J. K. Rowling

Dear Anna,
Thank you very much for your email. My favourite writer is Joanne Rowling AKA J. K. Rowling. She was born in 1965 in Yate, England.
She has a university degree.
In my opinion, the Harry Portter saga is the best saga in the world. My favourite book of this saga is Harry Potter and prisoner in Azkaban. This saga is about the life of three witches and their adventures to defeat Lord Voldemort, in Hogwarts.
I like her because she wrote the Harry Potter saga, and I love Harry Potter.

Write soon,
    Barbara.

Nicholas Sparks, my favourite writer

My favourite writer

Dear Teacher Alex,

Thank you for the email. My favourite writer is Nicholas Sparks. He is my favourite writer, because he writes the best romance books, as an excellent and an impressive way to write, to describe things, to create characters. I started buying his books when I was about twelve years old. Since then I have been tempted to buy all his books, because the stories are so rare and unexpected.

Sparks was born in Omaha, the estate of Nebraska, United Estates of America, on  31st of December, in 1965. He has a degree in Corporate Finance from the University of Notre Dame. His best book, in my opinion, is The Notebook. It’s about a love story, a very emotional story, which follows Allie and Noah. A sentence that I love in the book is  "I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough".
This book was a best seller and later,  in 2004, there was a movie based on the book. I recommend all to read the book and watch the movie. Just a warning...you will cry.

Write soon, 

Rachel

The link to the trailer of the movie if you want to have a look at it: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC6biTjEyZw

http://zip.net/bvs7jk
Nicholas Sparks

http://zip.net/brs6Vd
The book

PS: Sometimes the must "cliches" books are the ones that keep you read all night long. 

John Green

Dear Teacher Alex,

Thanks very much for your email.

My favourite writer is John Green. He was born in 1977. He went to "Lake Highland Preparatory School", and after that to "Indian Springs School".

His best book, in my opinion, is "The fault in our stars". It's about two teenagers who meet in a support group because of cancer, they fall in love and spend unforgettable moments together.

I like him because when we read any of his books it's like being there with the characters. 

Write soon,

Maria Sousa.

José Rodrigues dos Santos

Dear Teacher Alex,

Thanks very much for your email. My favourite author is José Rodrigues dos Santos. He was born on 1st April 1964 in Beira, Mozambique. He embraced journalism in 1981 in Macau radio, having worked on the BBC, and he was collaborator in CNN.
My favourite book is "Um Milionário em Lisboa" which talks about an amazing story begun in The Man of Constantinople and takes us to the life journey of the Armenian who changed the world.
I like his books because they are based on true facts and he has a writing style that addresses current topics and that has allowed me to learn more about the world today.

Hiro Machima

Dear Teacher Alex ,
Thank you for your email. My favorite author is Hiro Machima. He is a mangaka . He was born on May 3, 1977 (now 39 years old). He entered a school specializing in teaching manga artists, but left without completing his studies. In my opinion, his best manga is Fairy Tail . It's about the Fairy Tail Guild adventures experienced by the protagonists Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. I like it because it makes reading fun .
Write soon ,
Rui.

Fairy Tail Fairy Tail(mangá)

                                                                                                 

John Green

  Hello everyone! In this post I want to tell you about my favourite author,John Green. 
He was born on August 24, 1977. He went to Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, and Indian Springs School outside of Birmingham, Alabama. After that he graduated in Kenyon College in 2000. 
  In my opinion, his best book is The Fault in our Stars - it's about a girl with cancer who is forced by her parents to attend a support group called "Literal Heart of Jesus" where she meets and falls in love with a boy. I like him and his books because he makes reading easy.

                                        (This was my first reading in French, and I really liked it)

My fave writer

Hi guys,

   Thanks for the email. My favourite author is James Brendan Patterson who is North American, and very well known in Portugal.
   He was born on March 22nd 1947(he´s 67 years old) in Newburgh, New York.
   The book that in my opnion,is the best is the 14th novel of Alex Cross, Cross Country.
   This book tells a thrilling story of a former FBI agent and psychologist, Alex Cross who works in Washington DC. In this book he tracks down an African warlord known as the Tiger, who is aided by a crew of unstable men and had murdered an old girlfriend of the main character, Eleanor Cox, and her entire family.
   I like him, or better saying, his books, because they are wonderful and exciting!
   
Write soon,

Gonçalo.

Robert Muchamore, my fave writer

Dear João,

Thanks very much for your email. My favourite writer is Robert Muchamore. He was born on 26th December, 1972. He went to Acland Burghley School. «Segurança Máxima» is the best book, in my opinion. It is a very exciting story and at the same time a story of high adventure and very interesting. This book is part of a collection composed of 12 books. It’s about a teenager who is 12 years old and part of a secret organization that uses teens as secret agents. In this story two teenagers are placed in a high-risk mission and must infiltrate a maximum security prison for teen criminals to make it to the son of one of the most feared criminal gaining his confidence. That way they believe they'll reach to his mother who is a criminal. I like him, better, his books, because he writes very good thrillers and I am unable to stop reading them until the very end.

Write soon,

Diogo. 

Hajime Isayama

    Hi, guys! I want to tell you about my favourite author. In reallity, I have two, Hajime Isayama, known for his manga series Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan), and Eiichiro Oda, known for his manga series One Piece, and they're both mangakas. I've decided to talk about Isayama, because I've read all his work until now and I still have a lot of reading to do on One Piece (also, my favourite character dies and I am VERY mad about that!! Thanks a lot, Oda-sensei!!).
    Hajime Isayama has only written Shingeki no Kyojin, which isn't finished yet. He started writing it in 2006 and won a Kodansha Manga Award for it in 2011. It has also been adapted to an anime series, Attack on Titan.

Shingeki no Kyojin (manga)

Attack on Titan (anime)

    Hajime Isayama was born in August 29, 1986 (he's 29 years old). He was born in  Ōyama, Ōita Prefecture, Japan, which is now part of Hita. When he was in high school, Hita Rinko Senior High School, he started submitting manga works to contests. After graduating, he enrolled in the manga design program of the arts department at Kyushu Designer Gakuin.

    Originally, he offered his work to the Weekly Shōnen Jump department, at Shueisha, where he was advised to modify his style and story to be more suitable for them. He declined and decided to take it to the Weekly Shōnen Magazine department, at Kodansha Ltd. They accepted and published Shingeki no Kyojin.

    Well, that's all I have to say, give Shingeki no Kyojin a try, it's amazing and full of twists, and Isayama's art is awesome!

And here's a fabulous titan

Ja ne!

Sophia de Mello Breyner

Dear Teacher Alex,

Thanks very much for your email. My favorite writer is Sophia de Mello Breyner. She was born on 6th November, 1919. She died on 2nd July, 2004. She attended the University of Lisbon. The Sea Girl (A Menina do Mar) is the best book, in my opinion; it is one of the stories that touched me deeply when I was younger. It's about a boy who lived near the beach and one day decided to go to the beach and heard some laughter. When he saw it was a girl and when he looked carefully, he saw it was a mermaid. And they started talking and he saw a being from the sea who was funny because there were beautiful things on the ocean floor. I like this writer because she writes (used to write!) with soul.
Write soon, 

Carolina.

ME!!!!! 

BOOK COVER "THE SEA GIRL"

Great memories!

Hi friends

APPLICA-TE!

APPLICA-TE is the title of the newest ideas' competition promoted by Nova Information Management School, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and it's for you - for students between the 7th and 12th grade.

The IMS NEW CHALLENGE competition aims to stimulate creative and entrepreneurial spirit of young students of secondary education , rewarding original ideas that have potential for creating projects that in some way improve people's lives.

The challenge is to create and describe in detail an App that fulfills a unique purpose : to improve life. The best ideas will be awarded as well as the school of the winning project . Applications are open until 8 May 2016 - therefore, over two months for you to show how skilled you are. Can you imagine your mates', parents', teachers' reaction if you won? What an amazing feeling that would be and the visibility it would bring upon yourself? Your school? Soure?

Go ahead, folks, read the official rules and just ask for help in case you need.

 Good Luck!

Google SCIENCE Fair

I know some of you are really good at sciences, physics and chemistry. Therefore, thinking about how you can improve your skills, aim higher and go beyond what is expected from you at school, here's a challenge:
The 2016 Google Science Fair is open. It is a global online competition for youngsters between 13 and 18 and you can participate individually or in teams :=)

In partnership with National Geographic, LEGO Education, Scientific American, and Virgin Galactic, they want to hear how students will use science and engineering to make something better!

To help you get some inspiration and develop project ideas, the website also offers a Make Better Generator in which you are invited to finish the sentences
"I love..."
"I'm good at..."
and answer "What will I make better?"
With your answers, the website generates a collection of videos and websites that can really inspire you by sparking (project) ideas.
As you know and all developers know, science is everywhere and that's exactly the title of this year's inspirational video below:

To be sure it's for common students, just like you, but who believe in excellence and hard work, here is the testimony of last year's winner - a 17 year-old girl concerned about the spread of Ebola:


What are you waiting for?
Think about something you love, wish to make better and submit your project!
Ask for help, experiment!
Just go for it!
Make your dreams come true!

UPDATE: Have a look at another prize winning project at http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/12/uw-undergraduate-team-wins-10000-lemelson-mit-student-prize-for-gloves-that-translate-sign-language/

MLK Day

Today's Doodle (USA)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day is no long-standing tradition. The holiday is a little more than three decades old, but the proposition that the date should become a holiday dates back to his assassination in 1968.

MLK in 1964

Today's doodle honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, community activist, philosopher and humanitarian. His leadership of the American Civil Rights movement, Nobel Peace Prize for non-violent civil disobedience in the face of racial injustice, and eventual martyrdom for the cause, cements his place as a hero for peace and justice worldwide. 

One of his most powerful tools was his ability to communicate poignant truths in beautiful and moving speeches, which guest artist Richie Pope highlighted in this doodle today. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. moved the USA forward by committing to bettering the lives of American citizens, no matter their race. He told everyone, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Today we're inspired to keep working towards a better future with grace and optimism.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas is coming and so is the end of 2015. Before that though let's share with the world something great you've also achieved this year, together with your Physics / Chemistry teacher, Nélia Matos. 2015 has been the International Year of Light and you produced a great video about light that can be heard in Portuguese but read in English. Shall we remember it?

Now, yes, it's time to wish you a very merry Christmas, everyone!
Hope you have a beautiful Christmas with love and understanding.
Christmas is a time of sharing, of giving not only presents but also affection. Hope you enjoy this ad (also a PSA) with a famous animal character.