The bloody tower. Jerez de los Caballeros. 4th grade A.

The Bloody Tower.

In Jerez de los Caballeros, a town placed in the south west of Extremadura, there is a legend about some ghosts of templar knights which are living in the "bloody tower": the keep of the Templar castle in the village.

In accordance with this legend, some templar knights were living in this fortress. But the Pope and the king decided that they must be executed (beacuse issues of faith and gold) During several days Templars were besiege in Jerez de los Caballeros, and finally cornered in the keep. The massacre was terrible: more than 30 templar knights were killed or beheaded. Old chronicles point that the blood flowed downstairs to the courtyard. A tragedy which is still remembered at the village, and which gave to the keep its actual name: "Bloody Tower".

But the knights didn't go. At least completely. Many witnesses affirm that in the new moon nights, if you go to the castle, you'll probably listen human whistles. Also far metallic noises, as if someone was walking by the ramparts. People explain that noises and whistles are produced by the souls of Templars, which are calling their horses. Before die, they swore to return to holy land on their steeds for fighting in the Crusades. They whistle and whistle with the new moon; but no horse comes to the call. For this reason, they can't abandon the caslte, and they are condemned to dwell the tower... Forever.

Pirates. Crossword. 5th grade B.

 Pirates crossword

Materials. 6th grade B. Crossword.

Materials

Tourism and Vacation. 5th garde A. Crossword.

 Tourism crossword.

Pirates picture. 5th grade B.

A task of your next exam will be based on this picture. For if you want... I don't know... To prepare a description, or something like that.

Countries and nationalities. Crossword for the exam. 4th grade B.

Countries crossword

4th grade A. Funfair. Crossword.

 Funfair

Things at school. Crossword for the exam.

Things at school

Sunburn. 5th grade A.

 

Countries and Nationalities. 4th grade B.

4th Grade B voted that we are going to learn about countries and nationalities. So, here we go.

Countries and Nationalities I

Countries and nationalities II

Countries and nationalities III

And one very advanced, for if you want to learn a bit more:

All European countries

I also let here the countries and nationalities we have learnt in this topic:

SPAIN - SPANISH

PORTUGAL - PORTUGUESE

MOROCCO - MOROCCAN

ITALY - ITALIAN

FRANCE - FRENCH

GERMANY - GERMAN

AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN

RUSSIA - RUSSIAN.

JAPAN - JAPANESSE

CHINA - CHINESSE

MEXICO - MEXICAN

NETHERLANDS - DUTCH

EGYPT - EGYPTIAN

INDIA - HINDI

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) Composed by England, Scotland, Wales and Northerm Ireland.

USA - AMERICAN.

This video will be also important:

Tourism and Holidays (Vacation) 5th grade A. Listening

Class stuff. 6th grade A.

This one is for refreshing concepts you already know:

Class stuff

These are two drag and drop activities:

Things at class I

Things at class II

And also an Alphabetic wheel:

School stuff Alphabetic wheel: there are some words you don't know yet. Tomorrow I'll explain them to you.

Amusement Parks. 4th grade A.

Mythological beings. Crossword.

Mythological beings

NATURAL DISASTERS. 4th grade A. CROSSWORD.

Natural disasters crossword

Prisons and crime. Crossword for the exam.

Prisons and crime crossword

Trolls and golems. 6th grade B. Video for the exam.

Class Play. Alice and the Pirates. 5th grade B.

Scene I. Alice and her mum talk about to be pirate. (Mum is taking care of her roses, at the garden)

Mum: Lalaralaraaa... How do I love my roses. They're beautiful, strong, delicate, bright... 

          A true treasure.

Alice: (comming running) Mum, mum, I want to be pirate!!!

Mum: What? What are you saying?

Alice: I want to be pirate and find a treasure.

Mum: Darling, you're becoming crazy. To be pirate is a very dangerous thing. Don't you

           remember your father? He lost his mind looking for chests of gold and silver.

Alice: I don't care!!! I am fan of pirates, and I have always wanted to be one of them.

Mum: Darling, I'm afraid you are not going to be a pirate. I forbide it, and do not insist anymore.

Alice: Please, mum!!!!

Mum: I have said no!!!! And this is my last word. Go to your bedroom. One week locked 

at home!!!

Scene II. Alice goes to her room and sneaks away by the window.

Alice: My mother is a silly ass. She doesn't like pirates. And pirates are awsome!!! With their 

           eye patches, with their swords, pistols, peg legs... I'm going to escape

           right now by the window. The harbour is not far. I'll walk there and maybe find 

           a pirate ship. With a bit of luck, perhaps I can join a crew and sail the seven seas. And

           who knows; maybe one day I could become captain. 

 Scene III. Alice arrives to the harbour.

Alice: Hurrai!!! Finally I’m here. I am going to look for pirates.

Max: Hey girl!!! Are you looking for pirates?

Alice: Yes!!! Do you know anyone?

Max: Possibly. Why are you looking for them?

Alice: I love pirates, and I want to be one of them.

Max: Ok. I trust you. Go to that dock at the end of the harbour and say the password: 

“Blackbeard”.

Scene IV: Alice goes to the final dock and finds a ship. At the entrance of it, there is a 

very big and fat sailor.

Alice: Hi!!! Can I join the crew?

Robert: It depends. Who sent you here?

Alice: A man who told me to tell you “Blackbeard”

Robert: You can pass. Welcome aboard.

Scene V. Alice is aboard. She is looking for the captain. Alice sees a very old pirate sitting 

on a barrel.

Alice: Excuse me, I’m looking for the captain. Where can I find him?

John: Get out of my sight, little rat!!!

Alice: Don’t call me that!!! The only rat here it’s you. Bigger, but rat anyway.

John: Humm… It seems that the little rat bites. I like it. The captain's in his chamber. At the back 

of the ship.

Alice: Thank you, big rat.

John: hohohoho.

Scene VI: Alice finds the captain.

Alice: knock knock knock

Captain: Who’s out?

Alice: Hi. Can I go inside?

Captain: Wait a moment!!! I have a little of a trouble here inside!!!

(10 seconds passes)

Captain: Come in!!! Now!!!

(Alice enters. The captain is fighting an octopus, and the octopus is choking him)

Alice: What’s this!!!

Captain: Nothing, nothing. Arrggghh. Only a little problem with this “old friend”. He doesn’t want 

to give me the key!!! Arggghh!!!

Alice: What key?

Captain: Arggg. You make too much questions. Help me!!!

(Alice helps the captain. Both together, they get a key from the octopus, and then they 

throw it away by the window)

Captain: Here it is!!! The golden key!!! What's your name, little girl?

Alice: I'm Alice.

Captain: I am Captain. Nice to meet you. Now, hurry up!!! Summon the crew. I have some

news. Come on, hurry up!!!

Scene VII. The crew is on deck. Max, Robert, John "Big Rat", Alice and the Captain.

Captain: Look!!! Finally we've got it!!! The golden key!!!

Crew: Hurraiiii!!! We are rich!!!

Captain: Not so fast, weasels. Not so fast. We still have to reach the Death Island. Robert!!!

Robert: Captain, we are already...

Captain: Robert, don't interrumpt me when talking!!!

Robert. But Captain...

Captain: Shut up!!! Compass and map!! Now!!!

Robert: But Captain... (giving the compass and the map to captain)

Captain: Let's see. 50º degrees north; 10 miles south; crossing the jaws of the dragon... Shiver my timbers!!! We are already here!!!

Robert: It is what I'm telling you, Captain. We're already here!!!

Captain: Opss. Sorry man. You know. The stress, many days with no sleeping...

Alice: So... My island is the Death Island!! I live in the Death Island!!! Although here we 

           call it Rose Island. You know? We have many rosebushes here. And roses grow

           beautiful and tall. Do you know a thing? My mum loves roses. She has a garden full of...

Captain: Enough, little girl, enough. You say this is your island? Were you born here?

Alice: Yes. 

Captain: Humm... So you'll be a great help here. Will you help us? We're looking for a treasure.

              A part of it can be yours If you guide us by the island. What do you say?

Alice: Of course!!! Pirates help one to each other!

Captain: Well said!! Let's go. there is no time to waste. There is a treasure to be found!

Crew: Hurraiiii!!!!

Scene VIII. The group of pirates are looking for the treasure.

Captain: Let's see. Find the lighthouse.

Max: Lighthouse found!

Captain: Go 20 steps north.

Crew: Let's go!!!

Captain: Find the palm tree.

Crew: We are under it!!!

Captain: And finally 30 steps west. Theoretically it's just here. John, picks and shovels!!! 

              Let's dig a hole!!!

(Alice looks astonished. Following the instructions of the map, she has discovered that 

the treasure is hidden in her house, at the backyard. Pirates start  digging)

Alice: Captain, one thing.

Captain: What?

Alice: You are digging in my backyard. This is my house.

Captain: Your house?

Alice: Yep. And if you keep digging here, my mum is gonna get very very

          angry.

Captain: Ho!!! Do you think your mummy is gonna scare me!! I am the bravest 

                        pirate in the seven seas. Ho ho ho. Little girl, you don't know me.

Alice: And you don't know my mother.

Scene IX. (Alice's mother appears in the backyard with a gun aiming at the captain)

Mum: EVERYBODY QUIET!!! HANDS UP!!! What are you doing in my backyard?

Captain: Lady, don't shoot!!! We give up.

Alice: Hi, mum!!!

Mum: Alice, darling!!! What are you doing with these filthy men? Weren't you punished? 

Alice: Mum, I can explain...

Mum: NO EXPLANATIONS, NO EXCUSES!!! Go to your bedroom right now!!!

Alice: but mum...

Mum. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!

(Alice bowed her head and goes to her bedroom)

Captain: Gentle lady, we can explain. We are honorable pirates and...

Mum: Ahhh. Pirates. I hate pirates. Do you know a thing? My husband was a pirate!!

          He was always going here and fro, with no good business. We divorced 5 

          years ago. He was like you!!! One day I caught him digging holes in

          the backyard. He was saying something about a treasure.

          I kicked his ass out of home, and now I am very happy. Argg, men. 

          I hate you all. 

Captain: Lady, I think we can negociate. We think that you have a great treasure

              hidden here, in your garden. Perhaps if you let us digging a bit, maybe we 

              could share a part with you.

Mum: Digging in my garden? And my roses? I love my roses above all. 

Captain: I promise we will dig very carefully. Come on. Please.

Mum: Humm... Ok. But I want the half of what you find.

Captain: You will have 1/10. 

Mum: 1/8.

Captain: Done!!

Scene X. 

John: Captain, I think there is something here!!!

Max: Yeah!! It's big and heavy.

Captain: Let's take it out of the ground. 

Crew: 1, 2, 3, UP!!!!

(There is a chest, very heavy)

Captain: Here is the key (All characters gather around the chest, looking at it. Captain

              opens it) Shiver my timbers!! An octopus!! Argggg!! I hate octopuses!!! Help!!

(The crew helps captain get rid of the octopus. They hold the octopus, which fights)

Mum: I want my share of the octopus. We said 1/8. So, I want a tentacle.

Captain: You can have it all!!! By Krakens and Leviatans!!! What a waste of time!!

Mum: If you want, you can stay for dinner. 

John: I cook!!! I make a delicious octopus. Look, Captain. We have nothing better to do.

         And we have to dinner. 

Captain: Well: a good dinner is almost as good as a treasure. Ok. We stay. Thanks, lady.

Alice: Mum, can I dinner with you? I'm hungry.

Mum: Ok. Come down. But I warn you, pirates: nothing about pirate's stories, treasures

           and so on. I don't want my little girl being a pirate.

Crew: Ok, ok,

Scene XI. All characters having dinner.

Mum: John: I must say your octopus is delicious.

John: Thanks, m'am. A family recipe.

Max: I remember once we ate an octopus almost as good as this. It was in Jamaica.

         We were looking for the black diamond.

Alice: The black diamond?

Max: Yes, the black diamond. An enormous diamond with a blackish / trasparent 

          colour. The legend says that...

Mum: What did I tell you about pirate stories?

Max: Sorry, m'am. 

Crew: Hohohohoho (all laughing)

Theseus and the Minotaur. 6th grade B.

One of the most beloved Greek legends is "The Minotaur":

Many years ago there were two important cities: Athens and Knossos. Knossos was ruled by a cruel and despotic king called Minos. Minos was very powerful: he had conquered or controlled all territories around him. Athens was not an exception, and it was under his iron fist. Every year its citizens had to pay a tribute of 100 young men and women. Their destiny was awful: to feed the horryfing monster half bull half man called "Minotaur".

At this point appears the hero: Theseus. Thesesus was prince of Athens. He decided to travel to Knossos hidden among the 100 young people with a fair goal: to kill the minotaur and to stop the annual tribute.

When Theseus arrives to Knossos, a girl called Ariadne falls in love with him. She tells him that the Minotaur lives inside a labyrinth, and that if he wants to escape from there, he has to take a ball of thread and unroll it while going inside. After killing the monster, he should roll the thread again, returning alive to the daylight.

Theseus follows Ariadne's advice point by point. He enters in the labyrinth unrolling the thread; then he kills the Minotaur, and finally, by rolling it again, he comes back outside. But when Ariadne is going to embrace and kiss him, Thesesus rejects her. She stood on the beach first astonished, then heartbroken, crying while the hero returned to Athens.



Questions:

1. What was the Minotaur?
2. Where did he live?
3. What problem had Athens with Knossos?
4. How many young men and women were sent to Knossos every year from Athens?
5. Who is the hero?
6. What was his goal?
7. Who helped Theseus?
8. Did he kill the minotaur?
9. How did he scape from the labyrinth?
10. What happened with Ariadne?

Mythological beings. 6th grade B . Online resources.

Drag and drop activity

Mythological beings definitions.

Word roulette about mythological beings.

Also a text about Hercules and the hydra:

Hercules and the hydra

Perseus and Medusa. 6th grade B.

Perseus was a Greek hero, son of Zeus. He had to kill Medusa, a horrifying monster.

Medusa once had been a very beautiful woman; but she was punished by immortal gods because of her wickedness. She was transformed into a horrible monster; and the only thing she kept from her beauty was the face.

Medusa's blood was venomous; and she could convert to anyone into stone only with a glance. It was a formidable foe; for this reason Perseus ask for advice to Atenea, the ancient god of wisdom. Atenea, impressed by the courage of the hero, gave him three presents: a helmet of invisibility; a pair of flying sandals; and a mirror shield.

Perseus started his travel. He flew to the island where Medusa lived with the sandals. There he could enter into Medusa's cave hidden under the invisibility helmet. And finally he could cut off Medusa's head avoiding to look at her, using for this the mirror shield.

Then, Perseus left the island riding on Pegasus, a winged horse born from Medusa's blood. Peresus had many other adventures: he killed evil kings, he rescued beautiful princesses... But that is another tale, and shall be told another time.

Questions:

1. Who was Perseus?
2. Who was his father?
3. What was his hero's task?
4. Describe Medusa.
5. Who helped Perseus?
6. What did she give to him?
7. Where did Medusa live?
8. How did Perseus kill Medusa?
9. How could Perseus come back from Medusa's island?
10. What was the name of the winged horse?

Class stuff (Things at class) 4th grade B.

A coupe of activities about things we have at class. As a review for the exam:

Things at class I

Things at class II

Note: some of them do not enter in the exam; however, it is not so bad to know about them :-)

Also an alphabetic wheel. Possibly we will deal with it tomorrow, at class.

Alphabetic wheel

And finally this video:

Natural disasters. Last days of Pompeii. 4th grade A.

I want to start with this macabre picture:

You are watching the remainders of people who lived (and died) in Pompeii. What did it happen? Why are their body shapes transformed into sculptures? In this report I will tell you about one of the most tragic and famous facts on ancient times: Vesuvius eruption and later destruction of Pompeii. 

Setting definition:

Pompeii was a beautiful Roman city in the south of Italy. It was rich, full of great houses, theatres, wide streets, gardens, squares, markets... People lived there happy, celebrating festivals, working and enjoying the life. They couldn't imagine what was comming on.

The disaster.

On 24 August AD 79, at 8 o'clock in the morning (this is almost 2000 years ago) the Vesuvius started an eruption. In accordance with scientists, there were some different stages:

1. In the morning: small earthquakes and some smoke on the mountain. People were still not affraid because they didn't know anything about volcanoes and how dangerous they could be.
2. Noon: the Vesuvius spits a great cloud of superheated ash, getting the sky dark as if it were night time. In the afternoon the great ash cloud starts to drop pumice stones. These stones collapse the roofs of houses, burying alive people inside.
3. In the evening: The stone rain continues. Many people run away from Pompeii; but many others resist inside their houses, because they wanted to protect their possessions from thiefs and robbers.
4. At night: Vesuvius deals his final stroke. It spits a blazing ash cloud towards Pompeii, killing everyone.

Consequences.

Pompeii was completely buried under six meters of stone and ashes. People forgot the story, and also the city. But in 1748 Carlo di Borbone started to excavate the place, discovering all these remainders that you can see today. 

Natural disasters. 4th grade A. Online worksheet.

An online activity about natural disasters:

Natural disasters

And a video we will watch at class:

Escape from Rulton. 5th grade A.

In 2020 I stole a Van Gogh painting, but the police caught me. I was condemned, and I have to stay in the jail 20 years and one day. Too much time for me. I remember how the judge hit the table with his hammer. My lawyer looked me and said: "I'm sorry, lad". I was jailed in Rulton, the safest prison in the world. Today I waste my time in a small and stinky cell, sharing the space with a thug and with the snitch of the jail.

The prison? I can define it as a dark, sad and grey pit. High brick walls covered with razor wire; a wire fence which surrounds the yard and iron bars in every window or door. My cell is closed with bolt and lock. The wardens show me the key, making fun of me. But they don't know that I have the last laugh. I've secretly dug a tunnel under my bed, and this night I will sneak away. At 3 o'clock I'll crawl along the hole, arriving beyond the prison walls at 3.20. There, a car will pick me up. My intention is to travel to Nepal, where I'm going to hide myself some months. Later, I will start a new life in Moscow, Rusia.

Prisons and crime. 5th grade A.

Here we go with the online activities about prisons and crime. Start with the online worksheet. During this week we will deal with all these activites, texts and listenings.

Online worksheet 

 Filling gaps

Word roulette.

Types of crime (this one is not for the exam; do it only if you want)

Also a video about crime:

Oceans and sailing. 5th grade B. Crossword.

Crossword about sailing and ocean

Alchemy. 6th grade B.

Now that we are dealing with materials, I have decided to talk you a little bit about Alchemy. Let's go.

What was Alchemy?

Alchemy was an ancient science from Medieval times and Renaissance (14th, 15th and 16th centuries, mainly). It was based on the idea that materials could be changed into another materials by applying certain procedures: heating, cooling, chemical reactions... Alchemy was also interested in the achieving of the "Philosopher's Stone": a magical artifact capable of curing illnesses, extending life, turning metals into gold and providing immortality to its owner.

Who practiced Alchemy?

Alchemy was reserved to nobles and rich people. The stuff for doing alchemy was expensive: burners, glass pots, alembics, mercury... 

Did they make gold?

Nope. It is not possible to turn pure metals into another pure metals by means of chemical reactions. And of course, they did not find a magical stone capable of curing illnesses or giving immortality.

However...

Alchemy was not completely "wrong". It has recently been demonstrated that it is possible to turn pure elements into another ones; but not chemically. The key is Nuclear Transmutation: a process in which the nucleus of an atom is changed. This process can only occur in a particle accelerator, and it takes a lot of energy. But yes: you can turn a piece of lead into a piece of gold.