The Trial

Students for 1st Bachillerato have came together to create one of the most shocking trials of the century.

Students played a variety of different roles from judge to witnesses.

To get an exclusive look inside the court room click here!

Faunia

Last week, the bilingual English section sponsored a field trip to Faunia. Students had the exciting opportunity to explore the park and learn about the animals and their environments, while further developing their English vocabulary. They were able to visit all the different areas of the park and do various English activities. The workers at Faunia even put on an interactive presentation where some students were able to touch some of the birds and other animals. Overall, the field trip was a big success and both the students and teachers alike had a wonderful experience.

TRIP TO THE MUSEO DEL PRADO

The culmination of a fantastic first term was a trip to the Prado museum. Three of our classes and teachers from various departments visited Madrid's largest art gallery.

The students were given a specific painting before the visit, and were tasked with writing a presentation on it and delivering it to their schoolmates in front of their painting. I was truly impressed with the fantastic work that the students had done in preparing their pieces and the confidence with which they delivered their presentations in front of the groups.

The students seemed to love the experience of visiting one of Madrid's real treasures. It was also a wonderful treat after a first term that I had really enjoyed. Seeing the progress that the students had made with their speaking especially made me realise quite how rewarding the term had been.

The children and I outside the Prado Museum

Class Workshops and Progress

At the end of the last term I was working with my Primero B class on improving our writing and understanding of tenses, specifically the present simple and present continuous. I am happy to report that with just a couple of concentrated lessons we were able to make huge progress. They my sound like simple concepts but the confusion amongst the two forms of the present is vital to the use of good English and their misuse is surprisingly common amongst non native English speakers.

We have also been working on presentation skills. In this photo I am running a class workshop on this topic, focusing on students bringing a photo of their own choice into the classroom and then using three methods to bring the photo to life for the group. These are summarising, locating and speculating. Locating vocab, such as here, to the right/left, in front of etc are vital, practical terms foreign speakers of English need when they visit and anglophone country. I am confident that we can advance on the excellent progress of last term as we move into the post-Christmas period.

Sharing and describing photos in class

Excursion to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium!

We may work hard, but we definitely play hard too! As a reward for all their hard work this term, two classes from the English bilingual program were granted the opportunity to visit the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. They did the entire tour in English, all the while getting to see the ins and outs of the Real Madrid football club. From the trophies, to the locker rooms, to the playing field, the day certainly did not cease to impress.

The Bilingual Blog

Hello there and welcome to the new English department blog! We are the new English Language Assistants at IES Gabriel García Márquez, and we will be here until June 2015 to help students improve their English and learn about British and American culture.

My name’s Charlie and I’m from Chichester, which is in the south of England, in the United Kingdom. I live with my mum and dad (Simon and Diana) and my three sisters, Lucy, Rosie and Hattie. I’m 24 years old. I love playing football (my favourite team is Southampton), I love travelling (I want to visit every country in the world) and living in foreign countries (I have lived in France and Mexico). I also love music and playing guitar.



My name’s Nicole and I’m from Aspen, which is in the state of Colorado in the United States. I’m 22 and I love skiing, I live in the mountains and go all the time with my family. I also love travelling and have lived in Argentina where I stayed with a family.



We are both learning Spanish so we know what it feels like to be learning a new language! Please feel free to come up and talk to us at any time, we’re very friendly!