mardi 17 février 2015

jeudi 12 février 2015

Countdown to Valentine's Day 2015


At English & Creativity we just LOVE chocolate, love poems and songs and telling people how wonderful they are, so Valentine's Day is right up our alley !

The Bilinguals enjoyed discovering both Chet Baker versions of "My Funny Valentine"

vocals:


trumpet:


Ben made the class awesomely creative Valentine cards ...





They all tried their hands at creating cinquain poems about someone or something they love






A light-hearted love song by Cole Porter...




You're the Top - Cole Porter

At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
That I always have found it best
Instead of getting them off my chest
To let 'em rest unexpressed

I hate parading my serenading
As I probably miss the bar
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it'll tell you how great you are

You're the top, you're the Coliseum
You're the top, you're the Louver Museum
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeare's sonnet
You're Mickey Mouse

You're the Nile, you're the Tower of Pisa
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop
But if baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top

You're the top, you're Mahatma Gandhi
You're the top, you're Napoleon Brandy
You're the purple light of a summer night in Spain
You're the National Gallery, you're Garbo's salary
You're cellophane

You're sublime, you're the turkey dinner
You're the time of the Derby winner
I'm a toy balloon that's fated soon to pop
But if baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top

You're the top, you're an arrow collar
You're the top, you're a Coolidge dollar
You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire
You're an O'Neill drama, you're Whistler's mama
You're Camembert

You're a rose, you're Inferno's Dante
You're the nose on the great Durante
I'm just in the way, as the French would say, "De trop"
But if baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top

You're the top, you're a Waldorf salad
You're the top, you're a Berlin ballad
You're the basic grand of a lady and the gents
You're an old Dutch master, you're Mrs. Astor
You're Pepsodent

You're romance, you're the steppes of Russia
You're the pants on a Roxy usher
I'm a lazy lout which is just about to stop
But if baby, I'm the bottom, you're the top

They learned various expressions using the word "heart" ...


 

Another love song by Cole Porter...




”So In Love” -  Cole Porter

Strange dear, but true dear,
When I'm close to you, dear,
The stars fill the sky,
So in love with you am I.
Even without you,
My arms fold about you,
You know darling why,
So in love with you am I.
In love with the night mysterious,
The night when you first were there,
In love with my joy delirious,
When I knew that you could care,
So taunt me, and hurt me,
Deceive me, desert me,
I'm yours, till I die.....
So in love.... So in love....
So in love with you, my love...
Am I....



Of course, no Valentine's Day celebration would be complete without chocolate, conversation heart candies, heart-shaped marshmallows and 
candy kisses....







Think you know what Valentine's Day is all about ? Try this fill-in-the-blanks (answers at the end) :

http://www.education.com/files/518001_519000/518138/file_518138.gif


Some famous love poems ...



She Walks  in  Beauty
By Lord George Gordon Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

My  mistress’ eyes  are  nothing  like  the  sun (Sonnet 130)
by William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
 
The White Rose
by John Boyle O’Reilly
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.
 
  
“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous”-  Ingrid Bergman

dimanche 8 février 2015

Yes we can !

This week's lesson was all about "can" and "can't"...

What can YOU do ?

I can fly a kite
I can play soccer
I can throw a ball
I can dance
I can eat
I can jump
I can play the harmonica
I can ride a bike/tricycle
I can sing
I can create

BUT...

I can't fly
I can't drive
I can't read (yet !)
I can't play the violin or the piano







lundi 2 février 2015

The 4-5 year olds learned about emotions last week

Last week, the little ones learned the English words for emotions. They especially liked "happy"... 


Of course, they loved this song :


Then they got busy making emotion masks :






To finish off the session, they drew their emotions on the blackboard :









Martin's Big Words

Last week, the bilinguals watched a Scholastic video adaptation of Doreen Rappaport's book "Martin's Big Words" :



Then they brainstormed big words of their own related to Martin Luther King Jr.