Latinoamerican Fair and English Electivers

These are some of the students of the Elective Class who participated in the Latinoamerican Fair 2007 at Liceo Domingo Santa Maria. Their stands and the information of each country were worked, studied and shown with high quality.
Congratulations boys and girls... this was your last activity and you did great.

Visiting the English Corner at Universidad de Tarapaca

Last Thursday, November 23, the twelveth graders from the Elective Class of English visited the American Corner at the Universidad de Tarapacá.
There the senior students could talk with 3 American students who belonged to teh Interchange Program of the University.
The boys and girls had fun talking, telling jokes and even playing cards en English.
We thanks to Larelai Parra to allow having these great experience.

Youth Ambassadors in Arica

Last Wednesday, November 14th, the students from the Elective Class of English participated in an Experience Presentation given by the five Chilean Secondary students who traveled to the United States last January as Youth Ambassadors, an initiative that was organized in Chile for the first time by non-profit organization Partners of the Americas and sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Andrea Cifuentes Rodríguez from Iquique; Stephanie Dönicke Medina from Punta Arenas; Camilo Muñoz Arias from Teno; Ayleen Vásquez Celta from Arica; and Pablo Valenzuela Navarro from San Bernardo shared for several minutes their experiences in English before students from diferents Liceos and Colegios from Arica.

After the activity the elective class students took conversations in English with some of these travellers, interchanging opinions, ideas and even e-mail addresses.

This experience fullfilled all the expectations that the students of the Elective Class before going there.

Good job biys and girls.


Waiting...


The travellers sharing their experiences


Talking about music


Clarifying doubts and talking good English


Conversation in a high level


From one traveller to another. Great iniciative to talk.


Just fooling around!

Pump up the volume "questionnaire" (Cuartos Medios)

This movie was used to make you think about your present, your future and your choices.

1. What's your opinion about the movie?
2. If, in the movie, the pirate radio was way used to "talk hard". Nowadays, which would be the way to say what you really think?
3. The movie plot ran about the fight against the system. According to your sense about the system... what do you think it still wrong and how you could change it.

"Almost Famous" (The Questions)

Questionnaire

1. Why William was younger than his other classmates?
2. How William got interested in rock & roll?
3. For you, what’s the meaning of the phrase “IT’S ALL HAPPENING”. Who used it?
4. According to what you understood, what was the real function of being a “Band Aid”, like Penny Lane?
5. Why William’s mother was so overprotecting with him?
6. According to you, was Penny Lane really loved the guitar player (Russell Hammond)?
7. Why Russell, the guitar player, finally accept to publish everything?
8. What is the real name of Penny Lane? To whom did she say it?
9. William let him live his dream in the movie. What is your dream? and what are you doing to get it?
10. Why in the movie is used the name “Almost Famous”?

Movie: "Pump up the volume" (Cuartos Medios)

Teenage angst finds a new voice in this drama. By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a quiet, studious student at an ordinary suburban high school in Arizona. But at night, Mark creeps down into his basement, fires up his pirate radio transmitter, and broadcasts to the community as Hard Harry, a sexually obsessed social commentator who passes along angry philosophy about the state of teenage life when not blasting punk rock or gangsta rap cuts. Hard Harry's sworn nemesis is high school principal Mrs. Cresswood (Annie Ross), who keeps SAT scores up at the expense of her students' dignity and individuality by eliminating "troublemakers" from the student body. Hard Harry's broadcasts, however, have become a rallying point for the school's misfit underclass, and Mrs. Cresswood is determined to track down the mystery student and bring him to justice (broadcasting without a license, he's not merely an annoyance, but a criminal). The war against Hard Harry intensifies when he broadcasts data from confidential school board reports; Mark's father is a school commissioner, but he has no idea what his son is doing in the basement. Meanwhile, Mark gains the attentions of Nora (Samantha Mathis), who has figured out who he becomes at night. More serious and intelligent than the average teen film.

NOTE: Questions about the film soon.

MR HOLLAND'S OPUS: "The Questions" (Cuartos Medios)

1. According to you, give a reason that supports the artistic and musical education at school nowadays.

2. According to a former student (at the end of the movie), what is the real Mr Holland's OPUS? Why the word "opus" is used in the title of the movie?

3. What does the school principal -Mrs Jacobs- mean when she tells Mr Holland that a good teacher not only must teach knlowledge to the students, but also give them a compass?

4. Do you think that Mr Holand was a good father during the movie?
5. How does Cole's deafness interfere in his parents' marriage? ¿How did Mr Holland and his wife react to the stress?

6. According to you, what did it show the incident between Mr Holland and Rowena?

7. Did Mr Holland act properly saying Rowena that she had an outgoing talent and she had to go to New York and follow her dreams?
8. According to you, name the 5 most relevant moments of the film.


Recomendation...
Try not to write at the same time you are reading. I'd prefer you print or write the questions, answer them on a paper and then write them in the blog and upload them.

Movie: Mr. Holland's Opus (Cuarto Medio)

Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 drama film in which Richard Dreyfuss plays Glenn Holland, a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while trying to compose one memorable piece of music to make him famous.

The film features an orchestral score by Michael Kamen and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony, the work Mr. Holland is shown working on throughout the movie.

The movie was written by Patrick Sheane Duncan (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination) and directed by Stephen Herek. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. It also stars Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy, Alicia Witt, Terrence Howard, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Joanna Gleason.

**The questions will be uploaded after watching the movie in class.**

Movie: 'Almost Famous' (Tercero Medio)

Almost Famous is a 2000 film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and released in 2000. It tells a fictional story of a teenage journalist initially writing for CREEM magazine and then later for Rolling Stone covering the rock band Stillwater, and his efforts to get his first cover story published. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone.

Despite very good reviews, the film was not a box-office success. The film received four Oscar nominations, one of which led to an award to Crowe for his screenplay. It was also awarded the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Roger Ebert hailed it as the best movie of the year.

The film itself is based on Crowe's experiences on tour with rock band The Allman Brothers Band, and somewhat about his tour with Led Zeppelin in the early 1970s. It is also based on him touring with Lynyrd Skynyrd. He even said that Ronnie Van Zant was a big basis on the movie. In the Rolling Stone article, he talks about how he lost his virginity, fell in love, and met his heroes, experiences that the main character William has in the movie.

The tagline for Almost Famous is "Experience It. Enjoy It. Just Don't Fall For It."

**The questions will be uploaded after watching the movie in class.**

Class Activity: CHILDREN'S SONGS

The last activity of the first semester was to perform Songs for children, but... in English (duuh!)

The groups that showed their performances did it excellent. Great creativity and much more enthusiasm. It's a shame that the other groups didn't participate because of many reasons... espacially beacuse of the end of the semester.

Thanks boys and girls.

The Performers


Row Row Row Your Boat


If You're Happy And You Know It

The Audience




The Dolls




The Typical Pictures