Incredible Summer

З 1 по 16 червня 2016 року на базі нашої школи працював мовний літній табір «Around the World in 14 Days» для учнів 5-10 класів.

25 учнів об’єдналися у 2 загони:

• WWW (What a Wondeful World) – 15 учнів 6А, 7Б, 7В, 8Б класів, вчителі: Галата Л.В., Варивода О.В., Волошин В.А.
• The Dragon’s Camp – 10 учнів 6Б, 6В, 8Б, 8В, 10Б класів, вчителі Миколенко Р.В., Петрова А.Л.

Мета мовного табору –  розвивати творчі здібності учнів шляхом ознайомлення із звичаями та традиціями  країн  світу проводячи паралель з Україною та порівнюючи звичаї, традиції, спосіб життя, ментальність, смаки та вподобання, використовуючи інноваційні технології із застосуванням рольових ігор, відео турів, пісень, танців, презентацій, дискусій, виготовлення національних символів своїми руками, віршів та створення проектів.

Завдання мовного табору: допомогти дітям здобути необхідні мовні навички; сприяти подоланню «мовного бар’єру»; удосконалювати  розмовну іноземну мову дитини; поєднати навчання із захоплюючим відпочинком; підвищити мотивацію дитини для подальшого удосконалення іноземної мови.

Змістовне наповнення щоденних заходів та дворазове безкоштовне харчування сприяюли розвитку та оздоровленню школярів.

Більш детальну інформацію можна знайти тут

http://kam1camp2016-1.blogspot.com

 http://kam1camp2016-2.blogspot.com 

Summer Language Camp “What a Wonderful World”

Our Summer Language Camp Experience

 

The main idea of the camp:

Project work “Customs and Traditions of the World through Ukrainian Eyes”.

Today one of our main tasks is to bring up real patriots of Ukraine. The spiritual development of pupils depends on their attitude to their Motherland, its history, culture and traditions. During the process of learning students don’t only get the knowledge but they have an opportunity to use the foreign language as the mean of communication and receiving new and useful information.

Workings in teams, discussing the possible ways out to the suggested problems give them an opportunity to feel the patriots of their land and at the same time receive the new information about the world.

To achieve the aim of bringing up patriotism, we drew a parallel between Ukraine and different countries of the world. Our students had to do individual and group research to answer the questions about the way of life, life priorities, youth problems, subcultures, customs, traditions, cuisine, history, political life etc.

We realized our aim through individual work, group work, using authentic socio-cultural materials. The result of work was presented for discussion in a group or a whole class. It helped pupils to analyze, summarize and classify information.

Nowadays the aim of teaching English language is the formation of young personalities who see themselves not only as representatives of one culture but as citizens of the world who understand their importance and responsibility in global processes which are taking place in Ukraine these days. That’s why the knowledge of socio – cultural competence helps them to realize themselves on the same level with their peers all over the world. This tendency forces them to change their attitude during the process of learning English language. It develops the learners’ socio-linguistic outlook, memory and creative thinking. The success of this process equally depends on two factors: teachers’ and students’ motivation and competence. Our task, as a teacher here, is to bring forward the problem fields which can motivate a student and integrate into the world society using English language perfectly. We involved the learners into the world of foreign languages through the cultural component, new life style, comparing cultures, mentality, values, customs and traditions of different countries and their own one. It helps them to understand the language and gives an opportunity to use their knowledge in everyday life.

We considered various methods of delivering and presenting information, such as Internet resources, videos, games, songs, dances, cartoons, project work. Students worked using all the ways they can express their understanding: through singing songs, role playing, making posters, dancing, dramatizing dialogues, drawing pictures.

Our main task was to create activities which would be interesting and cause students to use key skills to understand a key idea of every task. We tried to develop their individual strengths and helped them improve in difficult areas by focusing on the ways that worked best for them individually. We also tried to create our work in the way that pupils were able to develop themselves as more independent and thoughtful learners and arose their interest to the process of learning. We prepared tasks which helped them to grow and become more confident working together.

It’s not a secret; our students often find school boring and the content, unmemorable. The reason is that children need to be mentally stimulated. Turn-of-the-20th century teaching tactics can’t possible grab the attention of 21st century kids. Of course, as teachers, it’s our job to tout the importance of education. We tried to enhance our students’ motivation through creative and encouraging activities. Motivation was what made the students want to work hard, cooperate with their group mates, interact. It helped them to express themselves in English, to become real participants in the activities we prepared for them and to function as confident English speakers. So our main task was to create activities which would be interesting and cause students to use key skills to understand a key idea of every task. We tried to develop their individual strengths and helped them improve in difficult areas by focusing on the ways that worked best for them individually. We also tried to create our work in the way that pupils were able to develop themselves as more independent and thoughtful learners and arose their interest to the process of learning. We prepared tasks which helped them to grow and become more confident working together. This year we deepen our summer language camp experience using socio – cultural component travelling around the world, comparing Ukrainian culture with cultures of the world.

We want to give examples of the most successful and interesting activities which were highly appreciated by our students. They helped our pupils put aside their daily distractions and focus on English. These activities also encouraged whole-group participation which built a sense of community within the group and raised energy levels.

Warm-ups helped us break the ice among the students as they were from different forms, replace an activity that students couldn’t grasp or when we noticed that they began to be tired.

Reading of authentic texts helped to form students’ linguistic competence, gave them an opportunity to master the diversity of lexical material and formed their grammatical skills.

Listening practice in English is also very important because foreign learners of English living and learning English in non-English-speaking countries have limited opportunities for regular long-term oral communication in English with native speakers of English on a variety of topics and issues using comprehensive content and extensive vocabulary.

Small-group discussion was an excellent way to give each student an opportunity to speak English free without any fair, to develop their cognitive activity, their culture of the language, to generate their awareness to solve the problem, to create a culture of creative thinking.

Making posters generated more open discussion and embed learning more deeply than a ‘head to head’ meeting to discuss what went wrong/right on this project?

It guided them by using a visual logic, with a hierarchical structure that emphasized the main points. It indicated the relative importance of elements graphically.

Games in our work developed students’ learning skills and made the process of learning into funny, creative and cooperative activity. Students achieved better results when they got emotional pleasure during the game. They were used as the change of pace from the serious to the lighthearted. In this way games were stimulating, entertaining and educational.

Watching videos improved the quality of knowledge and provided students with examples of language and speech enriching their knowledge of general used vocabulary, idioms, slang which are used by native speakers.

Singing songs gave the students the perfect chance to see creative and thinking English, brought energy to the classroom, added motivation and excitement to the classroom routine. It helped us built confidence and make learning fun.

Dancing enhanced students’ motivation developed their creativity and imagination, taking into consideration their needs, developed students’ self-confidence, made language – learning process enjoyable.

Psychological tests helped us reduce stress and know their hidden talents.

Creative workshop made our camp life more interesting and fulfilling. A workshop is more than a chance to learn a new skill. It’s a way of connecting to another human being’s internal world - and what is more interesting than that? 

Students’ feedback encouraged ‘time and effort’ on challenging learning tasks. Delivering feedback we helped our students self-correct, encourage interaction and dialogue around learning, facilitate the development of self-assessment and reflection in learning, involve students in decision-making about assessment policy and practice, support the development of learning of the students.

Praising children built students’ self-esteem and self-confidence. We tried to eliminate constant negativity and put the focus on all the wonderful, positive things our children were doing instead.

We started our work taking into account the likes of our students. Here is the result of our creative and cooperative work.

 

 

AROUND THE WORLD IN 14 DAYS

 

01.06.2016 Wednesday 02.06.2016 Thursday 03.06.2016 Friday 04.06.2016 Saturday 06.o6.2016 Monday 07.06.2016 Tuesday 08.06.2016 Wednesday 09.06. 2016 Thursday 10.06. 2016 Friday 11.06. 2016 Saturday 13.06. 2016 Monday 14.06. 2016 Tuesday 15.06. 2016 Wednesday 16.06. 2016 Thursday

Introductory Day Welcome to ’’WWW’’ 1.     Soundtrack of Your Life 2.     ’’It's My Life’’. Our Camp Song 3.     What is Your True Talent (Personality Test) 4.     We are going to travel around the world in 14 days through the power of the web 5.     Most-Visited Countries in the World 6.     The Smallest Countries in the World 7.     Countries That No Longer Exist 8.     Must-Visit Cities Around the World 9.     Most Livable Cities in the World 10.                        Ukraine is the Best Country in the World 11.                       ’’and the Memory of Kamianka…” 12.                        Summing up What a Wonderful World. The USA: a Historical Tour 1.       Traditions 2.       Education 3.       Traditional Food 4.       Fast Food 5.       Animals 6.       Wild World 7.       The Most Popular Dancers of All Time 8.       Michael Jackson Cool Moves and Moonwalk 9.       Ukrainian Hopak 10.  Summing up The USA : Culture and Traditions 1.       The Land of the Free 2.       Video Tours “Natural Wonders of the USA” 3.       Making Posters 4.       US Citizenship Test 5.       Becoming American 6.       Hollywood Kids. A Star is Born. 7.       Summing up Australia : Culture and Traditions 1.       Soundtrack “Eurovision” 2.       Introduction “Terra Incognita” 3.       From the History of Australia 4.       Time for fun. Funny Pictures 5.       Debating. Across Cultures 6.       Poetical corner “Tongue Twisters” 7.       Summing up What a Wonderful World. Seeing Culture Through French Eyes 1.             Things You Didn't Know About France 2.              The Best Places to See in Paris 3.             Interesting Traditional Foods of France 4.             Visit the Louvre Museum 5.             Mona Lisa - Why so Famous 6.             Pop Up Eiffel Tower Card Tutorial - Origamic Architecture 7.      Victor Marie Hugo “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” 8.      Coco Chanel 9.      Types of Dance in France 10.         Period Drama Ballroom Dance - Sarabande 11.         How to Do a Pas de Bourree. A French Dancing Lesson 12.        Summing up What a Wonderful World. A Visit to Italy 1.  Interesting Facts About Italy 2.  The Leaning Tower of Pisa 3.  Italian recipes: Pizza Dough, pizza Marguerite 4.  Famous Italian Comedies 5.  Favorite Tunes. Italian Studio 6.  Summing up The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1. Scotland: the Land of Legends and Myths. Leisure, traditions, cultural life 2. Northern Ireland: the Land of Shamrock and Leprechauns. Cultural Peculiarities 3. England: "Land of Hope and Glory". London - Mod and Trad 4. Wales: the Land of Song 5. Ukraine: the Land of Exciting Diversity  7. Summing up A Visit to Japan  1. Interesting Facts about Japan  2. Video Trip around Tokyo  3. Japanese Tragedy.  4. National Symbols and Famous Traditions  5. Creative Workshop: Origami.  6. Summing up New Zealand: Habitats and Homeland 1.     Warming up. Singing a camp song 2.     How ready you are. Grammar Test 3.     Video Tour “Around New Zealand” 4.     Twenty Interesting Facts about New Zealand 5.     Creative Workshop: Wood Carving 6.     Relaxation. Dancing Minutes 7.     A visit to the Cinema “ The Lord of the Rings” 8.     Time for Fun 9.     Summing up China 1.     Warming up. Singing a camp song 2.     Acquaintance with China 3.     Video Tour “Across China” 4.     Customs and Traditions: Tea Ceremony 5.     Creative Workshop: Making Chinese Dragons 6.     Summing up Incredible India 1.     Warming up. Singing a camp song 2.     Interesting Facts about India 3.     Video Tour “Around the Country” 4.     Dancing Master Class 5.     Creative Workshop: Painting Mehendi 6.     Watching Famous Indian Film 7.     Summing up Visit to Brazil 1.     Warming up. Singing a camp song 2.     Reciting Camp Rhymes 3.     Video Tour “Around Brazil” 4.     Interesting Facts about Brazil. 5.     Quest “Don't Forget the Lyrics”  6.     Dancing Master Class 7.     Comparing Cultures. Small Group Discussion 8.     Summing up Around the World in 14 Days: Project 1.     Discussion club: Across Cultures 2.     Time for Singing 3.     Quiz Show “Around the World” 4.     Time for Dancing 5.     Project Work Summing up Day 1.    Summer is Fun. Summing up 2.    Tea Party 3.    Awarding ceremony We travelled around the world in 14 days through the power of the web!

 

ACROSS CULTURES

·        Imagine that you have been invited to England for a summer holiday. Do some research and find out information about famous and the most popular historical sights in the country you have been invited to. Give your ideas of the possibilities for summer rest in Kamianka.

·        Look at the pictures, identify the event and find out some cultural traditions of the USA attributable to it. Say if you have the similar event in Ukraine, in your home town. What traditions are connected with it.

·        Look at the tourist map of Paris. Find more information about the places you may visit. Make a similar map of the tour about Kamianka.

·        In groups, read the information about the holiday offer for Christmas. Design your holiday offer using the materials suggested.

·        Look at the picture and say where the tourists are. Find out more about popular parks in London. Act out the conversation which may take place between the tourists.

·        Look at the advertisement of event and guess what group of people it is aimed at. Say how popular this event could be if this advertisement was published in New York Times or Cherkaskyi Kray.

·        Suppose you are at the National Gallery in London. Look at the signs and guess which of them are likely to be seen there. What rules do you think they express? Draw Ukrainian signs of the similar rules.

·        Look at the poster. Read and say what new information you have learned about Australian sports. Design a poster about kinds of sport the most popular in Kamianka.

·        Watch the video-fragment and say what food is most and less popular among English teenagers. In group work out your idea of the most popular Ukrainian dish, give its recipe and act out a video advertisement of Ukrainian cuisine.

 This year we tried quite new activity in our work: quests. Our pupils were fully engaged into the process and were deeply impressed by this kind of activity.

Doing quests, our students learnt by taking on the behaviors and practices of the people in real – life knowledge domains. Our students learnt to be good English speakers instead of learning about English language. Quests create powerful educational tools by using the structure of game. In this case games work as rule – based learning systems, creating worlds in which players actively participate, use strategic thinking to make choice, solve complex problems, seek content knowledge, receive constant feedback and consider the points of view of others. The learning, in this case, is the journey which is very close to our topic.

You want to reduce the energy! You have heard about many different possibilities and are motivated to make improvements! Do the quest! It is a good teaching tool for the students and staff!

 Web Quests are available at www.teach-nology.com