Debates

 In their chosen groups, my Class 7 pupils have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of keeping wild animals in zoos or as pets, of cloning animals, and using animals to test medicines and cosmetics. 

We've also organised debates where one group expressed their arguments for and another their arguments against. 

Favourite Sports

Think about your favourite sport. It can be the one you practise or just watch. Write about it in 80-100 words.
Organise your writing into 4 paragraphs:
Paragraph 1: What sport do you like? Is it an individual or a team sport? How long have you played it? Are you good at it? Why is this sport more special than the others?
Paragraph 2: Is it an indoor or outdoor sport? Where do you practise or watch it? How often? Who with? What equipment do you need for this sport? What is its aim? If it's a team sport, how many players are there in each team? How do you get points?
Paragraph 3: What are the good sides of this sport? What are its bad sides? Remember the injuries!
Paragraph 4: Why do you like this sport? How does it make you feel when you do or watch it?

My favourite sport is volleyball. It's a team sport.
There are six players and you play it on the court. You need knee pads, a ball, really tight shorts, a club or team T-shirt.
You play it until you win three sets to twenty-five points. When both teams have win two sets, the fifth set is played.
When I played it, I had lots of fun, I made new friends and most importantly I was healthy. Unfortunately, you can twist your ankle, pull your muscle and sprain your wrist.
I like it because you have fun playing it, it`s healthy, it`s easy to play it and it's relaxing.

Lara Avramov, VI2

My favourite sport is table tennis. This is an individual and sometimes a team sport.
We play it in the gym.
It's a match between two or four players. Every player has a racket and the main goal is to send the ball in opponent's half of the table and that he/she doesn't return it.
One of the good sides is that you can make new friends. The bad side is that you can break your arm or leg.
I have played for 2 months and during this time I have had a great time. I hope I will play table tennis for a long time.

Bogdan Đurović, VI1

My favorite sport is folk dance. A lot of people say that folk dance is not a sport but they are wrong. Folklore is played in a circle. I have been folk dancing for 7 years, and I am good at it. This sport is special because we learn traditional dances, hang out and travel.
We play indoors, three times a week. We wear T-shirts, leggings and ballet flats, and we wear a national costume at concerts. There are no specific numbers of players.
The bad side of this sport is that we jump a lot and we can pull a muscle, and the good thing is that we learn something new.
I love folk dance because we hang out, travel, play and sing.

Marina Veljin, VI1

My favorite sport is volleyball. I have played it for one year. I like team sports because I can play with friends and we have fun.
We play three times a week at Technical School and there are 6 players in a team. My friends and cousin also train volleyball and at weekends we have volleyball competitions.
For volleyball you need a ball and a net and players have to hit the ball over the net.
This sport is nice and it makes us very tall. Unfortunately, we can hurt our knees or hands if the ball is very hard.
I love volleyball because it is a team sport, I meet a lot of friends and I feel nice while playing.

Teodora Čudan, VI1

We all have something that can make us happy even on our worst days. For me, that is my favourite sport, volleyball. I've been playing it for four years. It's a team sport with six players on the court and some on the bench. I am pretty good at it. Even if people think it's basic, it's the only sport or thing that can make me feel the way it does.
It's an indoor sport and I practise it on trainings with my team, but also alone in my garden. I have volleyball practice three times a week. Volleyball may look easy, but believe me, it's not. It's also very complicated with so many rules. The aim is to score points. There are lots of ways to score points, but the most simple one is that you score when the ball touches the opponent's side of the court.
The good sides of this sport are that your arms and legs get much stronger, you get better at focusing and analyzing the situation you're in. For example, if you see that your opponents are a bit farther from the net, you throw the ball weaker, shorter. The bad sides are that you can get hurt very easily, by twisting your ankle, pulling a muscle or if you fall really badly, you can even break your leg or your arm.
I like this sport because it makes me happy, it's exciting and I also like it because you have multiple choices of what you will do next or how to trick the opponent. Volleyball makes me so excited that it feels like some kind of power or electricity going through my body. When I play it, I feel like something is telling me what to do, showing me what to do and if I realize the ball is going to fall, I feel like something is pushing me to start running towards it. I understand that this thing I am describing is most likely me, but I am still thankful to it for always being there for me and helping me everyday.

Jovana Karić, VI2

The sport I do, and also my favourite, is ballet. Ballet is a team sport, because we all have to work as one. I have been dancing ballet for six or seven years, non-stop. I'm very good at it. I remember every name of the combination and jumps. In my opinion, ballet is difficult, and everyone thinks it's easy, but it's even harder than volleyball or football, so, in my opinion, it's more special.
Ballet is an indoor sport, but it can also be outdoors due to various performances.The building where I train ballet is the Cultural Center. There we have two halls, a small and a large one, and one locked room. Both halls have a mirror, a stick for combinations and a piano for the accompanist. For ballet, you need: white tights, leotards, soft and pointed ballet flats.There is no specific number of students, there can be twenty of them in one class, as was the case, but only four of them finished. There are no points, but every June we have an exam where we get a grade from one to four.
The good sides of ballet are that we learn another language, French, since all the combinations are in French, you make a lot of friends and both girls and boys can enroll.The downsides, or disadvantages, are that we get very tired in class and have to arrive early in the morning on some days.The worst injury happened to me last week.We were doing a special reel in the back and we had to bend our head to do it. I ended up with twelve bruises and my left leg was swollen.
I love ballet because it suits me, I have fun during class or while composing choreographies. As I do the combinations, I feel tired and worried. I worry about whether I hold my legs and arms well.

Sara Stepanov, VI2

My favorite sport is water polo. That's what I've been training for three years. Water polo is a team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match. This sport is very good because it develops the whole body.
I have a practice every evening and it lasts two hours. When summer comes, we swim outside.
The advantage of this sport is that in summer you can play it in a lake or in the sea. The downside of this sport is that it's rough. You can't see it when you watch it on TV. There are a lot of cities that don't have an indoor pool, so that's one of the drawbacks.
Water polo teaches you to be a member of a team, to love water and to be strong.

Vukašin Ćurčin, VI1

My favourite sport is volleyball. It is a team sport.
It is played on the court. Volleyball players wear elbow and knee pads. The match lasts three sets. A point is scored when the opponent fails to defend, when the ball hits the net or goes out.
The good side of this sport is that the team consists of a lot of members so you can meet new friends. It is exciting because you don't know how the opponent will play.
It is not an expensive sport because you don't need  a lot of equipment. Possible injuries are a twisted ankle or a broken finger.
Volleyball is my favourite sport because a team has to think like one to play well. I love volleyball the most and that's why I train it.

Iva Todorić, VI2

Keeping wild animals as pets (pros and cons essays)

Can you imagine yourself keeping a wild animal as a pet? It sounds exciting but is it right to keep one at home?

There are certain advantages in keeping wild animals as pets. Firstly, if it is one of the endangered species, we can save them and help the species live longer. Secondly, we can learn a lot about them.

On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks in keeping wild animals as pets. First of all, our house is small for them. Also, when they grow up, they can be dangerous.


But, although this idea looks exciting, and many people want to have a wild animal as a pet, it isn’t a good idea. We don’t know how exactly to take care of them.

I hope that people won’t have wild animals as pets, because they should live in their natural habitats.

Teodora Plavšić, VII1, 19 May 2011

The Internet (article)

The World Wide Web, more commonly known as the Internet, binds almost all computers in the world.

It makes it possible for people to upload and download files from other computers, to send e-mails to their friends or chat online. People can find almost every information they need and they can use it even for personal education.

But, that's only a half of it. The Internet can also be dangerous, because there are many sites which are full of viruses and troyans, and some can be dangerous for children. People should be careful and pay attention to what they download or with who they talk and give names and other information.

Many people can't imagine their lives without the Internet and Facebook, and that's one of the saddest things that has happened to the mankind.

Filip Ivetić, VII3, December 2010

All teens use the Internet. It is very useful but sometimes it can ruin your health.

The Internet is very useful because it can give us lots of information. It is also fun for some games to play but you must not let it ruin your study.

However, the Internet is used wrongly by some people. They can hack in your computer and get you some viruses. It can also ruin your health so be careful.

I love the Internet and I will use it the right way.

Dejan Kovačević, VII2, December 2010

The Internet is a great shortcut to connect people from all around the world. Every Internet address starts with www, which means ’world wide web’ and most end with com.

People use the Internet for almost everything. They use it to find information. The Internet also offers a lot of games that children can enjoy. It is used to find friends, too. The most visited site is ’Facebook.’

The bad side is that some people use it to hack some sites, like banks’ or of some corporations. It also has a lot of computer viruses so our computers often get sick.

I love using the Internet because I can connect with my friends from other places as well.

Filip Smiljanić, VII2, December 2010

The Media (for-and-against articles)

Think about the advantages and disadvantages of different media. You may use the following ideas to write your article:

P1: Introduction - state topic 

P2: Advantages and reasons

P3: Disadvantages and reasons

P4: Opinion

Don't forget to use the linking words, such as: First, Second, In addition (list/add points), For instance (introduce examples), However (show contrast), To sum up (conclude), etc.

TELEVISION

Television - we can watch a lot of interesting stuff on it, but is all that good?
To start with, there are a lot of channels on TV, not only from our country, but other countries as well. As a result, you have a bigger choice of programmes, films, TV series, different TV shows, and things like that.
However, TV can be bad for us because we spend a lot of time in front of it, instead of going outside with our friends. TVs are also very expensive, especially those with an excellent resolution.
All in all, we can find a lot of interesting and great stuff on TV, but we should learn to control ourselves.

Nataša Aranbašić, Snežana Vlajnić, Aleksandar Ćurčin and Ivan Pajić, VIII1, April 2010

THE INTERNET

A lot of people today have the Internet. They spend hours using it, but is this good or bad?
First, you can be in contact with your friends who live far away from you, chat with them, talk on the microphone, or watch them on your monitor via video camera. Second, you can search for information in other countries and regions. You can also listen to music or watch videos and films on the Internet.
However, the Internet can be dangerous for your computer. For example, somebody can hack or spam it with mail. Also, too much time in front of your computer is bad for your health.
To conclude, the Internet is a source of information around the world, but we need to use it sensibly.

Aleksandar Katai, Dragan Grbić and Maja Rofa, VIII1, April 2010

MOBILE PHONES

Today, each man or woman has a mobile phone. Even younger people have it. It is very useful, but has a lot of flaws, too.
One positive side is that mobile phones are useful for communication. For example, you can talk to your friend who is in Spain or some other country. You can also do a lot of interesting things with mobile phones. You can listen to music, take some pictures or watch videos, for instance. Moreover, you can get some interesting information on it.
On the other hand, mobile phones are very expensive. They can also crash fast. Another flaw is that if a mobile phone falls down, it breaks, immediately. And when it breaks, its repair is very expensive. In addition, people lose interest in other, smarter things, because of mobile phones. In fact they spend a lot of time using them.
To sum up, you would not be able to do lots of interesting things without mobile phones, but you should use them more responsibly.

Doroteja Živković, Jelena Sivčev, Željko Živkov and Mirjana Popović, VIII1, April 2010