THE ENGLISH HOLLY

Photo by Davideño, taken from panoramio.com

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”


Welcome to the English Holly (el acebo), the English department blog in Siles, welcome to your blog.


martes, 21 de noviembre de 2017

THANKSGIVING DAY

 To know more about Thanksgiving, here you have a rap and a text with some questions you have to answer in your notebooks.



THANKSGIVING
Macy's Parade in New York

Americans of all religions celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Children do not go to school,, and most businesses close for four days. People in Canada also celebrate thanksgiving, but they celebrate it on the second Monday in October.

WHY IS THANKSGIVING AN IMPORTANT DAY?
The tradition started with the “Pilgrim Fathers”. They were the founders of a colony in North America. These people were Puritans. They were against the Church of England, and suffered persecution in England. They wanted to start a new life in a new country.
Eventually, on 6 September 1620, 102 men, women and children left Plymouth in south-west England on a ship called the Mayflower. The voyage was difficult: two Pilgrims died, but two were born. On 11 December 1620 they landed on the north-east coast of North America. They called this area Plymouth. It was almost winter and there wasn´t much food. They immediately built small houses, but it was too late to grow crops. The winter was very long and cold and half of the Pilgrims died.
In the spring a native American called Squanto helped the Pilgrims. He taught them how to grow corn and how to hunt and fish. Soon the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag native Americans became friends. The Pilgrims grew crops and the summer harvest was excellent. By November 1621 everyone had food and a home.
There was hope for the future.
William Bradford was the governor of the Pilgrim´s colony. He decided to celebrate with a dinner for the Pilgrims and about ninety native Americans. He wanted to thank God. This was the first Thanksgiving dinner, and it continued for three days.

A TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING
Today the traditional Thanksgiving meal is similar to the first. People eat roast turkey with cranberry sauce, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. Vegetarians don´t eat meat, but they still celebrate Thanksgiving with other foods, such as soya products, rice, fruit, vegetables and big salads.
New York City celebrates with Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy´s department store organised its first parade in 1924. This parade is very famous, and more than two million people go to see it every year.

Are the following sentences true (T) or false (F)?
  1. Canadians do not celebrate Thanksgiving.
  2. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Tuesday of November.
  3. The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims.
  4. There were only fifty people on the Mayflower.
  5. Their first winter in Plymouth was very difficult.
  6. The native Americans did not help the Pilgrims.
  7. The first Thanksgiving dinner continued for three days.
  8. The famous Macy´s Thanksgiving Parade is Los Angeles.

    Adapted from British and American Traditions  Gina D. B. Clemen

jueves, 26 de octubre de 2017

Guided tour around Siles

On October, 17th , the students of 4th of ESO prepared a guided tour to show Sarah the main landmarks of our town.
Here is what Sarah wrote after the visit, some pictures and the video Lola did. We hope you like them.

After my tour of Siles on Tuesday, I can confirm that fourth of ESO could all have a successful career in tourism in the future. The helpful and friendly tour has informed me about all the main sites in Siles such as El Cubo, the church and La Glorieta. Different pupils told me some interesting facts, some history and a personal anecdote for each site. For example, did you know that if you stand in the middle of the Glorieta you can hear an echo?! Also, before going on the tour, I had no idea that El Sequero or La Iglesia de San Roque even existed! A truly beautiful town shown to me by a great group! Thanks fourth of ESO for showing me around!








miércoles, 11 de octubre de 2017

Academic year opening ceremony


On the second of October, we celebrated the traditional opening ceremony at the assembly hall. Here are the summaries some students wrote about it in 2nd of Bachillerato.

SCHOOL YEAR OPENING SPEECH
Last Monday, at Doctor Francisco Marín high school, it took place the school year opening speech, given by Irene Carrasco García.
She studied here nine years ago. Later, she graduated in Medicine at Seville University. Currently, she is working as an oncologist at Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville.
In her speech, she explained the illness of cancer: What it is, how it reproduces and how to fight it. She also insisted on the importance of having healthy living habits in order to decrease the possibility of suffering from cancer.
In the end many students asked some interesting questions about the topic.
                                                                      Álvaro Zorrilla Carriquí. 

In my opinion, this lecture was really interesting, specially for me, since I want to be an oncologist in the future. It was worth watching it. 
                                                                       Alicia Jiménez Campos. 

In my opinion it was very practical because she showed us how to prevent the disease. Moreover, before the lecture finished, there was an intense debate. 
                                                                       Juan Cano Jiménez. .

She told us many interesting things, but I heard a sentence that caught my attention: "If you want to do or be something, you should chase it until you get it, this way you will never regret it".
                                                                       Carmen Quílez. 

jueves, 28 de septiembre de 2017

Guess who?


At last, next week we will enjoy and learn more about English culture, Ireland and many other treasures to be discovered.


Hi! My name is Sarah Bolton and I´m the English language assistant this year in Siles. I am so excited to be here! I am from Northern Ireland where I am studying French and Spanish at Queen´s University in Belfast. So if you would like to help me to speak Spanish, I would be very appreciative! I look forward to getting to know some of you over the next year. I already love your beautiful village!

 Welcome Sarah!!!







Welcome students and teachers.

Hi!!! Here we are again full of energy  and ready to accomplish a new academic year. 

miércoles, 3 de mayo de 2017

Differences between SAY and TELL

We are studying Reported Speech in class, so it would be a good idea to have a look at this video which explains the differences between SAY and TELL.
Pay special attention to the RAP at the beginning of the video.

Reported Speech




miércoles, 15 de marzo de 2017

Andalusia's day at school

On February 22nd Andalusia’s Day was celebrated at I.E.S. Doctor Francisco Marín in Siles with several activities related to Andalusia’s traditions.
The day began as it usually does: classes at quarter past eight, sleepy students, difficult exams... all those things which usually happen at schools. When that day I was told that we were going to lose three last classes, I thought: “Oh good! No classes!” Most students surely had the same thought. Nevertheless, that day I learned some facts that changed my point of view about the place where I live.
First, at break time we were able to taste a traditional Andalusian breakfast made with bread, tomato, ham and olive oil. Although the breakfast was very tasty, I have to say the size of bread wasn’t big enough for an average teenager. Then, my class went to an awards ceremony for students who had created a fictional enterprise for a contest. Winners received cool gifts such as laptops, clothes and so on.
After that, some of us joined a bolos serranos match, but others participated in a lecture about jotas. Jotas is the traditional dance in many Spanish zones. That fact that we have to keep our traditions alive made me realize how important our origins are.
Finally, the whole school enjoyed a volleyball match between players from 1st and 2nd Bachillerato. They were very good players! It’s was an amazing day.


Álvaro Zorrilla Carriquí 1º Bachillerato-C


lunes, 6 de marzo de 2017

Doctor Emilio López lecture


 

Dr. Emilio’s lecture
On February 23rd there was a conference in “I.E.S Dr. Francisco Marín” for teachers and students. The lecture was carried out by the Doctor and odontologist Emilio López. The purpose of the lecture was to show students some advantages of having good saliva.

First, Mr. Emilio talked about the different components of saliva. In addition, he said a lot of interesting things about saliva like the number of bacteria in the mouth with respect to the rest of the body, the alarming decrase in the production of saliva, the amazing medicinal powers of saliva…
Also he gave a lot of advices on how to produce more saliva like chewing  our food slowly,  always keeping an olive bone in our mouth…


To conclude, the conference finished with some questions from the audience. The lecture was really useful and interesting. In my opinion, we’ve all learned many important things about saliva that will help us to have a healthy mouth and a healthy life.

Written by: Alicia Jiménez Campos (1°Bach C)

miércoles, 8 de febrero de 2017

AyF Tejedores

A new way of making clothes:
AyF Tejedores
A new enterprise in Sierra de Segura that tries to recreate the ancient techniques of weaving
Resultado de imagen de El Pilarillo Orcera
El Pilarillo
Written by: Álvaro, Teresa, Emilio and Alejandro (1º Bachillerato C)

Near the town of Orcera, there is a group of people that make handmade clothes using natural weaves. They use ancient methods in order to make the pieces they sell in their magazine and web. Moreover, they have not been carrying out this project for a long time  and have received a lot of prizes.
It is located in The Pilarillo, a country house in the middle of the mountain. The Pillarillo belongs to the town of Orcera. The people who live here live immensely among nature. So, they only have a road to go to Orcera.

They work with handcrafted looms that are not mechanized because they prefer the handcrafted production of authentic pieces. Although this makes time, they can do many textures, shapes and combinations. Each piece is made at once. Besides, they finish the pieces by hand and they use natural material.
“Our products are designed by us. You will not find any identical article all over the world because we use music, nature, colors… to inspire ourselves” told us the owners Ana and Francisco.

They make a huge number of products such as scarves, handbags, blankets and so on. You can find more information about what they produce at their website (www.ayftejedores.com).
Since the opening of their business in 2005, they have competed at many contests and have received many national and international awards.
In December 12th 2016, they took part of the Second Award to the Innovation in the rural world.

If you want to find more information about these people and their activity, or if you want to buy something, here is their Facebook profile:https://www.facebook.com/ayftejedores/

From The English Holly we are delighted to see the growing of this kind of activities because we cannot allow to lose our traditions and customs.


Modal verbs

We all know that one of the best ways to learn English is by listening to songs. Watch these videos to practice MODAL VERBS.


lunes, 6 de febrero de 2017

Conversation Club

The conversation club started two weeks ago with a group of students from first
of ESO. It will take place every Wednesday at break time. Our auxiliary teacher from Canada, Gillian Hames, will be in charge of it. We hope they enjoy their experience with English.


lunes, 30 de enero de 2017

How to compare pictures


In this slideshow, you can find some interesting ideas on how to compare photos in English. It can be useful to complete the structures you have in unit 3 (Contrast 1)

lunes, 9 de enero de 2017

A positive goal can be easily achieved.

A different vision about how to plan New Year's Resolutions could be the key to success. Listen to that video  and come to the right conclusion. Just enjoy while learning.

domingo, 8 de enero de 2017

New Year's Nightmares...


New Year’s resolutions


Many people start the New Year by making resolutions. But how long do they last?

1 Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If so, what were they?Have you kept them? Compare your answers with a partner.

2 Can you guess the correct figure in these statistics? Check your answer by scanning the article below.
Report: Health statistics
(a) 5 / 6 / 7 out of 10 adults in the UK do not do enough exercise to protect their heart.
(b) About 3 million / 9 million / 15 million people smoke in Spain.

A healthy lifestyle

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? To take up jogging? Stop smoking? It’s the beginning of February – the traditional time for people to give up their new lifestyle and
return to their old one! Seven out of ten adults in the UK do not do enough exercise to protect their heart, according to statistics from the British Heart Foundation. So why not try jogging? Experts say that jogging helps you keep fit, but should be balanced by another form of exercise – such as pilates, yoga or swimming. This means all muscles can be developed, and not just some. They recommend warm-up stretching exercises first. Many sports shoes are actually not designed for running. Leading brands such as Nike and Adidas do engineer special trainers for serious joggers – at a price!
While Britain still continues to debate a ban on smoking in public places, Spain introduced such a ban in the workplace at the start of the year. Restaurants and bars over a certain size must provide special ‘non-smoking areas’ within the next few months. It is estimated that between 8 and 10 million people out of the population of 44 million smoke.
While smoking is popular, it seems over 75% of Spaniards are in favour of the ban. Approximately 55,000 lives were lost to smoking last year in Spain. But will the culture of Spain’s famously smoky bars and restaurants change forever?
Nowadays, the health industry is worth millions of pounds a year. Can companies do more to help their employees keep fit? One Dutch company keeps workers active with a 350 metre ‘internal street’,which links the office building’s ten towers. ‘Healthyhomes’ are becoming a growing trend – executives, of course, can install a home gym, swimming pool, or even a squash court. While it costs a lot to join a fitness club, it is quite easy toadopt a healthy lifestyle. Surely everyone can take the stairs, or choose a healthy option in the staff canteen!

3. Now read the whole article. Did anything surprise you?

4. Match the words in each column to form collocations. Create sentences with some of the expressions.

                   Verb-noun                                                 Noun – Noun
(a) to take up              smoking                         (f) home                    court
(b) to adopt                 a club                             (g) fitness                 industry
(c) to ban                     a gym                            (h) staff                   gym
(d) to install                 jogging                           (i) squash                 canteen
(e) to join                    a lifestyle                        (j) health                  club


5.Discuss the following questions in small groups. Be ready to report your ideas to the class.

(a)Should smoking be allowed in the workplace?
(b)Do you eat a healthy lunch at work? If not, why not?
(c)Do you think that the health industry (e.g. sports clubs, health food) charges too much?
(d)Are there any ways in which a company can encourage employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle?


New Year’s resolution: a decision that you make on the first day of the year about the
things you intend to do or stop doing during that year.

(From:Macmillan English Dictionary. Text Bloomsbury Publishing )