It was lots of fun working with class 2aA last month on our contribution to entertainment program for Schulsilvester. Despite being limited to  songs with no sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, or (excessive) profanity, they still managed to find a song they all liked. A fun and feel good song to boot!
​
Without further ado, here is their interpretation of Macklemore's Glorious. Many thanks to Beni who expertly directed the production process together with assistance from Tobias, Jeremias, and Enea.

​Wishing you a glorious 2018!
​

We took a turn away from grammar today in order to discover information about countries where English is spoken as a first or second language. I don't think the students ever thought they could have so much fun debating which country has the most appealing cultural highlight or which country has the most official languages.

Yesterday was International Women's Day (but let's not forget that women are important to society more than one day a year!)

Around the world millions of girls made their way to school yesterday. Have a look at the photos and descriptions in the article about girls going to school. Which students...
- have school routes and experiences that look like yours?
- have school routes that look dangerous?
- have the longest way to school?
- have experiences that look most interesting to you?
- wear the most colorful clothes?

Which picture do you find the most interesting and why?

I had never heard of the crazy "rollercoaster bridge" in Japan! Have you?

Have a look at this article about the bridge and use what you learned from our last unit to tell me more about this bridge. What kind of bridge is it? What materials were used to build it? Why was it built this way? You can also find videos of cars "riding" the bridge on YouTube.

I'll accept answers in the comments section until Sunday evening.

Some interesting discussions were had yesterday during and after the presentations about American politics. My American side enjoyed listening to non-American teens have opinions about my country's politics. When it comes to politics, you're on your way to not being the guy in this picture. Well done!

On Monday, we will work with the vocabulary of politics. Have a look at this list of politics vocabulary. Some words are even the same as the German definition, but I want you to work on your pronunciation. Use the audio button to listen how the words are pronounced. Repeat the pronunciation after the lovely Quizlet woman's voice.

Dear 1A,

We will start a new unit today focusing on English around the world. At the end of the unit you'll know about countries around the world that use English. You'll also be able to:
​- use high numbers in the thousands and millions,
- use 's to show possession
- use modal verbs like can, could, might, must, and should

​Have a look at the vocabulary words for unit 4. Which words do you already know?  kind of know? don't know at all?

In the comments section please post the words you kind of know.

The students were really eager to talk about Donald Trump's presidency. One class even clapped after I agreed to devote time to the topic. Doing research on the topics was great for their reading and writing skills. And discussing the issues with their classmates is a great way to practice their speaking skills. It was easy to say yes.

These are the topics that will be up for student-led discussion: 
- Trump’s cabinet picks
- Steve Bannon
- Trump’s Twitter use
- The temporary immigration ban
- Trump and the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
- Trump and inauguration attendance
- Trump’s relationship with Russia
- The popular vs. electoral vote results
- Anti-Trump protests
- Trump’s relationship with journalists
- Trump's proposal to build a wall between Mexico and the United States

Have a look at the Adobe Spark video 3A students Leo and Eric created to open up their discussion about Trump and Twitter.

Until next time,
​Mrs. Wettstein

Thanks for the jokes, Enea. If you have a good joke, come tell it to me and see if you can get me to laugh (or at least smile).
​

What do you get when mix salmon and Nutella?

​salmonella

​What award was given to the inventor of "knock knock" jokes?

the "no bell" prize

Our unit on bridges comes to a close this week. We started off by building strong paper bridges after learning about trusses and girders. Then we concluded by writing travel stories filled with drama, intrigue, and new grammar skills. Check back again to read some of the stories the students wrote!