Fables for our Time

I'm looking forward to seeing your rehearsed readings of the fables. The scripts you wrote are excellent so I'm sure dramatisations will be very lively:-)

Now it's time that all of you read all the FABLES. So here they are.

Into the Wild...

Today we had two very interesting presentations.
Patrícia P. (10-8) shared with us her passion for Cristopher McCandless and the film INTO THE WILD. She explained how we can get emotional when we see the life of someone who pursued an ideal and went all the way to live his freedom. See her presentation.

The second presentation may not be so appealing, but it was very helpful... Rita, Marta, Ricardo and Carolina (10-8) explained (almost) all there is to know about the REPORTED SPEECH. Check their presentation and don't forget to do the Workbook exercises.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Do you remember we were in class and no one seemed to remember how the story goes? So here it is. You can read and download all Aesop's fables from Project Gutenberg.

Can YOU imagine what James Thurber's version of this tale might be like?
Try and write it :-)

The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about,
chirping and singing to its heart's content.  An Ant passed by,
bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the
nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper,
"instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant,
"and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got
plenty of food at present."  But the Ant went on its way and
continued its toil.  When the winter came the Grasshopper had no
food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had
collected in the summer.  Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Tongue-tied? Forget it!

Practise your pronunciation and intonation. The better you read and are able to match spelling and sound the better understanding you'll have of the English language.
BBC learning can help you. Follow the link

7 FABLES for our time

So we are starting 2010 reading FABLES... I hope you are curious:-)
Read about the author, James Thurber.
Each group will be reading a different fable in class so I don't want to spoil it for you, and I won't publish the stories and the guidelines yet. You'll get to SEE all the fables once all the groups perform their own versions, in class.That will be in 2 weeks' time.
Enjoy. They are fun but they also have a lot to think about. Food for thought.
Check here the vocabulary that was introduced in class.

So this is 2010...

Happy New Year ... Hope all your wishes come true :-)