Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!!!

"The year is finally coming to an end and I'm super duper excited about the festivities tonight."

In Brazil, we celebrate New Year's by wearing white clothes and having a delicious meal at the strike of midnight. At midnight, we also gather to see the fireworks on the street and the fireworks the mainstream TV stations broadcast from different parts of the world. We stay up until the crack of dawn playing games, talking, drinking and eating a lot. The next day, we wake up very late and eat the left overs for lunch. 



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Idioms 3


Super Duper is in love. He has his HEAD IN THE CLOUDS. He just can't concentrate in class or do his homework right. 

Her name is Melissa and she's from the United States. Super Duper is HEAD OVER HEELS!!!

Yeah…it's official. Super Duper definitely HAS A THING for that girl. You can tell he really FELL FOR her.



Monday, December 23, 2013

My Super Duper Friends

After practicing the use of the third person in the Simple Present, students are to draw and write about their best friend.


Just like any other teenager, Super Duper also has his gang. They hang out and have fun together. Let's meet them:

Downloadable Material

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Board Game Project

Despite all the technology available in the classrooms (iPads, data show equipment, computer labs, etc…) I still think that drawing, coloring and cutting out are fun. Also, the project below promotes collaboration/ cooperation among students. My Junior students were learning the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms of the verb THERE TO BE. After some significant practice and in order to wrap the lesson up, students were arranged in small groups (3 or 4 tops) and I assigned a different task for each member.


BOARD GAME

MATERIAL NEEDED: Brown paper, magazines, glue, markers, colored pencils and scissors.
FOCUS: Any Grammar Point or Vocabulary Practice.


Student A: Selects and cuts out pictures from the magazines.
Student B: Draws and colors a START/FINISH track on the brown paper.
Student C: Creates the tasks to be performed in the game. (Assisted by the teacher/peers.)
Student D: Pastes the cut outs. (In case the group has three students, student A selects, cuts out and pastes the pictures.)

Possible tasks to be performed when playing the game:

1) Fill in a blank:

(For instance, in one of the squares, you see the picture of a cat on the couch and you read:  Is there a cat on the couch? Yes, ________. Or: ____________a cat on the couch? Yes, there is.)

2) Answer a question:

What is there in the picture?________________________. 
Are there any cars in the picture?__________________________.

3) Ask a question:

__________________________? Yes, there is.
________________________? No, there aren´t.

4) Correct the mistake.

There is three children in the picture.
There is a dog in the picture?






The teacher has to make sure (and students should be told that) that during the entire time that they are performing their tasks, they should discuss every decision they make with their peers and collaborate with each other whenever necessary. After they finish making the game, they play it.


In the end, the teacher can have the board games laminated for future classes.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

A Special Present


My dear friend Fernanda Barboza asked me to make a set of drawings to celebrate her daughter's  birthday. In the set, we could see the trajectory of the lives of Luisa and her dad. It was hard work because it took me long hours but I made it. I don't want to brag but the result was beautiful.


We started dating.

He couldn't have children.

The shock: I got pregnant! 

We got married.

Luisa was born on September 7th.

He trembled with the baby in his arms.

She learned to say DADDY when she was one.

They became best pals.

He picked her up at school.

They played together.

They traveled to Brasília alone.

They've been to Itiquira.

When she was four, we moved to Brasília and she missed her dad.

Daddy came to Brasília. What a joy!

She turned seven.

In 2011, they became scouts.

Getting Ready For Christmas: A Family Night


I celebrate Christmas with my parents. It's great to be together on such night because it's a family night in which we exchange gifts and have a delicious meal. We say a prayer, sing Christmas songs and eat  when the clock strikes midnight. We talk, play games and then we go to bed very late. It's so great because the next day we can stay in bed and relax. Because we get up late, we eat the previous night´s left overs. I love Christmas!!!!


Saturday, December 7, 2013

Getting Ready For Christmas: Cooking a Feast


In Brazil, we usually have a feast that is prepared throughout the day and served at eleven o'clock p.m. However, some families wait until midnight, so they can eat. Turkey is a must on Christmas night. Traditionally, we also have "farofa" (toasted manioc flour), rice and potato salad. 


MENU FOR CHRISTMAS NIGHT:

STARTER: 
A Cold Buffet & Shrimp Cocktail

MAIN COURSE: 
Roast Turkey with Gravy & Rice with Raisins

SIDE DISHES: 
Farofa & Potato Salad

DESSERT: 
Milk Pudding


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Getting ready for Christmas: Shopping

In Brazil, many people are still drawn to shopping at Christmas time. At least among the people I know, exchanging gifts is a solid tradition and I don't see it ending any time soon. However, Brazil still is  a catholic country, so lots of people go to the church on Christmas night for a two-hour celebration in order to remind themselves of the real meaning of this date.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Getting ready for Christmas: Setting Up The Tree


We start decorating the tree on November 30th. The Church suggests that we do it during the four weeks that preceed Christmas, little by little. In some families, children decorate the tree and are taught the real meaning of such important night. Traditionally, the tree is left up until January 6th, which is the day when the three kings found Jesus.   

Thursday, November 21, 2013

My favorite singer

Students are learning how to describe their talents. After practicing the structure " I can... but I can´t ..." and learning the names of the musical instruments, I assigned the following written task: Draw and color you favorite singer and write about him/her.


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Getting Ready For Christmas: Going Through Christmas Stuff


Streets, stores and houses have been decorated, trees have been set up, lights have been lit, feasts have been thought through and presents have been bought. We're all waiting for the most important holiday of all and it's time for me to start sorting out the ornaments for our Christmas tree. How about you? Have you started prepping for Christmas yet?

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Bugs Here, There and Everywhere


Students learned the names of the BUGS and the verb THERE TOBE to describe their garden. After we practiced the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms for a few classes, they drew, color and cut out one bug each. I taped them all on the board and told them to pay attention to the number and the colors of the bugs . I invited one student at a time to go to the front (facing their peers and not the board) and guess how many of each bug there were and how many of a certain color. For instance, I asked: How many SPIDERS are there? or "How many RED spiders are there?" or Are there any PURPLE snakes?

OPTION 2: Students can also be the ones to ask the questions, so the teacher could arrange them in two teams.


Writing Task: After practicing the verb THERE TO BE and the names of the bugs, my students were asked to draw their own yard and write about it. They were supposed to use THERE TO BE and the names of the bugs.



Saturday, November 9, 2013

His X Her

Students this semester drew a cowboy/cowgirl to describe their clothes by using HIS or HER, CLOTHES and COLORS.  First, I drew a cowboy as a model. Then, I took photos of their cowboys while they were drawing them and after they all had finished, I took a photograph of each and showed them on the data show equipment, so they described them. They were supposed to use: His pants are...., his scarf is... his shirt is... his boots are... and his hat is...  

Model