Cineforum - some movies based on British or American novels for children

If we want to talk about foreign literature in our EFL class, watching some movies could be very useful. I choose six films based on some British and American novels for children. Three of them (Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan) allow us to talk about the 19th century literature. The others (The Polar Express, The Golden Compass and Harry Potter) can be used to talk about modern or contemporary literature.In the following Blendspace lesson...

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May, 1st - Workers Day

International Workers' Day is celebrated on  May 1st in many countries and is a national holiday in more than 80 nations. But, while in some countries this day is officially Labor Day,  in others it marks the traditional Spring festival known as May Day. Other countries, as the United States, celebrate Labour Day on another date.Below you can briefly see what happens on this day in Italy and in Uk but I would...

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Creative writing tools - having fun with words and images

Here are some interesting writing tools to make writing activities more attractive.You can play with words to create your text and you can link your words to images.Then you can share your material.Watch my simple examples.PicLitYou choose an image from the Piclit gallery and you add some text. You can "drag and drop" choosing from different suggested nouns, adjectives and verbs or you can write "freestyle".My example:http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=237190CapzlesWith...

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Fakebook - let's have fun with biographies

This is a very interesting tool to study biographies in a different way.With Fakebook you can invent a profile of any historical or fictional character. Your result will be a Facebook-like page!You can add images, links, videos, "friends", comments and "likes"! I think it could be very useful to study history or literature. Below you can see some Fakebook pages:Nelson Mandelahttp://www.classtools.net/fb/28/S63EfP3Bill Gateshttp://www.classtools.net/fb/18/NRd7eiBI...

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World Book Day - The importance of reading

UNESCO's General Conference in 1995 decided to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on April, 23rd to encourage everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading.Learn more at:http://www.un.org/en/events/bookday/Reading is important for many reasons:It is a great form of entertainmentIt exercises your brainIt improves concentrationIt improves your vocabularyIt improves your writing skillsIt develops your imagination...

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For teachers - The power of images in EFL classes

How to become more creative using new technologyIMAGESIn EFL classes it is always useful associating words, ideas and concepts with images.Through their visual memory students can better understand and remember information. Thanks to images you can explain complex information in a simple way. Images help learners manage their ideas and make connections between pieces of information. Moreover, images enhance students' creativity as...

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Earth Day - A message from the space...

April, 22 is Earth Day! This day is dedicated to the protection of the environment. Every year more than a billion people in many countries of the world take action to save their planet. During Earth Day celebrations people are informed of ways they can help protect their environment and their natural resources.  Surf the Earth Day websitehttp://www.earthday.org/greencities/earth-day-2014/and watch their videoOn the occasion...

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The Holy Week: let's study cultural and religious topics comparing different cultures.

 Today the Holy Week begins.Let's compare different cultures: some Easter religious traditions in the UK and Italy.  Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter and is the most solemn week of the Christian year. During this week Christians remember the last week of Jesus' life. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday.Palm Sunday Palm Sunday commemorates Christ's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd. In many churches,...

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