Our Solar System

Our solar system is magical!

What planets do you know?
Let's watch this great video

Let's learn about our Solar System!
Solar System Exploration with NASA!
Planet Riddles!
Is there sound in Space?

A trip in time and space!

If you had a time machine where in the past would you wish to travel?

Museums are just that, time machines that transport us to the past....but also help us discover the present and sometimes get a glimpse of the future of our world...

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that you can visit museums hundreds of kilometeres away from home?

Today we'll visit one of the most famous museums in the world.

RESEARCH

What does NMNH stand for?

Where is it?

What kinds of exhibits can you expect to see there?

The Smisthonian National Museum of Natural History

Language Review
In 5 weeks we have revised all the important points of English Grammar. 
We have refined our skills and learned how to express ourselves much more fluently!
Isn't it amazing? 

Now it's time for a revision
Today we practice:
1. Contrast sentences (handout p. 106/ex1)
2. Reading (handout)
3. Conditionals, Tenses, Causative, Comparatives/Superlatives, 
Quantifiers, Articles, Despite/Although, Relative Pronouns, Gerund or Infinitive
Tommorrow's another day...
Enjoy!!!

EARTH the cradle of life!

We are so lucky to live on one of the most beautiful spots in Universe.
This film is a wonderful testimony to this fact!

So what do we do with our Home?
How much do we look after it?




...and how about our co-habitants on this jewel of the universe?

How willing are YOU to act and reduce your ecological footprint?
First, let's found out how significant it is by doing this quiz 
What's your role in this? What do you, your family, your school and your country already do to save our planet? What commitments are you willing to make?
1. Write an essay for your school's magazine about conservation. 
Is it everyone's responibility or only the state's ? What actions can citizens take?

REVISION TIME
2. First day of revision today in view of our final test. 
a. Revise  TENSES here (ex. 16, 17, 18, 19)
b. Passive Voice   and here and here (1st eexercise written in notebook)

PRACTICE. ...
You will learn it once and for all when you do ALL the activities.

3. Remember we're into helping children of the world learn Greek and Greek children who live all over earth keep in touch with their traditions by translating books to Greek. .
So, here's the site we find books at http://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
Let's help as much as possible by choosing at least 3 books and translating them for Monday 

4. SELF-EVALUATION TIME:
We're already more than halfway in our course. What have you learnt so far?
What more would you like to learn/discuss/ revise?
Take this short survey to take control of your learning!!!

Food for Thought PART 2

...and watch the incredible video how does your belly control your life!

Food for thought!

Can you guess a reason behind the difference in these two reports?

2. Read this article 

3Explore the food pyramid and take  this interactive quiz!

Language Point
1. Find 10 expressions with food (any word related to food) and post them here 

2. Read the article above and create a multiple choice test of 5 questions for your classmates

3. Take the quiz

4. Write an email to your English penfriend telling him how our food intake affects our school performance and making suggestions on how we can look after ourselves in a better way as far as eating habits are concerned.

You are what you eat... PART 1

What do these two young people have in common?
What, in your opinion causes eating disorders?

Let's take a look at a very interesting article to get an expert opinion

Language Point
So, it's time we learnt how to eat in a more healthy way.
1. Here's a tutorial to help you learn to use wishes and unreal past.

2. ..and here's some practice 

4. Find 10 idioms/ expressions for time and share along with their meaning here 

It's about time we moved on...

What makes a city worth living in?

Read this article and work in pairs. 
1. So which city made it to the top of your list? Create a presentation for the class giving reasons on the five livability factors we saw in the video above.

2. Write an article for your school magazine describing your ideal city, one you would enjoy living in. You can chose a real city from the ones in the article or an imaginary one. Discuss different aspects of life as we have seen in the article.  

3. Create a test of ten questions for your classmates from all the vocabulary we've done so far.

The Future is Now!

What do you think these people do to earn a living?
sewer flasher, pet psychologist, bed warmer, beefeater, chief listening officer

What do you think is the yearly income of a bed warmer ?
Let's check from this infographic about strange jobs.

What does the future hold for young people who are now students and preparing for the world of work? Watch this video with amazing facts about the future and comment on what you find to be the most impressive information.

1. What do YOU think will be a job that doesn't exist now and you'd like to do in the future? Write a comment about it to share with your group.

It is said that the jobs of the future will be quite unusual for current standards. Young people are said to need to learn how to be flexible and constantly adapt to new roles. What do you think?

2. How can you make Passive sentences with Reporting Verbs? Find out here.

...and then practice here. 
You will learn it once and for all when you do ALL the activities.

Social Media and You

So, what do you think the people "devined" by the magician should have done to protect their privacy?

 

The new generation is called the Millennials and are digital natives. Children today seem to be born with a remote planted in their heads and a keyboard installed as an extension to their fingers!

1.Watch this video and read this text about social media.
Then do the quiz to see how much you've understood.
You can read the text as many times as you want to get all answers right!

2.Language Point You may say you didn't need to see the video to realise the problem. Do you need to revise Modal Verbs, though? Well, here's a tutorial and practice activities for you. ...

3.Then write an argumentative essay in the canvas on  social media. What are  some positive and negative aspects of using social media for young people?  How do you think they can affect the lives of people who are involved? Use your own experiences as examples

4. Mentoring time Mentors will create growth opportunities by giving feedback to the students writings.

Today we sang along this award-winning song. 

Impressions!

How long does it take to form an impression on a person we meet for the first time?

How important or long-lasting is this impression? What can you do to make a positive first impression on people?
Let's watch this video to find more ideas!

Is it easy for you to start a conversation? Why?/ Why not?
Do you think small talk is important?

Read this text and find out more ways to start a conversation.

Now Play the Small Talk Game!

PRACTICE TIME!
1. Let's remember everything e know about Reported Spech looking here.

2. Now, some practice...

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/statements.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/statements2.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/questions2.htm

...and a great song talking about feelings...

3. You have been asked to write an article of 180 words for a young people's 

magazine about first  how much you trust your own first impressions. Also explain which of the tips provided in the article you find the most essential and explain why.
Write in your canvas

Travel Broadens the Mind

Our course has a unique NOVELTY: no books! Just the net, this blog and specially designed material by our teacher, Mrs Effie Kyrikakis.

IN our first lesson we found a common interest:
Travelling is a passion for everyone in our team, so
today we'll talk about travelling and getting to know the world.
Let's look at different kinds of exploration one can do here.

Language points
Talking about travelling, we get to use a gerund.
How much do you remember about Gerunds and Infinitives?
Well, here's a YouTube tutorial to watch.
After that do activities 3,4, 13,15 here.

Activities
 ...and the change goes on!

Even assignments are completely different: 

1. look at the holiday pictures/videos and read about them on Pinterest.

Then, find photos (on Pinterest or Google) of  YOUR favourite way to explore the world USING the VOCABULARY we've seen in class. and choose:

- create a board on Pinterest

- create a photopeach presentation and be prepared to present a 5min talk about where you would like to travel -- - find your own creative way to share your favourite way to explore the world  

AND

2. Write a story of 180 words in the group canvas about your favourite holiday destination USING the VOCABULARY we've seen in class.

Fun, eh? Can't wait to see your posts, everyone!!!

Your presentations will be published here!

Freshman, Sophomore, What more?

Today we go on talking about education. How different are educational systems around the world and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each way of learning?
Let's take a look at an Infografic of the Finnish Educational System first:


1.Every one will look up for information about a different country and fill in the form here
so that we can then discuss the pros and cons of each system. If possible, we'll contact an interview each.

2. Hmmm, Passive Voice, eh? What do you want to revise?
You can find a tutorial here and practice here and here (ex 21, 23, 26, 28, 30 are a must!)

3. When will you have your hair cut? Study and practise this form here and do this activity at the end.

4. So, the Finish system has been designed around the students' own needs. How can Greece be advised by having its system compared to that of Finland? You have the magic wand. What do you suggest?
Write 10 sentences with your suggestions in the Passive Voice and Causative form in your canvas

5. Of course, we never stop having fun! Watch this video and guess what happened.
You can share with us by posting a comment in our blog!

Making the mark

Imagine a school...

Where kids have freedom to be themselves...Where success is not defined by academic achievement but by the child's own definition of success...Where the whole school deals democratically with issues, with each individual having an equal right to be heard...Where you can play all day if you want to...And there is time and space to sit and dream......could there be such a school?YES, and it's called Summerhill. Here's a video of the students talking about their school. 

You can watch a really touching movie on Summerhill here

Be creative:
1. Now, let's use our imagination a little more...Imagine you've just finished Summerhill and your friend is about to start. He's asked you for some information on what to expect at  school and advice on classes, school rules and so on. Respond to him through an email that you will post as a comment here,. 
The email needs to include: 
- the new vocabulary
- an overview of what we have learnt on Summerhill
-your personal recommendations 

LANGUAGE POINTS
2. So, how long have you been studying English?
How would you assess your performance with tenses?
Check yourself here

3.You can review the TENSES by looking at this page
First study the tutorials and the do the activities for the tenses you feel you need to revise
so that you're ready for the class review in our next lesson. 

4. Mentoring time 

Now let's sing!

Serious summer... FUN

Hi everyone. We are a team of 3 girls and 1 boy who excelled in our B1 course and as a result we've been rewarded with a shorter B2 course, taking us from B1 to B2 level in just 11 months. This is our summer class blog. We  pledge we are going to have serious... fun, learning and living the language through technology at the same time!
Our LEARNING AIMS for this course are:
- to consolidate the most important language points
- expand our vocabulary and
- hone our speaking, reading, writing and listening skills

We're going to give our 100% to learning...fun!

The most important aspect of success in to know one's own strengths and weaknesses well!
It's what our ancestors wisely called "γνώθι σ'αυτόν"!

So, how many ways are there for someone to be intelligent?
Strange question?
Well, check out this video to find out how modern research proves what you probably already know about yourselves!

How are YOU smart, do you reckon?
1. Take the test in this page and save the results.
We'll need it in class.

2. Being creative:
In this class we'll be learning with and from each other!
To be able to be easily in touch, let's create (if you do not already have one)
-a gmail account
-a Google+ account
-a pinterest account
-a canvas
-a skype account

3. Write a short messege on the canvas introducing yourself (hobbies, interests, favourite films or music).

4. Mentoring time Mentors should intoduce themselves on the canvas and help any students who need help with their social media accounts or the canvas.