It was a Cold Dark Night...

Wednesday 18^thFebruary

Hi everybody!

How are you? I hope you’re Ok.

You may not be doing (it’s possible that you aren’t doing) English homework yet because you still have one week left until our next class. Besides some of you, like Paula and Natalia, don’t usually do homework!!! Only Noelia and Laura did homework and told us about their Carnival.

Anyway, what did we do in class yesterday?

We finished the story about Mr.Trindle, the man whose car broke down (stopped working) and saw a UFO. UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object.

We did some exercises so as to finish explaining when past simple, continuous and ‘used to’ are used.

Here’s the summary:

Past Simple	Finished / completed actions in the past.	She worked in London for five years.
	Actions that happened one after another.	He opened the door, took off his shoes and sat on the sofa.
Past continuous	To set a story.	The sun was shining and people were happy that spring afternoon.
	An action in progress at some time in the past.	The kids were studying for the exam in the kitchen.
Used to + infinitive	States or repetitive actions in the past that are no longer true.	Her daughter used to have long black hair. (Now, she is blonde) I used to go to the cinema once a moth. (Now, I don’t usually go)

Remember that “used to” grammatically acts like any other ordinary verb in the past.

·           Did your friend use to wear glasses?

·           My friend used to wear glasses when she was a child.

·           She didn’t use to wear contact lenses.

And also that, in the same way we use “am/is/are going to” for the future, we can use “was/were going to”, to express a future action in the past!

They were going to (unfulfilled future plan in the past) study abroad but they didn’t because they didn’t get the grant (money given by the government for studying)

Then, I read a story.

The story went on like this: ‘It was a cold, dark night. Vanessa was driving out of the town. She was in a hurry but she wasn’t going home…’

Where do you think she was going?

Some of you said she was going home (obviously, you hadn’t listened), others said she was going to a friend’s house for a party…

After your suggestions, I went on (continued) reading…

‘…She was driving to a friend’s house to have dinner…She was driving past some trees when suddenly, she hit something in the road. She stopped and got out of the car.’

What do you think she saw?

A lion? A bear? A monkey? I wonder (ask myself) wherever you got those answers! Where do you think she was? In Africa?

Well, I kept on (continued) reading and pausing to make you questions. I think Jorge was the one with the most correct answers!

After the story we talked about money.

We learnt some vocabulary and listen to a sarcastic song: “Ka-chin”. The song was a criticism to consumerism.

Yes, you were right. “Ka- chin” refers to the sound of the till when you pay at a store.

And we finished with a journey around the world!

Homework: write a composition or an essay under the title ‘Money always makes people happy’. You can write a story under this title or an essay given your opinion. At least six lines.

     GAME 6

Player 1	5
Player 2	11
Player 3	11
Player 4	9
Player 5	7
Player 6	5
Player 7	7

See you next Wednesday!