sexta-feira, 29 de agosto de 2014

SCRAPCARD - English work 3°E


How to make a scrapcard:

- choose your partners (group of 4 people)
- each member of the group must bring one photo of his/her childhood
- bring a card (half size of the common card, as the one used in your History work).
- choose one theme for your scrapcard (such as Autumn, friendship, celebration, etc)
- separate pictures, stickers, images from magazines and any other material the group think it's necessary to be used in the scrapcard to make it exactly according to the chosen theme.
- Choose the 5 sentences to be included in your scrap card. The sentences must be chosen from the Madonna's song "This Used To Be My Playground", the one we listened in our class and one sentence must be written using the verb "wish", expressing the desire of the group or of just the desire of one member of the group. You also can add sentences of your own.
- decide in which place all the components of your card must be displayed, organize the photos and all the material to be used in it (including the sentences).
- do the gluing  and writing work. Use all your creativity! Enjoy it!
- remember to write the group's name, number and class in your card
Have a nice job! And any doubt, just contact me by e-mail or during our class.

Post Question: Why do you think this is our 3rd quarter (3º trimestre) English work?

Tip: Some of our class Scrapcards will be posted here, in the blog.

segunda-feira, 25 de agosto de 2014

A Cinematic Test

Read the text from your test again. Check the vocabulary.

Why do we love to go to the cinema?
So why do we love to go to the cinema? What is it about sitting in a darkened hall, with a bunch of thoughtless, noisy people, watching other people's stories on the screen, that so inspires us? Moves us? Why is the box office ever larger, in spite of the onslaught of DVD, cable TV and console gaming? Going to the cinema is unlike any other form of art. Depending on your mood, you can choose to be angered, heartened, amused, bemused and pretty much any emotion you can think of. Often within the same film. You can identify with characters, fall in love, and go home alone. There is a whole range of experience available in most any film you care to name.
          Beyond the magic of not knowing how you will be moved, and whose life you will enter and inhabit for two hours, perhaps it is the definition of the time that allows watching a movie in a cinema to be so good. The determination that for the next little while you will let yourself forget all your day to day issues, and enjoy someone else's experience.
          Watching a DVD on the couch doesn't bring such peaceful freedom - the positive action of paying for a movie, entering a cinema, turning off your phone and sitting back to allow it all wash over you means you're in a more receptive frame of mind. You've allowed yourself this time.
(from the article: cinema experience, an opinion on hoopla website)

Post Question: Do you agree with the arguments of the text? Which one do you like most - watching a movie in the movie theater or in your living room (DVD)? Why? What kind of movie do you enjoy most?  What's your favorite movie? Why is it your favorite movie?
 
Tip: This is the 100 favorite movies chosen by the cinematic city Hollywood. Click here and check it. Is your favorite movie in this list? How many movies of the list have you already seen?
 

segunda-feira, 18 de agosto de 2014

Right-brained than left-brained? Both.

    Our test could raise an interesting question: Am I left-brained or right-brained? How do I think? And it's always a good reflection when we have the opportunity of thinking about the way we think!
And the best of all, there are no right answers. One of the two hemispheres of our brain usually is stronger or dominant, but as we read in our test, both work together and that's just fantastic. We all use both sides but are you curious to know each one is stronger in your way of thinking? There are many tests that can be done to try to find out this answer, but one point must be emphasized - our attitudes, where we live, what we do, people we meet, even the food we eat and a lot of other factors can influence the chemical process that occurs in the human brain. As all these factors change
throughout our lives, chances are that the way we think and how our brain works will probably change too! Although it's not an official-scientific-medical-test, you can test yourself following the tip below.

Post Question: Justify the answer in your test. Is there an ability that you would like to have but you think you don't have it? Is it in the other side of the dominant area of your brain?
 
Tip: How about getting a test to know if you are more right-brained than left-brained? Click here and find out. After that, write down your opinion about the result and if you think it's right.

quarta-feira, 13 de agosto de 2014

Stressed...what's stress?!

 Although some people think that tests are very stressful, our test was made
to not let you feel stressed. The introduction was made with a very short text. The second one was even shorter and the third one was a text that we had already been discussed about it during our class. The last one required a little bit more of your vocabulary knowledge and your comprehension ability, but the questions about it were simple and it wasn't necessary any special/magic ability to accomplish the task. Besides all that, some say that a test will always make people feel nervous, no matter what. Some will get more nervous than others, but it will happen. The most important in a situation like that is trying to calm down, take a deep breath and do the best you can with all you have. (And I hope you have studied a lot to have enough to offer and to count on!)
 
Sometimes we get so nervous that we can't even realize that the answer of the question is exactly in the question, simple like that. It happened in our test (exercise 06) when it was asked how "stressed" could be related to "desserts". Lots of people wrote many complex and elaborate answers and all it was expected (according to the text and the picture on your test) was the spelling factor. It was very nice to have the opportunity of correcting it in our class because I do have the feeling that you guys could understand what it really takes to answer a comprehension task based on texts: facts and not your opinion!


Post Question: How do you cope with stress? What are your "relaxing" activities? Do you get nervous when you are answering a test? Did you get nervous answering this one, our test? Is it clear to you the difference when you are writing a fact or your opinion?
 
Tip: There are some very good tips to help us to cope with stress. Some are even easy and very quickly, like this one presented by Andy Puddicombe, a mindfulness expert who wants to make meditation accessible to everybody: for a happier, healthier you. Watch the video here. You can download the transcript (in English) or you can add subtitles in Portuguese.