some HEADY HEADLINES

I still recall the puzzle of some newspaper headlines:

WOMEN MAN WINNING YACHT
DOG IN WELL DRAMA: NEW RESCUE ATTEMPT TODAY
P.M. MOVES TO CUT DOWN EXPENDITURE
NEWTOWN WIFE TO BE STRANGLED
HOME SECRETARY UNDER FIRE AGAIN
BAD TEACHERS FACE SACK 
EX-TROOPS CALLED UP TO DISCIPLINE PUPILS (Daily Mail FEBRUARY 26 2011)
EGG TALKS: AGRICULTURAL ADVISERS MEET
GVT HINTS AT RATIONS AS OIL SINKS
RUSH TO SUN ENDS IN JAMS
CHURCHES VICTIMS OF ART RINGS
FIRST LADY DROPS A BRICK
NEW FLYOVER SPEEDS TRAFFIC FLOW
ALL OCTOBER RAINFALL RECORDS BROKEN
HOUSEWIVES HIT BY DEARER LOAF
FISH TALKS TOMORROW
SPENDING SPREE DESPITE GLOOM
EUROMANIA HAUNTS LANGUAGE OF FOOD
A CURE FOR CANCER
EGG ON HIS FACE
OAP´S SCOOP $IM ON POOLS
CHIPS ARE DOWN FOR JOBS
CHAUVINIST HUSBAND DIVORCED
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
CAVE RESCUE
BAN ON MIGRANT CHEATS
BOTTOM-PINCHER OWNED UP AFTER WRONG MAN HELD
RETURN BY EAR MAIL
P.M. TO VISIT THE ROCK
BRITONS PUT HIGHER VALUE ON LEISURE THAN WORK
US SNUBS BRITAIN
EASTWOOD SPLITS FROM HIS SECOND WIFE
HOLY GUACAMOLE!
HEANEY, THE HUMBLE HEART-THROB OF POETRY
NHS RECRUITS THOUSANDS OF DOCTORS FROM THIRD WORLD
HIGH TIME BRITAIN STOPPED BEING UNCLE SAM´S POODLE (Daily Mail 31 Aug 2013)

Sometimes we may come across some amusing headlines:

PUERTO RICAN TEEN NAMED MISTRESS OF THE UNIVERSE

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING LAWYER RECEIVES A NEW ATTORNEY

ARMY VEHICLE DISAPPEARS

FEDERAL AGENTS RAID GUN SHOP, FIND WEAPONS

STARVATION CAN LEAD TO HEALTH HAZARDS

MIRACLE CURE KILLS FIFTH PATIENT

MEAT HEAD RESIGNS

BARBERSHOP SINGERS BRING JOY TO SCHOOL FOR DEAF

HOMICIDE VICTIMS RARELY TALK TO POLICE

HOSPITALS RESORT TO HIRING DOCTORS

STATISTICS SHOW THAT TEEN PREGNANCY DROPS OFF SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER AGE 25

PARENTS KEEP KIDS HOME TO PROTEST SCHOOL CLOSURE

 

See if you can make sense out of the following headlines:

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KEEP TALKING

Find all the questions.Ask your partner and Write his/her answers:

whatdidyoudolastweekendwhatclothesdoyouliketowearwhattimedoyouusuallygo

tobedwhatareyougoingtodotonightareyoureadingabookatthemomentwhenisyou

rnextholidaywhatisyourfavouriteenglishworddoyouplayasportwhosisyourfavou

ritesingercanyoucountfromonehundredtozerowhatareyougoingtodothisweekendw

henisyourbirthdaywhohasgotabeautifulsmilehasyourhousegotagardenwhenwerey

oubornwhattimedidyouhavebreakfastthismorningwhatdidyouhavewhereisyourb

ikedoyoupractiseskateboardingwhatareyouafraidofwhatdoyoulikemostaboutt

henighthaveyoureadfiftyshadesofgreyhaveyoudoneyourhomeworkareyougoingo

uttonightwhereareyougoingtothiseveninghowwouldyouliketodiewhatsyourjobwhatisit

whatkindofanimalwouldyouliketobewhatwouldyougivemeasabirthdaypresentwhat

kindofweatherdoyoulikebestwhatgivesyouspecialpleasurewherewouldyoul

iketoberightnowwhichhumanqualitydoyouconsiderthemostimportanthaveyoulost

anythingdoyoubelieveinlifeafterdeathareyouprejudicedagainstaparticularracedo

youtellthetruthdoyoucallthepolicewhenanemergencyhappensdoyougetnervousatexams

 

Based on an idea by Friederike Klippel Keep Talking C.U.P..

Readers Forever

One of the best teaching and learning times is when it comes to classroom reading. It´s difficult to recall all of them but the following is a list of graded or simplified readers which have motivated students to keep on reading and discover the pleasure and wonders of reading on their own.Stories are my passion.We read for entertainment and information and in order to get some nourishment for the soul....

           Author                                       Story 

Edgar Allan Poe     Tales of Mystery & Imagination..... 

Oscar Wilde  The Picture of Dorian Gray

Charles Dickens Oliver Twist, David Copperfield,...

Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer,...

John Milne  The Long Tunnel

Arthur Taylor The elephant man

O´Henry  New Yorkers

Saki(H.H.Munro) The Open Window..

William Saroyan The Barber´s Uncle,The first day at school..

D.H. Lawrence The Fox, The rocking Horse winner,...

Thomas Hardy The thieves in the cupboard

Anton Chekhov The lottery ticket,..

Guy de Maupassant  The Necklace,.. 

Daphne du Maurier  Rebecca

Jules Verne Around the World in 80 days

Mary Shelley  Frankestein

H.G. Wells  The Time Machine,Invisible man,..

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Any Sherlock Holmes story...

Nick Hornby  About a boy

William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night´s Dream

Alan C. Mc Lean   Born to run

James Joyce The dead,..

Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

Jonathan Swift Gulliver´s Travels

George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion =My fair lady

W. Somerset Maugham A man from Glasgow, Mackintosh,..

John Steinbeck  The Pearl

Richard Chisholm Meet me in Istanbul

Bram Stoker  Dracula

Ernest Hemingway  Death in the afternoon,Men without women

Theodore Dreiser An American Tragedy

Wilkie Collins  The Woman in White

Colin West  Big Wig

Francoise Sagan  Bonjour Tristesse

Roald Dahl   Matilda, The Twits...

Helen Fielding  Bridget Jones´s Diary

J.K. Rowling  Harry Potter and the Philosopher´s stone ..

Norman Whitney  The Stranger

Washington Irving  Rip Van Winkle

   T.C. Jupp   Rich man, Poor man

Michael Hardcastle Don´t tell me what to do

George Orwell Animal farm

Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom´s Cabin

Henry James  The Aspern papers

Bret Harte Adventure on Bolinas Plain

Jack London  White Fang

Jane Homeshaw  Tin Lizzie

Martin Sinclair  Sports Stars

Malorie Blackman  An Eye for an Eye

John Tully  Muhammad Ali king of the ring

Toni Murphy  Bruce Springsteen

Stephen Rabley  Tina Turner

Peter Dainty  Marilyn Monroe

Stephen Crane The Red badge of Courage

Nathaniel Hawthorne Mr. Higginbotham´s Catastrophe..

James Thurber  The Night the Ghost Got In

John Grisham  The Firm

Raymond Chandler  The long Goodbye

Graham Greene  The End of the Affair

Winston Groom  Forrest Gump

Michael Crichton  The Lost World Jurassic Park

H.E. Bates  Silas the Good

Paul Theroux   The Mosquito Coast

William Golding  Lord of the Flies 

Martin H. Mayal   The Cave

Ambrose Bierce The Devil´s Dictionary

Alistair Mac Lean   Santorini

Dian Fossey  Gorillas in the  mist

Joy Adamson Born Free

Jane Goodall In the Shadow of Man

Lewis Carroll Alice´s Adventures in Wonderland

W.W. Jacobs The Monkey´s paw

What other stories have you read(films you have seen) that are not included in the above list?

  

Try to classify the above authors according to their nationalities:
British, American,Irish,etc..

 

 

                    

from PASSION to COMPASSION

Part of the natural process of growing up(shouldn´t it be called growing down,too or shrinking?) and then growing old is moving from Passion to Compassion.

What do you think the following situations may mean?

In which contexts could we find the expressions below?

 

(half way between) OMISSION AND COMMISSION

from GRACE TO DISGRACE

ACTION TO REACTION

OPPRESSION TO DEPRESSION

DESPERATION TO EXASPERATION

OCCUPIED TO PREOCCUPIED

COMPOSE TO DECOMPOSE

CONSTRUCTING TO DECONSTRUCTING (Cuisine)

FLEXION to INFLEXION to REFLECTION

HAPPINESS to ´A PENIS

ILLUSIONS to CONCLUSIONS

PROBATION to APPROBATION

AGE to RAGE

UNDERESTIMATION to OVERESTIMATION 

from INFORMATION to FORMATION

UNIFORMITY to DEFORMITY

CRASH FOR CASH (gang)

CASH FOR CRASH (a scam) 

from THE HEART to ART (See Art Attack)

Your own very special name

We´ve tried to give our students English names in the English class as often as possible. Sometimes they were just direct translations of their Spanish equivalents(Try to find their real Spanish names):

John Brown, Michael Good, Henry Cross,Paul Siversmith; Jane Smith, Peter Bighouse,Helen Young,Angela Rivers,Immanuel Meadows,Richard Quarryman,Silvia Rich, Anthony Doors, Robert Orange tree, Edward Ray, John Martin, Andrew Bald, Alice Sardine, Angie Red, James Spain, Marisa Grey-haired, Marisol White, Diana Walls, Rosemary Rock, Christine L. Heads, Rick Thinny,Michael Pinkish, Emma Little Doors, John War,Wenceslas Apple tree, Snow Queen, Frank Rabbit, Rosemary Goat,Alice Bucket, Elizabeth Fat,Charles Warrior,Tony Bunches, Gorka Fair-haired, Mike Beautiful,John Castle, Helen Clearvillages,Anne Bottle,Joe Shoemaker, etc..

or their nicknames translated into English: Little fish, Little goat,Chips,The cuban, The chinese, the gas deliverer, Edwin,etc..
However, some surnames are obviously untranslatable: Ruiz, Pérez, García, González, Rodríguez,etc..
Mind you, other surnames are phonetically similar in both languages: Gil = Hill; Carrión = Carry on,Morán = Moran,etc..

In our culture we are traditionally given a name or two at birth but some of our students may not be very happy with both of their names and prefer to be referred to by their favourite name, nickname or affectionate term which I try to adapt into English in the belief that a person´s own name is the most essential part of a teacher to recall.

Native Americans were given a name shortly after their birth, but later in life many received a new name because of a feat they performed or a trait they exhibited. Some even received many names in a lifetime.The Teton Sioux, for example, used even three different names for each person as they aged. 

Here are some Native American (Indian) names:

 

Big bear

Happy girl

Little flowers

Brave wolf

Broken arrow

Sun boy

Snow bird

Iron Eyes

Black crow

Red Elk

Angry buffalo

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT YOUR NAME TO BE IF YOU COULD CHOOSE YOUR OWN VERY SPECIAL ONE?

Ex:

Pizza eater, Cold fingers, Warm feet, Desert flower; Rain drop,..

Remember the famous line " I don´t know about freedom, except the sweet slavery I feel when I hear his/her name I can´t avoid thrilling goose flesh"

Native Americans: A forgotten genocide

Few chapters in History have been so absurdly romanticized as the story of the Indians of the USA as portrayed in films, novels and the victors´version of events:the good ones versus the bad ´uns...
Our task is to be fair-minded and find out about the sorrows, the dignity in suffering,their fight for survival and the search for freedom of these Native Americans, the original inhabitants of the American landscape.

Find out as much as you can (tribe,deeds, contribution  to its age) about the following 30 Native American leaders:(remember Wikipedia is our best help)

 

TECUMSEH

TENSKWATAWA

OSCEOLA

OPOTHLE YAHOLA

PUSHMATAHA

POWHATAN

POCAHONTAS

POPÉ

PONTIAC

CHIEF WASHAKIE

LITTLE TURTLE

LITTLE WOLF

TAMAHAS

TILAUKAIKT

SACAGAWEA

SEQUOYAH

SATANK

SATANTA

CHIEF JOSEPH

SITTING BULL

GERONIMO

CHIEF SEATTLE

CHITTO HARJO

NIGANITHAT

RED CLOUD

CROW KING

RAIN-IN-THE-FACE

LOOKING GLASS

COCHISE

NACHEZ

KICKING BEAR

WOVOKA

Things I´ll "NEVER" do

It´s quite hard to use the word"Never"...More often than not a student has said things like:"I´ll never marry a divorced person". Years later you meet him or her with a divorced partner plus the children of a previous marriage.So, circumstances alter cases and life is a perpetual flow. Remember, never say "Never".

Here is a list of typical students´promises:

I´ll never smoke marijuana

I´ll never learn Swahili

I´ll never put a lonely hearts ad

I´ll never go on a singles cruise holiday

I´ll never be(come) gay

I´ll never be sent to prison

I´ll never have children

I´ll never become a Muslim

I´ll never pay for sex

I´ll never take part in a porn movie

I´ll never make jokes about God

I´ll never play golf

I´ll never use the Internet again

I´ll never speak to   XYZ again

I´ll never wear a bikini/ a Real Madrid scarf/...

I´ll never eat snails/ squirrels

I´ll never marry a black person/ a gipsy/..

I´ll never commit suicide

 

Can you think of other activities you will NEVER do?

The negative confession

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see."
-- Winston Churchill

Over 5000 years ago the Egyptians earnestly believed in life after death.That´s why classical Egyptian mummies had in their hands a carefully folded papyrus with a negative confession like this:

I have not stolen/ plundered

I have not killed / slain anybody

I have not told lies

I have not been an adulterer

I have not done harm to anybody

I have not caused ruin to any family

I have not drunk or eaten in excess

I have not done any wrong against Nature

I have not misbehaved

I have not committed a crime

I have not cursed

I have not caused anyone to weep

I have not eaten my heart out

I have not gone or led anyone astray

I have not been deceitful

I have not gossiped or slandered or eavesdrop

I have not been contentious in affairs

I have not caused terror

I have not become heatedly angry

I have not been arrogant

I have not reviled the Pharaoh

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, being good  can be extremely boring. Turn the above confession into positive by creating as evil a person as you can think of. Remember to draw inspiration from Satan, Lucifer or Beelzebub.....

Give him or her a name and try to draw him or her  

 

Great minds discuss ideas,
Average minds discuss events,
Small minds discuss people.

 

 

 

 

Creating poems from the net

This activity started when the Finnish businessman Sampsa Nuotio googled "AM I?" and came across the following suggestions: "Am I an alcoholic?" "Am I able to drive?""Am I allergic to dogs?" "Tell me, am I?." He found beauty,musicality and meaning in the above lines and started Google Poetics, not exactly a literary movement but just an inspiring game characterised by surrealist associations and alliteration.
Here goes our own AM I ?poem, inspired by the internet:

Am I anorexic?

Am I attractive?

Am I a psycho, a sociopath?

Am I a mess, a messy eater, a messi-ah?

Am I an a(u)nt eater? Thanks Roald Dahl

Am I a minute, an hour, or just a second?

Am I drunk?

Am I a banknote?

Am I inspiring,inspired, inspirational?

Am I cowardly?

An x?

A ring?(What kind of ring?) A ring of counterfeit driver´s licences

A witness(  "     "     "    "? ) A Jehovah witness

Am I a magician/ a wizard?

Am I a prison(er)?

Am I a motorcycle helmet?

Am I a blood red cell?

Am I a cigarette?

Am I a beer?

Am I a fan?

Am I a chess piece?

Am I a crook?

Am I an anecdote?

Am I Lb /Luis Bárcenas?

Make up your own Bard 2.0 poem starting  Do you....?

                                                                              Are you...?

                                                                              Is she/he....?

                                                                              Can you....?

                                                                              or Negative

                                                                                Don´t you.....?

                                                                                Aren´t you....?

                                                                                Can´t you.....?

The "irregularities" of irregular verbs

Traditionally, students of English have been asked to memorize long lists of irregular verbs, which they forget as soon as the exams are over. Remember, if you forget the irregular past or past participle,English people will understand you if you turn the verb into a regular form by adding -ed.
After all, language is used to communicate....
(I am bound to admit that even good students will find this activity very hard indeed)

Try to find the 20 English irregular verbs which mean the following:

      SPANISH                                            ENGLISH

lanzar, echar:          c_ _ _              c____           c____

                                  t_ _ _ _           t_ _ _ _        t_ _ _ _ _

                                  f_ _ _ _           f_ _ _ _        f_ _ _ _

                                  s_ _ _ _           s_ _ _ _        s_ _ _ _

suplicar                   b_ _ _ _ _ _    b_ _ _ _ _ _ _ b_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

pegar(se)                s_ _ _ _           s_ _ _ _          s_ _ _ _

                                cl_ _ _             cl_ _ _            cl_ _ _ 

abandonar            f_ _ _ _ _ _      f_ __ _ _ _    f_ _ _ _ _ _ _

tenderse                l_ _                   l_ _                 l_ _ _

colocar                  l_ _                   l_ _ _             l_ _ _ 

esquilar                 s_ _ _ _            s_ _ _ _          s_ _ _ _

apoyarse               l_ _ _               l_ _ _ _           l_ _ _ _

encoger(se)          s_ _ _ _ _        s_ _ _ _ _       s_ _ _ _ _ 

deslizarse              s_ _ _ _          s _ _ _             s_ _ _ 

desplegar              s_ _ _ _ _      s_ _ _ _ _        s_ _ _ _ _

esparcir                s_ _ _ _         s_ _ _ _ _ _      s_ _ _ _ _ 

ensartar               s_ _ _            s_ _ _ _ _ _      s_ _ _ _ _ _ 

                              s_ _ _ _ _     s_ _ _ _ _         s_ _ _ _ _

hinchar(se)          s_ _ _ _        s_ _ _ _ _ _      s_ _ _ _ _ _ 

(re)torcer            w_ _ _ _        w_ _ _ _          w_ _ _ _

FORFEITS

1. Many classroom games call for the payment of forfeits by the losers.The aim of a forfeit is to make  students feel rather foolish or to give them a problem to solve. I´ve used them in quizzes, spin-the-bottle and many other competitive games or simply for the sheer fun of executing an order. They could be classified according to the degree of difficulty into Innocent, Average and Diabolical:(We have over one hundred forfeits: too long to include them all here...)

2. Demonstrate breakdancing/hip hop/ flamenco

   •  Clean the blackboard

     • Count backwards from 20 to 0

       • Say the alphabet backwards

         • Touch your toes

           • Tell a joke until s.o. laughs

             • Put some money on the table

               • Put your hands on your head

                 • Draw a car in your notebook

                   • Walk round my chair

                     1. 1. 1. Balance a pencil on your nose for fifteen seconds

                            

Would you rather?

I came across this page: www.would-you-rather.com.They present you with a choice and this may lead you to feel embarrassment, pain, fear, discomfort or any other feeling. It´s also a game and you have to choose your course of action:

WOULD YOU RATHER BE  a  hammer or a nail?

                                                      SOFT/ HARD a rose or a cactus?

                                                      glass or wood?

                                                     water or fire?

                                                     bitter or sweet?

                                                     cold or hot?

                                                      an eagle or a sparrow?

                                                      a snail or a hare?

                                                      a hawk or a mouse?

                                                      a lemon or an orange?

                                                      a rock or a leaf ? 

                                                     a potato or a sweet potato?

                                                      chicken or egg?

                                                      invisible or invincible?

                                     ruled exclusively by your heart or your mind?

                                        constantly depressed or constantly afraid?

stuck in a lift for two days with s.o. who talks too much or s.o. who won´t talk at all?

                             stupid and rich or smart and poor?

                            raised by wolves or by dolphins?

                            known as a tyrant or as a wimp?

                            offensive or incredibly passive?

                            the thickest person at school or the ugliest?

                          every minute of your life indoors or outdoors?

                    embarrased or watch someone else being embarrased?

                                extremely lucky or extremely smart?(Not both)

               be gossiped about constantly or never talked about?

      be known as the most passionate person or the most generous?

never be able to say the word love or never be able to kiss?         a brilliant singer in a bad band or a mediocre singer in a pop band?

 a mouse stalked by a cat or a rabbit spotted by a hawk?

                    a bullfighter or a circus lion tamer?

 a boy named Eutrapelio or a girl named Remigia?

with s.o. for the wrong reasons or totally alone for the right reasons?

 an only child or one of eight brothers and sisters?

         Too naive or too cynical?

 able to walk on water forever or fly for 3 hours?

 beautiful and boring or very unsightly with a great personality?

tone deaf or colour blind?

famous for being a genius or for being good-looking?

known for your intelligence or for your courage?

stranded in the desert or in the jungle?

a hermit or a socializer and have to meet 200 people a day?

caught lying about your age or about how much money you make?

famous or rich? (but not both)

known as a thief or as a liar?

WOULD YOU RATHER LOOK LIKE YOU´RE 60 WHEN YOU´RE 20 OR LOOK LIKE YOU´RE 10 WHEN YOU´RE 40?

WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE...

A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY OR ESP?

A BIONIC EYE OR A BIONIC ARM?

A NOISY NEIGHBOUR OR A NOSY NEIGHBOUR?

TO DATE S.O. WHO IS ALWAYS NEGATIVE OR S.O. WHO IS FALSELY POSITIVE?

SOCIALLY RECLUSIVE CHILDREN OR BULLIES?

NO KIDS OR TEN KIDS?

MEMORY LOSS OR VISION LOSS?

YOUR HOUSE NEXT TO A RUBBISH DUMP OR A GRAVEYARD?

A FAMOUS SONG WRITTEN ABOUT YOU OR A BOOK?

QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY OR NO SENSE OF HUMOUR?

A HOME WITHOUT ELECTRICITY OR RUNNING WATER?

SEE EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN OR HEAR EVERYTHING BACKWARDS?

SUPERSENSITIVE SMELL OR SUPERSENSITIVE HEARING?

 

Make up five new choices starting with WOULD YOU RATHER..?