ST. SWITHIN'S DAY - 15th JULY

St. Swithin's Day is 15 July, a day on which people watch the weather for tradition says that whatever the weather is like on St. Swithin's Day, it will continue so for the next forty days.

Who was St. Swithin?

St. Swithin (or more properly, Swithun) was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester. He was born in the kingdom of Wessex and educated in its capital, Winchester. He was famous for charitable gifts and building churches.

Why do people watch the weather on St. Swithin's day?

A legend says that as the Bishop lay on his deathbed, he asked to be buried out of doors, where he would be trodden on and rained on. For nine years, his wishes were followed, but then, the monks of Winchester attempted to remove his remains to a splendid shrine inside the cathedral on 15 July 971. According to legend there was a heavy rain storm either during the ceremony or on its anniversary.

This led to the old wives' tale (folklore) that if it rains on St Swithin's Day (July 15th), it will rain for the next 40 days in succession, and a fine 15th July will be followed by 40 days of fine weather.

However, according to the Met Office, this old wives' tale is nothing other than a myth. It has been put to the test on 55 occasions*, when it has been wet on St Swithin's Day and 40 days of rain did not follow.

What symbols are associated with St. Swithins?

The emblems of St. Swithin refer to the legend of the forty days' rain (raindrops) and the apples from the trees he planted.

ORANGE MEN'S DAY - (Northern Ireland) - 13th JULY

Protestant Irish march with drums and pipes to commemorate the Battle of Boyne, which occurred on Ireland’s east coast in 1690. In Northern Ireland, it is a bank holiday. Schools and many businesses and organizations are closed. Some shops may be closed. Public transport services may run on their regular or special holiday timetables.

In 1690, William III of England defeated the exiled Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne. James, who had been in France, had invaded Ireland with French troops.

Men wear orange sashes and black suits and bowler hats. Orange Day marches also take place in Birmingham and Liverpool, and in some parts of Canada, for example."

This day is known as "Orangemen's Day", "Orange Day", "the Glorious Twelfth" or just "the Twelfth". The day falls on July 12. However, if July 12 is a Saturday or Sunday, the bank holiday falls on Monday, July 13 or 14.

WORLD REFUGEE DAY - 20th JUNE

2014 Theme:  "1 family torn apart by war is too many"

The United Nations' (UN) World Refugee Day is observed on June 20 each year. This event honors the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.

People honor the spirit and courage of millions of refugees worldwide on World Refugee Day. It is a day to recognize the contributions of refugees in their communities. Organizations such as Amnesty International and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) often get involved in various activities for the day. They may include:

• Activist protests against using former prisons to detain migrants and asylum seekers.
• Screenings of films about the lives of asylum seekers living in a western country.
• Organization members visiting asylum seekers in detention to offer moral support.
• Letters or petitions to governments on the treatment of asylum seekers in detention.

Some communities dedicate an entire week that includes World Refugee Day to encourage people to think about the lives of refugees and the human right to a secure place to that one can see as “home”.

RESOURCES

MUST/MUSTN'T

FUTURE - BE GOING TO

Intentions, plans
Predictions
Intentions and predictions
Listening exercises :
     - Explanation and pronunciation 
     - Birthday 1

SWEDEN WINS 2015 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

It was an exciting evening at the Vienna where in front of thousands of people in the arena and millions of people on TV, Måns Zelmerlöw from Sweden  won the 2015 edition of Europe's Favourite TV Show with his song Heroes !

MODAL VERBS ACTIVITIES

Obligation and Prohibition ( Must/Mustn't )
Obligation and Prohibition ( Must/Mustn't )
Ability in the present
Can/Can't
What can they do?
Can/Can't
School Rules
Can/Can't
Can/Can´t
Can/Can't
Can/Can't

MOTHER'S DAY IN USA - 10th MAY

  In the United States Mother's Day is a national holiday and is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. On this day people reflect on the importance of mothers in their life and thank them for their unconditional love and support. Mother's Day is celebrated in USA in a big way and has been commercialized to a great extent. It is considered as the next big day after Christmas and Valentines Day. Phone lines record a heavy traffic and card sales reaches its peak and restaurants are filled to their maximum capacity. Traditions for this day generally include things like breakfast in the bed, giving flowers, cards or gifts, and treating them to a meal.

The history of mothers day - a tribute to activist mothers from the past and present.

SHAKESPEARE AND CERVANTES WEBQUEST

SHAKESPEARE AND CERVANTES

SHAKESPEARE - PUZZLE

Do the puzzle

Jigsaw Puzzle by Crazyprofile.com

EARTH DAY - 22nd APRIL

Earth Day is a name used for two different observances, both held worldwide annually. While some people celebrate Earth Day around the time of the vernal equinox, others observe the occasion on April 22 each year. Earth Day aims to inspire awareness of and appreciation for earth's environment. It is currently observed in more than 140 countries around the world.

Watch this video by Greenpeace "Give Earth a Hand"

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

• Born: 29 September 1547
• Birthplace: Alcala de Henares, Spain
• Died: 23 April 1616
• Best Known As: Author of Don Quixote
Full name: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra


Miguel de Cervantes wrote the epic satire Don Quixote, which is regarded as the first true modern novel. Little is known of Cervantes's early life; at 23 he enlisted in the Spanish militia and then fought against the Turks in the battle of Lepanto (1571) where a gunshot wound permanently crippled his left hand. He spent four more years at sea and then another five as a slave after being captured by Barbary pirates. Ransomed by his family, he returned to Madrid but his disability hampered him; it was in debtor's prison that he began to write Don Quixote. The title character, a dreamy middle-aged nobleman, sets out through Spain on a makeshift quest to fight injustice through acts of chivalry. Cervantes wrote many other works, including poems and plays, but none had the impact or popularity of his masterpiece.
Because of his injury Cervantes was nicknamed "the cripple of Levanto"... Don Quixote is the basis for the musical Man of La Mancha... Cervantes died on the same day as author William Shakespeare.

THE FIRST MCDONALDS

McDonald's History

                                                                     
The first McDonald's Restaurant opened in Des Plaines, Illinois by McDonald's Corporation founder, Ray Kroc, on April 15, 1955.

Travel through time using our Interactive Timeline! See the birth of McDonald's, the launch of your favorite menu item, McDonald's characters, or advertising jingles!
You can navigate the timeline by clicking on the various years at the right, or by clicking on the top of each event window. Enjoy the memories!

Travel Through Time With Us!

A SIGHTSEEING TOUR IN LONDON

Read , listen and learn about London, next week we will be there.

WORLD HEALTH DAY 7th APRIL

Every year, World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of concern for WHO.

World Health Day is a global campaign, inviting everyone – from global leaders to the public in all countries – to focus on a single health challenge with global impact. Focusing on new and emerging health issues, World Health Day provides an opportunity to start collective action to protect people's health and well-being.

World Health Day 2015:Food Safety - The Global View 

 

HAPPY EASTER - GAMES

NATIONAL TARTAN DAY - USA - 6th APRIL

                   

National Tartan Day honors and celebrates Scottish culture and the role it has played in the development of the United States. Canada has been celebrating Tartan Day since 1993 and the U.S. Senate officially passed it into law in 1998.

There are three groups of people that came from Scotland to America -- the Lowland Scotts, the Highland Scotts, and the Scotch-Irish. Each of these groups has influenced American culture. They've passed on Scottish last names, introduced the sport of golf, shared the sounds of the bagpipes, and made tartan a fashion staple!

Tartan is a crisscrossed pattern of horizontal and vertical bands woven into cloth. It is made by weaving colored threads at right angles to each other. The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to ban tartan and other aspects of Gaelic culture in order to bring people under tighter government control. The law was repealed in 1782 and tartan became symbolic as the national dress of Scotland. 

To celebrate National Tartan Day, wear your favorite tartan and celebrate Scottish-American culture!

EASTER STORY

HOLY WEEK MUSEUM IN MÁLAGA

The Holy Week Museum (Museo de la Semana Santa) is dedicated to the processions that occur in Malaga during Holy Week. This is the first museum of its kind in Andalusia. Malaga is known for its Holy Week processions and is one of the few cities in Spain where all the thrones are carried on the shoulders of men and women. Other cities use thrones that are on wheels, and these are pushed by men under the thrones, which of course is much easier that carrying the thrones on the shoulders of men. It should also be noted that Malaga has the largest thrones in Spain, many of them having to be carried by at least 300 men and women.

The first Holy Week processions in Malaga took place 500 years ago, in the 16th century. The processions were a popular expression of the Christian faith by the people who took part in them, and they still are today, an outpouring of religious emotions by the people who take part in them and by the spectators. The cofradias (brotherhoods) were the organizations that organized the processions. Today there are 42 cofradias in Malaga and they all cooperated in opening the museum as a group.

The themes explained in the museum are the origin and evaluation of the brotherhoods, the processional routes, the processional image, the making of the images, the dressing of the images, the sculpture and the music. One will find many sculptures, costumes, gold and silverware used in the processions, and a large silver throne that was dismantled to bring it to the second floor of the museum. There is also a large audio visual room where 66 persons can sit and watch videos of the processions. This museum is a wonderful museum to see and experience. All explanations in the museum are both in Spanish and English.

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

Read and listen to the following text and then do the first exercise at the bottom of the page.

April Fool's Day originated from the New Year festival in the 16th century.The New Year celebrations began on March 25th and ended on April 1st. Peploe sent each other presents and invited guests round to their houses.

Then in 1582 King Charles IX of France declared, that there should be a new calendar, for the Christians, called the Gregorian Calendar.New Year was then celebrated on January 1st.

However,some people liked the old traditions and still celebrated New Year on April 1st. These people were called "April Fools" and a lot of tricks were played on them,like inviting them to imaginary parties or they were given funny presents.

After a while, everybody agreed to the new calendar, but they liked the fun they had on April 1st and carried on playing joke on people. So that is how it all started. Today it's a big tradition in Britain and people really enjoy themselves.

In France they make a paper fish and glue it to the back of a person and as soon as that person sees it they scream "Poison D'avril".(April Fish).

If you see a €100 note lying on the pavement on April 1st, then you best bet is to leave it lying there because it won't be real and you will be called and "April fool" if you pick it up.

Most April Fool jokes are meant to be funny and not to hurt others. The best April Fool joke is the one where everybody laughs - even the person who the tricks was played on in the first place.

QUIZ: Click  here

EIFFEL TOWER - 31st MARCH 1889

The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was completed on 31 March 1889 and took two years, two months, and five days to build.

Who designed the Eiffel Tower?

Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel,

Why was the Eiffel Tower built?

The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution.

How tall is the Eiffel Tower?

The tower stands at 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the Chrysler Building in New York City.

What is the Eiffel Tower made from?

The Eiffel Tower is built of pure iron.

CHANGING THE CLOCKS IN UK - 29th MARCH

In the UK, we all change our clocks and watches by one hour, twice a year. Last Sunday in March We add an hour and go onto what is called British Summer Time (BST). Last Sunday in October We put our clocks back one hour and adhere to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). At 1 am (01:00) GMT on the last Sunday in March we move our clocks forward by one hour for the start of British Summer Time. Summer time is from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. 

 Why do we change our clocks?

We've been changing our clocks forwards and backwards in the UK since 1916. It's all to do with saving the hours of daylight, and was started by a man called William Willett, a London builder, who lived in Petts Wood in Kent (near our school). William Willett first proposed the idea of British Summer Time in 1907 in a pamphlet entitled 'The Waste of Daylight'. Willett had noticed that the summer mornings light was wasted while people slept, and that the time would be better utilised in the afternoon by putting the clocks forward. After campaigning for years the British Government finally adopted the system a year after Willett's 

 When do other countries change their clocks? 

 European Union - Most countries change their clocks on the last Sundays of March and October. North America and most of Canada on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Egypt, Namibia and Tunisia are the only African countries who observe daylight saving. New Zealand and parts of Australia are the only countries in Oceania that currently put their clocks forwards and backward

WORLD THEATRE DAY - 27th MARCH

Created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by ITI Centers and the international theatre community. Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion, such as the creation and circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which, at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The author of the Message of World Theatre Day 2015 is the Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski!

World Theater Day Message 2015

The true masters of the theater are most easily found far from the stage. And they generally have no interest in theater as a machine for replicating conventions and reproducing clichés. They search out the pulsing source, the living currents that tend to bypass performance halls and the throngs of people bent on copying some world or another. We copy instead of create worlds that are focused or even reliant on debate with an audience, on emotions that swell below the surface. And actually there is nothing that can reveal hidden passions better than the theater.  

Most often I turn to prose for guidance.  Day in and day out I find myself thinking about writers who nearly one hundred years ago described prophetically but also restrainedly the decline of the European gods, the twilight that plunged our civilization into a darkness that has yet to be illumined. I am thinking of Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann and Marcel Proust. Today I would also count John Maxwell Coetzee among that group of prophets.

Their common sense of the inevitable end of the world—not of the planet but of the model of human relations—and of social order and upheaval, is poignantly current for us here and now. For us who live after the end of the world. Who live in the face of crimes and conflicts that daily flare in new places faster even than the ubiquitous media can keep up. These fires quickly grow boring and vanish from the press reports, never to return. And we feel helpless, horrified and hemmed in. We are no longer able to build towers, and the walls we stubbornly construct do not protect us from anything—on the contrary, they themselves demand protection and care that consumes a great part of our life energy. We no longer have the strength to try and glimpse what lies beyond the gate, behind the wall. And that’s exactly why theater should exist and where it should seek its strength. To peek inside where looking is forbidden.

 “The legend seeks to explain what cannot be explained. Because it is grounded in truth, it must end in the inexplicable”—this is how Kafka described the transformation of the Prometheus legend.  I feel strongly that the same words should describe the theater. And it is that kind of theater, one which is grounded in truth and which finds its end in the inexplicable that I wish for all its workers, those on the stage and those in the audience, and I wish that with all my heart.

Krzysztof Warlikowski

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY - 23rd MARCH

This year, the theme is:

"Weather and climate: engaging youth."

Each year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization, its 189 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day around a chosen theme. This day commemorates the entry into force, on that date in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. Subsequently, in 1951, WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System.

This video-clip was presented on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day 2011 (23 March) to launch the Puppet Planet Project. It is a UN initiative launched by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),  to promote climate literacy and the creative economy. The goal is to encourage action to address climate challenges, while promoting cultural diversity, sustainable development and the creative industries in developing countries.

WORLD WATER DAY - 22nd MARCH

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.   When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’. Coping with population growth and ensuring access to nutritious food to everyone call for a series of actions we can all help with: follow a healthier, sustainable diet; consume less water-intensive products; reduce the scandalous food wastage: 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost! produce more food, of better quality, with less water. At all steps of the supply chain, from producers to consumers, actions can be taken to save water and ensure food for all. And you? Do you know how much water you actually consume every day? How can you change your diet and reduce your water footprint? Join the World Water Day 2012 campaign “Water and Food Security” and find out more! World Water Day and One Drop team-up to create new game! The World Water Day Team have joined up with One Drop to create a new game which teaches you how much water is needed to create your meal, while ensuring that you get the nutrition you need.