Wednesday 30 October 2013

Year 3: Halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.

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If you want to find out more about Halloween, you can visit this website.
You can do the following reading exercise. It might be very useful if you are thinking of buying a house.

Happy Halloween!

Year 5: The New Catacomb

Do you want to hear a scary story? Follow the illustrations and listen carefully as the story develops. This story is called 'The New Catacomb' and was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Vocabulary is provided during the story, and there is a quick quiz at the end. If you want to read the unabridged story, visit the following website.

Happy Halloween!

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Year 5: 127 HOURS

Below you can watch the trailer of the film 127 hours we talked about briefly last week. I'm sure you can identify some of the vocabulary you came across in the listening exercise I sent you. Click here if you want more information about the incredible story of Aron Ralston.

Wednesday 2 October 2013

The most common mistakes in English. Lesson 1

Dear Students,

Watch the following video in case you want to know more about common mistakes in English. There are more videos like this on Youtube and I think you can subscribe to the lessons too. I hope you find this information useful.