Open Day07!

So much goes on in our classrooms, so much to learn, so much to know...and though some of you might say so much to pain, there's always time to share and enjoy! Another year is gone, a whole year of so much hard work and learning and achieved goals! We had an open day to display a bit of the work we've done throughout 2007. Nice! We must also congratulate our Little School Choir who beautifully performed "The Beatles". Pleasure to listen to! Only one thing left to say...SMILE! We've done it!!!

Halloween07

Many Hallo thanks to all our teachers and entertainers!!! Here are some snaps to remind us of all those very nice things!!! The sketch called "The Dentist" performed by our group of talented actors was just a big laugh!!! Hallo thanks again!

Halloween 07

We all know what October brings...Hallo smiles, lots of fun, and happy times!

Trinity College

This year we've had the honour to become a Trinity College registered centre. We are now proud to announce our ESOL 07 results:

Eliana Colantonio proudly passed grade 10 (Advanced) with DISTINCTION!!! Her presentation dealt on the Social Impact of the Beatles. The examiner, Mrs. Anne Spiers (Ma), gladly enjoyed Ellie's talk since she came from Liverpool herself!

Agustina Fernandez proudly passed grade 9 (upper-intermediate+) with MERIT!!! And Harry Potter was there to accompany her since her presentation was on the Philosopher's Stone. Impressive work, Agu!!!

Griselda Ruiz passed grade 9 as well! She delivered a most interesting presentation on "Autism".

Congratulations to them all!!!

HUGE THANKS to Karina Mussi at Trinity College for her constant help and support!

To learn more about Trinity College, please visit http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/

Theatre outing 07

Last October a good bunch of our keen students had the chance to enjoy "Around the World in 80 Days" performed by ArtSpot. We must all say as enjoyable as always: music, performances, and storyline all really engaging!

The Tudors

The Bloody Tudors

The Tudors were Kings and Queens of England who ruled the kingdom from 1485 to 1603- that is they ruled for 118 eventful years!

Henry VII 1485 - 1509
Henry VIII 1509 - 1547
Edward VI 1547 - 1553
(Jane Grey 1553 - 1553)
Mary I 1553 - 1558
Elizabeth I 1558 - 1603

Henry VIII was a cruel man who liked to rule by fear and who executed his opponents and ordered the destruction of beautiful buildings, libraries and works of art. Yet, he is one of the most popular English monarchs ever!

Henry was famous for his six wives! But the Tudors were also famous for many other things like the exploration of America and the plays of William Shakespeare. Their times marked the end of the Catholic church in England and a time of great naval exploits and pirates!

Here are some interesting sites that will lead you to a wider discovery on The Horrible but ever popular Tudors!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/famouspeople/standard/henry/index.shtml#focus

http://www.brims.co.uk/tudors/
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/nettsch/time/tudors.html
http://www.tudorbritain.org/
http://tudors.crispen.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_gms_victorian_dress.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/launch_vt_elizabethan_room.shtml

Charles Dickens

Who was Charles Dickens?

Charles Dickens(1812-1870) was the greatest novelist of the Victorian age. He wrote novels, short stories and articles and also became the editor to periodicals.

Dickens produced some of the most memorable writings in the English such as "A Christmas Carol", "Sketches by Boz", "A Tale of Two Cities", "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", "Great Expectations", and "The Pickwick Papers".

He is also famous for his memorable characters like Ebenezer Scrooge, Fagin, Betsey Trotwood, Mrs Gamp, Micawber, Pecksniff, Miss Havisham, Wackford Squeers and many others. A man of tremendous energy, he spent hours a day walking the London streets from which his characters and scenes came. He wrote about those busy and hustling streets and the lives of the many poor people who lived in terrible social conditions and claimed for justice as well as about the lives of the rich.

Food for thought by Charles Dickens:

• "For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself." (A Christmas Carol)

• "My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time." (David Copperfield)

• "I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world." (David Copperfield)

For a virtual tour of his house in London visit:
http://www.dickensmuseum.com/vtour/
To learn more about his life visit:
http://charlesdickenspage.com/index.html
To play games and avoid the gangs and villains of Dickensian London:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/multimedia/dickens/
Just enjoy this fantastic Charles Dickens animation http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/bleakhouse/animation.shtml
To read his works online:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-lit-charlesdickens.html

A tale of two cities!

Explore the cities of Belfast and Mexico city and make a poster to illustrate the difference!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/twocities/

Explore the landscapes of Scotland and make a poster to illustrate this beautiful country!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/sysm/landscapes/

It's time to breathe fresh air and play with cute animals. Visit this great site and you'll have a great chance to learn lots about life on a farm. Make a poster of your imaginary trip to this wonderful place!

http://www.willowsfarmvillage.com/farm/
http://www.spitalfieldscityfarm.org/sponsor-an-animal.html

The Vikings

- Vikings lived over one thousand years ago.

- They originally lived in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

- They were fierce sailors and traded in many parts of Europe and Asia.

- They settled in England, Scotland, and Iceland.

- Vikings didn't have schools.

- From the age of 5 Viking children worked very hard and had little time left to play.

- At the age of 10 you were an "adult".

- They got married at the age of 15.

- Some Viking boys learned to read and write the Rune alphabet on a stone. People thought these children had "magic powers" and because of that they were respected in society.

- Viking girls who were strong learned how to use a sword and fight like a warrior. Some even went to sea and there are many sagas of female Viking warriors!

To learn more about these Norsic people, visit:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/vikings/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/
http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/vikings.htm

Victorian Times

Who was Queen Victoria?

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901). Her reign was the longest in British history and people know it as Victorian era.

What changed during her reign?

Victorian Times were times of great change in the lives of British people:
- Britain became the most powerful country in the world.
- The population grew enormously and there was a huge need for food, jobs and housing.

- Factories were opened and new machines were introduced. Towns started to grow and people changed the way they lived and worked.

- People started to travel by train everywhere!

Taste a bit of Victorian Times!

Learn more about a typical day in their lives, their clothes and even enjoy their toys! Here are some really interesting links that will give you a clear idea of how people lived during the reign of Queen Victoria.

http://www.victorians.org.uk/
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/victorians/children/schools.htm
http://www.victoriantimes.org/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXSESSION_=&_IXFILE_=index.html&_IXACTION_=file
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/victorians/

Dinos are here!!!

Click on this link and you'll find hundreds of great sites to learn about those incredible creatures that walked the Earth millions and millions of years ago!

http://www.kathimitchell.com/dinosaur.html

The Senses

• How do our EYES, EARS, NOSE, TONGUE, AND FINGERS work?
• How does our brain understand what we SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, AND FEEL?

The way we experience the environment is just amazing! We open our eyes and ears to let the world go into our brain through billions of nerve cells that tell the brain about the world around us!

Now open your eyes and ears and make all your senses aware as you visit Neuroscience for Kids! There are lots of experiments, games and activities for you to discover the fantastic world of senses.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chsense.html
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/flash/sounds.html

All Grade 4 children working on this topic must visit the site, choose a sense and make an oral presentation in class. Hope you learn lots and have fun, too!

London

Welcome to London!!! London is a fascitaning city. There's always something going on all around. Let's see how much you can find out about this city.

• How many people live there?


• What are its main attractions?


• How many languages are spoken there?


• How many boroughs does it have?


• How different are its areas?


• What's the weather like all the year round? Is it true that it's always rainy and foggy or is it a myth?


• What famous "Londoners" do you know?


• Is there a special dialect from London?


• How do people travel around?

Here are some great links that will take you on an imaginary trip to fantastic London!
http://www.visitlondon.com http://www.timeout.com/london/
http://www.londontown.com/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/england/london/
Well, see if you can answer these questions and lots more... and hope that one day soon you can have the joy of walking round London streets. And remember...

When a man is tired of London, he's tired of life...

Well, we're certainly not tired of London!

Note: Hope you enjoy the pictures. I've taken them myself! - Roxana

Spot me!!!

Learning is sharing! Helping each other make the most of our time! So here are just a few old pics to remind you of that time we gladly shared and how much fun we had in the process! A new school year is about to begin so we hope to make you smile again!

And you wondered where the real witches were...

And for those of you who wondered where the real witches were...Well, there's me- though this year I've decided to change my witch's hat for my Minnie ears...and there's Lilian- cute Frankie's sweetheart!

Please do note that I've also added a Hallo 05 pic in which you can easily spot me as a "witch" - see I'm giving you all one more reason to call me so:-()!

Halloween 06

Halloween is always a time for rushing about with all those preparations...but also a time for having so much fun. Here are some pics from Halloween 06. We must all thank Griselda, Ellie, Pato, Ema, Fede, and Dany for their outstanding performance. We absolutely loved it! Left us all thrilled with! Thanks for giving us such a good show! And as for the rest of the party, the little ones really had a FAB, FAB time! And certainly loved the pizza! Good that you all had a go at all those games "in English". Well, everything turned out just FAB!

Dickens Cultura Inglesa

Hi everyone! This is intended to be one more way of sharing this learning experience at Dickens. We've finally become part of this endless virtual and global community and although this is just a tiny little spot in cyberspace, it's our spot so let's make it shine. Hopefully, you'll find a good bunch of great links to do extra practice from, plenty of useful info & data, and lots of other interesting things. We'd also love to use this spot to keep record of those funny little moments that so often take place in our classrooms and that cause those huge smiles on our faces! Hope you all contribute to it and enjoy it lots!