All Reference Material articles – Page 22
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Festivals: Winter Solstice (Yule) - (22nd December)
The Winter Solstice - or Yule, a pagan tradition, is a celebration of the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Pole is at its furthest point away from the sun. Yule logs are traditionally lit on the first day of the ...
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Festivals: Summer solstice (20th June)
This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has been celebrated for thousands of years. Solstice actually means a stopping or standing still of the sun. Many different cultures and religions have been fascinated by the sun or have worshipped it throughout history as it ...
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Modal verbs 2 – article
An article by Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on ways to approach teaching modal verbs.
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Modal verbs 2 – tips and activities
More teaching tips and ideas from Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on teaching modals.
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Get out of the classroom 2
Ideas for outdoor lessons which will have an element of English in them.
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Grammar contrasts 2: past simple vs present perfect
An article explaining the difference between the present perfect and past simple tenses.
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Grammar and vocabulary: What is Standard English?: Part 2
In the second part of this discussion and explanation on the concept of Standard English, Tim Bowen focuses on American English.
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Teenagers: Reading 2: The reading task
Usually the task, quite often a set of questions on the text, is set by the teacher or is already in the course book.
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Festivals: St Patrick's Day (17th March)
The man who was to become St Patrick was actually born in Wales, around AD 385. He was originally a Pagan sold into slavery but managed to escape six years later and travelled to Gaul (now commonly known as France). Whilst there, he studied in a monastery under St Germain ...
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Festivals: Guelaguetza (16th July)
Celebrated in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, this fiesta originates from the Zapotec meaning 'offering' or 'great courtesy'. Individuals within the communities would offer help to one another during big events such as weddings, births and harvest time. Those who received help would then repay the favour - sometimes ...
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Festivals: Las Fallas (15th-19th March)
Las Fallas started as a feast day in Valencia, Spain, to celebrate St Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. Las Fallas has become a five day celebration of fire. The main focus of this celebration is the building and destruction of large cardboard, wood and plaster statues (known as ninots). During ...
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Lesson Share: Friday 15th October: A difficult day
In her first diary entry, Maria Alamanou describes the difficulties of teaching when ill.
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Lesson Share: Wednesday 15th December: End of term progress reports
In her fourth diary entry, Maria Alamanou muses on the joys of correcting papers
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Lesson Share: Saturday 15th January: Christmas events
In her sixth diary entry, Maria Alamanou describes her school's riotious Christmas party
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Lesson Share: Tuesday 15th February: Confessions
In her eighth diary entry, Maria Alamanou ruminates on classroom management
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Lesson Share: Tuesday 15th March: Unmasking the fox
In her nineth diary entry, Maria Alamanou feels embrassed by the behaviour of one of her students.
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Lesson Share: Friday 15th April: Professional development
In her eleventh diary entry, Maria Alamanou describes a rare professional development experience in Greece
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Festivals: St. Valentine's Day (14th February)
February 14th is a day when close friends or loved ones send each other gifts to express their friendship or love. St Valentine's Day is believed to come from both Christian and Ancient Roman traditions - the Catholic church recognizes three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. One legend says ...
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Festivals: Bastille Day (14th July)
During the mid to late 1700s, France was under the rule of a monarchy. The monarch at the time was King Louis XVI, who ruled with his wife, Marie Antoinette. France was governed by the privileged classes - the nobility and clergy - and the lower classes were taxed heavily ...