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A website on Foreign Language Learning / Teaching and the Translation of Written Texts. THE WORLD IS YOUR CLASSROOM!

Единая вера, единый язык 23/05/2022

Руски филм: Македония е родината на славянската азбука, Кирил и Методий нямат общо с България
Посолството на Русия у нас излезе с позиция, в която се казва, че отрича филма да е официална позиция на руската историография.
https://dariknews.bg/novini/bylgariia/ruski-film-makedoniia-e-rodinata-na-slavianskata-azbuka-kiril-i-metodij-niamat-obshto-s-bylgariia-2295468
Руски филм определи Македония като родината на славянската азбука. Според лентата, Светите братя Кирил и Методий нямат нищо общо с България. Филмът беше представен в Северна Македония на фестивал, подкрепен от руското посолство в Скопие, и предизвика бурни реакции у нас.
Филмът „Една вяра, един език” разказва за това, че родина на славянската азбука е Македония, а братята Кирил и Методий почерпили вдъхновение за глаголицата в старите руски земи. Подчертава се и как Русия се отблагодарила на Македония за азбуката, изпращайки богослужебни книги през 18-ти и 19-ти век.
Учените в БАН са категорични: „Филмът не кореспондира с научната истина”, заяви проф. Анна Кочева от Института за български език при БАН. Според нея, представянето на филма преди седмица [декември 2021] на фестивал в Скопие, организиран с подкрепата на Руското посолство в Северна Македония, не е случаен знак.

„Русия ни изненадва, в кавички, с поредната трактовка на факти от българската история. Тук опираме до цялостно изопачаване на българската средновековна история в частта й свързан с Кирило-Методиевото дело”, обяснява проф. Кочева.
„Русия ни изненадва, в кавички, с поредната трактовка на факти от българската история. Тук опираме до цялостно изопачаване на българската средновековна история в частта й свързан с Кирило-Методиевото дело”, обяснява проф. Кочева.

Бившият ни посланик в РСМ Кирил Топалов също вижда геополитическа нишка във филма.

„Явно, че тъй като България излиза от опеката на Русия, излезе от военните съюзи, от политически и всякакъв друг съюз с Русия, явно е, че има желание да бъде наказана тази България”, коментира проф. Кирил Топалов.

Последното заседание на историческата комисия, която трябва да реши въпросите за общото минало на България и Северна Македония, се проведе преди месец и отново не стигна до успех. Неин член е и проф. Топалов. Според него лентата „Една вяра, един език” допълнително ще разпали напрежението между двете страни.

„По-малката ни братска страна е решила, доста непремерено, да не кажа нагло, да ядосва България, тогава когато иска от България да направи един братски, европейски жест - да ги пусне в ЕС”, коментира проф. Топалов.

Посолството на Русия у нас излезе с позиция, в която се казва, че отрича филма да е официална позиция на руската историография.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tleaFjt1AlA

https://videa.hu/videok/film-animacio/JxOwB0Hm39vUdTCD

Единая вера, единый язык Руски филм Една вяра, един език : Кирил и Методий нямат нищо общо с България

Democracy: Give Me BREXIT or Give Me Death? 20/11/2020

UNDERSTANDING BREXIT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgVhRVrANhA

Will democracy weaken or toughen as a result of Brexit?

https://medium.com/uk-politics-today/democracy-give-me-brexit-or-give-me-death-aa3c1c15a5d8

We still view Britain with her constitutional monarchy as the beacon of democracy; a government by the people, for the people and of the people. Many young democracies of the world, including those of her former colonies, continue to seek guidance and precedents from Britain. The British democracy is and would continue to be the standard bearer of global democracies.

Whilst the argument to Remain is valid, the risk of turning her back on BREXIT, could bring about the slow demise of democracy in Britain. In the process leading to BREXIT, one must not deny that a democratic process took place, and the majority had voiced their opinion to Leave, albeit with a small majority of 52% to 48%. However, it was the voice of the majority and in a democratic country that must be upheld regardless.

Democracy: Give Me BREXIT or Give Me Death? Why Britain’s Decision on BREXIT Could Shake the Core of Democracy

25/05/2020

Covidiot
Related to the Covid-19 pandemic;

A person who acts like an irresponsible idiot during the Covid-19 pandemic, ignoring common sense, decency, science, and professional advice leading to the further spread of the virus and needless deaths of thousands.
1 That covidiot is hugging everyone she sees.
2 Did you see that covidiot that licked the toilet seat as a coronavirus challenge?

10/12/2017

Page Post: December

What do you want for Christmas this year? A time machine, A robot that cleans your room and does your homework? An updated list of Christmas-themed classroom tasks to practice creative thinking?

Please, find these below:

1 The Different Ways We Celebrate

An activity that explores Christmas customs and traditions around the world.

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/unit-plans/teaching-content/different-ways-we-celebrate/

The Lesson’s Objectives are:
•Read and recite facts about customs from the Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa holidays
•Compare and contrast these holiday celebrations using a graphic organizer
•Write a five-sentence paragraph about one of the three holidays
•Recall the months of the year
•Learn the components of a calendar
•Apply your learning about holiday customs to consider your own favorite holiday and family traditions
•Draw a variety of symbols that represent your favorite holiday
•Learn the term "tradition"

2 A Christmas story remade into a movie:

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
http://www.bauermartinez.com/movies/jonathantoomey.asp
THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY

Starring Tom Berenger, Joely Richardson

THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY is a heartwarming holiday tale…”Christmas is pish-posh,” grumbles Jonathan Toomey, the best wood carver in the valley. He’s a Scroogelike recluse; but he’s a gentle grouch, it turns out, and he hides a sad secret. He’s transformed, not by Dickensian ghosts, but by an eager seven-year-old boy and his widowed mother who ask him to make them a Christmas nativity scene.

Youtube trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k103cxB2Wu8

This is the author’s webpage, Susan Wojciechowski:
http://www.susanwoj.com/books.htm

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
(all ages)
The act of carving a crèche for a widow and her son heals a woodcarver's sorrowing heart.

Awards
ALA Notable Book of the Year
Parents' Choice Honor Book
IRA Teachers' Choice Award
Kate Greenaway Medal
Christopher Medal for excellence in children's books
New York Times Book Review editor's choice
American Booksellers' Pick of the Lists
PaLA Carolyn W. Field Medal
Grammy Award nomination for gift pack CD

http://www.susanwoj.com/xmasactivities.htm

Discussion Questions
1. What differences do you see in the first (the beginning of the story) and last pictures (the ending)? Can you find a symbol in the first picture that tells us something about Toomey?
2. What are some things we know about Toomey that the villagers do not?
3. Give some examples of how the illustrations reveal Toomey's situation and feelings.
4. Authors try to show, rather than tell. What actions of Toomey show that he was changing? What actions show that he liked the presents.
5. Tell some ways in which the personalities of the widow and her son are revealed to the reader.
6. How is repetition used in the story?
7. Can you find a clue in the picture of Toomey and Thomas carving together that villagers might have used (had they been concerned about understanding him) that might explain his unhappiness? (This can lead to a discussion of whether we look for clues in others that might indicate why they act in ways they do.)
8. How does the artist's use of color add to the story? How does the movie's cinematography enhance the story?
9. What is the miracle?
10. Why did the artist show Toomey through the window in one of the illustrations?
11. Why does Toomey say, "There are no such things as miracles."?
12. Can one person have the power to effect dramatic change, as Thomas and his mother changed Toomey's life? Name some real people who have done that.
13. Create a letter that Toomey might write to his wife six months after the last scene in the story, or write what he was thinking as he sat rocking with the picture in his hands.
14. Write your own ending to the story--i.e. what happens after the last page of the book?
15. For older students: Compare Dickens' A Christmas Carol with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.

Activities
Sketch, using charcoal pencils
Create figures (with clay rather than wood)
Bring in or bake molasses cookies, corn bread, raisin buns
Study holidays in different cultures

3 GOOGLE APPLICATIONS AND GAMES (GREAT FOR THE CLASSROOM)
GOOGLE SANTA TRACKER FOR EDUCATORS
LEARNING WITH SANTA TRACKER

WE KNOW SANTA’S ELVES AREN’T THE ONLY ONES BUSY THIS DECEMBER. FOR THOSE OF YOU WORKING HARD ON CHRISTMAS LESSON PLANS, GOOGLE’S GOT YOU COVERED. THE FREE EDUCATIONAL GAMES ARE GREAT FOR K-12 CLASSROOM WARM-UPS, EXTENSION ACTIVITIES, AND WRITING PROMPTS.
https://santatracker.google.com/educators.html
CLASSROOM GAMES
•HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
https://santatracker.google.com/traditions.html
•TRANSLATIONS
https://santatracker.google.com/translations.html
•SNOWFLAKE CARDS
https://santatracker.google.com/snowflake.html
•SEASON OF GIVING (CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS)
https://santatracker.google.com/seasonofgiving.html
•MAP QUIZ
https://santatracker.google.com/mercator.html
-----------------------
EXTRA GAMES (CODING)
•CODE BOOGIE
https://santatracker.google.com/codeboogie.html
•CODE LAB
https://santatracker.google.com/codelab.html

Also, Google has launched new Christmas games that let you build your own:
https://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/12/11/google-launches-new-christmas-games-and-lets-you-build-your-own/.

MAY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON SPARKLE AND SHINE. MAY ALL YOUR WISHES AND DREAMS COME TRUE, AND MAY YOU FEEL THIS HAPPINESS ALL YEAR ROUND!

20/11/2017

Page Post: November

What is one of your favorite things to do? Why are you grateful for it?

Aided by severaI learning and teaching sites, I have taken advantage of the holiday season to put together a group of Thanksgiving-themed resources.

1 The following is a collection of short articles detailing the day of giving thanks.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/thanksgiving/pdf/teacher_guide.pdf

It includes:
•Historical Background
•Suggestions for Teachers to introduce the holiday to their students
•A list of Additional Resources

Out of the above, I found Sarah Hale’s letter to Abraham Lincoln of particular interest. Towards the beginning of the American Civil War Sarah Josepha Buell Hale began an intensive campaign promoting Thanksgiving, with the help of her honed writing and publishing skills. She produced a compilation of articles and festive recipes which persuaded President Lincoln that the occasion should become an official holiday. As a result, the last Thursday of November was chosen as a national day of thanksgiving and praise.

Page 3 of the resource set, Suggestions for Teachers, proposes that the students read the letter for detail and then analyze the text, possibly as a group.

As a post-reading exercise, the teacher could “Ask them [the Students] to write a diary entry as if they were Sarah Hale, explaining their efforts to approach and influence Lincoln to declare a national day of thanks.”

This link opens the letter’s original text, with a transcript: https://www.awesomestories.com/media/user/31c668bfdda829b82e5083404e9c5ec9.pdf. This would suit a group of students who would be interested in the historical value of the activity.

2 The Macy’s Parade is a contemporary Thanksgiving tradition.

An alternative read to Sarah Hale’s campaign, is “Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy's Day Parade.” Its content is more appropriate for younger learners who would not be as excited about the aforementioned correspondence.

The Balloons Over Broadway Educator’s Guide on TeacherVision.com, https://www.teachervision.com/reading-instruction/balloons-over-broadway-true-story-puppeteer-macys-day-parade-educators-guide, gives an overview of the story and its author. It, then, follows up with:

•Art activities, http://melissasweet.net/?page_id=2734
•Discussion Questions
•A “New Vocabulary” Chart
•A Writing Task: Please, write a journal response to the statement made by Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire.
“I have never done a stroke of work in my life.”
What do you think he means by that? How can that be possibly true? What could you all day, every single day, and have it not feel like work?

The Educator’s Guide also lists Science and Maths-related ideas, which if relevant could be adapted to a foreign language teaching environment.

3 The final resource I found unbelievable. It is a Scholastic, http://emea.scholastic.com/en, suggestion. The webpage has tons of excellent literacy materials. I highly recommend it. This tip led me to explore a plethora of other reference sites within the category. I will wrap up with a short list towards the end of the entry.

Number 3 is Scholastic’s Virtual Video Tour and Field Trip entitled “The First Thanksgiving”.
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/webcast.htm

It includes:
•A Teacher’s Guide
•Four Virtual Field Trips
The Mayflower, Pilgrim Village, Wampanoag Homesite, Plimoth Plantation
•The Plimoth Plantation: Slideshow Tour

I was well impressed and watched all four virtual tours full of glee that my Thanksgiving, November post was looking so first-rate. Am truly hopeful that you too will appreciate the advantages of being able to bring distant places and times closer to a group of inquisitive languages learners.

That’s all for November. I really do feel pleased by how the collection of resources is coming together even though the page itself is a complete mess, and is used more as storage for brainstormed ideas. I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused if any of you follow it and find it useful.

Some day it may evolve into a page better organised.

Have an amazing holiday and I will just end with a list of other Virtual Field Trips, as promised:

•Grades K-1 Virtual Field Trips
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/grades-k-1-virtual-field-trips/

Under the Sea; A Day at the Museum; One Small Step for Your Class; Vets and Pets; Farm Trip 2.0

•25 best Virtual Field Trips images on Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/bvedtec/virtual-field-trips/?lp=true

•A virtual field trip to London, England
http://simplehomeschool.net/london-england-field-trip/

•Interactive Tour of Ellis Island
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/

•50+ Washington DC Virtual Tours
https://www.scholasticatravel.com/2014/02/24/washington-dc-virtual-tour/

•A Virtual Tour of the White House
https://www.thespruce.com/virtual-tour-of-the-white-house-1259257

•Virtual Field Trips: Earth and Space Science
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Events/virtual-field-trips/explore/by-theme/earth-and-space-science.cfm

•NASA Education
https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/dln2.html

•Take a Virtual Tour of NASA Goddard
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Live/of-the-people-space-day-2015.cfm
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/features/2011/virtual-tour.html.
https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

5-Minute Film Festival: Virtual Field Trips
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-virtual-field-trips?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=blog-fmff-virtual-field-trips-link&crlt_pid=camp.vAMlIkWCZJ3m

www.loc.gov

28/10/2017

Page Post: October

What with Halloween just a few days away, I thought I would introduce a fun story about a misbehaving group of students. Reading it gave me some great ideas about how to plan more difficult classrooms that need active management.

So, what better ways to distract a rowdy bunch of learners than reading a great story, acting it out, and wrapping up the school week with some colourful Halloween activities.

Trick or treat …

And, Happy Halloween!

2nd Grade STORY: Miss Nelson is Missing! By Harry Allard and James Marshall

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view_print.php?book=108658

Post-reading Discussion Questions

1 How do the children of Room 207 treat Miss Nelson? Why do you think they behave this way?
What is respect? How do obedience and being unselfish relate to respecting others?
How does Room 207 leam to respect Miss Nelson? What is the true identity of Viola Swamp?
What are some other ways Miss Nelson could have gained the respect of her students besides tricking them?

2 Have you ever known students like those in Miss Nelson’s class, who tried to influence you and make you do things you knew were wrong? How did you deal with these kinds of people?

3 Post-reading Activity
Try acting out a scene where one of you tries to convince the other to do something you know is wrong.

HALLOWEEN RELATED ACTIVITIES

This is a favourite:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/233131718184312642/

Teachers and students can find loads more by following the link below:
https://www.pinterest.com/edutopia/it-s-halloween/

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