Song: You've got a friend (Carole King)

As I told my 1ºESO students this morning, this song is one of the most important ones on friendship and it tells us how even when we may think that we are alone in the world and nobody understands us, there is a helping hand from a friend to give us some loving care.
The song was written en 1971 by the American song writer Carole King for his good friend James Taylor, who was also a songwriter. James Taylor was living a bad time and Carole King wrote this song to tell him that she would always be there, because she was his friend.
I leave here three versions of You've got a friend: the first one by its composer, Carole King; the second one by James Taylor, who really made it famous all over the world. The third version is sung by Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Stefan, Maria Careyh, Aretha Franklin and Carole King at the VH1 Divas Live concert on April 14, 1998.
I hope you like them as much as I do!

Sesame Stret videos

Here you have the videos we watched this morning. I love Brad, Bert's nephew. Isn't he cute?

Song of the week: ABBA's Thank you for the music

This week I would like you to listen to this beautiful song.There is something so special about music. When I feel blue, music can make me cry and then feel better. When I am happy and want to show people my feelings, I need to sing all the time. It is the magic of music, and I share this passion with many of you. This is the reason why I want you to hear Abba's Thank you for the music, because, in some way, it describes perfectly what people like you and me feel when we listen to music.
Enjoy it!
PS: when looking for it on the internet, I have discovered that the song was composed the year I was born. That means something!



I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
'Cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I'm so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I've often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

I've been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Origin of Spanish Surnames

Last Thursday in 4ºESO we held an interesting conversation on the origin of Spanish surnames and then continued talking about the etymology of some English ones.


As it is explained in the website tusapellidos.com Surnames, or family names, may be of several types that in view of the nickname origin of a lot of surnames sometimes interlace: patronymics, that are last names derived from the father's first name, such as Rodríguez (son of Rodrigo, Roderick); surnames of geographical origin, coming from the name of the region or town of origin or manor, such as Navarro (Navarrese, the name of the inhabitants of Navarre, Spain) ; occupational surnames, such as Herrero (Smith); nickname surnames in the strict sense, originating in by-names such as Gros (big in Catalan, a Spanish language), etc. There are also multipart surnames, for example composed of patronymic and toponymic, such as Ruiz de Castilla (Roderiks of Castile, an Aragonese name), or of patronymic and job, such as the Catalan name Gruartmoner (the union of two lineages, Gruart, a Germanic name, and Moner, miller).

23rd APRIL: WORLD BOOK DAY

The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Spain as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes who died on that day. This became a part of the celebrations of the Saint George's Day (also 23 April) in Catalonia, where it has been traditional since the medieval era for men to give roses to their lovers and since 1925 for the woman to give a book in exchange. Half the yearly sales of books in Catalonia are at this time with over 400,000 sold and exchanged for over 4 million roses.
In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because this date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel de Cervantes and Garcilaso de la Vega.
23 April is often stated as the anniversary of the deaths of both Shakespeare and Cervantes,

To celebrate this day Cervantes' Don Quixote is read during a two-day "readathon" and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is presented by the King in Alcalá de Henares.
[edit] UK and Ireland

In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, World Book Day is held annually on the first Thursday in March. Although it might be argued that this makes it more a 'UK and Ireland Book Day' than a World Book Day as such, it was decided to avoid the established international 23 April date due to clashes with Easter school holidays. In 2010 it will be held on Thursday 4 March.[1]

The Tortoise and the Hare

I hope you enjoyed the class this morning when I told you my own version of the fable The Tortoise and the Hare. For those who want to watch the real story again, here you have the video. I would like you to think about the moral of the story, I definitely think that it is more important to be clever and constant than fast but silly!! If you work hard and always plan your work, you can accomplish anything!!

For 1ºESO B

Dear pupils:
last week we talked about the Beatles and the parody of "Let it be" (a great song, by the way)by Sesame Street puppets. I think the way they sing is really cute, isn't it?

I told you about this great spot on National Geographic channel about how the human mind is reading words. Very fascinating. Can you put the letters in order? I'm sure you can!

For my 1ºESO students

Since we have just studied the simple past in English I leave you here a great song by the best band ever: The Beatles.
Next Friday we will sing it with the guitar.
Enjoy the song, "yesterday" is one of the most famous and important songs in the history of music!

Song of the week: Beyonce's halo

News on Poland's president death in airplane crash

Dear students of 4º de ESO.
As I told you here you have the news we are going to watch and comment tomorrow in the English classroom. I am quite excited about using this classroom for the first time. You will see how big the screen is and how useful the proyector can be.
Try to take advantage of the news to improve your listening skills!