White Christmas

There is only a few days for Christmas and my students of 1st ESO have been working a lot, so in these two last classes, I want to enjoy Christmas time with them. We will be learning the carol White Christmas sung by the young artist Taylor Swift.

We will also try to learn what is a Christmas cracker and how to make them. 

Do you know what it is? Tell us!

Roar by Katy Perry

"Roar" by Katy Perry

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath

Scared to rock the boat and make a mess

So I sat quietly, agreed politely

I guess that I forgot I had a choice

I let you push me past the breaking point

I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)

Already brushing off the dust

You hear my voice, you hear that sound

Like thunder gonna shake the ground

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)

Get ready 'cause I’ve had enough

I see it all, I see it now

CHORUS I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire 'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar Louder, louder than a lion 'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh You’re gonna hear me roar

Now I'm floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own heroYou held me down, but I got up (HEY!)

Already brushing off the dust

You hear my voice, you hear that sound

Like thunder gonna shake the ground

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)

Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough

I see it all, I see it now

CHORUS

I really like this song because  its lyrics talk about a woman who turns from being a passive individual to taking control of the situations, I also like the video very much. I hope you enjoy it too.

Singing in the rain...

I know it is reeeally hot, at least here in Spain, but as I now have much more free time, I came across this old video which is very well subtittled and is one of my favourite pieces of a musical. It is also very optimistic and talks about partying at that time.
I hope you enjoy it!

Bruno Mars: When I was your man

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now

Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same

When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down

Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name

It all just sounds like oooooh…

CHORUS: 

Mmm, too young, too dumb to realize

That I should 've bought you flowers

And held your hand

Should 've gave you all my hours

When I had the chance

Take you to every party

Cause all you wanted to do was dance

Now my baby's dancing

But she's dancing with another man

My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways

Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life

Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ohh…

And it haunts me every time I close my eyes

It all just sounds like oooooh…

CHORUS

Although it hurts

I'll be the first to say that I was wrong

Oh, I know I'm probably much too late

To try and apologize for my mistakes

But I just want you to know

I hope he buys you flowers

I hope he holds your hand

Gives you all his hours

When he has the chance

Take you to every party

Cause I remember how much you loved to dance

Do all the things I should 've done

When I was your man

Do all the things I should 've done

When I was your man

Preparing ourselves for the holidays... I chose this song by Bruno Mars which contains the perfect modal "should have" that makes part of the only unit we have not seen this year, you can learn more about modals in this post and enjoy this song as much as I do.

Do you like it?

The little chick cheep

In these days, things around myself are getting too serious, so I feel like doing something not serious at all.

This video is very funny, I see my students smiling when they watch it, specially at the  end of it, that is why I would like to share it here.

Nevertheless, it is also a fun way of learning of vocabulary by the repetition of the words; on the one hand, we revise animals' vocabulary that my students already know; on the other hand, we get to learn the onomatopoeic sounds these animals make, which is new vocabulary. I have not found the lyrics in English but it is a very repetitive song which basically follows this pattern:

"On the radio there's a little (name of animal) and the (name of animal) (name of onomatopoeic sound)
and the (name of animal) (name of onomatopoeic sound)
and the (name of animal) (name of onomatopoeic sound)
On the radio there's a little (name of new animal) and the (name of old animal) (name of onomatopoeic sound of the old animal)..."

Names of the animals and sounds in order:
chick->cheep, hen->co-co, cock*->doodle doo, turkey-> gobble-gobble, pigeon-> cru-cru, cat-> mew, dog-> woof, goat-> mah, lamb-> bah, cow-> moo, bull->muu, tractor-> brumm.

This songs cheers me up and I hope it also works with you, all the students working for final exams and all the teachers who work hard day by day.  Do you like it? Does it cheer you up?

 *This can also be a rude word, be careful!