Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Real Madrid - Olympiakos (by Giannis) - Newspaper Project

Madrid (Bernabea), 24.10.2007
Incredible, magnificent, dramatic and very interesting match. Real Madrid won this game with many goals and gave a very big show.
Olympiakos had many chances, but only 2 goals.
The teams went to the changing rooms with one goal each.
In the second half, Olympiakos scored the first goal and made 1-2 but Robinho with 2 more goals took Real to victory (3-2).
In the end Real made the last attack and scored the last game’s goal. The score became 4-2.
It was really a fantastic match!

Sit-ins at schools (By Angela) - Newspaper project

Last Tuesday my school had a sit-in. Teenagers from both senior and junior high school were very disappointed by the situation in our school and the discussions with the principal couldn’t help.
The atmosphere was very friendly and pleasant.
There was a huge banner out of our school while inside there was a mess! Seats and desks in the school yard.
Some students brought their guitars and played popular songs, some others played basketball and the most shocking for me was that most students were smoking everywhere. Something I noticed that everybody was dressed in black!
Furthermore, our demands were lots and some very serious.

Our school doesn’t have a steady schedule because of our teachers. Moreover, the most serious problem is the situation that we are still on morning and afternoon shifts.






Newspaper project


Creating a newpaper is not an original idea, I know!
It can be done in paper, on carton as a poster or the student or class can create their own blog.
This can be done in all languages.
Students can create columns with different subjects, for example:
- environment
- city news
- places and events
- school news
- Sports events
- young people
- food and much much more. It’s all up to the imagination of the students.

As a variation and in lower levels, students can produce posters with less text and more pictures.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Googling



Most of the kids nowadays are familiar with computers and the Internet.
What I started doing with my students lately, is make them look for information and present me with a small project on the subject.


It can be anything (football, shopping, toys etc)


This was written by my student Marianthi - we were reading an article about the big department store “Macy’s” in New York, so we googled it and found some info about its history and what it has to offer. We also browsed clothes and shoes (girls are girls)


Marianthi had to write a composition about it for homework and here’s the result:






ABOUT MACY'S




Macy's is a shopping center in New York, where you can find everything you want, clothes, shoes, furniture and many other things.


The story of this store beginns like this:


In 1850 Rowland Hussey Macy arrives in New York and opens a shop that is named "Fancy dry goods". His tatoo becomes the shop's sign. It is one of the most recognizable retail marks of all times.



Macy's is the first store with window shopper in 1864.


In 1866, Margatet Getcheli is the first woman who does business, when she is promoted to store superintendent.


"Be everywhere, do everything and never forget to atonish"




In 1924 upon the competition of the new 7th Avenue addition, Macy's is declared the World's largest store.


1942-1944 during world war II, Macy's donate balloons, providing 650 pounds of scrab rubber for the war wffort.


In 1941, Macy's is the one and only store with the "true" Santa Clause!!


1974. Spring is back and the flower show returns to Macy's after 5 years of absence.


In 1976, Macy's make a bang by sponsoring the first annual "Macy's fireworks spectacular"



In 1982 Macy's raised nearly $22 million for increasing social awareness of HIV/AIDS



In 1994 Macy's becomes the largest depatrememt store retailer in America.



1997 Macy's hits the worldwide web with the lanch of http://www.macys.com/

2006. Macy's welcomes it's newest stores with over 800 locations across the nation

Thursday, October 25, 2007

oxi day


oxi day
Originally uploaded by tpapapanayiotou
28η Οκτωβρίου

Με χαρά την καρτερούμε
Τη σημερινή γιορτή
Που η δόξα της Ελλάδας
Πέρα ως πέρα έχει ακουστεί

Είναι αξέχαστη ημέρα
Μ’ ένα ΟΧΙ κι ένα ΕΜΠΡΟΣ
Πάνω τους παιδιά ΑΕΡΑ
Πίσω φεύγει ο Ιταλός


oxi day

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Love and hate project


If the video doesn't work, click on the picture here! jumpcut movie:love and hate

I was looking for German songs the other day for my lessons and I came across this one. It’s called “Liebe und Hass” and the group is Blumentopf.

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Although the text is a bit difficult, has a lot of English words and goes too fast for my students to catch the meaning, not to mention that some lines are not exactly meant for children (as most of hip hop songs, anyway), but it gave me this idea.
The song goes: Was ich lieb (what I love)
Was ich hass (what I hate)
So, I asked my students what they love and what they hate! I videoed them and tried to do a montage with their answers…
It can be done with all levels of students - more advanced ones can explain why they love and hate the things they do.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Greenpeace project











Recently we have all watched Greenpeace’s commercial with this brilliant, but angry kid, talking about the destruction of the environment.
All of my students loved it, so I thought we could make something similar.
All course books have texts or articles about the environment anyway.
Lesson plan:
Teach students wanted vocabulary (i.g. destruction, environment, recycling etc)
Ask them how they feel about the subject, if they do something to help and suggest ways of solving this problem.
As homework, they have to write a text similar to the Greenpeace kid’s monologue)
Students read what they have wrote in front of the class – you can also video it and post it on their blogs.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Jamie Oliver's school dinner project


I came across a wonderful subject while working on compositions with one of my students: Food. What is healthy? What is not?
How about what children eat? Especially at school?
Jamie Oliver’s project with school dinners came to my mind and I thought it would be a great idea to talk about it in my lessons. It does not only makes the students practice their English, but it also gives them more info about healthy food and eating habits of the kids in England.
Lesson plan:
Play the video with Jamie Oliver’s efforts. (You can find several videos on you tube and more information on Jamie Oliver’s site)
Discuss about the student’s eating habits at school and at home.
You can also compare the situation in England with the one in Greece.
Ask them who is responsible?
The as homework, you can tell them to write a composition, expressing their views about the subject, writing the advantages and disadvantages of watching what you eat.
(this kind of composition can be found in both FCE and ECCE exams)
You can also download Jamie Oliver’s instructions about how to organize a junk amnesty in your school.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Clothes game

I have seen something like that in a language learning show for kids – it was at least ten years ago. I made some adjustments and here it goes!
This game is to practice vocabulary (clothes and colors), as well as adjectives (especially in German)
Lesson plan:
After the students have been taught the needed vocabulary, ask them to bring clothing items to school. To make it funnier, clothes can belong to their parents, grandparents or older siblings.
Divide children into pairs
Then prepare cards:
“My uncle is wearing red trousers, a green T-shirt and a yellow jacket”
In German, the teacher could either write the whole sentence, for example:
“Mein Onkel trägt eine rote Jacke und eine gelbe Hose”
Or give them the words: „gelb, Jacke, rot,
Hose“ in order to practice adjective declination as well.
Each group gets one card.
One student reads and the other tries to wear the clothes.
To make it more interesting, give them a time limit.
The group that performs the task more quickly and correctly is the winner.
This is a video I made with my students George and Fotini.
A big thank you to the kids who participated and to their mother who let me make the video.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Our visit to Vafopouleio




Today it was the first field trip of this year. The kids went to Vafopouleio library and met a chlidren's book author, Ms Elina Marmaridou, who read to them.


The kids acted out some dialogues of the book and coloured their favourite heroes!


It was a fun day!

Message in a bottle


We were reading an article in one of our textbooks about someone who sent a message in a bottle during the World War I and threw it to the sea. This message was received 76 years later!
This brought me an idea for a lesson.
After the students read the text, tell them to write a message to each other.
It can be anything, a greeting, a joke, a secret. It just has to be in the language taught.
The teacher puts them all in a bottle or in a box and this is opened in the end of the school year!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

snakes&ladders


snakes&ladders
Originally uploaded by tpapapanayiotou
Today's lessons were a bit of playing and learning! I discovered this TEFL site a long time ago with games and worksheets and I decided to use their stuff this time! I found this Snakes & ladders game to practice prepositions. All you need is a dice.
You can do it in all languages practicing all sorts of Grammar and vocabulary, you just need to replace the cards.
http://www.handoutsonline.com/

fruit anyone?

fruit anyone?

I was told by my student that today there was going to be an open market in the area so I set off a bit earlier to take some pictures!!
People didn't seem to mind to my surprise!!


openmarket

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Sunday

A bit foggy today although not too cold - I visited a place near the harbour, it's called "Kitchen bar" with my friend Stella (I had promised her a LOOONG time ago that we would go, but something always came up)

So we sat near the sea, enjoyed out coffee and a delicious almond pie (I definately recommend it!)
Unfortunately Sundays pass too quickly!!

Sliding doors

One of my favorite films would be Sliding doors with Gweneth Paltrow. It's a story of a girl in England who just lost her job and returns home by train. And then the "bizzare" beginns. Two realities: What happens when she misses the train? What happens if she catches it?


I was looking for films last summer, when I wanted to do a movie project with my students and this one was my first choice. Unfortunately I couldn't find the DVD (it was rented), so we worked on "Burne identity" instead"

But I thought I should put the lesson about Sliding doors over here as well. I have to mention that this was the first idea I had about a lesson and Craig helped me a lot!
Lesson plan:
Students watch the film, either at home or if there's much time, in the classroom.
Ask students if ther is a single moment that would have changed their lives.
Then as homework they have to write a paragraph or a dialogue about it.
They could even act it out in the classroom and video it for thei own blogs.
As a discussion topic: Is it better to know such things as a cheating partner?

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Verdammt, ich lieb dich...

Ich habe mich immer mit englischsprachigen Liedern beschäftigt weil ich eine größere Vielfalt von Musik finden kann. Ich dachte ich sollte es auch mit Deutschen Liedern versuchen.


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Mattias Reim
Verdammt, ich lieb'dich


Ich ziehe durch die _______ bis nach Mitternacht
ich hab das früher auch gern __________
dich brauch ich dafür nicht
ich sitz am Tressen, _______ noch'n Bier
früher war'n wir oft __________ hier
das macht mir - macht mir nichts.
___________ sitzt'n Typ wie'n Bar
ich stell mir vor, wenn das dein Neuer war,
das juckt mich _________ nicht.
Auf einmal packt's mich, ich geh auf ihn zu
und mach ihn an: Lass meine ______ in Ruh.
Er fragt nur: Hast du'n Stich?
und ich ______ schon wieder nur an dich

Verdammt - ich lieb' dich - ich lieb' dich nicht
Verdammt - ich _______ dich - ich ________ dich nicht
Verdammt - ich will dich - ich will dich nicht
ich will dich nicht __________

So ________ fällt mir alles wieder ein
ich wollt' doch nur'n ________ freier sein
jetzt bin ich's - oder nicht.
Ich passte nicht in deine heile ________
doch die du ist, was mir jetzt so fehlt,
ich glaub' das ________ nicht.
Gegenüber steht ein __________ -
es lacht mich ________ an voll Hohn
es _________, _________ aber nicht.
Sieben Bier - zu viel _________,
das ist es, was ein Mann so _________,
doch ________ sagt: Hör auf, und ich denke
schon _______ nur an dich…

Verdammt………
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Es könnte nur eine Lückentextergänzung sein, aber man könnte auch einige Fragen zum Text stellen, wie z. B.:
  • Wo ist er?
  • Was ist los?
  • Warum hatte er Streit mit seiner Frau?
  • Warum sind sie nicht mehr zusammen?
  • Was wird wohl passieren?

Students' projects

Starting projects with students again. This is Giannis, 2nd year German introducing himself - children have to learn how to say things about themselves for the Fit exams as well as using it in real life situations.





This is Konstantina, 1. year German - she drew the alphabet, making little things out of each letter. I found it really artistic, if I worked in a classroom I'd have put it on the wall!





Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Tag der offenen Tür im Goethe Institut

Goethe Institut is celebrating the European day of languages today (although it is in the end of September, I think they have combined it with the Einheitstag)

A lot of stands with food, drinks and info about the differnet languages.

Lots of wine as well - I think I've also seen coffee and sweets somewhere!


A band with jazz music was playing in the back... Lovely surprise.




Of course we shouldn't forget the info on the message board!
Interesting night!



Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Years gone by...

Sometimes I just wonder how quickly time passes. I realized it today. I had my first lesson with Alex. I hadn't seen him for 3-4 years since they moved from the neighbourhood and it was too far for both of us to go to eachother's homes.
Things changed though and we're back having lessons again!


This is Alex 5 years ago!

And this is Alex now!!
Can you imagine how I felt when I saw him? Time passes and we think we stay the same... But we don't! We can see it in our kids but why can't we see it on ourselves?
Well I'm taking this opportunity to thank all the students and their parents who have not forgotten me over the years and still trust me with their kids!

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