Christmas

Christmas is always a lot of fun for my youngest pupils. They make wishes, draw, play games, sing songs and things like that.

This year we've read a story called 'The Gingerbread Man'. First, I introduced them to the stars of this story: the little old woman, the little old man and the Gingerbread Man. I told them that the Gingerbread Man runs away from home and meets three animals along the way. I asked them to draw the three animals, watch the story and order the animals (a cow, a horse and a fox). Then, we checked their ideas, talked about the story and played games.

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I also prepared some cut-outs with Christmas symbols (Christmas tree, snowman, the Gingerbread Man, Father Christmas, Rudolf and elf) for them to colour and decorate their pencils with.

Since no Christmas can be imagined without songs, we sang some familiar ones and learned a new one called S-A-N-T-A. This song is perfect for learning spelling.  

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Meals

Food is probably one of the most favourite topics of my younger pupils. They like eating different things, but sweets and pizza are on the top of their lists. 

We learned some food words last year, but this year we've added a few more. I asked them to choose 5 new ones to draw and copy the names of. So, after 3 lessons, one for each meal, they all had pictionaries of 15 food words, accompanied by 3 big clocks showing 7 (morning), 12 (lunch) and 6 o'clock (dinner).

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Run and Play

Take a look at my 8-year-olds from Class II3 singing a new song from our coursebooks. This is their second or third time hearing the song, so they're not quite confident.

To understand better what the song is about, here are the lyrics:

My grandpa isn't walking,

He's flying my favourite kite.

My grandma's cleaning the table,

It's beautiful and white.

My father's playing baseball,

He can catch and he can hit.

My cousin's got the ball now,

And now he's throwing it.

My baby sister's sleeping,

She is very small.

My brother isn't jumping,

He's kicking his football.

Hey!

My grandpa isn't walking,

He's flying my favourite kite.

My grandma's cleaning the table,

It's beautiful and white.

My mother's sitting reading,

Her book is big and grey.

And me? I'm very happy,

I can run and play...

A Scary Experience

Think about a scary experience you had in the past. Write about it. Describe what happened, what you did, how you felt etc. You can use the following plan:

Paragraph 1: when and where it happened, what the weather was like, who was with you,

Paragraph 2: what exactly happened (order of events: first, then, after that, next, finally),

Paragraph 3: what happened in the end, how you felt.

Be creative and have fun!

It was a full moon. My brother and I were left alone in the house. We were sitting in the living room and watching TV. Since I wanted to eat some biscuits I went to the kitchen, but heard some noises coming from the attic. I quickly ran to my brother. Together, we went upstairs to see what it was. My brother opened the door and saw a ghost.  We ran out of the house and saw our mum and dad coming by car. We told them what happened and followed them to the attic. But, there was nobody there, just an old painting of a soldier covered with a white sheet.
In the morning we took the painting to the museum.
Soon, it disappeared, and so did the spirit. No one knows what happened to him.

Tijana Mesaroš, VI4

It was midnight. I was reading my book. Suddenly, I heard a scream. I was afraid, so I put my  blanket over my head. Then I heard another scream. I started to cry, but I went to the living room. The TV was on and the horror film was on. The girl was screaming all the time. I felt safe. Then I went back to sleep.

Mina Vidović, VI4

Famous People

Think of a famous person. Collect information and write a short biography. You can use linking words (so, because, too, also) and the following plan:

Paragraph 1: name, job, place and date of birth, early years,

Paragraph 2: later years, career (studies, family, achievements)  

Zendaya Coleman is an American actress, dancer and model.
She was born on 1 September 1996 in Los Angeles. Zendaya has long brown hair and brown eyes.   
Her lead role in TV series 'Shake it up' as Rocky Blue made her very famous. Her best friend is Bella Thorne. Together they starred in a number of films and TV serials, such as 'Frenemies'. They also made songs together. One of the most famous is 'Watch me'.

Miona Vujošević, VI3

Films

My 12-year-olds just love films and everything to do with films. That is why I used short video clips as warm-ups for all our lessons about films, superheroes, mysteries, famous actors, directors and legends.

Three of my students even acted as teachers during two of these lessons:

Marko Rac VI1

Igor Zagorac VI1

Željko Tunić VI1

 

The Wolf and the Seven Kids

My youngest pupils adore listening to stories. So, I decided to surprise them with a well-known story about the wolf and the seven kids. 

The minute I showed them a few drawings of the main characters, they knew which story they were about to hear. I asked one of the pupils to give a short version of the story to the others who were not familiar with it. Then, I explained that the story we were going to hear had a bit different ending. At the end of this story Mummy goat finds the wolf snoring under the tree near the house, lets her kids out of the sack and chases the wolf away.
The story was followed by a few games (order the pictures, spot the differences...). I also asked my pupils to draw a room and put the kids where they hid when the wolf came. We checked their ideas and practised prepositions of place (in, on, under) and things in the house (clock, cupboard, bed, table, chair) at the same time.

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Saša Vidović, II2

Iva Rakić, II2

Vukašin Konstantinov, II2

Nikolina Radak, II2

Dream Home

My youngest pupils just love drawing. But, this time I showed them how to make a paper house and asked them to decorate it like it's their dream home. This is how they've done it:

Adrian Rafa II5

Tijana Filipović II5

Tijana Filipović II5

My favourite superhero

Who is your favourite superhero? Where does he/she live? What does he/she look like? What special powers has he/she got?

My favourite superhero is the Invisible Woman. She is a member of the Fantastic Four. Her real name is Susan Storm. Together with her brother Johnny, scientist Reed Richards and friend Ben Grimm, Susan goes into space. There they get exposed to cosmic rays and get special powers. They become superheroes. Susan gets the power to make herself invisible.
She is my favourite superhero because she is brave and has the power to become invisible.

Tijana Mesaroš, VI4

Festivals

Think of a festival which takes place in our town / country and describe it. Write the name of the festival, the place, date and reason why people celebrate it. Write also what people do during the festival.

Pumpkin Days

Every year in the second week of October, people in Kikinda, Serbia, celebrate the Pumpkin Days. The festival lasts four days.

A  lot of people come to see the contest for the largest pumpkin. They can also taste delicious pumpkin pies. Children dress up in costumes and put on masks and then walk in a parade around the town. 

In the centre of the town there is a small fair where children can buy sweets and toys. 

The festival is very big. Everyone can enjoy the music all day long.

I like Pumpkin Days because this festival is a lot of fun.

Jožef Horvat, VI5, October 2013

Superheroes

Design your own superhero. Decide where he/she lives, what he/she does, what special powers he/she has got.

Slobodan Bakić, VI3

Nikola Grujić, VI3

Milanko Bilić, VI3

Benjamin Buš, VI3

Beni

Teodora Trukić, VI3

Marko Mijić, VI3

Branislava Laković and Anabela Varga, VI1

Jožef Horvat and Daniel Silađi, VI5

Natalia Sakal, VI5

But, the most unusual one was a whole book of superheroes made by Stefan Vujić from Class VI3. I've decided to reward this effort with a book.