ICE BREAKERS, Coming Back to School

Hi, Teachers!,

Are you ready? New year, new goals, new hopes! Don't you think so?
Well, I'm going to show you some amusing Ice Breakers for the first lesson. I hope you'll find them interesting!

For Secondary and Upper-secondary students: IDENTITY CARDS

This activity is very recommendable, specially when you, as a teacher, don'tknow your new students, or you would like to know them more. You need as many pieces of cardboard as students you have. Your students have to fill in the following gaps: NAME, SURNAMES, GROUP, AGE, EMAIL, HOBBIES, FAVOURITE FILM and SINGER, PLANS FOR THE FUTURE and SUGGESTION or REQUEST.
When they complete all the information, they start talking to their classmates and ask them some personal questions. So, they practise English from the very beginning and know their classmates.


For Primary students: "WHO IS ...?"
The teacher delivers every student a piece of paper. Here, children write their names. The teacher collects these papers and gives them away again. The teacher asks one student to stand up and say:"Hi, my name is Alex" and then, picking up the piece of paper, he / she will ask:"Who is Martha?". Now, Martha will stand up and repeat this again. It's a very easy entertaining way to know each other. If you want to complicate this activity, you can add more information.

I hope you'll like it!

L O L

Hi, Guys!,

Are you familiar with LOL? What does it mean?

Well, LOL is an abbrevation of LAUGHING OUT LOUD, laugh out loud or LOTS OF LAUGHS. It is actually a common element of internet slang, mostly used by teenagers nowadays.

There is another variation: ROFL which means "ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING".

In this new internet slang, there are other popular acronyms such as BFN whic means "BYE FOR NOW" and IMHO "IN MY HUMBLE OPINION".

According to some critics, these initialisms are convenient and necessary, but you may get confused when you read them in an email.

Obviously, these remind me of when I post MOBILE LANGUAGE, too much information, no time, no space.

HappY 1st AnniVeRsArY!!!

HI, GUYS!,

One year ago, I could never imagine that my dream would come true! My own virtual English Corner to connect with other people, to share my projects, worksheets, games, recipes, TV series, songs, etc. and see their great experiences with their students.

Thanks a lot, my loyal followers for your enthusiasm and support!,
Thanks for reading and commenting my posts,
Thanks for appreciating my job,
You make me keep on working, I'm full of amusing ideas, so, I hope you'll enjoy this blog for many years, this is my dream!

Thanks a lot for coming into Valme's English Corner!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Hi, Guys!,

I hope you'll enjoy the following videos taken from THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE. An exciting film about an old socerer, Balthazar Blake, who has been searching for the next Merlin. He finds this archetypal young New Yorker Dave Stutler. Like the King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, Dave chose a special ring with a dragon. Previously, Balthazar had told Dave "if the dragon likes you, he will come alive". When this happens the old Blake knows that he is the new sorcerer. Then, a dangerous enemy appears, he is going to complicate the situation. I hope you'll enjoy these scenes! Pay attention to the Chrysler building of New York.

Why are Irish Doors so colourful?

Hi, Guys!,

When I was living in Ireland, I wondered why the IRISH DOORS were so colourful; since nearly all their doors were painted in purple, bright yellow, green, blue, ... do you know the reason?

When Queen Victoria’s husband died, a royal decree was sent throughout the United Kingdom (which Ireland was still apart of at the time). The decree stipulated that all the doors in the cities be painted black to mourn the late royal. The Irish, spiteful and rebellious, ignored the royal decree and painted their doors every color except black.

Even today, the doors remain colorful as a reminder of their disobedience. Nevertheless, you can also find a black one which means there is a British living there.

I hope you'll enjoy this amusing story that you can tell your students this year!!!

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

Hi, Guys!,

"O Captain, My Captain" has been taken from a poem written by Walt Whitman about Abraham Lincoln, but this line is so famous due to a film.

Dead Poets Society is one my favourite movies. I love Mr Keating, the new English professor who taught a group of boys to take advantage of time "Carpe Diem", to go againtst the status quo, to appreciate poetry, and he talked to them about the DEAD POETS SOCIETY.

Let's read one of Keating's quotes:

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Now, I encourage you to watch this significant scene, I hope you'll like it!

The STATUE of LIBERTY

Hi, Guys!,

This Blog is celebrating its 1^st Anniversary on September 8^th. Therefore, I’d like to write about the STATUE OF LIBERTY, the best symbol of Freedom and Democracy as well as international friendship. That’s why I chose HER as the head of this English Corner. Not only She represents these ideals, but also, she inspires hopes.

During the American Revolution, French gave the Statue of Liberty to the American people as recognition of their friendship. Through the time, the Statue also became a symbol of democracy.

In 1876, the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence, the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was asked to design the Statue. Because of that, She is carrying a book where you can read the 4^th of July, commemorating the American Independence.

The Americans had to build the pedestal whereas French the sculpture. In both countries, there were funds to collect money for the colossal statue, little by little, people donated all the money required.

In 1884, the Statue was finished; in 1885, the pedestal was completed too. In June of 1885, the colossal was carried from France to the United States by the frigate “Isere”. Before transporting this, the Statue was divided into 350 individual pieces.

On 28^th October 1886, the Statue of Liberty was placed in her island inside the courtyard of the star shaped wall of Fort Wood in New York harbour.

From that moment onwards, this colossal sculpture became a recognizable symbol of the American values; She was admired by many immigrants who came to USA looking for opportunities, her torch seemed to illuminate their way. As a matter of fact, the Statue was originally called LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD.

At last, I encourage you to watch the following videos, and of course, if you travel to NY, you have to go to Liberty Island. It’s amazing! There is a museum in the pedestal where you can see the history of the Statue of Liberty.