The Story of Santa Claus (rehearsal)

Since our first play, 'The Lost Lamp', was a great success, we decided to gather around another interesting play - The Story of Santa Claus. It was again a lot of fun.

Denis as Mr Claus & Milica as Mrs Claus

Generation 1997

 

Hop, hop, hop (song)

This is one of the 1st songs that my young pupils learn. It's full of action they can't resist.

This time it was performed by my class I6 in December 2008.

Big & Small (song)

Here's a cute song from our coursebooks about sizes, with a few animal sounds, enjoyed and performed by my class I5 in December 2008.

And, here are the words:

GIRL: Hey, mum, look mum! Dogs, dogs, dogs.
MUM: A big dog, a small dog, a brown dog, a black dog.
They all say bow-wow-wow.

GIRL: Hey, mum, look mum! Cats, cats, cats.
MUM: A big cat, a small cat, a black cat, an orange cat.
They all say meow-meow-meow.

GIRL: Hey, mum, look mum! Birds, birds, birds.
MUM: A big bird, a small bird, a green bird, a blue bird.
They all say tweet-tweet-tweet.

GIRL: Hey mum, look mum! Hey mum, look mum!

Point to the window... (chant)

Here's another action chant popular among my young learners.

The lyrics are as follows,

Point to the window, clap, clap, clap,
Point to the door, clap, clap, clap,
Point to the board, clap, clap, clap,
Point to the table, clap, clap, clap

(and we added - Point to the chair, clap, clap, clap)

Point to the window, stamp, stamp, stamp...

This is how my class I6 performed it in December 2008.

Pets (essays)

I love animals, especially cats. I have three cats, but I am going to write about the youngest and smartest of them, named Pićuka.
When I was coming home from school one day, I saw a small cat in trouble. It was being chased by a dog. I quickly grabbed it and saved it. It was so frightened.
At home, my family and I agreed to call it Pićuka, because it is funny. Pićuka is a male. He has large, green eyes and a small head. His fur is black and white.
Remember when I said that he was the smartest cat? I am going to explain you why I think so. He jumps on a handle and opens the door, so, thanks to him, all the cats get in. Whenever he is thirsty, he goes to the bathroom and when we hear, ’Miaow, miaow,’ we know that we have to give him water.
Sometimes, he is not so smart. When my grandmother is in the kitchen he goes round her legs... Many times I have seen Pićuka fly. My grandmother helps him to fly with her leg or with a broom.
Pićuka is not just my pet. He is my friend, too. I know that he has a perfect life... if we count out my grandmother.

Boris Škapik, VIII2, October 2008

 

My favourite animal is a dog. I like dogs because they are very intelligent, faithful and obedient. They can be taught many things and they listen to their masters.
I have a dog. His name is Lunja (=Tramp). My pet is about four years old and everybody in my family likes him. But it seems to me that I am his favourite person in the family, after all. When I come back from school he is very happy. He barks and jumps and I can see that he loves me very much. He is a part of our lives and a member of our family too. I cannot imagine my life without him.
Everybody says that my pet is not only faithful, but funny too. I think my friends envy me on my dog.
Because of him, the air is full of joy. When I am sad or worried, he makes me laugh and tries to comfort me. Sometimes, when I play with my friends and do not notice him, I can see that he is jealous.
In my opinion, every child should have a pet. All animals are very interesting and they bring happiness into our lives. They also make us better people, because we learn how to take care of them. All in all, I think that a dog is really a man’s best friend.

Marko Draško, VIII2, 3 December 2008

For my thirteenth my father gave me a beautiful little dog. I named it Lilly.
She has beautiful, big, brown eyes and white and brown, soft fur. She is absolutely beautiful. She always runs around chasing our neighbours’ cats or even her own tail. Everybody in my family loves her.
I have always wanted a dog for a pet. I feed her, take her for long walks to the park and brush her fur. When my friends come, they love to play with her. Sometimes, we go to the park where we let her run around and enjoy the company of other dogs.
I have even convinced my father to make her a wooden dog house, and buy her a number of toys to play with while I am at school.
When I got a pet, I didn’t know how many responsibilities I would have, because having a pet is not an easy thing. If I forget to feed my dog, she will be hungry and unhappy. But now I don’t find it hard to take care of her, because I have learned to be more responsible and she makes me and my family happy. We already think of her as a member of our family.

Milica Pašić, VIII2, 3 December 2008

I have a lot of pets: a cat, a dog and fifteen fish, but my favourite pet is a pet called Maza (=Cuddly). She is the brightest, sweetest, loveliest and the most skilful dog I have ever had.
When I got her I called her Maza, because she was very cute and quiet. But now she is not so quiet, in fact, she is quite the opposite. I wanted to change her name, but have not done it.
Maza is a terrier. Her fur is as black as coal. She has brown eyes, a small muzzle, very sharp teeth, and very cute ears. Her legs are very long and thin. When I got her, her tail was cut down, so she has a short tail now. I feed her well, so she is not slim. She is about one year old.
Maza is a very silly dog. Behind my house, there is a pile of bricks which she uses to climb on the roof! Can you imagine a dog on the roof?! But she is not alone on the roof. There is a tom cat, with whom Maza spends most of her time. They sleep and eat together, and they cuddle each other. It is all great until I come back from school. Then Maza starts attacking him and he runs away. I do not know why, maybe because she is jealous.
Sometimes, I am angry at her, but I still love her. The sweetest thing about her is that she always knows when she has done something wrong. In those occasions she crawls back to me, and waits for the cuddle.

Smiljana Karadžin, VIII2, 3 December 2008

I’ve had a lot of pets: three dogs, a rabbit and a turtle. The dogs’ names were Švrća (=Scamp), Maza (=Lady) and Lunja (=Tramp), the rabbit’s name was Srećko (Happy), and the turtle’s name was Gile.
Now I have a cat called Marko. He’s a three-year-old domestic cat, which means that he isn’t very clever (I’m sorry for saying that, but it’s true). He’s completely white, with one black dot on his stomach. His tail’s black with a brown spot. His head’s small and white, but sometimes very dirty. We can’t shower him, so he can’t go inside the house.
Marko’s also fat, like Garfield (but not orange). I weighed him yesterday and he has four kilograms.
There’s a strange thing about him. He doesn’t want to drink milk. I don’t know why. Marko just eats fish (when my brother and dad catch them), meat and bacon. You now know why he’s so fat. So, if someone knows something that will help me, please call me.
Marko has a girlfriend, too. That’s our neighbour’s cat. Her name’s Šaca. She’s black with three dots, on her head, stomach and tail. We know that Marko loves her, because he gives her his food.
Some time ago, Šaca had kittens. We don’t know what to do with them, so we’re going to give some away.
I love Marko and I wouldn’t give him for anything in the world.

Milica Bozitovac, VIII2, 3 December 2008

The Chronicles of Narnia (book review)

C.S.Lewis wrote a lot of books. Between 1949 and 1954 he wrote 'The Chronicles of Narnia', the seven-part novel. I have read four parts so far, but I prefer most a part called 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

At the start of the Second World War, four kids, Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy are evacuated from London to the house of Professor Kirke. 

One day, they discover a magic wardrobe, which is a passage to Narnia. There, they meet a faun (half-man, half-goat), a family of talking beavers and other interesting creatures.

Edmund meets the White Witch without the others and makes a deal with her to bring the others to her. At the beavers' house the children find out that they are destined to come and help Aslan, the great lion to defeat the Witch.

They are soon hunted by the wolves sent by the Witch. They nearly escape. Little by little, they are on the run to Aslan's camp. On the way there, Father Christmas gives them some weapons. At the camp, they meet Aslan. They all fight against the Witch's troop and win. The Witch then arrives claiming that Edmund is her property, based on the 'Deep Magic' of Narnia. It says that the traitor belongs to her as a lawful prey and that she must kill them on the Stone Table. Aslan negotiates with her and sacrifices himself for Edmund. He is humiliated and stabbed to death, but is resurrected because there is deeper magic than the Witch knows.

Aslan then brings all the available troops for the final battle. They win again and the White Witch is killed. All four kids are pronounced kings and queens of Narnia.

This is my favourite book because it is very easy for reading and is very imaginary.

Pavle Mandić, VIII2, 3 December 2008

Free Time (essay)

I’ve got little free time now, because I do many different things during the day.

My typical school day starts at half past eight, because i go to music school. I arrive home at about eleven o’clock, do my homework and study for my lessons. School starts at one o’clock and I usually have six classes. After school I am very tired.

When I have free time, I listen to music, play the piano, watch TV, read books and go to dance classes. Sometimes I visit my friends. I like music and I play the piano, but I would like to learn to play the guitar, too, so I am planning to go to the guitar classes some time in the future. I often listen to classical music because it relaxes me.

During the summer I have more free time and I spend it with my friends. We usually play badminton or go to the swimming pool. Even when I have little free time, I try to spend it in the best way.

Ivana Vuletić VIII2, December 2008

My spare time is when I finish my schoolwork and sports practice.

When I’m on my own, I enjoy listening to music or watching a good movie. I’ve got hundreds of songs that I like listening to when I’m bored.

However, I prefer spending some time with the people I care about. This often means talking to and spending time with my grandparents or calling my grandmother who lives away.

The rest of my free time, I enjoy spending with my brother and friends. We do different things together, depending on the season. In summer, we go swimming, cycling, we play volleyball and basketball, or other things.

Cycling has always been my favourite outdoor activity. I could spend every summer evening cycling round the town and just watching and seeing new things.

Volleyball is the sport I’m very good at. I also try to swim and play beach volley every summer.

During winter, my friends and I usually play indoors. We surf the Internet, or make pizzas, spaghetti or tortillas.

I really love late spring and summer when the warmth is great and when I have a lot of free time. Then I really enjoy.

Grigorije Grastić VIII2, December 2008