Phonics rules

Listed below are some of the phonics rules that we will learn this year to help us to decode words and apply in the reading and writing process. We will learn these skills through whole group, small group, individual practice time, and games to reinforce each rule and make it fun to learn and recall.

False friends

absolutely	completament	completamente, totalmente
actually	en realitat, realment, de fet	en realidad
blank	en blanc, buit	espacio en blanco, hueco
carpet	catifa, moqueta	alfombra, moqueta
complexion	cutis, pell	cutis, tez
exit	sortida, eixida	salida
fabric	roba, tela	tejido, tela
library	biblioteca	biblioteca
parents	pares (pare i mare)	padres (padre y madre)
pretend	fingir,fer veure	fingir, aparentar
recluse	ermità	ermitaño
sane	en el seu seny, entenimentat	cuerdo
sensible	sensat	sensato
vase	gerro	florero, jarrón

Pumpkin soup

Cooking time

Prep: 20 mins    Cook:25 mins

Skill level

Easy

Seakettle

Informal letter - structure

Hi Leo,

It's been a while since we wrote, so I thought I'd drop you a line to bring you up to date with

what's been happening here.

I suppose the most important thing is that Jane's job is more secure than we thought. At the

beginning of the year, when she got the job, we thought it might only be for one semester, but

we just found that she has a permanent contract of sorts. Obviously this is great, as it means

we can relax a little. I still don't have what I really want work wise, but it will happen soon.

You have to stay positive, don't you?

My parents are both fine, and I think they are really happy that we've moved back. For us, it's great to be so close to family again, an extra sense of comfort and security. We see my sister quite often as she's in London, although we're not that bothered about going into the city. So, what about you these days? Are you still stuck in that old job? Since I've been having so much trouble getting a job I understand your reluctance to change. There is nothing worse than filling in endless application forms, with no idea of what it will lead to.

Anyway, I've got another form to fill in so I'll love you and leave you.

Regards

John

Recommended Reading Books

Macmillan Graded Readers 

Beginner Level

Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera

George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss

Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Elementary Level

Robert Louis Stevenson: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Pre - Intermediate Level

Henry James: Daisy Miller

Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

Set Texts for Cambridge English Exams FCE 2013

William Thackeray: Vanity Fair

Mary Stewart: This Rough Magic

Other Recommended books for FCE

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Anthony Hope: The Prison of Zenda

George Orwell: 1984

Audio words - Vocabulary bank

To extend your vocabulary and practice pronunciation.

https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/c_pronunciation/?cc=global&selLanguage=en

Pronunciation of English Sounds

These are fun activities to practise pronunciation - Elementary Level

https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/elementary/c_pronunciation/?cc=global&selLanguage=en

Leisure and pleasure activities

Sports of risk/extreme sports. Match the sport with its definition:

a. bungee jumping

b. hang-gliding

c. paragliding

d. parkour/free running

e. potholing

f. snowboarding

g. white-water rafting

h. canyoning

1. moving along a route, typically in a city, trying to get around or through various obstacles in the quickest and most efficient manner possible, jumping, climbing, or running.
2. riding on a raft over rough, dangerous parts of a fast-flowing river.
3. gliding through the air while hanging suspended from a harness resembling a large kite.
4. leaping from a bridge or other high place with a long length of a special rope that stretches tied to your legs, so that you go up again without touching the ground.
5. jumping into a fast-flowing stream at the bottom of a canyon and allowing oneself to be carried downstream at high speed.
6. sliding downhill on snow while standing on a board resembling a short, broad ski attached to the rider’s feet.
7. jumping from a plane or a high place and floating slowly to the ground wearing a type of parachute that allows you to control where you go.
8. exploring underground caves.

Learning Phrasal Verbs Can be fun

Some students find phrasal verbs very difficult to learn, and some even hate them. To those students, I say that phrasal verbs are not really so difficult to learn if you go about it the right way.

Here are a few hints for teachers, drawn on my long teaching experience:

• Teach your students a limited number of Phrasal Verbs each time.
• Have your students learn the verbs in context. Give them a non-phrasal equivalent for each new phrasal verb they learn, whenever there is one. If there isn’t one, give them a good definition, either in English or in Spanish, of the phrasal verb in question.

Learning phrasal verbs

1.- What do we understand by ‘phrasal verb’?

A ‘phrasal verb’ can be defined as the combination of a verb plus one or sometimes two particles whose meaning is different from the sum of its components: to put up = to give lodging to somebody, for example, is a phrasal verb but to belong to (pertenecer a) is just a verb which patterns with the preposition to, but this preposition does not alter the meaning of the verb= ‘pertenecer’.

Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous

En líneas generales, puede decirse que la diferencia entre el present perfect y el present perfect continuous es la que hay en español entre 'haber hecho algo' o 'haber ocurrido algo' y 'haber estado haciendo' o 'haber estado ocurriendo' algo, es decir con el present perfect expresamos que hemos hecho algo o que ha ocurrido algo y que la acción está acabada aunque la acción guarde alguna relación con el momento actual:

I've repaired the car myself; you needn't take it to the garage - he arreglado el coche yo mismo; no tienes que llevarlo al taller (la acción está completada), mientras que, si usamos el present perfect continuous y decimos:

Phonetic chart

http://www.stuff.co.uk/calcul_nd.htm

Grammar Unit 2 Countable and uncountable nouns

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

• Nouns in English are countable or uncountable. Countable nouns have a singular and plural form.

         Car – cars
         House – houses
         Man – men
         Woman – women
         Child – children
         Person – people

Grammar Unit Present simple

PRESENT SIMPLE

• We use it for actions that happen repeatedly or habitually.

           Ex: Sally often goes to the swimming pool
                 We have breakfast at 7.30 in the morning.

• We also use the present simple for things that are always or normally true.

          Ex: Apples grow on trees
                He lives in Italy