Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Resolutions 2015

Ok, here we go again! It's time to think about our resolutions for 2015. Have you made your list yet? I usually don't bother, but I'm putting my foot down. I'm going to lose weight starting on Monday. My plan is to lose 11 pounds in the next 6 months. How about you? 

"I'm going to lose weight."

Ooops! It just dawned on me that I have two more resolutions for 2015 besides LOSING WEIGHT.  I have a thing that annoys me very much and sometimes causes me trouble. My mouth has a mind of its own. I don't think it's funny at all, therefore,  I'm going to watch it and AVOID BEING IMPULSIVE. I'm also going to learn SIGN LANGUAGE. There's no particular reason. I just think it's a beautiful thing to learn.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

My Super Duper Family

Super Duper is a teenager and he lives with his parents, who are loving parents and who are always there for him.
Images - Downloadable

Friday, December 26, 2014

Elections 2014

Last october, Brazilians voted for president and unlike previous elections, this one was marked by  fearce and really nasty comments of the candidates about their opponents' character. Instead of talking about their platform, they attacked each other trying to make them look unreliable to the voters (which explains the opening remark in the video). Thus,  I took this opportunity to assign a project for my teen students. Since they were learning the first conditional, they were supposed to pretend they were running for president and create a political platform in which they stated what they would do in case they won. They were supposed to use the possible starters below:

1) If you vote for me, I will...
2) If I win this election, I will...
3) If I have your vote/ support, I will...
4) If you give me a chance, I will...

When they finished writing their platforms, I proofread them and provided them with comments and suggestions. After that, the students used the school's IPads to design a poster, in which they would draw a symbol for their campaign, think of an "imaginary" party/number and come up with a catch phrase. The drawing app they used was DRAWP because it's super user friendly.

Once their posters were done, we filmed their platforms. I projected their posters on the data show screen and they stood before it. The videos are time consuming, therefore, I suggest that you assign this project to only one group of few students. I had 8 students In this class.

To wrap things up, we had an election in school. We set up a room with the video on, a ballot and voting slips displayed on a desk. Everyone going past the room was invited to go inside, watch the video and vote for one of the candidates.

My students enjoyed the project very much and took it very seriously every step of the way. In the end, the winner got a token.



Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Idioms 4

Super Duper still has feelings for that girl Melissa. 
Everyday, he rehearses to ask her out but every time he gets close to her, he has BUTTERFLIES IN HIS STOMACH.


He got sick and tired of keeping it to himself so one day after lunch he GOT IT OFF HIS CHEST.


They started seeing each other and Super Duper is fascinated because they SEE EYE TO EYE on almost everything. 


They went out one day and Super Duper GOT A LUMP IN HIS THROAT when Melissa told him she didn't like his cape.


Super Duper's cape has been a reason for mocking among his friends. They are always PULLING HIS LEG.


He screams AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS, so that they knock it off…


… and the next thing he knows they are AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS.


He GIVES them A COLD SHOULDER as well.


Eventually, the cape resulted in BAD BLOOD between Super Duper and Melissa, so they broke up.


At the end of the day, Super Duper realized he's better off alone. He'll KEEP HIS CHIN UP and LET HIS HAIR DOWN!