2017.01.25 - Class 13

Housekeeping

We talked about how you will be doing parts of the next practice exam over the next couple of weeks depending on your attendance and other factors. You might want to bring a snack to eat during our break time for the next few classes if you think that will help you.

We also quickly reviewed your homework. You can find the answers to p.36 ex1 in this Quizlet list. I also encourage you to study this list if you need to. The answers for p.36 ex3 are: a) totally, b) extremely, c) absolutely, d) quite, e) very.

I also returned your texts about the photos from 2016, which I really enjoyed! I was not able to finish marking your essays and will return them to you next week.

¿De qué estarán riendo? - translate into English

Speculating or making a supposition

The last time we looked at some photographs, we more or less knew what was happening in them. But often on the First Certificate (and in life) you often have to guess what his happening.

We looked at some ways to do this and considered the following from Spanish grammar:

• Especulación o suposición sobre un hecho en el presente:
1. Tendrá muchos deberes, será por eso que está tan estresada.
2. Debe tener muchos deberes...
3. Es posible que tiene muchos deberes...

We translated these three sentences into English using the modal verbs 'must' and 'might'. We also talked about similar forms such as:

• modal + V    (e.g. 'She might have a problem')
• modal + be + adjective   (e.g. 'She might be upset because ...')
• modal + be + V-ing   (e.g. 'She might be sleeping now')

What about when we want to speculate about what happened, i.e. the past?

• Especulación o suposición sobre un hecho en el pasado:
1. Habrá tenido una avería, por eso no ha llegado.
2. Debió tener una avería...
3. Es posible que tuviera una avería...

We also translated these into English (using 'must have' and 'might have') and


We also considered how to pronounce them in reduced forms:

• must have -> must've -> 'musta'  (must of)
• might have -> 
• could have -> 
• must be ->
• might be ->

Finally, we also used the Grammar section on p.96 in your book to work on the grammar for this a bit more and used the images on p.123 for Speaking part 2 practice.

Whodunnit

On the piece of paper I gave you, write short answers to these three questions:

1. What did you do on Saturday night?
2. What is one of your favorite books or films?
3. What was the last thing you ate before now?

I'll explain what to do after this. Pay attention to your pronunciation - practice using reduced forms.

John Lewis Christmas ad

First, some vocabulary for talking about the video:

I'll explain what we're going to do with this - just putting the links here so we can find them easily.

Still images.

Homework

• p.97 ex3 (write 1 reply to each sentence)
• p.97 ex5 (write 3 sentences about each photo)
• Study recent vocabulary in Quizlet for a quiz next week:
• January Miscellany
• Extreme adjectives

Finally, I do not endorse this video, but thought you might (notice the word 'might'!) find it interesting:

2017.01.18 - Class 12

From Practice exam to Writing workshop

Last week we agreed that today we would start a practice test. In the end, what we did today is a writing task (more specifically, an essay, which is required in part 1 of all FCE exams).

You've all done a lot of essay writing at school and in your English classes. Nevertheless, we reviewed the basic structure of an FCE-style essay and how to prepare for writing one using pp.30-1 of your book.

Then we reviewed the question you wrote about (p.44 of this pdf) and you planned your response. You compared your plans with each other and then wrote your essays.

After reviewing one of the sample essays written for the same question as you wrote about ('Teenagers are too young to teach other people about anything'. 1. Technology, 2. The environment, 3. Your own idea), you exchanged essays and gave feedback and marks to each other.

I will also read and mark your papers. The marks you get will count towards the mock exam we'll be doing over the next few weeks.

We ended class with a couple of songs in Lyricstraining.

Homework

1. pp.34-5 (Reading part 6): ex 3 (the exam task)
2. p.36 Vocabulary: ex 1 and 3

2017.01.11 - Class 11

Happy New Year and Welcome back!

Today you wrote to each other about your holidays and the contact you had with English.

We then looked ahead to what's coming up this term. In the next few weeks, we'll be doing another practice exam. We'll do part of it in the next class (Class 12, 18 January) and then the rest on a date that works best for the majority, keeping in mind retreats, exams, trips, etc. It will be one of the following.

• 25 January
• 1 February
• 8 February

Photographs

We did an activity based on this photo listening to what the photographer said about it in this audio. Some vocabulary that came up form this was:

• van (furgoneta)
• suitcase (rhymes with 'fruit', not 'sweet')
• human statue

We then looked at six photographs from Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Photos:

A Man on the Moon (1969)

1. A Man on the Moon (1969)
2. The Hand of Mrs. Wilhelm Röntgen (1895)
3. The Hindenburg Disaster (1937)
4. The Burning Monk (1963)
5. Oscars Selfie (2014)
6. Alan Kurdi (2015)

We talked about why each one could be considered influential and then you wrote short texts explaining which of the six you think is the most influential. You also commented on your classmates' choices in writing.

Textbook

After the break, we did a quick review of Unit 2 and corrected it.

Homework

You have a choice - choose only 1 or 2 (don't do both).

1. Choose one of the images from Time Magazine's 10 Best Photos of 2016. Which one would say is the most important or influential? Why? Explain why and what you think about the photograph in 75-150 words. You don't need to describe it - explain why it is significant.
2. What image of yours from 2016 is the most meaningful for you? Why? Explain the story behind it and what it means to you. Print a copy of your picture with a 75-150 word text explaining it.