Burns´Night is celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25th to commemorate the life and work of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (born on January 25th, 1759) and his contribution to Scottish culture. Click on the screen below to listen to one of his most famous works, Auld Lang Syne.
How much do you know about Scotland? Try this quiz to find it out.
SCOTLAND QUIZ (www.quia.com)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January in the United States. On this day Americans celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights leader, who fought for the freedom, equality and dignity of all races and peoples. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and assasinated in 1968.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…
…this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…. I have a dream…
…I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood….
…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live an a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.
I have a dream today.
… let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
I have a dream speech (Full text)
Dear students and teachers,
Welcome back to school. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and the Three Wise Men brought you a lot of presents.
Are you ready to start working again?
On November 30th Scotland celebrates St. Andrew´s Day. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and St. Andrew’s Day is Scotland’s officialnational day. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated the Day as an official public holiday. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew, and this is widely displayed as a symbol of national identity.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. In the USA, it commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrims in 1621 who were thankful for the harvest and for the help of the Wampanoag people in teaching them to hunt, fish and grow crops during their first year in America. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated in much the same way. A large meal is shared and eaten with family and friends. People say thank you for their food and the good things they have in life. There are some special foods that are associated with Thanksgiving such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. Besides eating the Thanksgiving meal, Americans watch football, go to parades, travel and go shopping on the long holiday weekend.
Voyage on the Mayflower
Daily life
The Thanksgiving feast
Thanksgiving vocabulary quiz
Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated on November 5th in the United Kingdom. It’s a British tradition dating back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. People celebrate the defeat of Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators with fireworks and bonfires.
There is a famous rhyme that goes:
October 18 is Alaska Day. It commemorates the transfer of the territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States and the raising of the US flag at Sitka on October 18, 1867.
Learn more about Alaska:
Alaska for kids (Official Alaska State Website)
Alaska, the last frontier
Travel information
Quiz: What do you know about Alaska?
Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October in the United States. This controversial celebration commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America on October 12, 1492.
Visit these websites to read more about this day:
Columbus Day (History.com)
Columbus Day (USA.gov)
World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to celebrate the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels. It also commemorates the anniversary of the 1966 signature of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers.The 2011 events will focus on the theme “Teachers for Gender Equality”. (From UNESCO.ORG)
Send an e-card to your teacher to show how much you appreciate him or her.
Welcome back to School! I hope you all had a great summer and that you are ready to work hard. A special welcome to the new students of 1º ESO and to the new teachers joining our Sección Europea.
See you on Thursday, September 15th!
