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St. Valentine’s Day

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Every year, on 14 of February, people all over the world celebrate St. Valentine’s Day: they show their affection or love for their beloved ones or sweethearts by giving gifts, chocolates, flowers, or cards with messages of love.

The day gets its name from a famous saint. But who was he?

There are several stories of who he was. The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. There, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed “from your Valentine”. (“From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.)

Have a look at this video: Valentine’s Day.

Follow the story of Valentine’s Day on Google Earth ! 

The tradition of celebrating love, though, already existed.  The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February – officially the start of their springtime. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. As part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They’d be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they’d get married.

Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too. Over the years, St Valentine’s name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved. Nowadays it is a fully commercialised celebration, with all things lovey!

How do animals celebrate the day? Have a look! Animals in love

What about special Valentine’s food?

Have a look at this Valentine’s Day story with Nature Cat (with an environmental twist!)

Here’s a host of acivities you can find here: Holiday: Valentine’s Day

Other love figures / saints

In Ancient Greece people celebrated the god of love, Eros, son of Aphrodite and Ares. He had a special power which allowed him to make two people fall in love with each other: Eros could point his bow and arrow at someone and they would fall in love with the next person they saw. This power worked with both mortals (another name for humans, who could die) and gods!

There are a lot of myths about him. The most famous one is Eros and Psyche. 

Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova

Their story inspired so many artists! Have a look at this famous statue above. 

Later on, in Roman mythology Eros became the Roman god Cupid, who is often shown as a naked chubby child throwing his arrows to unsuspecting lovers!

The Orthodox church celebrates the saints Priscilla and Aquila on 13 February. 

Sts. Aquila and Priscilla

Priscilla and Aquila were friends of the apostle Paul. They set an example of hospitality, seen in opening their home to Paul and using their house as a meeting place for the church. Priscilla and Aquila are a fascinating study in men and women working together for the good of the church. 

Using Nursery Rhymes at school: A reading project with a 4th grade class

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I’ve always been interested in Nursery Rhymes for their multiple benefits, which so vividly David Gibson presented on various occasions (see Nursery Rhymes).

So, when I found these nicely illustrated little books on offer I bought 20 and started a reading project with a 4th grade class: every fortnight/week students would have to read a book, maybe listen to the CD which accompanied it. This CD was recorded with the help of my dear friend David who kindly read the Nursery Rhymes for us. There were 6 titles in the series and each packet also contained a leaflet giving some general, introductory information on Nursery Rhymes and some info on each Nursery Rhyme: when they were published, the story (if there is one) behind them, and the explanation of some unknown words. Every child had to present one of the Nursery Rhymes they liked- either recite it or play it or sing it, either alone or with another classmate. Every week I would choose a Nursery Rhyme and find a worksheet on it from the big variety there is on the Internet, or make my own, and teach the corresponding rhyme or song.

We also danced to the Grand Old Duke of York, following the pattern  of this video:

Folk Dance – Grand Old Duke of York (England)

Here is a short presentation of the things we did throughout the year:

Using Nursery Rhymes at school

It was a very enjoyable project. All the students were involved with enthusiasm (even boys, whom I expected to be more reluctant!) and had lots of fun! At the end of the school year we presented ‘The grand old Duke of York’ and other Nursery Rhymes to the whole school and our special guest, Mr David Gibson!

 

I presented the project (actually complemented David Gibson’s wonderful talk with this educational example) on various occasions (TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, TESOL Greece, Ekadeve) and it received a warm welcome by colleagues! (interview)

You don’t have to buy books, of course, to make this project, since there are so many things you can find on the Internet and do with Nursery Rhymes!

You can find lots of Nursery Rhymes here:

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes, by Various

Ideas to Use Nursery Rhymes in the Classroom

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Reading & Recitation

Nursery rhymes are a great way to build some individual or group reading:  they can be used as a warm-up at the beginning of a lesson, as a closer at the end of a lesson or just something to break up the monotony of the traditional lesson. The teacher can work with the students to memorize the rhyme or assign it as homework to memorize at home, either individually or in small groups. S/he can also divide the poem line-by-line and assign each student one line of the poem to memorize. Then they can perform the rhyme in small groups with each student responsible for one line.

Illustration & Crafting

Once you read the nursery rhyme as a class and go over new words, ask the students to illustrate the nursery rhyme, letting your creative students express themselves! Then, display the illustrations on the walls to bring a sense of pride and personality to your classroom!

Here’s an incredible resource on the State Library of Louisiana which provides a whole list of free  mini books to download of the nursery rhymes I found!

Acting It Out & Tickling

Acting out a nursery rhyme is best used in addition to reciting it. The TPR (Total Physical Response) method not only gets students up and out of their desks, but it also helps with memorization and encourages a better understanding of the words. Some nursery rhymes have well-known movements attached to their lyrics (‘Incy-wincy Spider’) : you can use the established gestures or create your own for just about any nursery rhyme.

Here’s an example of the Nursery Rhyme with actions: ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’

Children love to anticipate the tickling and that’s what these rhymes are all about (children just love ‘This Little Piggy Went to Market’ and such).

Have a look at Round and round the garden – three tickle rhymes!

And do you remember the game in Magic Book 1 (Unit 2The Story of Bella the Cat, Lesson 1)

‘Round about, round about,

Goes the wee mousie.

Up, up, up, up,

Into the wee housie!’

It was a tickling rhyme!

Counting

Some Nursery Rhymes help to teach numbers and counting, either normal upwards counting or downwards counting (‘One Two Three Four Five, once I caught a fish alive…’). Some songs are not about counting but they do have a progressive nature, following some kind of sequence or pattern (‘ Old McDonald Had a Farm’, ‘Hokey Cokey’).

Here’s a clip (the first in the video) of the counting rhyme ‘Ten green bottles’.

Games & Dancing

Some Nursery Rhymes can be regarded as playground songs (including skipping, hopscotch, ball-games) and selection or counting-out rhymes such as ‘One Potato, two potatoes’), or can be danced in a ring (‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’) or as a folk dance.

‘One Potato, two potato’ is especially loved in Ireland (given the importance of potatoes in Irish cuisine!) Here are the game instructions! 

Nursery Rhymes

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Nursery Rhymes are poems or rhymes for children that tell little stories, sometimes strange, whose meaning is lost in history (going back in the early 18th century!); they are sometimes padded out with nonsense words. Some of the rhymes are simply recited like poems but a great many of them are in fact songs. Nursery rhymes are catchy, easy to memorize and fun!

That’s what makes them an invaluable educational tool. Younger students will enjoy the songs and rhymes, while older students will appreciate the themes hidden below the surface.

Nursery rhymes can be useful in many ways. Depending on the nursery rhyme, students will learn new vocabulary.

Nursery rhymes also help develop phonemic awareness (thanks to the rhyming words). These little rhyming ditties also give students the chance to practice pronunciation and intonation when they recite them. The singsong nature of these poems can create a fun, less formal environment for students. Since most nursery rhymes contain several rhyming words, they have the added advantage of helping children develop their memory (they are so easy to memorise!)

Here is a wonderful presentation ( Nursery Rhymes presentation) of a wonderful talk given by a wonderful person on several occasions (TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, TESOL Greece, Ekadeve), Mr David Gibson *!

And a short but very enlightening interview on the multiple advantages of using nursery rhymes in teaching!

Here is a list of sites you can visit to get a more thorough insight into Nursery Rhymes:

 

*David Gibson was born in Northern England in 1947 and began teaching in 1964. His five diplomas were awarded by the universities of Nottingham, Bristol, and Cambridge and he taught in England in junior and secondary schools for 15 years. He came to Greece in 1979 and taught English as a Foreign Language in private schools before joining the British Council in Thessaloniki in 1987. There, he taught English Language and Literature, was a Teacher-Trainer, and served as the Coordinator of Student Social and Cultural Activities.

In 1995, he took up a post as teacher of English Language and Literature at Pinewood International Schools, Thessaloniki, becoming the Chairman of the English Department in 1999. At Pinewood, he also coached three football teams, ran Guitar Clubs and School Bands, and was involved in a wide variety of other school activities and events.

David has worked for Cambridge ESOL for more than twenty years, as an Oral Examiner, Team Leader, Supervisor, Seminar Presenter, and Inspector, and is a founder and three-time board member of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece, being a regular speaker and active participant in conventions and similar events.

In June 2008, he retired from full-time teaching in order to concentrate on other projects, but has continued to work with Pinewood students – coaching football, playing guitar with them, encouraging them to read and to write … and to watch birds.

You can see some of his inspiring work as the one half of the two-man English Teaching Theatre Group “Dave’n’Luke” here:

DAVE’N’LUKE English Language Theatre

 

Screencast-O-Matic

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Screencast-O-Matic is a free online screen capture tool. This tool records a designated area of your screen as well as audio and webcam input. You can record your screen, your webcam, or both. Recording options are simple and straightforward. The tool lets you adjust the size of the recording window depending on resolution. Free users can trim recordings, write captions, and add a limited number of music tracks before publishing.

Screencast-O-Matic helps you focus on what matters – your students. As a teacher you can create tutorials or lessons for classroom instruction and share these videos with students. The tool is very compatible with the principles of the flipped classroom (a new pedagogical model, according to which the traditional way of teaching (lesson at school – homework at home) is reversed: the lesson is delivered from the teacher through videos or podcasts s/he has made and which s/he has posted on the internet (or in the e-class / e-me). Then the students watch the new lesson on the computer or tablet and learn on their own, at their own pace. The next day in the classroom (even via WebEx) the comprehension of the lesson is checked, the questions are answered and the respective tasks and exercises are done in groups. This allows you to use your in-class time more efficiently.

Screencast-O-Matic can help you engage students with video conversations: you can have them record their ideas or thoughts about a classroom topic and communicate them with you or their classmates. You can also have the students create their own videos in projects and assignments, unleashing, thus, their creativity. They can even create their own how-to video, or partner with other students to create a group project.  This way the students take ownership over their learning and gain a deeper understanding of their knowledge!

The possibilities are endless!

Here’s a tutorial (in Greek…) about Screencast-O-Matic:

Screencast-O-Matic tutorial

 

Google Slides: vocabulary on a text at a click of a button

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Google Slides are a great way to do so many things!

Why use them (and not PowerPoint, for example…) ?

Because they provide consistency, they can be easily accessed and shared and are ideal for group work. There are some minor downsides (fewer template choices, a gmail account is required), but the possibilities are endless!

You can give free rein to your imagination and creativity and create virtual worlds. You can create classrooms, libraries, escape rooms … practically, any scene!

Here’s an example:

What about a ‘room’ which recreates a scene (here: ‘Goldilocks and the 3 bears’) with active links on some objects of the scene? Or a classroom (with a teacher showing various videos and/or resources on the Letter Aa?)

But this is not the case here!

In this case I used a Google Slide Presentation to present the vocabulary of a text by immediately connecting the word to its meaning (sometimes reinforced with pictures) and its pronunciation. Magical, right?

Here’s the how-to video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywXOkP9PMA

And here’s the end product (4th grade, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Βιβλίο Μαθητή):

Christmas in Britain

and another one (6th grade, Unit 3, Lesson1, Pupil’s Book), containing the pronunciation of the words as well:

Unit 3, Old Creatures and new

GROUNDHOG-DAY-2019

Groundhog Day (Η μέρα της Μαρμότας)

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Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada (having originated in the town of Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania).

It is the day when people look to the groundhog (also known as woodchucks, or marmots) to predict the weather for the next six weeks. Folklore says that if the sun is shining when the ground hog comes out of his burrow(λαγούμι, φωλιά), then the groundhog will go back into its burrow and we will have winter for six more weeks. However, if it is cloudy, then spring will come early that year.

The origins of Groundhog Day can be traced to German settlers (άποικοι) in Pennsylvania. These settlers celebrated February 2nd as Candlemas Day. On this day if the sun came out then there would be six more weeks of wintry weather. In 1886 the Punxsutawney newspaper declared February 2nd as Groundhog Day and named the local groundhog as Punxsutawney Phil.

There are a number of celebrations throughout the United States. The largest celebration takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has predicted the weather each year since 1886. Large crowds of well over 10,000 people gather here to see Phil come out of his burrow at around 7:30am. Punxsutawney Phil normally lives in a nice climate controlled home in the local library throughout most of the year. He is moved up to Gobbler’s Knob on February 2nd, where he makes his annual (ετήσιος) weather prediction. Phil was named after King Phillip.

How accurate (ακριβείς)  the predictions of the groundhogs are is up for debate. People who organize the day say that they are very accurate. However, others say it’s just luck.

The 1993 movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray took place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and made the holiday even more popular.

adapted from: https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/groundhog_day.php

Have a look at this short video:

https://video.link/w/4fhPb

Let’s make these simple crafts:

CUPCAKE LINER GROUNDHOG DAY CRAFT

EASY GROUNDHOG PAPER PLATE KIDS CRAFT

 

The Famous Portaits Museum (feat. The Mona Lisa and others to follow)

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I created a speaking image of the painting The Mona Lisa (#monalisa) with #chatterpix. 

My plan is to have more talking portraits (of both men and women) in a virtual museum made by students (probably 6th graders) this time!

The tool I used to make the museum is emaze.

What is emaze?

emaze is an online, web-based presentation creator that can be used to easily build and edit visually compelling and engaging presentations on any personal computer. emaze presentations don’t look like the typical PowerPoint presentations you see every day. If you’re familiar with Prezi,some emaze presentations might seem similar (they can involve movement) but you can always create traditional presentations that are more akin to a PowerPoint. The plus feature in emaze is the ability to easily embed media of any kind, including HTML widgets. The ability to embed media of any kind is also an enormous benefit and allows students to integrate projects they’ve created on a wide variety of apps and sites.   

Once you’ve finished creating your presentation, you can download it in a variety of formats (in the Pro version), or share it out with a link, embed code, or through social media.

When you start using emaze you’ll be able to choose from one of their many predesigned templates.  Or if you’d rather start from PowerPoint, you can quickly import your pre-made PowerPoint presentation and convert it into any emaze template that you’d like.

Take a look at a short tutorial from the emaze team so you can see what the platform looks like in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DMcpXms_HU&feature=emb_logo

(adapted from http://www.edtechroundup.org/reviews/emaze-create-share-and-explore-online-presentations)

Here is my Famous Portraits Museum emaze:

https://www.emaze.com/@AOTOLWQLQ/famous-portraits

louvre

Art time: Mona Lisa

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La Gioconda, which is also called the Mona Lisa, is the most famous painting in the world. Each year, millions of visitors throng to see the painting in one of the Louvre Museum’s largest exhibition rooms. Her name and image have been reproduced on every continent on coffee cups and T-shirts, in adverts and films, on the Internet, and on the facades of restaurants and beauty salons. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing-whether we are on a street corner, opening a magazine, or turning on the television-, La Gioconda’s smile is omnipresent.

From the book What’s so special about Mona Lisa? By Delieuvin V. & Tallec O.

What would Mina Lisa tell us herself about her exciting life if we could just hear her famous painting in the Louvre Museum?

Well, come closer… listen…

(The script was written by Doulgeri Mary, and the image became a talking image with the help of Chatterpix!

What is ChatterPix?

ChatterPix is an app that converts pictures of inanimate objects into pictures that talk! All you do is snap a picture, draw a line to make it talk, and record your voice! ChatterPix can be used to make silly greetings, playful messages, and creative cards. In the classroom, ChatterPix can be used as a way for students to take pictures of their work and record information about it! A student’s ChatterPix can be emailed, sent to YouTube, or saved on a device. Teachers can have students save their ChatterPix creations in the camera roll on an iPad to review later.

Here is a guide of how to use it:

http://chatterpixworkshop.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/5/8/51581143/chatterpix_howto.pdf

If you want to have a look at or use the script of Mona Lisa, here it is:

Mona Lisa

 

Ahoy mates!

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Every year when we finish Unit 2 (Captain Cook) from Magic Book 2 we always make this Pirate hat, wear it and sing the song (I’m a pirate and my name is Cook…) holding our treasure maps and enjoying ourselves! This year with the mask it was a bit weird! But we pretended it was a mouth patch!!!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

It’s very easy to make the hat: just photocopy the template (I made it very easily), glue it to cardboard paper, and fasten a headstrap (made out of cardboard, too) adjusting it to the… pirate’s head. (It’s actually a headband, not a hat!)

You can download the template here: