Goodbye February!

Today in Thessaloniki, just before dawn..
We are all loking forward to the first day of spring tomorrow!

Source: cityportal.gr

Class 4 - My Town

My 4th grade students made drawings not only of their real neighbourhoods but also their imaginary ones!

Emergency Numbers in Europe: Call 112!

Which number would you call in case of emergency? More than 150 million people travel all over the European Union each year, but the European emergency number is still unknown by a large majority of citizens. Please help us spread the word - share this video with your family, friends, and colleagues!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

Class 4 - Months and Seasons!

What's your favourite month & season and WHY? 
When is your birthday and your name day?

The 12 Months of the Year

The Seasons Song

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Class 3 - Body and Face

My Face - Talking Flashcards

My Body - Talking Flashcards


Let's SING! This is me!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

How do you become fluent in 11 languages?

Twenty-year-old Alex Rawlings has won a national competition to find the UK's most multilingual student. The Oxford University undergraduate can currently speak 11 languages - English, Greek, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Hebrew, Catalan and Italian.

Entrants in the competition run by the publishers Collins had to be aged between 16 and 22 and conversant in multiple languages.

Alex drew on all his skills to tell BBC News about his passion for learning languages and how he came to speak so many.

Source: BBC News



N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

Class 5 - Greek Customs

Sometime ago we gathered information about different Greek customs both in our area and elsewhere. Here's an interactive poster (glog) will all the information. You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them and some of the info is also accompanied by relevant videos!

Class 5 - Making suggestions!

Click on the picture to revise and practise on how to make & accept/reject suggestions!

 

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised

International Mother Language Day 2013

"In this age of new technologies, books remain precious instruments, easy to handle, sturdy and practical for sharing knowledge, mutual understanding and opening the world to all. Books are the pillars of knowledge societies and essential for promoting freedom of expression and education for all."

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, Message for International Mother Language Day 2013

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999.

On 16 May 2009 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

Languages Matter!

Source: www.un.org

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised  

William Shakespeare - Video and Exercise!

First listen to the video as many times as necessary. After that, fill in all the gaps!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

Class 5 & 6 - Comparative Forms, an interactive book and a presentation!

You can flick through the interactive book and presentation below to revise and practise the comparative form in relation to school subjects and animals.

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

Class 6 - Face Match!

Listen to the descriptions of different people! Can you find the right face?

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised 

Class 5 - Means of Transport

Click the picture below to revise the vocabulary and do some fun exercises!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

Class 6 - Describing people

We spent some time revising the vocabulary related to physical descriptions. After we practised in the class, I asked the students to describe themselves and a couple of their relatives or friends, using the revised vocabulary.

click on the picture to revise and practise!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

Class 5 & 6 - Comparatives & Superlatives

Comparatives and Superlatives - The rules

Comparatives - Describing people, places and things

Superlatives - Describing people 

 

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Class 5 - Giving directions, some videos

 Giving Directions (for beginners)


Directions, Getting Around Town

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

eTwinning Animation!

This animation was created by the eTwinning Central Support Service. It is language free and gives an idea of what is possible in eTwinning.

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

Class 3 - Magic Book (Unit 3, Lesson 3)

Pinocchio at home

In this lesson we will learn how to use 'Have got' and a lot of words about the body and the face!

Click on the picture below to practise.

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

Class 5 - Giving directions!

Click on the pictures below for some words/phrases and exercises related to Directions!

 

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised

Class 5 & 6 - Penfriends Reloaded!

A few days ago, my students received some more letters from their Portuguese friends! They were really excited! Have a look at this humorous video to see what really happened that day!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised    

Class 3 - Magic Book (Unit 3, Lesson 2)

Pinocchio the boy
 

Class 3 - Toys and Games

Carnival season in (the rest of) Europe!

The carnival season has already kicked off in the rest of Europe. The Catholic/Protestant Easter falls on the 31st March this year, hence the big difference! Greek Orthodox Easter usually falls 1-5 weeks after the 'western' Easter, while approximately once every four years it falls on the same date.

Here are some photos from the Carnival celebrations around Europe.

Costumed carnival-goers celebrate in front of the cathedral in Cologne, Germany

Two of the dogs participating in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's Dog Carnival (Spain)

People on a balcony throw confetti as a statue of St Paul, Malta's patron saint, is carried through the street in Valetta

Traditionally dressed men, wearing masks and cowbells, dance during a carnival parade in Mittenwald, southern Germany

Two Chihuahuas sit in a mock gondola during Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's Dog Carnival (Spain)

A young Joaldunak takes part in a parade in Zubieta, northern Spain

A masked reveller uses a mobile phone in Lucerne, Switzerland

Traditionally-attired carnival revellers pose in Venice, Italy

Sitges Carnival, South Barcelona, Spain

Viareggio Carnival, in Tuscany, Italy

 

A costumed reveller poses near gondolas during the carnival in Venice, Italy

 

Source: telegraph.co.uk

 

Chinese New Year 2013 - The Year of the Snake

The first day of the Chinese New Year – February 10, 2013 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by over 1.3 billion people in China and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. The dates change each year thanks to the specifics of the calendar, which is based on solar/lunar happenings — though most Chinese people use the Gregorian, or western calendar, for daily life, the traditional calendar is still employed for major holidays like Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2013, it’s the Year of the Snake. 

The Snake, also called the Junior Dragon, is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animal Signs.

Chinese New year: Rituals, Food, Family



Chinese New Year in London 2013

London's Chinese New Year celebrations are the largest outside Asia. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people descend on the West End to wish each other "Kung Hei Fat Choi" (or Happy New Year). Chinatown is at the centre of the New Year party. Food and craft stalls line the streets and a lion dance snakes through the crowds, stopping at restaurants to wish the owners good luck for the coming year.

   London Chinese New Year 2012: highlights

The most common Chinese ways of saying 
Happy New Year (恭禧發財) are Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) and Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese). Even though the pronunciations are a little different, both are written the same way.

So, 恭禧發財!

Sources: earthsky.org / visitlondon.com / dearseptemberstore.blogspot.com





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Gracias, Grecia. Nuestra herencia!

Thank you Greece. Our Heritage!

A group of Spanish teachers and students in Murcia, Spain have created a video about Greece. You don't need to speak Spanish in order to understand this video, as also one of the teachers is saying in the beginning. Most people know and use a lot of Greek words without even realising it. 

It's very interesting to see how young Spanish people perceive Greece and hopefully every single one of us can be inspired by that.

Gracias amigos!

N.B. Children should not browse sites unsupervised   

Class 6 - Little poets!

The students of 6th grade have been inspired by things and animals from their daily lives and have produced little pieces of 'poetry'!

Keep Agias Sophias as a pedestrian street!

Please sign this petition:

"We support the pedestrianization of Agias Sophias street. We believe that Thessaloniki needs more free public space for the pedestrians. Υποστηρίζουμε την πεζοδρόμηση της οδού Αγίας Σοφίας. Πιστεύουμε ότι η Θεσσαλονίκη χρειάζεται περισσότερο ελεύθερο δημόσιο χώρο για τους πεζούς."

To sign the petition, click HERE. 

eTwinning - Examples of good practice 2012 (Παραδείγματα καλής πρακτικής 2012)

Class 3 - Magic Book (unit 3, lesson 1)

Pinocchio the puppet

Toys Vocabulary

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Class 4 - Letters to our Italian penfriends: SENT!

Last week we sent our letters to our penfriends in Osimo, Italy!

 The students wrote about themselves, their families and their likes & dislikes! Some of them also sent beautiful drawings! 

To view the letters in more detail, have a look below:

Simon's Cat: is this your cat too?

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