I can’t stand that, it's terrifying.

He was credible but I’m a Detective, everything could happen!

Briana was a bit insecure on the answer.

I asked her: MR JACK HAS WORKED FOR HIS COMPANY FOR FIVE YEARS AND YOU WERE COLLEGE’S FRIENDS. MR JACK TALKED WITH YOU ABOUT HIS PROBLEMS? DIDN’T HE?

And she answered stammering: I loved Jack too much and when he said to me about his marriage I was very angry, we always stayed together at the college but after that news I decided to change my mind, We stayed only friends.

BUT WHY WAS MR JACK AT THE HOTEL?

I supposed about a meeting between Michael and Jack but it was wrong.

Michael was in Ohio and his wife was seriously at gym.

WHERE WERE YOU ON 13^TH FRIDAY OF NOVEMBER, BRIANA?

I asked Briana and she said: I was at the supermarket! -After that- No, I’m sorry, I was at home!

I had my answer, too easy!

The genetic test of the blond hair coincided with Briana’s hair.

Probably she was his mistress and this is why Mr Jack was at that Hotel.

Wrong move Briana!

Another problem solved by Detective Jones!

See you soon!

adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner are usually formed from adjectives by adding –ly:

bad > badly; quiet > quietly; recent > recently; sudden > suddenly

but there are sometimes changes in spelling:

y > i

easy > easily;

happy > happily

But there are some exceptions

Dry >dryly

Shy> shyly

Sly >slyly

le >ly

gentle > gently

sensible>sensibly

possible>possibly

If an adjective ends in –ly we use the phrase in a …. way to express manner:

Silly > He behaved in a silly way.
Friendly > She spoke in a friendly way.

Pay attention!!!

complete>completely

attractive>attractively

but true>truly

al>ally

historical>historically

ic>ally

logic>logically

specific>specifically

l>ly

careful>carefully

punctual>punctually

·         These adverbs follow the verb they refer to

I drive carefully

I drive my car carefully

I drive carefully my car

·         They follow the object

I speak English well

·         They are before adverbs and expressions of time and place

He always sings loudly in the afternoon

A few adverbs of manner have the same form as the adjective:

Early

Fast

Hard

High

Late

Long

Low

Near

Straight

Two adverbs may have a different meaning

He works really hard                    I hardly know him

He never arrives late                  I haven’t been to the cinema lately

He’s aiming high                         I don’t think highly of her

Children can enter free                He spoke freely to me

We often use phrases with like as adverbials of manner:

She slept like a baby.
He ran like a rabbit.

Adverbs of manner and link verbs

We very often use adverbials with like after link verbs:

Her hands felt like ice.
It smells like fresh bread.

But we do not use other adverbials of manner after link verbs. We use adjectives instead:

They looked happily happy.
That bread smells deliciously delicious.

My smartphone

This is what a student in the first class has written about smartphones
Writing activity.....what can you do with your smartphone?


  My smartphone

My phone is my life because I can do everything with my phone.

First, I  can take photos and see photos. I can make videos and watch videos. I can play games and send text messages.

Secondly, I can make calls to my mother, my father, my sister, my friends...

Thirdly, I can listen to music, surf the Net and I can go on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Musically and Whatsapp....

I can also watch videos on Youtube. I can know what the weather will be like and I can read my e-mails, too.

What's more, I use my phone as a calculator when I do maths.

Finally, my phone is like a friend to me because I always carry it with me at school...in the gym , for example.

I'd say that it's the most useful thing in the world.

The things of my phone that I hate are when the battery is discharged and when I can't connect on the Internet.

" My life is impossible without my smartphone!!!"

Creative writing

I gave the students the following information

Sir Percy has been killed in the library of the old castle where he lived.

WHO KILLED SIR PERCY?

The suspects

Sir Percy’s wife

Sir Percy’s son

Diane the maid

Ben the butler

Sir Percy’s mistress

The students were asked to imagine the kind of questions the inspector is going to ask the suspects and then invent a story identifying the possible culprit and his or her motive

QUESTIONS

• Where were you when Sir Percy was murdered?
• What were you doing?
• Where did you last see Sir Percy?
• Which room were you when Sir Percy was murdered?
• Have you had any arguments or problems recently?
• Has anything strange happened recently?
• How long have you known Sir Percy?
• How long ago did you know Sir Percy?
• In your opinion, did Sir Percy have any enemies?
• Did you notice anything strange that day?
• Did you see anybody going into the library at the time of the murder?

Sir Percy was murdered by Diana, the maid, because several years ago Sir Percy  had killed the maid’s nephew in a car crash.

In fact Diana was upset, she loved him like a son.

She had brought up her nephew, because the baby hadn’t had a father and the mother had escaped in search for luck, to become an actress.

So Diana was employed by Sir Percy, who didn’t know anything about Diana’s nephew, and when all the people in the house trusted her she poisoned Sir Percy.

Few nights ago Sir Percy was murdered. A detective is investigating the case. The suspects are Sir Percy’s wife, Sir Percy’s wife, sir Percy’s son, Diane the maid, Ben the Butler and Sir Percy’s mistress.

He was murdered in his library. The detective asked the suspects some questions.Sir Percy’s wife did not know her husband’s mistress so she had no motives.

Sir Percy’s mistress looked at the maid with contempt ….so that led the detective to question the mistress. He found a knife in the mistress’s bag and after having asked her some questions he found out the truth. The mistress killed Sir Percy because she had found out that the maid was in love with Sir Percy and she believed that the two were lovers so she got mad with jealousy and killed Sir Percy.

Sir Percy was stabbed with a knife. He was murdered on Saturday night in his library while he was reading. In my opinion the murderer is Sir Percy’s son because he’s a cook and the knife used by the murderer is a special knife which is usually used by a cook.

What’s more, I found out that Sir Percy had an illegitimate child born from his relationship with the mistress. When Sir Percy’s son found out this fact the same day of the murder, he stabbed his father in a fit of madness and jealousy.

Sir Percy’s mistress, who was jealous of Sir Percy’s love towards his wife used to talk to Ben the butler, who was in love with her, about her sorrow.

Ben the butler and Diane the maid used to share information. Diane was also really close to Sir Percy’s wife, so she told her about the relationship.

Sir Percy’s son heard the conversation and knew his mother was suffering, so he sneaked out at night and killed his father.

Shakespeare Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

A famous sonnet by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

Here it's sung by David Gilmour

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May

And summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

MODERN TEXT

Shall I compare you to a summer day?

 You’re more lovely and milder. 

Rough winds shake the pretty buds of May, 

and summer doesn’t last nearly long enough. 

Sometimes the sun shines too hot, 

and often its golden face is darkened by clouds. 

And everything beautiful stops being beautiful, 

either by accident or simply in the course of nature. 

But your eternal summer will never fade, 

nor will you lose possession of your beauty, 

nor shall death brag that you are wandering in the underworld, 

once you’re captured in my eternal verses.

 As long as men are alive and have eyes with which to see, 

this poem will live and keep you alive

Opposite Adjectives

Generally speaking, students in the first class know few adjectives.

The purpose of the following  lesson, which we did yesterday, is to help them get to know some more adjectives.
Of course, I had to focus on a topic and give them  the adjectives relating to that topic.
Our topic is one they like very much: SMARTPHONES.

I gave each of them a piece of paper where they could read an adjective. Another student in the class had the opposite one. Their first task was to find the student having the opposite adjective.Then they were asked to build up a sentence where they could use the word smartphone and the  adjective.
Given the following adjectives:

Great                                                                                 Awful

Helpful                                                                              Useless

Convenient                                                                        Inconvenient

Amazing                                                                            Ordinary

Expensive                                                                         Cheap

Beautiful                                                                           Ugly

Big                                                                                     Small

New                                                                                   Old

Up-to-date                                                                        Old

The students created the following sentences:

My smartphone is really up-to-date

My smartphone isn't old

I've got an awful internet connection on my smartphone

 The cover of my smartphone is amazing

My smartphone is ordinary. It isn't great.

That smartphone is inconvenient, because it's expensive

That smartphone in the shop is very convenient

My smartphone is really helpful, because it may do lots of things

My smartphone is useless because it's broken

I can use my smartphone very well, because it's user-friendly

I can't use my smartphone very often because it's difficult to use

My smartphone has got an ugly design

My smartphone has a beautiful design

My smartphone is old

My smartphone is new

My smartphone is cheap, because it's small

That smartphone is expensive, I'll not buy it! 

Each student dictated his /her sentence to the other classmates.

So, you could say that this was a writing activity, but at the same time it was a listening activity, as well.

In addtion, they learnt new words like up-to-date,cheap, awful and user-friendly. 

Next time, we'll focus on smartphone addiction.

Proverbs

Students in class 4 have studied some of the most common proverbs.

They've been asked to write down some conversations and write in them the most appropriate proverbs.

This is one of the conversations they've written

A: Hey!
B: Hey! How are you doing?

A: I'm really bad, my girlfriend left me for another boy and I'm crying every day and I cannot sleep and leave home
B: C'mon my friend, let bygones by bygones, there are billions of girls in the world, it's no use crying over spilt milk.
A: I know dude, but she broke my heart and I don't know if another girl will be able to fix it
B: yeah,of course, don't worry about it. You are so young, you'll find a girl better than your former one.... of course
A: I hope, thanks for your encouragement
B: You're welcome..oh and for this reason tonight we're going to a party to have fun and to get distracted from our thoughts
A: What a wonderful idea, really...thanks for your help
B: You're welcome, you know, and remember ....She will get what she deserves
A: See you tonight

FIGURES OF SPEECH

What's a metaphor?

What's a simile?

Students have been asked to find metaphors and similes in songs

One of them has chosen 

Sound of silence (Oxymoron!!!)

by Simon and Garfunkel

She presented the song and she pointed out the metaphors and the similes

The words in red  are metaphors and the words in blue  are similes

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

TALK TO or TALK WITH

TALK TO or TALK WITH ?

Some say there’s NO difference when two people are having a conversation between talk to and talk with. Some just say that talk with is more used in American English and talk to is mainly used in British English.

Said that, you can say “Helen is talking to John” or “Helen is talking with John” – they’re the same!

However, some people on the Internet say there’s a difference. They claim that talk to should be used when it’s only one person speaking, and talk with should be used when you have a two-sided discussion.

What does it mean?

When we talk to someone, we are not always interested in their opinion, we just want to tell them what we think. It’s a one way interaction.

Talk with someone usually means having a discussion with someone. I tell him or her what I think and I also listen to what he or she has to say. It’s a two-way interaction.

In the first case

talk to = one person does most of the talking.

Example: I’ll talk to him tonight = I’ll give him orders to behave himself.

In the second case

talk with = two people speak with each other on an equal basis.

For example: May  I talk with you about a problem I'm having?

So if you consider the following  sentences there’s a slight difference

I talked to my mother and she said I had to stay at home

I talked with my mother  and she said I had to stay at home

In the first sentence she ordered me to stay at home.

In the second sentence we had a real conversation, a discussion, a two-sided conversation.

In conclusion if I say I need to talk to you means I have something to explain to you, to order, to communicate…stop.

If I say I talked with my friends during the party means I had a real conversation/discussion  with them.

Romeo and Juliet The ball

After having studied Romeo and Juliet and having focused on their first meeting at a masked ball,  I’ve told students to create an imaginary conversation where a boy  declares his love to a girl…..in a poetic way ….like Romeo does….then they decide whether she returns his feelings or not.

All of them have done well and it could be worth while reading all their written activities about that topic.

Anyway, I’ve had to choose just three of those activities…..the shortest ones.....(many of them are longer....)

A.   Hi, Juliet…

B.    Hi, Mike…how are you?

A.   I’m fine now because I have to tell you something

B.    What’s happened?

A.   I’ve thought over and over….. these days…..

B.    About what….?

A.   About us. I feel something for you. It’s not a simple crush. I’m really in love with you….When I see you I feel something inside me. It’s like to see the sun after days of rain or to see the water when you’re dying of thirst. Do you remember when I said to you that you’re pretty? You’re not pretty…..you’re beautiful like a rose that blooms in spring and you’ve bloomed in my heart. If you were in my head you’d understand how many things I’d like to tell you

B.    There’s no need for me to be in your head because I feel the same things for you and what you’ve said about me makes me feel very happy. The only thing I want to do now is to kiss you.

UNREQUITED LOVE

Lucas Dear Miranda I’m writing you this letter to tell you how much you are special to me, you are the only girl who makes my heart beat so loud, the only person that makes my soul shine and it shines more than sunlight. I love everything of you: your eyes, your hair, your smile, the way you speak. I know we are two different people, you are a rich girl and I’m a poor boy, sure I could not buy you rich jewels but I could give you my love and my soul. So I want to declare my love to you. I expect patiently for your answer.

Miranda Dear Lucas you won’t like the things I’m gonna tell you. I’ve just read the letter and I’ve appreciated the things you wrote me but I’m in love with another boy, I don’t feel anything for you….I hope you will understand this and I also hope you’ll find a girl who returns your feelings.

                              A.   I think we need to talk

B.    About what???

A.   A.   The two of us

B.    Okay...I’ll listen to you

A.   You know that after my last relationship I haven’t fallen in love again…

B.    Yeah, I know that..it was one year ago, I suppose right?

A. Right. One day my mum told me “You’ll fall in love again. It’ll happen again and it’ll be wonderful and amazing…just like it was the first time….and maybe also painful…but until then, be your own anchor”. I was the anchor of myself for a long time, but now I’ve realized that I’m in love with you. No matter if you refuse me or if you returns my feelings. I’ve had to tell you.

A.   Oh, I don’t know what to say, I’m shocked. I liked when you were engaged last year and I still like you.

A.   That’s the power of love… I suppose, every other little thing in your life could be perfectly  planned, but when you miss someone it’s hell…..and in my life I miss you

B.    I’ve never been so happy in my life..

A.   Me too. I’ve finally took off a huge burden from my mind. Do you wanna go out with me tonight?

B.    Yeah, obviously. First date?

A.   Maybe..see you tonight..darling