**Spooky Season: Halloween – A Celebration of Fun, Frights, and Traditions**
In North America, the month of October is a time of excitement and anticipation among children and families for one of the most fun-filled celebrations of the year. Celebrated on October 31st, Halloween is a festival that mixes old jack-o’-lanterns, dressing in creative costumes, and trick-or-treating around their neighbourhoods. From decorating houses to enjoying candy and haunted stories, Halloween is all about creativity, imagination, and community spirit.
Halloween has roots dating back over 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people believed the spirits of the dead returned to earth for a night. It first arrived in North America in the 1800s thanks to Irish immigration. Today, Halloween is more of a joyful as well as spooky event, encouraging children and neighbours to celebrate together while exploring their creative sides.
In class, students have been actively participating in a variety of activities about Halloween in their English classes. Some of the activities have included trivia matches, mystery solving, and watching American popular culture content. The students have also enthusiastically shared their own Halloween experiences.
As Halloween continues to weave its way into Spanish culture, let’s celebrate not only the creativity and joy it brings but also the shared memories of fun and maybe a scare!
My name is Renée
Dear Parents,
my name is Renée, and I am very happy to join your school community as the new language assistant. I am from Toronto, Canada and have been living in Madrid for 5 years. I have worked in education for many years in Canada as an English and Art teacher. My role is to support your children in developing their English- speaking language skills, as well as building their confidence in using English both inside and outside the classroom. I look forward to working closely with the teachers and students to make this an enriching year for everyone.
LEARNING BY DOING
The students of the 1st of ESO honed their different skills before developing the design of our own clothing brand and style. Apart from designing the clothes, themselves, they will design their own unique logo, and even further, they will design the booths where they will sell the products. Towards the end, we will present these designs to our classmates to further develop our language skills with regards to speaking. Learning English in non-traditional ways, specifically in ways that are more practical for use in everyday life, is not only very possible, but is essential when learning the language.
SPEAKER´S CORNER AT SCHOOL
On Wednesday the 25th, the speaker´s corner has started again at school. It will be every Wednesday in the school yard.
In this activity our students can improve their oral skills in English. They can also improve their confidence and fear of public speaking.
They love this activity because they can win many prices like being the teacher´s assistant, sitting where they want for a day or being the first in line among others. Each week two students from each level will perform.
Amanda , our English assistant, will be in charge of the activity this school year.
She is very enthusiastic about teaching English and seeing the students perform. This is the chance to show everything they have learned.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (17 January)
Martin Luther King Day is a holiday held on the third Monday of January in the United States. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. He is most well-known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in his country.
His most famous address was the “I Have A Dream” speech. Inspired by the pacifist and civil rights activist Gandhi, Martin Luther King was an advocate of non-violent protest and became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, he was assassinated in 1968.
Click the link below to listen to the song ‘Glory’ (by John Legend) from the 2014 film Selma, which portrays the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
INFANT EDUCATION WORKSHOPS
This week our infant children enjoyed different workshops. They learned about water, castles and prehistory.
Laboratory of water: children could explore with waterproof and nonwaterproof materials and the properties of water.
Castles: students learned about the different rooms that were in the castles and their individual importance. They also learned about the people who lived in the castles.
Prehistory: They enjoyed fun prehistory activities such as parietal paintings and they discovered how society used to live in caves and the importance of fire.
It has been so much fun!
Speaker´s corner at school
On Wednesday the nineteenth, the speaker´s corner has started again at school. It will be every Wednesday in the school yard.
In this activity our students can improve their oral skills in English. They can also improve their confidence and fear of public speaking.
They love this activity because they can win many prices like being the teacher´s assistant, sitting where they want for a day or being the first in line among others.
Each week two students from each level will perform. Amanda , our English assistant, will be in charge of the activity this school
year. She is very enthusiastic about teaching English and seeing the students perform. This is the chance to show everything they have learned.
Farm Camp
April fools day First
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in the United States on March 17th. This day is one of the biggest holidays especially in Ireland. Maewyn Succat is the name of the saint who changed his name to Patrick after becoming a priest. He was considered the patron saint of Ireland.
Nowadays, in several cities in the United States (such as Chicago, New York or Philadelphia) there are parades on Saint Patrick’s Day. In Chicago, they often paint the river water green. Many people don’t know the religious connotation of the day and they only celebrate in bars with green clothes, shamrocks, coins or the famous leprechaun.
In our school we have celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day too. Each year, we do activities and games related to this holiday. Our students have learned things about English culture: new vocabulary and the origin of this story. They have enjoyed it a lot as you can see in these photos.
International Women’s day
Reading stories in English in February
We present a different activity to do with children this month
Sign up for free for these fun workshops in English. Let’s read and have fun together in the library!
Choose the age, titles, day and the library you want to attend and fill the form here
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from? There is a Famous legend of St. Valentine. It begins in Rome in the year 268. Emperor Claudius II wanted a fierce team of young men to fight in these armies. He found that when young men are in love or sharing their lives with a wife and children, they tended to be more cautious. To insure large numbers of soldiers for his armies, Claudius outlawed marriage for those young men. A brave priest named Valentine thought the law was horribly unjust. So, he allowed to get married in his church putting his life in danger. Valentine continued performing marriage ceremonies, doing so in secret and hidden from the eyes of authorities. Still, word of Valentine´s secret ceremonies made its way back to Claudius. The priest was found and put to death on, as some versions state, on February 14th. Nowadays, on Valentine´s Day, people celebrate love and friendship and the joy of having other people in your life. It´s a day of flowers, candy and cards decorated with hearts.
English day!
Last Friday we celebrated English day at school and it was so much fun.
On one hand, from 1st to 3rd grade, we had a show called “Tours through Australia”. In this one we learned a lot about Australian animals, such as how to take care of them and the wildlife.
On the other hand, from 4th to 6th grade we welcomed the show called “Let’s go to Hollywood”. We were actors and dancers!
Finally in preschool they had a blast learning about “The olympic games” by playing games and dancing.
It was an amazing day, where the students got to speak in English and use all the vocabulary they have learned.
