Improving Pronunciation for Secondary Students

Try out some of these web pages to practise your pronunciation. ;)

Consonant Sounds. Click here

Vowel Sounds. Click here

Stress and Intonation. Click here

Pausing and Phrasing. Click here

Here we have the phonetic sounds in the English Language.



















Look for these and more on this website! Click here

Vocabulary Bank

This site practises vocabulary fields at all levels through games, quizzes and crosswords. Click here.

This is a web site to learn vocabulary by playing games. Click here.

Another web site to learn how to write vocabulary adjetives is that. Click here.

Developing Writing Skills at Higher Levels

This site helps you to improve your writing skills. Click here.
For an overview of the CPE Writing paper. Click here.
For an overview of the CAE Writing paper. Click here.
Excellent page for learning how to write formal letters in english. Click here
Report for CPE question 2. Click here.
This page is from the University of Canberra and includes tips and ideas on how to write for academic purposes. Click here.

YLE Cambridge Exams - 2º/4º/6º EPO

YLE Cambridge Exams

In today's world, learning English is a vital skill that will help your children achieve their full potential in later life. The sooner they start learning, the better — with the right methods, children can learn English quickly, effectively and enjoyably. Once they have this initial grasp of English in primary school, they will have a strong foundation which will be an advantage in their later studies.
When children learn English, it is important that they learn English which is practical and useful. It is important that they learn to speak good English and that they work towards international standards that will prepare them for study abroad, or the international world of work.
At Cambridge ESOL we believe that learning should not be stressful for children, it should be fun and stimulating. Their studies should make reading, listening and speaking in English come naturally. As their confidence develops, they will want to learn more and use English to a more challenging level.
An important part of developing that confidence is the support and encouragement you give as a parent — remember, your children need to practise their English as much as possible, including at home.
English for young learners
Children who learn English when they are young will have an advantage that will stay with them all their life. Cambridge ESOL recognises this and has developed a special system of tests designed to get children of primary school age and upwards on the path to learning English.
Young Learners English (YLE) is a reliable and consistent measure of how well your child is doing in the skills of listening, speaking and reading and writing. Tests are designed to make learning fun and children are encouraged by working towards certificates and earning the 'shields' that record their progress.
There are three levels for children to work through, Starters, Movers and Flyers, with Starters being the first, aimed at young children with very basic skills.
As children develop and work their way up to the Flyers certificate, they reach a level that will enable them to aim for the Key English Test (KET) or the Preliminary English Test (PET) in our General English range of certificates — qualifications which will be of value for further study or in the workplace.
Why should your child take Cambridge ESOL qualifications?
Clear progressWhatever your child's current age, ability, or reason for studying, Cambridge ESOL has an exam which will be appropriate for him or her to work towards.
They start from certificates aimed at primary school children (YLE) and progress towards qualifications for highly advanced students. You will see that attaining each certificate is a step that leads naturally to taking a more challenging test. Because Cambridge ESOL exams test candidates on what they know rather than what they don't know, learning is encouraged and confidence developed.
Even the most basic certificate is a start on the pathway to qualifications that are useful for work and study.
Recognition

For your child to take full advantage of the opportunities that tomorrow's world of work will offer, a qualification in English is an important asset. It is therefore best for your child to work towards certificates that are recognised by thousands of educational organisations and employers throughout the world. Government agencies, immigration authorities and professional bodies in many countries also recognise our qualifications.

Click here for sample papers

2º ESO Science -OGVP - Making a Scarecrow

Wondering how to make scarecrows? Scarecrows have been around since ancient times for keeping crop stealing animals away from gardens and fruits. Scarecrows are great humane, attractive and green ways to reduce pest damage on crops.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Step 1
Make a scarecrow cross. Scarecrows start with a basic cross in the same proportions as the familiar Christian cross. Any water resistant material will do: old fence posts, bamboo, PVC pipe, etc. Cut the tall piece the size you want the completed scarecrow to be and cut the secondary crossing piece to proportion. Put the two pieces together on the ground as a cross, and connect with tape, criss-crossing back and forth between the cross joints until the connection is firm.
Step 2
Make the scarecrow's head. In the olden days, straw from feed sacks was used to make scarecrows' heads. If you want to make the old-fashioned kind, lay a soccer ball sized amount of packed straw, completely dried grass clippings, or old leaves in the center of a yard of burlap (sold at fabric stores), gather the burlap around the stuffing, affix it to the top of the cross, and tie it closed around the top of the cross with rope or raffia cord. Cut out eyes, nose and grin from scrap fabric or use old buttons. Though these were sewn on in the olden days, you can probably get away with using fabric glue. Other modern choices include stuffing an old pillow case or canvas bag with rags, or cutting a hole in an old sports ball (soccer, basketball), affixing it to the top of the cross, wrapping about a yard of old sheet over the ball and tying it in place as with the burlap head, affixing a face with glued on craft store or felt-cut eyes, nose and mouth.
Step 3
Gather the scarecrow's outfit. Old clothing from around the house or second hand stores make great sources for outfits for making scarecrows. You need a large long sleeved shirt, gloves, and long pants. A hat large enough for the stuffed head is a fun option.
Step 4
Dress the scarecrow. Put the shirt over the "arms" of the cross. Affix a glove to each end with safety pins (if shirt sleeves aren't long enough to reach the ends, that's okay, just affix the gloves to the ends of the shirt and let them flap down a little). At this point, you can choose to stuff the inside of the shirt if you wish with straw, old rags or dried leaves. Tie the bottom of the shirt to the scarecrow's main pole to keep the stuffing inside. Or, you can just let the shirt hang free of stuffing. Attach the top of the pants to the front bottom edge of the shirt with jumbo safety pins. This scarecrow leaves the legs to blow in the breeze instead of stuffing the pant legs and pinning them down into old shoes, so there's more movement. Attach the hat to the head and secure with safety pins if it's loose.
Step 5
Put the scarecrow in place so it can move. Animals get used to even their mock enemies if they're motionless for long, possibly because they think they've died. Instead of digging a permanent hole to hold up the scarecrow, or affixing it permanently to a fencepost, have someone hold the bottom of the cross inside an empty five gallon bucket and fill it with a combination of heavy rocks and sand. This will hold up the scarecrow while enabling one or two people to move it every few days to keep it appearing live. If you've used extra heavy materials when making the scarecrow, you may need to surround the bucket with a few more smaller containers filled with stones, soil or sand to help hold up the top-heavy weight.
Step 6
Make the scarecrow motion activated by the wind. This simple handmade scarecrow can't be activated by animal movement, but it can vary its movement with each light breeze. Every few days, attach a new object to one or both of the arms: a balloon tied to a string, reflector tape, a small windsock, old scarves, old second hand wind chimes, etc. Animals will get used to the same movement and sound when it never changes, so cut off the old one and replace it with something knew every few days.

The Diary of an Organic Gardener

Spring is on the way...which means it's time for 2nd ESO to get on with their organic vegetable garden project.(OVGP). Saúl the school gardener came to turn over the earth and prepare the soil and thanks to the Ramiro Cobo garden centre in La Cavada for giving us the plants, seeds and some materials to help us on our way.
Monday 15th March 2010
It's sweltering today!! Perfect weather for venturing outside. 2ESO pupils are raring to go...we've prepared the soil and material so it's time to plant the different onion varieties. This requires care and patience, as each tiny plant is put into the soil and watered. Next a few cabbages for those winter bean stews. "What about making a scarecrow?"says one pupil. "And a white fence", says another....Looks like this project is going to last until June!

3ºESO -English Literature - Poetry Corner

Sonnet To Liberty

These are the letters which Endymion wrote

To one he loved in secret, and apart.

And now the brawlers of the auction mart

Bargain and bid for each poor blotted note,

Ay! for each separate pulse of passion quote

The merchant's price.

I think they love not art

Who break the crystal of a poet's heart

That small and sickly eyes may glare and gloat.

Is it not said that many years ago,

In a far Eastern town, some soldiers ran

With torches through the midnight,and began

To wrangle for mean raiment, and to throw

Dice for the garments of a wretched man,

Not knowing the God's wonder, or His woe?

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (Dublin, 16th October 1854 - 30th November 1900, Paris) was a writer, a poet, and a dramaturg. He is considerer one of the most important dramaturgs of the late Victorian times, he was a celebrity due to his sharp and great wit. He was condemned to two years of forced labor after a famous trial in which he was accused of “ serious indecent”. After fulfilling the

3ºESO English Literature - Poetry Corner

Life in a Love - Robert Browning

Escape me?
Never
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
so long as he world contains us both,
me the loving and you the loth,
while the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
to dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
and baffled, get up to begin again,
so the chase takes up one's life, that's all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound,
at me so deep in the dust and dark,
no sooner the old hop drops to ground
than a new one, straight to the selfsame mark,
I shape me
Ever
Removed!

A poem can stir all of the senses, and the subject matter of a poem can range from being funny or to be sad. This poem to us is about someone being in love with someone and pursuing but the person is not interested in the least, “me the loving you the loth”. Love is complicated. This poem is about how he lived in the shadow of his love.

Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812, in Camberwell, England. He was already proficient at reading and writing by the age of five, and he learned Latin, Greek, and French by the time he was fourteen. From fourteen to sixteen he was educated at home, attended to by various tutors in music, drawing, dancing, and horsemanship. At the age of twelve he wrote a volume of Byronic verse entitled Incondita, which he published. The random nature of his education later surfaced in his writing, leading to criticism of his peoms' obscurities.
Linda Camblor, Ana Remolina & Sol Lozano.

3º ESO English Literature - Poetry Corner

Robert Louis Stevenson

I know not how it is with you --
I love the first and last,
The whole field of the present view,
The whole flow of the pass
One tittle of the things that are,
Nor you should change nor I --
One pebble in our path -- one star
In all our heaven of sky.
Our lives, and every day and hour,
One symphony appear:
One road, one garden -- every flower
And every bramble dear

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a novelist, poet, and essayist. Stevenson has been greatly admired by many authors, who said of him that he "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikings.

3º ESO English Literature - Poetry Corner

IF..... Rudyard kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!