Comenius4Kids

Nov 20, 2022

Art and Music- Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (Post-Impressionist, 30 March 1853 - 29 July 1890) was famous for his bold, dramatic brush strokes which expressed emotion and added a feeling of movement to his works.

For more detailed information, check out this short biography and video:

See this site with 24 songs about art that paint beautiful pictures. Are you familiar with any of these songs?

One of Van Gogh's most famous works is The Starry Night (oil on canvas, painted in June of 1889), which depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Remy-de-Provence (France), just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1941.

Vincent (1972) is a tribute by American songwriter, Don McLean, to Van Gogh and this painting.

For more information on this inspiration, click here

Watch the video with the Italian translation.

Nov 13, 2022

Invalsi practice

Listening

News Reports

Audio

B2 Reading exercise: Did Mona Lisa have a thyroid problem?

Oliver Asks for More

From Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Which adjectives would you use to describe the characters' responses to Oliver's request?
disproportionate / adequate / acceptable / fair (just) / unfair / merciful / harsh

Find expressions that describe the children's extreme hunger.

Traduzione Italiano

Watch the scene from Oliver, a film (1968) made from the Broadway musical .

At a Restaurant

Do you know what "out to lunch" means as an idiom? "

"too strange or confused to know what is really know what's happening"

A conversation

Are you as fussy / picky as this woman when you go out to eat?

Invalsi exercises

1) Listening Fake News - a common problem? AUDIO fake news

2) Using your English sentence transformations1

3) Reading (grammar / use your English)

Nov 6, 2022

You are what you eat

Do you have a healthy diet?

What are your favorite foods?

The moldy Whopper

What do you think about this ad?

How did the teens react when they were served crickets?
What would you do if someone offered you some crickets to eat?
How are crickets eaten?

Where is it fairly common to find these insects on the dinner table?
Why do some people think crickets will be the future of nutrition?
What do you think about this?
Have you ever tried any bizarre or unusual foods?
What's the most disgusting food you've ever tasted?

How about some Cricket Pesto for lunch?

The Flame Burns On

Listen to the song, "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel, and see how many historical people and events you can list. Why do you think they've been included in this song? How many are you familiar with? Do you think some are more significant than others?

Now watch the video with the lyrics to check your list and add more.

Oct 28, 2022

It's that time again....

How many of these words are you familar with?
1) nyctophobia = abnormal fear of night or darkness
2) sepulchral = pertaining to burials
3) berserk = crazy, deranged
4) thanatopsis = a poem about death
5) perdition = loss of the soul
6) trepidation = sense of fear that makes you tremble (get goosebumps or get the shivers / get chills up and down your spine)
7) lycanthrope = wolfman
8) arachnophobia = an irrational or disproportionate fear of spiders.

What words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) come to mind when you think of scary things?
Make lists. You can also write them below in the comment section.

Which adjectives would you use to describe these pictures?

Click HERE for more vocabulary ideas.

Now, use the words to create a story!

MAD LIB STORIES: Create your word list according to what is asked (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) BEFORE reading the story. Then add the words in your list in the correct order to end up with (most often) a crazy story!

Story 1: Monstrous Halloween

Story 2: Description of a Horror TV Show

Story 5: Halloween History

Story 4: The Best Halloween Ever

Story 5: The Scariest Halloween Ever

Story 6: A Ghost Story