Homer to USA and back!

Winners Education is collaborating with Muskego High School in Winsconsin, USA. The USA class is studying Homer(!) and the Greek students will help them with their language class!

Here's a canvas where we're getting to know each other.

Created with Padlet

Awe inspiring experience with Rummikub champions!

For most of us, solving a rummikub puzzle is a mind-blogging experience. For the B2 team, witnessing 18 year-old champions doing it in under 40sec is simply owe-inspiring! Thank you, Steve Sherman, for giving us the chance to live perseverance in action!

Για τους περισσότερος από εμάς μια πρόκληση. Για την ομάδα της Β2 το να παρακολουθουν τους 18χρόνους πρωταθλητές να φτιάχνουν τον κύβο σε λιγότερο από 40 δευτερολεπτα  απλά προκαλεί δέος! Ευχαριστούμε τον Steve Sherman που μας έδωσε την ευκαιρία να δούμε την... επιμονή σε δράση!

You can be THE BEST!

Could you tell me what the ISS is?

So what is life like in the ISs?

Let's find out in NASA 's webhttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/suni_iss_tour.ht

Study the rules for Indirect questions here

Study the rules for the use of "the" here

...and do the activities in the handouts.

Winners Education shares a Writing Project with Newtown Middle School, PA, USA

How much more meaningful it is when our writing has a real audience and we are given helpful tips by native speakers of English!

So, our school collaborates with the Newtown Middle School to create an out-of-this-world writing project!

Mr McNulty, the American IT teacher  has set up Google Docs for us to write our essays on here: http://www.crsd.org/Page/37407

This is how we'll share our projects:

1. Create a Google account (email and Google+)
2. Log in the above page with your Google profile
3. Click on the link above to see all the group links
4. Click on your Group link according to the following list
5. Write your project. Remember to sign off with your first name
6. Newtown High students will correct and comment on the writing according to the model
7. Winners Education students, keep logging in to see all comments to your work
8. Print the document and stick it to your Essay notebook for further reference
9. Meet your online partners face-to-face in our next Hangout!!!

We will form 8 GROUPS made up of 1 student of the Greek team and some students from the US team.
Greek students in each group:

Group 1: Anastasia

Group 2: Fotini

Group 3: Harry

Group 4: Hercules

Group 5  Jim Z

Group 6: Jim K

Group 7: Johanna

Group 8: Konstantinos  

HAPPY WRITING and PROOF READING!

The Decepticons have been defeated!

How big a fun of the transformers story are you?

The Decepticons are the antagonists of the Autobots and they are led by Megatron.

 They are typically represented by the purple facial insignia they all wear. 
Since the Transformers are the specialists of reshaping let's see how they can help us with Passive Voice. Watch the video and then practise.



Here are some practise activities:
Exercise 1 - Active to Passive
Exercise 2 - Make the Passive in the correct tense
Exercise 3 - Make the Passive in thetense given
Exercise 4 - Active to Passive with 2-object verbs (study theory here if you need to)

Passive with Reporting Verbs
Study the theory and practise here

If my cat had wings.......

It seems we need some practice on Conditionals so here's a very helpful tutorial.

Now Practise here as much as  you feel necessary to improve!

BRAIN TEASERS OF THE DAY

1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named M

2. A clerk at a butcher shop stands five f1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

2. A clerk at a butcher shop stands five feet ten inches tall and wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?

5. What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?

6. Billie was born on December 28th, yet her birthday always falls in the summer. How is this possible?

7. In British Columbia you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?

Our first Skype session for the year!

Where are you from?
Let's find out where our partners are from by asking them  questions.
Rules:
We take it in turns to ask YES-NO questions.
Each group can ask up to 20 questions


How it works:Option 1: (Advanced) Find the country/state or province/city of the other classroom by asking only YES / NO questions. A “YES” answer allows to ask another question. A “NO” answer gives the opposing group the chance to ask a question. 20 questions maximum. After each 5 questions a CLUE can be given.

Option 2: (Intermediate) Find the country/state or province/city of the other classroom by asking only YES / NO questions. The same classroom will keep asking questions until they find the location. After each 5 questions a CLUE can be given.

Option 3: (Beginning). Students will find the location of the other class using clues that the other class gives. It can go back and forth with each team taking turns with questions and answers. This will help younger students stay engaged and keep the frustration level at a minimum..

After the game: Each class can share facts and information about their home country and/or city.


Possible Mystery Location Questions:

1. Is your continent in the Eastern/Western Hemisphere?
2. Is your continent in the Northern/Southern Hemisphere?
3. Is your continent near the Atlantic / Pacific / Indian / Arctic Ocean?
4. Is your continent N. America / S. America / Africa / Europe / Asia / Australia / Antarctica?
5. Is it a big/small country?
6. Do you speak English as a first language?
7. Is it very hot in summer and cold in winter?
8. Is it north/south/east/west of...........?
9. Does your country border another country?
8. Are there mountains in your country?
9. Does your country have a coastline?
10. Is …...................the capital of your country?
11. Does your state/province border_?
12. Is your country / state / province north / south / east / west of?
13. Is your city in the north / south / east / west of your country / state / province?
14. Is your city the capital of your country / state / province?

Possible Clues:
1. The time is.
2. The season is.
3. We are north / south / east / west of_.
4. The beginning letter is .
5. We also speak French / German / Spanish / Mandarin etc...

Pitch or peach?

We keep improving our pronounciation in English. Today we work with short and long vowels.

Who are you going to be?

Today we're going to review how to talk about the future.

Fist, study these tutorials

will or going to?

Future Continous/ Future Perfect in this video

Now, you can practise doing activities
1. mixed future tenses (beginner)
2. mixed future tenses (advanced)

Now, A song to practise the future tense

Here is a song by the Black Eyed Peas to practise the future tense and your pronunciation.

First, listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics

Activity 1: Now go to the lyricstraining website to fill in the blanks in the song lyrics:

Activity 2: Finally, go to the Black Eyed Peas official website. Find the latest news about them and write about them in a comment to this post. You can also include your opinion about this band, your favourite songs, etc.

All about us!

Anastasia P.

Anonymous said...

Hi! My name is Konstantinos Lianos and I am 13 years old.I'm usually shy and and patient but sometimes
I can be very selfish.I love music
and sports like tennis and basketball and I also like watching movies.

We are learners who LOVE a good challenge!

Relative clauses - defining or non-defining? Write your answers (a or b) as a comment to this post

Study the situations and then decide whether the following relative clauses are defining or non-defining.

defining (necessary)– no commas
non-defining (not necessary) – commas

1. I have three brothers.
    My brother who lives in Sidney came to see me last month.
    My brother, who lives in Sidney, came to see me last month.
2. I have one sister.
    My sister who is 25 years old spent her holiday in France.
    My sister, who is 25 years old, spent her holiday in France.
3. Bob's mum has lost her keys.
    Bob's mum who is a musician has lost her car keys.
    Bob's mum, who is a musician, has lost her car keys.
4. My friend Jane moved to Canada.
    My friend Jane whose husband is Canadian moved to Canada last week.
    My friend Jane, whose husband is Canadian, moved to Canada last week.
5. I am a shoe fanatic.
    The shoes which I bought yesterday are very comfortable.
    The shoes, which I bought yesterday, are very comfortable.
6. Mr Robinson is very famous.
    Mr Robinson whom I met at the trade fair is a famous inventor.
    Mr Robinson, whom I met at the trade fair, is a famous inventor.
7. Tamara has two cats. Both of them are black.
    Tamara's two cats which can play outside are black.
    Tamara's two cats, which can play outside, are black.
8. Kevin has four cats. Two of them are black.
    Kevin's two cats which are black can play outside.
    Kevin's two cats, which are black, can play outside.
9. We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.
    The church which we visited yesterday is very old.
    The church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.
10. We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.
     St. Mary's Church which we visited yesterday is very old.
     St. Mary's Church, which we visited yesterday, is very old

Our class RULES!

All about ME!

We, B2 class, decide..... Rule no 1

Today, we will look at Past Tenses

WATCH THE VIDEOS and tutorials and then do the activities here and here

The fastest guy gets to listen to his choice today!

Live or leave

In  the previous class we discussed that YOU are in the epicentre this year! So let's talk about... you!

 What do you want the team to know about you?

What are your hobbies, favourite bands, songs, holiday places, cartoon heroes, or anything else you want to share.

YOU chose how to present yourself in a FUN way! Here are a few ideas and of course you are free to use any other way you want!

1. Create a Pinterest board with 10 pins that summarize them.
2. Create a 30 second podcast that introduces themselves. Then you can present them or play them on separate devices in class as an audio gallery.
3. Write a blog post in the classroom blog  introducing yourself to the rest of the classroom.
4. Create a quick comic strip to describe yourself or to recreate a recent funny moment in your life.
5. Create a word cloud to describe yourself and share with the rest of the class.
6. Create your own Voki avatar that introduces yourself to the class. It's going to be even funnier when you are creative with the backgrounds, characters and details of the avatar to reflect your own personality and preferences.
7. Create a graffiti online  that speaks to your interests and personality and share with the class.
8. Create mashup videos of yourself with Weavly to introduce their interests to the class.
9. Create a Google map of 5 places you have visited and share with the class
10. Research your birth date in history and share interesting events with the class.

Making a HEADSTART!

Hi everyone.
THIS YEAR the FOCUS is on YOU!
What does this mean?
Well, it means a lot of different things:
-We'll be covering our individual needs. Here's an online test to find out what your 
own learning channels are!
-We'll be learning in each one's own pace.
-We will be responsible for our own learning, progress and success!
-We will get to recognise and develop our character strengths so as to become happier more successful people 
The teachers will be our facilitators, there to encourage and guide each and everyone of us to reach our full potential!

This year we are going to FLIP OUR CLASSROOM!
What does it mean?
It means that instead of the teacher lecturing you with things you may already know, we'll be using this blog to studyAT HOME BEFORE we come in class.
We'll also be doing some initial exercises at home to check our understanding.
In this way our class time can be used much more effectively to PRACTICE what we've learnt
in a fun way, instead of old, boring repetition of teacher staff!!!

So here comes our first aim: REVISION of PRESENT TENSES!
Watch these tutorials and THEN do the activities in the handouts given to you in class.
Note down anything that is a challenge to you so that we can discuss it in class.

Now, you are ready to go on with the hanout you were given in class.
Practise online here 

We want to have fun while learning, so we are also going to listen to the songs you chose.
If you want your songs to be heard, write a list of your favourite ones as a conment to this post.

Here's the first one of a band I like a lot. Let's sing it together!

All you ever wanted to know about life in Antarctica but didn't know who to ask!

Penguin Science and Jean Pennycook, a member of the scientific expedition to Antarctica, are coming all the way from Ross Island to answer Now What our questions!

First, let's take a look at some of the pictures Jean sent us of
1. Transportation and accomodation

2. The Adelie penguin colony

3. The seasons and weather patterns in Antarctica

What questions come up as you look at the photos? Be ready to ask Jean!