Look at the picture above (click to enlarge it) and write a short story (up to 700 words max.) that starts with the following sentence:
"I REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED ON DANIEL'S FARM SO CLEARLY..."
Email us your finished stories and we'll put them on the blog! Click here to email us.
To celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, Learning A-Z is offering free access to its websites between May 5th-9th 2008. They write:
"In appreciation of teachers everywhere, Learning A-Z will open one of
its six password-protected websites each day of Teacher Appreciation
Week, May 5-9, PLUS on May 12, so teachers can download and print
differentiated teaching materials.
"The websites will be open on the days indicated below from midnight to
midnight EST.
May 5: ReadingA-Z.com: Thousands of printable books and lessons
May 6: Raz-Kids.com: Interactive leveled reading library
May 7: WritingA-Z.com: Leveled writing lessons
May 8: VocabularyA-Z.com: Customized vocabulary lessons
May 9: Reading-Tutors.com: Reading skills packets
May 12: ScienceA-Z.com: Multi-leveled science units
"Teacher Appreciation Week is important because we owe so much of our success in life to teachers. Simply saying "thank you" hardly seems adequate to express our gratitude to those who have been so instrumental in the lives of so many.
"If you are reading this, thank a teacher!"
Would you like to study at Yale University?
Well now you can, with free online courses from Open Yale! On their website they write:
"Open Yale Courses provide free and open access to seven introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn."
Click here for more info and to start learning!
We've also discovered free online courses from the UK's own highly successful Open University. Their philosophy is: "Now anyone can access free online learning with The Open University."
Click here to find out more and - likewise - get cracking on the courses!
We think it's really great that such well-established and internationally respected universities are following the example of English Banana.com* by making some of their educational resources freely available to anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection.
However, English Banana.com still goes the extra mile by providing a unique Copying Licence which allows teachers and students to copy and sell our free resources, e.g. they are allowed to burn a CD full of our worksheets and copy it an unlimited number of times, then sell it to raise money for education. We say:
"You may freely copy and either sell or give away English Banana.com materials (choose from over 1,000 different worksheets!) on CD-ROM or in paper format (book, booklet, spiral-bound, etc.). We do not require you to pay us commission on English Banana.com materials that you have sold, nor do you need to contact us prior to doing this. Although if you do contact us we will be happy to give you free publicity in the form of web space on www.englishbanana.com to advertise your activities..."
We think that our offer is quite a bit more generous than Yale's and the Open University's, but then we would say that, wouldn't we? Perhaps these august institutions will consider taking the next step too in the near future...
(*OK - this post is slightly tongue in cheek - but slightly has a point too. What do you think? Click here to contact us.)
Robyn - "Who's That Girl" Music Video Quiz
A - Watch the music video:
a) 0:08 What word do you see?
b) 0:22 What words do you see?
c) 0:35 Robyn is dressed as a...
d) 1:06 What punctuation marks do you see?
e) 1:08 Robyn is playing...
f) 1:30 What word do you see?
g) 2:35 What word do you see?
h) 2:43 What do you see in the background?
i) 3:05 What colour dress is the dancer wearing?
j) 3:31 What is the woman doing?
B - Complete the lyrics:
a) Who's that girl _____________________ love?
b) Good girls are pretty _______________; I'm just pretty some of the time
c) I won't let you love me __________________try
d) Good girls are happy and satisfied; ____________________ until I die
e) Let's pretend ____________________ and then would you love me any different?
f) I know there's ________________. I swear I can't take the pressure
g) What if I'm __________________? I know there's no such girl.
C - Answer the following questions:
1. This song is about...
a) band leaders
b) female identity
c) beauty contests
d) movie stars
2. The video was shot by Diane Martel, who also directed...
a) "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera
b) "Crazy" by Britney Spears
c) "Jenny from the Block" by Jennifer Lopez
d) "Music" by Madonna
3. Robyn is from...
a) Finland
b) Norway
c) Sweden
d) Spain
4. Which famous singer starred in the 1987 film "Who's That Girl"?:
a) Jennifer Lopez
b) Madonna
c) Gloria Estefan
d) Mariah Carey
5. Which British group had a hit single with a different song called "Who's That Girl" in 1983?
a) Eurythmics
b) The Human League
c) Duran Duran
d) ABC
More info about Robyn:
Answers:
A - Watch the music video:
a) pretty
b) happy, satisfied
c) band leader
d) drums
e) speech marks and exclamation marks
f) SEXY
g) TRY
h) A large clock
i) turquoise (light blue)
j) sewing in a factory
B - Complete the lyrics:
a) that you think you
b) like all the time
c) until you really
d) I won't stop asking
e) everything has changed
f) no such girl
g) not like her
C - Answer the following questions:
1. This song is about... b) female identity
2. The video was shot by Diane Martel, who also directed... a) "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera
3. Robyn is from... c) Sweden
4. Which famous singer starred in the 1987 film "Who's That Girl"?: b) Madonna
5. Which British group had a hit single with a different song called "Who's That Girl" in 1983? a) Eurythmics
You can now download three of our books from Download.com - and they are all free!
Click below to download the Big Grammar Book:
Click below to download the Big Activity Book:
Click below to download the Big Resource Book:
To download the rest of our resources, visit our home page here.
This is a really useful new site from Cambridge University Press that should be of great interest to students of Business English. The site features, among much else, podcasts, vodcasts, online activities, articles and downloads. For example, we were really pleased to find a handy Polish-English glossary of 600 words used in business English situations (available here).
Why not wander over there today and have a look for yourself? Click below to go there now:
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/resources/professional/default.htm
