DID YOU KNOW: Liquid Paper

STUDENT´S WRITING

Did you know that the first liquid paper was called Mistake Out? And did you know there were different colours?

In 1951, Bette Nesmith Grahm was a secretary and worked writing a lot. She made many mistakes and she was looking for a way to correct them. She invented a kind of tempera paint mixed with her kitchen blender and put it in samll bottles with the name of Mistake Out written on them. She shared this liquid with her partners at work.

Bette used correction liquid for five years and her son´s chemistry teacher helped her to improve the formula. She began to sell it in 1956, then she built her own company and changes the name to Liquid Paper. In 1970 there were different colours of Liquid Paper, like blue or green, to use them in different coloured forms.

Bette offered her product to IBM but they didn´t want it. Bette decided to sell it herself from her home during 17 years. She started to win money and the enterprise grew. Finally, Global Gillette bought it in 1979. Now, 200 people work in it and make 25 milliion bottles of Liquid Paper every year.

I hope you enjoyed it and learned something!


By Sandra Marco Navarro

Ed Sheeran ...UNPLUGGED!

STUDENT´S WRITING

      Ed is an English singer and songwriter whose brother Matthew is a classical music writer. Their parents are from London but or Irish lineage, both work in jobs related with Art; his father is an art curator and her mother is a jewelry designer. Ed was born near Halifax on  17th February 1991.

HOW DID HE BECOME FAMOUS?

     On 2005, he began recording music and left home to go to London where he played in the street and in small venues. Jaime Fox invited him to play in his program. Jaime let him a bed in his house and his studio to record. Finally, he became an international famous pop star as more people saw him over the Internet through Youtube.

DOES HE CARE?

     On 2012, he was a volunteer to help homeless people. There, he met a prostitute who is called Angel. She told him about her problems and he decided to help donating the 40,000 pounds of a concert in Bristol.

HIS DISCONNECTION!

     On the 14th December 2015, he wrote in his social networks: `I find myself seeing the world trough a screen and not my eyes.´ Sheehan took this decision after finishing his world tour, where he became one of the biggest pop stars in the world. 

     He got his fame with 24 years old and with his last disk called `X´ (sentimental mellifluous style). The New York Times called him `the first pop songwriter in a long time who becomes a fan phenomenon´. 

`THINKING OUT LOUD´

     I think he has lived an exciting and funny life despite being so young, only 24. Nevertheless, he is tired of using social networks. 

     Internet can help you in many things, as Youtube helped Ed to become famous; but on the other hand, Internet does´t let you time enough to do other things, for example looking the world with your eyes, as Ed has recently stated.

By Carolina Barrera Fernández

CLEO_CUTE_SHIHTZU

STUDENT´S WRITING

CLEO_CUTE_SHI TZU

     WHO IS SHE?

Cleo is my dog. She´s a Shih Tzu female and almost 19months old. She was born the 15th of May in 2014. She lives in Zaragoza, Spain. She is lovely, playful and really lazy.

     WHY CLEO IS IN INSTAGRAM

A long time ago, when I was at the oculist, I read in a magazine that dog had instagram (Marnie The Dog) because he had a problem in his neck and his owners wanted to show to all of the world that it doesn’t matter if your dog has a problem because if you love him anything else matter. When I started to follow him I saw the funny pictures that he uploads and I realised that he wasn’t the only dog in instagram. So I thought that if the others dogs had instagram, why couldn´t Cleo?

     CLEO IN INSTAGRAM.

Cleo is in instagram since the 31st of July 2015. Anyone from anywhere can see it and that’s how I met different dogs from different parts of the world.

My first followers were: Brooklyntheshihtzu (she is from U.S.A but she is Argentina), Abucufamily (they are 5 shihTzu and they are from Malaysia) and Gizmocolius (he is from U.S.A too). Thanks to them I felt encouraged to continue.

     WHY YOU SHOULD FOLLOW CLEO.

- Because you have a dog or you love dogs.

- Because the photos that I upload are really funny or really cute.

- Because you can meet other dogs from different breeds.They can follow you back because they can make you a shout out or because you can make advertising of some products as “El Taller De Las Hadas” does.

- And because she is really friendly and charming.

SO FOLLOW HER & ENJOY!!!

By Ainoa Uriarte de San Pio

https://www.instagram.com/cleo_cute_shihtzu/

DID YOU KNOW: Christmas Carols

STUDENT´S WRITING

        The word `carol´comes from the old language from France, Old French, whose word `carole´means dance in a ring accompaied by singers. They were very popular from the 12th century to the 14th century and they were sung during festivals and special moments in sacred services. Some of them were written to accompany mystery plays, which were the earliest plays in Medieval Europe.

     During the Protestant Reformation, the calvinists wanted to erase all elements form Roman Catholicism that weren´t essential, including carols. Despite these calvinist thoughts, many composers wrote songs like motets, that they called carols, and in rural areas traditional carols were still sung. Suprisingly, some of the most popular carols were written in this period. On the 19th century, some carols were adapted by freat musicians and new ones were written.

     As examples, we can take some popular carols that we all already know:

- Good King Wenceslas (12th C.)
- Coventry Carol (16th C. Mystery Play)
- Silent Night (19th C. - 1816 Austria)
- Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Mendelsshon´s (19th C.)

And many other:

- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Let It Snow
- White Christmas
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
- Christmas Tree
- Jingle Bells
- Rudolf was a raindeer
- ...


MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 TO ALL!!


By Jorge Lorenz Sánchez

IBERIAN LYNX: an endangered specie

STUDENT´S WRITING

           The scientific name for the Iberian Lynx is Lynx Pardinus. It´s a carnivorous mammal animal and lives in the South of Spain. It looks like a cat because they are from the same family: The Feline Family.

           It´s a small animal: males are 13 kg but they can weight 26kg, females are smaller, 9 kg. The Lynx has long legs and a short tail with a black ball of fur in the tip. Its ears are pointed with kinds of black brushes at the end. Its face is rounded and it´s got long, white and black sideburns.

           It lives in the woods, in preserved places in Spain, where it catches rabbits. You can see it in Doñana. It is a very good hunter.

         It is an endangered specie and a very beautiful animal.

By David Marco Navarro

TED: The future of news? Virtual reality.

TED talks: Ideas worth spreading

TED talk: The future of news? Virtual reality. 
NONNY DE LA PEÑA

     What if you could experience a story with your entire body, not just with your mind? Nonny de la Peña has developed a new form of journalism using an immersive media to tell stories and inspire people to care. She combines traditional reporting following journalism tenets with virtual reality technology to put the audience in scene. This evocative experience has an impact in people who feel involved with the story and have a direct reaction.

Communicate does not mean just bringing plane information to people but to transmit the whole elements of an event, including elements which could awake feelings and empathy in readers.

Main words used for descriptions: ADJECTIVES

Adjectives Nonny used in her speech: 

INTENSE

AUTHENTIC

PHYSICAL

OVERWHELMED

EVOCATIVE

REAL

ABSOLUTE

BELIEVABLE

POWERFUL

...

Can you tell me more adjectives you´ve heard?

Thanksgiving Interactive: You are the Historian

BEGIN YOUR ADVENTURE!

Take the role of a "history detective" and investigate what happened on the first Thanksgiving Day.

You´ll learn about Wampanoag traditions and Pilgrims' lives. At the end, you can also design and print your own Thanksgiving exhibit panel.

Thanksgiving Facts & Trivia

1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.
2. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.
3. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.
4. The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.
5. The pilgrims arrived in North America in December 1620.
6. The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.
7. The pilgrims sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.
8. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621.
9. The pilgrims did not serve pumpkin pie, Rather, they made stewed pumpkin at the first Thanksgiving feast.
10. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
11. The drink that the Puritans brought with them in the Mayflower was the beer.
12. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
13. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast.
14. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.
15. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
16. President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in the year 1789 and again in 1795.
17. The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.
18. Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor with a magazine, started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827 and it was result of her efforts that in 1863 Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer.
19. Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Whereas earlier the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held.
20. President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and hus stimulate the economy of the state.
21. Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that now onwards Thanksgiving will be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
22. At the original Thanksgiving, there was no milk, cheese, bread, butter, mashed potatoes, corn or pumpkin pie.
23. It has been estimated that 88% of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving.
24. The famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in the 1920’s.
25. According to Guinness World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked was 12 feet in diameter and 2,020 pounds.      

                                                                                         SOURCE: www.theholidayspot.com

                                                                 


Once you´ve read this.... Would you like to try the quiz?
       

Quiz for Thanksgiving Day

                                                                                                        

DID YOU KNOW: Thanksgiving

Bonfire Night

DID YOU KNOW: Gunpowder Treason Day & Guy Fawkes Night

Hallowe'en with Mr. Bean!

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Happy Hallowe'en!! Discover the spooky tales of ghosts from the Tower

DID YOU KNOW?: Halloween

Hallowe'en, a contraction of "All Hallows´ Evening", is a celebration observed in many countries on 31st October, that is All Saints´ Eve. 

This festival is related with an ancient celtic harvest festival with pagan roots, the Gaelic festival Samhain. Some scholars understand that during the Christianization period many festivals were adapted or influenced by pagan ones in order to make it easier to understand and accept the new faith.

The festivity of All Saints was introduced in the year 609 by the Christian Church but was originally on 13th May, as Lemur, an ancient Roman festival of the dead. Then, in 835, it was switched to 1st November, as Samhain, the Gaelic festival, by Pope Gregory IV. Since the primitive Church, the main feasts have vigils which began the night before. Therefore, All Saints´ Day has its vigil too, and this one coincided with Samhain.

Including All Souls´ Day (2nd Nov.),  All Saints´ Day (1st Nov.) and its eve (31st Oct.), these three days are all known as Allhallowtide. For the Christian Church, this period in the liturgical year is dedicated to remembering the dead, saints (also called hallows), martyrs and departed believers.

Nowadays, activities for celebrating Halloween include wearing costumes, decorating, parades, playing pranks, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, scary games, apple bobbing, telling scary stories, visiting haunted attraction...etc... The Christian religious observances include visiting graveyards and cemeteries, attending church services, lighting candles and putting flowers on the graves of the dead; in some cases even abstinence from meat, as they did in the past which is the origin of many traditional recipes and vegetarian food consumption such as potato pancakes, soul pancakes, bonfire toffee, toffee apple, cider colcannon, barmbrack, monkey nuts, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted sweet corn or candy corn ...etc...

Sadly, we have to admit that consumerism led us to forget about the origins of all these and take part in this big business. In US, $6 billion are spent in costumes and candy in Halloween making it the second most comercial holiday after Christmas.