Thanksgiving

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on thr fourth Thursday in November since 1789, when George Washington made it an official national holiday. Actually, people have celebrated the harvest in fall for hundreds or maybe thousand of years, but what they celebrate in the USA is the first harvest of the Pilgrims, one year after they landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Theu also give thanks for the help and advice of the Native Americans, who introduced the Pilgrims to pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberries, and, of course, turkey. That is why they eat these food on Thanksgiving.

Americans often live and work far from where they grow up, so for many people Thanksgiving is the only time in the year when they can get together with the whole family, and that's another thing to give thanks for. Everyone helps to prepare the meal and then usually spends the rest of the day watching the football game on tv.

In these spirit I am going to take this space to say thanks for many things I have been blessed

.

* I am grateful for my health
* I am thankful for the ability to have faith
* I am thankful for a husband who is also my best friend.
* I am grateful for a job that challenges me, drives me crazy, makes me want to be better.
* I thank my grandmother who has never let my believe that my problems were as big as I saw them.
*I am thankful for the people who make me uncomfortable because it only reflects my own weaknesses and the things I have to evolve
* I am grateful for the sandwich I just had, prepared by mu ultimate favorite chef.
* I am grateful for this space that allowed me today to write from my heart, and even if we are not thankful everyday, this post is here to remind me that TODAY I managed to see things differently.

What about you, dear students. What do you give thanks for?

Advertising

The groups organized themselves and came up with an advertising.
Then, they voted on the best one.

And the winner is:

Which hotel do you want to stay on your next vacation?

Write which hotel do you prefer to stay and why?Use these words to help you COMPARE them:

BEAUTIFUL INTERESTING EXPENSIVE CALM GOOD BAD COLD HOT.....

I would love to stay in a bungalow in Bora Bora. I think it's calmer, more peaceful, hotter, more beautiful and better than an Ice hotel.

What do you think?

What are they doing?

How much or How many ???? Studying fo the test

T5 Group,

Remember that class with the blindfold?

When you can count do you ask How much or How many?

And when you can't count- what do you use?

Let's review that for the test?????

Express 1

Neide, Kenia, Aline, Helena and Weudes

These are the cool people I get to hang out on Fridays.

For you: feel free to use this space to ask questions, give me suggestions, feedbacks and everything you feel like it.

XX

Sales 50% OFF

Each student organized a "store" with special discounts to attract the clients.

I have to say Celio is a "natural".

So, write the dialogue -between a clerk and a client- just like we did on that day in class.

Questions Obama

Well well....Nobody can say we are not "in fashion".

Nothing can be more current than the USA candidate above.

So...Let's practice what we learned.

1) Where does he live?

2) Where does he work?

3) What's his occupation?

3) Where is he from?

Imperatives! T2 only

Hi dear,

Read the comics and write down as many sentences in the imperative as you can:

( Click on the comics to enlarge it)

Now look and the comics and write what are they saying- Use the imperative



(CLICK ON THE COMICS TO ENLARGE IT)

Farewell Party Express 1

When they first started they didn't know how to say anything in English and now they are able to understand this brief text.RIGHT????
Nilton,Wal, Analice, Murilo, Cida, Telma and even Adriana -who couldn't be at the party: I wish you all the success you can have in this life. I hope to see you go further in your studies .
It was a big pleasure to have met you all!
The party took place at Nilton's house and was prepared by his beautiful wife.
Thank you !

PS- My new "little friend" is the sweetest thing!

How embarassing!!!!

Dear students,

Complete the spaces with simple past or past continuous

Cyber treasure Hunt

This activity is open to T2 and lower levels ONLY!

The rules


* The Hunt will have 3 stages and this is the first one


* The student who completes the 3 stages will receive a homework coupon which will allow you to substitute a paper homework.


* You can only go to the next stage if you answer correctly

Now the fun part:

Look at the picture and asnwer :

What time does Garfield go to bed?

Treasure Hunt at Interamérica

FIND THE CLUES BY ANSWERING QUESTION AND GO AFTER THE TRESURE!!!!

Who discovered the treasure?

Pedro, Lucas and Lísia.

What do you do on...?

WANTED

Say who you think the suspect is and decide a punishment for his/her crime.

Research and cut out class

During this class they had a chance to research infomration on the internet and prepare a cardboard.
How did you like this activity????/

T5 Competition

Watch the trailerof the new Batman movie and
1. Write the crimes you can see

2. Complete the sentence:
"You either die a _____________ or you live long enough to see yourself become the __________".

3. How many times did you hear the word BATMAN in the trailer?

Students who participate on this competition will receive a homework coupon which means they will have a bonus of one homework from unit 5.

Hope to see everybody here!
Andressa

Congratulations Luíza

Luíza won the blog competition last week.
She was the first to discover the "Guess who" game.
You are right, dear: it was Beyonce!
Congratulations!

Let's celebrate the OLympics

1. How many people are there in the world? About 60 million X About 6 billion
2. Where do people come from? From unique places X From the same places
3. For a few weeks, people set aside their differences. True X False
4. People stand and cheer and celebrate individually. True X False
5. People remember things that make them different. True X False
Watch the segment again and complete the text.

'There are________________ of us. We all come ___________, with __________ of looking at the world.
We___________ , but for a_____________________ , we set it all_____________ . "

ALL MY STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE TRYING TO COMPLETE THE THE INFORMATION ABOVE.

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

XX

T2 competition: Guess Who

Try to guess who is the celebrity on the picture and receive a special reward.

IMPORTANT: only T2 students are allowed in this competition.

* She is from USA.

* She doesn`t speak Portuguese.

*She doesn`t have children.

* She is a singer and one of her famous song is called : Irreplaceable

* She has a famous boyfriend. He is the hip hop singer Jay Z.

Here goes a picture of her:

Good Luck!

Teacher`s corner: T5 class using the zodiac signs

Hello everybody,

I have this material in a printable version with pictures so if you are interested just let me know.
As in Unit 1 of T5 they are learning personality you can use the list of qualities of the zodiac signs in many ways.
I used it by giving each student a list and based on what they read, they tried to guess the signs of their classmates.

Capricornus
POSITIVE
Patient, reliable, warmhearted, loving, persistent, determinedplacid and security loving
NEGATIVE
Jealous, possessive, resentful, inflexible and greed.

Aquarius
POSITIVE
Adventurous, energetic, pioneering, courageous, enthusiastic, confident, dynamic and quick-witted
NEGATIVE
Selfish, quick-tempered, impulsive, impatient and foolhardy.

Pisces
POSITIVE
Adaptable, versatile, communicative, witty, intellectual, eloquent, youthful and lively
NEGATIVE
Nervous, tense, superficial, inconsistent, cunning and inquisitive.

Aries
POSITIVE
Imaginative, sensitive, compassionate, kind, selfless, unworldly, intuitive and sympathetic
NEGATIVE
Escapist, idealistic, secretive, vague, Weak-willed and easily led

Taurus
POSITIVE
Friendly, humanitarian, honest, loyal, original and inventive, independent and intellectual
NEGATIVE
Intractable, perverse, unpredictable, unemotional and detached

Gemini
POSITIVE
Practical, prudent, ambitious, disciplined, patient, careful, humorous and reserved
NEGATIVE
Pessimistic, fatalistic, miserly, grudging over conventional and rigid

These are just some examples. The complete list is too long to be posted here.
Take care

Teacher`s corner: Wallace's idea for T2 class

Dear Wallace shared a great activity for zero classes and can be adpatable to many other levels.

This was done at T2 groups and it was a great success.

You'll need: * Balloons * String * Paper
How to do it:

- Enter the class in silence and don't talk much to them( that itself is already shocking)

- Give each student a piece of paper with a review question from T1

Examples of questions:

1- what's you name?

2- where is your father from?

3- How old are you?

4- What time is it?

5- What's your favorite band?

6-What time is it?

7-What sport do you play?

8- What's your mother's name?

- Students put the question in the balloon and tie it on their legs with the string and the game starts: the purpose it to blow as many balloons as you can and keep yours safe.




-When the students have their balloon blown, they have to take the paper go to the board and write the question

- when the game finishes and all the questions are on the board it's time to work in pairs and interview their classmates. They report to the class.
* Teacher must participate. Remember that until this moment they know nothing about you.


Thanks Wallace. It was greeeeeeeeeeeeeat!

T2 group at Interamérica

Challenging but rewarding!

It was my first time teaching at Interamérica, so I had to get situated on the classes, the stereo policy and the place itself.
I tried to find a cozy class but the best I could do was to organize the desks in a way that I would be able to see everyone.
I left the class for a little while to get an eraser for the board and by the time I returned they were all in there....Running, screaming, laughing, talking. They didn't bother looking at me at all.
One of them actually said "Are you the new teacher? Poor you! Nobody deserves us."
I knew the first approach would have to be shocking so that they would pay attention.
So I told them (in the middle of a messy class) straight away:
Hello! I'm Andressa and I have important news: I am not afraid of you. None of you. Everything you do I can do it do. You like to play games? So do I.... Do you like to dance? I do too..... Do you like talking? I love it. So why it is that we can't find a way to do everything together instead of trying to keep one another from having fun????
It worked for a little while as they were all mistified looking at me. After a brief silence one of them asked me:
Do you like to play games?
-U hum...
The other one went:
What games do you like?
Suddenly they were interested in my life asking questions that I answered and turned back to them.
The rest of the class went by smoothly but we didn't stop for a second.
In the end I already liked them, I understood them and hopefully they understood me too.
Surprinsingly amusing!!!!!!!!
They are: Nicole,Matheus, Pedro, Lucas, Bruna and Isabela.

K4 group at Bueno Branch

My impression on those lovely "angels":

Ana Luíza -> The sweetest thing

Leonardo -> Cooperative and always trying help

Jeferson -> Loud, happy and full of energy.

Luiz Eduardo -> Quiet but not in a shy way. He is also very energetic.

Gregório -> Honest, serious and quiet.

Isabella -> Full of personality, kindness and team spirit.

Mix all those qualities and be sure to have a one of a kind group.

T5 gang at Jardim Atlantico

These are the good people I have the pleasure to teach every mondays and wednesdays at 3:50PM.
They are : Victoria, Vítor, Fernando, Sergio,Luis Guilherme and Mateus.
It was great to meet you!

The faces of the T2 students at Jardim Atlantico branch

These are the cool students I have at this group : Ramon, Estevão, Lucas, Caio, Larissa, Lorena, Luíza, Elisa, Marcela and Amanda.

We wrote a little "contract" for the semester and I told them they could ask me 5 things they wanted from me through the course.
I found their "requests" so interesting and also very easy.

* Pair work ( can you believe that?)

*Interesting projects ( fantastic)

*To be rewarded when they receive a good grade. (piece of cake)

* To have a movie class every once
and a while

* Surprising classes


With all of those amazing requests I'm sure we are in for a wonderful time together!

A brand new semester

"Every single day is a brand new chance to turn your life around"

Hello you all,

Here I am making an attempt to share all the fun we have in class.
I hope we use this space to ask question, post feedback and suggestions.
It's also a chance to post our favorite pictures, movie reviews and insights.
Our classes start this week and I have not yet met you but I hope to have a great semester and that you can learn from me as much as I will surely learn from you.

Here is a number of tips (taken from the book Como não aprender Inglês) which may help you through the course.

Tips for the students
1.Sinta-se envaidecido com o que você já sabe e entende.Não se cobre tanto pelo que não entende ainda.
2.A atitude do aluno é o fator mais importante,independentemente de qual professor,escola ou material ele tenha.
3.Não adianta culpar seu professor.Culpa-lo não vai trazer pra você um emprego melhor ou uma promoção.Aprender inglês, apesar do seu professor, vai.
4.É claro que você vai entender antes de poder falar.Não é assim que os bebês aprendem?O que um bebê fala primeiro?Mamãe ou E=mc?
5.Deixe o som da língua penetrar na sua consciência.Cada língua tem sons diferentes, ou será que você confundiria francês com russo?
6.Leia-muito.
7.Pergunte,sim,mas questione menos.Assim você não correrá o risco de ouvir: Porque é assim mesmo e acabou.
8.Assuma responsabilidade pelo seu progresso.As pessoas que aprendem línguas o fazem porque o querem, e pronto.

Well sweet people...that's all for today!
XXX