Happy New School Year!!!

Summer Holidays

Summer is a wonderful time for everybody!
Summer is a time for travelings and, of course, holidays!
All the pupils in Russian schools do love summer holidays!
They don't go to schools for three summer months: June, July and August! They don't get up early in the morning for the lessons, they don't do homework in the evenings. In summer they can do everything they want! They play sports with friends the whole days, swim in the river, walk in the forest, read a lot of interesting books, travel to different places with their parents! Some pupils have a lot of plans for summer.



Here you can read Vera's letter.
Hurray! My summer holidays have begun! It is very joyful! I am resting from the lessons, teachers, and books. I have some plans for holidays. The most important event is my summer trip to the Crimea. I will go there with my mum and our best friends. I want to buy a lot of bright dresses, T-shirts and other clothes for it. Also I will buy many interesting books for reading on holidays. I am looking forward to this trip! I hope my summer time will be unforgettable! (Vera B., 14)

We think American students love summer holidays as much as Russian pupils do.
We wish you good luck!
Have a nice time!

School Exhibition of Students' Projects

Every year English Language teachers involve their students to different international and school projects to improve students' knowledge and motivate them to studying English.Traditionally a week or decade in spring is dedicated to English language. In April many different quizes and tests were offered to students of all the ages to learn more about English-speaking countries and test their skills.Students watched video films about London and took part in discussions to express their impressions. One of the interesting events was an exhibition of students' projects organized by the teachers. Many students took an active part doing their projects on different topics such as "My Favourite Clothes", "My Lovely Place", "My Pet", "Modern Fashion Magazine for Stars", "My Room". All the students from our school and their parents could visit our exhibition.They were interested in reading Christmas postcards and letters from our foreign partners.They were so pleased recognizing their friends and classmates' works. Some photos are here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Partners From Different Countries

Christmas Card Exchange is the name of the international project that gives us an opportunity to exchange holiday cards and make new friends.We prepare envelopes with holiday cards and send them to our partners by post. Students do their best, write stories about themselves and Christmas traditions in Russia.We look forward to envelopes with cards from our friends. It's a great pleasure to get an envelope, open it and find beautiful and funny cards. This year our partners are students and their teachers from the USA (Indianapolis, Indiana), Canada, Taiwan, Slovenia and Belorussia. We are glad to show you our friends' cards here.
                                                                                                             
         

Answers to Some Questions about Student Life in the U.S.

This is a photo of our school's new cafeteria.

This post is for Nataliya Leonidovna's oldest students.  Here are some short answers to your questions about the life of high school students in the U.S.:

1.What subjects do American students study at school? 

This link will take you to Mt. Blue High School's list of available courses.  Some courses are required; some courses are elective (students choose to take them).

2.What subjects are compulsory? 

English, math, science, social studies (history), and physical education are some of the courses students are required to take during their four years of high school at Mt. Blue.  Those requirements are much like requirements in other public high schools in the U.S.

3.What foreign languages do they study? 

Our students study French and Spanish.  We used to have German, but courses for that language ended recently.

4.How do they address to their teachers? 

Teachers in the U.S. are addressed as "Mr.," "Ms.," or "Mrs."  For example, my students call me Mr. Logan.

5.Do the students publish their poems and stories in newspapers and magazines? 

Students in our school published their own creative writing magazine earlier this year.  When enough students sign up for Journalism, our school has a newspaper.  Students do not usually publish their poems and stories in professional newspapers and magazines, though.

6.How and when do they pass exams? 

Students have midterms in some of their classes.  They have finals in all of their classes.  Most of these exams do not greatly affect students' grades – it is possible to do poorly on an exam but to pass a class.

7.What do they have for lunch in school canteen? 

Here is link to our lunch menu for March.

8.Do they eat hamburgers and hot dogs there? 

Yes.  You will see the word "frank" on our school menu.  "Frank" is another word for "hot dog."  You will also see the word "hamburger" on the menu.

Happy New Year!

  New Year is a great holiday in Russia! All people and especially children love it very much. They decorate their homes, flats, rooms with bright lights, toys, handmade snowflakes.The symbol of the holiday is New Year Tree. Hardly you can find a house or a flat without New Year Tree, live or artificial.Our school has a tradition of holding an exhibition of artificial New Year Trees made by students and their parents.A lot of bright and colourful trees visitors can see there. Here are some photos of handmade trees:

 

   

   
 

  

Visiting Europe

    

Hello! My name is Polina. I am in the 10th form. I am good at school subjects and in my spare time I attend school of art where I practice my singing. I took part in different competitions in Russia and abroad and won prizes. In summer I was in Europe and visited ten countries. The traveling was very exciting.  I was with my mother and my vocal teacher. We started our traveling from Krasnoyarsk. It took about three hours to get to Moscow by air. Then we waited for the next plane to Belarus. After we had landed in Belarus we took a bus and went to Europe.
The first country we arrived to was Poland with small houses, bright green grass and beautiful flowers. In Czech Republic we saw many castles.Then we visited next eight countries one by one. We stayed in Europe for 15 days. I got a lot of impressions learning more and more interesting facts about famous places. I hardly can describe ten countries here. They are amazing and unforgettable! In Italy we visited Venice, Rome, and  some beautiful places. We lived in Rimini, a small tourist town near the sea.
I took part in a competition  which was held in Italy. There were many talented singers from different countries. I liked them very much. The jury decided my performance was the best. So I won the Grand Prix.

   

Here at home I remember those days in summer and understand my traveling was one of the most interesting I would never forget in my life.

The Great Gatsby

My students have recently studied an important American book called The Great Gatsby.  It takes place in the 1920s.  The book is about a man named Jay Gatsby who has a romantic relationship with a young woman named Daisy.  He is poor; she is rich.  He is a soldier sent to Europe to fight in World War II, which ends the romantic relationship.  Daisy is an impatient young lady who cannot wait for Gatsby to return from the war, so she marries another man named Tom.  Gatsby returns and, after five years during which he becomes rich, tries to win Daisy back from Tom.

Most of the book is about Gatsby's actual struggle to make Daisy a part of his life again.

The book has many themes:  the limits of getting what one wants in life; the dangers of being too optimistic and focused on one goal; the carelessness of the rich.

This is a link to some projects some of my students have recently done over The Great Gatsby.  Some of the projects are soundtracks to a movie that is coming out next year in May.  Other projects are missing scenes from the book.

Source:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/the-great-gatsby-release-moved-summer-2013-358594

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear friends,
We are glad to congratulate you!

T is for turkey on Thanksgiving Day,
H is for «Hurry, I’m hungry!» we say.
A is for Auntie, she works and she mends.
N is for Native American friends.
K is for kitchen, the oven’s on low.
S is for silverware, set in a row.
G is for Grandma, the one we love most.
I is for inside, where we’re warm as toast.
V is for vegetables, eat them we try.
I is for ice-cream on top of the pie.
N is for never do we have enough dressing.
G is for Grandpa, who gives thanks for our blessings.

                            

          

School Tour

Hi,

Select this link to go on a tour of our school.

Enjoy!

Art and Theater in Farmington

This is a post for Ludmila and Vera:

At the left is a drawing of St. Basil's Cathedral
done by one of my students last year.  (She thought I ought to see it because she knew I had an interest in Russia.)  We have a very good art program at our school; our students are always creating interesting and thoughtful pieces.  In the spring, they put on a big show of work they've created throughout the year.

Our school and our town (Farmington) are also active in theater.

We have a theater-related class in our high school as well as theater productions throughout the year.  In March, we usually have a student directed play acted by teachers (I've done that several times – it is lots of fun.)  For many years we've also had a student written and directed play.  Our school theater group's next play will be "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, I think.

The town of Farmington has a theater group called the Sandy River Players.  Years ago, my wife and I met because we were both in a Sandy River Players play together.  Neither of us have been active in theater for several years because we have young children, but I'm sure we'll return to theater when our kids get older.

Christmas Card Exchange

          Christmas is a  wonderful time for bright holidays,

          magic expectations and 

        unforgettable presents! 

It became a tradition to exchange Christmas Cards with our partners abroad.  

In October my students make holiday cards and send them to different countries by post.

It's great time to show students' creativity and talent.

Students use all means of decoration they have: coloured pencils, felt-tip pens, paints, coloured paper and stickers.   They draw Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Father Frost or just winter pictures. 

The students are happy to take part in this project. In December and   January they look forward to envelopes with Christmas cards from our partners.
What a wonderful pleasure is to open the envelope and find beautiful Christmas cards from Canada, the USA, Taiwan, Slovenia, Poland, Belarus!.                
             

These are Christmas Cards made by my students.                    

 

     
                                                                                                
               




 










                                                       

Our Hobbies

         Hi!
         My name is Ludmila. I'm 13.
         I study in the 7th from, school №4.
         I have some hobbies. The first is drawing.
         I like to draw very much. Every week I go to School of Art
         and develop my skills.
         I like to take part in different competitions and win prizes.
         The second hobby is reading.
         I attend optional lessons of  Literature.
   Last year I went to Krasnoyarsk for students competition.
   I successfully recited a poem there.
   Sometimes I compose my short poems.
   Playing sport games is my next hobby.
   On Saturdays I go to the  school sports ground for playing
   football with my classmates.
   Though I am not a good football player
   but I get a great pleasure having time with  my friends.
   I like to take care of my animals.I have a cat and two dogs        at home.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         (Ludmila Z., 13)





People spend their spare time in different ways. They try to do everything they like most of all. There are many kinds of entertainments and hobbies for everybody.
I have many hobbies too, but one of my favourite is theatre. In my free time I act parts in the theatre "The Globe" in our town. .
"The Globe" is twenty-three years old. Students from different schools act parts in plays. Our theatre group has visited some festivals in Krasnoyarsk, Yeniseisk and Moscow.We are the participants of the Baikal Festival for eight years. We like this festival very much. For our successful performance we rehearse for six hours every day in our studio in summer. We prepare our costumes and scenery in advance. What a creative atmosphere there in the festival! A  lot of participants from different towns and cities, bright performances and famous celebrities are there! It seems to us W.Shakespear's words "The whole world is the theatre" are suited to the events here.
Baikal is a unique place in Russia. The nature is very beautiful, the air is fresh here.
Also we show spectacles for schools in our town. Every year we have new plays written by A.Ostrovsky, R. Kipling, M. Bartenev. The leader of our group usually chooses dramas.
Not everyone can act parts in dramas because actors must be creative, loving theatre, strong and patient. I love my hobby and always I get pleasure spending time with my partners.
                                                                                                                   (Vera B., 13)

Our School

Hello!
We are the students of School №4. We are in the 8th form. We have different school subjects: Russian, Literature, Mathematics, Geography, Biology, History, Physics, Art, Technology. English is one of the school subjects too.
In the lessons of English we study language and work to improve our skills. We read and discuss different texts, do grammar tests and write short stories.We want to tell you about our school.
Our school is the oldest school in our town.It is over 70 years old. It is two-storeyed building with many classrooms. The classrooms are  big and light with desks and chairs for students. There is a teacher's table and a school board in every classroom. There are computers in some classrooms.
Our school is the only school in the town with an ecological centre .Different kinds of animals live there such as hamsters, mice, rabbits, parrots, pigeons, turtles, hens, cockerels, grass-snakes, snails, fishes and others. A lot of different  plans and flowers you can see there. Students from other schools visit the ecological centre and enjoy all the animals and plants.
There is a new sports ground in the school yard. Here we play different sport games in the lessons of PE or after lessons in our spare time.
Here in the photo you can see our school before repairing works. Now our school building is closed for students and teachers and we are studying in the neighbour building. Soon we will be glad to come into updating school and go on studying.

                                                                                                                         

                                                                (Tatiana Z., Tatiana K.) 

                                                                                                                          

"Hi" from more students…

"Hello" from more of my students, who are standing outside of the trailer I teach in now.  The student on the right is dressed up for Halloween (She enjoys dressing up each day in October because she enjoys Halloween so much.  Halloween is celebrated on the very last day of October.)  Behind these students you can see some of the athletic fields being worked on as our new school gets closer to being built.

Hello…

Here are some of my students.  They are in their third year of high school.  As you can see, they were happy to pose for this picture!  Hopefully in a week or two they'll enjoy "meeting" you on this blog and will have time to comment on your blog entries.