Thanksgiving activities

• WORKSHEET HISTORY THANKSGIVING: https://www.liveworksheets.com/es/w/en/english-second-language-esl/2218572
• THANKSGIVING QUIZ https://www.liveworksheets.com/es/w/en/english-language/517718

The history of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving combines the traditions of different groups of people. Travellers and migrants brought different religious traditions from Europe to the United States and Canada. Several celebrations are claimed as the first Thanksgiving. The best known is the celebration held by the pilgrims in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts after their journey across the Atlantic Ocean on the famous Mayflower ship. Like the pilgrims, many groups held days of prayer, fasting or feasting to give thanks for successfully making the long boat journey. Later, settlers celebrated their successful harvest in a new land by holding feasts with their Native American neighbours. Over time, the Canadian and American traditions have become similar and developed into the modern holiday of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving today

In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. In the United States, it is on the fourth Thursday in November. Although its origins are religious, today, Thanksgiving is a largely secular holiday. For most Americans and Canadians, it is a day for coming together with family and friends to share a large meal. It is an occasion to spend time with loved ones and express gratitude for the year that has passed. In many households there is a tradition of everyone seated at the table sharing what they are most grateful for.

Thanksgiving food

Thanksgiving is also about food. Thanksgiving dinner traditionally includes roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and, for dessert, apple, pumpkin or pecan pies. Every family has its own recipes, sometimes secret recipes handed down through generations. Turkey, a bird native to North America, is the unofficial mascot of Thanksgiving, with roast turkey on the menu and turkey decorations on the wall. In the United States, a tradition of gifting turkeys to the President has more recently evolved into a humorous turkey ‘pardoning’. At this light-hearted ceremony, the President issues an official pardon for one or two turkeys, saving them from being cooked for supper.

More than food: football, parades and traffic jams!

Beyond food and gratitude, there are some unexpected sides to the American and Canadian holiday. One of these is football. This popular sport is an important part of the holiday, when families gather around to cheer on local or national teams. American football and Canadian football are both similar to rugby, played primarily not with the feet but with the hands.

Parades are another common part of the festivities. In the United States, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place in New York City on the morning of Thanksgiving. It’s one of the world’s largest parades and is broadcast nationwide. A similar Thanksgiving parade happens in Canada as part of the Kitchener–Waterloo Oktoberfest, a multi-day autumn festival.

Unfortunately, heavy traffic is also common at Thanksgiving. In both countries, the week of Thanksgiving is one of the most popular travel times of the year, as everyone heads home to visit their extended family. So try to avoid any road trips if you’re visiting North America during this holiday!

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/magazine-zone/thanksgiving

Test your knowledge of Thanksgiving history and tradition. 

1. Where did the Thanksgiving holiday originate? 
a. America
b. England
c. Ireland
d. Mexico
2. In 1621, Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony shared a harvest feast with which American Indian Tribe?
a. Chickasaw
b. Shoshone
c. Susquehanna
d. Wampanoag
3. What percentage of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
a. 39%
b. 50%
c. 88%
d. 99%
4. Where did turkeys originate?
a. Africa
b. Central Asia
c. North and Central America
d. Australia
5. In what city is the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? 
a. New York City
b. Macy, Ind.
c. Macy, Neb.
d. Pasadena, CA
6. Which president proclaimed Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. Abraham Lincoln
c. Ulysses S. Grant
d. John F. Kennedy
7. Each year, the president receives a gift of a live turkey and then “pardons” the bird during a ceremony at the White House. What happens to the pardoned turkey? 
a. It is set free to live in the wild
b. It is served at the president’s Thanksgiving dinner
c. It lives the rest of its life on a farm
d. It is auctioned off to the highest bidder
8. For many Americans, football is as much a part of Thanksgiving as are turkey and pumpkin pie. An NFL game has been played on Thanksgiving Day since what year? 
a. 1920
b. 1930
c. 1940
d. 1950
9.The day after Thanksgiving typically is the busiest shopping day of the year. The day often is referred to as: 
a. Thanksgiving Friday
b. Black Friday
c. Casual Friday
d. Super Friday
10. Which dessert was not part of the first Thanksgiving celebration? 
a. Pumpkin pie
b. Apple cake
c. Pecan pie
d. All of the above

Indefinite pronouns

Relative pronouns:

• https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/english-second-language-esl/2307932 
• https://wordwall.net/es/resource/12676264/english/relative-clauses-which-who-where 
• https://test-english.com/grammar-points/a2/defining-relative-clauses-who-which-that-

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceeded by any, some, every and no.

	Person	Place	Thing
All	everyone everybody	everywhere	everything
Part (positive)	someone somebody	somewhere	something
Part (negative)	anyone anybody	anywhere	anything
None	no one nobody	nowhere	nothing

Indefinite pronouns with  some and any are used to describe indefinite and incomplete quantities in the same way that some and any are used alone.

Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun would go in the sentence.

Noun	Indefinite pronoun
I would like to go to Paris this summer.	I would like to go somewhere this summer.
Jim gave me this book.	Someone gave me this book.
I won't tell your secret to Sam.	I won't tell your secret to anyone.
I bought my school supplies at the mall.	I bought everything at the mall.

Affirmative

In affirmative sentences, indefinite pronouns using some are used to describe an indefinite quantity, the indefinite pronouns with every are used to describe a complete quantity, and the pronouns with no are used to describe an absence. Indefinite pronouns with no are often used in affirmative sentences with a negative meaning, but these are nevertheless not negative sentences because they are lacking the word not.

Examples

• Everyone is sleeping in my bed.
• Someone is sleeping in my bed.
• No one is sleeping in my bed.
• I gave everything to Sally.
• He saw something in the garden.
• There is nothing to eat.
• I looked everywhere for my keys.
• Keith is looking for somewhere to live.
• There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris.

Any and the indefinite pronouns formed with it can also be used in affirmative sentences with a meaning that is close to every: whichever person, whichever place, whichever thing, etc.

Examples

• They can choose anything from the menu.
• You may invite anybody you want to your birthday party.
• We can go anywhere you'd like this summer.
• He would give anything to get into Oxford.
• Fido would follow you anywhere.

Negative sentences

Negative sentences can only be formed with the indefinite pronouns that include any.

Examples

• I don't have anything to eat.
• She didn't go anywhere last week.
• I can't find anyone to come with me.

Many negative sentences that include an indefinite pronoun with any can be turned into affirmative sentences with a negative meaning by using an indefinite pronoun with no. However, there is a change in meaning with this transformation: the sentence that includes an indefinite pronoun with no is stronger, and can imply emotional content such as definsiveness, hopelessness, anger, etc.

Examples

• I don't know anything about it. = neutral
• I know nothing about it. = defensive
• I don't have anybody to talk to. = neutral
• I have nobody to talk to. = hopeless
• There wasn't anything we could do. = neutral
• There was nothing we could do. = defensive/angry

Negative questions

Indefinite pronouns with every, some, and any can be used to form negative questions. These questions can usually be answered with a "yes" or a "no"

Pronouns formed with anyand every are used to form true questions, while those with some generally imply a question to which we already know or suspect the answer.

Examples

• Is there anything to eat?
• Did you go anywhere last night?
• Is everyone here?
• Have you looked everywhere?

These questions can be turned in to false or rhetorical questions by making them negative. The speaker, when posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer of "no".

Examples

• Isn't there anything to eat?
• Didn't you go anywhere last night?
• Isn't everyone here?
• Haven't you looked everywhere?

Some and pronouns formed with it is only used in questions to which we think we already know the answer, or questions which are not true questions (invitations, requests, etc.) The person asking these questions is expecting an answer of "Yes".

Examples

• Are you looking for someone?
• Have you lost something?
• Are you going somewhere?
• Could somebody help me, please? = request
• Would you like to go somewhere this weekend? = invitation

These questions can be made even more definite if they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is absolutely certain he will receive the answer "Yes".

Examples

• Aren't you looking for someone?
• Haven't you lost something?
• Aren't you going somewhere?
• Couldn't somebody help me, please?
• Wouldn't you like to go somewhere this weekend?

PRACTICE:

• https://wordwall.net/es/resource/11579471/something-anything-nothing
• https://test-english.com/grammar-points/a2/something-anything-nothing-etc/

Speaking-Interaction. The future

Talking about the future

Prepare your speaking file, record your own podcast and use the widget to submit your own introduction (you can record and reset till you are happy with the result), which should be about 1 minute long, specifying name/surname/group and your educantabria mail. The teacher will automatically get your message in his mail. Remember the deadline, before Fri 22nd Nov.

Future forms/Interaction

 Ways of Expressing the Future in English

Despite what you will find in some course books and student’s grammars, and hear from some teachers, there is no future tense in English. If we want to refer to future-time situations we can do this in several ways. In these notes, we look at seven ways.

The first five of these are commonly used in both speech and writing:

1. Emma is seeing Luke tomorrow – the present progressive, also known as the present continuous.

2. Emma is going to see Luke tomorrow – BE + going to, sometimes referred to as the “(BE) going to future”.

3. Emma sees Luke tomorrow – the present simple.

4. Emma will see Luke tomorrow - this modal form is sometimes, unhelpfully, called the “future simple”.

5. Emma will be seeing Luke tomorrow – this modal progressive (or continuous) form is sometimes, unhelpfully, called the “future progressive/continuous”.

The last two are used in more restricted contexts:

6. Emma is to see Luke tomorrow – BE + to  + infinitive.

7. Emma to see Luke tomorrow –  to- infinitive.

There are also some so-called ‘future perfect’ constructions, which we will consider at the end of these notes:

8. Emma will have seen Luke …

9. Emma will have been seeing Luke …

10. Emma is going to have seen Luke …

1. the present progressive (also known as the present continuous)

This form usually refers to a situation that began before the moment of speaking, continues at or around, andafter, the present moment, and into the future, and is of limited duration:

I am writing these notes on the future. (At this moment).

Lindsay is driving to work this week. (She normally goes by bus).

The present progressive can refer to a future situation that has been arranged before the present time. The arrangement continues through the present until the situation occurs:

Emma is seeing Luke tomorrow, (They arranged this meeting yesterday)

Note that only the context or co-text (in the last example the word tomorrow) can tell us which time-period a present progressive verb form refers to.

Also note that it is simply not possible to make arrangements for some future situations. It is therefore not normally possible to say XIt is raining tomorrow. X

2. BE + going to

Although you may hear or read that this form indicates ‘present intention’, this is not always true. It is hard to imagine any intention in this sentence: “Look at those black clouds; it is going to rain soon.”

BE + going to refers to a future situation for which there is present evidence. In the previous example, the present evidence is the black clouds. In the following example, the present evidence may simply be the speaker’s knowledge that Emma and Luke have arranged the meeting:

Emma is going to see Luke tomorrow.

When the present evidence is an arrangement, then there is, practically speaking, no real difference in meaning between the present progressive and BE + going to.

3. the present simple

The present simple is frequently used for situations that often or regularly happen.  It can therefore be used for a future situation that is part of a regular series of happenings:

The train for Berlin leaves at midnight tonight.

It is also used for something that is seen as part of a fixed timetable:

The sun rises at 07.34 tomorrow. (We can imagine the speaker thinking of a table of sunrise and sunset times.)

Emma sees Luke tomorrow. (We can imagine the speaker mentally looking at Emma’s diary).

4. the modal will + bare infinitive

The modal auxiliary verb will has a number of possible meanings. Four of the more common are:

a. certainty – John left an hour ago, so he will be home by now. (The speaker is certain that John is home)

b. habitual characteristic: Andrea will sit at her desk for hours without saying a word. (This is what she often does.)

c. volition (willingness): I’ll carry your bag for you. (The speaker is offering to carry the bag.)

Fred will carry your bag for you. (The speaker is offering Fred’s services.)

d. instant decision: What will I do tomorrow? I know! I’ll go to the zoo. (The speaker decides to go to the zoo at the very moment of speaking – no plans had been made for this visit.)

Context tells us whether the certainty (a) is about the present, as in the example above, or the future: Prince Charles will become King when the present Queen dies.

Habitual characteristic (b) is something that is shown regularly. It was observed in the past, can be observed in the present, and will presumably be observed in the future. It is not possible to know of a future habitual characteristic, so we do not use this form for purely future reference.

Volition (c), denoting an offer, can refer only to a future situation. Will is normally contracted to ‘ll.

Instant decisions (d) can be made only about a future situation and, usually, only reported by the person making the decision. We therefore usually encounter this meaning only with I or we as the subject. Will is normally contracted to ‘ll. 

The word tomorrow in the following sentence tells us that the seeing (meeting) is in the future:

Emma will see Luke tomorrow.

Only context can tell us whether the speaker is certain of the occurrence of the future meeting, or reporting that Emma is willing to see Luke.

Note that other modals, which have different meanings, can also can also refer to future situations, for example:

Peter might come over next week. (It is possible that this will happen)

You must finish the report before you go home tonight. (You are obliged to finish the report.) )

You may read in some books that shall is used instead of will when the subject is I or we. Only a small minority of native speakers use shall other than in questions, and then only for certainty and instant decision, never for volition or habitual characteristic. Shall is used commonly in questions:

e) making a suggestion: Shall we go to the pub this evening?

f) asking if the person addressed wants the speaker to do something: Shall I arrange the publicity?  

5. The modal will + be + -ing form

Progressive forms usually refer to a situation that began before a time point continues through and after that time point, and into the future, and is of limited duration. The combination of this idea with the modal will, expressing certainty, leads to the modal will + be + -ing form referring to a situation beginning before a future time point and continuing through that time point:

Sally’s plane takes off from Heathrow at 9 o’clock tomorrow, so by about midday she will be flying over Istanbul.

It is also possible that the speaker is more concerned with the pure certainty of the action happening than with volitional aspect that might be implied by the use of WILL by itself:

Emma will be seeing Luke tomorrow.

Some writers claim, with some justification, that this use of modal will + a progressive implies, by its lack of reference to intention, volition or arrangement, a 'casual' future. Depending on the context and co-text, the speaker may be intending a ‘casual’ futurity, or may be indicating a situation in progress at a particular time.

6. BE + to  + infinitive

This form is not common in informal conversation. It refers to something that is to happen in the future as a plan or decree, normally by some authority other than the subject of the sentence, and  is common in television and radio news reports Thus we are unlikely to hear the first of the following examples (unlessEmma and Luke are the names of well-known singers, actors, etc) . We might well hear the second:

Emma is to see Luke tomorrow.

Downing Street announced this morning that the Prime Minister is to fly to Washington this evening for urgent talks about the current crisis.

7. to- infinitive

This form is common only in newspaper headlines, where editors want to announce the news as briefly as possible. Once again, we are unlikely to see the first of the following examples (unless Emma and Luke are the names of well-known singers, actors, etc). We might well see the second:

Emma to see Luke tomorrow.

PM to fly to US.

8. will + have + past participle (third form)

When we refer to a future action completed before a later future time, or a future state continuing up to that later future time, we use will + have + a past participle (third form). This is sometimes known as the ‘future perfect’:

I will have lived here for just over thirteen years when I celebrate my 66th birthday next March. (At the moment of speaking, six months before ‘next March’, the speaker has lived ‘here’ for twelve and a half years.)

By the time she leaves Paris tomorrow, Emma will have seen Luke and told him the news. (When Emma leaves Paris tomorrow, the seeing and telling will be, for her, in the past.)

This form is sometimes known as the ‘future perfect’.

9.  BE + going to + have + past participle (third form)

It is possible, though not very common, for a speaker to suggest that there is present evidence of  a future action completed before a later future time, or a future state continuing up to that later future time, using BE +going to + have + a past participle form (third form):

By the time Emma leaves Paris tomorrow, She is going to have seen Luke and told him the news.

Learners may see/hear this usage, but are recommended to use only 8. will + have + a past participle (third form), which has practically the same meaning, and is far more commonly used.

10. will + have + been + -ing form

When we refer to a future action begun before a later future time and continuing through that later future time, we use will + have + been + -ing form. By the end of next week, Emma will have been seeing Luke for three months. (She has now, one week before ‘the end of next week’ been seeing him for a week less than three months.) This form is sometimes known as the ‘future perfect continuous’.

• https://youtu.be/RGh2vcDxIvo?si=yG1UjvWRLyfDENIf  Future in songs.
• https://www.teach-this.com/images/resources/future-board-game.pdf 
• https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b2/future-forms-expressing-future-time/
• https://wordwall.net/es/resource/987067/future
• https://wordwall.net/es/resource/39437109/idioma-en-ingl%c3%a9s/questions-about-the-future
• https://wordwall.net/es/resource/28398567/idioma-en-ingl%c3%a9s/future-prediction-cards

https://freeonlinedice.com/

EXERCISES: Future

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• Quiz 11

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