The Carol of the Bells

Did you know that Shchedryk is the most famous Ukrainian song? Its English version is called Carol of the Bells.

There's a Wikipedia article devoted to this song which says it was composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 on the basis of the Ukrainian folk song. English lyrics were written by Peter J. Wilhousky in 1936.

Perhaps you remember hearing it while watching Home Alone.

Lyrics: 

Hark how the bells, 

sweet silver bells, 

all seem to say, 

throw cares away 

Christmas is here, 

bringing good cheer, 

to young and old, 

meek and the bold, 

Ding dong ding dong 

that is their song 

with joyful ring 

all caroling 

One seems to hear 

words of good cheer 

from everywhere 

filling the air 

Oh how they pound, 

raising the sound, 

o'er hill and dale, 

telling their tale, 

Gaily they ring 

while people sing 

songs of good cheer, 

Christmas is here, 

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas, 

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas, 

On on they send, on without end, 

their joyful tone to every home 

Ding dong ding ding... dong! (Once again) 

Enjoy here 10 best covers of Shchedryk

Talking about fashion

Do you know what are the right names for different hat models? Can you explain what kind of shoes you are looking for? If you are not sure, then here's some help.

In this video you will see the examples of the following hats: homburg hat, trilby hat, fedora hat, bowler hat, pork pie hat, deerstalker, cowboy hat, ivy cap, newsboy cap, beret (or French beret), bucket hat, panama hat, boater hat, bumper brim hat, pillbox hat, cloche (bell) hat, mushroom hat, vagabond hat, floppy hat, cartwheel hat, Breton hat, fascinator hat.


Now check yourself. What hats are the members of Radiohead wearing in this collage? British fashion rules :)

Here's a great article about the place of a bowler hat in British fashion if you want some extra reading on the topic.

At the previous lesson we also had a problem with types of shoes. So, here's Justine talking about them.

In this video you will see the following types of shoes:

Flat shoes: gladiators, ballerinas, moccasins, loafers, Mary Jane’s, mules, slingsbacks.

Heels: ankle-strap heels, kitten heels, stilettos, scarpins, killer heels, platform heels, wedges, chunky heels, peeptoes heels. 

Boots: Chelsea boots, cowboy boots, knee-high boots, thigh-high boot.

And at the end: peeptoe Mary Jane heels and peeptoe platform slingback heels.

After watching please, let me know what kind of shoes and hats you prefer. Looking forward to your comments.

Today is Saint Andrew's Day

Every year on 30 November Scotland celebrate a national holiday - Saint Andrew's Day. On Scotland's national day most people in this country get a day off and mark the occasion with traditional food, music, dances, flag flying and seeing family and friends.

St.Andrew has been honoured as a patron saint of Scotland since 1000 AD.

Get a glimpse of St.Andrew's Day parade in this video.

Find out more and get the idea of what being Scottish means by reading the following articles.

St.Andrew's Day 

Happy St.Andrew's Day! When is St/Andrew's Day and what it is all about?

Seven Weird and Wonderful Scottish Traditions

Preposition Songs

There's a wide variety of preposition songs on Youtube so it's important to choose the one which suits the needs of your class. The songs below are perfect for the third form in our country.

In, On, Under

Where is the Spider?

Let's take English outside the classroom (Blended Learning Lesson Design)

1.Use an online-dictionary to find out the meaning of the following vocabulary:

account

language course

beginner

intermediate

resource

reference

application

learning tool

sign in

log in

channel

subscribe

share

follow

post a comment

2. Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SjHBmNLRvM&list=PLE10C31C476B59EEE&index=16 and find the American equivalents to the following British words:

Trousers -

Crisps -

Chips -

Lift -

Fizzy drink -

Film -

Sidewalk -

3. Comment on the page https://okengli.blogspot.com/p/we-study-english_20.html

Use the prompts:

• I will use…
• I especially like…
• … is very useful.
• ...is great.
• I tried … . It’s very good.

Weather Song for Primary School

Knowing weather vocabulary is extremely important for future primary teachers as pupils of 2nd and 3rd forms are already familiar with basic words and expressions. Discussing weather at the lesson can be boring but there are ways to make it fun such as using songs with movements. For example, "The Sun comes Up".

 Lyrics

OK English: 50 States of the USA Song

OK English: 50 States of the USA Song: 33-Ш Homework

Education in Ukraine - Summary

This term my fourth-year students have been mastering the art of presentation while learning to speak about Ukrainian educational system. This involved not only working with vocabulary and texts but also structuring information in a logical way, so the first step was to create a mind map. Then much time was devoted to developing speaking skills on the topic.

Here are the examples of the student's works: the PowerPoint slides were used as clues while delivering a speech.

Education in Ukraine from Natalia Zavgorodnia

Education in Ukraine from Natalia Zavgorodnia

Some students were brave enough to record their voice and actually succeeded in making a video.

A School Day in Britain

We have already learnt how to speak about educational system in our country in English. Now it's time to compare it with those of English-speaking countries. Watch the video about a day in the life of a common British schoolboy and answer the question: How does it differ from Ukraine?

Now watch again and write down the time for the following parts of the school day:
- registration
- the first lesson
- the second lesson
- lunch
- the third lesson
- hometime
What did you notice about the length of the lessons? What is the reason for this difference?

Great Britain for Kids - Winners

During the previous week the third year students of Pokrovsk Pedagogical College took part in the contest for the best presentation on the topic "Great Britain for Kids". The task was to tell primary school children about Great Britain in an interesting way. So here are the winners:

(unfortunately, SlideShare doesn't allow to show animation skillfully created by the participants)

Talking about the Weather - #MyView Summary

Weather is always an interesting topic for conversation and  not only in Britain where it's extremely changeable. Weather influences our mood, plans and even health condition. For the fortnight the fourth year students have been enriching their weather vocabulary and trying to use it on Twitter. Several activities were offered: already familiar illustrating words with examples and pictures, posting photos with a hashtag #MyView and searching for songs with #WeatherLyrics.Thanks to all who took active part.

Let's have a look at some #MyView posts. You are welcome to contribute to the hashtag #WeatherLyrics if you haven't done it yet.

Environment Protection - summary

We are rounding up the topic "Environmental Protection" this week. Lots of new vocabulary have been learnt. Many current problems have been discussed such as pollution, global warming, greenhouse effect, rare and vanishing species, deforestation, etc. Many facts have been discovered while searching the internet for environmental issues information (and your retweets are the evidence). The conclusion we've come to is frightening: all humanity is to blame for this disaster that is happening.

This recently released video introduces the new BBC series "Blue Planet II". Watch it and admire the astonishing beauty of the Earth which may disappear one day if we don't take care of it.

S

Please, share your impressions and thoughts in the comments.

And here is the story of our Twitter activity. Thanks to all the students who participated.

Baby Shark Song

The fourth-year students have already been to school to conduct their first English lessons. This song is a real hit with the second form. It's great for the revision of the Family vocabulary and having fun. Enjoy!

Definite article with geographical names

Вживання означеного артиклю THE з географічними назвами.

Література: Верба Г.В., Верба Л.Г. Довідник з граматики англійської мови.

 - К., 2011. – с.321-322.

1. Study the following information.

Grammar Reference

THE ставиться перед назвами	THE не ставиться перед назвами
океанів, морів, річок, заток, проток, озер у множині. the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea, the Dnipro, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Strait, the Great Lakes	озер в однині Svityaz, Lake Ladoga
архіпелагів, півостровів the British Isles, the Crimea	окремих островів Khortytsia, Easter Island
гірських хребтів the Alps, the Crimean Mountains	окремих гірських вершин Mount Hoverla, Ben Nevis
низин, басейнів, зон, плато, узбережь the Polissia Lowland, the South Crimean Coast	континентів, міст (окрім the Hague), селищ Africa, South America, Kyiv, Kalynivka
назви країн зі словами republic, union, kingdom, states: the UK; the USA	країн (окрім the Netherlands) та частин країн, штатів, провінцій Poland, Western Ukraine, Nebraska
сторін світу, регіонів the North, the south-east, the west of Ukraine, the Middle East пустель the Sahara, the Gobi	напрямів to go west

2. Do exercise 268, p.321 (Верба Г.В., Верба Л.Г. Довідник з граматики англійської мови. - К., 2011.) Complete the text with the definite article THE where it's necessary. Consult p.143-144 for the theory and more examples.

Environmenta Protection Vocabulary

Learn (or revise) the active vocabulary on the topic "Environmental protection" with the help of this presentation created by Anna Hamaschak from 42-sh group

Environment protection from Natalia Zavgorodnia

I'm so happy!

I'm so happy that the first lessons have started. Hope that you share my feelings, my dear students :) I wish you that this school year will bring you lots of positive emotions and much happiness. 

This happy song will be handy for all primary school English teachers and this means for you too. Enjoy!

Mad Tea Party - Alice in Wonderland

Traditionally the end of the English literature course at Krasnoarmiysk Pedagogical School is celebrated with the Litarature Party. This year it was arranged in Alice-in-Wonderland theme. The students of three groups - 41-sh, 42-sh and 43-sh - united to create the spirit of Wonderland by means of hand-made decorations. Credit to Nastia Burak for the most charming Cheshire Cat I have ever seen,  Natasha Pavlenko, Nastia Novitskaya and Olena Syrotenko for the Tree of Quotations, Nastia Vdovina, Iryna Zelena and Katia Novak for the gorgeous flowers and Nastia Tymoshenko for the awesome Alice-in-Wonderland junk journal. And of course, credit to the talented actors who you can see in the following video and everybody who has taken part in our party.

Mad Tea Party
Performed by the students of Krasnoarmiysk pedagogical school:
Alice - Svitlana Skyrda
March Hare - Anna Radchenko
Dormouse - Nastia Tymoshenko
Hatter - Oleksandr Kharkovyy
The Clock - Nastia Orlova.
Directed by Natalia Zavgorodnia.

At the Rehearsal

On Stage

After the Party

Motivational Video

I've been inspired by my students to create this little video.

Be positive!

Six Honest Serving Men by R.Kipling

Rudyard Kipling described the question words as six honest serving men in his poem Six Honest Serving Men at the end of the story The Elephant’s Child. This poem is a tribute to a child's curiosity.

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends ’em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

Here's the poem presented by Yevheniia Pidlisna, the student of Pokrovsk Pedagogical Professional College.

Past Perfect Tense

There are some useful links for you to learn about Past Perfect.

THEORY (конспект до граматичної секції словника)

1. Read the following information 

Past Perfect / Минулий доконаний час

and give answers to the questions:

- How do we form the statement, the negative sentence in Past Perfect?

- What are 5 main uses of Past Perfect (вживання)?

- What time expressions are typical for Past Perfect (слова-маркери)?

PRACTICE (виконуємо за бажанням, якщо відчуваємо, що необхідно вдосконалити граматичні навички)

2. Do the following exercises:

• Positive Sentences in Past Perfect Simple
• Negative Sentences in Past Perfect Simple
• Questions in Past Perfect Simple
• Mixed Exercise in Past Perfect Simple
• „The Canterville Ghost“ (highlight verbs in past perfect simple)

TESTS (виконуємо, якщо бажаємо перевірити себе)

3. Take the tests to see how good you are at using Past Perfect:

Level 2 

Level 3

HOMEWORK EXERCISES

Remember: Past Perfect вживається для пояснення дії, яка відбулась до певного моменту в минулому. Часто цей момент виражено іншою минулою дією. Тоді маємо 2 дії в минулому. Та, що відбулася раніше виражається за допомогою Past Perfect, та, що пізніше - Past Simple.

1. Exercise 1. Put the verbs in brackets into the gaps in the correct tense – Past Perfect or Simple Past.

2. Exercise 2. Read the text and complete the activity.

Five Little Bears

This is an excellent dynamic pause for primary school children. It's three in one: numbers, past simple and the plural of nouns practice.

Lyrics

Inspired by American Culture

These beautiful pictures have been drawn by Viktoria Mokrush, the student of Krasnoarmiisk Pedagogical School. Vicky is a future primary school teacher. Her art reflects her hobbies: reading, watching films and listening to music. Here is a selection of her drawings inspired by famous Americans.

Travelling: Revision Lesson (Collaboration Online)

Worksheet for Collaborative Writing Activity

Group 3 Collaborative Space

Group 4 Collaborative Space

Group 5 Collaborative Space

American to British Translator

Window on Britain - Schools

1. Watch the first part of the video (to 1.30) and complete the sentences.
Most children start primary school at the age of 5. Then, at 11 they go to _______ _______ . All children stay at the secondary school to the age of 16 and at 16 in England they take ______ examinations that is the General ________ of ________ Education. After these exams about ___ per cent of students leave school. The others usually study ______ subjects for two more years and then take A-levels or _______ level examinations.
About 20 per cent of 18-year-olds go to ___________ .They usually leave home and go to university in a different town or city. Another 20 per cent go on to other kinds of _________ and training.

2. Go on watching and answer the questions:
1) What time does the school start?
2) Are most schools in Britain for boys, for girls or mixed?
3)  Do students wear a uniform in all the British schools?
4) What subjects do they study?
5) How many students are there in a primary school class?
6) What foreign languages do the British children learn?
7) Where do they have lunch?
8) What activities do students do after school?
9) What is Eton?