It's Hallowe'en again!

Hallowe'en origins

Rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a mixture of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise.

Halloween emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer's end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century.

Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.

 
http://books.google.pt/books?id=Noou1gjBAkEC&dq=halloween&source=bl&ots=sfEU42h1X8&sig=qIEZFF5lQFt2kMmV3t3FXgXvR30&hl=pt-PT&ei=n33JTM3WK9WJ4QbSwfy4Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCw
(adapted and abridged)
 
You can find lots of films related with the celebration of the Hallowe'en such as Halloween, Hallowe'en Party and The Nightmare before Christmas.
 
 Here is a video from the fim The Nightmare Before Christmans by Tim Burton.

 
You can also find many songs about Hallowe'en. Here is a Top Ten.
 

 
You can send email cards using the site http://www.123greetings.com/events/halloween/
 
You can make lots of objects using the site
http://www.makingfriends.com/halloween.htm
 
What about trying some online games or quizzes, learning how to make costumes, recipes or party decorations? Imagination is the limit.
http://holidays.kaboose.com/halloween/
 
 
Have a Scary and merry Hallowe'en! BOO!
 
http://bogglesworldesl.com/files4/HalloweenFlashcards1.jpg
 

Dia Internacional de Luta contra o Tráfico de Seres Humanos

Last eighteenth October was the International Day against the Trafficking of Human Beings.

Did you know?

                       

An estimated 700,000 to 4 million people around the world are being trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation each year. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing source of profit for organized crime.

To learn more about this issue, please go to:
- http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news
- http://www.citius.mj.pt/
- http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/index.html
- http://en.lacerca.com/news/espana/sexual_exploitation_trafficking_human-68165-1.html
- http://www.intuition-in-service.org/june.cfm
- http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5935051,00.html
- http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/communication/campaign/notforsale/notforsale.htm

Friendship

Let’s talk about frienship

Friends

Friends will always be an important part of our lives. Whether they came from childhood, we met them at school or work or they bumped into us later on in life, they are usually our best confidents and loyal companions.

Sometimes they live quite close, others in our very own street, and in some cases, they are on the other side of the planet. They can be pen pals or keypals – buddies that talk and write to us from the other side of the computer.

Throughout our life experience we have neighbours, relatives, colleagues, co-workers, roommates, boyfriends and girlfriends, but nothing compares to that special person we call friend. To him/her we tell our darkest secrets, we aren’t afraid of showing our weaknesses and failures and we learn the meaning of words such as trust, respect and help.

Nevertheless, a friend isn’t only a person who spends time with us and with whom we go out and have fun. He/she is the one who praises our successes but also the one who calls our attention to the stupid mistakes and sometimes the dangerous situations we get into. He/she points the finger at us because he/she worries! Above all, we know that we can count on him/her when we are in need.

Having friends is much better than finding precious stones: they are as shining but they have a heart!

Your English teacher
Ana Paula Amaro

Here is an example of an essay about friendship

FRIENDSHIP

Friendship is for me a feeling between people who help each other and spend time together.

I think a good friend is somebody in who you can trust and tell secrets, and never lies to you.

My best friend’s name is Ricardo. He is very popular, understanding and nice. Together we ride horses, dance and ride a bike. I tell him secrets. I like his kindness. We are friends since the seventh grade from school.

Never betray a trust. Trust, when broken, can ruin even the best friendship.

Friendship is something that is very important for me. I don’t know what I would do without my friends.

João Malo, 2008/2009

Friendship Quotes: Proverbs

"Books and friends should be few but good."


"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

- Latin Proverb

"A good friend is my nearest relation."

"A hedge between keeps friendship green."

"God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself."


"Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes."

"Love is blind. Friendship tries not to notice."

-Sent in by Angela Kendrick


"The best of friends must part."

"Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead."

- Chinese Proverb, (sent by Julio Fung)

"To have a friend, be a friend."

(sent by Julio Fung)



"The death of a friend is equivalent to the loss of a limb."

- German Proverb

"Life without a friend is like death without a witness."

- Spanish Proverb

"The best mirror is an old friend."


"May there always be work for your hands to do, may your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane, may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."


- Irish Blessing

"A cheerful friend is like asunny day spreading brightness all around."


- John Lubcock ( English Astronomer )

"THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF SHIPS. THERE ARE WOODEN SHIPS ,PLASTIC SHIPS, AND METAL SHIPS. BUT THE BEST AND MOST IMPORTAINT TYPES OF SHIPS ARE FRIENDSHIPS."

- OLD IRISH QUOTE (SENT BY -ROBERT J. BADAR JR.)

"The only unsinkable ship is FRIENDSHIP."

-Sent in by Jeff Sczpanski

" A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."


- Arabian Proverb

"It is better to be in chains with friends , than to be in a garden with strangers."

-Persian Proverb -Sent in by Shawn

http://www.friendship.com.au/quotes/quopro.html










 

Rainforests

Rainforests can be found in South America, Africa and Asia.


There live tribes of indigenous people in wooden huts. They eat vegetables, meat, fish and fruit such as manioc, bananas, sweet potatoes, pineapples, mangoes, beans and pigs.

In the rainforest also live jaguars, alligators, frogs, snakes, parrots, baby birds, toucans and sloths.

To spend time, the tribes hunt, fish, build houses or boats, plant the food and protect the houses from the animals.

We need to protect the rainforests because they are a part of our world and they help us to breathe. The rainforests are extremely important because they also provide most of our medicines from some rainforest plants.

Miriam Acúrcio, NO 10, 8th Grade, Class D

Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z

Speaking about countries, cities and nationalities is one of the recurrent themes of the 7th grade programme. Speaking about the English speaking countries is another theme that can, and should, be connected with the first one.

The song Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z is a good example of lyrics that can be explored in cultural terms instead of the usual gap-filling related to the grammar, a technique the syllabus usually uses to explore songs.

As I used this song in the 7th grade, a simple strategy was used: to highlight the references to the American culture, especially to the city of New York.

Of course this song is richer than this and much can be done with its lyrics. We have to have in mind that the rhythm is almost frantic and some of the lyrics content is too 'heavy' for the the 7th graders. So, I got what I needed for my classes' purpose. Others can use countless strategies and techniques. The bottom line is to bind the classroom necessities with the real world together and have some fun.

[Jay-Z:]


Yeah,

Yeah, I'm ma up at Brooklyn,

Now I'm down in Tribeca,

Right next to DeNiro,

But I'll be hood forever,

I'm the new Sinatra,

And since I made it here,

I can make it anywhere,

Yeah they love me everywhere,

I used to cop in Harlem,

All of my Dominicans

Right there up on Broadway,

Brought me back to that McDonald's,



Took it to my stash spot,

5-60 State street,

Catch me in the kitchen like a Simmons whipping Pastry,

Cruising down 8th street,

Off white Lexus,

Driving so slow but BK is from Texas,

Me I'm up at Bed Study,

Home of that boy Biggie,

Now I live on billboard,

And I brought my boys with me,

Say what up to Ty Ty, still sipping Mai-tai

Sitting court side Knicks and Nets give me high fives,

N-gga I be Spiked out, I can trip a referee,

Tell by my attitude that I most definitely from



[Alicia Keys:] CHORUS

In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,

There's nothing you can't do,

Now you're in New York,

These streets will make you feel brand new,

The lights will inspire you,

Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York



[Jay-Z:]

I made you hot nigga,

Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game,

Shit I made the Yankee hat more famous than a yankee can,

You should know I bleed Blue, but I ain't a crip tho,

But I got a gang of niggas walking with my clique though,

Welcome to the melting pot,

Corners where we selling rocks,

Afrika bambaataa shit,

Home of the hip hop,

Yellow cap, gypsy cap, dollar cab, holla back,

For foreigners it aint fitted they forgot how to act,

8 million stories out there and their naked,



Cities is a pity half of y'all won't make it,

Me I gotta plug Special Ed and I got it made,

If Jeezy's paying LeBron, I'm paying Dwayne Wade,

3 dice cee-lo

3 card Monte,

Labor day parade, rest in peace Bob Marley,

Statue of Liberty, long live the World trade,

Long live the king yo,

I'm from the empire state that's

[Repeat Chorus:]


[Jay-Z:]

Lights is blinding,

Girls need blinders

So they can step out of bounds quick,

The side lines is blind with casualties,

Who sipping life casually, then gradually become worse,

Don't bite the apple Eve,

Caught up in the in crowd,

Now your in-style,

And in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out,

The city of sin is a pity on a whim,

Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,

Mami took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,

Everybody ride her, just like a bus route,

Hail Mary to the city your a Virgin,

And Jesus CAN save you! life starts when church starts,



Came here for school, graduated to the high life,

Ball players, rap stars, addicted to the limelight,

MDMA got you feeling like a champion,

The city never sleeps better slip you a Ambient



[Repeat Chorus:]



[Alicia Keys:]

One hand in the air for the big city,

Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty,

No place in the World that can compare,

Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah

Come on, come,

Yeah,



[Repeat Chorus:]

[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/empire-state-of-mind-lyrics-alicia-keys.html ]

U2 in Coimbra

The Band U2 is in my hometown - Coimbra -  and everything seems to turn around it these days. Wherever you go, whatever you do, this combination of one letter and one number seems to dominate each conversation and the entire life of the inhabitants of this quiet town. Have you got a ticket? -  is the most heard question. The world seems to be divided into two categories: those who have a ticket and those who haven't a ticket. Unfortunately, I'm in the second category although I've watched the daily rising of the stage in front of my kid's school and been stuck in the traffic all week, and all of this due to the 120 trucks unloading the equipment for the concert. As a good sport I am, I've endured these hardships the best way possible and wish all the fans a terrific concert! Just don't break a leg because Bono seems to have antecipated you already... (a spark of black British humour!)

Here is some information about this tour.

The U2 360° Tour ( Europe, North America, Oceania) is an ongoing worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, the tour will visit stadiums from 30th June 2009 until 23rd July 2011. It includes 5 legs and 94 shows in three different continents.

The U2 360° Tour is named after the 360-degree staging and audience configuration it uses for shows, which U2 claims is "the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure." To accommodate this, the stage set makes use of a massive four-legged supporting rig that has been nicknamed "The Claw" and has set a world record for the largest concert stage structure. In an era of declining CD sales, the tour is expected to be a major source of income for the band.

The penultimate show of the second leg, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was filmed for the concert release U2 360° at the Rose Bowl. It was streamed live over YouTube, and set a new US attendance record for a single headlining act, as well as being the most watched live video stream in the website's history.

Bono sustained an injury to his back during preparation for the North American third leg of the tour, the damage to which included sciatica, a ligament tear, a herniated disc, and partial paralysis of his lower leg and resulted in the need for emergency spine surgery ain Munich.

 Information taken from the site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2_360%C2%B0_Tour

A view of the stage as U2 perform onstage on the first night of their 360 tour held at Camp Nou on June 30, 2009 in Barcelona.