E.T. is almost thirty years old. Here is an advertisement for when the movie became twenty years old. Steven Speilberg is the director and the young girl in the movie, Drew Barrymore, has become a famous American actress.
Movies are a part of our culture. We talk about the movies we watch and two generations have seen E.T.. I saw the movie and so did my kids. Also, movies show the behaviour of people. For example, you see a family in this movie, a separated mother and her three children. The kids order pizza, and ride bikes. The mother reads a child's story, Peter Pan, to her young daughter before she goes to bed. In this movie, the family enjoy a popular celebration in October called Hallowe'en. Understanding the culture makes learning English easier.
The movie, E.T., won awards for its music, sound and visual effects. The actor, E.T., was a robot which was a big deal back in 1982. It cost 1.5 million to make the robot. It couldn't walk, so a person was used sometimes. They did not want to pay an additional one million to make the robot walk (1) Enjoy the advertisement which is called a movie trailer
Talking about movies. Answer the questions.
1. What kind of movie is E.T? (horror, romance, comedy, sci-fi, action movie)
2. Who is the director?
3. Where does the story take place?
4. What is about?
5. E.T. talks. What does he say in the movie trailer?
6. How does the movie end?
7. What is your favourite English movie?
8. Who is your favourite Canadian or American actor or actress?
9. What kind of movie do you like to watch?
10. How often do you watch movies?
(1) www.fiftiesweb.com
Monday, August 1, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Action Verbs: Simon's Cat
Simon and his cat are sleeping in an armchair. Then a fly arrives and wakes up Simon's cat. His cat chases the fly and makes a big mess. Answer the seven questions.
- What does Simon's cat spill?
- What does this pet knock over?
- What does Simon's cat drop on the floor?
- What does this cat tear?
- What does this cat rip in several places?
- What does Simon's cat finally kill?
- What does poor Simon swallow?
- spilled something? What did you spill?
- knocked over something? What did you knock over?
- dropped something? What did you drop?
- tore something? What did you tear?
- ripped something? What did you rip?
- killed something? What did you kill?
- swallowed something terrible? What did you swallow?
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
How old is Canada?
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| By Green Wellies |
Originally uploaded by Green Welliesa
Here's a quick quiz to see what you know about Canada. Do you know which ones are true or false?
1. Canada became a country in 1867.
2. The first prime minister was John A MacDonald.
3. Canada started with ten provinces.
4. The last province to join Canada was British Columbia.
5. The first immigrants in Canada were from Britain and Spain.
How did you do? Ask your teacher about the last one. Would you like to know the other answers and more about Canada? Go to an earlier post, Happy Canada Day .
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Thursday, May 26, 2011
Where in the World?
Last May, I left Canada for another continent. Perhaps you will recognize where these videos were taken.
1. The first video was taken at night. This city has a huge population, so it has streets full of high rises on busy streets. In Toronto, I live in a house and beside me are other houses. There are no high rises on my street. There are no buildings over two or three stories high.
It was very different for me to stay on the 37th floor and walk down a street with tall apartment buildings beside each other. Also, at night, this city is full of lights. In Toronto, my street only has street lights beside the sidewalks and some neighbours leave on their front door light.
2. This is further south in the same country. Again, this city has a large population. This is Saturday night in an area full of restaurants and a bizarre. Look at all the lights! It must be expensive to pay for all this electricity. Bright signs and people are everywhere.
3. This video is in a smaller city in the south. At night, many people joined activities in the parks and other open spaces. Here, couples are dancing outside. I also saw people participating in exercise classes. One exercise class met under a bridge and there were hundreds of people exercising together.
So, did you decide what country I visited? China? The first place is Shanghai, then Hong Kong and finally, Meizhou.
When you think of your native country, is it different than Canada? How is it different than Canada? How do the people live? What do they do?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Ontario:Trivia and Facts
Yes, it's spring and I am a gardener, but these are wild flowers. In fact, this is Ontario's official flower, the trillium. It grows at the edge of the woodlands in May. These photos are from High Park near Grenadine Pond. If you are in any big parks or in the Ontario countryside, look into the forest. You will see these small white flowers scattered under the trees. If you are really lucky, you will see a dark red trillium which is rare. One warning! Please don't pick the trilliums. It is illegal to pick our provincial flower.
To celebrate this Ontario flower, here is a trivia quiz about the province. Are you an Ontarian? Then you should know the answers to most of these questions.
Remember, if you do not understand a word, double click the word. Then you will get the meaning and more information.
1. The capital of Ontario is
a) Toronto b) Ottawa c) Kingston
2. Ontario is between
a) Alberta and Quebec
b) Nunavut and Manitoba
c) Quebec and Manitoba
3. Ontario is beautiful, but is does not have
a) Niagara Falls b) Rocky Mountains c) Algonquin Park
4. Toronto is the biggest city. Tourists will not find
a) CN Tower b) Casa Loma c) Banff
5. The premier of Ontario is
a) Dalton McGuinty b) Stephen Harper c) Jack Layton
6. The large body of water to the south is Lake Ontario and to the north is
a) Atlantic Ocean b) Lake Erie c) Hudson Bay
7. Which Canadian singer was not born in Ontario
a) Shania Twain b) Celine Dion c) Justin Bieber
8. This Canadian actor or actress was not born in Ontario
a) Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber)
b) Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, Stuart Little)
c) Ellen Page (Juno, Inception)
9. The official bird of Ontario is the
a) Canadian Goose b) Loon c) Blue Jay
I have lived most of my life in Ontario, so the first questions are easy for me to pull from my head. The next questions are Ontario statistics and I got some help from "Ontario Travel". Try these questions. Then check your answers below.
10. Ontario has 250,000 lakes or
a) 20% of the world's fresh water
b) 1/3 of the world's fresh water
c) 1/10 of the world's fresh water
11. The population of Ontario is 12 million or
a) 1 in 5 Canadians
b) 1 in 10 Canadians
c) 1 in 3 Canadians
12. Spring is from March to May. The average spring temperature is 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) to
a) 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit)
b) 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit)
c) 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit)
Would you like to learn more about Ontario? Try these sites.
Answers: 1a, 2c, 3b, 4c, 5a, 6c, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10b, 11c, 12a
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Spring in Toronto:High Park
Picnic season is starting. One of the best places for a picnic is under a cherry tree in High Park,Toronto. Better yet, if you go at the end of the cherry blossom season, the pink flowers will fall of the tree and float down around you. Cherry blossoms fall off rather than fade away.
This photo is from the weeping cherry tree in my backyard. For a spectacular show, see the rows of mature cherry trees in bloom at High Park right now.
Where are the blossoms?
What's at High Park?
High Park is a huge park in the west end of Toronto. I've taken a bike on the subway to the High Park stop. You can bike in the park. There's a children's playground, a free zoo, a swimming pool, a dog park and a restaurant. In the summer, there's an outdoor theatre. Watching a play under the stars is a lot of fun. For more information, check out the official High Park site.
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April Buds Open
April showers bring May flowers.Yeh! The flowers are blooming. The last photo (below) shows the buds in rainy April. Now look at the colour in May! It's just starting.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Expressions of Spring
April showersBring May flowers
This year, we got a lot of rain:( When you look around the world, I think our weather isn't that bad. The cloudy days affect us all, but we live in safe dry homes.
In a few days, the flowers will blossom on this bush. Maybe, I will be able to photograph this plant in bloom. It usually blooms around Mother's Day which is the second Sunday in May.
I was walking the dog in the rain and thinking of the many English expressions that use weather vocabulary. Here are ten sayings or expressions. Most of these use words from spring weather. Can you guess the meaning of these expressions?
1. I feel under the weather:(
2. Don't rain on my parade.
3. Get your head out of the clouds!
4. It's raining cats and dogs.
5. I'm going to my friend's bridal shower.
6. He showered me with gifts:)
7. He is no spring chicken.
8. It never rains but it pours.
9. Could I take a rain check?
10. The calm after the storm.
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Monday, April 18, 2011
Easter Egg Hunt
There is a fun game the children play on Easter Sunday. They go on an Easter Egg hunt. The Easter Bunny hides Easter chocolate and candies. The children look for the treats.
There are different kinds of Easter Egg hunts in Toronto. Some families have Easter Egg hunts in their homes or yards. Also, there is an Easter Egg hunt at Toronto Zoo and Centre Island. At Centennial Park, there is an Easter Egg hunt for dogs! The dogs find eggs. Inside the eggs are doggy treats.
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Try this Easter hunt. Watch the first video here and then click a box. The box takes you to youtube. After, do the listening quiz here.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Spring in Toronto 4/14/11
- The first flowers are blooming.
- The grass is turning green.
- The buds are on the trees.
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