martes, 16 de diciembre de 2014

4º British: Merry Christmas (from the Western Front)



Based on historical facts, this emotional Sainsbury's advertisement remember us the unofficial Truce that German, Scottish and French platoons did during the 1914 Christmas. 

During several days, soldiers both sides stopped fighting and enjoyed the seasonal good feelings together (they played football, exchanged gifts, etc.). The militar leadership, obviously, did not like the news when they knew it and all the soldiers where moved to other fronts and punished for "fraternizing with the enemy". Not to said, having another Christmas truce in 1915 was totally unthinkable...

There is also a film about this event, directed by Christian Carion in 2005. 

Enjoy it and... Merry Christmas to you all, students!


jueves, 11 de diciembre de 2014

4º British: How effective were the Suffragists and the Suffragettes?


Answer the following questions, as complete as possible. When finish, send them as an attached document to blogeducativo08@gmail.com.


1.What do you think Suffragists and Suffragettes would look back on with most satisfaction?

2.What do you regard as the greatest achievement and the greatest failure of Suffragists and Suffragettes?

3.Do you think that Suffragists or Suffragettes achievements most outweight their failures? Why?

4.Do you think that Suffragettes direct actions damaged the campaign for female suffrage? Why?

5.Do you think that Feminism is still necessary? Why? Give at least 3 well-argumented reasons.

6.What do you think about the following sentence? Do you agree with it? Why?
“I call myself feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am, ‘cause it’s about equality, so I hope everyone is. You know you’re working in a patriarchal society when the word feminist has a weird connotation” (Ellen Page).



By the way, if you are particulary into this topic, you can voluntary watch this video (10 minutes) about the history of women suffrage in UK, or visit the Franklin College suffrage’s website.


miércoles, 10 de diciembre de 2014

Understanding Plagiarism



Thanks to Ken Halla (World History Educators Blog), here is a great short video (only 2 minutes, in English) defining plagiarism for kids. Maybe with this, you will be able to understand better why plagiarism is wrong and not allowed in class...

Be careful next time, ok? 


lunes, 24 de noviembre de 2014

4º British: the Middle East, a legacy of WWI


Here are a couple chapters about the origins of the Great War in the Middle East that you might want to read when we study it at class.

In “The Middle East that France and Britain Drew”, John B. Judis traces the roots of the problems today to the way Britain and France drew the borders in the Middle East after the first World War.

In “The Last Crusade: The WWI and the Birth of Modern Islam”, Philip Jenkins traces the rise of modern Islam, including Islamic extremism, to the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the World War I.

Enjoy the reading! J

miércoles, 19 de noviembre de 2014

3º British: Local Food (fixed links for the weekly work)



As it seems that the links included in the weekly work were broken, here you have the new ones for solving the activity about “local food”:

Food routes network: It is a nonprofit organization providing communications tools, technical support, networking, and information resources to organizations working to rebuild local, community-based food systems.
Community Farm Alliance: It is a nonprofit organization providing nutritious food in a manner that is socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable.


Both are USA examples, but you can find similar organizations in other continents (eg. the already studied C.A.P. in Europe!)

lunes, 17 de noviembre de 2014

4º British: We remember (Why poppy flower is the symbol of WW1?)



The poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day. But how did the distinctive red flower become such a potent symbol?


Scarlet corn poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem “In Flanders Fields”, written in the remembrance of a soldier friend.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
.


The poppy was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921.



jueves, 13 de noviembre de 2014

Would you pass an Oxford University exam?


Oxford and Cambridge are some of the most famous (and demanding) universities in the world. Their difficult access exams are also well-known and now, thanks to the following link, you can read some examples of the Oxford exam questions. As you can see, there is not only one correct answer; even more, the important point here is not the answer in itself but your thoughtful thinking. That is: your ability for finding the deep cause of a problem, for selecting and linking ideas,  for giving and explaining reasons and consequences, and for expressing in a rational way your reflections.

Causes, consequences, reasoning ability... does they sound familiar to you? Yes! In class, you are being trained in all of them! So don't worry, at the end of the academic year, you will be able to pass your IGCSE - Cambridge exam!

Let's work! J

Source: Diario Vasco via DDR

lunes, 10 de noviembre de 2014

3º British: political performance



As we said in class, here you have the photos of your amazing performances of the political activity... You can download this zip file with all the photos (a password will be required, do you remember it?). A photo from the election day has been also included...

Congratulations again for your work! 

Would you like to do another activity from this kind? Which one?

lunes, 3 de noviembre de 2014

4º British: World War I interactive episode


Thanks to BBC, now you can relive firsthand the Great War. Do you think you would be a good platoon leader? Are you able to take the right decisions during an ambush? Find it out with this interactive episode.

Enjoy and good luck!

sábado, 25 de octubre de 2014

4º British: Arab Spring & French Revolution



As it is usually said, History is always repeating itself. This is the reason why is so important to have a good knowledge about your past. As an example, you will start a comparaison between the French Revolution (1789) and the so-called "Arab Spring" (2011). 

The Arab Spring — the popular uprisings across the Arab World that began in early 2011 — was the defining moment for a generation of Arabs, and was the seed of some of the most devastating, ongoing conflicts in the current world.

Download, printed and answer the following DOSSIER; when finished, send it to acarriles@educa.jcyl.es 




Here you have several useful links for starting your research:

Common thread of RevolutionsDr. Haytham Mouzahem, a Middle East analyst for the newspaper "Atlantic Post", argues that while revolutions may have different catalysts, they share common elements that include "circumstances of time and place and diverse cultural, religious, social, political and economic communities that witness these revolutions". 

Country-by-country: these BBC profiles explain “What Happened?” and “Where are We Now?” for every country that experienced unrest during the uprising.

Why the Arab World is Seething an early infographic from the New York Times into the causes of the Arab uprisings


Video: Egyptian rapper Deeb talks about the role of hip-hop in the Arab Spring uprisings



Good luck!




miércoles, 22 de octubre de 2014

4º British: Flipped class! The unifications of Germany and Italy


The educational system is usually based in passive learning: the teacher talks and the students seems to be listening J But it is a fact that we (everybody) remember better what we DO, so with this topic we will try a new approach to knowledge: you will built your own learning! This is what we call “flipped class”.

In this case, we will work with topic 5: unifications of Germany and Italy (remember that you have also my notes on the tag “Apuntes” of this blog. Read them!).

Besides, I have prepared for you several links for introducing the theory. Watch/Read them carefully at home. Them, you will do some activities at class; in that way, you will work at your rhythm and you will have the opportunity of asking me all the doubts you find.

Let’s go!

First thing you have to do is watching this complete youtube’s video from Bailey Duncan (about 14 minutes).

Second, for being sure that you have watched the full video, you have to send me an email (blogeducativo08@gmail.com) answering these questions:
  • What was the Crimean War so important?
  • Why was Bismarck called the “modern Machiaveli”?


Third, you will need to print and bring to class this document with the activities (remember the password).


As usually, you will receive a mark for the full activity (homework and classwork/attitude). I know that you will find a bit difficult because it is something new for you but I am also sure that you will enjoy it, work hard and get brilliant marks, right? J


Good luck!


sábado, 18 de octubre de 2014

1º British: Workshop of Archeology


As we have decided, here you have the photos of your brilliant performance in the archeological workshop in the Museum of Ávila last week. You can donwload the full presentation (remember your password!) or the zip file with the single photos. Enjoy it!

Would you like to do another activity of this kind? Which one?

jueves, 16 de octubre de 2014

4º British: inventions from the World War One


Thanks to British Pathé, we can now watch these videos (about 3 minutes each) with some nowadays common things that were invented during the war, from blood transfusion to the zipper, just for saying two examples...

Have you ever think about it?

viernes, 3 de octubre de 2014

4º British: Weekly Works


Here we go! This is the full list of weekly works for this academic year. Notice that it also includes the deadline for the first one... As usual, it also includes a volunteer activity for earning an extra point in the final term.


Let's start working! 

miércoles, 1 de octubre de 2014

3º British: Weekly Works


Here you have the full list of weekly works for this academic year. I will give you the deadlines with anticipation in class:




Good luck!

domingo, 28 de septiembre de 2014

3º British: Spanish Constitution & Statute of Autonomy of Castilla y León


Today’s activity is a timed-trial! You will have only THIS class for answering, as complete as possible, the 10 questions of this documentYou can start searching the info here:


  • The Statute of Autonomy of Castilla y León was approved on 25 February 1983. You can read the full text (by chapters) in this link from the Congress/Statutes of Autonomy.


When finish, send the document with your answers and name, as a attached document, to blogeducativo08@gmail.com.

Go on!

By the way, if you are intrigue about the Statutes of Autonomy in other “Comunidades Autónomas” you can visit the website of Aelpa, the Observatory of remodelling legislation.


jueves, 25 de septiembre de 2014

4º British: The British Triangular Trade


Today we have talked about the triangular trade and the African slavery. In you need more info about the topic for doing your homework, you can visit this link from the BBC - The abolitionist or watch this video from Crash Course World History - Chap.24 (about 11 minutes). 

And good luck with the historical text! ;-)


martes, 23 de septiembre de 2014

1º British: Weekly Works (History)


Here we go! From the following links you can download and print the weekly works (homework) of this year. Notice that is only the part about History and, some time later, you will see also the ones about Geography... By the way, the password is the same that for the notes ;-)


I will give you the dates for delivery with enough anticipation at class, do not worry.

4º British: English Parliamentarism


We have started! Here you have some complements for this first lesson of the year...

The first step was the Magna Carta Libertatis (1215). In this link of the British Library you can read the full text and learn about its historical context. 

It was not always easy to accept this situation and the kingdom broke into a Civil War (1603), between the royalist of Charles I and the supporters of Oliver Cromwell. You can read more info in this link from BBC History or watch this animated video from Educational Portal

After the Restoration, the new king, William of Orange, accepted the Bill of Rights Act (1689). Based on the ideas of John Locke, the Bill of Rights was part of a package of laws that reformed the English constitution at this time with the other two being the Toleration Act  (which promoted limited religious toleration) and the Triennial Act (which prevented the King from dissolving Parliament).

Key Points of the Bill of Rights are: 

  • Roman Catholics were barred from the throne by this Act.
  • The right of free petitioning was reinstated by the Act.
  • The Act places a prohibition against arbitrary suspension of Parliament's laws by the sovereign.
  • The Act limits the sovereigns' right to raise money through taxation, with the consent of Parliament being needed.
  • The Act guarantees the sovereign will not interfere in the free and fair elections of Members of Parliament.
  • The Act guarantees the freedom of speech of Members of Parliament within parliamentary debates or proceedings (this means that MPs are free to say things that could be considered libellous or otherwise illegal while participating in parliamentary debates without fear of prosecution in the civil or criminal courts).
  • The Act makes it illegal for the sovereign to keep military forces within the kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament, which is one of the reasons the military is funded on an annual basis by parliament.
  • The act makes the imposition of excessive fines or cruel punishments illegal.


miércoles, 10 de septiembre de 2014

British: Academic information 2014-2015


In the links below, students can read the academic information for this year.


You can also read more details about the NEW Assesment Criteria (Criterios de evaluación y calificación), that includes some news (please, read it carefully), and the Ring-binder criteria (Normas para el cuaderno de la clase).

Ready?... Let's go! Good luck!

martes, 2 de septiembre de 2014

What are you teaching the World?

Back to school! A new year full of new projects, knowledge and experiences... Let's start by this inspiring and funny video by SoulPancake: a peptalk for teachers and students. Enjoy! J



jueves, 26 de junio de 2014

1º British: GAME "Destination: London"


Thanks to EducaCyL website, you can review your knowledge about London (culture, places...) and English language (vocabulary, grammar...) with this Trivia game.

Do you dare to challege your friends...?

miércoles, 18 de junio de 2014

Summer Holidays!


This academic year is about to finish... Enjoy the Summer! You really deserve it after all the work. 

See you again in September...

Cover cartoon: Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson


lunes, 16 de junio de 2014

1º D: GRACIAS!


Hoy mis fantásticos (y a veces un poquito charlatanes) alumn@s de 1º D (No British) me han sorprendido regalándome este precioso ramo de flores. ¡GRACIAS, GRACIAS, GRACIAS! Sois estupendos, ojalá podamos seguir juntos el próximo curso...

domingo, 15 de junio de 2014

History of Rome: bibliography


As we did some weeks ago with the I World War, here you have an update bibliography about Rome, from the times of the monarchy to the Late Empire, and also good books about daily life and culture.

Enjoy the reading!




miércoles, 11 de junio de 2014

1º British: Historical movies


As we did last year with the 4º E.S.O. syllabus, we have a new edition of historical films for summer time, in this case focus on 1º E.S.O. syllabus (Prehistory, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome). 

And, as a warm-up, we will watch a couple of episodes of "Roman Misteries" (Aventures in the Empire), a TV serie from BBC (2008, two seasons) based on the book collection by Caroline Lawrence, that you liked so much... Can you recognise each character?

Enjoy!

martes, 10 de junio de 2014

2014 Model-making exhibition


Good news! Finally we had our model-making exhibition at the High School' Hall. We selected a dozen of them (it was a really harsh decision, by the way) and they look amazing! Congratulations to all of you for these wondefull jobs. 

You can visit the exhibition until the end of this academic year, and don't forget to invite your family and friends... Remember also that you can see the individual (and detailed) photos in the "Actividades" Tab of this blog...

Enjoy the exhibition!

viernes, 6 de junio de 2014

4º British: 70º aniversary of the D-Day invasion



On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory” More than 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft supported the invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in France. The D-Day cost was high with more than 9,000 Allied soldiers killed or wounded as the march across Europe to defeat Hitler began.

Today, 70 years after the D-Day, the World commemorates the effort. In the web D-Day Memorial you could find and learn many resources about this topic: primary documents, videos, militar projects, stories from veterans, glossary, etc.

In addition, if you want to compare the coastline of Normandy now and them, visit the link of the Huffington Post.

jueves, 5 de junio de 2014

1º British: Roman games from BBC


Death in Rome!

Be a Roman sleuth - use your detective skills to unravel the events behind a mysterious death. You have until dawn to investigate the crime scene, and crack the case.

Piece together the puzzle using their evidence, eye-witness testimonies, and perhaps a little detective's intuition.


Gladiator: dressed to kill

Dress a gladiator for battle in the Roman Colisseum of death. Your choice of weapons and armour will decide whether or not he is victorious.

Will the emperor grant your gladiator his freedom, or will he fight badly and lose his honour, or even his life?


Enjoy!


martes, 3 de junio de 2014

1º E.S.O. Historical Dioramas (Part III)

Another new item: the Gate of Isthar, from the Babylon's wall. Amazing, isn't it?


Of course, we have some examples of Greek temples. But this year, you have been much more creative... What do you think about this wonderfull Parthenon as today's look?


We have several more: Different sizes, different materials, different perspectives... Which one do you prefer?



And last, but not least, our first example of a Roman militar camp!


Now, enjoy the exhibition and feel free to vote your favorite one! And... start thinking about next year's proyects ;-)


1º E.S.O. Historical Dioramas (Part II)

A classic topic in model making is the egyptian one. But, apart from the several versions of the Gizeh's pyramids, this year we also have a complete scribbe's desk!


This pyramid is quite interesting: because you can even open it and see its interior, with the royal chamber and the galleries...


This year we have many different options, even full scenarios. Which one do you like the most?



And, of course, another classic topic: mesopotamian zigurats!


1º E.S.O. Historical Dioramas (Part I)

Here we have a new edition of our special activity: model making - time! After the great success of last year, in this edition we have some new items. For example, prehistoric dioramas, dolmen included:



And even the terracotta warriors of Xian, from the ancient Chinese civilization!


Or the neolithic city of Çatal Hüyuck:


miércoles, 28 de mayo de 2014

4º British: Garbo, the spy who saved the world


Today in class we talked about this man: Juan Pujol Garcia. He was a double agent for the British, performing so well that they nicknamed him for the enigmatic actress Greta Garbo.

The documentary film (and several books) explains the story about the brilliant, eccentric secret agent who tricked Hitler and saved D-Day. 


lunes, 26 de mayo de 2014

¿Me afectará la LOMCE el próximo curso?


Aunque las cosas aún no están demasiado claras en cuanto a normativa, temarios, horarios y demás burocracia (y eso a pesar de que la Lomce entrará en vigor el 1 de septiembre!) la Junta de Castilla y León ha hecho público este documento en Slideshare con las novedades básicas de la nueva ley educativa. 

¿A quién afecta de forma inmediata? Resumiendo:

  • Para el curso 2014-2015 sólo se implantará en algunos cursos de Primaria y FP. 
  • Para el curso 2015-2016 estará en vigor en toda Primaria, 1º y 3º de la E.S.O. y 1º de Bachillerato.
  • Para el curso 2016-2017 estará operativa en todos los niveles, aunque la famosa "reválida" al finalizar 4º E.S.O. aún será "de prueba" y no vinculante para obtener el título.
Ánimo y mucha suerte!

domingo, 25 de mayo de 2014

4º British: World War II and the Holocaust


Two museums about the Holocaust: one in Israel (Yad Vashemand one in the USA (Holocaust Memorial). Both are outstanding.

The one in Israel maintained by the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. It's got a digital collection, a photo archive with thousands of photos, video lectures, and podcasts. In addition, it has a great history of the Holocaust by event. If you are studying this part of World War II, you should check it out. It could make for a great web quest.


viernes, 23 de mayo de 2014

4º British: 85,000 free videos from British Pathe



British Pathe is now the largest archive of history on YouTube. Follow them through the 20th Century and dive into the good and the bad times of the past. Feel free to explore more than 80,000 videos and over 3,500 hours of filmed history, from 1896 to 1976.

From next week on you'll get a new playlists each Monday and Thursday, a special collection of videos that you can follow on British Pathe Youtube's channel. Get ready to travel back into the past!.