St Patrick’s Day (17th March)

During the following week, we will celebrate St Patrick’s Day with different activities (A Scavenger Hunt, Presentations about Ireland, Workshops to make a Leprechaun hat and a shamrock and lucky four-leaf clover,etc). In those presentations, our language assistants Lindsay Keller and David Hidrogo will tell us about one of the most famous symbols of Irish Culture. This is a festivity which takes place in different parts of the world (because Irish people travelled all over the world through its history) and it is known for its friendly atmosphere full of traditional music and dancing.

So, don’t forget to wear green clothes next week and enjoy this celebration.

You can find some of the material you are going to use in class below.

Presentation

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF_xwBPNc0/EJNlToXA1m4I9PGLiRA6RA/edit?utm_content=DAF_xwBPNc0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Material

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF_x0VsSAA/Mj46E_IRie6mWthyEKK5PA/edit?utm_content=DAF_x0VsSAA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

A Nature Journal

Illustration by Santi Salles

The Department of Biology, the Aldea Project and the Bilingual Programme designed an activity outdoors to show students the power of observation. 1 ESO students walked through a park near our high school to look for plants, flowers, trees … to compose their nature journals.

After a quick talk to explain the activity, they were divided in groups to find natural models to illustrate their sketchbooks. It was not an artistic purpose. The main goal was to pay attention to all the details that Nature brings us and show them in their diaries using drawings and words. The students enjoyed the experience and ,as a final project, they will make a nature journal collecting the different pages they created in this activity.

Learning English through Drama

Last 3rd March 100 students of 1 and 2 ESO groups attended a theatre play inspired in Oliver Twist, the famous classic novel by Oscar Wilde. The play tells the story of a poor orphan who had to face a lot of challenges to survive in 19th century London. The play was performed by three amazing actresses who made us have a great time with her acting and singing. Our students loved the play who was spoken in English and enjoyed this live performance which mixed drama, comedy and musical.

Thanksgiving

Our American language assistants, Lindsay and David, have been in different classes explaining the real meaning of this festivity in American culture. The following presentation has been made by one of them, Lindsay Keller for our ESO students.

1 ESO students with their teacher Diana made amazing and colourful Thanksgiving cards that we can see on the Erasmus Board in the main corrridor.

Merry Christmas and a Peaceful 2023!

As usual, we have celebrated the end of the year with several activities in all the courses which participate in the Bilingual Programme. During this month, our language assistants Jazmin Robles and Nick Mosley have been giving talks about the way this festivity is celebrated in their hometowns. They have also prepared activities like an escape room, carols and games related to Christmas time. Our students have had a great time learning about foreign traditions.

In the following image you can see Jazmin, our language assistant, who has been telling 4 ESO students about Christmas in the USA. They have also played bingo to practise Christmas songs as well as Christmas riddles to improve vocabulary related to this topic. We want to thank Jasmine for preparing such entertaining and funny classes.

The 1º ESO students have created the perfect background with their Music teacher. You probably have listened to their carols which have been sounding in the nearby corridors during these last class days.

We have also organized the Christmas Cards competition with 1st and 2nd ESO. You can look at all these wonderful cards on the Bilingual Board next to the entrance.

The 3rd ESO students have made some Christmas Bookmarks to illustrate different features of this cheerful holiday.

And finally, our 4 ESO students want to wish us all the best for this time of the year by reciting some Christmas poems. We hope you like them!

.WE WISH YOU MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Music and your Mind

4 ESO students have been learning about different issues related to music: how music can bring people together, different types of music, how they feel when they listen to music and how to talk about their favourite singer or band. Some of them have made very interesting posters about the effects of music in our brain. You can watch examples on the main board of the corridor. Hope you like them!

Halloween 2022 : Origin, Traditions and Customs

Our language asistant, Nick Mosley, has been explaining very interesting facts about the origin of Halloween and other customs such as Trick or treat and Jack -O’-lantern to 4 ESO students.

After that, they have played Kahoot to practise the things they have learnt.

We wish everyone a Happy Halloween!!!

Vindicating Don Juan Tenorio

3º ESO C students have made some research to find out about the Spanish tradition in All Saints´ Day (or All Hallows´

Day), a festivity which has been forgotten due to the popularity of festivities from other cultures at the same time. The purpose of this activity was to claim the important role of our traditions which can coexist with customs from other cultures. The origin of the word “Halloween” comes from the expression “All Hallows´ Eve”.

Halloween 2022

Esmeralda’s Haunted House

“Once upon a time, in the small village of Guajaneco, a beautiful woman, Esmeralda Bolívar, lived with her beloved twins, Gabriela y Graciela. But the happiness turned into tragedy when the twins disappeared one day and they never were seen again. Esmeralda was absolutely in despair, she looked for them everywhere, but nobody found them. Time went by and poor Esmeralda went mad… she spent the days crying and when someone from the village suggested the twins could have been kidnapped and killed, she swore to end the murderer’s life (with a knife) if she became to discover him. Unfortunately, full of sadness, Esmeralda died with no revenge. However, there is a legend which says that Esmeralda could revive if the kidnapper of the twins dares to approach her grave…”

1 ESO students have visited some of the most unknown places in our high school in a Ghost Walk. These places have been decorated like a Haunted House to tell them the sad story of “Esmeralda and her twin daughters” . Students have enjoyed a lot during this activity and have learned about different cultures in this story which mixes the anglosaxon festivity of Halloween with the hispanic customs of celebrating “el día de todos los Santos”.

This is the first one of a group of sociocultural activities that we are going to organize to learn about the features of American places which integrate American and Hispanic cultures, a perfect example of bilinguism : California and Baja California.

We want to thank the 1st and 2nd IB students and the teachers Belén Martínez, Antonia Torres, Raquel Yebra, Maoles Gámez ,Leticia Alonso and our language assistant, Jazmin Roblés for their enthusiasm and excellent performance.

Totem Poles in Canada

Our 1º ESO A students with their teacher, Amparo, have created these totem poles remembering the indigeneous tradition in Canada. These poles were made in the Northwest coast in Canada before Europeans arrived there and they represented the family’s or nation’s history. After being forgotten for many years, Canadian people are proud of showing their ancestors’ culture with these amazing monumental poles similar to the ones that our students have created.