No Hate - a theme day around media and information literacy

Miley Cyrus as photographed by Adam Bouska

Director Lee Daniels - photo credit: Adam Bouska

For many weeks I have been working on and planning a theme day at our school around media and information literacy (MIK in Swedish). Tomorrow's the day and I am very excited! Focus is put on No Hate and how to behave on the net and social media and the whole school is taking part! I will document some of the happenings here as they happen....on Instagram and Twitter we will use the hash tag #erikslundskolannohate. Why not join the cause!!??

No Hate

Jag <3 Internet

Vad är näthat?

Ses Offline?

Statens Medieråd - MIK för mig

Holidays are coming...holidays are coming - assorted material

Documentary about Bruce Mertz, a.k.a. Mr. Christmas.

Questions: 
1. How many lights are put up every year?
2. How long does it take to put everything up?
3. What is the total of the electricity bill?
4. What happened to Mr. Christmas' wife?
5. What happened to his cat - Trixie?

"A Social Network Christmas" - the story of the nativity in the context of social media!

Anglophenia tells us how a British Christmas is celebrated..as compared to the American counterpart.

Questions:
1. Why are letters thrown into the fire?
2. Instead of putting out milk and cookies for Father Christmas, they put out what?
3. What is a Christmas cracker? 
4. What is the main dish on the Christmas table? 
5. What is bread sauce? 
6. What is Boxing Day? 

"A brief history of Christmas traditions from around the world" 

"How to make Christmas crackers" - a step by step guide

"Who is Santa Claus?"

"December" - a short short film from the perspective of ...?

Link to Christmas traditions - history

Link to Strange Christmas traditions

Link to Lesson plans for Christmas

Link to Lesson plans for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah

Link to Christmas resources - Teaching English/British Council

Link to Hanukkah - the history (video)

Link to Kwanzaa- the history (video)

Link to Christmas - the most wonderful day of the year? 

An article in Alfa about how we work with Mystery Hangouts

Yesterday an article about our way or working with mystery hangouts was published online and in the magazine "Alfa" - the report was from a lesson where we hung out with Tamatea Intermediate School in Napier, New Zealand. Great fun!

year 7 - Taste and texture

Take a look at this video:

And here's an "oldie" goldie. Listen to HOW the Canadian kids describe taste and texture:

Next week I'll bring some treats to class and the idea is for you to taste them, describe the taste and texture by using appropriate and descriptive words.



Tasks for the lesson on Thursday:

1. Watch the two videos together in class - afterwards talk about the words used for describing tastes and textures.
2. Read through the vocabulary list: Vocabulary to describe food
and try to learn the meaning of the words.
3. What is your favorite food, and how would you describe it? What does it taste like and what is the texture like? (Write the answer in your note book or in a word document on your computer)
4. Also, read the following "mini-article" and take the quiz. Quiz

Best of luck! /Pernilla

Mystery Hangout with Napier, New Zealand - Kia ora!

Kia ora!* We started off Monday morning with our next to last hangout of the school year. We have about three weeks left of school here in Sweden and we will have the last hangout on Thursday afternoon. I definitely hope to pick it up again in August/September, but I also need to put a new spin on it... 

This morning we connected with an unknown country (for the students) and very early on one of my students said "their accent - it sounds like they're from Australia or New Zealand"...and soon enough we had guessed the right part of the world. As usual, it's trickier to track down the exact city/town/village, but when the 30 minutes were up we had found out that they were to be found on the east side of the North Island, in a place called Napier. The name of the school: Tamatea Intermediate School. The students' teacher, Kerri Thompson, had organized an evening with students and parents and there was an energetic vibe from the New Zealand classroom. Two girls sang a little song for us with some accompanying hand movements...what was that, Kerri? Would love to find out! :)

Due to the big time difference it was 9.30 am in Sweden and 7.30 p.m. in New Zealand. So wonderful that we still could organize an event like this! Lovely! Here are some snapshots from the hangout:

On our big screen

Pinpointing New Zealand on the map

Melanie and Isabella

Lauri, Mukhtaar, Paolo, Lucas and a tiny hint of Liridona hard at work

 The wonderful Kerri Thompson

The students had roles assigned to them

From left: Liam, Felicia, Alma, Afnan, Isabella, Maya, Yasmin, Oden, Limar, Vanessa and Linda.

Bye and thank you!!

P.S. Next week we hope our surprise reaches the students in NZ... ;)

* = a Maori greeting meaning "be well" or more casually "hi"

Film report - year 7

This week we'll watch the film "She's the man" and during the viewing you'll take notes - those notes will help you afterwards when a film report is to be written.

Film report - year 7

Homework for year 7 for week 18

For next week (Thursday for 7B, Monday for 7A) I want you to play the following game a few times and try to find as many words as possible. Try at least five times (that will take about 15 minutes) and come back to class and tell me what you thought of the game. Together we'll try to break the current record of 96.

WORDSHAKE

Homework for year 7

These are the words that you should learn for next week (Monday 7A, Wednesday 7B).

starter = förrätt
main course = huvudrätt
dessert = dessert, efterrätt
drink = dryck
sausage = korv
chips = pommes frites
cream = grädde
lemon = citron
coffee = kaffe
cake = tårta, tårtbit
biscuit = kex
p.m. = post meridiem = från kl 12.00 t.o.m. midnatt
a.m. = ante meridiem = från midnatt t.o.m. kl 12.00 på dagen

7B - task for the lesson on Thursday

You know that I am at home today with my little son who has a fever. Therefore I want you to do the following for the lesson on Thursday morning:

Read and answer questions

Best of luck!
Pernilla :)

An eventful day - tea party and q&a with Canada

It has been a hectic day today with many highlights. We started out with one more tea party (the last one) and again the students were very helpful, cooperative and we had a jolly good time, once more.  

Ceasar slicing the cuke with perfect precision.

 Astrid putting the sliced cucumber on the buttered sandwiches..

Midday, I received a package from Windsor, Canada and Roberta Brooks. In it... Canadian candy for the students! Swedish berries and chocolate loonies. Bliss! Thank you sooooo much! We are thinking of what to send back...

At 1.30 p.m. it was time to have a Q&A-session with Mrs Brooks' class and we had a great time asking each other questions and having a few laughs. 

Tea party - the UK - year 7

Wow! During this week my students in year 7 have been treated to a British tea party - or at least my version of it... It has been a lot of fun and when the students got to summarize the happening with one word each, words like "awesome", "good", "fun" and "nice" came up. Well, I guess no one says no to a brew and a cucumber sandwich!!! We have learned about the UK for a few weeks now in year 7 and it was time to show the students what a casual British afternoon could be like, meeting up for tea. 

From the beginning the students were given the instructions: "we speak English, and nothing but English for the coming hour", "take a note with a task description", "cooperate with each other", and just "have a jolly good time"! So, the students were given a task each, e.g:

* butter the sandwiches

* set the table with cups, spoons, napkins

* slice the cucumber with a cheese slicer 

* cut the sandwiches into triangles

* find "Rule Britannia" on YouTube and set up the computer with the projector

* boil water

Everyone spoke English, everyone cooperated, everyone was in a good mood and we were all in festive spirits. Sitting down we talked about the weather (soooo British, right?? ;), everyone told what they usually had for breakfast, we discussed what kind of phrases you can use when eating together with other people (e.g. "can I have some more tea, please?", "could you pass me the milk, please"?) and listened to "Rule Britannia". Finally, each student had worked on something special in class, with connections to the UK, and they got about 1 minute each to tell the others what they had researched about. We learned about haggis, kilts, Liverpool FC, English food, famous cities, universities, sights in London, Wales, Liverpool, Tower Bridge, among other things. 

Here are some wonderful pictures of the students and the tea party: 

Paolo wearing my British fun hat! This hat has seen many heads!

PG tips, pyramid teabags, a must!

Liam is a happy guy eating a cucumber sandwich and also testing the British fun hat!

Milk, sugars, napkins, cups, spoons, tea, cucumber sandwiches and some Union Jack decorations on the table. English flag in the background, on the screen. 

From left: Daniel, Dejan, Wiktor, Filippa, Maya, Isabella (with the hat!), Afnan and Limar. 

Isabella and Filippa fixing the sandwiches

Yum...tea with milk...

 Isabella, Filippa, Maya and Emil are preparing their speeches..

Triangular cucumber sandwiches

Why do this you might ask? Why go to all this effort (because there is a lot of planning, purchasing and patience involved)? Well, the truth is, I see such new positive sides of my students, they speak English ALL THE TIME (and not everyone does that in the classroom), they think it is a lot of fun, they understand that I care about them, they learn a whole lot by listening and taking part in the tea party, they get a taste of what it would be like to be British and can compare the custom of a tea party with that of the Swedish "fika". I could go on for quite a while, but the truth is that the positive effects of doing this are tenfold. Rule Britannia!

Phrase of the week - Hold your tongue

This week's phrase is "Hold your tongue"..... something that my students sometimes need to be reminded of. :)

Year 7 - Anglophenia explains the British school system

For next time please have a look at the video above, where Anglophenia explains the British school system. Listen, try to understand as much as you can, and next time we meet we will see it together and talk about it. We will see if we can straighten out the questions marks.. :)

Snapshot from today

This week I started with "phrase of the week." Each week I will present a phrase or idiom to my classes - the same one for all of them - and we are going to help each other explain the phrases and discuss in what context we might find them. Also, what do they mean in Swedish? The phrase will sit on the whiteboard for a week until it is time for a new one to make its entrance.  My idea is to surround the students with English - what they see and hear is what they will learn...
This week's phrase is: A piece of cake.

Homework year 7 - the UK - words

Homework for week 10 (Tuesday for 7A, Thursday for 7B) - learn the words from English/Swedish and Swedish/English:

Words

Also, here are some good videos about life, culture and school in Britain:

Schools in Britain:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Week 9 we will start working with the UK in year 7. I will explain in more detail in class what we are going to work with during the four weeks, but for now here you have a little teaser of what is coming...