Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania is a 2012 American 3D computer animated fantasy comedy film.

It tells the story of count Dracula, the owner of the Hotel Transylvania where only monsters can go. 

On the occasion of the 118^th birthday of his daughter Mavis, Dracula invites some monsters for a party, but the hotel is unexpectedly visited by a “human” young boy, Jonathan. Dracula must protect Mavis from falling in love with him.

Hotel Transylvania 2 was released in 2015 and the story takes place seven years later. The hotel is now open to human guests, too. In the meanwhile, count Dracula had a grandson who is not a pure-blood vampire…

     Hotel Transylvania - Trailer

"The Zing" song

Hotel Transylvania soundtrack 

Let' s meet the main characters

I made this Piktochart poster for you

STUDENTS' TASK

Answer the following questions after watching the film

1. Did you enjoy the film? Why/why not?
2. Which is your favourite character? Why?
3. What is your favourite scene? Why?
4. Would you like to be Jonathan? Would you like to have an experience like his own?
5. What would you do if you were Mavis, would you always obey your overprotective father or would you try to win more freedom?

Answer the questions related to the clip

Some songs to talk about world hunger and poverty

October was World Hunger Action Month!

http://www.stophungernow.org/articles/world-hunger-month-2011-10-04

May, 28 2015 will be World Hunger Day

http://youtu.be/IX8w__WR9Xc?list=PLHpm1ZOoHs84l9PKWWqix-kLyBCi6P12k

https://www.youtube.com/user/WorldHungerDay

http://www.thehungerproject.co.uk/getinvolved/worldhungerday/world-hunger-day-purpose/

http://www.thehungerproject.co.uk/song/

What causes hunger?

http://www.wfp.org/hunger/causes

http://eschooltoday.com/hunger-and-malnutrition/causes-of-hunger.html

https://www.freedomfromhunger.org/world-hunger-facts

What can we do to reduce world hunger?

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Action-to-End-World-Hunger

http://borgenproject.org/10-ways-stop-world-hunger/

Many artists in the world composed songs about world hunger and poverty to help raise awareness about theese issues.

SOME CLASSICS

Band Aid was a charity supergroup  featuring mainly American, British, and Irish musicians and recording artists.  It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year.

http://www.inthe80s.com/xmaslst.shtml

Band Aid - Do they know it's Christmas?

USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) was the name under which 44 predominantly U.S. artists, led byMichael Jackson and Lionel Richie, recorded the hit single "We Are the World" in 1985. The song was a U.S. and UK number one for the collective in April of that year. This super group was inspired by Bob Geldof's Band Aid.

http://www.usaforafrica.org/

Usa for Africa - We are the world

"Heal the World" is a song from Michael Jackson's hit album, Dangerous, released in 1991.

The video shows poor children living in Africa.

Michael Jackson - Heal the world

"Imagine" is a song written and performed by John Lennon in 1971. 

He asks us to imagine a world at peace 

without borders, hunger and wars. 

Is he a dreamer?

John Lennon - Imagine

"Another Day in Paradise" is a song performed by  

Phil Collins, 

released in 1989. It is about  the problem of hunger and homelessness. 

When someone asks for our help in the street, 

do we pretend not to hear?

Phil Collins - Another day in paradise

Village Ghettoland is a song by Stevie Wonder 

about poverty and marginalization, released in 1976. 

Stevie Wonder - Village Ghettoland

STUDENTS' TASK

Answer the following questions:

Which song do you prefer? Why? 

Which words have affected you the most?

Do you know any modern song about poverty or world hunger?

October, 5th: The Beatles released "Love me do"... and a legend was born.

On October, 5th 1962 The Beatles released 

their debut single "Love me do".

The song was a hit!

"Love me do" - The Beatles

Now it's up to you!

"Love me do" karaoke

Now take a look at my interactive Thinglink image below. Move your cursor over the image and open the links. You will find information about The Beatles biography and their most famous songs. You can also do some fill in exercises while listening to some songs (to listen to the songs, click on the link under the image).

Here's a list in alphabetical order of The Beatles' songs. For each song you can have information, read the lyrics and listen to the music (or even watch a video):

http://www.songfacts.com/artist-the_beatles.php

If you need great worksheets click on this link:
http://www.eslprintables.com/worksheets_with_songs/the_beatles/

STUDENTS' TASKS

1) Watch the following video. It's an old Beatles' interview with fans. Do you think the fans' questions would be different today? What would you ask to the fab four?

The Beatles interview with fans - 1964

2) Create a Beatles' Fakebook page! Take a look at the Fakebook gallery just to get an idea and use the information you read in the biographies.

"The Beatles will exist without us."

George Harrison

Summer holidays: Beach vs. Mountains

August is time to take a vacation for many people and the two most common places people choose for their holidays are the beach and the mountains. Which do you prefer?

THE BEACH

SOME RESOURCES

Great resources about the sea and the oceans:
http://www.henry4school.fr/Vocabulary/sea/sea.htm
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/themes/summerattheseaside/

BEACH VOCABULARY

VIDEO

Maybe you already know some of the most common marine animals....  but what happens in the deep sea?

Deep sea creatures

SOME SONGS ON THE SEA

"Beyond the Sea," Bobby Darin

"Under the Sea," from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" 

"Octopus's Garden", The Beatles

"(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," Otis Redding 

THE MOUNTAINS

SOME RESOURCES

Some resources about the mountains:

http://www.eslprintables.com/vocabulary_worksheets/places/the_mountain/

http://santiamalpineclub.org/mountain/climbing/terms/

MOUNTAINS VOCABULARY

VIDEO

What is a mountain?

SOME SONGS ON THE MOUNTAINS

"Rocky Top", Osborne Brothers

"Rocky Mountain High", John Denver

"Mountain Music", Alabama

" Sugar Mountain", Neil Young

STUDENTS' TASK

Write an essay about these two different types of holidays. Which do you prefer? What are the main differences between the beach and the mountains? Can you find any similarities? Consider the types of activities you can do in each place, the climate and the location. 

What do you usually do? Present simple practice

International Day of Friendship (July, 30th) and Friendship Day (August, 3rd)

Friendship day was originally founded by Hallmark in 1919. In April 2011 the United Nations officially recognised 30th July as International Friendship Day but many countries celebrate it on the first Sunday of August.

"On this International Day of Friendship, let us cultivate warm ties that strengthen our common humanity 

and promote the well-being of the human family. "

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

"The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

To mark the International Day of Friendship the UN encourages governments, international organizations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation".

Surf the following sites for more information:

http://www.un.org/en/events/friendshipday/

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/friendship-day

SOME CLASS ACTIVITIES

ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

READING AND WRITING

• How could you define friendship? Have a look at the following website: http://friends.com/definition-of-friendship. Then write your own definition of  "friendship".

• Read this article at http://friends.com/rules-of-friendship about the rules of friendship and add your own rules to the list.

LISTENING

Some songs on friendship

"Count on me" - Bruno Mars

"I'll be your friend" - Amy Grant

"Friends are friends forever" - Michael W. Smith

"Any time you need a friend" - Mariah Carey

"I'll be there" - Mariah Carey

"I turn to you" - Christina Aguilera

"That's what friends are for" - Dionne Warwick

"You've got a friend" - James Taylor

"You're my best friend" - Queen

"You've got a friend in me" - Randy Newman

 SPEAKING 

Talking about friends

A conversation about friendship

Friendship Soup Recipe

After having watched the above videos, prepare an oral presentation about your best friend. Tell:

• how long you have known him/her,
• what you have in common,
• which are the things you like about him/her,
• what is you personal "friendship soup" recipe.

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education"

"Establishing lasting peace

 is the work of education"

 Maria Montessori

In this hard time for peace I suggest some activities to talk about love and tolerance.

Listening

Listen to the following songs about peace:

"Playing for change" songs bring together musicians from around the world to talk about peace and to fight war.

Gimme Shelter - Playing For Change 

Love Is All - Playing For Change

Imagine - Playing for Change 

War/No More Trouble - Playing for Change

A Better Place | Playing For Change

In the above video there are not subtitles. Can you understand what they are saying? 
Write down all the words or sentences you can catch.

Some other classics

One love - Bob Marley

John Lennon - Give peace a chance

U2 - Peace on Earth

Writing

Answer the following questions:

• What do you think about war?
• How do you think conflicts should be solved?
• Do you know anyone who has fought in a war?
• What war has your country fought in the recent past? What do you know about that?
• Do you think that war always solves problems?
• Which is the best way of achieving peace in your opinion?
• Conflicts are around us everyday (in our family, school, etc.). How do you respond to conflicts?
• Do you know any important people who promoted peace and non-violence?

Now have a look at the following diagram I made for you. Are there any other words that you would use to define "war" and "peace"? Use them to compose some sentences.

https://cacoo.com/lang/en/

Speaking

Form two groups of students: one group is in favour of force and war to resolve conflicts, the other is in favour of peace and diplomacy. You are on a TV talk show, make a debate!

Reading

Read about some famous people who promoted world peace in their life, then write your impressions:

http://www.biographyonline.net/people/world-peace.html
http://listverse.com/2011/06/05/top-10-peaceful-men/

http://worldpeace.org.au/messages.asp

http://www.biography.com/people/groups/nobel-peace-prize-winners

http://www.britannica.com/nobelprize/article-9487436

  “If we don’t end war, war will end us.”

HG Wells